There's been no shortage of hype surrounding various Brewers prospects dating back to the start of Spring Training. At various points in the spring, Sal Frelick (who got sent to Triple-A to open the season) and Joey Wiemer (who was recently recalled after Luis Urias landed on the IL) were the talk of Fantasy Baseball circles, and Garrett Mitchell ended up cracking the Opening Day roster with some hype around his speed-oriented game. But it's possible we may have overlooked one.
Brice Turang ended the spring with a lower FantasyPros ADP than Frelick or Mitchell (though he was ahead of Wiemer), but it's possible he might end up being the best of the bunch for Fantasy. Or, at least, since he cracked the Opening Day roster and started three of the first four games, he might be the most immediately useful.
Turang made his presence felt in a big way Monday against the Mets as he clubbed his first career homer, a 417-foot grand slam as part of a 2-for-3 day with a walk. Turang is now five for 10 with three walks and only one strikeout to open his MLB career, and he's thrown in a couple of stolen bases for good measure.
Turang is a former first-round pick who was a top-100 prospect back in 2021, and he might be emerging as something of a late bloomer (though he's still just 23). He hit .286/.360/.412 last season at Triple-A with 13 homers and 34 steals, and it's the speed that figures to be most valuable for Fantasy.
The question is whether he'd hit enough, and so far, he is. Whether he'll be able to keep it up remains to be seen. But the early returns are promising enough to get excited about.
I was interested in Mahle as a potential bounceback candidate this preseason, but given how much he struggled last season (amid some shoulder issues), some skepticism was warranted. He wasn't overwhelming in his first start of the season, but it was a pretty impressive showing Monday against the Marlins, as he limited them to just one run on five hits and a walk over five innings. Mahle didn't generate a ton of swinging strikes – eight on 83 pitches – but he still managed seven strikeouts in the outing. It wasn't a dominant performance, but it was a good first step. Especially since his fastball velocity was up to 93.8 mph, just below what he managed in 2021, when he struck out 210 hitters and had a 3.75 ERA.
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It's only four games, but you have to love what we're seeing from Gallo right now. He hit his third homer Monday against the Marlins, and he has just four strikeouts in 14 plate appearances. It's reasonable to be very skeptical about the strikeout rate – a 29% mark would be the first time he's ever been below 34% – but it is at least possible that he's rediscovering his 2021 form. Things went poorly in the second half after he was traded to the Yankees, but Gallo still finished with 38 homers and an .809 OPS that season. With power harder to find, Gallo still has plenty of it when he's right, and he looks right. For now, at least.
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Garrett got sent down Monday as the Marlins looked to add some relief help, but I imagine he'll be back on a plane to Miami after Johnny Cueto left Monday's start with a biceps injury. Cueto is likely headed to the IL as a result of the injury, which limited him during the spring, and that should give Garrett a shot in the Marlins rotation. Garrett was pretty impressive in 17 starts last season, putting up a 3.58 ERA with 90 strikeouts in 88 innings, and he could be pretty useful for Fantasy if he does get another opportunity. If this was later in the season, the Marlins might have turned to top prospect Eury Perez, but Garrett is likely going to get the first chance here, and he's worth adding in deeper leagues.
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Hendriks announced Monday that he is set to undergo his last round of chemotherapy as he continues to battle non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and it sounds like there's a very real chance we're going to see him back on an MLB mound soon. That's incredible news, obviously, and while the baseball implications aren't the most important thing here, Hendriks is one of the best closers in the game and he could be back pitching for the White Sox soon. The White Sox didn't add him to the 60-day IL to open the season, with general manager Rick Hahn telling reporters before Monday's game it was "for a reason." Reynaldo Lopez looks like the closer for the White Sox for now, but Hendriks looks like he's coming back for that job. And what a great story that will be.
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