Been a baseball fan and player my whole life, played dynasty for 10 years. Co-host on the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast since mid-season 2023 and joined Prospects Live at the start of 2024.
move, and you can expect to see us in our regular order again next week. Don’t let this article fool you; I am not a Red Sox fan. It pains me as a Jays fan to be hyping up so many of their prospects already this year. Still, it’s hard to look at what they’ve got going right now and not regard them as one of the best development systems in the league and an organization whose prospects need to be highlighted. Among the Sox players in this week's article we find a potential fill in at 1B, a young slugger being pushed up the system aggressively, and an arm showing some high-end metrics. Outside of the Sox, we also have a hitter performing well after an injury-marred 2024 and an arm from a different highly thought of system who is also showing some high-end traits. But enough of this chatter, let’s get into it.*Note: all stats current through Tuesday, May 6/25 and all minor league Statcast data is sourced from TJ Stats unless otherwise stated
Let’s not forget how highly thought of Grissom was as recently as 2022 when he posted a 122 wRC+ in his 41-game MLB debut. Nor was he the only piece sent to Boston in the deal that saw Chris Sale head to Atlanta. Sure, he’s struggled in a couple of major league stints over the last couple of years, but he’s having a strong start in Triple-A, and the Triston Casas injury might open an avenue to playing time. Even in Triple-A last year, Grissom wasn’t particularly impressive, and the main reason was his inability to hit the ball hard. He had a 31.5% hard-hit% and a 100.3 mph 90th percentile max exit velocity. This year has been a very different story, though, as his hard-hit% is up to 50% (84th percentile in Triple-A) and his 90th percentile EV is up to 105.6 (73rd percentile). Even his contact skills, which weren’t a major problem last season, have taken a step forward as his zone-contact% has risen from 83.1% in Triple-A last year to 87.5% (83rd percentile) this year, while his whiff% has dropped from 27.8% to 23.7% (67th percentile).
Final Thoughts
No, Grissom doesn’t typically play 1B, so calling him up to replace Casas might initially seem far-fetched. Still, he has played five games at the position this year and was seen getting pre-game reps at first in the days following Casas’ injury, so Boston may view him as a real option to fill that spot in the lineup sooner rather than later. He may not be your traditional slugging first basemen, and he isn’t pulling the ball in the air enough to take advantage of the Green Monster. Still, he is showing a strong eye at the plate (despite the lackluster BB%) and making plenty of contact, and in a Red Sox offense that ranks in the top 10 in several categories, that might be all they need. Despite his high roster rate, Grissom is available in deeper leagues where fantasy managers have given up on him - I know this because I was able to add him in a few deeper leagues this past weekend - and I think he’s worth a speculative add in relatively shallow legs with the hopes that he is soon getting the call to Boston to take over at 1B. He's not likely to be a league-winner, but in a year that feels like it has a lot of injuries to position players, he could do a fine job plugging a hole in your lineup. If your league only allows players who haven’t exhausted their rookie eligibility to be placed in the minors I would probably leave Grissom on the wire until we get word of his call up, but for leagues where he can be stashed he’s worth an add in relatively shallow leagues of 150+ prospects rostered.
Where to pick up: Leagues with 150+ prospects rostered
I’ve been sitting on this name for a couple of weeks now, waiting for a strong outing before recommending him, and boy did Tolle deliver with a scoreless five-inning gem in which he struck out 12 of the 18 batters he faced. Just a few months ago, his unorthodox delivery and uninspiring velo/stuff didn’t catch my eye. Still, Boston has something going regarding their pitching development because he has taken a massive step forward since his days as an amateur. His fastball, which sat 90-92 and topped out at 96 as an amateur, was sitting 95 in his most recent outing and topping out at 98 mph. But what makes his fastball special isn’t the velocity; it's the fact that he can also reach upwards of 19” of IVB with an elite extension of up to 7’10” (according to Chris Clegg). He also throws a changeup around 90 with plenty of arm-side fade and two separate sliders, one in the upper 80s and one in the lower 80s, and displays at least average command.
Final Thoughts
Taylor and I were relatively dismissive of Tolle this past off-season, calling him unexciting and relegating him to a bullpen role, but he’s starting to convince me he could stick as a starter. His debut outing skews his overall line, but in his three starts since, he has pitched 13 total innings, giving up just seven hits and two walks while allowing one run and striking out 26. He still has relatively high reliever risk, but with elite extension, a plus fastball, average or better secondaries, and strong command, his ceiling now looks like that of a mid-rotation starter with high strikeout upside and someone you can confidently grab in medium-depth leagues.
Where to pick up: Leagues with 250+ prospects rostered
FAAB bid: Minimal (0-5%)
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Been a baseball fan and player my whole life, played dynasty for 10 years. Co-host on the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast since mid-season 2023 and joined Prospects Live at the start of 2024.
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