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Welcome back, RotoBallers, to my Week 5 fantasy baseball news, notes, and buys/sells for dynasty leagues. This weekly series will take a look at various prospects, dynasty news, and discuss fantasy implictions.
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 dynasty. Let's get to it, what do you need to know for dynasty leagues in Week 5 of the 2024 season?
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- Who should I start? Fantasy baseball player comparisons
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Recent MLB Prospect Call-Ups
Last week's article was stacked with recent prospects to make their debut with a ton of top talent. This week, there are fewer players of note, but that does not mean that more is not on the way.
Addison Barger of the Blue Jays is the most recent prospect to get the call for his MLB debut. The versatilte infielder and outfielder made his debut in left field and dsepite going 0-4, he nearly left the yard in his first MLB at bat, having a fly out that left the bat at 105.3 and traveled 397 feet.
After a strong 2023 season in Triple-A, Barger was more than ready for a call-up and showed that by slashing .314/.435/.586 with three home runs and as many walks as strikeouts in 2024. Having an average exit velocity of 90.6 mph and a contact rate of 79 percent overall, Barger showed he has the skills to hit for power and average. His barrel rate of 7.3 percent is low, but the hard-hit rate of 47.3 percent is impressive. On pitches in the zone, Barger had an impressive 87.5 percent contact rate.
Expect Barger to play everyday in the Blue Jays lineup and all over the field, which will give him multi-position flexibilty, which is huge for fantasy purposes.
Tobias Myers, infamous for being traded by the Rays for Junior Caminero, made his debut for the Brewers, throwing five innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts. It has been quite a journey for Myers, who originally traded from Baltimore to Tampa Bay before the Caminero trade. Then, Cleveland moved him to San Francisco for cash, and the Giants later DFA'd him. He was claimed by the White Sox and quickly released before finding a home in the Brewers organization.
Myers reworked his pitch-mix this offseason and came into 2024 looking like a different arm. Across 16.2 Triple-A innings before his debut, Myers had a 1.62 ERA with 22 strikeouts. Myers is a good f0r for deeper leagues, but if he sticks in the rotation and continues to pitch well, he suddenly becomes viable for 12-to-15 team leagues.
While Cam Booser is not fantasy-relevant, I would be remiss if I did not mention a great story like this for the 31-year-old making his MLB debut. After being signed by the Twins in 2013, Booser had a lengthy stint of injuries and was suspended for 50 games in 2015 due to marijuana. When he was rehabbing from shoulder surgery in Fort Myers, he was hit by a car while riding a bike. He retired in 2017 and installed ceilings for a living before deciding to get back into coaching. While working at a training facility, he realized he could still throw in the upper 90s and decided to make a comeback. He made his MLB debut with the Red Sox on April 19, throwing an upper-90s fastball and a nasty sweeper. Booser is not someone you need to roster, but quite a fun story.
Dynasty Trends to Watch
Exit velocities and barrel rates tend to stabilize much quicker than most stats, with around 45 balls in play for exit velocities and around 50 for barrel rate. Today, we will look at some players who have seen improvements in the power department in the early going.
Average Exit Velocity Gainers
| Player | 2023 Avg EV | 2024 Avg EV | Delta |
| Patrick Bailey | 88.7 | 93.9 | 5.2 |
| Cal Raleigh | 89.5 | 94.6 | 5.1 |
| Bobby Witt Jr. | 90.7 | 95.3 | 4.6 |
| Gunnar Henderson | 92 | 96 | 4 |
| Jesus Sanchez | 90.4 | 94.3 | 3.9 |
Barrel Rate Gainers
| Player | 2023 Barrel% | 2024 Barrel% | Delta |
| Tyler Stephenson | 7.6 | 22.2 | 14.6 |
| Elly De La Cruz | 8.5 | 19.2 | 10.7 |
| Riley Greene | 11.3 | 20.3 | 9 |
| Andrew McCutchen | 6.8 | 15.4 | 8.6 |
| Mike Tauchman | 5.5 | 14 | 8.5 |
Average Exit Velocity Fallers
| Player | 2023 Avg EV | 2024 Avg EV | Delta |
| Connor Joe | 88.9 | 82.2 | -6.7 |
| Corbin Carroll | 90 | 83.4 | -6.6 |
| Ryan Noda | 91.2 | 84.9 | -6.3 |
| Kyle Farmer | 86.4 | 81.2 | -5.2 |
| Nolan Gorman | 91 | 85.9 | -5.1 |
Barrel Rate Decliners
| Player | 2023 Barrel% | 2024 Barrel% | Delta |
| Aaron Judge | 27.5 | 12.5 | -15 |
| Ryan Noda | 13 | 0 | -13 |
| Nolan Jones | 15.7 | 3.8 | -11.9 |
| Spencer Torkelson | 14.1 | 2.6 | -11.5 |
| Ramon Laureano | 9.7 | 0 | -9.7 |
Dynasty Buys and Sells
Riley Greene is my dynasty buy for the week, as he is seemingly breaking out. There might still be time to buy if the person who rosters Greene looks at the fact that he is hitting just .244 on the year with a 25 percent strikeout rate. The good news is that Greene is already at five home runs and has ten extra-base hits in 25 games, and all the underlying metrics support it.
Under the hood, Greene has taken a step forward in zone-contact rate and has seen his chase rate drop by over five percentage points. Greene has always hit the ball hard, but the fatal flaw in his game has always been his ground balls/launch angles. This year, Greene has his barrel rate up to 20.3 percent, up from 11.3 percent last season. This is largely thanks to an improved launch angle and sweet spot rate.
This has been a conscious effort as well. Greene spent the offseason working on getting his launch angles up because ground balls make him angry. In a recent interview, he told Evan Petzold of Detroit Free Press:
"Trying to get the ball in the air is my goal," Greene said. "I'm (expletive) tired of hitting the ball on the ground. I'm trying to get the ball in the air with pure spin, and hit it hard."
Erick Fedde garnered a ton of buzz this offseason coming back stateside from the KBO. After a so-so start to the 2024 season, Fedde’s last two starts could not have gone any better as he has tossed 11.2 innings of one-run ball with 16 strikeouts and just six total hits allowed.
Tuesday was a major step in the right direction as Fedde struck out 11 and did not walk a batter. He missed bats with all four pitch types, ending the day with 17 whiffs, good for a 39 percent clip. Fedde has a 34 percent CSW and a 62 percent strike rate.
I would cash out on Fedde in a dynasty league if you can. He has allowed a lot of hard-hit balls, which results in an xERA nearly a full run higher than his actual ERA. His FIP of 4.48 is nearly two full runs higher than his actual ERA. The strikeouts are unlikely to continue, given the underwhelming stuff and the fact that his highest whiff rate pitch is a sinker, a pitch that typically does not miss bats.
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