The Spring Signal, March 10th
The latest breakouts, news, and injuries
STANDOUT SPRING PERFORMANCES
CADE CAVALLI
One of Jon’s guys for this draft season had an impressive start on March 6th. Cade went 4 innings striking out six and only giving up one hit.
Velo is there, he’s not really a strikeout guy; the groundball is his bread and butter, but if he is getting whiffs on the fastball - that’s a great sign!
He’s the Nats Opening Day starter, too.
HUNTER BROWN
Jon’s fade of the year Hunter Brown had a wicked outing this past Sunday, going four innings and striking out nine! The velo was up. He was getting whiffs on almost all his pitches, which is great to see.
Funny enough, Hunter’s curveball comps most to Cade Cavalli’s.
LEO DE VRIES
Also on Sunday, the young A’s prospect had himself a day. Homering twice off Angels pitchers. Cranking EVs of 104.3 and 101.8 MPH. Leo is ranked as MLB DW’s #14 position prospect and is expected to debut sometime in mid-2027. He is only 19 years old and will turn 20 in October.
PARKER MESSICK
Yesterday Parker tossed 4.2 innings, tallying four strikeouts while issuing one walk and two hits. Messick has the tools to succeed at the major league level. He only made seven starts last year, but there were good signs. To be more efficient, he needs to bring up his Strike% and get ahead in counts earlier.
Even with problems throwing strikes, Parker was able to go deep in games without crazy pitch count numbers. Except September 1st, don’t look at that one.
Parker has been a fantasy buy for me all off-season. He should flourish in the Guardians' pitching development system, but is projected to begin the year in AAA, unfortunately. We should see him back in the bigs sometime in the near future. He will be the first man up.
FANTASY NEWS
BREWERS ROTATION
Per manager Pat Murphy Jacob Misioroski and Chad Patrick are locked into the Opening Day rotation.
Zack Littell
Signed a one-year major league deal with the Nationals with a mutual option for 2027. More than likely, Zack will be dealt at the deadline.
Luke Keaschall
Has started games playing outfield. Seems like a lock at second for them. Maybe just keeping all options open for roster flexibility. Definitely adds fantasy value if he gets starts in the OF. So far, it’s only happened in one game, something to keep an eye on.
Joe Ryan
Making first spring start today vs the Rays returning from back inflammation.
INJURY NEWS
CHANDLER SIMPSON
Hasn’t played since last Wednesday, dealing with tightness in left hamstring. The Rays claim they are being “overly cautious,” but this is concerning, to say the least. We had mentioned Simpson a few editions ago in the Spring Signal, and it seems like this tight hammy is lingering around. Not good for a speedster. He is expected to play today.
IVAN HERRERA
As an Ivan Herrera fantasy manager (last year & this year), it absolutely sucks writing this. If you owned him in fantasy last year, you know how high the highs were with Ivan, and every time it was met with a trip to the IL. They included left hamstring strain, left knee inflammation, and lower back tightness. I did not see which knee is currently inflamed, but we can only assume it is the same left knee. Not great to keep his catching eligibility for the future.
He actually had elbow surgery over the offseason and would be DH only to begin the season anyway. If Ivan requires knee surgery, that would pretty much seal the deal on his catching days if I had to guess.
His Opening Day status isn’t in doubt to this point, but this does push back the timeline on him re-gaining catcher eligibility in fantasy leagues where he does not already have it.
BRYCE MILLER
After dealing with oblique tightness, Bryce threw a 25-pitch bullpen this past Sunday at 80% and felt good, no oblique tightness per Ryan Divish.
MERRILL KELLY
More good news, Merrill threw live BP this past Sunday as well. Continues to feel good, thinking he might throw one more bullpen before returning to Cactus League games, per Steve Gilbert.
JOSH HADER
For all those fantasy managers who grabbed Hader at a very discounted price, we have some good news. It sounds like Josh will be throwing a bullpen on Tuesday, the 10th, per Brian McTaggart. Seems like he won’t miss too much time to begin the season.
LOGAN HENDERSON
Per Adam McCalvy, Logan is dealing with mild elbow soreness. He reported feeling better yesterday, but he missed time last year with elbow inflammation. This means Brandon Sproat - come on down! You’re next man up for this rotation! I am looking forward to seeing him develop in this Brewers pitching lab.