Diamond Diplomas 7/15/25: Brice, Brice, Baby

Welcome back to Diamond Diplomas, a weekly rundown of all the players knocking on the door to the major leagues. Whether you compete in the deepest of dynasty leagues, or simply want to win the office redraft title, Prospects Live has you covered. For an overview of the tier system used to prioritize players in this series, take a look at the first article in the series here:

As we head into the all-star break, and with the MLB Draft just wrapped up, there’s no better time to take a look at who might be the next impact major leaguers. To kick things off, here is the latest weekly Report Card (all statistics courtesy of Baseball Reference, Baseball Savant, TJStats, Fangraphs and Milb.com, updated as of the conclusion of play on July 13):

Weekly Report Card:

Called Up:

Luisangel Acuña, 2B (NYM): After hitting relatively well (.289/.346/.378) following his demotion to Triple-A on June 23, Acuña was called back up to New York this week. He has just one hit in eight at-bats since, and seems to be in a less-than-everyday role with the Mets right now. Unless he starts more often, and performs at the plate, hold off on adding him in redraft.
Brice Matthews, 2B (HOU): The toolsy Matthews had been putting up gaudy numbers in Triple-A prior to his call-up July 11. In two games for the Astros, though, the infielder has gone hitless at the plate, striking out in five of his seven at-bats. He will need to make more contact in order for his power and speed to translate into fantasy productivity, so he remains a watch-list-only guy in redraft.
James Outman, OF (LAD): With Kiké Hernández needing some time on the injured list, the Dodgers turned to Outman. The veteran outfielder had demolished Triple-A pitching all season, to the tune of a .970 OPS. He is one for nine with the big league club since being called up, and is not likely to start regularly, so keep him on your redraft watch list for now.
Jhonkensy Noel, OF (CLE): It was hardly Christmas in July for Guardians fans, as Noel only received four at-bats during his three-game return to the majors this week. He did not get a hit in any of those at-bats, and now returns to Triple-A with some work to do.
Tim Elko, 1B (CWS): The power-hitting Elko came back to the White Sox this week, but quickly landed on the injured list with a knee sprain, after just four hitless at-bats. He is not guaranteed to stay in the majors once he returns, either, so fantasy managers can safely drop in redraft at this point.
Cam Devanney, SS (KC): With Bobby Witt Jr. holding down the infield at the six, it was always going to be an uphill battle for Devanney to get playing time with Kansas City. The 28-year-old was having a career year at Triple-A before being called up on July 8, but he has yet to see game action for the Royals. As long as he stays in this bench depth role, he does not bring any fantasy value to the table.
Ian Seymour, P (TB): The lefty Seymour got the call this week to rejoin the Rays and reinforce their bullpen depth. He made one appearance, shutting down the Red Sox for two shutout innings on Sunday, allowing one hit and striking out one batter. It remains to be seen how the Rays will utilize Seymour long-term, or if he will even stay up in the bigs following the all-star break, but he continues to look sharp in both the major and minor leagues this season.
Nathan Wiles, P (ATL): The Braves brought Wiles up to the big league roster on July 9, but the right-hander did not appear in any games before being optioned back to Triple-A just a few days later. He will need to bide his time with Gwinnett until a more concrete opportunity with Atlanta materializes, but Wiles remains an interesting hold for dynasty purposes in super deep leagues.

Locked In:

