When it comes to finding players to add to your dynasty team, the easy thing to do is just look at the pedigree of a player and add him or trade for him, thinking he will eventually come around if he is underperforming or stay the course if playing as expected.
But sometimes (many times?) the highly touted prospects never live up to the hype while the under-the-radar players seemingly come from out of nowhere to become stars. Today we are going to look at two catchers who may or may not fit into that category by the end of their careers or even this season but currently appear to be on one of those tracks.
The Players
Washington Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz has been one of baseball’s top catching prospects since coming to the United States from Venezuela. Signed by the Dodgers as an international free agent, Keibert started the 2018 season as the 40th best prospect by Baseball America and was ranked 20th, 81st, 53rd and 11th ahead of the 2019-2022 seasons. MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus also had him ranked in the top 100 from 2018-2022.
Meanwhile, when the 2018 MLB draft rolled around, many experts believed Logan O’Hoppe was going to go play for East Carolina, the school where his father and uncle attended. But the Philadelphia Phillies liked what they saw in O’Hoppe and drafted him in the 23rd round and signed him for an above-slot bonus of $215,000.
Despite starting his pro career later that summer, it wasn’t until this year that O’Hoppe showed up in any top 100 prospect lists. Baseball American ranked him 42nd before the start of this season while MLB.com ranked him at No. 53 and Baseball Prospectus ranked him at No. 77.
As a whole, Ruiz has always been the prized catcher to try to nab for your dynasty team while O’Hoppe is the player seemingly coming out of the woodwork and now getting noticed by fantasy players. But should Ruiz be the player you really want, or should you instead go after O’Hoppe?
Please, blog, may I have some more?
