| | | | Friday, June 20, 2025 | | Prospect development isn't linear. | | We usually say that about guys who struggle before figuring it out, like Nick Kurtz seems to be in the process of doing. But it works the other way, too – sometimes prospects look like they're taking the league by storm before the adjustments catch up to them. But it's just as true when that happens, too. | | Kristian Campbell is set to be optioned to Triple-A Friday, and it's hard to argue against that decision. Campbell got off to a strong start, but has been hitting .159/.243/.222 since May 1, an untenable mark for a Red Sox team that (Rafael Devers trade aside) still has designs on a playoff run. | | Just like Campbell's excellent first month didn't mean he was immediately a superstar forever, neither do his struggles and demotion mean he won't be a star in the future. I'll still bet on Campbell figuring it out in the long run and will hope it's not a lengthy stay in the minors. Let him get some reps with lower stakes, including at first base, which is the most obvious spot for him to play if and when he gets back. | | We haven't heard the last of Campbell this season, and I'm going to try to stash him where I can. Here's what else you need to know about from Wednesday's action around MLB: | | | | Friday's waiver-wire targets | | Jacob Lopez, SP, Athletics (6%) – With nine strikeouts in consecutive games, it's time to start taking Lopez more seriously. He struck out nine in six shutout innings last week against the Royals and then came back Thursday against the Astros with nine more in six innings while allowing one run on four hits and three walks. Lopez led with his changeup, and it was awesome in this one, generating 11 whiffs on 22 swings, a massive rate. But it wasn't just the changeup he had working in this one, as he added five whiffs with his slider and four with the four-seamer, and while his cutter only generated one swinging strike, he allowed just one batted ball with an average exit velocity of 78.3 mph with hit, to go along with four harmless fouls. That's a pretty awesome showing, and Lopez is now up to 32 strikeouts to just seven walks in 20.1 innings of work in the month of June. Lopez sits in the low-90s with his heater, so skepticism is reasonable, but the results lately have been good enough that I think it's worth adding him just in case this is for real. | | Edward Cabrera, SP, Marlins (30%) –The Marlins continue to have a quick hook with Cabrera, who threw just 82 pitches despite getting through 6.1 innings of work Thursday. I'd like to see them give him a bit more leash here, but the results have been good enough that I can't complain too much. He limited the Phillies to just one run on two hits, with five strikeouts and three walks Thursday, and while the strikeouts aren't great, they came with an 86 mph average exit velocity on 14 balls in play, which helps make up for it. Cabrera has always been capable of missing bats (14 whiffs Thursday), but since emphasizing his sinker at the beginning of May, he has a 2.23 ERA with 43 strikeouts and 15 walks in 40.1 innings of work. He has only gone six innings once in eight starts in that span, but at some point, the Marlins have to let him sink or swim on his own, right? | | Charlie Morton, SP, Orioles (29%) – It looked like Morton's career might be done when he allowed 20 walks and a 9.26 ERA in his first 23.1 innings to open the season, but he has rather miraculously turned things around since. In 10 appearances (six starts) since the start of May, Morton has walked just 11 in 40.1 innings of work, with 48 strikeouts and a 3.13 ERA in that span. Given how bad Morton was in April – and how generally mediocre he has been since 2023 – it makes sense to be hesitant to buy in. But there haven't been a ton of must-add pitchers on waivers lately, so it could be worth taking a flier on Morton for upcoming starts against a mediocre Rangers lineup over the next two weeks. | | Michael McGreevy, SP, Cardinals (13%) – McGreevy has made three starts at the MLB level for the Cardinals this season, and he's generally been solid. Pitching against the White Sox Thursday, he allowed just one run over five innings of work, and he is now down to a 2.70 ERA with 15 strikeouts and only two walks in 16.2 innings overall on the season. And that's with a 2.51 ERA and 9.4 K/9 in 61 innings at Triple-A for the season, too. McGreevy doesn't exactly have huge swing-and-miss stuff, but he has held his own in the majors and Triple-A at this point, and it sounds like he has a chance to stick around to give everyone else in the rotation an extra day off. That next start looks like it would likely come against the Cubs , which makes him