Samuel Basallo, C (BAL): His defense must be the only thing keeping Basallo in the minor leagues, because his bat looks beyond ready for the Show. Another three homer week for the 20-year-old slugger brings his season total to 19 as we head into the player break. Baby Devers comps keep looking realistic, in more ways than one.
Francisco Alvarez, C (NYM): Keep reading for more on Alvarez later, but suffice it to say he had a fantastic week for Triple-A Syracuse. Two doubles and four home runs are highlights, and it looks as though Alvarez has found his groove at the plate, which is a welcome development for Mets fans.
Spencer Jones, OF (NYY): This dude just refuses to slow down, in fact he sped up this week! Jones swiped four bags in addition to his usual output of home runs (three). Space is limited in that major league outfield for the Yankees, but it might be worth it for them to ride the hot hand if Jones keeps this up. When promoted, he would become a great speculative add in redraft, because of his power and speed.
Owen Caissie, OF (CHC): It was a shortened week of minor league action for Caissie, as he spent the back half participating in the All-Star Futures Game. He did not let that stop him from filling up box scores, though, as all three of his hits this week were home runs. Whether the Cubs opt to call him up or move him at the deadline remains to be seen, but his remarkable power output makes him appealing in all fantasy formats once he does reach the majors.
Bubba Chandler, P (PIT): Another six innings of stellar baseball for Chandler are in the books this week. The Pirates top pitching prospect struck out seven and walked two, making it two consecutive quality starts for him, without a run allowed in either one. Pittsburgh is in no rush to start his service time clock, but fantasy managers across the board should be pleased to see Chandler finding his rhythm on the mound again.
Logan Henderson, P (MIL): With Jacob Misiorowski seemingly locked in to a rotation spot for Milwaukee, Henderson nevertheless has stayed in excellent form with Triple-A Nashville. His latest outing was a six inning, one-run performance, in which he punched out seven and walked none. He has all the makings of a big league rotation staple, and would be a prime streaming candidate at minimum whenever he does get an extended look in the bigs.
Zebby Matthews, P (MIN): On a shortened rehab outing in Triple-A, Matthews dazzled this week, racking up nine strikeouts in just four innings of shutout work. Stay tuned for a deeper dive into Matthews’ fantasy relevance later on in this article.
Mick Abel, P (PHI): What better way to respond to a performance-related demotion than to carry a no-no into the sixth inning. Abel conceded no runs and allowed just two baserunners in his first start back in Triple-A, striking out four. The Phillies big league rotation continues to look like one of the more difficult groups to break into, but if Abel manages to make the adjustments the club are hoping to see in his time with Lehigh Valley, he could make his way back to the majors before too long.

Dropped Off:

Troy Johnston, OF (MIA): After a hot April, in which Johnston stole nine bases and hit three home runs en route to an OPS of .837 on the month, his performance at the plate has faded in the months since. He is now hitting .254 on the season, and will probably be passed over in favor of Jakob Marsee if the Marlins choose to call up an outfield bat.

Moving right along, here are this week’s Diamond Diplomas hitters:

Diamond Diplomas (Hitters):

Priority Add: Francisco Alvarez, C (NYM)

For casual fans, seeing Francisco Alvarez’s name in a potential call-ups article must feel somewhat jarring. No, you have not time traveled back to 2022, Alvarez really does play for the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse. A former top-five prospect in baseball, with vaunted power potential, the Venezuelan has had a rough last couple of seasons since his prospect hype was last at its peak. He tore his UCL in his left hand in 2024, missed nearly two months of game action, and finished the season with just eleven home runs. Then, right as people began to feel excited about a potential bounceback season for Alvarez coming into 2025, he hurt his left hand again, breaking his hamate bone during spring training. This second injury delayed the start to his 2025 big league campaign until April 25, and after 35 games of mediocre performance (three home runs, .652 OPS), he was sent down to the minors to reset and re-calibrate.

*Statistics and graphic courtesy of @TJStats*

A demotion could be demoralizing for a player like Alvarez, whose name was a distant third next to Gunnar Henderson and Corbin Carroll in top prospect conversations back in 2023. Coming off of two hand/wrist injuries to the same hand, and showing significantly less power as a result, might feel like something of a career crossroads for the 23-year old backstop. So far, Alvarez has had mixed results in Syracuse, but there are some positive signs that he is headed back in the right direction. While his contact rates remain a notable concern (66.2% Z-Contact and 42% Whiff rate are pretty abysmal), he is finally hitting the ball hard again. Pre-initial injury, Alvarez’s average exit velocity was 90.1 mph, comfortably above league average. In his injury-abbreviated 2024 season, that number dipped down below league average to 88.8 mph. Now, in Triple-A, his average EV has climbed back up to 90.8 mph, surpassing his previous peak from 2023. This underlying data improvement correlates with his recently increased power output, as well: Alvarez has hit six home runs in just eleven July games, and has an OPS of nearly 1.200 for the month (1.196).

