1 Breakout Player From Each MLB Team (EP. 776)

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you want to do here over at Fantasy Bros. MLB with trophy Smack Welsh. Let's talk about some of the best too. Let's talk about some of these players on each team. So Welsh and I are going to go through division by division. We've given each other different divisions to do. I took the National League, Welsh took the American League here and we're going to go through. So Welsh, why don't you start and kick things off with the American League? Is East? The East, the est of the

American League. That's what we want to do. So the AL East, that's what I want from you. Give me the breakouts potentially from each team that you might see on the horizon in twenty.

big dude. Not striking out a bunch of double digit walks. Again, these are spring numbers, but he had fifty four plate appearances. He has shown that he deserves to be out there, and he may I don't know if Jordan Westburg is going to keep him off of a third base. He's going to be coming up some point this year and has a real real chance to be a big breakout player for the Baltimore Orioles. So he is my choice, even though he might not be on the active roster.

We've actually talked about this guy decent amount. Kind of hard to find some New York Yankees that might be breakouts, but if you want to talk about.

things could change. He's been my guy for a while because I really do think he can go thirty thirty and I just kind of get sad when I miss out on him. So he's an easy breakout for the New York Yankees going over to Toronto. This is actually another team that kind of struggles. If you're trying to pick, like who's a player that's going to break out, there's

a lot of like guys that we know. It's the Boba Shed's, it's the Vlad Carrero's, and there's like players that were not super interested, you know, like Alec Minoa. That's not gonna happen. So I'm gonna go kind of the similar Kobe Mayo route. Ricky Tiedeman has also not made the roster, But this is another player that has had a great spring, consistently pumping ninety eight. I saw

a ton of him in the AFL. Now, the thing that has stood out to me when he was here, I didn't realize maybe how much he was nursing this little arm issue that was going on, because he would sit ninety four and touch ninety six occasionally and everything else looked amazing, and I was like, I don't know, he's up ninety eight, ninety nine, hitting it consistently in games they got injuries. Alec Manoa stinks, so Ricky pet and is hurt. Ricky Tiedeman could break camp with this team.

I wouldn't be shocked if he gets one hundred innings with this team. And he's a guy that you would want. You're gonna want those innings when it happened, So breakout, Ricky Teetaman moving over to Tampa Bay. This is actually a super weird one because this is not like a young guy. This is a guy that's been around before.

But I will tell you he's actually never broke out and he was one of lol the first players I ever really talked about on Fantasy Pros when I got brought on, because boy did I think he could have a twenty twenty season. I'm talking about Ahmed Rosario. That is a fantasy breakout for you guys, because Ahmed Rosario looks like he is gonna get that gig. He jumped into a situation we all thought he was like Caveiro

was gonna take. He can hold this down the entire season. Yes, it could be trade deadline and Carson Williams can come up, but his being up has no effect on a guy like Junior Camonaro. He's been hitting for some power, run a little bit. Med Rosario is a great fantasy breakout this year because he's just absolutely free. And then finally my last one in the Al East, going to the Boston Red Sox. This has been one of my favorite players. Call it whatever whatever you want, sleeper must have a

guy on all my roster or breakouts. Here Saddani Rafaela with the Boston Red Sox. I love this kid.

overall offensive game. I think could go through the roof. And he's gonna have multi position eligibility and he's free. He's absolutely free. So Saddana Rafaela is my breakout with the Boston Red Sox, and that is the Al East break out.

really because I've watched more and more of him. It's a prospect I was less familiar with. You know, in the throws of NFL season, it takes a little while to catch up on some of the prospects. But Welsh turned me onto him a couple of weeks ago, and I've been watching him in spring. I've been watching the highlights from last year. He's got incredible quick hands, hits everything hard to the opposite field too, which we kind

of were talking about before the show. That shows you this is a player that is waiting on the baseball, player that you know is really seeing the baseball well and getting a good look at it, and again driving the ball with authority to the opposite field, not just for home runs, but I'm talking about like hard hit rates up the ying yang there, and this is a player because of the versatility, he's gonna find his way into the line up. Yep, had a good spring to me.

