Covering Thursday's games we have Smada on MLB, Rhys White at Triple-A, Matt Thompson on Double-A, Grant Carver at High-A and Nate Rasmussen giving us some fun names to know at Single-A.
Major League Baseball
Covered by Smada
Only a handful of games today, but we still got a throng of double dongs and Quinn Priester getting deployed into Colorado immediately after getting acquired.
💣💣 Mike Trout, DH LAA (MLB)
2-for-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
💣💣 Taylor Ward, LF LAA (MLB)
2-for-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
💣💣 Jo Adell, CF LAA (MLB)
2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI
A trio of Angels players went Double Dong in the short Thursday slate of games. Taylor Ward has woken up from his early season slumber with 3 HR in the last two. Mike Trout is beginning to look like his old self and has gotten up to X HR already. However the multi-homer game (in one inning!) was most important for Jo Adell who had missed a couple games due to injury and is getting some competition in CF from Kyren Paris, though he’s got a second base job in the short term. This is a make or break year for Adell and the Angels will give him a long look before cutting bait. The improved plate discipline and contact from 2024 needs to continue in order for him to be a useful fantasy OF.
Jose Soriano, RHP LAA (MLB)
7.2 IP, 5 H, ER, 3 BB, 4 K
This Angels team… up by 9 runs heading into the 8th inning of an early April game, but sure let’s trot Soriano out there again. Soriano has been quite impressive through three starts and while the strikeouts will lag behind, a mid-three ERA over 200 IP is more than within the realm of outcomes.
Kyle Manzardo, 1B CLE (MLB)
2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI
Manzardo continues to rake to start the season with his 4th of the year. So far he’s earned the full time DH role and he gave Carlos Santana a breather at 1B in this game. If he can continue to rack of starts against LHP then 25-30 HR isn’t out of reach.
Gavin Williams, RHP CLE (MLB)
5 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, 7 K
Williams generated 16 whiffs in a very solid start against the White Sox. However, he did run up the pitch count to 94 after just 5 innings. Efficiency has been an issue typically stemming from walks. If Williams could get the BB% in that 7-8% range we’d be looking at a very good SP.
Joey Cantillo, LHP CLE (MLB)
2 IP, 2 H, BB, 4 K
Even though Cantillo didn’t make the rotation out of spring he did make the bullpen and has been more than solid in the role to open the year. He’s struck out 8 batters across 7.1 IP while allowing just 1 ER. Not unlike Hayden Birdsong, there’s a good chance he gets into the rotation at some point. Still a worth hold in dynasty leagues and a reactionary pickup whenever he does get a big league rotation spot in redraft leagues.
Quinn Priester, LHP MIL (MLB)
5 IP, 5 H, ER, 2 BB, 4 K
After getting dealt to the Brewers earlier in the week, Priester was immediately thrust into action at the big league level to start in Colorado. Priester met the moment as the only damage he allowed was a leadoff homer to Brenton Doyle. Despite sitting at just 72 pitches, Priester was yanked after 5 innings. Historically, he’s been a pitcher who’s been able to keep the ball on the ground and if he can maintain that 50%+ GB while minimizing the home runs he’s got the potential to be a useful fantasy starter. If there is anywhere that can happen, it’s with the Brewers.
Triple-A
Oops, all pitchers, to start.
Covered by Rhys White
🔜 Spencer Strider, RHP ATL (Triple-A)
5.1 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, 13 K
Strider is ready; when you get thirteen of the sixteen outs, you get in a game, and by the way of the strikeout, you are more than ready to come up. He led Triple-A with twenty-five swings and misses, twelve off the fastball. Thankfully, this is his last outing here in Triple-A, and he gets to go up and form one of the best 1-2-3s in all of baseball with the Triple S tag-team duo in Strider-Sale-Schwellenbach.
Parker Messick, LHP CLE (Triple-A)
5 IP, 5 H, 8 K
More like Parker MakeMessick with just how uncomfortable of an AB he is. I think the Guardians keep him as a starter because he has shown starter command throughout his career, but it’s a tough slot that could play well as a reliever if needed. The fastball was hovering in its usual low 90s spot, and the changeup was its usual disgusting self. Seventy-three pitches in that one, and 50 of them were for strikes.
Cade Horton, RHP CHC (Triple-A)
4 IP, 3 H, ER, 3 BB, 6 K
Horton hears a who? Horton continues to post his usual future SP 3 line. The upside with Horton isn’t very high, as the stuff is good, but it’s a floor play. He will be a perfectly fine middle-of-the-rotation starter in real life and fantasy. However, this projection can change if he or the Cubs take and add a viable fourth pitch. He is the exact opposite of the current pitching meta; he has one fastball, effectively one breaking ball and a changeup, whereas the new meta seems to be multiple fastballs and a breaking ball or two. I worry that I may have slightly overrated Horton in his prospective career, expecting more ceiling than he has shown.
