Sleeper- Jonathan Loaisiga
Johnny Lasagna as some call him in the Bronx has an elite arsenal and the makeup to be a dominant starting pitcher. Loaisiga had 33 strikeouts in 24 innings. His era ballooned to 5.11 after two bad relief appearances however that doesn’t tell the story of how good he was when he started. He gave up just 6 runs in 17.3 innings as a starter. It’s possible at times the Yankees can go with a 6 man rotation to give extra rest to the rotation. It is also possible he is the first man up if one of the starters went down with injury. Loaisiga is a must have in dynasty and keeper leagues and can have some late value in redraft leagues.
Breakout- James Paxton
When it comes to James Paxton the only question is how many innings is he going to pitch for the season. If Paxton can avoid the injury bug and pass his typical 160 innings he can emerge as an elite option for fantasy baseball. Paxton has emerged as one of the best strikeout pitchers in baseball. His elite arsenal helped him punch out 208 hitters in just 160 innings. Some belief Paxton will be a dark horse CY Young contender this season.
Bust- 1B for the Yankees
I think Luke Voit is going to be productive and provide some power however I do worry that Greg Bird and Clint Frazier could cut into his playing time. If the Yankees land Manny Machado then I think Miguel Andujar could play a ton of first base. For now the biggest concern with Voit or Bird is that the Yankees platoon the two. It’s also possible that Voit’s monster season was a fluke and Bird just isn’t very good. I’d take Voit late in drafts but he’s a concern. Bird belongs on the waiver wire.
Bold Call- Giancarlo Stanton will have a year similar on par to his 2017 MVP season. Stanton will put his name in the baseball record books slugging 60 home runs.
