5 days agoOn May 1, New York Mets infield prospect
Luisangel Acuna was hitting .216, but now he's sitting at .254 after working with minor-league coaches J.P. Arencibia and Collin Hetzler to tighten his swing and lower his leg kick. They also wanted Acuna to stay back more instead of trying to go out and get pitches. The adjustments have worked, as Acuna is racking up more hits and hitting more balls in the air to left field. The brother of Braves star
Ronald Acuna Jr., is currently on the Mets' 40-man roster. He's split playing time this year at Triple-A Syracuse at shortstop, second base and center field and has played all three positions well, according to evaluators. In his last 20 games for Syracuse, the 22-year-old is hitting .303 with eight stolen bases. Acuna is the team's No. 5 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, and could make his big-league debut later this year if the Mets fall further out of contention.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: The Athletic - Will Sammon
5 days agoThe Atlanta Braves are calling up pitching prospect
Spencer Schwellenbach from Double-A Mississippi on Tuesday, according to sources familiar with the situation. According to MLB Pipeline, Schwellenbach is considered Atlanta's No. 3 prospect. He will be making his major-league debut on Wednesday in a start against the visiting Washington Nationals. The 23-year-old right-hander went 2-1 with a 2.53 ERA and 1.09 WHIP with nine walks and 34 strikeouts in 32 innings over six starts for High-A Rome to start the year before being promoted to Mississippi, where he went 2-0 in 13 shutout innings with one walk and 17 strikeouts in his two starts. The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder relies mostly on a fastball-slider mix, and his athleticism (he played shortstop in college) plays into his accuracy in the zone. Schwellenbach is worth a look in most fantasy formats in the event he sticks in the rotation.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: FanSided - Robert Murray
5
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A.J.
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Arrighetti
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5 days agoBoston Red Sox first base prospect
Niko Kavadas has been putting together a good season for Triple-A Worcester. The 25-year-old finished the 2023 season with Worcester and struggled, but he has been a changed hitter in his second turn with the club. Kavadas is currently hitting .280 with 10 homers and 30 RBI to go along with an impressive 1.031 OPS. Kavadas isn't as highly touted and some of the other Red Sox prospects, but he has consistently hit 20 or more homers in his professional career and continues to fly under the radar. The Red Sox have gotten little production from
Garrett Cooper and
Dominic Smith at first base, but
Triston Casas (rib) is starting to resume baseball activities and will be firmly entrenched at first base when healthy. Kavadas will likely get an opportunity to play in the big leagues this season, but can be ignored for now.
--Daniel Burdeen - RotoBallerSource: Milb.com
5 days agoDetroit Tigers outfield prospect
Justyn-Henry Malloy has been putting together another good season for Triple-A Toledo. Malloy has hit .269 with five homers and 25 RBI over his first 134 at-bats. He has also drawn 37 walks. Malloy is the club's No. 6 prospect and has had plenty of hype in fantasy circles since his breakout season of 2023 for Toledo. The 24-year-old led all of minor league baseball in 2023 with 110 walks and also showed his power with 23 homers and 83 RBI to lead his team. Malloy has shown some of the best plate discipline of any prospect and that continues to be a big part of his game. Malloy's biggest flaw has been that the Tigers have yet to find a position for him to get everyday at-bats at the big-league level. Malloy has the makings of a fantasy contributor with his ability to get on-base at a high clip and avoid strikeouts, but may need an injury at the big-league level to get his chance.
--Daniel Burdeen - RotoBallerSource: Milb.com
5 days agoWith the news of outfielder
Ronald Acuna Jr. (knee) being sidelined for the season with a torn ACL, the Atlanta Braves have promoted outfielder
J.P. Martinez. Martinez, 28, was acquired from the Texas Rangers this offseason and has been a regular starter for Triple-A Gwinnett. On the season, Martinez has hit .265 with three homers, 12 RBI and 14 stolen bases. Martinez does a little of everything, but he is unlikely to see much playing time in Atlanta right away with
Adam Duvall and
Jarred Kelenic expected to get the share of at-bats freed up by Acuna being absent. Martinez can safely remain on the waiver wire.
--Daniel Burdeen - RotoBallerSource: Milb.com
5 days agoWashington Nationals pitcher
Mitchell Parker continued his impressive rookie season with his fourth victory of the season on Monday versus the division rival Atlanta Braves. Parker tossed 6 1/3 innings and allowed five hits, three runs, zero walks and recorded six strikeouts. The left-hander wasn't the most highly touted prospect in a good Nationals farm system, but he has put himself on the map this season with consistent results over his first eight starts. Parker, 24, has yet to allow more than three runs in a start and has gone five or more innings in all but one outing. He also has an impressive 1.11 WHIP. Parker has quietly become an asset for managers and is worth rostering in 10-team leagues moving forward. Next up for the lefty will be a date in Cleveland against the Guardians.
