Spring Training is always a strenuous time of the year for journalists. Baseball fans are always excited when pitchers and catchers report to camp, and eventually the hitters, but there isn’t much to follow in the meantime. Most fans don’t even know why they are excited.

It leads writers to talk about the same things year after year, especially in fantasy sports; Player A is having a great spring, don’t read too much into it, or Player B is having a bad spring and there’s reason to be concerned, or Player C is having an MRI and until we see him pitch, don’t draft him.

 While there aren’t specific players that always follow this mold, we are already starting to see the “feature articles,” come out of the woodwork where we learn about the latest news on every player imaginable, sometimes including what they ate for lunch. As much as I love baseball and reading these articles, it’s important to contain your excitement.

After fans start reading these articles as heavily as some of the fantasy insiders, then opinions start to change dramatically. It is important to not get too far ahead of yourself, and here at FantasyPros911.com we try to keep everything in perspective. 

There are some important things to keep an eye on in the spring like the health of players fresh off of surgery, but reports are always going to be optimistic and report that they are ahead of schedule. Very few players will actually end up behind schedule in the spring, and remember, there is no World Baseball Classic this season.

Spring Training is a much better evaluation tool for defense than offense or pitching. Pitchers are often trying new things and hitters toy around with their stances and swings, while defensively, teams attempt to mesh and commit as few errors as possible. Because defense is prominent in the spring, there isn’t much to follow for the average fantasy owner.

A few things that are important to keep an eye on though are prospects and early injury concerns. The Atlanta Braves are going to be a team that are covered intensely this spring with Jason Heyward, the consensus #1 overall prospect in baseball, competing for a starting job in the outfield, Tommy Hanson looking to repeat a standout rookie season, and Jair Jurrjens already undergoing an MRI for shoulder issues. 

If you pay close attention to the Braves, like myself, you’ll drive yourself crazy over daily reports on these three, particularly Heyward, who is an extremely gifted player who was considered for Major League playing time last year. I’ve interviewed the kid, and from a character standpoint, he really stands out compared to many other minor leaguers, and all of the scouts have nothing but great things to say.

All in all, it’s important to keep it all in perspective when reading about Spring Training and to make sure that you don’t get too excited yet. Baseball has a very long season and it’s important not to get worn out too early as a fantasy owner.

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