Giants RHP Hayden Birdsong will make his debut for the arm-starved Giants today against the Cubs. He’s pitched well since being selected in the sixth round of the 2022 draft, leaning into a high-velocity fastball to rack up the strikeouts: 75 K’s in 57.1 innings across two levels this year. At 6’4” 215 lbs with that heater playing well atop the zone, he fits the archetype for our times. He may not pitch deep into his starts, but he’s going to try and strike out every single batter with high heat and buried breaking balls as long as he’s out there.
From one fun name to another, we’ve gotta carve out some space for Red Sox OF Jhostynxon Garcia (21, A+), who has benefited from the hitter friendly home ballpark at Greenville, but he’s hit four homers on the road and three homers at home durings his 20 games in High-A. A smooth right-handed swinger at 6’0” 163 lbs, Garcia graduated Low-A after posting a 154 wRC+ in 24 Low-A games and might get a quick bump to Double-A if he keeps slashing something close to the .312/.384/.636 he’s posting so far. Spell check wants me to change his name to Jhostyn Xon. Which, okay, but that’s not actually changing any of the letters? He popped up in the Razzball chat a while back because his nickname on baseball reference is “The Password.” Just fun stuff all around. But don’t make this guy your password if you intend to log in again.
Cardinals LHP Quinn Mathews (23, AA) is slated to make his Double-A debut this week, graduating from High-A after seven starts covering 43.2 innings. He’s on his third level of the season. A fourth-round pick out of Stanford last year, his command has been on point all year thanks in part to excellent balance throughout a repeatable delivery. At 6’5” 188 lbs, Mathews features a plus changeup alongside a well-rounded arsenal (fastball, curveball, slider) that works well together because of the command and confidence to throw any pitch in any count.
A 13th round pick out of San Jose State in 2023, Pirates OF Charles McAdoo (22, AA) is cruising through the minors and already has two home runs in three Double-A games. He posted a 151 wRC+ in Low-A last year and a 167 wRC+ in High-A this year, where he stole 14 bases and hit nine home runs in 60 games. A strong right-handed hitter at 6’1” 210 lbs, McAdoo has used the muscle well as a pro, shortening up to decrease the strikeouts while generating all-fields power.
Mariners OF Lazaro Montes (19) and SS Michael Arroyo (19) both received well-earned promotions to High-A this week. Arroyo might be nearing an echo-chamber value escalator if the power carries over to the new level.
Red Sox SS Yoelin Cespedes (18, A) was promoted to Low-A this week, where he’ll get a chance to settle in just before a wave of newly drafted college arms hit that level. In 25 games on the complex, Cespedes slashed .319/.400/.615 with five home runs and three steals along with an 18.1 percent strikeout rate. Seems like he’ll be up for the challenge. Craig Breslow is having an excellent first season as the club’s Chief Baseball Officer.
Cut Me, Mick! (Guys I’ve dropped in dynasty leagues)!
Marlins 2B Vidal Brujan: I’m down to zero shares anywhere. Thanks, I hate it, but the guy hasn’t hit or stolen bases this year after a solid first few weeks with a gig.
While Sox OF Corey Julks: My Highlander squad is probably out of the hunt, and I don’t see a big bright future for Julks, so I had to let him go.
Orioles LHP John Means: Highlander settings kind of demanded this one in my eyes. Just five IL slots. I’d have to hold him through keeper groupings where he’d be really low on the list and then a problem to roster in 2025. I did give trading him the old college try, but I felt slightly ridiculous even offering him to builders for next to nothing. Good sign it’s time to move along.
Athletics OF Miguel Andujar: Bit of an odd scenario here where I keep getting pinched in a league where all my pitchers are injured. I paid $31 of $1000 for Andujar, then cut him a couple days later, then bought him back for $13, then traded him for $31 plus Korey Lee to cover for Elias Diaz. Who says baseball isn’t romantic? I like what Andujar is doing, but he’s an odd piece, and I have a bit of a cushion in batting average.
Athletics RHP Lucas Erceg: Same league with the roster crunch. I had to leave Tobias Myers in my minors for the start against San Diego because that Andujar trade didn’t get processed in time. That pissed me off, so I went looking for cuts and decided that the A’s weren’t going to trade Mason Miller this year, even if cutting Erceg didn’t help the crunch at all. We have eight IL spots in that league. I have nine injured pitchers plus Ronald Acuña Jr. Super cool happy fun times. Might have to cut Alek Manoah if I can’t sell him for pennies on the dime. Maybe even Justin Verlander, who’s IL designation reads “cooked?”
Cubs RHP Javier Assad: I hated this. Same league, obviously. Should’ve been able to trade him, but he’s been bad for a while now, and I fell out of first place in this league, so I felt the push to start making moves.
Thanks for reading!
