Tim Kanak | Sun, May 12th 2024, 7:08am EDT

Fantasy Baseball Roundup: Lineup News, Injuries, Waiver Wire & Prospect Advice (Week 8)

Welcome back to the best weekly column on the internet, as we enter week 8 of the fantasy baseball season.

The goal of this column is to give you the most fantasy baseball-relevant information all in one place for a variety of league types to hopefully be your one stop shop, or at least the shop you have to hit on the way to all the other shops for fantasy baseball information from news, to lineup and roster notes, injury updates, waiver recommendations for different lead types, prospect rankings, moves we made and a weekly deep dive into something relevant.

Fantasy Baseball Roundup

I hope you enjoy my weekly fantasy baseball roundup! Please subscribe to the Fantasy Aceball podcast and follow me on Twitter @fantasyaceball for more fantasy goodness!

Fantasy Baseball Lineup & Roster Notes

Baltimore Orioles:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Jordan Westburg is in a little slump, but the good thing is his metrics are all looking good so this is only a little slump and not a come down from above his skill level.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Kyle Bradish has had a killer first couple of outings coming off the UCL scare, but here he is with 23.3% K-BB rate and 33.3% CSW.
  - John Means had an excellent first start of the season going 7 innings with 8 Ks and 0 BBs. Those starts in the minors obviously didn’t mean anything.
- Pen Notes:
  - Craig Kimbrel has allowed 6 ER in his last 2 ⅓ innings, but the Orioles are committed to him as closer for now.
Boston Red Sox:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Wilyer Abreu swapped spots with Rafael Devers, moving up to the two-hole with Devers moving down to clean up.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Bryan Bellos coming back on Sunday and Nick Pivetta also returned this week (for a rough outing at Atlanta).
- Pen Notes:
  - No update.
Chicago White Sox:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Tommy Pham moved up to leadoff with Gavin Sheets now hitting second against righties.
  - Andrew Vaughn is terrible and hitting third.
  - The White Sox called up Bryan Ramos directly from AA and he’s actually held his own so far with good contact rates, but he’s been hitting the ball on the ground.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Erick Fedde is pitching like a top 50 starter. He has a 21.1% K-BB and 3.18 SIERA.
- Pen Notes:
  - No Update.
Cleveland Guardians:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Kyle Manzardo was bumped down to eighth in the lineup and is off to a ⅛ start on the season (as of Thursday night).
  - Bo Naylor
- Rotation Notes:
  - Triston McKenzie had another decent outing and now through his last four starts has an 18.4% K-BB rate and 3.74 SIERA.
- Pen Notes:
  - No update.
Detroit Tigers:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Wenceel Perez really has no power and profiles mostly as a Kike Hernandez or Zach McKinstry type, but he’s undoubtedly on a tear right now.
- Rotation Notes:
  - I like Reese Olson, but he’s definitely been pitching above his skill level so far this season. He has not yet allowed a homer in almost 40 innings and the K rate is down, while the BB rate is up… both of these should improve, but he’s not going to keep getting this lucky on the bombs.
  - Mize has terrible stuff, it’s lucky his command is so good, because he has only a 5% BB rate.
- Pen Notes:
  - No update.
Houston Astros:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Alex Bregman was moved down to sixth in the order and Yainer Diaz to seventh with Jeremy Pena being bumped up into cleanup and Jon Singleton hitting fifth.
  - Joey Loperfido is hitting eighth and has 7 Ks in 16 ABs so far.
  - Kyle Tucker is hitting .268/.384/.558 with 12 homers and 6 steals on the season with only a .265 BABIP.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Cristian Javier is replacing Spencer Arrighetti in the rotation as he is expected to pitch on Saturday with Arrighetti moving to the pen, rather than back down to AAA.
  - Hunter Brown has been slightly better, but still far below average in his last two starts.
- Pen Notes:
  - No update.
Kansas City Royals:
- Lineup Notes:
  - I was so wrong on Salvador Perez being cooked, he’s smoking a .326/.387/.558 slash with 8 bombs and while the BABIP is about 50 points higher than his career average, he would still have fantastic numbers if this normalized down.
  - Michael Massey still has a 100% Z-Contact% on the season and a near 95% contact rate with only a 2.9% chase rate. This is insane and he’s doing this with non-zero power.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Cole Ragans is the only player with a top 5 fastball and a top 5 slider via Stuff+.
- Pen Notes:
  - No update.
Los Angeles Angels:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Taylor Ward (hitting third) had concerned me in regards to how he would rebound after getting nailed in the face last year and it hasn’t phased him, he has a career high 12.5% barrel rate with good contact rates and 7 bombs on the year.
  - Logan O’hoppe is back to fifth in the order, even though the power stroke has been off since the first week or so of the season as his ISO is only .120 and his barrel rate is cut in half from last season.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Detmers has been a bit volatile this year where he either seems to have a fantastic start or he gets hit up a little bit, but overall the underlying metrics are solid still with an 18.2% K-BB rate and 3.55 SIERA.
  - People love Jose Soriano because he throws hard, but his K rate is significantly better as a reliever, most likely just due to lack of swing and miss on the high velo fastball. His splitter and power slider are really his best pitches and he should throw them more than 10% of the time.
  - Sandoval’s stuff is playing way better this year, but he still has below average command and on top of it hitters seem to hit him pretty hard despite a low barrel rate against – he does generate an above average number of ground balls. I suppose I’m buying him more than at the beginning of the year, but not buying to the hype.
- Pen Notes:
  - Nothing new.
Minnesota Twins:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Carlos Correa is back in the lineup and hitting fifth with a decent .261/.366/.406 slash line.
  - My boy Ryan Jeffers hit another bomb and is up to eight on the season now, to go along with a .303/.381/.606 slash.
  - Trevor Larnach is still hitting above his skis with a .405 BABIP supporting him, but he has not been bad otherwise. The Twins OF reminds me of the Cardinals OF, except the Twins never give up on these guys and hold them until they die.
  - Max Kepler has been arguably the best hitter in baseball the last three weeks, leading all hitters with a 247 wRC+ which looks like a .434/.492/.755 slash with 3 bombs and a steal.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Chris Paddack had another nice outing and is now getting attention when I was on this last week.
  - Simeon Woods-Richardson is balling out despite swinging strike and CSW numbers that don’t support his K rate. The minors numbers make it appear the K rate is likely the stat that is off and he’s not really this good, but he still has a 3.56 SIERA, even with regression.
- Pen Notes:
  - Nothing new.
New York Yankees:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Alex Verdugo has been hitting well when Aaron Judge has not, will this keep him full-time when Jasson Dominguez is healthy? He’s hitting .264/.349/.432 with 5 bombs and a steal
  - Giancarlo Stanton is basically Adam Dunn at this point.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Carlos Rodon is throwing better, but is still way closer to 2023 Rodon than 2022 Rodon.
  - Luis Gil has a near 30% K-rate as a starter, which is insane, however the walk rate is also an insane 15.7% and at these rates, he is never going to get a quality start.
- Pen Notes:
  - No update.
Oakland Athletics:
- Lineup Notes:
  - JD (Just Dong) Davis has enough personality for the entire team – just dong.
  - Brent Rooker has 9 bombs and new guy, Brett Harris already has 3 bombs in only 24 ABs. Rooker has been one of the best hitters since April 20th with a .306/.427/.677 slash over the last three weeks.
- Rotation Notes:
  - J.P. Sears has a 20.4% K-BB rate and 3.25 SIERA over his last four starts, he might be putting things together.
- Pen Notes:
  - Mason Miller is the man. He has a 48.3% K-BB rate and 41.4% CSW.
Seattle Mariners:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Josh Rojas has been hitting an unsustainable .348/.420/.539 at leadoff with 3 bombs and 3 steals, but he’s supported by a .412 BABIP.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Bryan Woo is back and starting Friday night.
- Pen Notes:
  - Andres Munoz has settled in. Over his last 10 appearances, his BB rate is down to 7.3% and he’s sported a 2.72 SIERA.
Tampa Bay Rays:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Josh Lowe is back in the lineup and hitting second.
  - Brandon Lowe is coming back soon.
  - Jonny De Luca is looking like a guy with a .350/.435/.650 slash, a bomb and 2 steals since returning from the IL and hitting seventh every day.
  - Richie Palacio moved down to fifth in the lineup with all these guys coming back.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Ryan Pepiot hit the IL and Taj Bradley came up to replace him. Bradley hasn’t started yet this year as of this writing, but he had two stellar starts at AAA to begin the year.
- Pen Notes:
  - Fairbanks will likely be back this week.
Texas Rangers:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Still waiting for the real Corey Seager to show up…
  - Nate Lowe is rocking a 157 wRC+ through 18 games despite only mashing one tater.
- Rotation Notes:
  - I can’t decide if I’m more shocked that Jose Urena is still in baseball or that he’s only 32-years-old.
  - Jon Gray continues to be acting ace for the Rangers with an 18.8% K-BB rate and 3.47 SIERA.
- Pen Notes:
  - Kirby Yates is still the man.
Toronto Blue Jays:
- Lineup Notes:
  - The Jays moved Daulton Varsho into the two hole and sent Bo Bichette back to sixth and this is while Varsho is in a 6/36 slump over his last 10 games.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Alek Manoah had terrible control in his first start for the Jays.
- Pen Notes:
  - Jordan Romano is coming off a couple outings with an ER, watch him.
Arizona Diamondbacks:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Corbin Carroll is back in at leadoff after going 6/21 with a bomb and 8 RBI this week, pushing Jake McCarthy back down to 8th.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Jordan Montgomery has had a rough time of it this season with only a 4.2% K-BB rate and 5.16 SIERA… just goes to show you need Spring Training between how bad he and Snell have been thus far.
- Pen Notes:
  - Paul Sewald is back and nailed down a save yesterday.
Atlanta Braves:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Ronald Acuna is starting to heat up with a home run Friday night and a .333/.385/.500 slash in May (not including Friday night).
- Rotation Notes:
  - Max Fried is back, pitching 22 innings over his last three starts with 20 Ks, 5 BBs and a 2.23 SIERA.
- Pen Notes:
  - Nothing new here.
Chicago Cubs:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Seiya Suzuki is back in the lineup and hitting second.
  - Cody Bellinger is back in the lineup and hitting third and already has two bombs in three games back.
  - Pete Crow-Armstrong is still on the team, but looks like he will end up in some sort of platoon. It would be silly to keep him up in a bench role.\
  - Christopher Morel has been pretty solid, despite being dragged down by a .217 BABIP, he has 8 homers and 4 steals on the season.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Justin Steele is back only going 4 ⅔ IP in his first game off the IL.
  - Jameson Taillon has a boo-boo and might miss a few days, but will he miss a full turn?
- Pen Notes:
  - Who is worse, Nerris or Finnegan?
Cincinnati Reds:
- Lineup Notes:
  - TJ Friedl is back and leading off!
  - Christian Encarnacion-Strand is down and thus Mike Ford is on the team hitting third (in a platoon) as DH with Spencer Steer playing first and hitting cleanup.
  - Jeimer Candelario’s bat is finally waking up the last two weeks as he has a .333/.333/.576 slash and 2 bombs over that time.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Hunter Greene is second in Stuff+ to Jared Jones on the season with four plus pitches, two being plus-plus.
  - Nick Lodolo looks like an ace with a 26.6% K-BB rate and 2.60 SIERA.
- Pen Notes:
  - Alexis Diaz has been pretty bad this year with only a 10.7% K-BB rate and 4.17 SIERA.
Colorado Rockies:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Jordan Beck has not been good and we have to wonder if he gets Jackson Holliday treatment if this continues for much longer.
  - Ezequiel Tovar looks like he has some roto value, but I wouldn’t buy it. He has a .269/.314/.400 slash boosted by a .387 BABIP.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Ryan Feltner would probably be an above average fantasy starter if he didn’t pitch in Colorado. He has a 15.3% K-BB rate and 3.83 SIERA against a 5.54 ERA.
- Pen Notes:
  - Nothing new.
Los Angeles Dodgers:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Max Muncy has a career low contact rate and career high strikeout rate, but oddly he’s posting his best average and BABIP since 2018 and has 9 homers.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Walker Buehler had four decent innings in his first start of the season, let’s see how deep he goes in his second start.
  - James Paxton has probably been the luckiest starter in baseball, it will be interesting to see how long it lasts as he has a -4.3% K-BB rate and 6.58 SIERA against a lucky 3.06 ERA.
- Pen Notes:
  - See below, Daniel Hudson is closing right now due to an injury.
Miami Marlins:
- Lineup Notes:
  - The Marlins have mentioned possibly trading Jazz Chisholm Jr. before the deadline.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Jesus Luzardo is returning to the rotation on Sunday and Braxton Garrett is returning to the rotation on Saturday.
