Champ or Chump: Edgar Quero and Jackson Jobe Fantasy Baseball Outlooks

May 6, 2025

Are Edgar Quero and Jackson Jobe fantasy baseball sleepers, busts, or neither? Rick takes a deep dive into their 2025 fantasy baseball values.

It's easy for fantasy managers to fall in love with a prospect's scouting report. They seem authoritative, especially if multiple scouting reports say the same thing. We generally don't see minor leaguers play that often, so scouting grades are all we have.

Except they aren't. Fantasy managers don't care about tools but production, and every minor leaguer's numbers are readily accessible online. Edgar Quero's scouting report reads nothing like his MiLB resume, and we should trust the hard data. Likewise, scouts love Jackson Jobe, but he's looked pedestrian at best despite some shiny surface stats.

Let's take a closer look at how these two might perform moving forward.

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Edgar Quero (C, Chicago White Sox)

3% rostered

The 22-year-old Quero is off to a great start, slashing .340/.446/.404 in 56 plate appearances. His .381 BABIP probably won't be sustainable over a full season, but his plate discipline looks great with a 12.5% BB% and 8.9% K%, and his 4.3% SwStr% is microscopic. His 16.7% fly-ball rate mutes his power potential but should help his BABIP.

None of that jibes with Quero's scouting report. FanGraphs describes him as a "bat-first" catcher with a mediocre hit tool:

Similarly, MiLB.com notes Quero's "20 HR potential."

Quero is a contact savant in Chicago, but his scouting reports don't support it. We should expect him to play like his reports, right? Wrong! Quero's minor league resume supports what he's doing.

He first reached Double-A in 2023 with Rocket City in the Angels organization, slashing .246/.386/.332 with three homers in 321 PAs. His .294 BABIP suggested unfortunate batted ball luck, and his 28.6% FB% was low, but his plate discipline was sublime with a 17.1% BB% and 16.5% K%. His 6.3% SwStr% was exceptional.

Quero was included in the Lucas Giolito trade, logging 134 PAs for Double-A (Birmingham) in 2023. He hit .277/.366/.393 with three homers, again demonstrating superb plate discipline (12.7% BB%, 17.2% K%) and contact ability (5.5% SwStr%). His .311 BABIP may have been high for a catcher, but his 28% FB% supported it to an extent.

The White Sox sent Quero back to Birmingham for 2024, and he seemed to sell out for power, slashing .275/.360/.463 with 12 homers in 292 PAs. His SwStr% surged to 10.3% while his FB% increased to 33.8%, suggesting a more violent swing. His 8.9% BB% was lower than the previous year, but the strikeouts remained in check at 16.8%.

It earned him a Triple-A (Charlotte) promotion, where he hit .295/.382/.463 with four homers in 110 PAs. His 9.9% SwStr% was virtually unchanged despite being young for the level, and his FB% cratered to 20%. The low FB% contributed to his .338 BABIP, and his plate discipline remained outstanding with an 11.8% BB% against a 19.1% K%.

Quero seemed to revert back to his original approach this year, slashing .333/.444/.412 in 63 PAs at Charlotte with one homer. His 5.9% SwStr% was elite, his 24.3% FB% was low, and his .432 BABIP was unsustainably high. His plate discipline was excellent with a 17.5% BB% and 22.2% K%.

Quero's swing doesn't have enough loft to produce 20 homers this year, but his contact skills aren't a fluke. His MiLB SwStr% rates were good even when he tried to hit more homers, and his current approach is basically Luis Arraez with catcher eligibility. Chicago hits him fourth or fifth, giving him all the counting stats the White Sox can muster.

Quero is a classic "do no harm" catcher who should help with batting average and OBP while being neutral in RBI. Catchers generally stink, so this Champ shouldn't be available on waivers in 97 percent of Yahoo! leagues, no matter what his scouting report says.

Jackson Jobe (SP/RP, Detroit Tigers)

44% rostered

Jobe entered the 2025 season as the top-rated conventional pitching prospect, with only Roki Sasaki topping him on lists where he qualified. Jobe was selected third overall in 2021 and immediately turned heads with a fastball touching 102 mph. Scouts noted he had the pitch ability to complement his electric stuff.

Unsurprisingly, every scouting report raved about him. FanGraphs ranked his everything as at least MLB average:

A five-pitch mix that ranks at least MLB average plus league-average command sounds like a recipe for immediate success. His MiLB.com scouting report is even more promising:

Literally everything is plus! Fantasy managers were understandably excited when Jobe broke camp with Detroit, and his 2-0 record and 3.38 ERA over 24 innings pitched are solid.

They also mask what has been an underwhelming profile thus far. Jobe's 17.6% K% and 13.7% BB% produce a K-BB% of just 3.9%, way below what you want in fantasy. Jobe's vaunted stuff hasn't translated to the highest level either.

His most frequently thrown pitch is his slider, which he uses as a fastball, considering its 10.9% SwStr%, 52.2% Zone%, and 36.4% chase rate. His fastball reached 99.1 mph this season, but its 4.1% SwStr% and 50.8% Zone% are well below average despite elite velocity. His sinker has been better, with a 7.7% SwStr% and 55.4% Zone%.

Jobe's changeup has strikeout potential with a 15.3% SwStr%, but its 28.8% Zone% and 28.6% chase rate mean it isn't thrown for a strike or good at getting batters to fish. His curve was a highlight when Jobe was drafted, but now it's just a show-me pitch with a 9.4% SwStr%, 56.3% Zone%, and 28.6% chase rate.

Jobe's MiLB track record is virtually non-existent. He struggled with lumbar spine inflammation in 2023 and a hamstring strain last year, which limited his workload. The Tigers tried to promote him aggressively despite the injuries, giving Jobe very small samples, such as a single Double-A start in 2023 and nine innings pitched at Triple-A in 2024.

His largest sample was 73 2/3 IP for Double-A (Erie) last season. His 1.95 ERA and 27.1% K% looked great, but his 4.03 xFIP suggested he wasn't nearly as effective as he appeared. All of his luck metrics were off the charts, including a .227 BABIP, 2.7% HR/FB, and 79.5% strand rate, and his 12.7% BB% foreshadowed his lack of control with the Tigers this year.

Even if Jobe suddenly figures things out, Detroit will likely limit his innings and reduce his fantasy viability. Already, the team gave him a 12-day layoff with no reported injury to control his workload, and that'll probably happen again before the season is through.

Furthermore, Jobe is averaging less than five innings per start. That'll make it hard to earn wins and virtually impossible to notch quality starts, and it probably won't change, considering the Tigers have publicly committed to managing Jobe's innings this year.

Jobe is pitching at Colorado tonight, and Coors Field is always a challenge for pitchers, even when the Rockies are terrible. After that, he lines up for a start against the Rangers on May 11. Texas has been struggling lately, but the names in that lineup are still scary.

Jobe isn't getting big league strikeouts, and it's tough to see why that would change, considering his repertoire. He also lacks command and walks too many guys. The Tigers have Jobe on strict workload limitations, and his upcoming starts could be dangerous.

This Chump isn't anything more than a mediocre streaming option in 2025, though obviously his long-term upside is virtually limitless.

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