Yankees OF Jasson Dominguez was slashing .326/.415/.478 with three home runs and eight stolen bases through 24 Triple-A games when the Bombers recalled him to replace the injured Giancarlo Stanton. This marks the fourth straight season Dominguez has spent time with the major league club, and he’s still just 23 years old. His strikeout rate was all the way down to 15.1 percent alongside a 12.3 percent walk rate. Maybe it won’t ever happen for the Martian, but this feels like a good opportunity for him to break out.
Yankees RHP Elmer Rodriguez (22) will make his major league debut today against the Rangers and could stick around if he pitches well. Luis Gil doesn’t look quite right, and Carlos Rodon is still on a rehab plan. Rodriguez posted a 2.58 ERA in 150 innings spread across three levels last season and has a 1.27 ERA through 21.1 innings at Triple-A this year. He commands a five-pitch mix all over the strike zone and looks poised to succeed early like a lot of young Yankee pitchers.
Guardians 2B Travis Bazzana made his Cleveland debut on Tuesday and drew two walks, one of them intentional. That can’t be common: an intentional walk in a guy’s first game. Anywho, now that they’ve folded Brito back into their minor league org chart and broken the peel on Bazzana, it should be smooth sailing from here in terms of playing time. I suppose he could struggle his way back to Triple-A, but I’d give that pretty long odds. Gonna be a pricey week for the faab folks.
Over his last 13 games, Mariners OF Brennen Davis (26, AAA) is slashing .333/.439/.689 with four home runs, eight strikeouts and eight walks. He’s a good example of why I don’t like labeling guys as 4A players. Not a big label guy in general. So woke, I know. So cancel me by not giving me an Emmy a la Bill Maher, that super-cancelled millionaire. Back in the land of actual hardships, Brennen Davis has battled injuries throughout his baseball journey, or else he likely would’ve made his name known in casual circles a long time ago. He’s not that rare in the sense that some unforeseeable hurdle waylaid his ascent to the pinnacle of the baseball world and brought him face to face with the sort of career near-death-experience we all face someday. There’s benefit to facing this foe early in life, and I think Davis is about to reap that reward.
A fourth-round pick out of Bucknell in 2024, Blue Jays 3B Sean Keys (22, AA) struggled to make consistent contact against High-A pitching in 2025, slashing .217/.365/.408 with 19 home runs and eight stolen bases. The line shows that the patience and power still played despite the swing-and-miss. Keys looked like a more complete hitter throughout his baseball journey, regularly standing out across short stretches in wooden bat leagues against tougher arms than Bucknell sees on a weekly basis, and it’s that summer-league version of Keys that’s making music in 2026. He’s up to nine home runs in just 18 games, slashing .333/.439/.768 despite striking out 28 percent of the time. A left-handed hitter at 6’1” 232 pounds, he may not tantalize the eyes but fits the profile of a player-type that Toronto has excelled at identifying and developing.
White Sox 2B Caleb Bonemer (20, A+) hit three home runs on Tuesday night: his eighth, ninth and tenth of the season. Okay. I might have to sit here for a minute. No, no, I’m fine. Go ahead without me. Just have to tuck this Caleb under my belt real quick. Bonemer is slashing .292/.406/.772 despite striking out 28.1 percent of the time, quite a jump from the 21.2% he posted in 107 games last season. He also hit 12 home runs in those 107 games and has ten already in 21 games this year, so that’s a contact trade-off I’d be happy to make if I were running the White Sox.
Braves OF Eric Hartman (19, A+) is enjoying a similar power breakout, smashing eight home runs in 20 games with a 27 percent strikeout rate. The 611th selection in the 2024 draft, he’s slashing .300/.371/.675 with eight steals alongside those eight bombs. Some people really broke the bank to get him. I don’t have him in any leagues. Screw you guys; I’m going home.
Thanks for reading!
Thanks Itch!
Wow! I didn’t realize Davis never made it to the MLB? Hope he does soon.
So is Bonemer playing at 2B on a regular basis?
When do you think we’ll see Logan Henderson move to the rotation? He’s looking good at AAA.
I’m bidding $10 for Bazzana purely on principle.
Lots of buzz on Seth Hernandez, I know he’s only 19, but if he keeps pitching like he is, do you see him getting the call in August (guess it will also depend on where the Pirates are standings-wise).