- Pen Notes:
  - No update.
Milwaukee Brewers:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Christian Yelich is back in the lineup, hitting third with Tyler Black being sent back down to AAA.
  - Brice Turang is leading off now and making my fScores look good – I should have listened to them and I would have had more shares. According to fScores I should have been taking him ahead of guys like Ketel Marte and Zac Gelof.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Robert Gasser made his debut Friday night and shut out the Cardinals in six innings.
- Pen Notes:
  - Payamps is on the bereavement list this weekend, but should resume closing duties upon his return.
New York Mets:
- Lineup Notes:
  - JD Martinez is hitting fifth and destroying the competition (literally).
  - Over the last three weeks, Francisco Lindor is hitting .266/.304/.531 with 5 bombs (including one Friday night) and 3 steals.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Christian Scott had a stellar first career start going 6 ⅔ innings with 6 ks and 1 walk.
- Pen Notes:
  - Nothing new.
Philadelphia Phillies:
- Lineup Notes:
  - JT Realmuto has moved up to the two-hole after Trea Turner’s injury, while Bryson Stott takes over SS, hitting .265/.377/.490 with 2 homers and 5 steals over the last three weeks and Whit Merrifield taking over 2B and hitting seventh.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Ranger Suarez has shown impeccable command thus far on the season with only a 3.5% BB rate before Friday night’s game in which he dominated with 9 Ks and 0 ER.
- Pen Notes:
  - Jose Alvarado has 7 saves, while Jeff Hoffman and Gregory Soto each have 2 saves.
Pittsburgh Pirates:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Nothing new.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Paul Skenes is joining the rotation for a Saturday start, I’m excited for this.
- Pen Notes:
  - Nothing new.
San Diego Padres:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Luis Arraez is hitting first and at DH for the Padres.
  - Jurickson Profar is having the best year of his career at age 31 with a .328/.409/.522 slash only slightly bloated by a .352 BABIP.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Dylan Cease has been Cy Young worthy thus far in 2024.
  - Michael King has had 11 Ks in 7 innings as of the time of this writing in a killer pitching duel between King and Tyler Glasnow (Friday night).
- Pen Notes:
  - Nothing new.
San Francisco Giants:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Casey Schmitt was called up instead of Marco Luciano to play SS with Nick Ahmed out.
  - Heliot Ramos was also called up after smoking AAA, so there’s at least one interesting bat to watch here as he is slated to DH and hit in the 7-hole.
  - Michael Conforto has been hot in May, hitting .310/.412/.621 throughout the month with a couple homers.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Mason Black had a nice beginning to his first career start, but they left him in three times through the order against a good Phillies team on the road and Bryce Harper made him pay, the second start this weekend should be interesting.
- Pen Notes:
  - Nothing new.
St. Louis Cardinals:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Jose Fermin should probably be starting every day.
  - Masyn Winn has really cooled off at the plate the last three weeks, hitting .171/.216/.229.
  - Lars Nootbaar and Nolan Gorman might be the only guys I would even want to touch in this lineup in most leagues.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Matthew Liberatore pitched in the pen Friday as the Cardinals lost another game, so it’s possible a call up is on the verge for someone like Sem Robbersse.
  - Buy Sonny Gray off the tough outing yesterday, he’s a stud.
- Pen Notes:
  - The Cardinals bullpen is really good, despite the rest of the crap going on around this team. I guess they can thank Chaim Bloom for a good portion of that.
Washington Nationals:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Luis Garcia Jr. (Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Jr.) is hitting .346/.414/.500 from the three-hold over the last three weeks with 2 bombs.
  - C.J. Abrams is so good… .272/.338/.537 with 7 homers and 8 steals so far this year.
  - Jesse Winker has been slowing down the last three weeks, but that’s partially due to a .200 BABIP over that time span.
- Rotation Notes:
  - I was wrong on McKenzie Gore – he looks like he can be a solid #2/3 type starter moving forward (pending injury). The Soto trade looks so good for the Nationals (Abrams, Gore, Wood and even Hassell is playing better).
  - Mitchell Parker’s command has been elite with only a 4.7% BB rate on the season.
- Pen Notes:
  - No update.

