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Mets starter Johan Santana threw a 40 pitch bullpen session yesterday and appears on track to make his first spring training start on Tuesday. I am very curious to see what the velocity is on his fastball. For his change up to be effective, the fastball has to be in the low 90s. Time will tell. How many starts does he make this year? I am on record as saying he will make under 20 starts this season. The real question is how effective he will be on those starts. He is probably a late round pick in NL-Only leagues at this point.
Ron Castellano over at SB Nation's Mets blog, Amazin Avenue, has video of Santana's pen session earlier in the week, along with coverage of an interview with Santana. The majority of Amazin Avenue readers think he will make 15-24 starts this season.
More fantasy baseball thoughts after the jump:
Speaking of NL-only leagues, I am participating in an NL-only mock draft tonight, hosted by Rotoprofessor. I may try a different strategy in this mock than I used in my previous NL-only mock a few weeks ago.
Indians third base prospect Lonnie Chisenhall batted 9th in Saturday's spring training game, and Shin-Soo Choo batted third. The Indians are looking for a bounce back season from Choo and for Chisenhall to win the third base job. Chisenhall is battling Jack Hannahan, who has the better glove, yet Chis has the better bat. Chisenhall hit .279-.295-.465 with 4 HRs and 14 RBI in 86 September at bats last season.
The Padres signed outfielder Cameron Maybin to a 5 year, $25 million deal yesterday that covers his 3 remaining arbitration years and one year of free agency, along with an option for 2017. Can Maybin reach his potential when he calls San Diego home? He hit much better on the road than he did at home last season. On the road, he hit .294-.349-.457 with 7 HRs, 29 RBI and 21 steals, and hit just .231-.294-.324 with 2 HRs, 19 RBI and 19 steals.
Astros utility player Jason Bourgeois started in center field yesterday and I think he could get 350-400 at bats playing second base and center field in 2012. He is a threat to steal 35+ bases should he get enough playing time.
Blue Jays outfielder Eric Thames started in left field yesterday and went 2-3 with a 5th inning home run. Thames is in a battle for the left field job with former prospect Travis Snider. Who wins the left field job in Toronto? My money is on Thames.
Phillies outfielder Domonic Brown started in left field yesterday, batting 8th in the lineup, and went 0-2 before being replaced by Juan Pierre. If nothing else, this tells you that the Phillies bench will be deep this season. Brown will have to impress the Phillies brass to make the Opening Day lineup.
I was checking some of Buster Olney's tweets this morning and he has mentioned Brennan Boesch a few times in his blog posts since the Tigers signed Prince Fielder, and may be worth taking a closer look before draft day:
Buster_ESPN Buster Olney
Count David Ortiz among those who believe the Tigers' Brennan Boesch is headed for a monster year. Talked to him the other day about this.
Boesch hit .283-.341-.458 with 16 HRs, 54 RBI and 75 runs scored in 428 at bats last season. He went for $17 in the LABR AL-Only league auction last night, and has an ADP of 220.40 over at Mock Draft Central.
The Mets are getting hit with the injury bug already as David Wright won't see any game action till later this week as he is nursing a left rib cage injury. Teammate Ike Davis is being treated for Valley Fever. Diamondbacks first baseman Conor Jackson had a serious case of Valley Fever a few years ago and he was out till mid-season. I don't think Davis' case is as serius, but we will keep you posted.