I wrote up a couple of Blue Jays this week and wanted to take this opportunity to thank my two favorite Toronto fans. Of course, I appreciate Kyle and everything he brings as the main host of the podcast, but I also wanted to mention Greg Hoogkamp. In addition to regularly hosting the Prospects Live Dynasty Podcast, he also edits all the dynasty articles each week. I know he's reading this, so thanks, Greg, for all you do! I'm really happy that your team is doing well, and I wish I could say the same about my own!

I also wanted to mention a couple of retooling trades in the last couple of days in one of my HTH cats dynasty leagues. I was in the finals last year but losing a ton of OF (Yordan, Mitchell, Robles, Dezenzo) a ton of SP (Schwellenbach, Steele, Bradish, Weathers, Eflin, Soroka, Walter) and having a ton of underperformers (Sandy, Ben Brown, Kyle Harrison, Birdsong, Bryan Reynolds, Jake Burger, Spencer Steer, and William Contreras) has tanked my season. It's a SVH league, so I dealt some of my aging closers (Chapman and Suarez) and one of my aging SP (Lugo) for a couple of young post hype OFs (Jordan Walker and Evan Carter) and a prospect I'm high on (Caleb Bonemer). We'll see if it pans out, but it's a relatively low-risk move with some major upside and doesn't heavily impact my plans to compete next season, which is exactly the move I'm looking to make when things haven't gone my way. And with that, on to this week's pickup recommendations...

Note: all stats current through Tuesday 8/12/25 and all minor league Statcast figures are sourced from TJ Stats.

Dynasty Baseball Pickups - Prospects Live
Prospects LiveTaylor Corso

Mid-Week Pickups

Braylon Doughty - 23/SP/BAL/AA

Height/Weight: 6’1”/196 lbs
Throws: R
Fantrax Rostership: 14%

Top 600 Rankings (July 25): 215
My Top 450 Rankings (July 25): 165

PLIVE- (Career): 84
PLIVE- (2025): 87

Scouting Grades (2025): Fastball: 50, Slider: 60, Curveball: 60, Changeup: 45, Command: 50

2025 stats (A): 81.1 IP, 3.65 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 27.2%K, 6.7%BB

Why To Pick Up

I was shocked when I realized that neither Kyle nor I had written about Doughty earlier this season. At 14% rostered, he's more of a shallow league pickup at this point, but he still feels underrated, as there is a ton to like here. The 36th overall pick in last year's draft, Doughty landed in one of the best organizations for pitcher development and so far has lived up to his pedigree. While the 3.65 ERA may not stand out, his 2.83 FIP indicates that a significant portion of that is due to some bad luck with his BABIP (.344) and strand rate (66.7%). So far, Doughty has shown fantastic control (6.7% walk rate) and the ability to put the ball on the ground (49.8%). He has continued to improve all year, posting a 2.25 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in his last eight starts since June 20th. He has been even better in his four starts since July 20th. During that stretch, he's posted a 1.53 ERA (1.73 FIP), 0.74 WHIP with a 35.3% strikeout rate and no walks.

Doughty's claim to fame is his breaking balls, which both received plus grades from Tyler Jennings in his offseason scouting report. Here's what he had to say on Doughty:

Doughty’s outlier spin traits and athletic nature make his profile stand out amongst his peers. He likes to toy with hitters’ timing, namely slowing down or speeding up his leg kick, and hides the ball well behind his back before heading to a high three-quarters slot. Doughty’s fastball is a bit generic as a result of this, though he’s excelled at commanding the heater and holding his velocity deep into starts. He routinely sat in the 92-95 MPH range this spring and topped out at 96 MPH, though his limited projection leaves scouts pondering on what’s left in the tank. The slider and curveball can overlap at times, but his spin rates are amongst the best in the country, eclipsing the 3,000 RPM barrier with ease. The slider is a tough two-plane breaker in the mid-80s and the curveball features more depth in the upper-70s, both flashing hellacious bite. The mid-80s change-up lags behind these two offerings, featuring slight tailing life against lefties. Cleveland will need to work on the fastball shape itself, but it’s hard to ignore the strike-throwing and spin traits. It’s a higher floor arm with some untapped upside. 

Other outlets are even higher on some of the pitches, with MLB Pipeline grading the fastball as a 55 and Fangraphs giving the curveball a 70, changeup a 50, and command a 60. Either way, Doughty is showing everything you want to see from a teenager making his professional debut.

Why To Think Twice

There's not a ton to nitpick here. Doughty's season-long ratios are a little underwhelming (although a lot of that is BABIP driven), and you'd like to see what he can do in High-A at this point. As a teenage pitcher several levels away from the big leagues, there is plenty of risk here.

Final Thoughts

I was already the highest ranker on Doughty in our July rankings, and after writing him up, I feel like I'm not high enough. Doughty checks all the boxes with an impressive arsenal, good command, and a great development organization. I hope we'll see him get the bump to High-A to finish off the year, and a strong performance to close out the year is probably enough to cement him as a top 100 prospect this offseason.

Where to pick up: Leagues with 100+ prospects rostered.

FAAB bid: Minimal (0-5%)