Fantasy Baseball Injury Notes

SS Trea Turner (Phillies) – Turner is expected to miss at leat 6-8 weeks with a hamstring strain.
C Willson Contreras (Cardinals) – Contreras suffered from a broken arm after taking a JD Martinez swing straight to the forearm. The Cardinals best player thus far in 2024 is out for 10 weeks.
OF Steven Kwan (Guardians) – Kwan is out for approximately four weeks after suffering a hamstring strain. Kwan was hitting .353/.407/.496 pre-injury, but at least Manzardo was called up!
SP Joe Musgrove (Padres) – Musgrove was placed on the 15-day IL with right triceps tendinitis and the move is precautionary, so he’s likely back in 15 days.
OF Wyatt Langford (Rangers) – Langford was placed on the IL with hamstring tightness, likely stress from all the knee buckling due to the bad ump calls on him all season.
RP Evan Phillips (Dodgers) – Dodgers closer Evan Phillips was placed on the 15-day IL with a grade 1 hamstring strain and is only expected to have a minimum length stay. Hudson and Vesia seem to be the guys until Phillips comes back.
C Patrick Bailey (Giants) – Bailey hit the 7-day concussion IL after taking a foul ball to his mask.
SP Dane Dunning (Rangers) – Dunning was placed on the IL with a rotator cuff strain, so it looks like Jack Leiter will get a little more run in the rotation even with Eovaldi coming back.
SP Joe Boyle (Athletics) – Boyle hit the IL with a lower back strain, which can linger so I suppose we are waiting for anything from like 4-8 weeks.
SP Gerrit Cole (Yankees) – Is beginning mound work, so based on Spring Training build up, he could be back in about 6 weeks or so.
SP Gavin Williams (Guardians) – Williams resumed his throwing program and is likely slightly ahead of Cole on ramp up.

Tim’s Top 5 Fantasy Baseball Waiver Adds (12 Team Leagues)

NOTE: Under 50% Owned (CBS)

Last Week: SP Christian Scott (Mets, 49%), RP Joel Payamps (Brewers, 43%), 1B/3B Tyler Black (Brewers, 31%), C/OF MJ Melendez (Royals, 45%), SP Mitchell Parker (Nationals, 45%)

RP Yennier Cano (Orioles) 36% – Yennier Cano has two saves now and I predicted at the beginning of the season Kimbrel would lose the job to him, just like he lost the job to Jose Alvarado last year. Cano has a 2.53 SIERA.
OF Lars Nootbaar (Cardinals) 42% – I know, Tim with a Cardinals guy on his list… and Lars Nootbaar to boot. Look, if anyone should buy any Cardinals player, it should be Lars Nootbaar. He has a couple bombs over the last week, he hits in the top of the order and he is hitting the ball hard with a 91 average EV and nearly 10% barrel rate. He just needs to lift the ball more and have better luck as he is being dragged down by a .191 BABIP.
SP Mitchell Parker (Nationals) 36% – This is Parker’s second week in a row on my 12 team pick ups. Through five starts and 27 innings now, we have a good sample size on Parker who is rocking a 15.9% K-BB rate, 3.63 SIERA and miniscule 4.7% walk rate. He only has a 79 Stuff+ on the fastball and his carrying strikeout pitch is the splitter, but he has good command and spots his pitches up very well.
OF Jonny DeLuca (Rays) 26% – DeLuca has a good hit tool, solid plate skills and some decent power / speed. The power tool isn’t elite, but we could have a solid 15/15 type player here if he is getting regular ABs with the Rays.
SP JP Sears (Athletics) 31% – Sears has been much better the last three weeks, averaging more than 6 innings and netting 2 QS against some tough teams (Yankees, Orioles and Rangers). Sears has a 20.4% K-BB rate over this period with fantastic command and a 3.24 SIERA. He doesn’t really have an elite pitch and is more of a kitchen sink guy, but as long as he can keep the walk rate down and pitch deep, he’s usable in 12 team leagues. Plus he has a two start week against the struggling Astros and the Royals this week.

Tim’s Top 5 Fantasy Baseball Waiver Adds (15 Team Leagues)

NOTE: Under 30% Owned (CBS)

Last Week: OF Tommy Pham (White Sox, 13%), OF Richard Palacios (Rays, 10%), SP Slade Cecconi (Diamondbacks, 20%), SP Jack Leiter (Rangers, 25%), SP Mike Clevinger (White Sox, 10%)

SP Robert Gasser (Brewers) 12% – Gasser had a phenomenal debut against the struggling Cardinals offense with 4 Ks and 0 BBs in 6 scoreless innings. He’s worth buying as a high stuff prospect, especially if he is not going to be walking guys. He had a 35.4% CSW in this first start.
2B / SS / 3B Josh Rojas (Mariners) 29% – Rojas is not this good, because his hot start is supported by a .413 BABIP, but take him while he’s hot and leading off for the Mariners. He’s slashing .351/.417/.526 with 3 bombs and 4 steals on the season.
OF Tommy Pham (White Sox) 18% – Tommy Pham should be owned in all five OF leagues, it’s that simple. He’s hitting .308/.333/.481 with 2 bombs. The walk rates will go up, the contact rates are great right now and he hasn’t even been hitting the ball as hard as he normally does because he didn’t have a spring training.
2B Michael Massey (Royals) 14% – Massey has elite contact rates this season and is also not chasing at all. Tag that with his average power and we have a middle infielder who should be hitting close to .300 and can hit 15-20 homers.
SP Slade Cecconi (Diamondbacks) 12% – Cecconi is killing it in PLV and Stuff+ in his first few starts. He’s only a three pitch guy more or less, but his fastball which he is throwing 56% of the time is generating 90th percentile CSW at 35.1%. Cecconi has a 100 Stuff+ and 105 Location+ good for 14th in Pitching plus since he was first promoted. He probably needs to throw the slider a bit more if he is going to rack up more Ks.

