A total of 57 names covered from yesterday's action. Today we've got Smada at MLB, Samuel Gomez on AAA, Tom Gates at AA, Nate Rasmussen on A+ and Rhys White at A.

Major League Baseball

Covered by Smada

Justyn-Henry Malloy, DH DET (MLB) 

2-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI

Malloy got his 1st bomb of the year off the lefty Kyle Hart. JHM has been mostly relegated to a short-side platoon but is showing some chase and contact improvements after running a 37% K rate in 2024. Right now he’s a deep league OBP bench guy, but if these gains stick maybe he’ll start working into more games vs RHP.

James Wood, LF WSN (MLB) 

1-for-3, HR, R, RBI, BB, K

Wow. 116 mph off the bat pulled on a line. He’s going to be a superstar and might already be one.

Triston Casas, 1B BOS (MLB) 

1-for-3, HR, R, 3 RBI, BB, K

Just as many were about to jump off the Casas boat he’s had 2 straight games with a HR. Aside from sitting against LHP, my concern the last time I looked at Casas was that the SwStr% hadn’t started to come down since his return from injury. It’s not fully back yet but at least it’s in a downward trend. My initial ranking on Casas was too high, but I’m trying not to overreact. It’s not helping that so many other 1B are dominating right now.

🍔🍟 Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF CHC (MLB) 

3-for-4, HR, R, 3 RBI, 2 SB

I wrote about PCA 8 days ago:

Don’t let the kid get hot! That’s his 3rd HR and 6th XBH in the last 4 games. Love to see him maintaining the improved in-zone contact rates he showed in the 2nd half of last season.

They let him get hot. PCA now has back to back games with a HR and is up to 5 HR in his last 9 games with an additional 5 two-baggers, a triple, and 4 SB. If he ever learns how to draw a walk, he could become the most valuable player in the league.

‼️ Ryan Gusto, RHP HOU (MLB) 

5.2 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 6 K

Gusto has been a pleasant surprise in the Astros rotation and now sports a 2.78 ERA through 7 games, the last 3 being starts. He works the fastball over 50% of the time then mixes in 5 other pitches between 5% and 11%, with a sweeper used only against RHB. While the FB doesn’t blow you away sitting 93-94 mph, it’s his primary swing and miss offering due to a 19 IVB that plays up in the zone. The entire arsenal plays up with what's been plus control thus far and a miniscule 4.4% BB, much better than the 9% throughout the minors. Matt Thompson wrote Gusto’s scouting report and he ranked 16th in the Astros system. Matt’s finished the report saying:

Gusto is a big league-ready backend starter just waiting for an opportunity. His command is above-average, and he has enough stuff to face a lineup multiple times a game despite the below-average fastball.

That fastball isn’t looking below average but we can’t fault Matt here. The 19 IVB FB was just 16.5 IVB in AAA last season and the spin is up from ~2275 to ~2425. I’m unsure on the change, but worth mentioning the velo is up around a tick. Going from a 45 FB to a 50 or 55 FB changes the profile as does the control/command gains that Matt had already pegged a 55. Question becomes, is throwing FB 50% of the time doable long term? This kind of reminds me of Joe Ryan & Freddy Peralta entering the league, but they come from lower slots with different FB movement and Gusto is taller than both. Anyway, we need to pay attention to Gusto and he needs to be rostered if somehow he’s not already.

👟 Luke Keaschall, 2B MIN (MLB) 

1-for-3, 2B, R, 2 RBI, 3 K, 2 SB

What a start to the big league career! Keaschall has 5 SB in 5 games with 3 doubles. The plate discipline looks unchanged from AAA and he’s making contact in the zone and limiting chase. Where the game power ends up remains to be seen, but Keaschall is making a strong case to remain with the big club when the Twins get healthy.

‼️ Andrew Heaney, LHP PIT (MLB) 

6 IP, H, 9 K

Heaney slinging it against the Angels and completely shutting them down is a sight to behold. Rec’d him as a buy twice now and I’ll do it a third time, but the price might be too high at this point.

🍔🍟 Oneil Cruz, CF PIT (MLB) 

2-for-5, HR, R, RBI, K, SB

The combo meal gets him to 6 HR and 11 SB on the season. With Cruz running at this rate he’s basically an older Elly De La Cruz.

Nick Kurtz, 1B SAC (MLB) 

1-for-4, RBI, K

Welcome to the league Nick Kurtz! Soderstrom went out to LF with Kurtz manning 1B and Rooker staying put at DH. It’s likely they’ll just rotate moving forward. This A’s lineup is just incredibly fun.

Triple-A

Covered by Samuel Gomez

Cade Horton, RHP CHC (Triple-A) 

4.2 IP, 2 H, BB, 5 K

‼️ Chase Petty, RHP CIN (Triple-A) 

6 IP, H, 2 BB, 7 K

This was a heavyweight pitching matchup between two guys that rely heavily on their fastball-slider combo. Horton certainly had the edge on nastiness as he had a 60% whiff rate between his slider and curveball and a cumulative CSW% of 38, but Petty finished with the better line. Petty’s shown some inconsistency between starts, while Horton has been steady all year, but both should play a role on their respective big league clubs this season.

