I’ll be running down everything that caught my eye in the Dynasty Baseball world on most Mondays (in this case, Wednesday) throughout the season here on the Brick Wall. The rest of the week you can catch my Rundowns on the Patreon. Here is the Wednesday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (6/25/25):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
–JUNE 2025 TOP 302 PROSPECTS RANKS
–MAY 2025 TOP 443 DYNASTY RANKS (Mid-Season Top 400+ Dynasty Ranks coming next week)
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: JUNE MAILBAG! (dropped yesterday)
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS
-TOP 50 2026 FYPD RANKS COMING SOON
–SPREADSHEETS

Chase Burns – CIN, RHP, 22.3 – In my FYPD Strategy & Target Guide this off-season, I advised to stay put in that top tier of talent (through 12th overall), writing, “I truly believe that any player in this group can emerge as the top player in the draft class in the long run.” And that is basically exactly what we are seeing. Every week, a different guy in that tier is popping, making us all regret not picking him, and yesterday, my #4 overall (#3 not including Roki) FYPD prospect, Chase Burns, took centerstage. He made his MLB debut and went 5 IP with 6 hits, 3 ER, and a 8/0 K/BB vs none other than Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees. Here is the strikeout reel. The 98.1 MPH 4-seamer put up a 26% whiff% and the slider notched a 40% whiff%. That is the recipe right there. The lesser used changeup was also effective with a 38 CSW% and a 58.3 MPH EV against (on just one batted ball). The dude is an ace, and this debut left no doubt about that.

Ben Rice – NYY, 1B, 26.6 – But of course my man Ben Rice had to give Burns his welcome to the majors moment, cracking a 107.9 MPH homer off him. He slumped for a bit, but he’s back on the rise with a 1.305 OPS in his last 6 games, and if you think I was moving off him and his .412 xwOBA, you are crazy. That xwOBA is 9th best in baseball!!! He’s crushing the ball with a 93.4 MPH EV and he’s making plenty of contact with a 21.7% K%. I’m not budging off this man even with the playing time logjam, as 1B opens up next year, and there is no reason for him not to get that job. You need to be sticking with Rice like white on rice.

Christian Moore – LAA, 2B, 22.0 – Burns definitely owned the day from the 2025 FYPD class, but Moore had his coming out party in the majors too, crushing 2 homers at 108.4 MPH and 107.8 MPH. The 2nd homer was a bottom of the ninth, 2 run walk off. The man has Champion in his blood, just like he said in his Draft Day interview. That gives him 3 homers in 12 games, and the 73.6 MPH swing and 12.5% Barrel% backs that up. It’s also a short swing at 7 feet, which is a combo I love. Granted, the shortness isn’t helping the hit tool right now with a 35% K%, and the hit tool is definitely still a risk, but I’m betting on it getting into a good enough area long term. The 28 ft/sec sprint also shows the steals should start coming at some point too. I didn’t budge off Moore, and last night was just the start.

Kaelen Culpepper – MIN, SS, 22.4, AA – I’ve been waiting on Culpepper to get to Double-A to really start exploding him up my rankings even more than I already have been, and he made his first impression last night with a pull side bomb. Also did he hit us with the Michael Jordan, tongue out, right before crushing that bomb? I feel like “Tongue Out” with a silhouette of his tongue has a RotoWear T-shirt written all over it in the future. This was his 3rd game at the level and there has been a bit more swing and miss with a 28.6% K%, but he’s still killing it with a 147 wRC+. Obviously we need a bigger sample to say anything. I closed out his Top 1,000 blurb by writing, “He’s a nice little “let him come to you” target in off-season prospect drafts right now,” and then I pushed him into the Top 100 in May. And after hitting us with the Tongue Out, he might just be Top 50 for me now 😉

Ching-Hsien Ko – LAD, OF, 18.8, CPX – Speaking of guys I pushed into the Top 100 area, Ching-Hsien Ko showed off the power I know he so clearly has in there with his 3rd homer in 36 games at rookie ball. While the homer totals haven’t been huge, the man has been a hit machine all season, slashing .373/.484/.571 with an 18.5/15.3 K%/BB%. It’s good for a 175 wRC+. He’s 6’3”, 215 pounds with that upright, loose and powerful lefty swing that has damage written all over it. I’m already super high on him.

Chase Harlan – LAD, 3B, 18.11, CPX – Harlan has quietly found his groove at rookie ball after jacking out 2 homers yesterday, and he’s now starting to resemble my Austin Riley ceiling comp more and more, slashing .283/.339/.485 with 4 homers and a 19.6/8.9 K%/BB% in 27 games in stateside rookie. The hit tool and plate approach have been solid all season, and now the power is coming with 4 homers in his last 8 games. This was a underrated FYPD sleeper for me, and he’s starting to make his mark now. Keep an eye on him at the least, and he’s a pickup candidate in medium to deeper leagues right now.

Ryne Nelson – ARI, RHP, 27.5 – I named Nelson a Target in the June Mailbag Podcast (Patreon) yesterday, and then a few hours later he showed why, going 5 IP with 1 hit, 1 ER, and a 7/3 K/BB vs. CHW. The 95.5 MPH 4-seamer continues to dominate with a 29% whiff% and 78% usage. The curve induced weak contact with a 74.6 MPH EV against, and he mixed in a much lesser used slider, changeup and cutter. His 4-seamer now has a +12 Run Value which is tied for 3rd in baseball with Joe Ryan, behind only Hunter Brown and Zack Wheeler. He pitched well in the 2nd half of 2024, and he’s pitching well again in every role they put him in 2025. He’s in the rotation now, and I’m buying.

Denzel Clarke – OAK, OF, 24.11 – 2 for 3 with a 103.2 MPH homer off none other than Tarik Skubal. And most importantly, it came with 0 strikeouts! It’s been a rough offensive debut for Clarke, which honestly was to be expected with a 43.3/2.2 K%/BB%, but I’m actually encouraged by the 32.5% whiff% and 28.3% Chase%. To me, that indicates the K/BB numbers should definitely improve as he gets more comfortable, and he’s proven he’s capable of improving his contact rates in the minors. Someone this talented deserves patience, and with his insane CF defense, the Athletics are going to give him that patience. I’m holding Clarke.

Nick Gonzales – PIT, 2B, 26.0 – If you are struggling at 2B in your league and are looking for anyone to help out, Gonzales could be the guy to take a shot on. He cracked a 395 foot homer off Freddy Peralta yesterday, and he’s been excellent since returning from a fractured ankle that he suffered on Opening Day. He’s slashing .316/.345/.519 with 3 homers, 0 steals, and a 17.9/4.8 K%/BB% in 20 games. The 9.2% Barrel% and 90.3 MPH EV backs up the hot start. He’s not going to be a world beater, but beggars can’t be choosers if you are desperate for 2B help.

Tommy White – OAK, 3B, 22.3, A+ – White has grown on me more and more this season, ranking him 96th overall in the June Top 302 Prospects Rankings (Patreon), and he blasted off for his 8th homer in 43 games at High-A last night. I’m also starting to like his swing and stance much more than I did in college. It’s much more upright and loose, and he’s taking to the changes quite well. The power also comes with great contact with a 11.6% K%. We need to see it at Double-A for an advanced college bat like this, but he’s coming for that starting 3B job in short order. He’s really underrated right now.

Hunter Barco – PIT, LHP, 24.6, AAA – Barco had his best outing at Triple-A, going 6 IP with 5 hits, 0 ER, and a 6/1 K/BB. The sinker was down to 92.2 MPH, which isn’t great to see the velocity uptick slipping a bit as he’s building innings, but it still performed well with a 40% CSW%. The slider and splitter both missed bats and induced weak contact. I don’t love the velocity and the 23% whiff% overall wasn’t super impressive, but it’s still great to see him start to feel comfortable at Triple-A. He hasn’t been bad at the level with a 4.21 ERA and 28.2% K% in 25.2 IP, so hopefully he can keep building on this.

Troy Melton – DET, RHP, 24.7, AAA – It’s time to take Melton very seriously. He utterly dominated Triple-A last night, going 5.1 IP with 6 hits, 1 ER and a 10/1 K/BB. The fastball sat 97.1 MPH!!! and put up a 32% whiff%. The cutter was his next highest usage pitch, putting up a 29% whiff%, and the lesser used slider notched 2 for 3 whiffs. He also threw a change and curve a few times. He now has a 35.6/6.8 K%/BB% in 16 IP at the level. This coming off a 27.4/6.4 K%/BB% in 39 IP at Double-A. It’s an odd pitch mix as it is extremely heavy on 4-seamer and cutter, which makes me a bit hesitant to really go all in, but the guy is throwing mid to upper 90’s gas and he’s dominating the upper minors. It should be noted he does have a 5.63 ERA at Triple-A, and while the 2.47 xFIP looks much better, he had the same ERA problems last year (5.10 ERA with a 3.14 xFIP). I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up in the pen, but he could end up a really good pen arm. Either way, he deserves our attention.

Travis Sykora – WAS, RHP, 21.1, A+ – 6 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 8/2 K/BB at High-A. There really isn’t much more to say about Sykora while he’s at High-A other than he’s an elite pitching prospect. I immediately called him an elite pitching prospect when he returned from hip surgery and looked more athletic on the mound than I had ever seen him. The surgery fixed a hip issue he was having for a few years, and while he was great with the hip issue, he’s even better now with a 1.21 ERA and 44.3/7.5 K%/BB% in 29.2 IP at High-A. He has 3 potentially plus to double plus pitches. We’re just waiting on the upper minors, but I doubt that slows him down too much.

Tyson Hardin – MIL, RHP, 23.5, AA – After handling his business at High-A, Hardin got the call to Double-A and he’s handling his business there too, going 6 IP with 6 hits, 1 ER and a 6/0 K/BB. He had a similar outing his first time out at the level too, giving him a 2.25 ERA with a 24.4/2.2 K%/BB% in 12 IP at the level. He’s a classic Brewers pitcher with a low to mid 90’s bat missing fastball and diverse pitch mix. Solid pitching prospect with mid-rotation upside, and it’s great to see him transfer the profile to Double-A.

Nate George – BAL, OF, 19.0, A – George popped onto my June Top 302 Prospect Rankings (Patreon) at #290 on the back of his strong pro debut at rookie ball, and now he’s looking pretty good at Single-A after going 3 for 4 with a double, triple, walk and stolen base yesterday. This coming off his first dinger at the level the day before. He’s now slashing .364/.417/.568 with 1 homer, 8 steals, and a 24.5/8.2 K%/BB% in 11 games at the level. Sure the K% spiked a bit, but this is a legit athlete at a strong and fast 6’0”, and now he’s doing it at an age appropriate level. He’s getting even more exciting.

