PLIVE+ Deep Sea Diving - Second Half Starters

Feels like it's been a minute since I last wrote up some players for a Deep Sea Diving article. The MLB Draft took up a lot of my time but I'm back focused on finding some potential SP gems out of the low-owned depths of Fantrax.

Today I'm going to cover one starting pitcher per level and tomorrow I'll follow up with a piece covering all the players I've highlighted across the series thus far.

The PLIVE+ tool can be found here and is an invaluable resource. You can upload and filter your Fantrax free agent pool to see who is available in your leagues:

The rest of my Deep Sea Diving series and other PLIVE+ articles can be found here:

Triple-A

Kai-Wei Teng, RHP SF (Triple-A)

Fantrax Rostered: 2%

Not going to lie, finding a Triple-A pitcher that's interesting at a low Fantrax ownership is difficult. I actually couldn't find a good name filtering on Triple-A but did with Teng when filtering for MLB. PLIVE+ uses the highest level they've reached and Teng debuted with the Giants in 2024. It was a rough 4 game relief stint after making the bullpen out of spring and the minor league numbers over the rest of the season were a far cry from his work, especially in the strikeout department.

This season, the 6-4 241 lb Teng had worked out of the bullpen in mostly 1 or 2 IP outings. He registered a 32.6% K and 7.6% BB while limiting HR. Unfortunately his .363 BABIP led to a 5.79 ERA against his 3.58 FIP.

But then on 6/22 the Giants began to stretch out Teng and he went 3 IP in relief, then started his first game of the season on 6/26. In his 4 games since he transitioned to starting pitcher, Teng has thrown 19.2 IP with 35 K and 7 BB with just 1 ER.

From TJ Stats, below are his pitches since getting into the rotation. The breakers grade out well but it's a bad to average fastball, though out of a low slot.

There is a full rotation at the big league level and there are other minor league options, especially with Teng getting jettisoned from the 40-man this offseason. Mason Black got the most recent call for long relief depth. Carson Seymour got a chance in the bigs but got hit hard in 2 relief outings. Keaton Winn is working his way back from injury and is on the 40-man as well. Carson Whisenhunt hasn't been able to replicate his 2024 success but is also not on the 40-man.

If Teng continues to put up starts like his recent stretch there's definitely the possibility of getting another look in the majors. This is obviously a very deep league add where pitchers are at a premium.

Full start from his 11 K game:

Double-A

Blake Money, RHP BAL (Double-A)

Fantrax Rostered: 0%

Blake Money has only been featured on two daily sheet's this season and got mentioned in the title of both because we like to do puns around here. Money was a 12th round pick in 2023 as a reliever out of LSU with poor results. He spent the entire 2024 season at Single-A with strong results as a starter, but that should be expected given the competition level in college.

Money started 2025 at High-A and replicated his 2024 success earning him a promotion to Double-A in mid-June. Now at a level more in-line with Money's age, he's still displaying the proclivity to strike out hitters at a 30% clip while keeping the walks in check at 8%. The main issue is he's given up 11 HR in 16 games across both levels.

Standing 6-7 and clocking in at 240 lbs, Money sits 93 mph with the fastball but obviously has a lot of room to grow. He also throws a cutter, slider, slow curveball and changeup. The Orioles have been bashed for their inability to find SP to supplement their team, but they do have a fun group right now at Double-A between Money, Braxton Bragg (Forearm), and Trey Gibson.

Blake Money finished with 7⃣ punchouts tonight🔥 pic.twitter.com/CHMh8K4f4Y
— Chesapeake Baysox (@BaysoxOfficial) July 5, 2025

Bonus name: Blake Wehunt, RHP BOS (1% rostered)

High-A

Yeferson Vargas, RHP LAA (High-A)

Fantrax Rostered: 0%

Yeferson Vargas is the 4th highest mover over the last month at the High-A level by PLIVE- due to a combination of recent standout performances and a promotion. The 20 yr old Vargas came over to the Angels with Niko Kavadas, Matthew Lugo and Ryan Zeferjahn in the trade that sent reliever Luis Garcia to BOS last year at the deadline.

