Fantasy Baseball - Prospects to take a flier on in drafts
Yahoo Fantasy analysts Scott Pianowski, Andy Behrens, and Dalton Del Don looks at some rookies and prospects who could have a fantasy impact in 2023.
Video Transcript
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SCOTT PIANOWSKI: You want to crush your fantasy baseball season? You got to know your rookies. You got to know your prospects. Yahoo Fantasy is going to give you three such guys today. Dalton, give us a rookie or prospect who's on your cheat sheet.
DALTON DEL DON: I'm going a little deeper than you guys are. But I've been jokingly saying that many are calling Kyle Harrison's floor a healthy Chris Sale. But in all seriousness, this is baseball's likely best left-handed pitching prospect who's ready to contribute right away.
San Francisco's rotation may look deep on paper, but it's not a group strong enough to hold back a prospect who just struck out 186 batters over 113 innings as a 20-year-old. Harrison admittedly won't pitch deep into games when he is called up. But Zips is projecting a 10.6 K rate that would have been the sixth best among all starters last year. San Francisco also made a point of improving its defense over the winter, still has that climate that suppresses power. There are a bunch of interesting young arms this year, but don't overlook Harrison.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: How dare you trigger me with the phrase healthy Chris Sale? I don't know if I can go on with this segment. OK, well, I guess I'll stay with you and give you Hunter Brown of the Astros. Much like Dalton mentioned the Giants, we like to bet on their pitchers a lot. I just like to bet on things that are tied to Houston.
And Brown probably has a spot in the rotation with Lance McCullers already hurt. Brown has three-plus pitches. His ADP at the moment is outside the top 200. They're going to find 130 innings for him. And they're going to soothe your ratios. He easily outkicks his draft day price.
Andy, you're batting third for us. Give us a rookie. Get us out of here.
ANDY BEHRENS: Yeah, I'm going to take another pitcher. And I'm going to go toward the top of the prospect ranks and talk about Grayson Rodriguez of the O's. Pitching prospects just don't get much better than this. He's got an elite velocity, elite breaking stuff. He's throwing 98-99 in the spring.
Last year he struck out 13 batters per nine innings with a sub-1 WHIP. That's pretty good. In his minor league career, how about 419 K's in fewer than 300 innings? We absolutely, stone cold know that you're going to get strikeouts here. And OK, maybe his innings aren't going to be north of 150. But the joke's on you because nobody's throwing a whole bunch of innings. You can deal with that. I think Rodriguez is going to be a star immediately.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: And remember, Baltimore's Park, in recent years, has gotten a change with its dimensions. So it's actually a good place to pitch. And the American League East schedule won't be as intensive. They're spreading the games out more this year. So the fear of an AL East pitcher, I don't think, is really a thing anymore.
Now that you've got your rookies and prospects to think about, how about a draft? Get your friends, your buddies, the people you want to pummel into submission, get them in a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball draft. Set up your dynasty today.