Orioles RHP Trey Gibson (23) will reportedly make his major league debut today in New York against the Yankees. Scary way to join the league. Gibson hasn’t been especially good in Triple-A as evidenced most apparently in his 1.62 WHIP across 24.2 innings, so the odds are not in his favor, but he will have an element of the unknown along with an impressive curveball. Crazier things have happened than a 6’5” rookie righty tiptoeing through the Bronx with a quality start.
Mets OF AJ Ewing (21, AAA) has yet to strike out through four Triple-A games, slashing .615/.688/.846 with three stolen bases after posting a 1.053 OPS with 12 stolen bases in 18 Double-A games. I’ve been on the high side of Ewing’s rankings in the echo chamber for a long time, but even I’m surprised by this lightning strike of a spring. Luis Robert Jr. is injured, so Carson Benge is covering centerfield for now. He has a 44 wRC+ through 101 plate appearances but has been much better of late: a 99 wRC+ over his last eight games. Brett Baty is playing right field, but he’s been surprisingly bad after what looked like a second-half breakout in 2025. Could be he’s struggling a bit with his new utility role. I appreciate that he’s eligible at 1B, 2B, 3B and OF in Fantrax leagues, but I hope he gets a week or so at the same spot to see if that helps at all. Regardless, the timeline has changed on Ewing. New York is a last-place team at 11-and-21, and Ewing is a sparkplug they could use.
Yankees SS George Lombard Jr. (20, AAA) earned a promotion by mastering a level (AA) that had flummoxed him in 2025. He slashed .312/.400/.571 with four homers and four steals in 20 games to get the bump and has kept it going with a .417 OBP through three Triple-A games. I wouldn’t have guessed this in the preseason, but he’s got an outside chance to be New York’s everyday shortstop in the second half.
As I sit here drinking my coffee, I’m kind of stunned at the run Keurig went on over the last decade. I mean, it produces one cup of coffee squeezed through a system of plastic tubes that absolutely cannot be cleaned in any real way. And just as people have been hesitant to move on from their investment in nasty-cup Keurigs and switch back to the pour-over preparations of our ancestors, Colorado seems hesitant to crack open their own Carrigg. Rockies SS Ezequeil Tovar is slashing .197/.248/.291 in 33 games as he continues his downward trend of production as a major leaguer. Trouble is he’s signed through 2030, so even though SS Cole Carrigg (23) is simmering in Triple-A, slashing .348/.407/.491 with ten extra base hits and 18 stolen bases in 29 games, his path to playing time is cloudy. Colorado has dug up a handful of potential regulars in Edouard Julien, Troy Johnston, TJ Rumfield and Tyler Freeman, pushing guys like Brendan Doyle and Jordan Beck to the bench some days, so it might be a while before we can plug Carrigg into our daily routines.
Mariners LHP Kade Anderson (22, AA) hasn’t experienced so much as a hiccup in his professional career. Through five starts covering 24.1 innings, he’s allowed just one run and 13 hits. His ERA is at 0.37 with a WHIP of 0.699. He’s got 38 strikeouts against four walks. Nothing much left to do at the Double-A level.
I’d recommend taking a look around your leagues to see if Padres C Ethan Salas (19, AA) got dropped somewhere along the way. He missed all but ten games in 2025 with a lower back fracture. Ouch. It’s also called a stress reaction in the medical community, where words can apparently mean whatever. If I get cut off in traffic, I might have a stress reaction. And my back hurts a little today. Guess I might have to get some x-rays. Salas seems to be fully recovered from the stress, slashing .319/.390/.565 with four home runs and five stolen bases in 20 Double-A games. It’s his best stretch as a professional. He’s on the wire in one of my dynasty leagues that runs 900 total players deep. He might be available in one of yours.
Another talented lefty power bat on the comeback trail, Rays 1B Xavier Isaac (22, AA) has struck out in 40.5 percent of his plate appearances through 19 games but has somehow managed a 167 wRC+ anyway thanks to six home runs and a 25.3 percent walk rate. Seems like he’s only swinging when he’s absolutely locked on to a pitch he can crush. That’s fine for now. I’m just glad to see him back in action after brain surgery to remove a tumor ended his 2025 season and threatened his life.
Thanks for reading!
Snelling or Kade Anderson? Who is the better prospect?
what say you Itch ? paddack bombed again, when are we seeing snelling ???
Baffling to me.
Next week? Right? How many more innings are they willing to let him throw down there? Can’t be more that a dozen, right? When negative 20 was perhaps the right answer?
Braxton Garrett. Bank on it.
so dumb. Watch the Marlins fall out of contention, trade Alcantara, then promote Snelling and miss the playoffs by a couple games.
Paddack? Really MIA?
Ouch. Acura on IL10. Moved Trout to Right and Merrill to CF. Would you cut Stowers to pick up Soler, Friedl or Bleday? Thanks so much!!
Yeah, that stings. I’d hold Stowers for now but I do like Soler a lot and think this is sustainable.
Thank you!
Think Anderson jumps to MLB next promo, or AAA bound first? Thanks!
The only way he gets promoted is if one of the M’s starting pitchers gets injured *cough, Luis Castillo* as Bryce Miller should be back soon.
I wonder if, when Miller comes back, they move Hancock to the pen if Brash is still out while fast-tracking Kade in June
Hancock’s been too good, I think. They’ve gotta be super happy w that and wanna see it continue.
True enough, but Miller was bad last year, and they’re also pot committed to Anderson’s future in a way that sort of supersedes those other two, ya know?
I’m also curious about this. I thought I read once (maybe from Itch?) that Seattle tends to skip AAA entirely for top pitching prospects so they avoid the PCL. Not that it would move up the timeline, necessarily, but could be a wrinkle?
They do indeed. And I agree it’s a wrinkle that shaves a few weeks in the promotion prediction game bc it looks like 2-4 starts on the timeline that probably don’t exist in reality.
I like where your head’s at, Duda.
Shallow 10 team keeper with only 4 bench spots. No minors spots. Is Jesus Made the kind of generational prospect that should be clogging a bench spot all year? Do you see him making The Show this season or is it too premature? I’m in 1st place and trying to win this season FWIW.
I think so. Do people trade for keepers?
Usually approaching the trade deadline, managers will start to sell one-year rentals for cheap keepers.
I would love to hear your thoughts on Brady House. He was once a fairly highly ranked prospect. The Nats seem committed to him at third. What do you see his floor and his ceiling to be?
He’s already having a much better season than he did last year, and it’s not even warm yet there where the ball flies. Floor is a guy who doesn’t make enough contact to be a regular, but the ceiling is a middle-order power bat good for something like 25 bombs and 160+RBI
Is Kristian Campbell just “done”? He’s no longer a prospect technically, so he’s just become a “roster clogger” for my team. Plus, the fact he doesn’t play 2B anymore or steal bases, takes away a lot of his value imo. It seems the only “good” thing going for him is the long term contract he’s locked into. Ugh
Yeah it’s bleak.
I have Henry Davis at C and no 2B. I traded Carrigg and Chad Patrick for Yainer Diaz and Demetrio Crisantes. I thought Carrigg was in the outfield. Alas Salas is gone.
Yeah they had him in the outfield for a while. Also catcher. Quite a journey for him.
Great stuff itch! 12 team dynasty 5×5
1.Jonah Tong or Trey Gibson
2. Joshua Baez AJ Ewing Luis Lara Emmanuel Rodriguez who do you think gets called first and who has the greatest impact? Thank you!!
Thanks!
Anyone jumping out to you as having a Griffin type of break out so far?
That’s a pretty high bar. I’ll go with no so far, although Franklin Arias has juiced his stock quite a bit.
In last place in keeper league so i’m solidly stashing. Been offered Eldridge for Keaschall or Lodolo. Thoughts on his value coming back? My gut says to hang on to Keaschall
I prefer Eldridge to Keaschall but think you should trust your gut.
AJ EWING LFG
What do you think about Franklin Arias? He has been on quite a run.
Yeah he looks awesome.