Today we have Smada back on MLB just in time to cover another Hayden Birdsong relief outing. Samuel Gomez on Triple-A covers some top pitching prospects and quad-A bats. Adam Kiel gets his first taste of the 2025 Daily Sheet covering Double-A. Grant Carver gets a surprising Double Dong at High-A. Then we finish up with Matt Thompson on Single-A with Gage Ziehl's pro debut and a couple players with some SB upside.

Major League Baseball

Covered by Smada

MLB was really highlighted by ace performances from Cole Ragans, Hunter Greene, Garrett Crochet and Michael King. While a pair of lighter hitting center fielders in Pete Crow-Armstrong and Jung Hoo Lee went Double Dong.

💣💣 Jung Hoo Lee, CF SF (MLB)

2-for-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, BB

Lee enjoyed his trip to the Big Apple as he hit all three of his seasonal home runs in this series, none of which would have donged in San Francisco. That being said, Lee was a bit unlucky in the home run department over his 37 games in 2024, so this stuff evens out a bit. It’s great to see him pulling the ball out and, with the caveat that the stat has certainly not stabilized yet, his Pull% is elevated in 2025 even compared to his time in the KBO. A 215 wRC+ through 61 PA puts him second behind Aaron Judge.

Hayden Birdsong, RHP SF (MLB)

2 IP, 3 K

Did he add a cutter? The slider metrics look like it’s two distinct pitches. Outside of a HBP to Aaron Judge, Birdsong just shut down the Yankees for a pair of innings on 20 pitches. Updated stats for the season: 9 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 9 K.

Ryan Mountcastle, 1B BAL (MLB)

2-for-4, HR, 2 R, RBI, K

Mountcastle needed 15 games to get his first HR of the year. He’s actually barreled 6 balls already and the xStats like his batted balls a lot more than his current triple slash does. If you liked before the season you should still like Mountcastle today. Nothing troubling in the profile.

Gunnar Henderson, SS BAL (MLB)

3-for-5, 3B, 2 R, K

Henderson has yet to do much since his return from the IL. In his 8 games he’s stolen 2 bases, scored 4 runs and has yet to register an RBI. Nothing too concerning this early and even with a 5 game AAA rehab assignment, there’s rust to be shaken off against big league pitching. Getting a couple of hard hit balls in this one will hopefully get him going.

Ernie Clement, 3B TOR (MLB)

4-for-5, 2 R, SB

Clement has been the starting third baseman about 75% of the time for the Blue Jays. The results with the bat have been poor, highlighted by the fact he more than doubled his season total in this game. Clement rates out elite defensively this season by OOA, so there’s more dimensionality to his game to keep him in the lineup. At some point though he’s going to have to hit with younger hitters looking for PA like Will Wagner, and in Triple-A, Addison Barger, Leo Jimenez (IL), and Orelvis Martinez (struggling).

Cole Ragans, LHP KC (MLB)

7.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R (1 ER), 10 K

I’ve been hesitant to buy in for too long. Ragans is an ace. I’ll be pushing him up in the next dynasty rank release. 

Hunter Greene, RHP KC (MLB)

7 IP, 2 H, BB, 8 K

Speaking of aces… Greene is quickly vaulting himself into the upper echelon SP discussion. He’s throwing the ball in the zone so much more and it’s allowing everything to play up. Just a massive improvement as you can see below.

Junior Caminero, 3B TB (MLB)

2-for-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, K

Back to back games with a home run, Caminero is officially heating up. The whiffs are down from his exposure to the bigs last year and so the K% dipping below 20% isn’t far off. The 21 year-old has an outside shot at 30 jacks in his first full season.

Joe Boyle, RHP TB (MLB)

5 IP, 2 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 7 K

Boyle got the spot start and is getting optioned back to AAA, but boy did he make an impression. Most important was limiting the free passes. Boyle had a 17% BB across his two AAA starts this year, essentially in-line with his career numbers. There is immense potential with his stuff and there will be very good starts like this one, but I’m still not sure over the course of a season if the results will be positive. Even with a sharp improvement to the BB% he’ll be walking a tightrope each time out. 

Matt Mervis, PH-DH MIA (MLB)

1-for-2, HR, R, 3 RBI, K

Mervis has 10 hits and 5 of them are home runs. He’s still running a 40% K and there’s really just not a ton of substance to the profile outside of strong-side platoon homers. When the inevitable homer drought comes, it’s going to look rough. 

Hayden Wesneski, RHP HOU (MLB)

6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 10 K, 3 HR allowed

Wesneski had the sweeper working, landing 11 strikes and getting 7 whiffs of that pitch alone which led to a career-high 10 K performance. On the flip side, he got hit incredibly hard. The three homers were no-doubter solo shots and he gave up six other hard-hit balls. It’s possible this is just who Wesneski is going to be, a 4.00ish ERA bad-fastball starter who turns in a host of solid starts.

