It didn't take long for the Trevor Rogers secret to be unleashed. Those who followed spring training and knew the pedigree of the Marlins left-hander were able to get him cheap in drafts. He began to gain steam as the spring went on, especially in high-stakes formats.

The latest start by Rogers showed why he was a hidden gem. Rogers made the Mets look clueless on Saturday, pitching six scoreless innings, allowing three hits, two walks and he struck out ten. He induced 19 swings and misses on 82 pitches.

Rogers wasn't as sharp in his first start against the Cardinals, walking three in the first inning and admitted to jitters. He settled down and went four innings, allowing two hits, two earned runs, four walks and struck out six.

Rogers, a first-round pick in 2017, averages 95.6 mph with his fastball and throws a nasty slider with a changeup and he should be rostered in all leagues. Rogers skipped Triple-A and made his debut last season. In seven games spanning 28 innings, he allowed 32 hits, walked 13 and struck out 39 with a 6.11 ERA and 1.61 WHIP.

Even with those poor stats, he was on my radar as a lefty that throws hard. As the spring went on, the interest grew.  I was able to land Rogers in The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational in early March in round 24 of a 15-team league. That was before the spring hype. A few weeks later, I had to take him in round 20 in the NFBC Main Event. In one of his final spring starts, he pitched 5.2 scoreless innings, allowed two hits, one walk and stuck out ten. He finished the spring with a 2.84 ERA and a 29:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 19 innings.

Taking Advantage of Market

There were a lot of players that were drafted off the 2020 season, ignoring their track record of success. It was clear J.D. Martinez was mispriced in drafts. Martinez was a player going in the first or second round in recent years, yet he was falling anywhere from rounds seven-to-ten in 15-team leagues.

I took Martinez at pick 97 in the Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational and took him in round four of the 15-team Tout Wars mixed league draft. The reason why I pushed him up there is the league uses on-base percentage. I drafted Martinez in some draft champion leagues, too.

Martinez was bad in 2020 with a slash line of .213/.291/.389 with 22 runs, seven home runs and 27 RBI in 211 at-bats. It was an odd season and Martinez said he wasn't ready to play and was also affected by the lack of watching video during the game. It was an odd season that had a different impact on many.

I just didn't think Martinez lost his skills all of a sudden. In 2019, Martinez slashed .304/.383/.557 with 98 runs, 36 home runs, and 105 RBI in 575 at-bats. The one issue for this season was the eligibility of utility in most leagues. In some, he has outfielder eligibility. There were a lot of good options to take for those with utility-only eligibility like Yordan Alvarez , Nelson Cruz , Franmil Reyes , Shohei Ohtani and Giancarlo Stanton , so you couldn't draft two.

Glas-WOW

Tyler Glasnow was a pitcher I targeted last season and was pleased with the results. Pitching got pushed up and it became more costly to acquire the Rays right-hander in 2021. I had planned to take him at pick 38 in a 15-team NFBC Main Event league.

As I always say, adjust to the draft room because you never know what will fall to you. I was stunned to see Eloy Jiménez fall to pick 38 and took him and Glasnow didn't make it back. Well, that hurt and I didn't land Glasnow anywhere.

Glasnow has been dominant. In three starts, Glasnow has pitched 19.2 innings and allowed seven hits, one run, three walks and struck out 29. Glasnow mainly threw two pitches the last few seasons and has added a slider he has thrown 29.3 percent of the time. The new pitch coupled with the lack of walks means Glasnow has an immense ceiling and can contend for the Cy Young award.

Tall pitchers tend to take some time to get the mechanics in form and the 6-foot-8 Glasnow seems to have put things together. While Glasnow has taken advantage of two bad offenses in Texas and Miami, he was also excellent against the Red Sox. Glasnow has never thrown more than 111.2 innings in a season at the major league level, but innings are a concern for most pitchers coming off the short season.

Fab Freddy

If you did a draft in early March and took advantage of a cheap Freddy Peralta , you're feeling good right now. I took Peralta in round 23 in early March in a 15-team league. This is the area where you want to take skilled players with upside. At the time I drafted him, he was projected to be a reliever.

As the spring went on, it became apparent he was going to be in the starting rotation. By the time my NFBC Main Event came around, I knew I had to be aggressive to land him and took him in round 16. The results have been great so far, but there are some concerns.

Peralta pitched on Opening Day in relief against the Twins, throwing two innings and allowed two hits, walked three and struck out six. The first start came against the Cubs and he went five scoreless innings and allowed one hit, walked four and struck out eight. Peralta got another start against the Cubs on Monday and went six innings, allowing two hits, one run, two walks while striking out ten. In 13 innings, he has allowed five hits, walked nine, and struck out 24.

The Cubs have been one of the worst offenses in baseball. Peralta has to cut the walks down. He has a 17.6 percent walk rate and better teams will take advantage. Peralta has excellent stuff and a good slider, but he can't command it at times. Peralta only pitched 29.1 innings last season and 85 innings in 2019. Still, he was very cheap in drafts and should be an excellent value.