Congratulations to the Orioles for finding a new way to manipulate the collective bargaining agreement! SS Jackson Holliday will be called up today and retain eligibility for the bonus prizes set aside for players who break camp with the big club. Why? Who the hell knows!? Turns out the contract language has nothing to do with opening day. A player just has to spend 172 days in the majors. If the Orioles held Holliday down another month for super two reasons, he could still come up and win rookie of the year, earning that year of service time regardless of the organization’s efforts to own him for as long as possible. This way, they can have their cake and eat it later, maybe. If Holliday struggles, they can send him back down and recoup the season of service. If he’s good, he’ll be a front runner for rookie of the year and win them a draft pick and some pool money. Real feel-good story stuff. Holliday is slashing .333/.482/.595 with a 14.3 percent strikeout rate. These 11 days in the minors have clearly been essential for his development.
Red Sox SS David Hamilton is back in the majors thanks to Trevor Story’s bone-itis. Musical theater is not my jam, but I’ve liked this Hamilton for a long time, and although I’m reluctant to trumpet his arrival due to confirmation bias, he needs to be rostered in just about any format where steals matter. He swiped 70 bases in 2022 and 59 last season. He doesn’t have any steals this season, but he has already hit three home runs in seven games across two levels. The team says Romy Gonzalez will split time with Hamilton, but Hamilton will be the strong-side if that becomes a platoon, and I’m skeptical about Gonzalez’s ability to play a passable big-league shortstop.
Astros RHP Spencer Arrighetti gave up his career in the world of fine Italian dining to chase down his baseball dreams, and today he’ll take the mound for the vaunted Houston Astros. The walk rates of 7.56 BB/9 this year and 5.06 BB/9 last year suggest that we should probably forget about Arrighetti helping our ratios this year, but he’s in a win-rich environment and should generate some strikeouts. Plus, we’ve got to consider the Houston factor. They pulled some office worker from France named Jon-Pierre and got a solid major league starter out of him. Probably better off adding him now and asking questions later in most formats, given the state of elbows around the game today.
White Sox 2B Lenyn Sosa has shown flashes of quality plate discipline in the past, which must be why the club batted him third on Tuesday. Sosa was slashing .333/.448/.542 through six games in Triple-A and should be monitored even though he hit just .201 with a 2.9 percent walk rate in 52 major league games last season. With 23 home runs in 123 games across two levels in 2023, Sosa has the power to help us in deep formats when he’s in rhythm.
South Side is one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen, but nobody in that area was laughing during the rookie season of White Sox OF Oscar Colas, who slashed .216/.257/.314 in 75 games with the pale hose. He was off to a nice start in Triple-A, striking out just 12.5 percent of the time with a 9.5 percent walk rate through eight games. That walk rate is more in line with his career outcomes than the 4.6 percent he posted last year. Patience would go a long way to making Oscar less grouchy this time around.
Rockies RHP Victor Vodnik is not stock Russian operative from latest Bond movie, but he has infiltrated Colorado bullpen and might be taking over as we speak (preferably in fake-Russian whispers).
Nationals OF Jacob Young swiped three bases on Tuesday and faces little competition for reps in Washington, who is running like their new Fanatics almost-pants are on fire. Victor Robles pulled up lame rounding second base and faces an uncertain timeline and even fuzzier future in the general sense.
We don’t know yet who will step into Boston’s rotation for the injured Nick Pivetta, but freshly acquired RHP Richard Fitts is an option. He threw 4.1 shutout innings in his Triple-A debut and would make for an intriguing pickup in a Red Sox rotation that is getting great results by emphasizing their non-fastball offerings.
Nationals RHP Jackson Rutledge pitched well in his Triple-A debut and had a couple good major league starts to close the season in 2023. A 6’8” 250 lb first-round pick, Rutledge hasn’t enjoyed a smooth road to the majors, but he was good in Double-A last season and hasn’t really lost the feel since then despite some ugly numbers at Triple-A and during his cup of coffee last season. Might as well get him where you can fit him.
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