This is another guy too. You want to call him a breakout of sleeper or whatever you want to call him. I don't care this calm on Joe's ross.

three homers in spring, couple stolen bases again. Raphaela, if given the opportunity, really ready to have a big breakout, and he has done it pretty consistently from accounting stat perspective throughout the Miners, and I'm looking forward to it this year.

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league to an MLB game of your choice. Simply go to fantracks dot com slash Fantasy Pros and sign up today. That's fantracks dot com slash Fantasy Pros, fan Tracks, the home of fantasy sports. And now back to the action. All right, let's get to the National League East here. Start with the Atlanta Braves. Ajsmith Shaver starting pitcher again. Going to be a guy in April necessarily for this team, but I do believe at some point in time you are going to see this kid. He's got the fastball

you need he is a brave starting pitching prospect. I don't know, you know how much more we need from that, because I mean, we always seem to get these guys who pop every single time I'm looking at this player is going to at some point. I think he's gonna make fifteen starts for the Braves this year at some point. I don't know if you agree with that number or not, but I think that number is enough where he has

potential to be a breakout star. And it's hard with Atlanta because most of these guys are ready or kind of planted in their spots. Maybe some of the outfield of Kalnick, you know, struggles. Some's gonna come out there and have a breakout. Potentially, that's possible, but I think in the pitching staff you're always going to see injuries. It's just a part of, you know, the nature of

this game. Smashaffer is going to get his potential. And again, another guy who looked good this spring, Christopher Sanchez with the Phillies, is another pitcher that I'd be looking for a lot of pitchers in this list here in the National League's Sanchez. Again, this was a tougher one for me also because a good pick. I think there's potential for a breakout, but I'm not holding my breath for it. But I think he's the best candidate because he is

going to be locked into that rotation. And the Phillies, I do think if they could ever just get off to a good start, could really put themselves in the driver's seat for this division. I really do as good as the Braves are. I look at the Phillies and every year the Phillies just get red hot towards the end, but they struggle in the first half. Just put it together in the first half, Phillies, and if so, Sanchez had a chance to I think win double digit games

here for this team. Even is a fifth starter. The next one is the name you're probably not very familiar with the New York Mets. It's Jose Bhutto, and Bhuteau is a picture that last year messed around a little bit. All of a sudden, it seems to have clicked in terms of his aggressiveness. I watched the spring start of his Welsh and I could not believe the pace in which this guy worked, the way he's pounding the strike zone. I don't know if you got to see any of

him or any clips of him. But whatever he did last year in terms of tweaking some of those pitches of his tweaking, his demeanor on the mound, whatever it might be, this is the guy that works fast, is the guy that is aggressive in the strike zone. Those kind of pictures tend to have good major league success. The Mets rotation has all sorts of problems in it. Bhutto at some point is going to make starts for the Mets. Again. I don't know if I believe in

mcgil wholeheartedly. I know I've talked about him before. He's had some flashes from time to time, but this kid looks like a real presence on the mound, totally different pounding the strike zone. I'm very excited about this guy, so much so that in fifteen team leagues, I'm already

adding him already in waivers. I didn't draft him because knew I didn't have to, but instead I wanted to I l other guys that I knew I was going to draft and pick up this kid because sooner or later he's going to make starts and good ones for the New York Mets. Max Meyer a pitcher that we both loved going into previous seasons. Unfortunately, injuries kind of were his undoing. But Max Meyer is another guy. I look at this Marlin's rotation, He's going to have those opportunities.