Gage Jump – OAK, LHP, 22.1, AA – 3.2 IP, 2 hits, 2 ER, 3/6 K/BB at Double-A. This coming off an outing where he went 4.1 IP with 4 hits, 3 ER and a 3/4 K/BB. He’s human after all, and with that violent delivery, let’s just hope it’s just a rough patch … I don’t even want to put that on him … it’s just a rough patch

Quinn Mathews – STL, LHP, 24.8, AAA – 1.1 IP, 2 hits, 5 ER, 1/6 K/BB at Triple-A. The fastball was down to 92.9 MPH. He now has a 5.27 ERA with a 21.9/23.4 K%/BB% in 27.1 IP. Saying this is not the follow up we wanted to see from his breakout 2024 is an understatement. I warned not to hand wave away the small sample Triple-A struggles last year, and it’s clear this isn’t the guy we thought he was. He’s looking more like a back end arm right now.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
–JUNE 2025 TOP 302 PROSPECTS RANKS
–MAY 2025 TOP 443 DYNASTY RANKS (Mid-Season Top 400+ Dynasty Ranks coming next week)
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: JUNE MAILBAG! (dropped yesterday)
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS
-TOP 50 2026 FYPD RANKS COMING SOON
–SPREADSHEETS

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)

I’ll be running down everything that caught my eye in the Dynasty Baseball world on most Mondays throughout the season here on the Brick Wall. The rest of the week you can catch my Rundowns on the Patreon. Here is the Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (6/16/25):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
–JUNE 2025 TOP 302 PROSPECTS RANKS
–MAY 2025 TOP 443 DYNASTY RANKS (5/30/25)
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: MAY MAILBAG! (June Mailbag coming soon)
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS
-PREDICTING THE TOP 50 2026 PROSPECTS RANKS
–SPREADSHEETS

Rafael Devers – SFG, 3B, 28.7 – I don’t know what Devers said to Red Sox owner, John Henry, when Henry flew out to Kansas City to have a meeting with Devers about his refusal to play 1B, but whatever he said, it was not what Henry wanted to hear. In a shocking trade, Devers and his 8.5 year, $254 million contract will head to San Francisco in return for Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, James Tibbs and Jose Bello. I’m probably the only dynasty baseball psycho whose immediate thought was … “James Tibbs gets a lot more interesting not having to hit in San Francisco.” But we know it’s all about Devers, and while it’s most certainly a ballpark downgrade, any guy who hits the ball 94 MPH is highly likely to be ballpark proof. It’s a small downgrade, but I wouldn’t change his value too much because of it right now. Harrison gets the opposite bump with a ballpark downgrade, and like I said, Tibbs is really the most interesting for me, as he wasn’t the type of hitter to profile well in San Francisco. As for real life, I can’t imagine a scenario where you can be happy trading a 28 year old superstar with a .905 OPS. I don’t care that he refused to play 1B. I don’t care that he told the owner to fuck off. Losing a bat like this is not easy to replace. Brutal blow. I truly feel for Red Sox fans.

Konnor Griffin – PIT, OF, 19.1, A+ – Right before Griffin got the call to High-A, I ranked him 1st overall on my non debuted Top 302 June 2025 Dynasty Prospects Rankings (Patreon), and he’s more than proved he deserved that ranking by going bonkos at the level. He’s homered in back to back games, and yesterday’s shot was completely incinerated at 110 MPH. What put Griffin over the top for me, prompting me to place him 1st overall, was that his only weakness, plate skills, were improving massively in his last 16 games at Single-A, and those improvements have carried over into High-A with a 6.3/9.4 K%/BB% in 6 games. It also comes with 2 homers and 6 steals, giving him 11 homers with 32 steals in 56 games overall. This is a 6’4”, 225 pound uber athlete with unmatched upside, and now the plate skills are taking a massive step forward right before our eyes. And he’s doing at High-A as a barely 19 year old. He deserves that #1 spot on non debuted prospect rankings. There is no one else I would rather have.

Roki Sasaki – LAD, RHP, 23.5 – Sasaki has been shut down from throwing and there is a chance he doesn’t return at all this season. He hit the IL in May, after throwing 34.1 IP with a shoulder impingement. This is why I actually predicted this off-season that Roki would still be included on 2026 Prospect lists, ranking him 7th overall on my Predicting the Top 50 2026 Dynasty Prospects Rankings (Patreon), writing ” I don’t want to believe it either, but Sasaki will feel elbow soreness in May, hit the IL, and then succumb to Tommy John surgery with an internal brace procedure after throwing 33.2 IP in the majors.” … Eerily close … I even scare myself sometimes.

Luis Morales – OAK, RHP, 22.8, AAA – The most underrated pitching prospect in baseball is officially starting to conquer one of the hardest places to pitch at. Triple-A is a beast of a challenge these days for all pitchers, with tons dropping off immediately, and Morales got sent to the extra tough Las Vegas in the PCL. But after yesterday, he’s proving my lofty ranking of him (34th overall in the June Top 302 Prospects Ranks) and the hype I’ve been giving him all season is warranted, going 5 IP with 4 hits, 3 ER, and a 9/1 K/BB. All 5 of his pitches were insane whiff machines, leading to a 53% whiff% overall. The 96.4 MPH fastball put up a 36% whiff%, the slider put up an 88% whiff%, the cutter went 3 for 5 on whiffs and the changeup went 2 for 2. He now has a 29.6/8.3 K%/BB% in 26.2 IP at the level. This dude is a near elite pitching prospect, and he doesn’t get nearly that level of hype.

Jonah Tong – NYM, RHP, 21.11, AA – 5 IP, 2 hits, 1 ER, 5/0 K/BB at Double-A. I think this changeup broke both of the batter’s ankles, and almost doesn’t even look real. He had it all working yesterday, blowing mid 90’s heat by guys, dotting the black, vicious breakers, and filthy changeups. It was only his 2nd start of the season with 0 walks, but that 12.3% BB% is more than mitigated by the wild 40.7% K%. And he’s been untouchable with a 1.97 ERA in 59.1 IP. He was an off-season target for me, and now he’s risen to 44th overall on the June Top 302 Prospect Ranks.

Ryan McMahon – COL, 3B, 30.3 – Ryan McMahon is kinda sneakily super intriguing right now. He cracked a 106.1 MPH homer yesterday, and that was his 4th homer in his last 8 games. He’s a 30 year old vet with a 95 wRC+ and a career 90 wRC+, but he’s not the same hitter this year. His bat speed is up almost 2 MPH to 74.4 MPH, and his Pull Air% is up majorly to 17.7% (11.1% in 2024). The 12.7% Barrel%, 94.7 MPH EV, .360 xwOBA and 52.5% Hard Hit% are all career highs. Something is going on here, even if the surface stats are the same as usual. I’m just saying, if he has a crazy 2nd half where he hits like 20 bombs, don’t be completely shocked. He could be a very sneaky acquisition in fantasy leagues right now, and I can’t imagine the price is very high, if not completely free on the waiver wire.

Angel Genao – CLE, SS, 21.0, AA – Genao got a late start to the season due to a shoulder sprain, and after jacking 3 homers in 8 games in rookie ball, he got ahold of his first bomb at Double-A, which unfortunately the camera man was sleeping on, so we only saw the aftermath. This is his first taste of Double-A and the skills are most certainly transferring with a 10.3% K%, .321 BA and 147 wRC+. He’s a bit like the less hyped version of Kevin McGonigle right now, and if he keeps raking, it won’t be less hyped for long.

Luke Adams – MIL, 1B/3B, 21.1, AA – Adams has been quietly destroying Double-A, and it got a lot louder yesterday with him smoking a frozen rope grand slam. He’s now slashing .245/.429/.495 with 11 homers, 9 steals, and a 21.1/16.6 K%/BB% in 56 games. That’s good for a 179 wRC+! He’s lifting and pulling, he’s running, and the great plate approach has completely transferred to the upper minors. He’s doing everything we want of him this season, and I’m pumped to see it as he was a deep FYPD sleeper of mine after getting drafted 372nd overall in 2022. He’s still underrated now, mainly because it’s looking more and more likely that he’s a 1B, but I mean, the OBP, power, speed profile should be good enough to clear that bar. I was buying 3 years ago, and I’m still buying now.

George Wolkow – CHW, OF, 19.5, A – Keep an eye out for Big George, and it sure seems like he’s starting to figure it out a little bit, He smoked his 8th homer in 55 games at Single-A which the fan completely botched the play on, and he’s now slashing .287/.370/.543 with 7 homers, 3 steals, and a 21.3/8.3 K%/BB% in his last 26 games. He’s been showing contact rate gains all season with a 25.4% K%, which is a huge deal, because 6’7”, 240 pound Wolkow has massive power upside, and the 16 steals show the type of athlete he is too. I loved him coming out of the draft, and while there have been some bumps in the road, it looks like he’s in the process of leveling up.

Brandon Walter – HOU, LHP, 28.9 – 6.2 IP, 6 hits, 1 ER, 9/0 K/BB at MIN. This was Walter’s 3rd gem in a row and he now has a 1.53 ERA with a 27.5/1.4 K%/BB% in 17.2 IP. It might feel like Walter came out of nowhere, but I remember when he was getting some near Top 100 buzz a few years ago. When you put up the type of K/BB numbers he has throughout his entire career, you should take notice no matter how fast a guy throws, because once again, K/BB is proving to be King. His 91.7 MPH sinker keeps the ball on the ground, the 88.7 MPH cutter and especially the changeup (.181 xwOBA) keeps righties in check, and the sweeper was his most used pitch in this outing, putting up an 83.6 MPH EV on the season. Even the lesser used 4-seamer dominates when he goes to it with a 55.6 whiff%. And all of his stuff plays up with elite control. He was dominating Triple-A all year with this formula as well. And we know Houston is a great organization. I can’t buy that he’s actually this good, but I think a low WHIP mid rotation starter can definitely be in the cards.

Noah Cameron – KCR, LHP, 25.10 – Nobody wants to believe, and Cameron keeps on humming along, going 5 IP with 4 hits, 0 ER, and a 7/1 K/BB vs. the Athletics. All 5 of his pitches were missing bats in this one, leading to a 32% whiff%, and while the 19.6% K% in 42.1 IP on the season is low, the 26.7% whiff% is well above average. The 92.1 MPH fastball hasn’t been a great pitch with a 8.3% whiff%, but all 4 of his other pitches have been excellent with a +2 Run Value on the changeup, +4 on the slider, +5 on the curve and + 2 on the cutter. He uses all 5 pitches almost equally. It’s led to a 1.91 ERA, and while the 3.07 xERA isn’t as good, that is still a damn good ERA. I’m struggling to truly fully buy into him myself, but he keeps on making his doubters look silly.

Grant Holmes – ATL, RHP, 29.0 – Holmes has been solid all season, but he’s starting to hit another level, especially after yesterday’s gem, going 6.1 IP with 2 hits, 2 ER, and a 15/2 K/BB vs. COL. The 94.5 MPH fastball dominated with a 71.5 MPH EV against and 32% whiff%. The slider was just silly with 16 of 28 whiffs, and the curve and cutter contributed a bit too, leading to a 48% whiff% overall. Even before this outing, the strikeouts were ticking up with 22 K in 14.1 IP (again, not even including yesterday’s start). The 28.1% K% and 28.9% whiff% are now in near elite territory. He was a major target for me this off-season, and everything I liked about him this off-season, is now fully showing up. Well, except the 10.4% BB%, and the 3.97 ERA isn’t exactly dominant, but he’s starting to look really exciting with the uptick in strikeouts of late.

Nick Kurtz – OAK, 1B, 22.3 – Kurtz is going through an adjustment period in the majors, which is to be expected considering he was partying at Wake Forest at this time last year, but he looked comfortable yesterday, smashing a 108 MPH homer off Carlos Estevez on a 2 for 4 day. The huge power has been on full display with a 13.3% Barrel%, 77.8 MPH swing, 92.6 MPH EV and 49.3% Hard Hit%, leading to 6 homers in 33 games. It’s the hit tool that needs some time with a .235 BA and 33.3% K%. He’ll probably always have an elevated strikeout rate, but he has the type of all fields power where he can still have a high BA and hit tons of homers with a mid 20’s K rate, and I’m betting on him being able to bring that K rate down in future seasons. I’m still all in on Kurtz.