Tim’s Top 10 Fantasy Baseball Redraft Prospects (not promoted yet)

1. 3B Junior Caminero (Rays)

2023 A+/AA: .324/.384/.591, 31 HR, 5 SB
2023 MLB: .235/.278/.353, 1 HR
2024 AAA: .318/376/.588, 6 HR, 1 SB
Age: 20
ETA: Late May
fScores: 103 fContact, 74 fDiscipline, 113 fPower, 97 fSpeed, 57 fDurability
Comp: Ronald Acuna w/o the wheels
Prime Skills: Probably the quickest bat speed in the minors, the hit tool is ridiculous and now the power is catching up. He could be one of the best hitters in baseball sooner rather than later.
Ranking Explanation: The only reason for the Rays to keep Caminero down at this point is to make sure he doesn’t win Rookie of the Year, so they can keep the extra year of control. He’s ready and they need him.

2. OF James Wood (Nationals)

2023 A+/AA: .262/.353/.520, 26 HR, 18 SB
2024 AAA: .344/.433/.552, 5 HR, 9 SB
Age: 21
ETA: Late May
fScores: 104 fContact, 103 fDiscipline, 117 fPower, 126 fSpeed, 58 fDurability
Comp: Lefty Aaron Judge
Prime Skills: Light tower power from the left side of the plate. He has a home run swing if we’ve ever seen one and has the biggest power upside of the top 10, even more than Wyatt Langford and Junior Caminero due to the huge 6’ 7” frame.
Ranking Explanation: Wood has shown increased contact and plate skills this season and basically just needs to put that together with the natural power in order to be ready. Wood improved on his poor GB rate this week and also has an over 115 max EV on the season.

3. SP Drew Thorpe (Padres):

2023 A+/AA: 139 ⅓ IP, 182 Ks, 38 BBs, 2.52 ERA, 0.98 WHIP
2024 AA: 35 2/3 IP, 33 Ks, 9 BBs, 1.01 ERA, 0.84 WHIP
Age: 23
ETA: Late May
fScores: fPDurability 61, 128 fStuff, 114 fControl, 134 fERA
Comp: George Kirby-light to Chris Paddack-ish
Prime Skills: Primarily a fastball, changeup guy (though the best attribute of the fastball is where he places it), Thorpe might remind Padres fans of former top Padres prospect Chris Paddack. He has a nice slider he mixes in between the two and has dominated the minors to date ala Mr. Paddack.
Ranking Explanation: Thorpe is looking great and I’m assuming he’s only in AA because they want him pitching to Quero. He’s probably better than a couple of the current White Sox starters, but at this point they might as well let him work in the minors a little longer with his future teammates, the big league squad doesn’t have many of their long term assets there.

4. 3B Coby Mayo (Orioles, 2024)

2023 AA/AAA: .290/.410/.564, 29 HR, 5 SB
2024 AAA: .295/.366/.609, 12 HR, 3 SB
Age: 22
ETA: Late July
fScores: 89 fContact, 101 fDiscipline, 108 fPower, 77 fSpeed
Comp: Wil Myers at 3B with less speed
Prime Skills: Mayo has a quick and powerful swing that portends to 30-ish homer power with 10-ish steal speed, but he might strike out a lot as well.
Ranking Explanation: Mayo is going to be great when he gets the call, but the Orioles don’t need to promote him and I’m not convinced he’s up until Jackson Holliday gets another chance in the majors since one is on the 40 man and one isn’t. My guess is they need to clear some room with a trade before we see May in the bigs, but I still like him better than the guys lower in the rankings ultimately.

5. SS / 3B Orelvis Martinez (Blue Jays):

2023 AA/AAA: .243/.340/.496, 28 HR, 2 SB
2024 AAA: .276/.359/.552, 9 HR, 0 SB
Age: 22
ETA: Late May
Comp: Willy Adames and Marcel Ozuna mash up
Prime Skills: Martinez has a ton of power and if he can manage a major league average hit tool and reign in the strikeouts, he could end up a very productive fantasy league asset.
Ranking Explanation: Martinez could easily be starting at 3B for the Blue Jays soon if he keeps mashing like he is in the minors. An average EV around 90 and max EV over 115 gives him a ceiling as a top 10 power hitter in baseball.

