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February 22, 2013 Five to WatchNational League HittersWhile it’s true that spring training statistics are barely worth the internet parchment on which they are printed, spring training performances are another story. Racking up impressive statistics has little to no value to you, the fantasy player, but overall performances beget changes in player roles and confidence (or lack thereof) in player health. And it’s the contextual nature of the performance that is a net positive or negative for a player’s fantasy value in the upcoming season. To paraphrase a modern-day proverb, Rick Porcello doesn’t have to be faster than the bear—he just has to be faster than Drew Smyly to get a fantasy bump for the 2013 season. This mini-series will focus on players who have a chance to increase or decrease their fantasy values based on their performances during spring training. And we’ll continue today by looking at some National League hitters. It’s not easy being a rookie trying to catch Dusty Baker’s eye. Just ask Todd Frazier, who hit .305/.349/.508 with eight homers and 32 RBI in 46 games while Joey Votto was sidelined because of knee surgery, and then found himself right back behind Scott Rolen on the depth chart upon Votto’s return. And that’s the Scott Rolen who had a 716 OPS in 2012. Of course, the Dusty Baker effect would be less important if Mesoraco was making an impact on the field in 2012. In 54 games, Mesoraco hit .212 with five homers and 14 RBI. In fact, his performance was so disappointing to the organization that he was demoted to Triple-A for a spell in late August and was eventually left off the Reds’ post-season roster. However, despite the struggles, there were some small, positive signs at the plate. Mesoraco’s 17.9 percent strikeout rate and 9.2 percent walk rate were both better than his career minor-league marks (18.2% and 9.1%, respectively). Mesoraco enters spring training not only as the backup to Ryan Hanigan, but also facing a competition with Miguel Olivo for a roster spot. Yes, that Miguel Olivo. As things stand, he’s not worth drafting in any one-catcher leagues, outside of deep NL-only formats. Even in two-catcher leagues, he’s nothing more than a flier. However, if Mesoraco can show enough offensively and defensively during the spring, he could work himself into at least an even timeshare with Hanigan—which would make owning him a much more attractive proposition.
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I've got two more candidates for this series in Jedd Gyorko and Matt Carpenter. Each have added a relatively late career position switch to the exisiting challenge of achieving MLB playing time. Willing to give odds on either or both ? Thanks.
I think they're both pretty different cases, but think they are two guys worth monitoring as well. I think Gyorko has the better shot at winning a job out of Spring Training, but Carpenter has a better shot of being on the major league roster. I am very skeptical of Matt Carpenter's defensive ability to stick at 2B, and the Cards should have a strong enough lineup to be willing to stick it out with a better defensive option and have Carpenter be the first guy off the bench. I don't think he'd be a Mark Trumbo at 3B type disaster, but I just don't see the Cards going with him there. With Gyorko, I think he could stick defensively at the position, but he's got real competition with Logan Forsythe for that job.
Forsythe = "super utility", playing everywhere, even OF in a pinch. Gyorko = every day 2B.
I sort of believe this story as well. Forsythe may hold more value as a super utility player. Gyorko is limited defensively. If Gyorko can play 2B in a passable fashion, I think he'll hit enough to win the job.