Max Meyer at one point was the best pitching prospect in this system, and I feel like everyone's forgotten about him. I haven't, you haven't. I've talked to Craig Missh Who's going to be on our Betting Pro show next week. We're doing our MLB preview, So don't miss that on the Betting Pros next Wednesday. That show is going to be recorded. Meyer he already said like he is back, He is ready to go. He is ready to make an impact in the major leagues this season. So even

though he got sent down, don't freak out. By the time we get to Memorial Day, I think this kid's gonna be up. And James Wood having a terrific spring, hitting baseball's a mile long. This was the big piece that came back for them in that Soto trade, and I'm looking there at James Wood being a guy that is going to possibly be their new star, that guy that they build around. As much as you know, Lane Thomas is fun and CJ. Abrams has a lot of potential.

James Wood is the middle of the order guy. So what is that guy for me that I don't think it's gonna take very long. I think he's gonna have a month or two at Triple A and then after that you're going to see him up in the big leagues and it's only a matter of time before those moonshots get to the major leagues. Welsh, what do you think about these five names? Who stands out to you?

you can't afford to drop. In season, four percent walk rate, last year, twenty four percent k rate. He had an over forty percent whift rate on his change up and he throws all three the singer, fastball, change up, and slider. Those are his big three combo pitches, so he's not a two pitch pitcher. He's throwing all three at you twenty percent or more of the time, and huge whift rate on the change up almost thirty percent, whift rate

on the slider. Low walks in a great rotation and looks like he's going to have that for the majority of the year. I really love the Christopher Santezco. I love the Max Mayer call. My only weird thing with him is just coming off with Tommy John and what will they allow him to do, especially is their pitchers are just dropping like flies.

a retread guy. Bhutto is the one guy too. I don't know if you got to see him yet, Welsh, but if you haven't, check him out. Ten innings this year in the spring training, nine strikeouts, two walks. He's got a whip at one point one zero. He has just been terrific so far. And last year he did, you know, make a few appearances for the New York Mets in the big club. Had a three six four ERA over forty two winnings, thirty eight strikeouts, and he

did walk too many guys there. That's the trouble. He's got to cut down that walk rate. But some good adjustments in twenty twenty three that you saw for him, and I think that towards the end of the year last year you kind of figured it out and he carried over to the spring and so far not walking people in the spring, which I think is a really good sign. Again, pounding that strike zone, that's what you

want young pitchers to do. Al Central. Let's go to you, Welsh, back to the American League for five breakouts in the Central.

realm of possibility if he is given that. Going across the board, there's a lot of Edward Julian is a player that I think obviously is going to kind of break out, but going a little bit deeper, going with Matt Wallner because it does look like he's going to be given that shot, though they do have quite a few good bench utility ish type of players that can move around. Willie Castro is someone that could take away from it, but I'm going to go with Matt Walner

for this. Going over to the Guardians, here's one of my favorites, and I've been talking about him the day one of the AFL plenty of time before, but said this. I was actually just on a show the other day and I think it was Tim Kannak who writes here. Tim had said, when I think of Chase the Lotter, I think of you because of your gushing about him in the AFL. Well, because I said, like three days in.

I'm like, this is the best player here and he's a major league player, and I think the world is kind of being introduced to chase the Latter in a bigger scope because not many players have been hotter in spring. I know it's spring numbers, but he has a higher walk rate than strikeout rate in spring. He's hitting over five hundred, he has four homers, ten RBIs right now.

he can run. The Latter is ready for a breakout, and it looks like even though he hadn't really played higher levels and miss a lot of time last year, this could be someone that they push and I think he's in for a breakout because this Spring has been absolutely phenomenal. Number three or going over to the Kansas City Royals here, Mikel Garcia boy, whatever reason, I want to just want to call him Mikel Franco. Remember him third base?