Anders Tolhurst, RHP TOR (Triple-A) 

4.2 IP, H, ER, 2 BB, 2 K

Tolhurst isn’t a guy you hear about very often and he admittedly isn’t the most exciting, but he’s shown some good pitchability. He threw his sinker and cutter an absurd 83% of the time and they did a good job at limiting hard contact. He’ll pound the zone and throw strikes, but don’t expect many swords when you watch him throw.

Thomas Harrington, RHP PIT (Triple-A) 

4 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, BB, 4 K, 2 HR

This was Harrington’s second start in Triple-A since being sent down from the majors and it didn’t go too well for him. His low-90s fastball got hit extremely hard and while he only walked one guy, he did a poor job of locating his pitches on the outer edges of the zone. Harrington has always been command over stuff, so he won’t get much leeway with fastballs thrown over the plate, especially if that tick in velocity that many people are hoping for never comes.

Gunnar Hoglund, RHP ATH (Triple-A) 

4 IP, H, 2 BB, 5 K

🔜 Jack Leiter, RHP TEX (Triple-A) 

4.2 IP, H, BB, 4 K

Technically these guys threw on Tuesday, but the game was resumed and finished yesterday so I’m including them here. Hoglund only needed 43 pitches to get through four innings and is proving to be a polished pitcher. The changeup has certainly taken a step forward this year and, combined with his steady command, he has a solid floor. After two great outings to start the year in the majors, Leiter was sent to the IL with a finger blister and this was his first rehab start back. He mixed in a healthy amount of all five of his pitches and he seems to be in full form. It looks like the Rangers may have him throw one more time before calling him back up.

‼️ Allan Winans, RHP NYY (Triple-A) 

3.2 IP, H, 2 BB, 10 K

Winans isn’t necessarily known for racking up elite strikeout numbers, but he’s struck out an incredible seventeen hitters in his last 6.2 IP. In this one, he struck out ten of the first eleven guys he faced and his changeup accounted for nine of them. Hitters looked baffled as they swung and missed 85% of the time against it and I’m interested to see how long his godly strikeout run will last.

🍔🍟 Jahmai Jones, LF DET (Triple-A) 

2-for-3, HR, 3B, 3 R, 2 RBI, K, SB

Jones hit two balls hard on the day that resulted in a home run and a triple. The Tigers recently sent down Ryan Kreidler, but they opted to bring up Jung rather than Jones. He’ll likely need to be more consistent with the bat if he wants to get a shot this year.

Mick Abel, RHP PHI (Triple-A) 

7 IP, 4 H, ER, 2 BB, 4 K

Abel didn’t rack up the K’s like he usually does, but he limited hard contact and kept the walks in check. His fastball was up to 99 and this was only the second time in his career that he completed seven innings, the last time being in 2023.

Joe Mack, C MIA (Triple-A) 

1-for-3, 2B, BB, 2 K

This was Mack’s second game since being called up to the Jumbo Shrimp and his first career hit in Triple-A. His stock has risen considerably since his power surge in Double-A last season, so we’ll see how he fares against better pitching.

Mason Barnett, RHP ATH (Triple-A) 

5 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 8 K

Barnett opened up the Athletics first full game of the day after the team had to complete the game from the day prior. This was the second start in a row that he went five innings and only gave up a single earned run. His fastball got hit pretty hard and he narrowly avoided a big inning in the first, but he settled in and pitched well. His sweeper was particularly good as he threw it 23 times and not a single hitter put it in play. 

Ryan Ritter, SS COL (Triple-A) 

3-for-6, HR, R, 4 RBI

💣💣 Yanquiel Fernandez, RF COL (Triple-A) 

3-for-6, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, K

The Isotopes had a big day with the bats and these guys were their best performers. Ritter popped a 110, albeit at altitude, but I think he’s a bit underrated as a prospect. The hit tool has taken a step forward and he’s a good enough defender to stick at short. Fernandez hit two balls over 400 feet and everything he put into play was against offspeed pitches. He made our top 100 list in 2024, but he struggled a bit last season, especially after reaching Triple-A. This year he has seven homers in 71 at-bats and, at 22 years old, is proving to still have significant power upside.

Zack Short, SS HOU (Triple-A) 

2-for-4, HR, R, RBI, K

This is Short’s fourth organization since the beginning of 2024. He was able to get small bits of time in the big league’s last season with each of the previous three. He’s hit for some power in Triple-A this year and he can be a depth guy in the majors that can play almost any position on the field.

Double-A

Covered by Tom Gates

Wilber Dotel, RHP PIT (Double-A)

5 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 8 K

The broadcast had Dotel’s fastball hitting 99 mph a couple of times. Our scouting report has a 55 on the fastball and a 50 on the slider. From the brief video I saw on him, those were his two main pitches. That probably puts him in line to be a reliever but he’s still young and the Pirates have been progressing with their pitching development.