Up until 3 starts ago there hadn't been much to get excited about over Vargas' stats. With the Angels across 2024/2025 at Single-A (through 6/24) he had a 81 K and 50 BB over 86.2 IP. But then, after a 1.1 IP 7 ER game, something clicked. His last 3 starts:

6/29 - 6.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
7/05 - 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
-- Promotion to High-A --
7/11 - 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

He's another short righty, but he reportedly gets up to the mid-90s with the fastball. Given the youth, prior results, and the Angels system he's more of a watchlist type or add in leagues with 700+ prospects owned.

Angels 20 year old pitching prospect Yeferson Vargas casually hitting 96 with the fastball for the strike out as a member of the Low A @66ersBaseball.

Another hidden gem of the now infamous Luis Garcia trade to the Red Sox. pic.twitter.com/HXG0QNBvdE
— Ryan Falla (@rmfalla) May 15, 2025

Bonus name: John Holobetz, RHP BOS (1% rostered)

Single-A

Luis De La Torre, SF LHP (Single-A)

Fantrax Rostered: 0%

Luis De La Torre has had an amazing career story. You can find it outlined in detail in this Baseball America feature by Jesus Cano - very much worth the read. He was born in the US but then grew up in Mexico until moving to Utah at 15 years old. He got noticed at a rec league at 19 years old which led to a chance with the Giants. He'd go on to pitch over the last two seasons in the DSL.

This year he began in the Complex as a 21 year old then recently got promoted to Single-A after lowering the walk rate. He's maxed out at 4.1 IP so far but that hasn't stopped him from striking out 7 or more batters in 7 of his 11 outings. His first start in Single-A continued to build off his recent string of success, going 4 IP, 2 H, 0ER, 1 BB, 7 K .

The lefty has topped out at 97 mph so there's velo to back up the solid stat line. Obviously he's been a little old for level, but he also doesn't have quite as much experience as others at this point. Aside from being a fun story to follow, I'm always interested in lefties with a little gas in the tank. I'd add in leagues of 500+ prospects rostered as he'll gain some attention as he continues to mow down hitters at Single-A.

Luis De La Torre this season: 34.1 IP- 3.93 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 14.9 K/9, 3.8 K/BB, .208 OppBA/.601 OppOPS pic.twitter.com/CceqjygP4O
— SFGProspects (@SFGProspects) July 3, 2025

Complex

Kelvis Salcedo, RHP DET (Complex)

Fantrax Rostered: 0%

While everyone in your league goes crazy for Complex starter Esteban Mejia who is now 17% rostered on Fantrax, I present to you Kelvis Salcedo, a 19 yr old Tigers starter who is virtually unowned.

On June 7th, Salcedo completed his worst outing of the season allowing 3 BB and a HBP across 5 batters without registering an out. The line across 6 appearances (4 starts) at that point in the season: 3.12 ERA, 4.86 FIP, 7.79 K/9 & 6.23 BB/9 across 17.1 IP.

Since that start on June 7th, the results have been fantastic with a 1.17 ERA, 1.77 FIP, 12.9 K/9, 2.74 BB/9 across 23 IP. That line gives him the largest raw jump in PLIVE- across all starters over the last month. On June 21st he threw 5 IP as part of a 7 inning no-hitter where he registered 7 K. Then two starts later he went 5 IP with just 1 hit and 10 K and followed that up with his last start going 5 IP allowing just 2 H and 9 K.

So results are one thing... but the stuff also looks decent as he throws a mid 90's cutter and a slider that's generating whiffs. If we're going to pick on one area, he's listed at 6 feet tall and the track record of short righties with a long way to go before reaching the bigs is... not great.

Obviously we're looking at a deep league spec add here, but he's someone who could jump in ownership, especially when he gets promoted to Single-A.

Videos from DSL friends of the site Tigers Minor League Report: