Preseason Prep – March 23
Orioles Rotation
Dean Kremer, SP, BAL
Kremer was optioned to AAA by the Orioles on Saturday, leaving the Orioles with a rotation of Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz, Chris Bassitt, and Zach Eflin. This is somewhat of a surprise after Kremer led the team in IP last season, but the team decided they would rather have him start the season in the minors as opposed to using him in the bullpen or going with a six-man rotation. Kremer has been quite durable for the O’s over the years, but he’s never really been more than a mediocre pitcher. Only once in his career has he finished with an ERA below 4.00 (2022) and he’s never had an xFIP lower than 4.20. He’s also never reached 9 K/9 or had a WHIP below 1.21. He’ll be back with the Orioles at some point this season, but he’s not more than a streaming option.
Zach Eflin, SP, BAL
With Dean Kremer’s recent demotion, the Orioles are apparently confident that Eflin is ready to start the season in the team’s rotation following recovery from back surgery. He certainly looked the part on Friday against the Yankees, when he struck out 7 across 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing just 1 hit and 0 BB’s. 2025 was a big disappointment for Eflin, who finished with 5.93 ERA across 14 starts before missing most of the 2nd half due to injury. This was a far cry from his previous two seasons when he finished with ERA’s of 3.50 and 3.59 respectively. There was some bad luck last season as his xFIP was 4.37, but that was still easily his highest mark since 2019. Eflin continued to display elite control in 2025, posting his 5th straight season with a sub-2.00 BB/9, but he regressed in other areas, with his strikeout rate dropping to a lowly 6.31 K/9 and his HardHit% reaching a career high 40.6% HardHit%. If he could get his K/9 back to even the 8.00 range, he could be in for a big bounceback season. It’s a small sample size, but his results this spring give some hope that he can make that happen.
Chris Bassitt, SP, BAL
Bassitt signed with the Orioles on a 1-year deal this offseason as he looks to bring more stability to the team’s rotation. He has been quite consistent over the past few years, with 4 straight seasons of a K% around 22% and an xFIP somewhere around 4.00. He has notched at least 170 IP in each of those seasons. At 37 years old, he doesn’t offer much upside, making him an unexciting fantasy option. But if you’re looking for a pitcher who will give you an ERA around 4.00 to go with 160+ K’s, Bassitt could be your guy.
Shane Baz, SP, BAL
Baz is set to begin his first season with the Orioles following his offseason trade from the Rays, the team with which he has thus far spent his entire career. Baz has yet to meet the lofty expectations that many had of him when he started his career, and a lot of that has had to do with injuries – 2025 was the first time in his MLB career that he reached even 80 IP in a season. His overall numbers were mixed last year as he posted a strong strikeout rate at 9.52 K/9 along with a career-best 46.7% GB%, yet finished with a disappointing 4.87 ERA. There was a great discrepancy between his 1st and 2nd half ERA’s (4.17 1st half vs 6.23 2nd half) but his xFIP was much more consistent across both halves (3.97 vs. 3.71) which leads us to believe that his awful 2nd half was the aberration. The key for Baz will be lowering his 3.46 BB/9; if he can do that, he has a shot to be something close to an ace. That’s far from a safe bet though.
Red Sox Second Base
Marcelo Mayer, 2B, BOS
As expected, Mayer has been named the Red Sox second baseman to start the season. Mayer made his debut with Boston last season, and mostly struggled, hitting .228/.272/.402 with a 30.1% K% and 4 HR’s across 44 contests. There was some good under the hood as he posted an excellent 51.7% HardHit%, although a lot of those balls were hit on the ground (49.4% GB%). Mayer had solid strikeout and walk rates at AAA last season (19.7% K%, 10.4 BB%), and also showed decent pop with 9 HR’s in 43 games, so the Red Sox have every reason to still have faith in their 23-year-old 2B, despite his rough first taste of the big-leagues.
Kristian Campbell, 2B, BOS
With Marcelo Mayer having won the second base job, the Red Sox optioned Campbell to AAA to start the 2026 campaign. Campbell got off to a strong start in 2025, but struggled mightily afterwards and was eventually demoted to the minors midseason. His 27.4% K% last season was on the high end, but at least he walked at a strong 11.0% clip. That has not been the case this spring however, as he has walked just 2 times in 46 PA’s (4.3%) leading the team to believe he could use more seasoning in the minors. As far as power is concerned, Campbell posted a decent 41.8% HardHit% last season, and he hit 20 HR’s across three minor-league levels in 2024, but he had an inflated 23.0% HR/FB that season, while his flyball rates regularly sit below 30% – a hard path to follow for maintaining consistent pop. We’ll see if the 23-year-old can make the necessary adjustments at AAA, as the Red Sox are far from giving up on the player they signed to a hefty extension last spring.
Yankees Outfield
Randall Grichuk, OF, NYY
Grichuk will be part of the Yankees’ Opening Day roster this season, as he is set to take on a part time role in the Yankees outfield. Grichuk struggled as a part-time player in 2025, hitting just .228 with 9 HR’s across 293 PA’s for the Diamondbacks and Royals, but his underlying stats show that he was significantly better than that. He struck out at a respectable 20.8% clip, to go along with an excellent HardHit% of 49.5%, and his XBA (.259) and xSLG (.457) were both well above his actual marks. He is likely to see positive regression to both his BABIP (.259 last season) and his HR/FB (9.7%) considering his quality of contact. Grichuk is likely to see most of his playing time against LHP, against whom he has an .819 career OPS, making him more intriguing in daily fantasy leagues, as opposed to season-long formats.
Jasson Dominguez, OF, NYY
Dominguez will open the season in the minors, as the Yankees will go with the veteran Grichuk as their 4th outfielder to start the season. This could be for the best for “The Martian” as he likely would not be getting everyday at bats if he were to be part of the big-league club. Dominguez didn’t exactly light things up in 2024, hitting .257 with 10 HR’s and 23 SB’s across 429 PA’s, but there are several reasons to think that things will get better for the 23-year-old. His HardHit% was strong last season at 49.6%, and his 9.7% HR/FB is likely due for improvement. He did strike out a good amount with a 26.8% K%, but that came with an excellent 24.7% CSW%, giving him a great chance to improve his strikeout rate as well. With a full season at bats, Dominguez could easily reach 20 HR’s and 20 SB’s with a decent average. He’ll get his chance with the Yankees at some point, the question is if that will happen in 2026.
Mets Outfield
Mike Tauchman, OF, NYM
Tauchman will need to have surgery to repair a torn meniscus, and will likely miss a significant amount of time, although the exact timetable is unknown. Tauchman was slated to make the Mets Opening Day roster, and would likely have taken on a part-time role in the Mets outfield if not for the injury. The truth is, he’s never really been a full-time player, with his 401 PA’s in 2023 serving as his career high. He doesn’t have much fantasy value as a career .246 hitter, who has never hit more than 13 HR’s, nor reached double-digit steals, in a single season. Perhaps he has slightly more value in OBP leagues thanks to a lifetime 12.6% BB%, but he’s still pretty much a one-category player.
Carson Benge, OF, NYM
With Tauchman set to open the season on the IL, Benge is likely to not only crack the Mets’ Opening Day roster, but he very well could be the team’s starting right fielder. Benge has had a strong spring, hitting .368 with a .889 OPS across 43 PA’s. He showed good plate discipline in the minors last season, compiling a 17.7% K%, 8.1% SwStr%, and 13.1% BB% across 3 minor league levels, while also chipping in 15 HR’s and 22 SB’s across 519 PA’s. He has just 24 AAA games under his belt, so we’ll have to see how quickly he adjusts to major league pitching.
Around the League
Luis Gil, SP, NYY
Despite a strong start against the Orioles on Friday, the Yankees have opted to start the season with a 4 man rotation, leaving Gil as the odd man out. The team will obviously need a 5th starter in the near future, but based on their scheduled off days, they will be able to make do without one for the first couple weeks of the season. This means Gil will either start the season in the minors, or as a member of the Yankees’ bullpen. One would expect that he should rejoin the rotation as soon as the schedule calls for a 5th starter, but as we have mentioned earlier this spring, Gil’s underlying stats were not encouraging last year making him a risky fantasy option.
Michael Conforto, OF, CHC
With Seiya Suzuki confirmed as being unavailable for Opening Day, Conforto has been named as part of the Cubs roster to start the season. It’s unclear how much time Suzuki will need to miss, but Conforto should get an uptick in playing time for as long as he’s out. 2025 was perhaps Conforto’s worst season in the majors, as he hit just .199 with 12 HR’s across 138 PA’s for the Dodgers. It’s been a long time since he hit 88 HR’s across a three year span from 2017-2019. Since then, Conforto hasn’t managed to reach 500 PA’s in a season, which has limited his overall production. He still hits the ball hard (44.0% HardHit% last season), but being that he doesn’t hit for a high average or steal bases, he really needs regular at bats to accumulate enough stats to be fantasy relevant.
Hyeseong Kim, IF, LAD
Kim has been optioned to AAA by the Dodgers on Sunday, leaving Alex Freeland with the utility infielder role to start the season. Kim had some nice numbers in his MLB debut last season, hitting .280 with 13 SB’s across 71 games. But his plate discipline was horrible as he posted an awful 52:7 K:BB across 170 PA’s. He survived thanks to a .396 BABIP despite rarely hitting the ball hard (28.2% HardHit%), and his xBA was a lowly .221. It’s reasonable for the Dodgers to want him to work on those skills, and once he does, he should have a chance to make a fantasy impact based on his speed.
Cole Young, 2B, SEA
Young has had a phenomenal spring for the Mariners, hitting .281 with 6 HR’s, 18 RBI and 3 SB’s across 57 AB’s. Of course, we shouldn’t make too much out of spring numbers, but the 6 homers are more than he had the entire last season covering 223 AB’s. Young is set to be Seattle’s starting second baseman this season, so he’ll have a chance to prove that this hot streak is no fluke. He didn’t display much power last season, but he did hit plenty of fly balls (43.5% FB%) and he had a solid HardHit% in the minors, so perhaps it’s just a question of putting it all together. He also posted a strong 18.3% K% and 10.9% BB% last season, and he has had two 20+ steal seasons in the minors, so if everything goes right, perhaps we could be talking about a fantasy relevant 2B.
Konnor Griffin, SS, PIT
The Pirates optioned Griffin to AAA on Saturday, which is where he’ll start the 2026 season. Griffin hit 4 HR’s this spring, but he also hit just .171 with a 28.3% K% and 4.3% BB% across 46 spring PA’s. The top prospect has an ADP within the top-200, and he’s still likely to play for the Pirates this season, but we have to keep in mind the possibility that the 19-year-old is just not quite ready for big-league action yet.