Garrett Crochet, LHP BOS (MLB)

7.1 IP, H, ER, BB, 11 K

Crochet is averaging 6.5 IP/S while essentially replicating last season’s performance. He was a step below the Paul Skenes & Tarik Skubal tier in the last dynasty rankings but it’s likely he pushes himself up there soon.

Willson Contreras, 1B STL (MLB)

2-for-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI

It’s been an absolutely dismal start to the season so it’s great to see Willson get one on the board here. Basically every metric is looking horrific and it’s understandable to be concerned if you’re an owner. But as of now, there’s too much history to believe he’s all of a sudden done hitting the ball and hitting it hard. Now is a great time to float a buy-low offer.

Jordan Walker, RF STL (MLB)

2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, K

Walker's 2nd HR of the season was a no-doubt pulled liner off of the bullpen arm Carlos Hernandez. While many were hoping for a quick breakout a lot of the underlying metrics are looking similar year over year. The early slash line does look decent but it’s unsupported by contact, chase and hard hits. Incredibly, Walker is still just 22 years old and rebuilders/retoolers should be looking to acquire him. The potential is still there.

Matthew Liberatore, LHP STL (MLB)

6 IP, 3 H, BB, 7 K

Is this the year Liberatore breaks out? That’s now 3 straight games of at least 6 IP and this game produced his first walk of the season. The stuff isn’t playing all that different so this appears command driven. I’d be careful in the short term to buy-in too much, but if you’ve got him, you’ve got to be starting him.

Michael King, RHP SD (MLB)

9 IP, 2 H, BB, 8 K, CGSHO

The Padres let King go the distance for the complete game shutout on 110 pitches. After an Opening Day stinker, King has gotten himself back on track and remains a reliable high-end starter.

Dustin Harris, LF TEX (MLB)

1-for-3, HR, R, RBI

Harris got called up on Wednesday but didn’t receive his first start until Sunday and he made the most of it hitting his second big-league HR in just his 12 career PA. On another team maybe Harris gets more of a look, but they’re locked in at DH and have a handful of outfielders already, especially when healthy. He’s been an average bat at AAA the last couple of seasons and that’s not entirely inspiring, but if he ever got traded into a position where he started full time you could be looking at a 10 HR, 25 SB guy. Especially considering he doesn’t have strong side platoon splits.

💣💣 Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF CHC (MLB)

3-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, K

Early season batting lines do change quickly don’t they? PCA hit his first two home runs of the season in the same game and now has a 99 wRC+ on the year, up from 56 heading into the game. It’s likely he’ll continue to be a roller coaster ride, but the SB really lift the profile while he has his cold streaks. The aim at 15 HR and 30 SB remains on target.

Triple-A

Covered by Samuel Gomez

Jorbit Vivas, 2B NYY (Triple-A) 

4-for-7, 2B, R, 4 RBI, BB (Doubleheader)

This is my second time this year covering Vivas on the daily sheet. The hit tool has really come to play so far this year and his peripherals are backing up the performance. He’s cut his strikeout rate down precipitously and is spraying balls to all parts of the field. He’s absolutely destroying right-handed pitching and is making a case to see big league time this season. 

Sean Boyle, RHP NYY (Triple-A) 

5 IP, H, BB, 5 K

After two mediocre to bad starts, Boyle rebounded against Rochester in the second game of a doubleheader. He threw his high-70s sweeper more than any other pitch and was filling up the zone with the rest of his offerings, which include a sinker and a changeup.

Nabil Crismatt, RHP PHI (Triple-A) 

6 IP, H, 2 BB, 9 K

Crismatt’s infamous changeup was on display today and it was electric. He threw it 37% of the time, it had a whiff rate of 56%, and no one hit it above 90 mph. For the past few years, I’ve thought of it as one of the more underrated pitches to watch in professional baseball.

Brandon Waddell, LHP NYM (Triple-A) 

5 IP, H, 2 BB, 4 K

After being in the KBO for parts of the last three years, Waddell has thrown well in his first three starts in the minors. His cutter surprisingly got a lot of whiffs, but he’s not a guy you’d expect to rack up strikeouts. He hides the ball well and really knows how to pitch, which is something you’d expect from a guy with his experience.

Bubba Chandler, RHP PIT (Triple-A) 

4 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 6 K, HR

Chase Petty, RHP CIN (Triple-A) 

5 IP, 3 H, BB, 4 K

In a pitching duel between two top-100 prospects, both guys did not disappoint. Chandler was working his fastball north-south and dominated the Bats lineup with it. His only blemish was a 2-run home run given up on a 101 mph fastball, which were his first earned runs given up on the year. Petty wasn’t collecting the strikeouts quite like Chandler was, but he limited hard contact and threw strikes when he needed to. 

