Astros OF Joey Loperfido appears to have finally earned a lineup spot. Man that took forever, didn’t it? Or maybe I’ve just been in the sun too long these past couple days. Warps time a bit.
Athletics 3B Armando Alvarez was called up to take the place of 3B Abraham Toro. He’s 29 years old, so he’s unlikely to become a core piece for Oakland’s build, but I think he’s got at least a chance to stick around in a Joey Meneses kind of way. His past three seasons have netted positive wRC+ scores of 117 in 2022, 125 in 2023, and 132 in 2024, all in Triple-A as he stalled out waiting for a major league opportunity with the Yankees, Giants and Athletics. Unlike Meneses and a lot of these late-stage DH types, Alvarez provides solid defense at the hot corner. Over his last 20 games, he’s slashing .388/.456/.663 with five home runs and one stolen base. If not now, when?
Diamondbacks C Gabriel Moreno is on the IL due to a sprained left thumb: an important opposable digit for all humans but especially for a catcher. The club recalled Jose Herrera for now, but if Moreno winds up needing a while to recuperate, we should get a look at C Adrian Del Castillo (24, AAA), who has been excellent all season but has turned it up another notch over his last 13 games, slashing .333/.483/.711 with 12 walks, seven strikeouts and four home runs. Even if Moreno isn’t waylaid, Del Castillo has earned a look with his solid plate skills and slash line of .328/.397/.611 along with 14 home runs in 67 games.
Yankees C Agustin Ramirez (22, AAA) was promoted to Triple-A as Ben Rice left for New York. If he so much as holds his own, I think Ramirez is going to be shockingly high on some “real baseball” prospect lists entering 2025. Probably a fairly universal top 50 fantasy prospect as well. Unless he gets hot enough to force a promotion and burns up his eligibility. Suspect his teams would be happy either way.
As in this situation with Ramirez and Rice, Diamondbacks C Caleb Roberts (24, AA) would probably be promoted to Triple-A once Del Castillo heads to the majors. A lefty with power, his season-long wRC+ of 142 is impressive, but Roberts has been even better lately, slashing .292/.370/.688 with five home runs over his last 13 games.
Blue Jays 3B Orelvis Martinez was recalled this week and got a start at second base, where the team has been hiding 1B Spencer Horwitz the past couple weeks. Horwitz is hitting well in a lineup where runs have been scarce, so we’ll see some juggling from Toronto this month as they contemplate their fate nearing the deadline. Easy for me to sit here and say they shouldn’t have called Martinez up if they weren’t going to play him every day, but I also realize it’s complicated. If both of these guys wind up as lineup regulars with second base eligibility, I’ll be happy with the path that brought us there.
Another knock-around infielder in search of a gig, Brewers 1B Tyler Black was recalled this week and started twice, once at DH and once at first base. Rhys Hoskins hasn’t been great, and Black has plate skills, so I’m taking a wait-and-see approach here where possible. It’s easy for me to get lulled to sleep when a guy gets called up to sit the bench, but it pays to stay vigilant.
Twins 2B Brooks Lee is back on the field and raking after missing much of the first half, knocking on the door to join a deep major league infield with a weak spot at second base. Austin Martin has played great all season and drew a start at second base on Friday night. If the team thinks he can figure that out on the fly, Lee might have to wait a while. If Martin can’t make it happen, Lee is looking plenty ready.
One of baseball’s hottest hitters right now is a 19th round pick out of Grambling State in 2022. Over his last month (24 games since May 21), Astros C John Garcia (23, A+) is slashing .370/.438/.710 with eight home runs and three stolen bases. I know everyone’s favorite thing is when Houston finds value deep in the draft, pick 583 in this case, but it’s fun to see a guy build himself into a named guy. Garcia hit .198 in 73 Low-A games last year, for some context.
Just an anecdotal thought on the way out: I think offense is closing the gap on pitching. Arms have dominated the early season, but so many of them are injured, and it’s becoming summertime all around the country, it feels like a matter of time before the game self-corrects back toward offense. Feels like it’s happening as I type considering the bomb Guardians OF Daniel Schneeman just hit in a left-on-left matchup against Genesis Cabrera, who came into the at bat thinking the only thing about Schneeman was the way that he walked.
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