As a bat-first catcher who needs to be hitting for power to provide real-life (and fantasy) value, Alvarez needed this positive regression in a big way. The swing-and-miss issues do matter, but this is a guy whose career strikeout-rate is 26% at the big league level, making his current 30.6% mark in Triple-A seems like the next likely domino to fall in the ongoing process of his recalibration at the plate. Catcher is always the toughest position for fantasy managers to fill with consistent production, so if Alvarez rejoins the Mets soon after the break, and continues hitting the ball this hard, he could provide serious value in both dynasty and redraft formats. The upside is still 30+ home runs annually in a lineup that offers plenty of opportunities to drive runners in. While redraft managers should hold off until the call-up is official to add Alvarez, now does seem like an ideal time to feel out what a buy-low price on him would look like in dynasty.

One To Watch: JJ Wetherholt, SS (STL)

I will happily admit that JJ Wetherholt is my biggest ‘miss’ of the 2024 draft cycle. His hamstring issues in college, and the question marks surrounding his defense, gave me enough pause to avoid securing any shares in dynasty leagues coming into 2025. My mistake! The former seventh-overall pick made quick work of Double-A this season, hitting .300 with seven home runs and 14 steals at the level before his July 7 promotion to Triple-A Memphis. His subsequent selection for the National League Futures Game roster serves as icing on the cake of what has been an exceptional first full season of professional baseball.

The 22-year-old infielder has impressed with his poised approach and elite contact skills especially. In his more representative Double-A sample of 62 games, Wetherholt walked more than he struck out, whiffed only 17.8% of the time, and sustained truly sensational contact rates of 83.9% in-zone, and 80.4% out-of-zone. His .337 BABIP at the level also points to more sustainability than regression in his batting average going forward. He looks like a big league table-setter in every facet of his game right now, even down to the over-selectivity in his 41.1% swing-rate. The 2024 draft class gets better and better with each passing week, and Wetherholt could end up among its most valuable members when all is said and done.

Now, you might be asking yourself how a prospect with this pedigree could be performing this well, and not be in Tier 1 of the Diamond Diplomas list. Frankly, you would be right, Wetherholt deserves to be in Tier 1 of this list. He is our #18 prospect overall at Prospects Live, and will likely be pushing into the top fifteen (or even higher) in our next update. That said, I placed the former West Virginia Mountaineer in Tier 2 because the “One to Watch” designation feels more fitting, given the relative uncertainty around if or when he will be called up to St. Louis. As Prospects Live co-founder (and resident Cardinals fan) Matt Thompson has mentioned on our Dynasty Podcast, the two best Cardinals players right now are arguably Masyn Winn and Brendan Donovan, who together patrol the middle infield spots for the big league club. Wetherholt will be hard-pressed to break into the team by supplanting either Winn or Donovan, so the Cardinals may need to get creative with his defensive reps. Matt has suggested that we might see Wetherholt start some games in centerfield, for example. In any case, on hitting performance alone, Wetherholt is quite close to knocking on the door of the majors. A few good weeks in Triple-A would likely spark some online discourse about a call-up, and propel him into Priority Add status.

Sleeper Pick: Marco Luciano, OF (SF)

We love post-hype breakouts here at the Diamond Diplomas headquarters, and perhaps none has been more surprising this season than Marco Luciano’s. Like the aforementioned Alvarez, Luciano too was arguably the most sought after international hitter in the 2018 class, and continued to be a highly ranked prospect across the industry for the next few seasons, despite lingering hit tool question marks. The helium died down quickly for the then-third baseman after he underperformed at the plate in his 2023 debut stretch with the Giants (.641 OPS with no home runs in 14 games), and again in 2024 (.562 OPS and no home runs in 27 games). Public expectations for the Dominican former prodigy have since simmered, and his name hardly ever comes up even in conversations about the Giants’ farm system. It is telling, for instance, that no one voiced displeasure about Luciano not being included in the Rafael Devers return.

