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Osavaldo Bido
Bido had a pretty nice showing against SEA - which isn't exactly a shocker - but still what you want to see. He threw five innings of one-run baseball, tallying up 4 Ks to go with 4 BBs. This is a fairly good streamer line if you're into that type of thing, but you definitely want to see a better K:BB ratio against a perceived-as- weak lineup like SEA (though it's still too early to jump to this conclusion).
Dane Myers
The most obscure player included on my preseason list, and included mostly because he's jacked and fast, is actually cooking right now. Myers went 3-6 today with 2 runs and an RBI. Jokes aside, he makes strong contact with the ball and his athleticism allows him to swipe bags and leg out tough doubles. Speaking of swiping, I might just have to swipe him on waivers tonight.
Jonathan Cannon
Cannon threw a fantastic game against the Angels. His changeup and sweeper were inducing lots of whiffs and he finished with five scoreless innings on the day. Notably, his fastball was touching 96 MPH throughout the contest, after averaging 93.6 on the pitch in 2024. One of his 5 Ks on the day was a 96 MPH fastball blown by Mike Trout, and coming from a pitcher who's known for his off-speed stuff, that's quite the feat. I'll take anyone that can get their balls past Mike Trout's face.
https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/video/jonathan-cannon-k-s-five-in-five-scoreless-innings
Keibert Ruiz
Keibert is actually hitting the ball hard in 2025, something he was incapable of doing a year ago, and it's paid off so far. He currently has a neat little OPS of 2.142 with two HRs thus far, and an 80th percentile Hard-Hit %. Sure, it's only a few games, but it's nice to see him hitting the ball with authority after posting a miserable 4th percentile Hard-Hit % in 2024. His bat speed is up slightly as well, going from the 3rd percentile to 14th percentile. The age 26 former top prospect may be a little stronger and ready to break out.
Miguel Amaya.
26 seems like a pretty consistent breakout age, so it's not too surprising the Amaya looks extremely comfortable behind the plate to begin the 2025 campaign. His Hard-Hit% and Sweet-Spot % are currently looking elite, and it's resulted in six RBIs through two games.
Pitchers For Tomorrow's Slate
If you're anything like me and looking to stream some pitchers tomorrow desperately in pursuit of the K or QS category, then look no further. But these pitchers aren't just streamers - they're strong candidates to find a home on a roster this year, maybe even yours. Adopt a streamer today.
Ryan Feltner
Even going back to last season, I had a little thing for Ryan Feltner, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I liked to watch him pitch despite underwhelming results, because he seemingly had good stuff. At times Feltner could reach back and dial up the fastball to 98 mph and had a total of 6 pitches. The run value on that fastball was solid, but for whatever reason, he threw his pretty awful slider way too often:
It's apparent that his 4-seam was pretty awesome, and his slider was pretty dog water. So why did he throw the slider 20.4% of the time? Surely the Rockies employ some kind of analytics department, right? Well, yeah, they do. Check out his pitch usage over the course of the season:
Well Golly Jee Willikers Batman, by the end of the season his 4-seam usage was up drastically, and his slider usage became his least-thrown pitch. So wait...did he finish the season strong? Uh, yeah. Over his final 15 starts of the season, Feltner had a 2.98 ERA with a .227 BA against. If Feltner sticks to his final pitch mix of 2024, or even improves, he's a candidate for a solid 2025 season.
Andre Pallante
Right away some things stand out here. Pallante throws pretty hard with good extension, and you'd immediately guess he's a K and Whiff kinda guy - or at least I would have. But what Pallante really excelled at in 2024 was limiting hard contact, with near MLB best Barrel and GB percentages.
Pallante spent time in the lab worked on his curveball in the 2023 offseason and it paid dividends, going from a .321 BA against in 2023 to a .157 BA against in 2024. I can only assume Pallente worked just as hard in the 2024 offseason, knowing his work ethic, and am hopeful that a pitcher who put up a respectable 3.78 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in 2024 enters the season with even better stuff. Reports are he's been hitting the weight room hard, so increased velocity could be on the table.
Palente's stuff has really solid Vertical movement - an extremely fat flastball and a curveball with nice break. I'd like to see even more vertical drop on the sinker this year.
Dick Fitts This man needs little introduction to the reddit community. Fitts had an awesome 1.74 ERA across four starts last season, and his velocity was up to 99 mph in Spring Training. The increased velocity helped him K batters in a way he was unable to do in 2024 with a paltry 5th percentile K rate. He looks really good and is an easy choice to both stream and hold in deeper leagues.
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