Senga showing significantly increased velocity – April 3rd, 2026
Kodai Senga (SP – NYM) – I was big on Senga heading into this season primarily because he is one of those players that I covet, particularly in shallow leagues: he’s either good or he’s injured. Last year he struggled through some injuries, but even though he only pitched to a 4.35 xFIP, he managed to keep his actual ERA down to just over 3.00, so the year certainly wasn’t a failure. Seeing his velocity up a decent amount this spring pushed him even further up in my estimation, and then in his first “real” start he averaged over 97 mph on his fastball with increased spin….that’s almost 3 mph up over last year! Yes, the control isn’t great, but with that extra velocity he could go from very good at bat-missing to the elite tier. The Mets are probably going to be pretty good too, so the likelihood of wins should increase a bit. I’m very optimistic here….at least until he inevitably gets hurt again.
Taj Bradley (SP – MIN) – I’m often leery when the Rays give up on someone, but Bradley’s arm talent is undeniable. He’s looked rather good for the Twins through two outings, throwing 4 1/3 innings against the O’s in his Minnesota debut with 9 K’s last week, and then shutting down the Royals over 6 innings on Thursday, allowing just 5 singles and a walk with 3 K’s. He didn’t look as dominant this time around, only generating 8 swinging strikes on 100 pitches as opposed to 17 in 92 during his first start, but the improved control (and the extra 2 mph on the cutter) was a welcome sight. He’s another in the seemingly endless pool of guys drafted well after the top-40 SPs that are perfectly capable of taking a step forward to justify placement there next season.
Randy Vasquez (SP – SD) – One of the few things that I’m looking at this early in the season is pitcher velocity, because in the “small sample size” time period, it’s one of the few things that stands out to me as a real indicator early on. Vasquez has been pretty poor for the Padres over the past few seasons, but he showed over 1.5 mph of increased velocity in his first start of the season against the Tigers while shutting them out over 6 innings with 8 K’s. He also showed a significantly increased GB rate, something that I’m much more likely to discount in one outing, but a positive nonetheless. I’ll be watching his start on Saturday in Boston with interest: a solid outing there and he is an instant pickup option in all formats.
Sam Antonacci (2B/3B – CWS) – Sam Antonacci looked great this spring, he’s looked great in the first week of the season at AAA, and now there are starting to be some rumblings about him coming up to the White Sox before very long. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him before the end of the month, and if the power gains are legitimate, he looks like a true 5-category stud. He should have a very good floor even without that, because the plate discipline, contact ability, and speed are all good to excellent. The 4 HRs in 14 G between spring training and AAA definitely have me excited to see him in action though….even average power will be a massive boost for his value.
Nolan Schanuel (1B – LAA) – Another high-floor CI type, Schanuel has started off very well for the Angels, hitting 280/379/520 with a pair of HRs through his first 6 games. The biggest potential positive that I see here is that you already have a fairly high floor here with the tremendous plate discipline, contact ability, and LD rate, but despite heading into his 3rd season as the Angels starting 1B, Schanuel just turned 24. Any power increase (relatively common from ages 24-26) could turn him into a 275/20/80 kind of a player, which would boost him right up to the edge of the top-12 at the position. I believe he is standard league CI-worthy already.
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