6. SP Cade Horton (Cubs):

2023 A/A+/AA: 88 1/3 IP, 117 Ks, 27 BBs, 2.65 ERA, 1.00 WHIP
2024 AA: 16 ⅓ IP, 18 Ks, 2 BBs, 1.10 ERA, 0.92 WHIP
2024 AAA: 7 IP, 11 Ks, 8 BBs, 10.29 ERA, 2.14 WHIP
Age: 22
ETA: Mid July
fScores: 43 fPDurability, 120 fStuff, 106 fControl, 113 fERA
Comp: Hunter Brown
Prime Skills: Dude looks like a righty Jon Lester throwing 98 MPH darts and has a nasty curve. He has shown insane command with three plus pitches between the fastball, slider and curve and should be moving pretty quickly next season due to his well above average command.
Ranking Explanation: Horton was promoted to AAA, bringing him one step closer to a call up. The Cubs are competing this year and if they want their best chance down the stretch they will want Horton in the rotation. He has had a rough start to his AAA career, but he will even out.

7. SP Cade Povich (Orioles):

2023 AA/AAA Stats: 126 2/3 IP, 171 Ks, 66 BBs, 5.04 ERA, 1.36 WHIP
2024 AAA Stats: 37 ⅓ IP, 50 Ks, 16 BBs, 1.69 ERA, 0.99 WHIP
Age: 23
ETA: Mid July
fScores: 69 fPDurability, 105 fStuff, 88 fControl, 91 fERA
Comp: Matthew Liberatore, but better
Prime Skills: He’s a lanky lefty with some loopy stuff that plays up in the minors for K’s, but I’m concerned about how the stuff will play at the major league level based on my comparison to Matthew Liberatore who has gotten hit hard in the majors.
Ranking Explanation: I always like Povich as a strikeout pitcher, but his lack of control concerned me and I thought he might end up in the pen. He still has an 11% BB rate, which isn’t great – but if he can stick there he should be fine. The Orioles are going to hold him down as insurance in the event someone gets hit with a longer term injury.

8. SP Adam Mazur (Padres):

2023 AA Stats: 96 IP, 90 Ks, 17 BBs, 2.81 ERA, 1.19 WHIP
2024 AA Stats: 32 ⅓ IP, 32 Ks, 5 BBs, 1.95 ERA, 0.87 WHIP
Age: 23
ETA: Late July
Comp: Tanner Bibee, but a harder more Luis Castillo like slider
Prime Skills: Impeccable command with a nice hard 12/6 slider and a changeup with a ton of run. He’s been a lot more consistent with the fastball up in the zone this year.
Ranking Explanation: Mazur could be the next man up for the Padres and they just don’t want him in Albuquerque. Randy Vazquez is probably the guy for a short term injury, but Mazur in the event of a long-term injury.

9. SP Ricky Tiedemann (Blue Jays)

2023 Rk/A/AA/AAA: 44 IP, 82 Ks, 23 BBs, 3.68 ERA, 1.23 WHIP
2024 AAA: 8 IP, 10 Ks, 9 BBs, 5.63 ERA, 2.00 WHIP
Age: 22
ETA: Early July
fScores: 49 fPDurability, 121 fStuff, 96 fControl, 167 fERA
Comp: Good Andrew Heaney
Prime Skills: Tiedemann was a huge breakout last year and has a really nice fastball – slider combo. His changeup plays great off the slider, which is probably his best pitch. He’s a tunnel master who has a short arm / side arm funky delivery from the left side which makes his slider even tougher to pick up. He does have bullpen risk.
Ranking Explanation: Despite the pen risk, his stuff is pretty ridiculous and he’s throwing again at complex so it’s possible we see him ramp up into the majors mid-season.