Junior Caminero – TBR, 3B, 21.9 – Speaking of getting over that MLB adjustment period hump, Caminero went through the ups and downs in 2024, and now he’s out the other side of it with him cementing himself as one of the top young sluggers in the game. He’s been a homer machine and he cracked his 17th in 65 games with a 103.6 MPH shot yesterday. His 77.9 MPH swing with a 17.8% K% is silly elite, and while the 8.8 degree launch is low, the 21.1% Air Pull% is much better. Dude is an elite young slugger. Simple as that.

Andrew Painter – PHI, RHP, 22.2, AAA – We’ve been staying patient for Painter to shake off that last bit on Tommy John rust, and he looked damn crisp yesterday, going 5 IP with 1 hit, 0 ER, and a 6/2 K/BB at Triple-A. The 4-seamer sat 96.7 MPH and the four secondaries (cutter, curve, change, slider) all missed bats, leading to a 29% whiff% overall. It hasn’t been the pure dominance, perfect pitching prospect performance of his pre surgery days, but this start brings him a bit closer to those days with a 4.35 ERA and 26.3/9.8 K%/BB% in 31 IP. Tommy John is rarely a career ender these days, but it’s not a walk in the park either. Tons of guys have major rust, and some never really return to that tippy top upside. I’m still betting on Painter becoming an ace, but we are seeing that it’s a process coming off the surgery.

Eury Perez – MIA, RHP, 22.1 – Speaking of Tommy John rust, Perez went 4 IP with 4 hits, 1 ER, and a 0/3 K/BB, I mean, good outing, but 0 K’s is wild for him. This coming off his first outing where he gave up 4 ER in 3 IP. This rust was extremely easy to foresee, as it is just part of the process for the vast majority of TJ returnees. The good news is that the stuff is back with a 97.6 MPH fastball, but the control and the secondaries are not fully back. Not to be a downer, but we’ve seen with Shane Baz that there really isn’t a guarantee they ever get fully back to pre surgery levels, but just like with Andrew Painter, I’m betting on Perez getting back to ace level. Definitely stay patient.

Kumar Rocker – TEX, RHP, 25.6 – 5 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 6/1 K/BB vs. CHW. I would love to say that Rocker had a statement start here and that he’s back. I would love to say that everyone has given up on this man so fast. But, I mean, it was against the Quad-A White Sox, and the 21% whiff% isn’t very impressive. The 95+ MPH 4-seamer and sinker weren’t particularly great either at inducing weak contact or missing bats. This is still a young, super talented pitcher trying to figure it out, and while some really have seemed to completely give up, I still see the big talent in here. The cutter is coming along and it performed well in this one with a 84.3 MPH EV against and 33% CSW%. He’s got bat missing breakers in his slider and curve. And he’s got huge velocity. He’s still tinkering and he’s still trying to figure out the right pitch mix, but don’t throw in the towel on this man. I would stay patient.

Brady House – WAS, 3B, 22.0 – House got the call to the bigs, and while a lot of places were fading him right off their Top 100’s this off-season, I held strong and ranked him 74th overall, writing, “when evaluating prospects, you have to have an eye towards who they can be, rather than who they are today, and House can definitely still be a middle of the order power bat at peak.” We saw him look more like that potential middle of the order masher in 2025, slashing .304/.353/.519 with 13 homers, 0 steals, and a 26.5/7.1 K%/BB% in 65 games at Triple-A. The power is legit with a 46.2% Hard Hit%, but he’s still really far from a finished product with a below average plate approach and low launch. I would actually be surprised if he stepped into the majors and raked, but his talent deserved patience this off-season, and it will continue to deserve patience even if he struggles in his first taste of the bigs.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
–JUNE 2025 TOP 302 PROSPECTS RANKS
–MAY 2025 TOP 443 DYNASTY RANKS (5/30/25)
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: MAY MAILBAG! (June Mailbag coming soon)
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS
-PREDICTING THE TOP 50 2026 PROSPECTS RANKS
–SPREADSHEETS

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)

I’ll be running down everything that caught my eye in the Dynasty Baseball world on most Mondays throughout the season here on the Brick Wall. The rest of the week you can catch my Rundowns on the Patreon. Here is the Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (5/19/25):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
–APRIL 2025 TOP 437 DYNASTY RANKS (4/25/25) (May Update coming next week)
–MAY 2025 TOP 323 PROSPECTS RANKS
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS
-PREDICTING THE TOP 50 2026 PROSPECTS RANKS
–SPREADSHEETS
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: APRIL MAILBAG! (May Mailbag coming this week)

Jack Leiter – TEX, RHP, 25.1 – I always find it so interesting when a prospect starts to get on the radar of smart baseball fans/redraft analyst’s who don’t play dynasty and don’t dive deep into the prospect world. We prospectors and dynasty baseball fiends have been following these guys careers from probably well before they were even drafted, and we see all the ups and downs. We have the big picture, birds eye view. And we value guys accordingly. But then all of a sudden a guy will make their MLB debut, or be on the precipice of their debut, and then a whole new set of eyes will get on them. A whole new group of smart people will discover a guy for mostly the first time, and those fresh eyes bring a different perspective. Enter Jack Leiter, who prospectors rode the ups and down with in his minor league career, and by the time he made his debut in 2024, and then again this off-season, he basically fell off everyone’s Top 100. We all knew about the big stuff, but we saw the problems and inconsistency. But the people really getting a look at him for the first time were all just drooling over the big stuff and flying him up rankings. Sometimes this can reveal a prospect fatigue within the prospect/dynasty industry, and the fresh eyes are correct. But sometimes having the bigger picture wins out, and in the case of Leiter, the inconsistencies are popping back up after a strong start to the season. He went 7 IP with 3 hits, 3 ER, and a 4/2 K/BB vs. Houston yesterday, and he now has a 5.54 ERA with a 15.5/13.6 K%/BB% since returning from the IL. The huge stuff is there with upper 90’s heat but he has below average control/command and he doesn’t have a great secondary. It’s been the story of his career, and it’s again the story of this season. The hyped kick change this off-season has been bad. The slider looked good early, but it’s dropped back off since returning. The tantalizing talent is in there. It’s what got him drafted 2nd overall, but he just hasn’t put it together. This blurb wasn’t meant as a diss at all to anyone. I love it when smart, fresh eyes get a look at a prospect that the same people have been evaluating for years. It’s interesting and it usually does reveal some biases of the prospect community. And as for Leiter, you never want to bet against a guy with this level of stuff eventually figuring it out. I want to buy in. I bought in too much after his hot start. But in the end, it was just flashes. The inconsistency is back unfortunately.

Mick Abel – PHI, RHP, 23.9 – Now after patting the prospect community on the back for Jack Leiter, it deserves to be admonished for Mick Abel. We gave up on this man after his horrific 2024, and now he’s making us regret it in 2025. After massively improving his control and putting up a good season at Triple-A with a 2.53 ERA and 26.6/9.9 K%/B% in 46.1 IP, he made his MLB debut and showed out, going 6 IP with 5 hits, 0 ER, and a 9/0 K/BB vs. PIT. The fastball sat 97.3 MPH and dominated with a 32% whiff%. The curve was untouchable with 8 of 11 whiffs. He also mixed in a slider, sinker and changeup, leading to a 38% whiff% overall. He straight up outdueled Paul Skenes in this one. He’s not actually this good, I don’t think, as he wasn’t even this good at Triple-A, but what an exclamation point to make that his improvement is for real. This is when betting on the stuff and not worrying about the inconsistency pays off … although we do have a track record of up and down performance. So maybe we should keep a little bit of that bird’s eye view and have some caution. But after yesterday, I want to fly him up rankings too.

Jackson Jobe – DET, RHP, 22.8 – Speaking of being patient with huge stuff, ain’t nobody was going off Jackson Jobe, and I’m liking what I’m seeing of late, especially after yesterday, He went 6 IP with 6 hits, 2 ER, and a 5/2 K/BB vs. TOR, and what I’m liking the most is the 31% whiff%. He had a high whiff rate vs. Boston in his last outing too. Seeing the swing and miss is huge, and to me it is a sign that he is starting to figure it out. The season line still isn’t very good with a 18.5/12.5 K%/BB% in 39.1 IP, but the changeup is starting to look like an elite pitch with a 71% whiff% in this one, the 96.6 MPH fastball is missing more bats with a 25% whiff%, and the slider is inducing weak contact with a 82.3 MPH EV. The ingredients are in here, and he’s starting to put it together.

Chase Dollander – COL, RHP, 23.6 – 4.2 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 6/2 K/BB at Arizona. Every time Dollander pitches on the road, it’s just a little bit of torture. Just a taste of what his career could have looked like if he didn’t get drafted into Coors. He has a 4.29 ERA, 1.095 WHIP, and a 26.7% K% in 21 IP on the road vs. a 8.66 ERA, 1.811 WHIP and 17.4% K% in 17.2 IP at home. I mean, it just isn’t fair. Life isn’t fair. The 97.5 MPH fastball dominated with a 30% whiff%, and so did the curve with a 39% whiff%. Can they just not use him at home? Let some other scrub get bombed there.

Heliot Ramos – SFG, OF, 25.8 – He got another one at home! This one crushed at 111.2 MPH. The first one he hit at home was like 112+ MPH. That’s all he has to do. Just crush them at 110+ MPH at home and you will be fine. He now has a .968 OPS on the road vs. a .725 OPS at home. He’s like the hitting version of Dollander.

Dylan Crews – WAS, OF, 23.1 – 2 for 4 with a 106 MPH homer off Eflin. Crews is one of my favorite buy lows right now. He has 6 homers and 11 steals in 44 games, which everyone would be crazy over if he just had normal BABIP luck. His .255 xBA and .233 BABIP are screaming that the .191 BA is unlucky. There is absolutely nothing in his profile which would show that he is a low BABIP player. It’s actually the opposite. With normal luck, he would be absolutely flying up the rankings, but right now his value is pretty damn low. I sense people wanting to give up, but now is not the time. It’s actually time to pounce if his current owner is getting tired of him.

Josue De Paula – LAD, OF, 19.11, A+ – The game power breakout has so clearly arrived for De Paula after he unloaded for his 7th homer in 38 games at High-A. Just watch that beautiful and powerful lefty swing, which he combines with an elite plate approach (16.7/17.9 K%/BB%) and athleticism (10 steals). Sure he can’t play a lick of defense, but with a bat like this, I don’t care. I already ranked him 7th overall in the Updated May Top 323 Dynasty Prospects Rankings (Patreon), so I can’t possibly be any higher than I am already, but he just keeps on locking in the gains.

Luis Pena – MIL, SS/3B/SS, 18.5, A – Pena’s homered in back to back games, ripping a liner out yesterday that just kept on carrying over the fence, which puts the final exclamation point on his truly elite prospect blow up to start his stateside career. There can be no doubts now with him slashing .327/.400/.505 with 3 homers, 21 steals, and a 8.7/9.6 K%/BB% in 25 games at Single-A. He was a named Target for me this off-season, writing in his Target blurb, “Pena was a hit/speed breakout whose swing looks damn dangerous to me, and he’s not super small or anything at 5’11.” He’s proving my eyes were not deceiving me as he’s using that explosive swing to rocket the ball all over the field. The contact is elite, the base stealing is elite, and now we are seeing the power uptick right before our eyes. He’s elite.

JJ Wetherholt – STL, 2B, 22.8, AA – Speaking of elite contact with real power and speed, Wetherholt went lefty and lefty for his 3rd homer in 27 games at Double-A, and he did it with some swagger, watching it leave the park. He’s now slashing .296/.383/.449 with 3 homers, 4 steals, and a 11.3/10.4 K%/BB% in 27 games. He’s in the mold of a Jung Hoo Lee. Maybe the power/speed numbers won’t be off the charts, but the hit tool can make up for it, and he can hit the ball damn hard.

