We are a week into the season, which means it’s time to panic.
OK, it’s not, but you wouldn’t know it by the early reactions.
Each week, we’ll take a look at how prospects are doing in the big leagues, as well as those who are close to “The Show.”
For the first week, we are going to focus early on those young players who broke camp with their team.
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All stats are accurate as of Wednesday morning on April, 5.
Gunnar Henderson (3B/SS – BAL)
It’s been a bit of a slow start for Henderson so far, as he’s hitting .167/.444/.417. But of the hits he’s had, he’s made them count as he does have a home run so far.
What’s more, to go along with the gaudy 33.3K% – a concern for Henderson entering the year – he has an equal 33.3BB% so far this season.
It’s a superstar profile, and as is the case for most of the people here, it’s far too soon to panic.
We drafted the UCLA product for his speed, but it’s been the power that we’ve seen so far from the outfielder. What’s more, the .278/.350/.722 slash looks good through five games, and the double-digit walk rate is impressive.
What I want to see from Mitchell is more loft to his swing, and thus far, the launch angle is up to 14.9 from 9.5. With that, the always-high ground ball rate for Mitchell has dipped to 21.4. That will play and that will play well if Mitchell can hold his gains.
Carroll is doing essentially what we were hoping for him to do so far. The speedster has yet to record a walk, but he does have a home and three stolen bases.
Carroll has hit fifth, sixth, and seventh in the Arizona lineup so far, and if he can show any ability to walk – he had a 7BB% last season – he could move up to the top third of the lineup.
The ghost fork is going to be a problem and Senga has looked the part so far for the Mets.
He did have three walks in his debut, which I guess is to be expected for a player making their Major League debut – regardless of their age. He featured four pitches in his debut, with the cutter and forkball coming in as plus-run value pitches.
Yoshida’s plate approach is his calling card, but seeing him go opposite field over the monster for his first home run shows the raw power that he possesses.
The -6.8 launch angle and 70 GB% are a tad concerning, but the minuscule 4.2 K% is something I’m in love with. In any OBP league, he’s a must-roster player.
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He held his own in his big-league debut against Jacob deGrom after he was ushered into his start following Kyle Bradish being placed on the IL. Rodriguez struggled in the spring, but his ‘spring stuff’ was phenomenal.
He should pitch about 140-150 innings, with some skipped turns through the rotation throughout the season.
It’s just a matter of time for Jameson, who looked good in a following role in San Diego’s second game.
And while there were extenuating circumstances in the backend of the bullpen, Jameson notched a save in Arizona’s game on Tuesday.
While we’ll take it as a Jameson manager, the real value comes from him as a starter.
We saw Wiemer get called up by the Brewers, and he’s made an impact immediately. On Wednesday, during this writing, he went deep for the Brew Crew. That’s a day after he notched his first steal of the season.
He’s hitting in the bottom third of the lineup for Milwaukee, but his power-speed combo should allow him to move up the lineup in due time.
Walker has been hitting the ball really hard, but they’ve all been with a low launch angle, giving him zero barrels entering play on Wednesday.
That changed against Atlanta when Walker connected for his first big-league home run.
And there’s HR No. 1 for Jordan Walker – followed by a curtain call.
104.2 EV, 21 LA, 383 feet#Cardinals #FantasyBaseball pic.twitter.com/j4FQ5WOruc
— Michael Waterloo (@MichaelWaterloo) April 5, 2023
It’s great to see him get the first of many out of the way.
I don’t know why we were drafting him so low when it seemed like he was going to break camp with the Major League roster. With Luis Urias injured, Turang is going to fill in for Milwaukee at second.
So far, so good for the former first-round pick. Turang is slashing .357/.471/.643 with a home run, 10 runs+RBIs, and two steals.
I’d be looking to grab him off the wire if I need MI help – especially while we await word on the Jazz Chisholm injury.
It’s been a very quiet start for Tovar in Colorado, as he’s striking out a third of the time and has a triple-slash line of, well, .167/.167/.167.
It’s been bad so far, but the good news is that the Rockies are about to start on an extended home stand, which should get the rookie going.
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.