10. SP Sem Robberese (Cardinals):

2023 AA/AAA: 124 IP, 130 Ks, 57 BBs, 4.28 ERA, 1.35 WHIP
2024 AAA: 41 ⅔ IP, 42 Ks, 11 BBs, 2.81 ERA, 1.01 WHIP
Age: 22
ETA: Early May
Comp: Joe Ryan light
Prime Skills: Robberse is a secondary first guy who has a lot of deception in his delivery making his 90-92 MPH fastball play up a lot more in velo. I saw him a couple times this spring and thought he looked more like a future reliever, but he’s been dominating AAA with impeccable command and has figured something out this year as far as maximizing his pitch mix. His slider is more vertical and his cutter looks almost like a power curve, while his change up against his fastball (which looks like it has some nice IVB) makes for a different look than most pitchers give.
Ranking Explanation: Robberse didn’t get the call this week as the Cardinals went for a bullpen game and then proceeded to have his worst start of the season, Cardinals being Cardinals I guess. This call here is if you need some innings as there are much better players in the honorable mentions below, but those guys might be a bit further away.

Honorable Mention: OF Chase DeLauter (Guardians), SS Colson Montgomery (White Sox), SP Robby Snelling (Padres), OF Jakob Marsee (Marlins), OF Drew Gilbert (Mets), SP David Festa (Twins), SP Jacob Misiorowski (Brewers), SP Carson Whisenhunt (Giants), SP Chase Petty (Reds), 2B/SS Jett Williams (Mets), OF Blake Dunn (Reds), SS Brooks Lee (Twins), SP Ty Madden (Tigers), SP Hurston Waldrep (Braves), 2B Thomas Saggesse (Cardinals), OF Dylan Crews (Nationals), SP Tink Hence (Cardinals), SP Tekoah Roby (Cardinals), SP Chase Hampton (Yankees), SS Carson Williams (Rays), 2B/OF Luisangel Acuna, OF Sterlin Thompson (Rockies), 1B Tyler Locklear (Mariners), SP Carlos F. Rodriguez (Brewers), 3B/OF Justyn Henry-Malloy (Tigers), SP Cristian Mena (Diamondbacks), 2B Connor Norby (Orioles), SP Mick Abel (Phillies), SP Gordon Graceffo (Cardinals), SP Will Warren (Yankees), OF Jacob Melton (Astros), SP/RP Wilmer Flores (Tigers), SP Jake Eder (White Sox), SP Richard Fitts (Red Sox), OF Owen Caissie (Cubs), 2B/3B Jace Jung (Tigers), OF Caleb Durbin (Yankees), OF Deyvison de los Santos (Diamondbacks), SS Jacob Wilson (Athletics), C/1B Ben Rice (Yankees), OF Robert Hassell II (Nationals), 2B Mike Boeve (Brewers), 3B Brock Wilken (Brewers), C Moises Ballesteros (Cubs), SP Wikelman Gonzalez (Red Sox), SP/RP Jairo Iriarte (White Sox), SP Gunnar Hoglund (Athletics), SP Carson Palmquist (Rockies), SP Mason Adams (White Sox), SP Blad Tidwell (Mets)

Graduated (this week): SP Paul Skenes (Pirates), 1B Kyle Manzardo, SP Robert Gasser (Brewers), SP Mason Black (Giants)

Graduated (this year): OF Wyatt Langford (Rangers), OF Jackson Chourio (Brewers), SS/OF Jackson Merrill (Padres), OF Victor Scott II (Cardinals), 2B/3B Colt Keith (Tigers), SP Jared Jones (Pirates), SS/3B Darrell Hernaiz (Athletics), 3B/OF Graham Pauley (Padres), RP Clayton Beeter (Yankees), SP Jack Leiter (Rangers), SS Jackson Holliday (Orioles), SP/RP Ben Brown (Cubs), OF Andy Pages (Dodgers), 2B Justin Foscue (Rangers), 2B/OF Joey Loperfido (Astros), SP Christian Scott (Mets), 1B / 3B Tyler Black (Brewers), OF Jordan Beck (Rockies)

Fantasy Baseball Moves I Made This Week

- CBS Memorial Magazine League (12 Team 5×5 Roto):
  - Added $0 Andrew Heaney and dropped Trevor Rogers
- CBS NL Only Analyst League (12 Team 5×5 Roto):
  - N/A
- TGFBI (15 Team 5×5 Roto):
  - Added Slade Cecconi for $37, dropping Abner Uribe

- Fantasy Aceball Invitational (16 Team Ottoneu H2H Points):

- - Cut $4 Matt Brash

- Ottoneu Podcaster’s League (12 Team Ottoneu 5×5 Roto):

- - N/A

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | SoundCloud | iHeartRadio

If you enjoyed this article and want more content from me, please be sure to follow Tim on Twitter (@fantasyaceball) for all of his fantasy baseball content. Also, you can catch his podcast “The Fantasy Aceball Podcast” on any of the podcasting apps.

NFL

MLB

NBA

NHL