Fast forward to 2025, and Luciano might, might be turning a corner. Still just 23 years old, he has transitioned to playing in the outfield full-time, and this new defensive role seems to have freed him up a bit at the plate as well. Luciano’s slash line of .227/.343/.800 still illustrates his weaker hit tool, as does his 75.6% Z-Contact rate, but his quite low .280 BABIP leads me to believe that some positive regression in batting average will come. He is also walking at a solid 14.8% clip, and pairing this plate patience with continued loud contact. His 90th-percentile exit velocity of 108.2 mph is excellent, and his average EV of 91.2 mph compares favorably to major leaguers such as Kerry Carpenter (91.2 mph) and Junior Caminero (91 mph). These are far from empty EV’s also, as Luciano has already hit 19 home runs in Triple-A this season, already tying his previous single-season best from 2021.

The Marco Luciano of 2025 is not the same caliber of prospect as we all expected, there is no denying that. However, the cost is not the same as it was either. He is owned in just 25% of Fantrax leagues at the moment, and would likely not be a difficult or pricey acquisition by any means. This shift to the outfield presents him with a clearer path to playing time if he sticks in San Francisco, and even if he is dealt, he could still be an asset in leagues that prioritize power and OBP in their scoring. For those of you in deeper dynasty leagues, where you can afford to chase upside with your final few prospect roster spots, Luciano could make it worth your while if you can add him for free or next to nothing.

Next up, we have this week’s Diamond Diplomas pitchers:

Diamond Diplomas (Pitchers):

Priority Add: Zebby Matthews (MIN)

Sticking with today’s accidental post-hype theme, Zebby Matthews just may beat the likes of Bubba Chandler and Andrew Painter to meaningful major league production this season. The former blue-chip pitching prospect was a popular breakout pick coming into 2025, and dominated Triple-A competition throughout April and early May, allowing just seven earned runs in his first seven starts of the season. This run of form prompted the Twins to call him up to the rotation on May 18, but he pitched to mixed results (a 5.21 ERA in four starts). Before he could truly find his footing, Matthews suffered a shoulder injury that sent him to the injured list, and from which he is now rehabbing.

I am recommending the former Western Carolina standout as a Priority Add because while the surface numbers from his brief stint in the majors this season look scary, the under-the-hood metrics look much more promising. To begin with, his 5.21 ERA disguises a 3.65 xERA and 3.08 FIP. Translation: he actually pitched quite well in those four starts! Additionally, he is inducing poor swing decisions and less contact from hitters than he did during his 2024 MLB outings. Opposing batters registered an O-Swing rate of 31.9% in his handful of 2025 starts, a much higher mark than his 27.4% rate in 2024; correspondingly, these same hitters are making contact on those pitches outside of the zone only 43.5% of the time, compared to 54.8% in 2024.

Based on his first rehab start in Triple-A this week, Matthews is picking up right where he left off. Four innings and nine strikeouts, with just one hit allowed, is about as clean an outing as one could ask for given the circumstances. Though not as flashy (or as effective) as a Jacob Misiorowski or Chase Burns, Matthews still looks like and pitches like a long-term rotation staple, and he probably has fallen to the wayside in all but the most competitive of redraft leagues. If his next rehab outing goes well, I would consider sneaking him onto your IL, or even your bench, if you are in need of starting pitching. For dynasty, you might still be able to trade for him as a discount if so inclined. Either way, I have the sneaking suspicion that everyone’s Matthews breakout predictions may just come true in the second half of the season.