--Daniel Burdeen - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
5 days agoSan Diego starting pitcher
Michael King struck out seven across five innings of one-run ball on Monday. He allowed three hits and one free pass. King has looked dominant at times this season but has also had several blow-up starts, making him a difficult asset to trust in fantasy. He has logged five starts with only allowing at most one earned run but two starts of allowing at least six earned runs with an overall 4.03 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. However, he has shown excellent strikeout upside with a 26.3% K rate, which places him in the top 73 percentile among all qualified pitchers. The 29-year-old will look to post another strong outing on Sunday as he takes on the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
5 days agoMilwaukee Brewers shortstop
Willy Adames went 2-for-4 at the plate with a three-run blast that powered the Brewers to victory in the opening game of the series. Adames now has eight home runs on the season with a solid .249/.322/.440 slash line, 35 RBI, and eight stolen bases. The 28-year-old is looking to put a disappointing season behind him and is already on pace to smash last year's totals. Under the hood, Adames has an above-average barrel rate, xSLG, hard-hit rate, and walk rate, which are great signs that he could be in for a big summer. He is expected to continue to serve as the everyday shortstop in Milwaukee and consistently bat in the cleanup spot, setting him up for prime RBI opportunities batting behind
Christian Yelich and
William Contreras. Adames remains a solid shortstop and middle infield option in all standard leagues.
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
5 days agoMilwaukee Brewers starting pitcher
Robert Gasser struck out a season and career-high seven batters across seven shutout innings on Monday. He allowed just three hits. The southpaw got back on track on Monday after allowing ten hits and for earned runs in his previous outing. Through his first four starts in the majors (23 innings), the 24-year-old holds a 1.96 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and near-perfect 1:13 BB:K ratio. His underlying metrics are quite strong as he currently holds a 1.3% barrel rate and 21.3% hard-hit rate, which places him in the top 98th and 99th percentile among qualified pitchers. However, he has struggled to strike batters out with a poor 14.1% K rate. Nonetheless, Gasser has only had one poor outing in the majors so far and will look to keep the momentum rolling on Saturday when he takes on the Chicago White Sox.
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
5 days agoChicago White Sox outfielder
Andrew Benintendi went 3-for-4 at the plate with three singles in Monday's loss. This was a big bounce-back game for the 29-year-old, as he entered Monday hitting for a .053 average in his past six games. Overall on the season, Benintendi is riding a disappointing .193/.230/.271 slash line with three home runs and two stolen bases. Benintendi is known for being a great batting average contributor in fantasy, posting .262 and .304 marks the previous two seasons, respectively. Currently, his underlying metrics do not suggest a fast turnaround this season, as he sits with an 87.4 mph average exit velocity and 5.4% barrel rate. As a result, Benintendi should be left on all waiver wires, but he could be worth adding in deeper leagues if he continues to find his footing.
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
5 days agoAtlanta Braves outfielder
Adam Duvall launched a two-run blast on Monday, his second in as many days. Through 34 games this season, the 35-year-old has posted a .209/.303/.407 line with five long balls and a 10:22 BB:K ratio. Duvall has not been able to find consistent playing time this season, but that will change due to the recent season-ending injury to
Ronald Acuna Jr. (knee). He is now expected to slot in as the everyday right fielder in Atlanta, with
J.P. Martinez serving as his backup. While Duval does have strong hitting metrics, such as an excellent 13.8% barrel rate and .499 xSLG, he holds a 22.2% K Rate, which does hurt his value in points leagues. Due to the increase in playing time and power upside, he is worth adding in deeper leagues.
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
5 days agoMinnesota Twins third baseman
Jose Miranda went 1-for-4 at the plate with a two-run shot to power the Twins to a victory. Miranda has now made 10 consecutive starts at the hot corner and looks to have claimed the starting role. In his past 10 games, he has posted a strong .303/.324/.606 slash line with three long balls, five RBI, and a 1:4 BB:K. Currently, Miranda holds a stellar 14.8% strikeout rate, which should play well in points leagues. This is a big turnaround for the 25-year-old, as he struggled in the majors last season and finished with a poor .211/.263/.303 line and ended up spending half of the season in Triple-A. Miranda is worth adding in AL-only formats and deeper mixed leagues and could even be worth adding in standard formats if he continues this hot stretch.
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
6 days agoCincinnati Reds corner infielder
Jeimer Candelario had a successful return to the lineup in Monday's 3-1 win over the Cardinals. The 30-year-old went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk. Candelario got things going, pulling a first-inning
Lance Lynn fastball over the right-field wall for his sixth HR of the season. Despite the move to a favorable home park, Candelario has struggled offensively, slashing .222/.299/.419 with 20 RBI in 187 plate appearances. He has hit for more power at home but has actually batted worse with a .202/.333/.440 slash line compared to a .241/.259/.398 slash line on the road. While it seems likely that Candelario's overall numbers will improve as he starts to hit better at home, fantasy managers will have to be patient until he can start producing more consistently.
--Connelly Doan - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
6 days agoCincinnati Reds starting pitcher
Nick Lodolo (groin) improved to 4-2 in Monday's 3-1 win over the Cardinals. Lodolo, who was activated from the 15-day injured list earlier in the day after recovering from a groin strain, pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run on five hits (including a solo home run) and no walks with three strikeouts over 81 pitches. This was very encouraging for the 26-year-old and fantasy managers, as Lodolo has pitched well this season with a 3.12 ERA and a 10.26 K/9 rate in seven starts and 40 1/3 IP. The former high-end fantasy prospect had a poor, injury-shortened 2023 season after a promising rookie season, so it is nice to see him back on the right track. Lodolo will look to keep things going in his next start, which is projected to be a decent matchup at the Cubs.
--Connelly Doan - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
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