Mid-Week Musings: Prospecting Gold

Sometimes a weekly waiver wire piece just doesn't feel like it covers everything it needs to. In the world of baseball, things change rather quickly. And with a bunch of prospects slated to be called up in the immediate future, I figured I shouldn't be lax on getting info out there. Last year, we got Schwelly super early and reaped the benefits. Let's see who we can get this time. Also note I've sprinkled some guys that will most likely be on the waiver wire piece. Chase Dollander (SP, COL) Dollander may not have gotten the results he wanted in his MLB debut - a 7.20 ERA and 1.60 WHIP are pretty awful - but boy were there some positive takeaways. His K% and BB% percentiles were both solid and his fastball velocity sits near the 99th percentile. His xBA came in a decent .233 and his GB% a decent 58th percentile. Beyond statcast, his fangraphs projections have him at a 118 location + and a 118+ pitching +, both excellent projections. His stuff+ sits at an average 99, but frankly, we know he has good stuff. Yes, he pitches in COL, but that shouldn't stop you from taking a gamble on a pitcher with this much potential.

His 118 Location+ and Pitching+ are quite incredible.

His Cutter and Curveball were both strong pitches. Hopefully he cuts down on the 4-seam in his second outing. Much like Schwellenbach last year, he'll need to tweak his pitch mix.

Zebby Matthews (SP, MIN, Prospect) Everything in my gut and brain is telling me Zebby will be the best pitching callup this year, 2025's Schwellenbach, if you will. He's pitched tremendously at AAA and with the velocity on his 4-seam sitting around 97 MPH, his stuff is straight up overwhelming hitters in the minors. He's basically just mowing down guys and in the process, making them look absolutely helpless. They're striking out left and right, and when they do make contact, it's weak and futile. Zebby should be the first call up in case of injury or poor performance, over David Festa. Through 10 innings of AAA work, Zebby has a 1.80 ERA and 13 Ks to 1 BB. Wow.

Thomas Saggese (2B, 3B?, STL) I had no idea Saggese was already playing at the MLB level, and the results have been pleasantly surprising, albeit through a small sample size. The Cards #5 prospect has shown an excellent eye at the plate along with strong contact skills, and probably deserves an extended look as the starting 2B. There's not much else to say - he looks like an excellent power hitter and is continuing right where he left off in the fall league, where he hit .391 with a 1.18 OPS. He's also filling in for Arenado at 3B today, so he may have 3B eligibility in the near future. Through 11 ABs, Saggese has a .455 BA and 1.144 OPS. The former minor league batting champion looks like a real stud.

Excellent at squaring up and making contact, rarely Ks, has excellent exit velocity. A beautiful statcast that lines up with his profile.

Nick Kurtz (1B, OAK, Prospect) Shout-out to prospectsavant.com for the pretty bars and clean UI. If any of you are like me and play MLB The Show, you knew about Nick Kurtz from his Spring Breakout Card in Diamond Dynasty. The card hit so many ridiculous dingers that it became a bit of a meme in the community. Well, it turns out the card is an accurate reflection of real-life. Kurts is destroying baseballs and AAA pitchers' hopes and dreams to the tune of now 6 HRs through 10 games. Kurtz is a 6'5 masher of baseballs and will most likely be bringing his talents to the A's very, very soon. Post Kristisan Campbell, this is the clear and obvious next big prospect for fantasy purposes. Also note, that last year I said this about Jordan Beck, who was my #2 prospect behind Jace Jung, and now finds himself demoted back to AAA for the Rockies. Whoops.

2025 stats don't seem to update every day. He now has 6 HRs.

Landen Roupp (SP, SF) The Giants already had one fantastic finesse pitcher in Logan Webb. Now they have another one? Roupp may have only a decent ERA and underwhelming WHIP, but don't let that fool you. After a rough first outing where he gave up 3 runs through 4 innings ( 8 Ks though!), he bounced back against the Reds and pitched 6 innings of 1 run baseball. As a Nick Lodolo owner, I had the pleasure of watching a nice pitchers' duel between finesse guys and came out of it really wanting Roupp on my squad. Unfortunately, my arch-nemesis picked him up. I have 0 FAAB left after a manic spending spree to begin the year. Oh well, maybe you can grab him instead.

Roupp's stuff has astronomical break.