going to be leading off for the Royals. He already still twenty four bases last year in limited ish work. I think he's going to be able to go over thirty. He's going to steal ten and he's not free free, but he's pretty close to what free looks like. Ten man leagues. He's free, twelve man leagues, it's closed. Fifteen mans. Is just kind of at the back end. MIKEL. Garcia is ready for the big breakout. And this is after stealing like twenty four bases in twenty twenty three going

over the Detroit Tigers. This is when I've been talking a bunch about Parker Meadows. He is another guy that might have some opportunities to be hitting high in the order twenty twenty bat. He's going to be manning that outfield. He has power. He also has experienced by the way leading off when he was out here in the AFL, he did exclusive leading off and that's something I saw in Lars Neubar and sometimes that tells you know where teams want a player to be working. And if he

gets that opportunity, there's going to be more runs. I'm not saying he will, but if he is to get that opportunity, you're gonna have a lot of run opportunities. But either way, he will run. Contact has been pretty solid. Parker Meadows is one of those rare ish twenty twenty bats that are going on the back end of a team that I think has a lot of breakouts. I almost put Matt Manning on this because he has had a phenomenal spring with the return flat fastball velocity. I

love Riley Green, Colt Keith is getting an opportunity. You want to talk about someone that is going to break out, it's Parker Meadows. And then Finally, this is the wackiest one. We're going to the Chicago White Sox, the breakout Michael Kopek. Michael Kopek, who just got put out of the starting rotation and thrown into the bullpen. I was just over at the White Sox and he gave me the most non answer ever. I said, Mike, are we going to close? And he goes, I don't know. He's like, I'm just

happy to be pitching. And I was like, that's a good that's a a good thought process in general. But you're gonna take Michael Kopak out of any of the potential to be a starter. They've already thrown out the idea that he might close. I do worry that he lacks some of the closing mentality. But here are the guys that he's going up against.

absolutely nothing. I'm trying to draft him everywhere right now. White Sox are weird. I'm not really sure what you look at with breakouts because they just got a rag tag group and Joan Mancata and Eloy But I'm gonna say Michael Kopek is the breakout as the new closer, and maybe maybe saves twenty twenty two games. That might be twenty two of the thirty that the White Sox win this year. But that's okay.

another open spot in that rotation. So that's another sooner than later Chase the latter is the guy I want to talk about though, from this grouping Welsh, this kid's been red hot in the spring also, I assume you saw in the Arizona Fall League, because in the Fall League he was also red hot, hit two ninety nine in the Fall League in twenty twenty three five twenty nine, slugging the ops was at nine to fourteen, yet five

homers drove in twenty seven runs. He also stole five bases too, So in twenty three games, five homers, five steals. The Guardians desperately need somebody else in this lineup, and I think that the latter would be that guy Welsh. Do you think that you know he is ready for the big leagues despite the fact, as you mentioned, did miss some time and in terms of like looking for you know, a lot of time in double and TRIPAA,

the guy doesn't. So do you think he needs more season or do you think this is a guy he's like, no, just get him up there to the big leagues and get him going.

picky early in the zone. But there's more aggression with Chase the Lotter. So why I think Chase the Lotter can be there now? I think you find defensively good base runner. But also it's like the way he approaches at bats, this is a good thing. Like he's not gonna get fooled into bad situations. He's going to take walks, he's gonna drive counts. He's in middle of the order bat right now. You know, baseball trainers in scout, they could tell me what more he needs to do. It

was just miss time. That's why he went to the AFL. But this is a guy that was almost the number one pick in the MLB draft before having kind of a down college season and some injury lingering things. Those are behind. He's having an insane spring and when you put in one hand Estevon Floriel and another hand, chase the lotter. To me, there's not a conversation. So chase the lotter is easy for the breakout and I think legit big numbers, especially if he gets back to stealing

like we've seen in the AFL. He is a big human being, but he can fly great athleticism. The only thing people pick on is he has this short follow through, which is kind of Mike trout ish, but I think it it What is so good about is it lets him cheat because he has such raw power. People are like, I don't think he's gonna be a he can. He cheats a little bit and all he needs is one good barrel, which he can get even on these non follow throughs and make the ball absolutely fly.