Colt Emerson – SEA, SS, 19.9, A+ – Emerson has officially snapped out of his early season slump, slicing an opposite field homer on a 4 for 8 with 2 steal day. He now has a 1.054 OPS with 4 homers, 2 steals, and a 5/7 K/BB in his last 13 games at High-A. The wRC+ is up to a respectable 115 on the season. He’s in that same mold that Wetherholt is in with a bit more swing and miss and a bit more ultimate power potential at peak. The 54.8% GB% is high and he’s only 2 for 5 on the bases, but he hits the ball hard, and the hit tool is plus. He’s also only 19 years old, so the hope is that he can really unleash plus game power at peak too.

Zebby Matthews – MIN, RHP, 24.11 – Zebby made his MLB season debut, and just like last year, he was not able to carry over the success from the minors into the majors, going 3 IP with 5 hits, 4 ER, and a 5/3 K/BB at MIL. The good news is that the increased velocity is sticking with a 96.5 MPH heater. the slider missed bats with a 75% whiff%, and the 81.7 MPH EV against overall shows that he clearly got unlucky in this one. It’s not the outing we wanted to see coming off his destruction of Triple-A, but I’m not budging off Zebby. I’m still buying.

Chen-Wei Lin – STL, RHP, 23.5, A+ – 3 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 6/1 K/BB at High-A. Do not miss the boat on Lin. I have been ringing his Target bell since this off-season, and he now has a 1.17 ERA with a 43.3/6.7 K%/BB% in 7.2 IP this season. He got a late start to the season and he’s just ramping up, so let this be your last opportunity to buy in before his value he explodes. He’s 6’7” with upper 90’s gas and multiple bat missing secondaries. You don’t hear a peep about this guy, but one day, he will be a hype machine.

Sawyer Gipson-Long – DET, RHP, 27.4, A+ – 2.2 IP, 5 hits, 1 ER, 3/0 K/BB at High-A. This is getting close to your last call to jump on Sawyer Gipson Long as well. He’s looked good in his return from Tommy John with a 1.29 ERA and 25.0/3.6 K%/BB% in 7 IP. He’s most certainly letting it rip on the mound, showing no signs of favoring that arm, and that K/BB is what he did his entire career. Here is what I wrote about him in my 19 Dynasty Baseball Thoughts/Strategies for 2025: “Not so much a strategy or thought here, but the more I think about it, the more I’m kinda digging Sawyer Gipson Long. He very well might be freely available in many leagues, and you might be able to use an IL spot on him too depending on your league setup. Or just as a free stash in your minors. His MLB debut was no joke. That type of swing and miss is quite rare, even in 20 IP. His 28.5/6.1 K%/BB% in 341 minor league IP is really damn impressive too. He never got the respect he deserved, even from me, and even after that strong debut. I think a lot of people have more or less moved on from him, making it a perfect time to acquire him for nothing or probably almost nothing. If fully healthy, which is obviously a risk, it could be an extremely small gamble for a pretty big payoff.”

Jack Perkins – OAK, RHP, 25.3, AAA – 4.2 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 7/1 K/BB at Triple-A. Perkins wasn’t a target for me this off-season, but he was getting some hype, and it’s looking like he deserved that hype with the strong start to his season. He has a 4.08 ERA with a 31.9/6.9 K%/BB% in 17.2 IP. The slider dominated with a 43% whiff, which he combines with 3 different fastballs (mid 90’s 4-seamer, mid 90’s sinker, low 90’s cutter) and a lesser used changeup. I had him in the reliever bucket this off-season, which is still possible, but Oakland doesn’t have much of a reason to not give him every shot in the rotation, and he may end up getting that shot sooner rather than later. Not a bad stash candidate right now.

CJ Abrams – WAS, SS, 24.6 – 3 for 5 with 2 homers at 105.2 MPH and 98.5 MPH. I think we are at the point where I’m not even going to mention Abrams anymore. That is how much of a locked in elite player he is with 8 homers, 9 steals, and a .385 xwOBA in 35 games. I’ve been telling you he’s elite since this off-season, naming him a target, ranking him 25th overall, and then I doubled down in the Updated April Top 437 Dynasty Rankings on Patreon (May update coming next week), ranking him 17th overall. He’s gotten stronger every season and it’s hit a crescendo this year with a 91.3 MPH EV. Way too late to get in now.

Zach Neto – LAA, SS, 24.3 – 2 for 4 with a 109.2 MPH homer. The same thing I wrote about Abrams, I can write about Neto. We are at the point where he is getting locked in as a near elite dynasty player with 7 homers, 7 steals, and a .406 xwOBA in 27 games. I’ve been high on Neto since before he was drafted, placing him 3rd overall in his FYPD class, and then ranking him 43rd overall this off-season in the Top 1,000. I wrote in the Rundowns last week that shoulder surgeries for hitters are starting to look like not that big of a deal with what Ohtani, Neto and also what Varsho is doing right now. I don’t think I’m going to drop hitters much for shoulder surgeries anymore if this is any indication.

Jackson Holliday – BAL, 2B, 21.4 – 2 for 4 with a 103.3 MPH homer for his 6th in 40 games, and I think we can now officially say that keeping the faith on Holliday was the right call. He’s bouncing back from that terrible rookie year with improvements across the board. The whiff% is all the way down to 21.8% (34.1% in 2024), the chase is down to 20.5% (27.2% in 2024), and the EV is up to 90.8 MPH (89.3 MPH in 2024). It’s resulted in a .351 xwOBA. The only thing he isn’t doing well is stealing bases, with 2 steals in 6 attempts. He wasn’t that great of a base stealer in the minor leagues as well, although he went a perfect 4 for 4 in the bigs last year, so I don’t think this is his true talent level. The 8.8 degree launch also isn’t conducive to huge homer totals, but we already knew this about Holliday. It wasn’t some monster power/speed combo that made him an elite prospect, it was hit hit tool, and he’s now living up to our expectations of him. And keep in mind he’s still only 21 years old. I’m just happy to see him shaking off that rough rookie year, and this is just the start.

Will Benson -CIN, OF, 26.11 – I wrote up Benson last week in the Rundowns as someone to keep an eye on, and he’s just kept on mashing dingers non stop, going 3 for 4 with 2 bombs at 106.6 MPH and 102.4 MPH. He also tacked on a 106.7 MPH single. He now has 5 homers with a 94.8 MPH EV in just 9 games. You only have to look at a guy like Kyle Stowers to know that when guys have huge talent, sometimes it can take into their mid to late 20’s before they figure out the hit tool enough, but like Stowers, there is still big hit tool risk here. The 31.3% whiff and 27.3% K% is still high, and it’s only a small sample, so it could go higher as he continues to play. I love betting on big men with this type of talent, so like I said last week he’s definitely worth a flier, but you can’t go too crazy over it quite yet. It’s also only going to be in a platoon role at best.

Miguel Vargas – CHW, 3B/OF, 25.5 – Vargas has risen from the dead for about a month now, and he kept it going yesterday, going 2 for 3 with a 102.1 MPH homer. He now has 6 homers with a 1.055 OPS in his last 22 games. The EV is way up to 89.6 MPH (86.2 MPH in 2024) and the K% is down 6.9 percentage points to 17.2%. He’s always been a lift machine with a 22.6 degree launch, so the increased power and contact are all he needed to breakout. He’s not running with only 1 steal, and he’s still not exactly crushing the ball with a 7% Barrel%, so he’s still not quite the guy we hoped for when he was an elite fantasy prospect, but he’s quite clearly getting comfortable vs. MLB pitching and leveling up.

Cody Bellinger – NYY, OF/1B, 29.10 – 3 for 3 with a 102.3 MPH homer as Bellinger is putting his slow start to the season way behind him. He now has 5 homers with a 1.059 OPS in his last 20 games, and he can actually be on the precipice of a true explosion. The power from the beginning of his career has mysteriously come back with his 11.3% Barrel%, 90.1 MPH EV, and 41.9% Hard Hit% all way up from where they were sitting the last few seasons. His bat speed is also up 1.4 MPH to a more respectable 70.4 MPH. And he’s still making tons of contact (19.7% K%), lifting (21.1 degree launch) and running (28 ft/sec sprint). I mean, this is starting to resemble the true beast he was earlier in his career. And he’s taking advantage of Yankee Stadium with 5 homers and a .891 OPS at home. Bellinger might end up putting together some season this year when it’s all said and done.

Mike Sirota – LAD, OF, 21.11, A+ – Single-A was no issue for Sirota with a 194 wRC+ in 24 games, and now High-A is even less of an issue with a 412 wRC+ in 3 games. He cracked his 2nd homer at the level yesterday, giving him 9 homers in 27 games on the season. The only thing he isn’t doing is running with only 1 steal, but when all you do is hit homers, I guess you don’t have that much opportunity to steal bases. He already cracked my Top 100, and he might just mess around and be a Top 50 prospect by the next update.

Joseph Sullivan – HOU, OF, 22.10, A+ – Sullivan is a player I’ve been sleeping hard on, but that stops today after he drilled 2 bombs yesterday. He’s now slashing .233/.451/.534 with 10 homers, 17 steals, and a 30.9/22.8 K%/BB% in 36 games at High-A. The power/speed is wild, and he’s lifting the ball a lot more than he did when he hit 0 homers in 20 games at Single-A last year, but he always hit the ball hard, and now he’s turning it into game power. Obviously the hit tool is still a big risk as an almost 23 year old in the lower minors with a 30%+ K rate, but I’ve been giving him absolutely zero love, and that was a clear miss for me. He’s a fun prospect.

Noah Schultz – CHW, LHP, 21.8, AA, – 3.1 IP, 3 hits, 5 ER, 6/4 K/BB at Double-A. Schultz has just not looked as crisp this season with a 4.50 ERA and 23.6/13.9 K%/BB% in 36 IP. The command is off and the stuff is down a tick. He dropped from 11th to 25th overall in the Updated Prospects Rankings, so I’m certainly not ignoring it, but by no means would I want to sell low here. He’s been going deeper into games for the first time in his career prior to this outing, so there is likely an adjustment period happening there. And I still see Baby Johnson out there when I watch him. We know pitching development can be all over the place. I’m buying low here if there is an opportunity.

Matt Shaw – CHC, 3B/2B/SS, 23.5 – It’s Take 2 time for Shaw as he just got recalled to the majors! He blasted Triple-A with 6 homers, a 10.0/15.5 K%/BB% and 150 wRC+ in 24 games. That is what we wanted to see. I’m betting on him being much better the 2nd time around …

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
–APRIL 2025 TOP 437 DYNASTY RANKS (4/25/25) (May Update coming next week)
–MAY 2025 TOP 323 PROSPECTS RANKS
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS
-PREDICTING THE TOP 50 2026 PROSPECTS RANKS
–SPREADSHEETS
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: APRIL MAILBAG! (May Mailbag coming this week)

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)

I’ll be running down everything that caught my eye in the Dynasty Baseball world on most Mondays throughout the season here on the Brick Wall. The rest of the week you can catch my Rundowns on the Patreon. Here is the Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (4/28/25):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
–APRIL 2025 TOP 437 DYNASTY RANKS
–UPDATED TOP 300+ PROSPECTS RANKS COMING SOON
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS
-PREDICTING THE TOP 50 2026 PROSPECTS RANKS
–SPREADSHEETS
–TOP 10 2026 FYPD RANKINGS
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: APRIL MAILBAG! 

Hunter Barco – PIT, LHP, 24.4 – I gotta seriously consider using my psychic abilities for something other than baseball prospects. After listening to 10 hours of “Awaken Your Psychic Abilities” YouTube music and tones video this off-season, I predicted that Hunter Barco would be the 32nd overall ranked prospect in baseball by next off-season in my Predicting the 2026 Top 50 Prospects Ranks, and I think I even undersold him. He could be the top pitching prospect breakout in the minors this year, and his dominance continued yesterday, going 3 IP with 1 hit, 0 ER and a 8/0 K/BB at Double-A. He now has a 0.00 ERA with a 40.0/5.3 K%/BB% in 20.2 IP. The velocity has ticked up into the mid 90’s, he has two bat missing secondaries in his slider and splitter, the control is solid, he’s 6’4”, 235 pounds and he has that funky lefty delivery that I just love. I mean, that is checking all of the boxes. I already jumped him up to 195th overall on the Updated Top 437 Dynasty Baseball Rankings that just dropped on the Patreon last week. If he can truly keep this up at Triple-A, and we’ve seen more than a few top pitching prospects struggle with that jump (Brandon Sproat and Quinn Mathews), we could be looking at a truly elite pitching prospect.

Arjun Nimmala – TOR, SS, 19.6 – Sticking with guys on that Predicting the 2026 Top Prospects list, Nimmala checked in at #39, and he’s right on track to end up in that area after homering in his 3rd straight game at High-A. This one was out to dead center. With Single-A now becoming a sort of glorified rookie ball, High-A can be considered the first real test for these youngsters, and Nimmala is passing it with flying colors, slashing .289/.349/.539 with 5 homers, 1 steal, and a 21.7/8.4 K%/BB% in 18 games. Seeing the K rate all the way down in the low 20’s is huge. He’s blowing up.

Bryce Rainer – DET, SS, 19.9 – Rainer didn’t crack that Predicting the 2026 Prospects list, but he clearly should have as his pro debut has been damn impressive. He went the opposite way for his 2nd homer in 10 games at Single-A, and he’s now slashing .226/.381/.484 with 2 homers, 2 steals, and a 11.9/19.0 K%/BB%. He’s crushing the ball with a 93.7 MPH EV, the plate skills are elite, and he’s running. He also most certainly looks the part at a powerful 6’3” with a smooth and quick lefty swing. This looks like an elite prospect waiting to happen.

Jacob Misiorowski – MIL, RHP, 23.0 – 5 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 9/0 K/BB at Triple-A. Is Misiorowski finally starting to take that step forward with his control? He didn’t walk a single batter in this one, and in the start before, he only walked one guy. His 11.5% BB% in 29.2 IP is actually starting to resemble a semi-reasonable walk rate, and it comes with a 1.82 ERA and 33.6% K%. It also comes with some of the best stuff in the minors. The fastball sat 97.4 MPH in this one and notched a 29% whiff%. The slider, curve and change were all whiff machines too, leading to a 38% whiff% overall. This is the type of stuff that can thrive with a 10+ BB%, and it looks like we might be finally entering that range. We need to see it over a larger sample as the walk rate sat 14%+ last year, but another start or two with solid control and Mis will be among the very best pitching prospects in the game.

Jonah Tong – NYM, RHP, 21.9 – Speaking of 14%+ walk rates, Tong currently has a 14.9% BB% in 17.1 IP at Double-A, but when it comes with a 40.5% K%, I think we can partly overlook that. He had his best outing of the season yesterday, going 4 IP with 1 hit, 0 ER, and a 10/1 K/BB. Here are the highlights of the absolute filth. The curveball is just silly, the changeup was making lefties look foolish, the slider in the dirt induced terrible swings, and the mid 90’s fastball was blowing guys away. He’s obviously having some issues controlling his truly filthy stuff, but he was able to harness it in this one, and if he’s able to build on this, his stock is set to sour. I was a big fan this off-season, and that love continues to grow.

Dylan Crews – WAS, OF, 23.1 – I preached patience with Crews’ early season struggles, as we saw both Chourio and Langford struggle in 2024 before their epic breakouts, and now Crews looks to be headed on that same path. He crushed a 104.8 MPH homer with a 78.7 MPH swing off Tylor Megill, and he’s now slashing .364/.391/.705 with 4 homers and 3 steals in his last 12 games. The underlying numbers looked good even when he was slumping, and he’s now rocking a 14.9% Barrel%, a 90.2 MPH EV, a 29.4 ft/sec sprint, a 73.1 MPH swing, and a .344 xwOBA. He’s coming.

Agustin Ramirez – MIA, C, 23.7 – Ramirez has taken the major leagues by storm after drilling 2 homers at 108.7 MPH and 105.1 MPH last night. He’s been straight unstoppable since getting the call, slashing .474/.524/1.158 with 3 homers, 1 steal, and a 9.5/9.5 K%/BB% in 21 PA. The 17.5% Barrel%, 92.9 MPH EV and .504 xwOBA backs up the surface stats. He wasn’t even this good in at Triple-A before getting the call with a 113 wRC+ in 19 games, so obviously he’s not this good, but at the least, he’s quite clearly proving his big time power bat is no joke. He’s not a good defensive catcher, and Joe Mack is right behind him and crushing the minors, but his bat is clearly going to be good enough to even DH if it will have to. How can you not be buying after this debut?

Anthony Volpe – NYY, SS, 23.11 – 2 for 3 with a 105.3 MPH double and 103.6 MPH homer. Volpe is doing his best to marry his extreme lift and pull profile from his rookie year, with his more all around hitter approach of 2024, and so far, it’s working with 5 homers, 3 steals, and a 123 wRC+ in 28 games. Or maybe he’s just getting stronger and swinging harder with a career high 71.9 MPH swing and 90.7 MPH EV. The underlying numbers back up the surface stats with a 13% Barrel% and .337 xwOBA. I pushed Volpe up my Updated Top 437 Dynasty Rankings to #71 overall despite his low BA, because for fantasy, it’s all about that power/speed combo, and he’s back to gunning for homers.

Ceddanne Rafaela – BOS, SS/OF, 24.7 – 2 for 4 with a 108.4 MPH homer and 100.5 MPH double. Rafaela’s .644 OPS is almost exactly the same as last year’s 664 OPS, which is discouraging on the surface, but when you look under the hood, you are seeing improvements everywhere you wanted to see them. The Barrel% is up to 11.3%, the EV is up to 89.6 MPH, the whiffs are down to 25.7% and the BB% is up to 6.3%. The .332 xwOBA vs. the .273 xwOBA from 2024 tells the story much better than the surface stats. Rafaela is leveling up.

Nolan Jones – CLE, OF, 26.11 – Here’s what I wrote about Jones in the Updated Dynasty Rankings, “He’s been terrible, but he has a 95.2 MPH EV with a .329 xwOBA, 27.2% whiff%, 22.9% Chase% and an 11.8 degree launch. He’s also stolen 2 bags. I mean, this should really be working. I don’t want to give up yet” … and then he went out yesterday and jacked a 109 MPH dinger. He already has a big MLB season under his belt, and this man now has a 96.2 MPH EV on the season! Don’t give up on him yet.

Hunter Brown – HOU, RHP, 26.8 – 6 IP, 7 hits, 1 ER, 9/1 K/BB at KC. Brown shot up to 60th overall on the Updated Dynasty Rankings, and he just keeps on proving he’s a young ace with a 1.22 ERA and 29.9/5.2 K%/BB% in 37 IP. The fastball sat 96.7 MPH with a 27% whiff%, while the changeup notched a 42% whiff%. The only thing keeping him from ranking even higher is that the 26.9% whiff% on the season is more in above average range than truly plus, and even this outing with 9 K’s, it came with a 26% whiff%. It’s just nitpicking, but I think it’s worth mentioning. Either way, he induces weak contact, the control is taking a step forward into plus territory, and the stuff is huge. It’s just a continuation from what he did in the 2nd half of last off-season. He’s a beast.

Nick Lodolo – CIN, LHP, 27.3 – 7 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 9/1 K/BB vs. COL. The only thing missing from Lodolo’s excellent start to the season were the strikeouts, and they showed up in a big way in this one with a 29% whiff% led by the curve which put up a 50% whiff%. He now has a 2.25 ERA with a 18.9/3.5 K%/BB% in 36 IP, and those strikeout are on the way up. As long as he stays healthy, this could finally be the blow up year we’ve been waiting for.

Tylor Megill – NYM, RHP, 29.8 – 6.1 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, 9/1 K/BB at WSH. We’ve all been waiting for this Megill breakout for years now, and while we’ve been faked out before, I so want to buy this. The fastball sat 95.8 MPH and put up a 26% whiff%, while the slider notched a 55% whiff%, leading the way for a 28% whiff% overall. He now has a 1.74 ERA with a 29.8/9.2 K%/BB% in 31 IP. I couldn’t help but fly him up my Updated Top 437 Dynasty Rankings last week to #251 overall, and while that maybe wasn’t even high enough, I did want to have some restraint due to the fact he has faked us out year after year in the past. Regardless, there is always so much to love about Megill, and he might be putting it together.

Kaelen Culpepper – MIN, SS, 22.3 – An injury has limited Culpepper to only 9 games at High-A, but he’s been sneakily really strong in those games, and it got less sneaky yesterday with him blasting a no doubt dinger with an athletic and powerful righty swing. He’s now slashing .344/.432/.563 with 1 homer, 0 steals, and a 13.5/13.5 K%/BB% in 9 games at High-A. The groundball rate is high and he’s not running yet, but I thought he was a sneaky good pick in last year’s First Year Player Draft, and he just keeps on hitting.

Jared Thomas – COL, OF/1B, 21.9 – Speaking of underrated college bats that I liked a lot in last year’s FYPD class, Thomas was another one of those guys, and he’s exploding on another level. He went the opposite way for his 4th homer of the season, and he’s now slashing .366/.480/.561 with 4 homers, 4 steals, and a 21.0/15.0 K%/BB% in 21 games at High-A. He’s done nothing but rake in pro ball with a 148 wRC+ in his pro debut last year. He looks the part at an athletic 6’2”, 190 pounds with a strong across the board profile. Will Colorado ever give him a real shot? Who knows. They are a total wild card, but Thomas looks legitimately exciting.

Wilfred Veras – CHW, OF, 22.4 – If you’re looking for a fun upside proximity play with almost no hype, Veras is your man. Just watch him jack out this homer yesterday. He’s 6’1”, 240 with that vicious righty swing and he loves to run. He now has 4 homers, 7 steals, a 125 wRC+ and a 31.5/13.5 K%/BB% in 20 games. Plate approach was a major issue for him coming into this year, so it’s great to see the high walk rate, although the 31.5% K% is obviously too high. The risk is most certainly high, but Chicago is eventually going to give a guy with this much talent a shot, and the fantasy upside is worth taking a chance on him.

Noelvi Marte – CIN, 3B, 23.6 – Marte must have taken my advice and gotten back on the juice ;), because he’s been a man possessed this season, and it continued yesterday with a 3 for 5 day. He hit a 103.8 MPH double, a 103.2 MPH single and a 99.6 MPH single. His sprint speed is back up to 29.3 ft/sec, which is a career high, and the bat speed is back up too with a 74.2 MPH swing. That is double plus range. He’s definitely been on the lucky side with a .353 xwOBA vs. .458 wOBA, and a 12.8% K% vs. a 25% whiff%, but it’s clear whatever mental and physical issues caused Marte’s horrific 2024 is behind him. He’s back on track to being an exciting all category young dynasty asset.

Andy Pages – LAD, OF, 24.5 – The Dodgers stayed patient with Pages through his slow start, and what a smart move that was, because he’s been on fire of late, culminating with a 4 for 5 day yesterday, punctuated by a 105.1 MPH homer. He now has 5 homers with a .861 OPS, and while the .303 xwOBA isn’t as impressive, the dude is a launch machine with a very respectable 22.4% whiff% and 8.3% Barrel%. The .277 BA might be coming down, but he’s going to rip dingers.

Geraldo Perdomo – ARI, SS, 25.4 – I had absolutely zero faith that Perdomo was going to be an impact major leaguer, even when Arizona showed all signs of loving him, and Arizona was clearly correct. They put their money where their mouth was this off-season, and he’s delivered. He went 1 for 4 with a 102.6 MPH homer yesterday, continuing to lock in the power gains with a career best 89.4 MPH. Combine that with a 15.4 degree launch, 9.4/16.5 K%/BB% and base stealing ability, and you get a really solid across the board fantasy contributor (4 homers, 6 steals, and a .361 xwOBA in 28 games).

Payton Tolle – BOS, LHP, 22.5 – 4 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 9/1 K/BB at High-A. The 50th overall pick in the draft got blown up in his first outing of the season, which is bringing his season line down, but this was his 2nd excellent outing in a row. This is a big boy at 6’6”, 250 pounds with a three quarter arm lefty delivery, the fastball has continued to tick up into the mid 90’s now, and he has multiple bat missing secondaries (change, slider, curve). He currently has a 6.52 ERA with a 37.8/11.1 K%/BB% in 9.2 IP at High-A, but like I said, it was really just one bad outing. He’s got high K mid-rotation starter upside.

Gunnar Hoglund – OAK, RHP, 25.4 – After undergoing Tommy John surgery in May of 2021, Hoglund is just now starting to look like his old self. He was on track to be an easy Top 10 pick in the 2021 MLB Draft until he went down with the injury, and teams thought so highly of him that he was still selected 19th overall. But Tommy John recovery is not always super smooth, and while it’s been a bumpy road, he’s slowing starting to look like his prime self. He went 5 IP with 3 hits, 0 ER, and a 5/1 K/BB at Triple-A. The fastball is back up to 94 MPH, which is great to see, and the curve notched a 38% whiff%. He throws a legit 5 pitching mix (4-seamer, curve, change, sinker, slider) with plus control, and it’s resulted in a 2.43 ERA with a 26.1/6.1 K%/BB% in 29.2 IP. He’s not missing quite enough bats to really fly him up the rankings, the stuff is good but not great, and he has a terrible ballpark waiting for him, but Hoglund is definitely taking a big step forward this year and is firmly putting himself back on the fantasy radar.

Logan Evans – SEA, RHP, 23.10 – Evans made his MLB debut and it was pretty unimpressive, going 5 IP with 2 hits, 2 ER, and a 3/3 K/BB vs MIA. The sinker and 4-seamer only sat 92.9 MPH and he put up a lowly 10% whiff%. The stuff and whiffs weren’t that impressive at Triple-A either before getting the call. He has gotten some hype these past 2 off-seasons, but I’m not sure it’s warranted at the moment. He just doesn’t look that special right now.

Matt Shaw – CHC, 3B/2B/SS, 23.4 – Triple-A Matt Shaw homers just don’t hit the same after his struggles in the majors, but he got ahold of his first dinger at Triple-A with a frozen rope out to left field. The crazy batting stance and leg kick has been sorta toned down, but honestly, not really as he still has the pointed in batting stance with the extreme leg kick. Again, it’s not as crazy as it was earlier in the year, but it’s still a weird batting stance. Even though I’m not a fan of the stance, I’ll trust that he knows what he’s doing, and I don’t want to move off him because of it. Plenty of great players struggle in their first taste of the bigs, and I’m staying patient.

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By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)

I’ll be running down everything that caught my eye in the Dynasty Baseball world on most Mondays throughout the season here on the Brick Wall. The rest of the week you can catch my Rundowns on the Patreon. Here is the The Underachievers Dynasty Baseball Rundown (4/7/25)

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
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Festival of Targets – It’s legitimately wild how many of my named Targets in my Position by Position Dynasty Targets articles (Patreon) are going off right now: Tyler Soderstrom, Jesus Luzardo, Heliot Ramos, Ben Rice, Ivan Herrera, Spencer Torkelson, Michael Conforto, Kris Bubic (who dominated again yesterday), Pavin Smith, Otto Lopez, Jose Soriano, CJ Abrams/Oneil Cruz/Hunter Greene (high end targets), Trey Sweeney, Drew Rasmussen, Jordan Walker and more. Honestly, so many of my guys are going off, it’s not even fun anymore 😉 I’ve been on a week and a half celebration bender, and I need to sober up and come up for some air. So let’s turn our attention to some of the underachievers, and see if there are signs of a breakout still coming, or if I missed the mark completely on them. I’ll also go into underachievers I didn’t name as targets. Let’s kick it off with Target Jo Adell …

 Jo Adell – LAA, OF, 26.0 – Adell went 0 for 4 yesterday and now has a 67 wRC+ in 7 games. With his history, it would be so easy to finally write him off and say this is the final nail in the coffin, but when you look under the hood, it’s actually encouraging. The whiff% is down to a career best 26.3%, which is almost in the average range. That is an absolutely wild transformation from his days putting up mid to upper 30’s whiff rates. And it continues a downward trend from 2024 where he put up a 29.8% whiff%, so there is hope there is real improvement here. He’s also doing it while still ripping the ball with a 91.5 MPH EV, and while being more selective with a career best, and above average 25.5% Chase%. Other than the surface stats, I’m damn pumped about this start. Stay the course, as all signs point towards the breakout season finally coming.

Tyler Fitzgerald – SFG, SS/2B, 27.7 – Fitz wasn’t a named Target, but I was definitely excited by the power/speed and also scared off by the plate approach, and after putting up his 3rd straight 0-fer yesterday to give him a 29 wRC+ in 7 games, it looks like the hit tool just might tank him. But his whiff% is actually down 3.1 percentage points to 28.1%, and his K% is down 5.8 percentage points to 25.9%. His exit velocity is also up almost 1 MPH to 88.5 MPH. He’s never going to be a high BA guy with a 20.4 degree launch hitting in Oracle Park, and his current xBA is .180, so I’m not saying it’s all roses, I’m just saying the surface stats aren’t nearly as bad as it really is. Stay the course with Fitz.

Pete Crow-Armstrong – CHC, OF, 23.0 – The Crow went 0 for 4 yesterday and now has a 47 wRC+ in 12 games. If PCA doesn’t work out, that one will seriously hurt me as he’s been my guy since before he was drafted. But before I get too sad, let’s see what’s happening. Just like with Fitz and Adell, the whiff rates are actually down, and his is down to an above average 24%. That is down 5.9 percentage points from 2024. And amazingly enough, he’s done it while upping his bat speed 2 MPH to an above average 72.6 MPH. When you try to swing faster, you are supposed to miss the ball more, not less. He’s still chasing too much, but at least there is some improvement with it down 3.5 percentage points to 37.9%. And even with a .255 OBP, he still has 3 steals in 12 games. I wish the surface stats looked better too, but he has majorly improved whiffs, majorly improved bat speed, slight chase improvement, and he’s running. I’m encouraged.

Dylan Crews – WAS, OF, 23.1 – I thought it would never happen. Crews finally had a decent game, going 2 for 4 with stolen base. That gives him a whopping negative 35 wRC+ in 8 games. I’m not gonna lie, it doesn’t look good under the hood either with a 38% whiff% and 36.4% Chase% which are much worse than his 2024 debut. But you have to remember that Crews got off to a slow start last year as well. There was blood in the streets with him struggling at Double-A, but he eventually found his rhythm, and I’m betting on the same thing happening in 2025. He might just be a slow starter.

Luis Garcia – WAS, 2B, 24.11 – You know I couldn’t go an entire Dynasty Rundown without at least partially victory lapping hah. And that brings us to Luis Garcia, who wasn’t someone I was going after. He’s gone 0-fer in 5 of 7 games this season and now has a 40 wRC+ in 7 games. His plate approach is still terrible and showing no signs of maturing with a 40% Chase% which is worse than 2024. His contact rates remain in that good but not great area with a 19.2% K%, and I’m being generous because the whiff rates are actually all the way up to 28.9% right now (21.3% in 2024). And finally, he continues to not hit the ball that hard with a 87.9 MPH EV. The weird thing about his season is that he has an insane 15% Barrel%, which I’m not buying, but it’s something, and he also has a career high launch at 10 degrees, which is nice to see that continue to go in the right direction. Obviously it’s insanely early, but if I were to buy Garcia, which I wasn’t, these aren’t the signs I want to see for a next level breakout. It looks like more of the same, with some launch/barrell% silver lining.

JJ Bleday – OAK, OF, 27.5 – Bleday was another popular target that I wasn’t buying into. After going 0 for 4 yesterday he now has a 59 wRC+ in 10 games. And he continues to be a below average CF. Here is what I wrote in his Top 1,000 blurb, “Bleday is a low ceiling player with little speed, a below average BA, and above average homer power at best. I also think there is risk too, because he’s a below average outfielder, and Denzel Clark and Colby Thomas are charging hard to compete for those open OF jobs. Kurtz and Soderstrom could push Rooker into more OF duty too.”  … Bleday currently has 0 barrels on the season. The plate approach is really good, which matters, but that is about it. Even his launch is way down to 8.3 degrees, which is down so much I’m wondering if that was a choice. Not a good choice, considering the new hitter’s paradise they play in. Kurtz can’t stop hitting homers at Triple-A (he went deep for his 4th time last night), Soderstrom isn’t going anywhere (he homered for the 4th time in 10 games last night too), and Target Denzel Clarke’s double plus CF glove is sitting at Triple-A with a massively improved hit tool (22.6/16.1 K%/BB% with a .280 BA). I was fading Bleday this off-season, and I’m even more off him now.

Jackson Jobe – DET, RHP, 22.8 – I love Jackson Jobe. I was the first one hyping him as a true elite pitching prospect during his 2nd half 2023 explosion, and I ranked him very high this off-season (21st overall in the Top 500 Prospects Rankings). But because so many places had him Top 10 and in the same tier as Andrew Painter, I got a lot of questions on why I wasn’t higher. And my answer was his 25.6/12.0 K%/BB% last year. And now that mediocre K/BB is back in the majors. He pitched last night against the Quad-A White Sox and went 5 IP with 4 hits, 2 ER, and a 4/3 K/BB. His first start was more of the same at the pitcher’s paradise in Seattle, going 4 IP with 3 hits, 3 ER, and a 3/4 K/BB. The fastball was down to 95.8 MPH in this latest one and didn’t record a single whiff on 14 swings. He has a 20.8% whiff% between the two starts, which isn’t great, and we know he was working on new pitches this off-season because he wasn’t happy with how many bats he was missing. One of those new pitches, the curveball, has yet to get a single whiff this season. I still love Jobe, and how I closed out his Top 1,000 blurb is still how I feel about him: ” Jobe should break camp with the team in 2025, and while I wouldn’t expect an ace season right out of the gate, I’m betting on him getting there eventually.”