Travis Bazzana (2B, CLE, Prospect)

Bazzana is a kid who claims to be obssessed with baseball - he outwardly states it's all he ever thinks about it. "It's all I ever think about," he says. I believe him, and more importantly, in his ability to be an excellent baseball player. Through 16 ABs at AA, Bazzana is hitting a blistering .438 with a 1.214 OPS and 2 SBs. Bazzana is a five-tool maniac who really should be an instant add when he gets called up, but the question is when will that happen? Bazzana should find himself at AAA in May, and if all goes well, in the majors by July/August. However, Gabriel Arias has cooled down signficantly and is playing pretty poor baseball, both offensively and defensively. It's entirely possible Bazzana jumps to the MLB without any AAA experience. Either way, keep an eye on Bazzana, he could be a league winner.

Marcelo Mayer (SS/2B, BOS, Prospect) Marcelo Mayer is good at baseball, and so is Kristian Campbell. With Story playing decent ball at SS and Campbell playing excellent ball at 2B, where exactly does Mayer fit in? Well, the Red Sox seemingly figured that out - they've begun to experiement with Campbell at CF and moving Duran to RF or LF (which is smart, Duran is a really bad CF). The one hangup with Mayer right now is that he isn't exactly setting the world on fire at AAA - a .267 BA and .779 OPS aren't exactly eye-popping for a player in his first AAA stint. I think Mayer is a solid upside add, but wouldn't expect him to save your team just yet. Mayer hasn't had an OPS over .900 since his 2022 season at A ball.

Jace Jung (3B/2B, DET, Prospect) The Yung Jung may have not have had a great stint at the MLB level in 2024, but a .241 BA and .666 OPS isn't exactly terrible either. He was decent for an age 23 prospect and at age 24, he's hitting a whopping .313 for a 1.120 OPS at AAA. With Colt Keith taking several steps back on offense, and playing miserably bad defense, Jung may get his opportunity at 2B sooner rather than later. His older brother Josh is playing fantastic baseball, and there's no reason Jace can't be just as good.

Chase Meidroth (2B/3b/SS, CWS, Prospect) While the other prospects are pretty well-known to the fantasy community, or at least the reddit fantasy community, Meidroth seems to be flying under the radar despite being arguably the strongest prospect with the highest chance of a promotion in the near future. Meidroth has dominated at every level of the minors and currently has a .313 BA with a 1.120 OPS at AAA. He's destroying the ball and poised to replace Jacob Amaya literally any day now.

Absolutely insane statcast.

Justin Crawford (OF, PHI, Prospect) Carl Crawford's boy is inching ever closer to his MLB debut, and I think we're all pretty excited to see if he can bring that same electricty to the Phillies that his father brought to the Rays. Crawford is insanely fast and a threat to steal whenever he reaches base, and makes excellent contact with the ball with a surprising amount of power. His Hard-Hit% at AAA comes in at the 82nd percentile and he virtually never whiffs or Ks. He's currently hitting .325 with a .782 OPS and knocking at the door with Brandon Marsh struggling to get anything going at the plate.

Christian Franklin ( OF, CHC, Prospect) Franklin is a prospect that flies pretty far under the radar. He's 25 and the #15 prospect in the Cubs organization, and someone the casual fan will never hear about. But looking at his statcast metrics and production, that may change in the near future. Franklin is currently hitting .325 with a .782 OPS and 4 SBs at AAA. The fun part is his statcast suggest he's getting a bit unlucky, with a 96th percentile xwOBA of .465 suggesting he should be on base at a much higher clip. Franklin's beautiful metrics may just have him promoted to the Cubs if Pete Crow-Armstrong continues to be a liability on offense, or in the event of an outfield injury. I do doubt Crow-Armstrong gets demoted, but frankly, he looks completely lost at the plate.

Brady House (3B, WSH, Prospect) Dominating AAA at nearly age 22, House is an extremely advanced prospect that may very well see the MLB in 2025. With strong power metrics on statcast and a .367 BA and 1.024 OPS, House may have little left to prove in the minors. With Paul Dejong and Amed Rosario the players blocking him at 3B, he's hardly being blocked at all. Expect House sooner rather than later.

Cade Horton The Cubs' #1 pitching prospect's callup is looming on the horizon and everyone will be scrambling to add him once he arrives. He's only pitched 3.1 innings to begin the season, with 6 Ks and 4 BBs. Yeah, talk about wild. There's not much to say about Horton, other than he's filthy and should be added when the time comes.

I've decided I will continue to look through prospects throughout the week and post more content in regards to callups with fantasy impact. It takes a while to sift through every potential call up so I'm taking a break. For every name on this list today, there's about 20 names that didn't make it. I'll try to wade into the more obscure guys that are performing well and have a clear path to the majors. Also: Eury Perez is may begin rehab games by the end of April. Ryan Weathers may begin rehab games in the near future, and be back at the beginning of May. Noelvi Marté is back in the majors.