He's gonna face the back end of the Orioles rotation. We like some of the pieces in the Red Sox. Like I'm just looking around, Like outside of Houston, the Angels pitching staff leaves, I think something to be desired, some upside guys there, But outside of the Twins and the Seattle Mariners, Like, if you are a young hitter right now in the American League, I think there's every reason to be very encouraged that they're gonna be facing a lot of free tread guys, quad a guys, young

pitchers trying to figure it out. Like it. I mean, I think the National League right now, excus is the heavier pitching side of things. That's my take on it. I don't know if you agree. I think that's a good thing for any American League young hitter this year.

those decisions. But the positive would be is if they win some games early, maybe they turn a little bit later into April, once the you know, extra year is done, and both of those players can be up. And Delatter's a guy think could quickly kind of like a white Langford could be hitting in the middle of that order, not after long, like you know, if he game up let's say April twenty fifth, by May fifteenth, May twentieth, I could see him hitting three or four for the Guardians.

very quiet swing, very compact. There's not a lot of extra movement in it, so he doesn't I feel like he's a guy that's not gonna get fooled that often. You watch the highlights of Bush again, you see the power. You see that you know he's hitting moonshots everywhere. Looking good this spring too. I think it would behoove Chicago not to have him in the lineup every day. They could use a little bit more pop there in this lineup, I think. But Bush to me again, very quiet, body,

quiet lower half. He has that little front turn in of the foot too that you see like some of those great guys like Pools used to have that too, where he says really balanced to So a lot to like here with Michael Bush. And I do think he's a guy that contdit twenty five homers. So if you're looking for power late in your drafts. It's another guy that's relatively free in terms of ADP that I would

be drafting. Jordan Walker of the Saint Louis Cardinals, a player we were all very excited about last year, but I don't feel like you can really call it a breakout season. It was an improved season, a season where there were struggles in the beginning, got sent down, came up, saw a better version of him. But I'm not ready to write him off. So I think there's potential for a breakout here for Jordan Walker where we could see the best of him. It's easier in Milwaukee. It's Jackson Curio.

You know, Deal Hall could have been this guy for me. But you know, I know Welsh still has some questions about how good he might be right out of the gate. I know we had Eric Cross on last week he kind of mentioned the same thing. I still think there's breakout potential here. He could, potentially, in the second half especially, really start to get his feet under him. And I think, you know, when you have young players with big expectations and big contracts, it would not shock me if he

got off to a slow start. I don't think he's the kind of guy you send down. I think he's the kind of guy you let him work through the problems and build the confidence. Nick Lodolo another post type guy. A couple of years ago, we were all very excited about Nick Lodolo. This Red's pitching staff feels a little like you know what, holding water in a paper bag, Like it's gonna start leaking at some point. And I want to see if Lodolo can be that patch, Like

if that could be the guy left. He sometimes take a little bit longer to figure things out. Him and Hunter Green two years ago, two of the most sought after young pitching prospects, and I think everybody's kind of cooled on them. And I think Lodolo has an opportunity to really put it all together this year and make a fair amount of starts this year for the Reds. Again, to me, breakouts about volume as much as it is

about talent. I think the talent is there. I think you know, he's beaten around a little bit, had some injuries he had to deal with too. A healthy Nick Lodolo refocused, I think a little bit more experienced is a better version. He just needs the opportunity now, and I think he's gonna get that with the Reds in twenty twenty four as the season goes on, and of

course with Pittsburgh. I mean it's O'Neal Cruise and I say breakout because as good as that first year was in terms of wetting the appetite for us, we haven't seen what Cruz can really do. A thirty thirty season is possible for this player. I'm not quite as high as Welsh's on Cruise. I still think there's a lot of swing and miss that always bothers me with players, but it's hard not to be excited about the breakout potential.

