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Welcome back, RotoBallers, to my Week 17 fantasy baseball news, notes, and buys/sells for dynasty leagues. Thanks for bearing with me. Due to the birth of my daughter, I am much more sleep-deprived, but I am ready to rock and roll with new dynasty news and notes!
Today's article will look at recent prospect call-ups like Jacob Wilson and Brooks Baldwin along with several other dynasty-related news. This weekly series will take a look at various prospects, dynasty news, and discuss fantasy implications. If you enjoy dynasty baseball, you know it is a fast-paced game. Keeping up with the Joneses per se keeps you in the game and at the top of the standings. At the end of the day, we all want to build a dynasty team that sustains and lasts for the long haul. I am here to help you do so.
Keeping up with all the current happenings can help you stay ahead of your league mates. Call-ups, trends, and buying and selling players are all just small pieces to help you stay ahead. So, that's what we will do in this article each week, break down everything you need to know to be successful in a dynasty. Let's get to it. What do you need to know for dynasty leagues in Week 17 of the 2024 season?
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Recent MLB Prospect Call-Ups
Jacob Wilson was featured in last week's Prospects to Stash article, as I felt he would get the call pretty soon after the All-Star break. That is exactly what happened as Wilson will make his debut on Friday, just a year after being drafted.
Between Double-A and Triple-A, Wilson was slashing .438/.475/.687 on the year with a total of 13 strikeouts. In Triple-A, his contact rate sits at an absurd 97 percent, with an in-zone contact rate of 99 percent. It is safe to say Wilson has the best hit tool in the minors at this point. The floor to hit upon his promotion is so high.
The power on the surface does look solid, as Wilson has seven home runs in 185 plate appearances. If you look beneath the surface, the exit velocities are below average. Wilson has an average exit velocity of 84 mph and a 90th percentile of 100, which are both well-below-average marks.
The good news is you don't need Wilson to hit for a wild amount of power to have success. He plays a plus shortstop and with his hit tool, he should be a huge plus for batting averages. Wilson will play best in a points-league format.
Some absurd Jacob Wilson stats.
1. He has swung at 234 pitches in the zone this season, making contact with 223 of them.
2. He has more games with 4 hits (7) than 0 hits (4)
3. He has more games with 4+ RBI (3) than 2 strikeouts (2)
4. He is hitting over .400 vs. all pitch types pic.twitter.com/ZWCSgtF0BO— Aram Leighton (@AramLeighton8) July 12, 2024
Brooks Baldwin is also set to make his pro debut with the White Sox coming out of the All-Star break. Baldwin is similar to Wilson in some ways where it is a hit-first approach. While he has never been a hyped prospect, the 23-year-old has consistently performed. In 2023, Baldwin hit 15 home runs and stole 22 bases while posting an .808 OPS. Reaching Triple-A this year, Baldwin has slashed .324/.391/.460 with eight home runs and 17 stolen bases.
Baldwin's contact skills are not quite on Wilson's level, whose are? There are still strong contact skills and an interesting skillset with enough power and speed. I am not rushing to add Baldwin in all formats, but he is someone to keep an eye on.
Per @CST_soxvan, the White Sox are calling up Brooks Baldwin from AAA Charlotte for his major league debut.
Baldwin has hit .324 with an OPS of .851 between AA and AAA this season
Congratulations to @BrooksBaldwin4 on his well-deserved call up
pic.twitter.com/fZT9eVrTUz— Pipeline to 35th (@PipelineTo35th) July 18, 2024
Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Trends: Early FYPD Rankings
While there were no new trends to look at this week since we are in the midst of the All-Star break, let's talk about the MLB Draft. If you play dynasty, you likely want to know more about the top draftees and how they fit in for fantasy purposes.
Top 10 FYPD Rankings w/Overall Prospect Rank
| Ranking | Player | Team | Overall Prospect Rank |
| 1 | Charlie Condon | Colorado Rockies | Top 10 |
| 2 | Travis Bazzana | Cleveland Guardians | Top 15 |
| 3 | JJ Wetherholt | St. Louis Cardinals | Top 15 |
| 4 | Jac Caglianone | Kansas City Royals | Top 30 |
| 5 | Braden Montgomery | Boston Red Sox | Top 40 |
| 6 | Nick Kurtz | Oakland Athletics | Top 50 |
| 7 | Konnor Griffin | Pittsburgh Pirates | Top 70 |
| 8 | Bryce Rainer | Detroit Tigers | Top 70 |
| 9 | Cam Smith | Chicago Cubs | Top 70 |
| 10 | Hagen Smith | Chicago White Sox | Top 70 |
Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Buys and Sells
If you look on the surface Spencer Arrighetti's 2024 season has not been great. He has tossed 80 innings in MLB, having a 5.63 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. A 25.4 percent strikeout rate paired with a 12 percent walk rate does not give much confidence either.
Why in the world would we want to buy Arrighetti, then? Starting with the stuff, Arrighetti has a fastball that sits at 94 mph. It is a high-riding pitch with good horizontal movement and when you have a 7-foot-2 extension, the pitch plays up. Arrighetti throws four pitches in addition to the fastball, with curve and sweeper both having 40 percent whiff rates. While the changeup is thrown just 7.5 percent of the time, it is effective against lefties, having a 30 percent whiff rate.
Over his last nine starts, five of those have been one earned run or less allowed. There are two pretty bad starts in that stretch in which Arrighetti allowed seven earned runs over 1.1 innings and then another with six earned runs across four innings. The walk rate has trended down, and the strikeouts have consistently been there. In three of his last four starts, Arrighetti has allowed a total of three earned runs with 23 strikeouts and five walks.
Arrighetti is not the most attractive name and the surface numbers don't jump off the page, but there is a lot to like in this profile. Buy now!
Spencer Arrighetti's 10th K pic.twitter.com/m1D41yYGbo
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 26, 2024
The easiest sell right now, in my opinion, is Rece Hinds. Maybe everyone else thinks so too, but there are also plenty of people out there that think Hinds could be the next big thing. His start to his MLB career has been nothing short of incredible, having a .423/.464/1.192 slash with five home runs in seven games.
There has never been any denying the power. Hinds has put up elite exit velocities his entire career. In Triple-A this year, Hind's 108 mph 90th percentile exit velocity is comparable to Junior Caminero. While the power is upper tier, the contact skills have also been among the worst in the minors.
With a sub-60 percent contact rate in Triple-A, it is easy to see why he struck out over 38 percent of the time. The contact rates look okay right now in the majors, but I expect pitchers to adjust to Hinds soon. When it happens, you will see the downside of the bat.
Throughout his career, Hinds has been a streaky hitter, and when he gets hot, he looks like one of the best hitters in the game. Right now is that hot streak. Hinds has been the hottest hitter in baseball since debuting. Cash-out because plenty of people are buying and don't want to miss out on what could be the next star.
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