Fantasy Baseball Six-Pack: With new rules, offense is up across the board, and it's glorious

We're roughly three weeks into the season, and the biggest statistical trend in fantasy baseball is that there's a lot more of ... well, everything. Run scoring, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging and homers are all up. Base-stealing is massively up, as if from another era. Meanwhile, average game time is a delightful 2 hours, 39 minutes.

These are boom times for fans and fantasy managers, friends. Here's a six-pack of stats to help us make sense of the game...

92.0: Jarred Kelenic's average exit velocity is 92.0 miles per hour in his 56 plate appearances, ranking 35th among qualified hitters — just behind Bo Bichette and dead-even with Shohei Ohtani. Kelenic is keeping pretty decent company. His barrel rate has jumped to 19.4%, and his line-drive rate is now at 25.0. He has been stinging the ball whenever he sees a left-handed pitcher, too.

When you factor in Kelenic's stellar spring (1.095 OPS), it's tough to conclude that his early production is fluky. We appear to have a huge post-hype breakout on our hands. Feel free to victory lap if you never stopped believing.

82.6: Stolen base success rate across MLB was at 82.6% through Sunday's games, a dramatic jump from last year's 74.9%. This is consistent with the results from the minor leagues last season under the new disengagement rules. Total steals to this point are up an astonishing 49%, which has to be at the outer reaches of what anyone might've reasonably expected. Also: It's awesome. Base-stealing is fun. Action is fun.

And yet, somehow, the notoriously un-fun Minnesota Twins entered the week having stolen only one base — ONE! — on three attempts through 16 games. The Twins ranked last in baseball in steals last season as well, swiping just 38 bags. A base-stealing renaissance is underway almost everywhere, but not up north.

16: Tampa Bay Rays pitching prospect Taj Bradley has struck out 16 batters in his 12.0 innings this season, splitting his time between Durham and the majors. He punched out eight over five frames against the Red Sox last week, showcasing a lively fastball and evil curve:

The 22-year-old deserves pickup consideration ahead of his Tuesday road start against the Cincinnati Reds. Bradley struck out 141 batters over 133.1 innings in the high minors last season, producing an ERA of 2.57. We can make no promises with pitching prospects (or Rays) generally, but the injury to Jeffrey Springs clearly creates an opportunity.

7: Fernando Tatis Jr. needed only eight games and 33 at-bats for Triple-A El Paso to reach seven homers, which of course is just silly. He went 14-for-20 in his last four games with the Chihuahuas, hitting six bombs and driving in 13. It would seem he'll be ready to go when eligible Thursday.

Let's hope his return can reanimate Juan Soto and the rest of San Diego's lineup. As a team, the Padres are hitting just .231/.316/.404, and they've been shut out in consecutive games.

1.041: Let the record show that Chicago Cubs first-base prospect Matt Mervis currently has a 1.041 OPS for Triple-A Iowa, playing at a level he dominated last season. Mervis is 25 years old and coming off a year in which he cleared the fence 36 times at three stops, slashing .309/.379/.605 along the way. He has more walks (13) than Ks (9) in the early weeks, too. If you're looking for a power bat to stash, there aren't many better options than Mervis. Cubs first basemen are not exactly off to a scorching start, so it's easy to make the case for a call-up.

0.1: That's how many innings Bryce Harper has played at first base in his 11-year career, but he's preparing to see time at the position upon returning from his UCL injury. In recent days, we've also learned that Harper might not need a rehab assignment before rejoining the Philadelphia Phillies — he has been hitting for weeks — and the only thing he hasn't yet been cleared to do in a game is slide.

He sure seems to be close to returning. The team apparently already has a date circled on the calendar. If he's back in May, he'd beat the original ETA by nearly two full months. Harper, simply put, is looking like he might have been a filthy steal in fantasy drafts.