Chase Dollander – COL, RHP, 23.5 – Dollander was another elite pitching prospect I wasn’t quite as high on, but in his case, it had nothing to do with his K/BB rates, it had everything to do with him pitching in Coors. And his first MLB start at Coors went basically exactly how you would have thought. Great K/BB. Bad outing. He went 5 IP with 7 hits, 4 ER, and a 6/1 K/BB vs. OAK. The 97.8 MPH fastball put up a respectable 20% whiff%, but it got rocked with a 101 MPH against. The cutter, curve, and changeup all performed well by missing bats and inducing weak contact, leading to a solid 25% whiff% overall. It was a good outing … probably in any other ballpark but Coors. I like Dollander. I still ranked him 57th overall on the Prospects Rankings, but in Coors, I just can’t go higher than that.

Garrett Mitchell – MIL, OF, 26.7 – Mitchell was one of my favorite targets this off-season, and while his start hasn’t been bad with a 102 wRC+, it hasn’t exactly been exciting either with 0 homers and 1 steal. Are we still buying here? Hell yea. The whiff rates are all the way down to 25% (34.8% in 2024), and the launch is all the way up to 9.3 degrees (2.8 degrees in 2024). And not only has he done that while maintaining his elite bat speed, he’s actually taken the bat speed up into even more rarified air with a 76.8 MPH swing (75.7 MPH in 2024). Don’t budge off Mitchell.

Matt Wallner – MIN, OF, 27.3 – Wallner is another target who isn’t having a bad start with a .804 OPS, but the guy has 0 homers, and hitting homers is what he does. Honestly, his start is the wonkiest one to understand. I think I should be over the moon for the 22.9 K%, because that insane 36.4 K% from 2024 needed to come down, but his whiff rates are actually much worse with a 44.2% whiff% (38.4% in 2024). Hard to trust the K rate when the whiff rate is still so bad. But on the flip side, the homers are certainly going to come with a 92 MPH EV, 13.6% Barrel% and 18 degree launch. And it was his career ..252 BA that made me confident enough in the hit tool to call him a target. He again has a good BA with a .267 BA. There is some mixed bag in here, but I’m holding strong.

James Wood – WAS, OF, 22.7 – Wood went 0 for 3 yesterday and now has a 81 wRC+ with a 41.7% K% in 9 games. That K rate is damn scary, but thank goodness he has a 27.4% whiff%, which is actually 2 percentage points better than 2024, because the hit tool is the only thing that can tank him. That whiff% shows to not be scared off by the K rate right now. He’s still crushing the ball with a 16.7% Barrel%. The biggest negative is the negative 2.7 degree launch. He needs to bring that up to really get the true breakout we want to see, but don’t you dare panic on Wood.

Michael Toglia – COL, 1B/OF, 26.8/Triston Casas – BOS, 1B, 25.3 – Now these are two targets where there are reasons to worry. It’s too early to actually worry, but both are having starts you don’t want to see. Casas went 0 for 5 with 2 K yesterday and Toglia went 1 for 5 with a strikeout. The worrisome part is that their hit tools are going in the wrong direction. Toglia is hitting .143 with 44.7% K% and 45.2% whiff%. Casas is hitting .167 with a 34.2% K% and 36% whiff%. Toglia just got back into Coors, and he was a better 2nd half hitter than 1st half last year, so definitely give him some time, but that swing and miss is scary. Casas was supposed to be gradually improving that hit tool as his career went along, and so far, it’s gradually getting worse. Again, way too early to panic on each, but each have red flags that need to start seeing some improvement.

Ben Brown – CHC, RHP, 25.7 – I loved Ben Brown, and I thought if Chicago was smart, they would give him that 5th starter job. They did indeed give him that job, but he’s not making them (or me) look smart. He had his 2nd rough outing last night, going 4 IP with 7 hits, 5 ER, and a 5/4 K/BB vs. SDP. He still can’t find that 3rd pitch, throwing the changeup only 3.7% of the time, and it hasn’t recorded a single whiff. The good news is that the 4-semaer and curve are still whiff machines with a 25% and 40.8% whiff%, respectively, but both pitches are getting hit hard. I love K chasing in fantasy, so Brown’s 33% whiff% on the season is still so damn enticing to me, but so far he hasn’t made the improvements you would really want to see to feel comfortable. In general, I’m still holding.

Kumar Rocker – TEX, RHP, 25.4 – I was buying Rocker’s en fuego finish to 2024, but so far, it hasn’t shown back up in 2025. He got roughed up in his first outing, and his 2nd outing last night was a weird one, going 5 IP with 6 hits, 1 ER, and a 1/0 K/BB vs. TBR. He induced a ton of weak contact with a 84.4 MPH EV against, but he didn’t miss many bats with a 10% whiff%. The famed slider only put up a 27% whiff% and the two 95+ MPH fastballs notched 1 whiff in 28 swings. After getting rocked with poor control in his first outing, it was nice to see him settle down in this one. Remember that he’s only had 64.2 IP in his minor league career due to injuries, so he’s learning on the fly here in the majors. There are going to be bumps, and he needs to find a pitch to get lefties out. I’m holding, but maybe I’m slightly less excited than I was this off-season.

Zac Veen – COL, OF, 23.4 – How can I do an underachieving Target write-up without mention Zac Veen! I couldn’t love Veen more a couple years ago at an uber athletic and projectable 6’3”, 190 pounds with Coors Field waiting for him, but as you know, it’s been a bumpy road to say the least since then. But he’s been drawing us all back in this year, and now he got the call to the bigs to take over for the struggling Jordan Beck. He opened some eyes this spring with 2 homers, 9 steals, and a 113 wRC+ in 28 PA, and then he went to Triple-A and slashed .387/.472/.677 with 1 homer, 1 steal, and a 16.2/10.8 K%/BB% in 8 games. He still doesn’t crush the ball, but he’s been adding muscle and the power has definitely been ticking up. He’s a game changer on the bases with league leading stolen base ability, and while the K rates have been on the high side in the minors, they aren’t in the danger zone and Coors will only help with that. I can’t say I’m still gaga over Veen like I was back in the day, but it’s still so easy to see a monster fantasy player. I’m just excited to see what he can do.

Rafael Devers – BOS, 3B, 28.5 – 5 for 9 with 2 doubles and a homer in a double header. He’s now 10 for 19 in his last 5 games and has a 134 wRC+ on the season. We never doubted you big fella!!! ***I did start to doubt him. Shoulders scare me, but we can all stop holding our breath now …

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
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By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)

I’m doing these Rundowns all Spring and all season over on the Patreon, with a few per month free here on the Brick Wall. I’m just psyched to have baseball back! Here is the Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (3/10/25):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON & SEASON, INCLUDING:
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Grayson Rodriguez – BAL, RHP, 25.3/Gerrit Cole – NYY, RHP, 34.7/George Kirby – SEA, RHP, 27.2 – We’ve come to the part of spring training where pitchers start dropping like flies. Here is what I wrote about Grayson on Sad Dynasty Rundown Day (don’t ask) after his terrible outing, “And while he said he wasn’t trying, he also said he changed his delivery this off-season to take pressure off the twice injured lat and to put it on the scapular. I’m no scientist, but that seems like a recipe to just hurt a different part of your body.” … and right on cue, Grayson goes down with elbow inflammation which required a cortisone shot. Gerrit Cole looks like he’s headed for Tommy John surgery. And Kirby will open the season on the IL with shoulder inflammation that doesn’t seem overly serious. I bring these injuries up because I get a ton of trade questions that ask if should I trade “top hitting prospect X” for “established pitcher X” when I have the pitcher ranked a bit ahead of the hitter in my rankings. And my response is often the same. Which is that I absolutely hate doing trades like that, regardless of the rankings, for this very reason. There are scenarios where I would simply refuse to trade any of my truly top hitting prospects for any pitcher. It’s the type of trade I make only when I’m truly all in. I much prefer to build my staff by finding underrated pitchers (which there are always tons of) rather than paying up for the hyped to death aces. You of course still need good pitchers to win, so you are going to have to pick your spots eventually, but trading an elite or near elite hitting prospect for any pitcher should be a last case scenario. You should exhaust all other avenues first, regardless of what a general dynasty ranking says, even my own.

Anthony Volpe – NYY, SS, 23.11 – Volpe is looking for a bounce back year 3 after a disappointing sophomore year, but even his homers are unimpressive with him tapping a 90 MPH homer off Michael McGreevy. The swing looked super slow during the homer too, which is a major concern of mine with Volpe. He just doesn’t swing a quick bat with a 69.5 MPH swing last year and a 70.9 MPH swing in the 2nd half of 2023. He doesn’t make a ton of contact, he doesn’t have a great approach, and he doesn’t have a ton of raw power, which makes me a bit concerned about what Volpe’s actual ceiling. He runs, he’s young, and he’s excellent on defense, so it’s not like I hate him. I still have him #101 on the Top 1,000 2025 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon), but I just don’t love that slow ass swing.

Zach Dezenzo – HOU, 1B, 24.11 – Now that is the type of swing I like to see. Dezenzo used his elite bat speed to drill a homer out to right center. He’s competing for a job this spring, and while he’s not off to the best start with a 89 wRC+, let’s see if this can kick off a hot streak. His glove is a problem, and it could be the thing that keeps in the minors or on the bench, but he’s 6’5”, 220 pounds with an elite 75.4 MPH swing and a well above average 28.3 ft/sec sprint. These are the elite athletes I love betting on, and there is definitely opportunity in Houston. He’s a target of mine long term.

Tomoyuki Sugano – BAL, RHP, 35.6 – 3 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 5/0 K/BB vs. like a 40%-ish Twins lineup. Sugano has yet to give up a run in 7 IP this spring. He’s missing bats too with a 26.9% K%. He’s coming off a season in Japan where he put up a 1.67 ERA. We might have to start putting some respect on this man’s name. There is a decent chance he’s actually damn good despite not having huge velocity and huge K rates in Japan. Don’t dismiss him so quickly.

Clay Holmes – NYM, RHP, 30.4 – 3.2 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 8/3 K/BB vs. 50/50 Washington lineup. Holmes continues to prove the velocity isn’t going to fall off a cliff in the rotation, holding steady at 95.4 MPH, and he’s also proving he has the pitch mix to start with a 6 pitch mix. Most notably, the changeup notched a 75% whiff% in this one. Holmes is obliterating the spring and any value on him is so far gone it’s not even funny. He was a great target this off-season, but now during draft season, you are going to have to pay up full price. I still like him, and I think he’ll be worth the price, but there are no deals to be found here anymore.

Aroon Escobar – PHI, 2B, 20.3 – I generally hate players who are “old” for their rookie ball leagues. These include 18 year olds repeating the DSL and 19 year olds in stateside rookie ball, but with the recent contraction of the minor leagues, I might have to loosen up my stance on that. With fewer teams, more deserving guys are going to repeat rookie ball levels, and on the flip side, Single-A is getting more rookie ball-ish itself. High-A might really be the true “full season ball” jump that Single-A used to be. It’s something to keep in mind, and something that I have to continue adjusting to myself. Enter Aroon, who destroying rookie ball as a 19 year old with a 172 wRC+, 3 homers, 9 steals, and a 9.6/20.2 K%/BB% in 24 games. I wasn’t in on him because of his age, but I’m feeling regret for that after he crushed him first homer this spring at a grown man’s 108.2 MPH. He now has a 505 wRC+ in 2 PA ;). He’s not necessarily a big tools guy, which is another reason I wasn’t in on him, but he can end up a very strong across the board contributor. He deserved more respect from me.