Seth Johnson, RHP PHI (Triple-A)
5 IP, 2 H, ER, 3 BB, 6 K
I still am confused about Seth Johnson getting on the Phillies because I don’t understand any trade the Phillies and O’s make, as they always make a trade where I am like, yeah, you can legally trade these group of players for that group of players. Johnson’s fastball hovers around 19 inches of IVB from his over-the-top arm slot, making it such a tough pitch for opposing batters, especially right-handed ones. The breaking ball is also good. The command and how stacked this Phillies rotation is might move him to a multi-inning bullpen role.
Michael McGreevy, RHP STL (Triple-A)
5 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, BB, 4 K
This one had to make Matt happy, as few things about the Cardinals make one of my favorite people happy. The sinker gets just under 27 inches of vertical break on average. The Cardinals are all about letting the young players play. However, they rarely let young players play, and they are surprisingly competent, which hurts them in next year's draft unless they win the lottery. This is a good farm system, and McGreevy can come up and be an interesting streaming option for us in the fantasy game as he settles in as the back-end starter type.
Jacob Misiorowski, RHP MIL (Triple-A)
5 IP, 2 H, ER, 3 BB, 5 K
This is the goldy-locks zone for Jacob Misiorowski and his command. Three walks are perfectly acceptable in 5 innings with how nasty his stuff is, but when it creeps up to 4 and 5, then we have trouble. He doesn’t do a good enough job of throwing strikes, and I think we are running out of time to project him out as a starter, but he could instantly be the eBay reliever the Brewers have, which is nothing. This Brewers season has been weird, and maybe it is time to call up the young guys as they have like four starters, and as I mentioned with Greg last night, one of them is Chad Patrick, who I am a baseball sicko, I have no idea who he is.
Emmanuel Rodriguez, DH MIN (Triple-A)
2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB, SB
As the Twins continue to Twins, we at least have ERod. Their entire big league roster feels hurt, underperforming, or both. For years, I picked the Twins to win the World Series, and after years of therapy (for other things), I am no longer allowing the Twins to hurt me. But back to Erod, because we don’t need to go into the inner workings of my brain. Erod has legit superstar upside if he can stay healthy. I don’t think there are more than a handful of prospects who make the quality of contact on the impact that Erod does. His big problem is how much contact he will make and whether he will stay healthy. He has a legit forty-homer upside, with more than enough stolen bases. But he’s gotta stay healthy.
Marco Raya, RHP MIN (Triple-A)
2 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, 4 K
When can we just call Marco Raya a reliever?
Alex Freeland, SS LAD (Triple-A)
2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI
Freeland could be called up anytime, which would not shock me. The Dodgers do not have an everyday shortstop, as Mookie is a 50 there and would be better off moving to second or even an outfield spot. Freeland won’t be the most exciting fantasy shortstop prospect, but he could get a significant bump from a great lineup and provide around slightly above-average results as a result of teams pitching to him because why would you pitch to half of this lineup right now?
💣💣 Eddie Rosario, RF LAD (Triple-A)
4-for-5, 2 HR, 2B, 3 R, 3 RBI
It's a double-dong for someone who might get a full season of platoon plate appearances for any other organization. Even the Dodgers Triple-A depth is better than your favorite team’s depth. This should come as no surprise; this is the dodgers flexing their financial might.
Yanquiel Fernández, OF COL (Triple-A)
3-for-5, HR, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI
Yanquiel playing baseball on the moon is going about as you would expect. He has some aggressive swings, and everything is there for a perfectly fine corner outfielder. I wonder if Coors mitigates my swing worries because it neutralizes pitching. But Yanquiel has long been one I have loved more than most because it could just be a low OBP 30-homer bat if he doesn’t get the Coors Hangover.
Carson Palmquist, LHP (Triple-A)
5 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 7 K
Palmquist looked good in this one. Our new hire, Will Thompson, was at this game, and he thinks Palmquist would be a nasty relief piece. The fastball looked great in this outing, even if the command was a bit shaky. However, given how the Rockies handle their pitchers, he may never move to the bullpen because they hate being wrong.
Jordan Lawlar, SS ARI (Triple-A)
2-for-4, HR, 2B, R, 2 RBI
I don’t even know how to value Lawlar; as you can tell, the DBacks don’t know how to handle him either. Tawa got a call-up over him, and they signed Perdomo to an interesting extension. Teams tell us what they think of their prospects at a certain point, and I wonder if you should see them on Lawler. Or hold and hope another team believes.
🔜 Zach Neto, SS LAA (Triple-A)
1-for-4, 2B, R
Speaking of being ready, Neto is nearing his return for the sneaky fun Angels. Good for Smada and Grant Carver; I hope they enjoy this weirdly fun group of ragtag heroes on the Angels. We have to mention that Kyren Paris is for the SEO because his run is fun, if unsustainable.
Nick Kurtz, 1B SAC (Triple-A)
1-for-4, R, RBI
Yeah, I have decided that he is ready for the big leagues, even if the A's disagree.