So those are my guys in the National League Central Welsh, which one stands out to you?

like risk reward that's going on here. What is unique about him is to your point, like we talk so much, we've talked so much about him for like three years or two and a half years, we haven't had a season. We haven't had a breakout at all. So that's why, like he is eligible for this all of the things I would add, you know, with Surio, I'm fine with Suri. I just I think there's questions I've draft I just

drafted him in DC actually last night. I think there's there's just questions on does he struggle and iverse that with his manager Pat Murphy, who doesn't put up with a lot, Like I don't know if I don't know how long the leash will be with Pat Murphy. So that's what I worry about. But Michael Bush is probably one of my favorites. He's on my draft list. I think we had the Welsh draft cheat sheet over on

Fantasy Pros Final people doing drafts here. But I love it because they kind of made the commitment to him. They pushed Pete frow Armstrong out who you know, defensively is a top notch, top notch center fielder. Bellinger is going to man that to some degree. He might come over to place them first. But they've got DH and they've got first base for Michael Bush to play around with. I'd also say, I'm not saying that will do this, but possibility if Chris Morel just absolutely stunk at third base,

like that's where Michael Busch was before. So there's some good flexibility. I think he can hit for fine average big power numbers are out there. I'm very into the Michael Bush one. I like that one.

two p nine so far. He's had a sub three ERA in Spring again, spring numbers, blah blah blah, but it's been good performances. Hunter Brown a disciple of Justin Verlander. You know, always there's similarities in that game. The consistency I think can get locked in this year. This Astro team is a great Astros team. They've got a really good rotation and Hunter Brown is ready to put in a full season and I think you're going to see that consistency. I think he is going to be a

pretty big payoff here. We might be looking at him. We legit might be looking him as the number two fantasy pitcher from this team, and that does say a lot for the Houston Astros. Moving down to the Seattle Mariners, he is not joining the Splitter mafia, but he will join this breakout list. We're gonna go with Brian Woo, Brian wu all the time. Fifth starter seems locked up.

What was one of my biggest worries I kept annoyingly talking about was like, I'm a little worried that this team might go out and get Blake Snell, and that might either a make Wu kind of a sixth man rotation y type of guy or make him expendable in general. That wasn't the case. They have him seems committed. He

definitely has one of the best fastballs in baseball. It's gonna be interesting to see his growth because and my joke, by the way, with the splitter mafia was I asked him, was he going to join all those other guys They tinker, Kirby and Gilbert and Bryce Miller. They tinker, they add pitches. Bryce Miller's putting more gyro into his slider and he's doing split fingers, and Wu is just like he wants to continue doing his thing as ball slider pump the zone. He just has to know who you are.

Bryce Miller was a skyrocketing player. So I think he's lined up for a pretty big breakout. This is probably the biggest name. This is my version of your O'Neil Cruz where we roll our eyes and we're like, okay, guys, we get it. You say, O'Neil Cruz, I say, why at Langford you put Churi on this as well? You look at that team. There's guys that are getting opportunities.

Justin Foscue, you could get some opportunities this year. You know, there's a couple other rookies that are kind of floating around that you might you might see more Ezekiel derand but White Langford, the breakout is ready. Everybody saw what happened in the spring, tippy top of the home run board. He's been with the majors this entire time. As we're recording that, they just haven't announced where you know him being on the opening day roster. But we're gonna get it.

We're gonna get it, and White Langford is gonna hit high in the order. He's gonna surpass Evan Carter this year to being the more valuable of those guys and probably put himself in as Rookie of the Year. So because he has not never had the chance, he hasn't had a major league at bat in the majors. Here, the breakout is just gonna start from day one. We're gonna get Wyatt Langford. Number two. Nolan Shanwell struggle with

his name. This is a funny one because like he's not being drafted in a lot of spots, and this was the guy that in the same season, within a month, I saw him in his like second pro game in complex ball next to my house in rookie ball. A month later he's in the major leagues. It's phenomenal. He makes tons of great contact, patient hitter, advanced hitter so much he can get to the majors. But there's been no power to speak of bad hard hit numbers in general.

But he's been working on it. We're starting to see that the ball get in the air a little bit more. I'm gonna say that he is gonna go from one of those guys that we weren't drafting to we're picking up in season and holding because he's gonna hit up the tippy top of the lineup, might be leading off. If he can get up to fifteen homer power, he's

gonna make him. It's kind of gonna be YONDI diaz Ish where it's like, you know, they're making tons of contact, batting average is good, he might be scoring a bunch of runs. He's just got to get a little bit more in the counting stats. I think he's gonna be a little bit more aggressive this year. He's ready to break out. And then finally I'm going to the Oakland, Las Vegas, maybe Utah. I don't know where are they

gonna go. Where they gonna play. There was a rumor that they would play out here in May, said ho Ho com their spring training facility. They don't have a place. I don't know where they'll play, but it's gonna be with Mason Miller breaking out. Mason Miller kind of like this Copek thing. I actually weirdly put two players that are closers in here. But Mason Miller looks like he is destined for the bullpen. This team is not giving him the commitment to a rotation spot. They want him

in the bullpen. There's no reason from day one to not put him in the ninth inning. Dropping one oh one one oh two could be a devastating closer for this team. He is ready for that breakout. He'll have a full season, but it's gonna be about sixty or seventy innings in the bullpen. You might get twenty five saves. Plus he's being drafted really late. He's gonna be a big breakout. His stuff has top ten closer potential for sure. So Mason Miller will be my pick for the A's.

like he didn't do in the minor leagues. It's not like he has basically just smashed balls everywhere every time he's got the opportunity, like he has gone. He's starting to fly up draft boards, especially towards the end of drafts here. The cost, especially in those salary cap leagues, has gone off the charts, almost to the point where

it's nearly untenable. But I will say, if you are in more casual leagues and you could be just a little bit more aggressive on him, I'd be very surprised if he did not deliver on the ADP, even if it is more aggressive by two rounds even three rounds, Like I know that sounds crazy, Like why do I

want to go three rounds above on a player? If I'm gonna go three rounds or maybe even four rounds above on a player, it's why at Langford and I don't think that's a hot take because I think the potential there for him, especially in this batting order, which could be a very good order when Corey seekers healthy and what Simeon's done so consistently last three years. You know,

Nate Lowe getting healthier too, hopefully sooner than later. It's a good lineup and Langford being smacked down somewhere in the middle of it. Man like I am very excited about for Langfort's potential. All Right, National League West, let's wrap things up here. The Dodgers and get Stone. I would love to put Emmet she Han on this list, but she ended struggle last year except for the very end of the year. Last two starts were good, but I don't want to take too much out of that.

He's hurt right now. So it's between those two guys. I'm gonna go with Stone because I do think there's gonna be opportunities. James Paxton never pitches for a long period of time, Clayton Kershaw's not coming back until August. There's gonna be starts available. I mean, Tyler glasst now hasn't exactly been Nolan Ryan in terms of durability in

his career. So at some point in time, and we know ya Momoto did not get off to the best start here potentially, I don't want to overreact to that either, but Stone, I think, as I mentioned earlier, opportunity is what you need for a breakout. I know Welsh has not been in love with this pitcher in the past, but he has certainly proven that he's worthy of the opportunity.

And if the Dodgers are anything close to what they can be, Stone's gonna have win potential, some quality star potential in there too if he can get into the sixth inning. So he's an intriguing guy to me with the potential breakout. And it's hard to get on the Dodgers because so many of these guys are already stars. Look for a guy that isn't a star yet but could potentially be a breakout. Stone could be that guy. The next guy is starting pitcher Kyle Harrison, who I

absolutely have fallen in love with this draft season. The ADP is great. Harrison is a picture right now who has really just been dominant this spring. Eleven strikeouts in nine innings, a one point nine to three ERA over those nine innings, a one point one to seven Whip and Welsh. The giant signing of Blake Snell, I think is such an important thing here because now you're pushing Harrison to the middle of the back of this rotation.

He doesn't have to carry the weight here. You've got Logan Webb, you've got Blake Snell, you got your two horses up front. I think mentally that takes always a lot of pressure off young pitchers, and Harrison has been fantastic. So that's a guy that I've been trying to be more aggressive on. Jackson Merrill starting for the San Diego Padres. Opportunity there, talent there. Welsh has gone on and on

about Merrill, and you know what, He's right. It's a player that qualifies a shortstop, but he's gonna play the outfield, so flexibility's going to be there. By the time we turn the page to April into man, Meryl's gonna qualify probably both of those spots. That's huge, good contact guy. Again, where he hits in the order is a matter of how hard hot he stays, so let's keep that in mind. And the last two are gonna be easy here with Arizona, it's Brandon Fott he has that potential to be the

breakout guy. I don't think he had the breakout last year. I think he showed you the potential last year. This is the year where breakout could be. He's got to find more consistency, Kenny carry over what he did last year at the end of the year and in the playoffs. Welsh is confident that he can. I'm confident he can as well. That's gonna be huge if they're gonna continue to compete with the big boys. And let me tell you, this division is red hot. The Giants are for real,

they are in it. They spent money this offseason. Snell is a big addition, a huge addition the Padres. I'm telling you that Padre's rotation is gonna be very good. The batting order is still very good. And lastly, here you know Arizona Diamondbacks. We already know about the Dodgers, but the d Backs are gonna be in this so Fot's gonna have to step up his game to compete in this division. And lastly, Ezekiel Tovar, our guy that we've been hype up here, Welsh has kind of come

to my side on this one, which is great. For a change. I love this. Tlvar was a player who struggled in his first season. He's twenty one years old. He's still very young. He has put the work in. I've seen some interviews with him too, very encourage about how he handles himself. He was also really recognizing what went wrong for him last year, and I think self evaluation for young players is something you don't see often.

And I'm always excited when a young player says, yeah, you know what, I got to get back to making more hard contact. I got to get back to not striking out, putting the ball in play a little bit. And I've really worked on that this offseason and kind of fixing some things that I used to do well in the minor leagues that I kind of got out of whack in the major leagues. And you know what, that's a kind of player that's going to have success.

He's got power. He plays in Colorado, the stats are going to be even if he's mediocre, a little bit better than mediocre. I think he's got potential to be really good. One of my favorite late shortstop, especially if you are playing in leagues with middle infielders. So the West looks really good here Stone Harrison, Merrill Fott, and Tovar Welsh who stands out to you.

to move up in that lineup. And then Brandon Fott is one that you know, listen Homer or whatever it is. He was phenomenal in the World Series and in the playoffs, and I do hope that that's going to carry over. I think he's got a lot of the tools for that to carry over full workload of being a major leaguer in camps this year, I think he's in line for a big one. And both of the costs are

really great. So Jackson, Marilyn Brandon fought probably my favorite breakouts that you put on the NL West my division mine.

is another guy having a great spring. Gay attention. I almost picked him, but Harrison's been so good and pitching is you know, so hard to find and I think that's the way. But his extra credit one. But we want to hear from you. Who are the potential breakouts that you love in twenty twenty four? Comment below on this video. And by the way, I just realized at the end of the show, we're we match today. We both wore fantas.

the opening day of Leading Off. Real baseball is already happening, so kinda, but the season really begins on Thursday, so be a part of Leading Off Live every single Monday through Friday, twelve thirty Eastern. Make sure you're ringing that bell for notifications because we've got the Waiver Wire videos coming back, we got the trade videos coming back, we got the short form stuff, the long form stuff, leading Off Welsh. It's gonna be a beautiful season. I'm excited for it.

get the best tools on the planet. Because guess what, the season has begun. That'll do it for us, But the story of the game goes on for the Welsh. I'm Joey P. We'll see you next time. Kids breakout