1. Giants 1B Bryce Eldridge (21, AAA)
Patience has been key to Eldridge’s approach so far this year. He’s been on base 31 times in 63 plate appearances, good for a .492 OBP. Over his last three games, he got on base ten times in 15 plate appearances and hit his first home run of the season. San Francisco is playing utility man Casey Schmitt at first base, and he’s not making many friends over there. Doesn’t make much sense to me. “Play your f*cking prospect!” That’s what Matt Chapman really meant to say that day.
2. Diamondbacks OF Ryan Waldschmidt (23, AAA)
Didn’t come screaming out of the gate but quickly course-corrected, slashing .367/.457/.633 over his last seven games. I think Jordan Lawlar could’ve kept him blocked until summer, but with Lawlar on the training table, it shouldn’t be much longer before Waldschmidt replaces Jorge Barrosa in left field.
3. Twins SS Kaelen Culpepper (23, AAA)
Slashing .294/.368/.490 with three home runs, one steal and ten strikeouts (17.5%) against five walks (8.8%), Culpepper should soon be contributing to a lively young Twins team that finds itself playing .500 baseball through 14 games. With Royce Lewis headed to the injured list, Minnesota could slide Brooks Lee over to third and give Culpepper the green light at shortstop as early as this week.
4. Tigers OF Max Clark (21, AAA)
Wenceel Perez got the first chance in the wake of Parker Meadows’ injury, and Perez is a legitimate big league ball player (103 wRC+ in 2025), so Clark might still have to wait a little while. The Tigers are off to a slow start though. They just got swept in a four-game series with Minnesota. Might have to get serious pretty soon.
5. Mariners SS Colt Emerson (20, AAA)
Weird start to the season for Emerson, who typically flashes plus plate skills but currently has 14 strikeouts (30.4%) against just one walk. Makes sense that he’s pressing a little bit, subconsciously trying to earn that $95 million and force a promotion each time he steps to the plate. He’s still hitting .302 and slugging .465 despite the strikeout problems, which is a pretty good sign for how things will go when Emerson rediscovers the kind of self-reliance that makes him such a tough out. He doesn’t turn 21 until July 20th, and JP Crawford is back in the lineup, so perhaps Seattle will take it slowly with this kid.
6. Blue Jays RHP Trey Yesavage (22, A)
Got run early from his latest Low-A rehab start, allowing four runs on four hits in 2.2 innings, but that’s just a hiccup for a guy who already proved himself equal to even the biggest challenges this league can provide.
7. White Sox LHP Noah Schultz (22, AAA)
He’s listed at 6’10” 240 pounds, so there might be some size-related incentives to get Schultz up to the majors while he’s healthy. Easier to keep him healthy on a big league regimen, I suspect, with big league hotels and whatnot. Schultz has had impeccable command this season, allowing just two walks and four hits in 14 innings across three starts, good for a 0.43 WHIP and 1.29 ERA alongside 19 strikeouts. Lotta factors in play here as Chicago plays the long game.
8. Rockies 1B/OF Charlie Condon (22, AAA)
Slashing .286/.405/.571 with three homers and a steal through nine games, striking out a manageable 23.8 percent of the time. Another couple healthy weeks of this should be enough to force the issue even though the Rockies have mini-blocked him with the early successes of TJ Rumfield and Troy Johnston. It’s a good problem to have.
9. Cardinals OF Joshua Baez (22, AAA)
Slow start to the season for Baez. He struck out four times on Friday night but also popped his first home run of the season. He gets this spot partly because Nathan Church looks overmatched at the plate, and Lars Nootbar isn’t going to be ready to return for quite some time. He had surgeries on both feet to address Haglund’s deformities in his heels. Ouch. Something’s going on with my right heel these days, too, Lars. Not fun. Thomas Saggese is mixing into the left field picture right now, but that’s probably not a long term solution, whereas Baez absolutely could be.
10. Marlins LHP Robby Snelling (22, AAA)
Wild outing against Baltimore’s Triple-A squad last time out: 12 K, 4 BB, 2 H, 0 ER allowed. Dominant stuff. Another turn or two like this and he’ll be packing his swimsuits for Miami.
Thanks for reading!