One To Watch: Kyle Harrison (BOS)

Now that we are officially a month removed from the shock and chaos of the Rafael Devers trade, it feels appropriate to consider the fantasy relevance of the return package’s arguable headliner, Kyle Harrison. Once considered the top left-handed pitching prospect in the sport, Harrison had difficulty sticking in the rotation for San Francisco, pitching to a 4.48 ERA and 1.30 WHIP over 39 appearances (35 starts). Even this season, the native Californian was jockeying with Landon Roupp and Hayden Birdsong for starts, and looked to be losing that battle for all intents and purposes. One could make the case that Harrison, not Devers, was most in need of a change of scenery.

The Red Sox surprised some people by assigning Harrison to Triple-A Worcester right away, rather than giving him a shot in the majors. In his trade analysis article, Our own Director of Pro Scouting, Rhys White, did an excellent job explaining why this workshop type of environment is actually precisely what Harrison needs to try and resuscitate his arsenal:

Watching Kyle Harrison very closely over the past few years because I have decided to roster him in a few leagues, the Giants have tried to make him a four-seam up and slurve down sort of pitcher, and that has not been what he needs. He needs to be someone who pounds the lower third of the zone and occasionally sneaks the four-seamer up. As the four-seamer is not one, from his slot, that plays at the top of the zone, but 12 inches of induced vertical break paired with 14 horizontal break fastball does play well lower in the zone, and could pair well with the sinker. – Rhys White

Though the box score stats have not been great so far for him in Worcester (5.94 ERA and a .333 batting average against), Harrison definitely shows the signs of working on his fastball conundrum. The solution? Boston seems to want him to throw it far less often. After throwing his heater 65% of the time for the Giants in 2025, Harrison has used his fastball at a much lower clip recently, going to it for 54% of his pitches on July 8, and then just 51% of his pitches on July 13. Perhaps not coincidentally, that most recent start was his best thus far, lasting three and 2/3's innings but allowing no earned runs, and striking out five.

Will Kyle Harrison ever be an ace? Probably not. Will the Red Sox be able to turn him into a serviceable starter by refining his pitch usage? Possibly! Harrison is definitely the most “wait and see” player to feature as One to Watch in this article series so far, but Boston has done well with their pitching reclamation projects of late. There is no pressure yet to consider him in redraft, as he is still a work in progress, but with him being owned in just 51% of Fantrax leagues, dynasty managers should keep a watchful eye on his next few outings to see if he turns a corner.

Sleeper Pick: Dylan Ross (NYM)

I have probably spend more time talking about Mets pitchers in this series than just about any other demographic of player, and justifiably so. The reigning NLCS runners-up have transformed their scouting and development operation in recent years, and their new regime is already seeing the fruits of this labor in their pitching especially. Instead of selling you on yet another Mets starting pitcher this week, though, I am switching things up. Unsurprisingly, their incredibly deep arm farm has some intriguing relief options as well, with Dylan Ross perhaps the most notable among them. The 24-year-old right-hander came to the Mets as a 13th-round selection out of the University of Georgia in 2022, but his pro career did not kick off in earnest until this season, as he required a surprise second elbow procedure after Tommy John surgery derailed his final season with the Bulldogs.

Now healthy, and operating out of the bullpen, Ross has soared through New York’s minor league system, moving from High-A all the way up to Triple-A in just a few months. One look at his arsenal, and it is not hard to see why. Ross has a fastball that lives around 97 mph, and has touched 101 mph at times, and supplements this offering with multiple distinct breaking pitches and a cutter, which each grade out well on stuff-centric models. He has limited Triple-A hitters to just a 58.8% rate of contact, and currently sports an impressive 35.2% CSW% at the level as well. As limited and injury-filled as his track record might seem, Ross checks all the boxes as an impact arm out of the pen, and could get the chance to pitch for the Mets as soon as this summer.

Max Kranick was a popular Mets bullpen sleeper for many people coming into this season, given his outstanding spring performance, and with Kranick going down to injury, Ross looks like the next man up for the organization. He lacks redraft relevance until he secures a high-leverage role in the majors, but dynasty managers in deep leagues looking for a potential bullpen weapon should consider taking advantage of his meager 2% ownership rate in Fantrax leagues.