Gavin Williams – CLE, RHP, 25.8 – 3.2 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 7/1 K/BB vs. a very weak White Sox lineup. Granted, I think I could have racked up a few K’s against these guys (Bobby Dalbec and his 46.2% K% in the majors last year K’d 3 times in this one), but there is still no denying how fire Williams’ has looked this spring. The 95.3 MPH fastball put up a 50% whiff% and the curve and slider were whiff machines too, leading to a 55% whiff% overall. He now has a 1.33 ERA with a 50.0%/6.3 K%/BB% in 8 IP. It’s only spring, and the competition isn’t great, but this is exactly what we wanted to see coming off the down and injured 2024. His value is definitely back on the rise, even if I would be a little careful about just drafting your team based on who is having the best spring trainings. I remember when the default used to be that spring didn’t matter. Now, my goodness how it’s flipped. It’s like spring is all that matters ha. Can’t deny that I feel partly responsible for this, because when I started writing Spring Rundowns years ago, nobody else was writing them and there really wasn’t that much spring content. Now it’s a deluge hah.

Jac Caglianone – KCR, 1B, 22.2 – Speaking of overrating spring, Jac is a man possessed, utterly obliterating a 114.6 MPH, 444 foot bomb for his 3rd in 14 PA. Call me crazy, but I don’t think he sees that pitch in a real game. He’s not only showing off power though, the plate approach looks excellent as well with a 7.1/21.4 K%/BB%. Jac is an undeniable beast, and I have zero issue taking him extremely high in First Year Player Drafts, but personally, I’m not going to rearrange my entire FYPD Rankings just based on who is having the best spring. I always said there is a top tier of 11 guys, and if any of them ended up the best player in the class, I wouldn’t be surprised at all, but I’m going to stick with my off-season order.

Richard Fitts – BOS, RHP, 25.3 – 2.1 IP, 2 hits, 1 ER, 4/3 K/BB vs. a very weak Braves lineup. He now has a 1.42 ERA with a 32.1/14.3 K%/BB% in 6.1 IP. Fitts came into spring a new man with upper 90’s heat and filthy stuff, and that was on display yesterday as well. He was mostly a control over stuff guy coming into this year, but it sure looks like he’s changing that profile into a stuff over control guy now, and for fantasy, that is definitely what we want to see, but he still has to prove he can truly harness the stuff in a starting role. He’s so obviously a major riser this spring, and with Bello starting the year on the IL, there is a rotation spot to be won, so he makes for a great underrated target. I’m just worried with how much hype he’s getting, he’s not actually going to be all that underrated.

Jack Kochanowicz – LAA, RHP, 24.3 – The most boring pitcher alive keeps churning out good outings, going 4 IP with 0 hits, 0 ER, and a 2/0 K/BB vs a bad Reds lineup. He now has a 1.00 ERA with a 17.6/2.9 K%/BB% in 9 IP. The K% is at least much better than the 9.4% K% he put in the majors last year, but even that with that 9.4% K%, he still pitched well with a 3.99 ERA in 65.1 IP. It’s all sinker all the time, which is just quite boring, but it’s been undeniably effective for awhile now. He doesn’t seem to have a rotation spot, but I guess he’s not the worst guy to roster in deeper leagues.

Brady House – WAS, 3B, 21.10 – House is oh so quietly having an excellent spring and showing improvement in the main area he needed to show improvement in. He went 1 for 1 with a walk yesterday and now has a 153 wRC+ with a 4.8/14.3 K%/BB% in 21 PA. That 3B job is just waiting for him, and he’s already spent a good amount of time at Triple-A last year. He’s a sneaky candidate to make a big impact in 2025. He doesn’t get the respect he deserves both in the short term and the long term.

Ben Rice – NYY, 1B, 26.6 – 0 for 4 with 2 K’s and now has a 39 wRC+ with a 32% K% in 25 PA … you are really going to have to start hitting soon if you want to lock in that vacant DH job

Evan Carter – TEX, OF, 22.7 – 0 for 2 with a K and now has a 9 wRC+ with a 33.3/4.8 K%/BB% in 21 PA … this is not giving much hope that the ominous back injury is okay

Jordan Hicks – SFG, RHP, 28.8 – 2.2 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, 1/2 K/BB vs. a Quad-A San Diego lineup. He now has a 6.75 ERA with a 17.4/13.0 K%/BB% in 4 IP … I guess one year of not pitching well as a starter wasn’t enough for San Francisco. They want to run it back …

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By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)

I’m doing these Rundowns all Spring and all season over on the Patreon, with a few per month free here on the Brick Wall. I’m just psyched to have baseball back! Here is the Sunday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (3/2/25):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON & SEASON, INCLUDING:
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Hye-seong Kim – LAD, 2B, 26.2 – I’ve been dogging Hye-seong all week in the Rundowns for his awful start to spring, but he got his vengeance yesterday, tapping a 95.6 MPH homer the other way for his first big day stateside. He didn’t exactly crush it, but the swing changes are meant to get him more cheapies like that, because without the swing change, he was likely only a 5-10 homer guy. And just look at that beautiful swing! How can you not buy into that? I sure did this off-season naming him a low key target, and while the swing changes are taking some time, I still can’t help but be enamored by his talent. If the swing changes start to click, I don’t see why he couldn’t be like a .270/15/30 guy once he really gets his bearings in MLB, which would probably be more realistically in 2026 and beyond.

Jerar Encarnacion – SFG, OF, 27.5 – Encarnacion showed off his truly top of the scale power with a 113 MPH homer out to dead center. The ball landed right over the 410 ft marking in center, but Statcast says it was hit 387 feet. Huh? A bit odd. Somebody is lying right to our faces. Either way, Encarnacion was a bat speed standout in 2024 with a 77 MPH swing, and it resulted in an elite 95 MPH EV in 119 PA. It actually came with a pretty damn solid 28.7% whiff% too, and so far this spring his K% is sitting at a very nice 20% in 15 PA. If he keeps making that much contact, with his bat speed and power, a breakout is inevitable. He’s going to have to kick the door down for playing time, but Encarnacion is in really fun and cheap flier territory right now. He could be an “out of nowhere” bat who cracks 30+ dingers.

Konnor Griffin – PIT, OF, 18.11 – Welcome to pro ball, Konnor Griffin. It didn’t take long for him to make his presence felt, coolly and easily destroying his first homer the other way out to right center. At 6’4”, 225 pounds, that power comes so easy, and that isn’t even his best tool arguably, it’s his 70 grade speed. It’s all about the hit tool though, and so far, so good as he’s 2 for 5 with 0 K’s. I said it in my FYPD Target article (Patreon), but we may be looking back at this class and kicking ourselves that we didn’t take Griffin over the college bats. He’s the only one who truly has elite dynasty asset potential. I see him getting faded in a ton of FYPD drafts. Don’t make that mistake.

Pete Crow-Armstrong – CHC, OF, 23.0 – Pete Crow is going to absolutely explode in 2025. His power is no joke, and he continues to prove that, crushing a 104.4 MPH homer off Cole Ragans and tacking on a 104.6 MPH double off Lucas Erceg. He’s now 7 for 14 on the spring with 1 homer, 1 steal, and a 247 wRC+. His power/speed combo can legitimately rival the very best in the game, and I still feel like he’s getting underrated by the fantasy community. I’ve been all in on him for 4 years now, and I’m still all in this year, ranking him 66th overall on the Top 1,000 2025 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon). I also placed a long shot bet on him leading the league in steals. This is your last chance to get in on him at anything resembling a reasonable price.

Ben Rice – NYY, 1B, 26.6 – Rice obliterated a 113.3 MPH line drive homer that left the park in like half a second. His barrel ability is special, putting up a 15.6% Barrel% in his very first taste of the majors, and while the hits weren’t falling for him, they are about to start falling in 2025. I closed out Rice’s blurb in my First Base Targets (Patreon) by writing, “I don’t know how. And I don’t know when. But I do know who. And that who is Ben Rice.” … and now that Giancarlo is set to miss the start of the season with double tennis elbow, we know how too. He’s coming for that DH job, and if he can establish himself, I’m sure the Yanks will want to get that bat in the lineup somehow.

Chase Dollander – COL, RHP, 23.5 – Dollander went up against a pretty legit Arizona lineup, and they weren’t scared of the 97.4 MPH fastball, whiffing only 15% of the time on it and hitting it up for a 92.9 MPH EV against. It resulted in a rough outing for Dollander, going 3 IP with 3 hits, 3 ER, and a 4/1 K/BB. He still missed plenty of bats with a cutter and change, leading to an excellent 29% whiff%, and the curve induced weak contact. Pitching prospects are just too volatile for me to bet on any Coors pitching prospect, which is why he ranked 58th overall on my Top 500 2025 Dynasty Prospects Rankings (Patreon), but on his own merits, he would likely land closer to 20th overall. I just can’t ignore the looming Coors monster.

Cade Povich – BAL, LHP, 24.11 – 3 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 6/1 K/BB vs. Pitt’s Quad-A+Cruz lineup. Not the best competition, but Povich has been absolutely lights out this spring in 5 IP with 0 ER and a 38.9/5.6 K%/BB%. I thought his path to improvement would be increased stuff, as the fastball only sits low 90’s, but it looks like it could come with improved control/command. He has his stuff on an absolute string this spring, and it’s still missing a ton of bats. I was out on Povich, but his spring performance definitely has me regretting that decision.

Michael Soroka – WSH, RHP, 27.8 – Soroka was another arm that I was out on, and he too might make me regret it, going 3 IP with 0 hits, 0 ER, and a 3/1 K/BB vs. a decently tough Cardinals lineup. The 4-seamer was up 1.4 MPH to 94.9 MPH, and it’s not like it was a 1 inning outing. The slider missed a ton of bats too going 4 for 8 on whiffs, leading to a 29% whiff% overall. He’s moving into acceptable deeper league flier territory for me.

Shane McClanahan – TBR, LHP, 27.1 – McClanahan made his debut coming off Tommy John and went 2 IP with 3 hits, 0 ER, and a 1/0 K/BB vs. a mediocre Mets lineup. The fastball was hitting the upper 90’s, so the stuff is back and he certainly looks healthy. Still remains to be seen how much rust he will have to shake off, but this was a positive first outing.

George Lombard – NYY, SS, 19.10 – If Lombard’s power ticks up, his prospect stock is set to soar, and it looks like that might happen with him obliterating a 108.4 MPH homer for his first of spring. That swing looked so legit, and the 76.4 MPH bat speed backs up the ocular evaluation. He’s still just 19 years old and is coming off a solid first full year of pro ball. He’s just a really good all around ball player.

Grant Taylor – CHW, RHP, 22.10 – 1 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 2/0 K/BB. Taylor showed off the electric stuff with a 99.9 MPH fastball that notched a 33% whiff% with a 66.7 MPH EV against. It was simply unhittable. He also mixed in a cutter, changeup, and slider with none of his pitches coming in under 88.2 MPH. The “changeup” sits 92.6 MPH, which is faster than some guys fastballs. There is injury risk and he still has a lot to prove, but his top level stuff is unquestionable.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand – CIN, 1B, 25.4 – CES wrist watch … 111.6 MPH bullet off Dylan Cease for his 2nd of the spring. He had a good AFL too. Wrist injuries scare me for hitters, but Strand looks like he’s back to 100%.

Julio Rodriguez – SEA, OF, 24.3 – 0 for 2 and is now 1 for 11 on the spring … I love it, let’s get that slow start out of the way now, because I think he’s going to literally kill his owners if he doesn’t start hitting until mid summer again …

Noelvi Marte – CIN, 3B, 23.6 – 0 for 2 with 2 K’s and is now 1 for 12 with a 42.9% K% … I think it’s time to get back on the juice. It’s worth the risk, because this ain’t it …

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON & SEASON, INCLUDING:
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-POSITION BY POSITION TARGETS
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By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)