Coby Mayo, 3B BAL (Triple-A) 

2-for-2, HR, 2 R, RBI, 3 BB

Mayo hit two balls over 107 mph, including a 400+ foot bomb. He also walked three times, making it nine straight plate appearances that he’s reached base safely. He’s fully out of the early season rut he found himself in and is well on his way to returning to the bigs.  

Justin Wrobleski, LHP LAD (Triple-A) 

4 IP, H, 2 ER, 6 BB, 4 K, HR

Nick Frasso, RHP LAD (Triple-A) 

3 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, BB, K

The Dodgers pitching depth at both the major league level and upper minors have failed to come through so far in the midst of injury woes to their regular starters. Wrobleski and Frasso are two of the culprits. Wrobleski blew up in a big league start last week against Washington and really struggled to get into the zone in this one. Frasso raised his early season ERA to above 5 and doesn’t look like he has the same effective stuff that we’re accustomed to. He’s missing bats at a diminished rate and is allowing far too many baserunners.

Chris Flexen, RHP CHI (Triple-A) 

6 IP, 3 H, 4 K

Who doesn’t love Chris Flexen? He returned from the KBO in 2021 and has now found himself on five different teams since 2023. He avoided getting hurt by some loud contact in this outing, but he’s only given up one run in 16.1 innings this year and I’d love to see him get another go in the majors.

A.J. Vukovich, RF ARI (Triple-A) 

2-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 R, RBI, BB, K

Jordan Lawlar, 2B ARI (Triple-A) 

2-for-5, HR, R, RBI, 2 K

Ildemaro Vargas, 3B ARI (Triple-A) 

2-for-4, R, 2 RBI, BB

Vukovich got his first homer of the year and scorched a double off Shaun Anderson. He has solid power potential and surprisingly plays good defense, so if he can keep the strikeouts down, he could be an asset in Arizona. Lawlar got himself another homer and continues to strike out, while Vargas is showing that he should probably be in the big leagues instead of Garrett Hampson.

Billy Corcoran, RHP ARI (Triple-A) 

5 IP, 4 H, BB, 6 K

Corcoran threw a fastball and a changeup, but he primarily opted for the curveball. At 6-8, you’d expect it to be more vertical, but it comes from a slower slot and gets a lot of horizontal break. Salt Lake hitters swung at it often, but struggled to get the barrel to it. After giving up twelve earned runs in the previous two starts, it was good to see Corcoran find some success.

👟 Drew Avans, CF ATH (Triple-A) 

4-for-6, HR, 5 R, 2 RBI, K, 2 SB

Brett Harris, 3B ATH (Triple-A) 

3-for-6, HR, 2B, 3 R, 3 RBI, K, SB

Avans has been a PCL mainstay since 2021 and has yet to break through to the big leagues. He’s an undersized, scrappy player but he already has four homers, half of what he hit in 133 games last year. Harris has been hot to open the year and I see him as a threat to see time in the big leagues soon, especially considering the A’s lack of production from their depth infielders.

Luis Campusano, DH SDP (Triple-A) 

3-for-5, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 K

Campusano is continuing to flash the offensive upside everyone thought he had just a few years ago. He has twelve hits in his last six games, but the Padres don’t have much of a spot for him on the big league team.

Colson Montgomery, SS CWS (Triple-A) 

2-for-4, HR, R, RBI, 2 K

Montgomery jumped on a first-pitch slider in the eight and hit it into the bleachers, but it’s a small bright spot in a year of struggles. It’s only his second extra base hit of the year and the two strikeouts don’t bode well for the notion that he’s turning a corner.

Owen White, RHP CWS (Triple-A) 

5 IP, 2 H, 4 BB, 2 K

A number of pitchers have popped up as potential gems for the White Sox early this season and White could be another. His walks have been elevated, but he’s only given up three earned runs in his first 15.1 innings. The Yankees DFA’d him in early February and I think the White Sox got themselves a junk thrower with a bit more upside than most teams thought.

Darren McCaughan, RHP MIN (Triple-A) 

4 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 K

McCaughan was DFA’d by the Twins and rejected an outright assignment to the minors before re-signing with the Twins on a minor league deal and returning to St. Paul. He had a 5.1 inning stretch in the majors, where he threw to a 1.69 ERA as a long-reliever. He has a long, loose arm action that creates deception, which counteracts his lack of velocity and pure stuff. He did well on his short stint in the majors and continued that in this start. 

Samad Taylor, CF SEA (Triple-A) 

3-for-5, 2 2B, R, RBI, SB

I thought Taylor might get a shot in Seattle after Robles went down, but the Mariners went with the hot hand in Canzone instead. He hit two doubles hard off a good pitcher in Whisenhunt and that’s after two home runs, including a walk-off, in the previous game.

Double-A

Covered by Adam Kiel

💣💣 Victor Berioto, 1B SFG (Double-A)

3-for-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI