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 (9/8/25):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON & OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
–AUGUST 2025 TOP 444 DYNASTY RANKS (End of Season Ranks coming soon)
–END OF SEASON 2025 TOP 325 PROSPECTS RANKS
-TOP 60 2026 FYPD RANKS w/ Analysis & Prime Projections for every player
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: AUGUST MAILBAG! (End of Season Mailbag coming soon)
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS
–SPREADSHEETS
–OFF-SEASON CONTENT: Dynasty Team Reports (Top 10 Prospects/Interesting MLB guys/Strategy of the Day), Deep Positional Rankings, Predicting Future Prospect Lists, Top 1,000+ Dynasty Rankings, Top 500+ Prospects Rankings, Top 100+ FYPD Ranks + much more

Kruz Schoolcraft – SDP, LHP, 18.4, A – We actually got some highly drafted pitchers making their pro debuts this weekend, which I wasn’t expecting because teams don’t usually debut these guys, but as a dynasty owner and just a fan of baseball in general, I love it. And the first one to really catch my eye was Schoolcraft’s debut. Sure he got hit up with 2 earned and 3 walks in 1.2 IP at Single-A, but it was the stuff that was eye catching. He was sitting upper 90’s, blowing the heat right by guys. Then he dropped in the potentially plus changeup, making hitters look silly. He also has a potentially plus slider in the bag. He struck out 4 with 10 whiffs in the outing. This is basically the Noah Schultz 2.0 blow up, and I saw it coming from a mile away in my Top 60 2026 First Year Player Draft Rankings (Patreon), starting his blurb by writing, “If you know me, you know I love me some monster humans who are good athletes and have nasty tools, and that describes Schoolcraft perfectly. He’s like a blend between Noah Schultz and Boston Bateman from their draft years, and both of those guys were targets for me,” and ending it by writing, “Like Schultz, if the velocity ticks up, this is the type of guy who can fly up rankings in a second.” And now the velocity has already ticked up in a major way. I was already going after him, ranking him 23rd overall, and this debut makes me even more excited. He’s an easy Top 20 FYPD pick, and quite frankly, a 6’8” lefty throwing upper 90’s with two potentially plus secondaries is a wildly good profile. This is a pretty weak class. Top 10 isn’t a stretch at all. He’s a major target who still might go very late in drafts this off-season.

Liam Doyle – STL, LHP, 21.2, A – Liam Doyle got on the hill as well, and he went 1.2 IP with 1 hit, 1 ER, and a 3/2 K/BB at Single-A. That one hit was a missile from elite catcher prospect Alfredo Duno off the slider. That really tells you more about how good Alfredo Duno is than anything about Doyle. Although Doyle’s secondaries were the big question coming out of the draft, and Duno certainly answered that question pretty quickly. But the double plus heater looked great, sitting 96.1 MPH and recording all 3 strikeouts. He only went to the changeup twice, which very well might be his best secondary and is a nasty pitch. The debut hasn’t shifted me in either direction on Doyle. He’s my top pitcher in FYPD’s and a candidate to go first overall in drafts now that Ethan Holliday is doing his best Elijah Green impression in his debut. Kade Anderson is right there with Doyle and is really a coin flip between them. Willits is my current top dog. It’s wide open this year.

Ethan Holliday – COL, SS, 18.5, A – Speaking of Holliday, he went 1 for 5 with 3 more strikeouts yesterday and now has an Elijah Green like 39.3% K% in 18 games. That isn’t a super small sample anymore and the strikeouts aren’t slowing down. Granted he’s cracked 2 dingers in September and he has a 108 wRC+, but the talent is unquestioned. What is questioned is the hit tool, and this is basically a worst case scenario debut. He’s only 18 and he’s just getting comfortable in pro ball, but I would say it’s pretty clear the hit tool risk is as high as it could be. He dropped out of the top spot on my rankings and fell to 7th overall for me. I still like him, but that is too much hit tool risk to take at the very top of drafts.

Gage Wood – PHI, RHP, 21.8, A – But back to pro debuts from highly drafted pitchers, Wood made his debut too and went 2 IP with 1 hit, 1 ER, and a 5/2 K/BB at Single-A. The only one who can rival Doyle’s fastball is Wood, and the 95.7 MPH heater racked up a 43% whiff%. The curve went 2 for 2 on whiffs and the 96 MPH sinker chipped in too with a 25% whiff%. He also mixed in a slider and cutter. It all led to a 38% whiff% overall. I started Wood’s FYPD blurb by writing, “I’m apt to think that Wood should be considered right with that top consensus group of starters, even though he dropped to 26th overall in the draft,” and finished it with, “I’m buying whatever discount I can get here.” He’s already a Top 100 prospect for me, ranking 86th overall in the End of Season Top 325 Dynasty Baseball Prospect Rankings that just dropped on the Patreon last week. The fastball is double plus, the curve is plus, and he has a diverse pitch mix. The 46.0/4.7 K%/BB% was elite in 37.2 IP his Junior year. There is a lot of risk here as he just converted to starter this year and an injured shoulder after his 2nd outing limited his innings, but his upside is high enough to take on that risk.

Walker Jenkins – MIN, OF, 20.6, AAA – You want hard hit? How about this for hard hit as Jenkins obliterated a 104.9 MPH, 414 foot bomb for his first homer at Triple-A. He now has an 88.4 MPH EV and 46.7% Hard Hit% at the level, and those numbers don’t even include his game yesterday. He went 3 for 4 and along with the homer, tacked on a 104.8 MPH single, 95.6 MPH lineout, and an 89.5 MPH single. Is that hard enough for you? He’s now conquering Triple-A as a 20 year old, slashing .311/.404/.489. He’s been getting disrespected all season, and I wasn’t having it, banging his drum all year, ranking him in the Top 10 consistently. Now that he’s closing out the season showing the one thing he was lacking, hard hit, I don’t see why you couldn’t even argue for him at #1 overall. I have that as Griffin still. And there are other great prospects out there, but Jenkins’ hype has been so quiet all year and it wasn’t deserved.

Travis Bazzana – CLE, 2B, 23.0, AAA – Bazzana was due for a heater, and the heater is now here with him launching his 4th homer in his last 4 games at Triple-A. He’s now conquering the level with a .916 OPS in 23 games. He’s been more solid than standout in his first full year of pro ball, but the fantasy friendly skillset is most certainly in here. He hits it hard (89.5 MPH EV with a 42.3% Hard Hit% at AAA), he can lift and pull (37.5% GB% and 48.6% Pull% on the season), he runs (11 steals), and he gets on base (17% BB%). The 23.5% K% is higher than optimal, but the 24.5% whiff% at AAA says we shouldn’t be too concerned there. It hasn’t been the full blown explosion we wanted, but he’s finishing the season strong and I’m still betting on him being an impact fantasy player. He ranked 21st overall on the End of Season Top 325 Dynasty Baseball Prospect Rankings (Patreon).

Jacob Misiorowski – MIL, RHP, 23.4 – 7 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 8/2 K/BB at Pitt. Misiorowski is old news already. We’re all excited for the new wave of elite pitching prospects who just made their pro debuts recently, but after scuffling over his last 5 outings, Miz is set to finish out the season strong. The 99 MPH fastball dominated with a 84.7 MPH EV against and 31% whiff%. The curve notched a 40% whiff%. And he mixed in a slider and changeup, leading to a 27% whiff% overall. Not that I think anyone was worried with the small rough patch, and you most certainly shouldn’t be with a 2.75 xERA (4.09 ERA) and 35.2/10.5 K%/BB% in 55 IP. I called him the Tyler Glasnow starter pack back in 2023, and with his control/command taking a step forward this year, he looks mighty close to that outcome. In Glasnow’s age 23 year old season, he put up a 14.4% BB% in the majors, so Misiorowski is actually ahead of the game. I ranked him 42nd overall in the August Top 444 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon), and while maybe that is a tad high, he needs to be treated like a Top 50 dynasty asset.

Bubba Chandler – PIT, RHP, 22.11 – Speaking of the excitement from the new wave of elite pitching prospects, Chandler went against Miz in this one and went 2.2 IP with 9 hits, 9 ER, and a 3/3 K/BB vs. MIL. Are you still excited? He now has a 7.36 ERA with a 18.2/6.1 K%/BB% in 14.2 IP. The 22.9% whiff% is super weak too. After his rocky season at Triple-A, this was sadly predictable, and it’s why I called him a sell (along with Painter) on one of my mid-season Mailbag Podcasts. This debut is not going to help his trade value. Having said that, the 98.6 MPH fastball can still end up a nasty pitch even if it’s getting hit up right now. The changeup has a 44% whiff% with a .161 xwOBA, which is straight elite. The slider has been a positive Run Value pitch too. The elite pitching prospect ingredients are still in here, so don’t panic sell or anything. I just recommended selling high before this disaster happened, but now it’s happened, and you just have to hold through the storm.

Brandon Sproat – NYM, RHP, 24.10 – Sproat’s elite prospect hype faded a long time ago, but his debut was still highly anticipated, and he held his own, going 6 IP with 3 hits, 3 ER, and a 7/4 K/BB. The sinker sat 95.9 MPH and the 4-seamer sat 96.1 MPH. He threw the fastballs 35 times and they didn’t record a single whiff. Not gonna lie, not great. His secondaries (sweeper, curve, change, slider) didn’t miss a ton of bats either, leading to a lowly 15% whiff%. It looked more of the same from his shaky stint at Triple-A with below average control/command and a much lower strikeout rate than optimal (22.1/10.4 K%/BB%). The stuff is big and the pitch mix is diverse, so it’s smart to stay patient with these guys as we know the breakout can come at any time through their late 20’s, but waiting on it can be frustrating. I would value him as a back end Top 100 prospect and even that could be generous.

Hunter Greene – CIN, RHP, 25.11 – Usually I wouldn’t even mention established aces like Greene, but he’s taking his ace breakout to yet another level this season, going 7 IP with 1 hit, 1 ER, and a 12/2 K/BB vs. NYM. He now has a 2.59 ERA with a 32.0/5.4 K%/BB% in 90.1 IP. He’s taking his control/command to a new level, and I can’t say I didn’t see it coming, writing in his off-season Top 1,000 blurb, “His control/command remained below average, but I still think there is another level in here as he stays healthy and gains more experience. I don’t even think this is the peak, assuming he stays healthy, which who knows there honestly (he missed time with elbow inflammation this year). Greene had the ace breakout I knew was coming, and I’m going to continue to buy high.” … I was all over him before he broke out in 2024, and then I was buying high for another breakout in 2025, which is now happening. All 3 pitches dominated in this latest outing with the 100.2!!! MPH fastball notching a 44% whiff%, the elite slider notching a 46% whiff%, and the improved splitter putting up a 40% whiff%. This is a Top 5 dynasty pitcher.

Jo Adell – LAA, OF, 26.3 – Can we just take a second to sit and smell the roses on the Jo Adell breakout. This was a long time coming, and if you had the patience of a saint, you gotta be enjoying every minute of this. He cracked his 35th homer of the season on a 107.9 MPH shot off Luis Severino. He got his hit tool out of the gutter with a relatively respectable 25.9% K% and .243 BA. He’s now ranked 65th overall on the Razzball Player Rater. I’m proud to say I did have the patience of a saint this off-season, starting his Top 1,000 blurb by writing, “I feel crazy for even saying this, but I think Jo Adell is a target for me this off-season. I know, I know, even saying it out loud sounds downright silly, but hear me out,” and finishing it with, “It can often take uber athletes into their mid to late 20’s to figure out the hit tool, but when they do, it can pay off huge. It sure seems like Adell took a big step forward there in 2024. I know I’m going to end up regretting this, hah, but boy do I like Adell a lot right now relative to his perceived value.” …. okay, okay, he might have dropped out of my Top 400+ Dynasty Rankings earlier this year (before moving right back in) after his rough start yet again this season, so maybe I didn’t have the patience of a saint. But I had one of a flawed human being, and you’re damn happy if you bought this off-season.

Ben Rice – NYY, 1B/C, 26.10/Tyler Soderstrom – OAK, 1B, 23.7 – And while we’re on the topic of off-season targets, both Rice and Soderstrom are putting the finishing touches on their 2025 breakouts. Rice popped his 23rd homer of the season at 109.4 MPH off the legend, Max Scherzer. Soderstrom popped his 24th homer of the season at 104.7 MPH off the not legend, Mitch Farris. You guys know that Soderstrom and Rice were two of my biggest target calls this season, and both of them did exactly what I thought they were capable of. Rice actually did even better, gaining catcher eligibility along the way. I’m just happy to see both of these guys pay off.

Parker Messick – CLE, LHP, 24.10 – Messick shook off his first bad MLB outing with another strong start yesterday, going 6 IP with 8 hits, 1 ER, and a 4/0 K/BB at TB. The low 90’s fastball/changeup combo was working with both pitches notching a 27% whiff%. The 90.5 MPH sinker induced weak contact with a 87 MPH EV against and missed some bats with a 17% whiff%. He also mixed in a curve and slider. That has been the formula to a T in his debut, leading to a 1.93 ERA and 18.8/3.1 K%/BB% in 23.1 IP. The big strikeout rates from the minors aren’t transferring, which isn’t surprising, but he has 3 good pitches in his 4-seamer, changeup and slider, and the control/command has been excellent. He’s the type who can maybe get into Top 200 dynasty asset value at peak, but he’s not showing enough upside to get more excited than that. And he’s probably sitting more in the Top 300-400 area at the moment. Strong debut.

Carson Williams – TBR, SS, 21.6 – And that one earned run off Messick came off the bat of Carson Williams at 103.9 MPH for his 2nd MLB homer in 14 games. Now seems like a good time to check in on his MLB debut … 38.3% K%, 38.6% whiff%, .209 BA … yea, that sounds about right. We all knew that was coming, right? There was zero doubt a hit tool adjustment period was coming for the still 21 year old, and unfortunately, it might be coming for a couple years until the bat can catch up to the SS glove. The good news is that the 74.1 MPH swing is double plus. The power/speed combo will be waiting patiently for him to improve those contact rates. He’s enough in the danger zone though where there is no guarantee it ever really happens. I’m a sucker for upside, so I’m still betting on him, because the glove will give him all the least he can handle in the long run. And just look at Jo Adell this year. Hopefully we don’t need to be that patient though.

Elmer Rodriguez Cruz – NYY, RHP, 21.10, AA – I got asked in the August Mailbag Podcast (Patreon) who I thought the next Cam Schlittler’s were for 2026, which is a question I love, because I hate paying up for the top hyped aces, and love to shop in that discount aisle of pitching prospect. Elmer Rodriguez Cruz was one of several guys I named, and he just cemented his target status even more yesterday, going 5 IP with 2 hits, 0 ER, and a 8/1 K/BB at Double-A. He actually might be pitching too well now to be underrated this off-season with a 2.56 ERA and 30.2/7.7 K%/BB% in 56.1 IP at the level. His 166 strikeouts on the season trails only Jonah Tong’s 179 in all of the minor leagues. Not bad company. You can watch the filth from this latest outing here. The sinker sat 95+ and the two breakers were devastating. He also throws a solid changeup. This is an easy Top 100 pitching prospect, and even that might be underselling him at this point.

Blake Burke – MIL, 1B, 22.0, AA – Burke has quietly exploded since getting the call to Double-A, and he’s not slowing down with a grand salami yesterday. That’s his 8th homer in 32 games at the level and he now has a .940 OPS there. He wasn’t as good at High-A, but he still hit well there with a 124 wRC+. The 23.3/11.5 K%/BB% in 126 games on the season isn’t too bad. Milwaukee drafted him 34th overall in 2024 for a reason, and that reason was his potential to be a 1B masher. He’s proving them right. The problem is that Milwaukee is stock piling a ton of these guys. They drafted his clone this year in the first round with Andrew Fischer. Wilken might end up at 1B. Luke Adams might end up at 1B. Andrew Vaughn is currently staking his claim to that spot on the MLB level. It makes sense organizationally. They are deep in guys who can get the bat on the ball, have a good glove, and can run. They need guys to battle it out at 1B/DH, and now they have a bunch of them. Who knows who ends up emerging, but the ones who do are going to have plenty of fantasy value.

George Valera – CLE, OF, 24.9 – Old, forgotten friend George Valera made his MLB debut this month, and I just couldn’t wait to see how the sweet, sweet lefty swing would register on Statcast bat tracking. It is indeed pretty fast at 73.2 MPH, and it’s mighty short at 6.5 feet. The swing is legit. He went 1 for 2 with a 107.7 MPH single off a 96.6 MPH Rasmussen fastball yesterday. He’s hitting .300 in 11 PA overall. He doesn’t have much fantasy value right now and the 36.4% K% isn’t great, but just thought it was interesting to check in on a former favorite. Maybe one day he can work into a fantasy relevant power platoon bat.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON & OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
–AUGUST 2025 TOP 444 DYNASTY RANKS (End of Season Ranks coming soon)
–END OF SEASON 2025 TOP 325 PROSPECTS RANKS
-TOP 60 2026 FYPD RANKS w/ Analysis & Prime Projections for every player
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: AUGUST MAILBAG! (End of Season Mailbag coming soon)
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS
–SPREADSHEETS
–OFF-SEASON CONTENT: Dynasty Team Reports (Top 10 Prospects/Interesting MLB guys/Strategy of the Day), Deep Positional Rankings, Top 1,000 Dynasty Rankings, Top 500 Prospects Rankings, Top 100 FYPD Ranks + much more

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