Grey

Jeffrey Springs, 2023 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

January 10, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers, Featured | 63 Comments

by:

If you’re doing this right, and I think I’m doing it right, based on my results through the years, you see the same pitchers again and again when you search some of your favorite protocols for “breakout pitchers.” It doesn’t hurt that they were already good last year. Jeffrey Springs checks that box. His stats last year were 9-5/2.46/1.07/144 in 135 1/3 IP. How is that the 60-ish pitcher off the board and a guy going around 175th overall? Last year, Springs was the 37th best starter and 121st overall, so there’s value even if he simply repeats what he did last year. Last year Springs was better than Robbie Ray. Not saying he should be drafted before Ray, but it shows you just how big the discrepancy is between perceived value and actual value. There’s just so many possible starters to draft, it’s kinda silly. A guy like Chris Bassitt has been great for literally his entire career — has a 3.45 ERA in 737 1/3 IP and is going around 170th overall. The pitcher universe is deep. Gave you a sleeper post for Chris Bassitt in previous years, so won’t go back to that well, and he’s older with seemingly a lack of upside. That’s why Jeffrey Springs is the subject here. He has only 264 2/3 IP in his career, and a 3.57 ERA as he called shotgun. He’s 30, but the lack of innings feels like an opportunity for upside still. Last year, Springs had a 9.6 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9. Separation of 7+ between the two and another box checked. Top 20 for exit velocity, and that’s three boxes, it was time to go over Jeffrey Springs. So, what can we expect from Jeffrey Springs for 2023 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Learn more about our 2025 Fantasy Baseball Subscriptions!

The best daily/weekly player rankings/projections (hitters, starters, and relievers) for each of the next 7-10 days + next calendar week starting Friday. Kick-ass DFS lineup optimizer and projections for DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo!.

I don’t have enough spam, give me the Razzball email newsletter!

Weekly Razzball news delivered straight to your inbox.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

See all of today’s starting lineups

# MLB Starting Lineups For Tue 8/5
ARI | ATH | ATL | BAL | BOS | CHC | CHW | CIN | CLE | COL | DET | HOU | KC | LAA | LAD | MIA | MIL | MIN | NYM | NYY | PHI | PIT | SD | SEA | SF | STL | TB | TEX | TOR | WSH | OAK
Grey

Justin Steele, 2023 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

January 9, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers, Featured | 52 Comments

by:

First off, shoutout to frequent commenter, Fausto, who commented about David Peterson and his sleeper-iness last September, and I screenshot it back then, and it’s been sitting on my desktop since then. Every couple weeks Cougs would say to me something like, “Did you order Daniel Vogelbach-in-a-bikini coasters? And if so, can you locate the […]

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Detroit Tigers Top 10 Prospects for 2023 Fantasy Baseball

January 8, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 22 Comments

by:

Hey all you cool cats and kittens. The groove has been missing from Motown for a few refrains now. Stalking the top of each draft the past few seasons hasn’t helped the big league Tigers yet, but hope remains, as ever, in the long grasses of their minor league system. 

 

1. OF Kerry Carpenter | 25 | MLB | 2022

I’ve written a lot about Carpenter in this space. The Tigers have been desperate to develop some bats for as long as I can remember, and so far Kerry Carpenter looks like their biggest developmental win. A 19th round pick in 2019, Carpenter made a leap in pitch selection, particularly in his transition from Double-A (6.1% BB) to Triple-A (12.3 % BB). His strikeout rate evaporated at the same time, from 27.5 percent to 12.3 percent and the result was a dominant run in Triple-A (.331/.420/.644) and a 31-game MLB debut that netted six home runs and a 126 wRC+. If I catch any Tiger by the tail for redraft leagues this year, it’ll probably be Carpenter.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Hunter Greene, 2023 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

January 5, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers, Featured | 34 Comments

by:

Sitting dead red (pardon the pun), and you can’t hit Hunter Greene. Allow me to demonstrate:

That’s just silly. Tell the hitter the ball is going to be right down the pipe, and it’s a JCVD to the windpipe. His fastball velocity averaged 99 MPH. To be a fly on the wall of the hospital room where Babe Ruth laid for the last time when a time traveler walked in to tell him, “A pitcher will one day average 99 MPH,” and then Babe closed his eyes for the last time, not wanting any part of that. Slightly off topic for a brief moment: It’s why it’s so funny when people try to compare different eras in baseball. Can you imagine Babe Ruth facing a 99-MPH hurler every time out? Putting aside his offseason regiment was chugging sodas with Fatty Arbuckle. 99 miles per hour on average?! That was best in the majors for a starter with at least 120 innings and the top ten are all guys you want: Strider, Sandy, Gerrit, Shohei, Castillo, Cease, McClanahanananananananan, Burnes, and Woodruff, in that order, with Woodruff at 96.2 MPH on average. Only two guys above 98 MPH are Spencer Strider and Hunter Greene. Velocity isn’t everything, naturally. Or unnaturally if you’re one of these guys’ shoulders. Nathan Eovaldi and his hot butter MPH and biscuit of garbage ERA are more the exception than the rule. The top 30 for fastball velocity are roughly 95% fantastic with the occasional Mitch Keller. So, what can we expect from Hunter Greene for 2023 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Chicago White Sox Top 10 Prospects for 2023 Fantasy Baseball

January 4, 2023 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 25 Comments

by:

The south side features an underrated system for fantasy purposes with plenty of openings on the big league side for the intrepid young hitters. 

 

1. OF Oscar Colas | 24 | AAA | 2023

I suspect you’ll see Colson Montgomery in the one spot everywhere else, and that’s cool if you’re not in any rush to collect stats from your prospects. I’m open to the case that Montgomery is the buzzier prospect stock at the moment, but Colas has dominated every step of the way and finds himself on the escalator this winter, by which I mean he could start the season hot and cruise right up the lists. Montgomery could climb quickly as well, but he’ll be doing so in Double-A, which won’t help us win in 2023 unless we can flip him for a redraft asset. How long will it take the dynasty world to notice if Montgomery comes roaring out the gate? Not long, probably, but Colas could open a sell-high window early in spring training with just a few good games. And even then, with offers raining down on you after Colas hits his second spring home run, you might struggle to move the 6’1” 209 lb left-handed bat with a chance to make the opening day lineup. He hit 23 home runs in 127 games across three levels last year, batting above .300 at every stop. Chicago has been tough on hitters the past few seasons, but Colas has enough thump to threaten 20-plus bombs if he gets the gig early. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Edward Olivares, 2023 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

January 3, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers, Featured | 34 Comments

by:

I cackled just writing the title. Hey, going for Edward Olivares is that Dayton Moore was fired…

…the rest can fall into place, right? A sneak peek behind the Wizard’s curtain. I was looking for a late outfielder to write a sleeper post on, and there were, like, fifteen guys in the span of 20 average draft picks that interested me. Around Edward Olivares was also Jose Siri — Siri, what is a fantasy baseball sleeper? Forget it, I’ll ask Alexa; Bubba Thompson — I like him a lot, but playing time?; Dylan Carlson and Jorge Soler — bounce backs?; Tommy Pham — way undervalued, but how many fantasy football-smacking-Joc jokes can I make? Well, a lot, but I didn’t feel like it; Luis Garcia, the Rocky III version; Luke Voit — surprising strong peripherals, but kinda yawnstipating, and him and Pham need someone to sign them; Austin Meadows, Jake Fraley, Justin Turner–Seriously, there’s so many interesting names around Edward Olivares, but there’s just not enough time for a sleeper post for all of them, but I will cover them all in rankings. Last year, Edward Olivares went 4/2/.286 in 161 ABs. In his major league career, he has 358 ABs and has hit 12 homers and stolen four bags. *making the Larry David meh face* Hmm, maybe there was a reason Dayton Moore promoted and sent down Olivares once a week as a ritual. Like 9 1/2 Weeks, only instead of rubbing strawberries on Dayton Moore’s lips, he had his assistant rub news clippings of Olivares being sent down. Dated reference? Yes, but also I like the idea of Dayton Moore getting a Google alert and reading about himself in a 9 1/2 Weeks setting, so I will allow it. So, what can we expect from Edward Olivares for 2023 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

Psyche! Before we get into the Edward Olivares sleeper post, just wanted to announce that I’ve begun to roll out my 2023 fantasy baseball rankings on our Patreon. Lucky you (if you pay the $10/month). Also, Rudy’s begun to roll out his 2023 fantasy baseball projections. It’s version 1.0 and there’s usually about 4500 versions but just wanted to let you know. Anyway II, the Edward Olivares sleeper:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

CJ Abrams, 2023 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

January 2, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers, Featured | 38 Comments

by:

If you don’t produce immediately, people consider you a bust or at best a “wait and see.” You see it constantly. People loved Andres Gimenez, then he struggled a little and people wrote him off, and now people are on board with what he can do. Right now, people are “waiting and seeing” with Wander Franco, who’s one of the best prospects in recent years. Speaking of great prospects who people are waiting and seeing on, here’s what Prospect Itch said about CJ Abrams, “CJ Abrams might be right there with Bobby Witt Jr. and Julio Rodriguez for top spot across the minors if he’d stayed healthy this year. A 6’2” 185 lb lefty bat, Abrams’s best features are a double-plus hit tool and 80-grade speed. He’s flashed extra base power but his swing isn’t geared for home run power at the highest levels. He’ll still pop his fair share, but you won’t really care if he lives in the 15-range. His batting average and stolen bases alone will put him in early-round conversations at his roto peak, and I’d like to throw Grey off a high peak.” Not cool, man. But look at those names whose company Itch put Abrams — Bobby Witt Jr. and Julio Rodriguez. Now you can either think Itch is crazy or Abrams might not have showed us everything at the age of 21. A year when he got shuffled between the minors and majors and San Diego and Washington. A year when all that was going on, and he still only had a 16.6% strikeout rate. The bat is going to play, and you might be in “wait and see” mode, but I want to draft and see. So, what can we expect from CJ Abrams for 2023 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Jakkers

2023 Top Keepers – Right Fielders

December 31, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Keepers | 6 Comments

by:

Happy New Year! As the calendar gets set to flip to 2023, it means we are that much closer to the start of the baseball season once again. Thank goodness for fantasy baseball, otherwise the winter months would really drag on.

This week we are doing one final look at the 2023 Top Keepers by position as we wrap up with right fielders.

The Power Position

Of the three outfield spots, right field produced the most power in 2022 as the average was 21 homers and 75 RBI with 10 steals to go with a .241/.309/.405 slash line. And Aaron Judge didn’t inflate those numbers. Judge actually started more games in center (74) than right (54) this past season and hit 32 homers while playing in center compared to 19 as a right fielder.

Eleven of the Top 30 ranked players below hit 25 or more homers. But the position also has players who can steal bases as 11 players reached double digits in that category in 2022.

Overall, it is a pretty deep position and one of the more experienced positions in my rankings. Of the 30 ranked players, 12 are 30 years old or older. But there is still a lot of great, young talent – players who are going to be great keepers for years.

So let’s get past the small talk and take dive into the 2023 Top Keepers – Right Fielders.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

NFBC Draft Champions Recap: Never Nervous When You Have Mervis

December 30, 2022 | Our Leagues | 50 Comments

by:

*takes a long inhale* You smell that? No, not your sweatpants you’ve been wearing for the last week. Well, them, but I’m talking about the smell of the 2023 fantasy baseball draft season. So fresh, so clean. So ulcer, so sniped. It’s good to be back to one of the best times of the year. It’s so much better than “Playing your 9th outfielder because everyone is hurt” time of the year. I’ve even begun rolling out my 2023 fantasy baseball rankings on our Patreon. So, me and a bunch of Razzball commenters got together and took part in an NFBC Draft. Will get another draft started prolly around January/February, if you wanna take part, and, of course, Happy New Year (of drafting fantasy baseball)! Anyway, here’s my NFBC 2023 fantasy baseball draft recap; it’s a 15-team, two-catcher, draft and hold league that goes 50 rounds and has no waivers:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Toronto Blue Jays Top 10 Prospects for 2023 Fantasy Baseball

December 28, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 32 Comments

by:

Timing really worked out on this one. This system lost some shine when it shipped out Gabriel Moreno the other day, and to a lesser extent, Jordan Groshans to Miami last season, but neither makes a dent in the long-term build of the organization, which remains impressive from top to bottom. 

1. LHP Ricky Tiedemann | 20 | AA | 2023

At 6’4” 220 lbs with an upper-nineties fastball, Ricky Tiedemann has been bullying batters throughout his baseball life but took it up a notch in 2022, traversing three levels of minor league play (78.2 innings) with 117 strikeouts and a 0.86 WHIP. He was every bit as dominant in 11 Double-A innings (0.82 WHIP) as he had been in 30 Low-A innings (0.80 WHIP). The only real worry here is that he won’t get tested until the majors, but as bugaboos go, that’s a preferable one. He’ll likely need better command, especially off-speed command, to survive big league lineups a couple times through, and he won’t need either of those traits in place to dominate again in the minors. The Jays put him on an aggressive timeline seeking someone to challenge him in 2022 and might do the same this year if they decide he’ll need to develop in the majors anyway. He’ll turn 21 in August and is on track to celebrate that milestone in Toronto. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?