hard to recommend as a streamer. But if he does well in that one and forces the Cardinals to keep him around, McGreevy has shown he can be a pretty useful option against big-league lineups. | | Didier Fuentes, SP, Braves (3%) – If you haven't heard the name before, don't worry about it. Fuentes hadn't pitched above A-ball before this season, and even now has just six starts at Double-A and Triple-A, including just one at the highest level of the minors. He's the latest Braves pitching prospect to speed through the minors en route to his expected major-league debut Friday against the Marlins, and while I don't think he's the next Spencer Schwellenbach or anything, he's a name worth watching as he gets set to make his debut. He just turned 20 the other day, and while his numbers in the minors aren't dominant (4.81 ERA in nine starts this season), the stuff looks a lot better than that and has led to a 29% strikeout rate, which is even more impressive given his age. And Fuentes averaged 95.7 mph with his four-seamer in his lone start at Triple-A – preseason reports indicated he was sitting more around 92-94 last season, so that seems notable. I don't expect Fuentes to dominate, and he might only be up for one start. But the strikeout upside and velocity jump at least merit a close look when he makes his start. | | | | Thursday's standouts | | Spencer Strider, Braves vs. NYM: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K – The thing about a pitcher like Strider is, it doesn't matter how long he struggles for; it will only take a couple of starts to convince me he's back. And, with 20 strikeouts over his past two starts, I'm pretty much convinced that he's back. Strider's velocity was up to 96 mph on average with his four-seamer, and he generated 14 swinging strikes with the slider on Thursday against the Mets , which is about what we would have expected from him prior to his elbow surgery. But you know what might be the most sure sign that Strider is back? He has thrown just seven combined curveballs and changeups over the past two starts. He was throwing a lot more than that in his first four starts of the season as he searched for a way to make up for what his four-seamer and slider were missing. Since then, he has looked more or less exactly like his pre-injury self, when he never needed to bother much with his third and fourth pitches. This is pretty much what peak Strider looks like, and I'm certainly starting him in all formats moving forward. | | Cristopher Sanchez , Phillies @MIA: 8 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K – I'm always looking at that walks category for Sanchez before anything. In his first eight starts after a forearm scare at the end of April, Sanchez's control was kind of shaky, as he walked 20 in 46 innings of work. He was never bad in that stretch, but he wasn't quite as sharp as his breakout in either 2024 or early 2025 suggested. Well, he has now gone two straight without issuing a walk, with at least seven innings in both. On the whole, Sanchez is down to a 2.87 ERA and 3.13 FIP for the season, and with the walks disappearing over the past two starts, I think we can pretty safely treat him like an ace moving forward. | | Gavin Williams, Guardians @SF: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K – Williams has been frustrating for much of the season, but he seems to be settling in lately. After walking 18 in 24.2 innings in May, he has walked 10 in 22.2 in June – still a higher rate than you'd prefer from most pitchers, but a more acceptable mark from someone like Williams who can miss bats with the best of them when he's on. Of course, he hasn't actually been missing as many bats as expected lately, with 18 strikeouts in those 22.2 innings in June. If he ever puts it all together, Williams could be a must-start Fantasy option, but he isn't there yet. I really want to say he'll get there, but I just can't. For now, Williams remains a must-roster pitcher, but his iffy command makes him tough to trust every time out. Honestly, as much as I want to buy Williams, I think his 2.66 ERA in nine starts since the beginning of May probably makes him a sell-high candidate if you can find someone to buy in. | | | | Drew Rasmussen,m Rays vs. BAL: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K – And herein lies the trouble with Rasmussen. He wasn't bad in this one, but he still fell short of a quality start despite a season-high 92 pitches. The Rays just won't let him get close to 100 pitches, which means he has to be absurdly efficient to pitch deep into games. He did have three straight quality starts at the end of May, but he has just one in four tries in June, because the margin for error is so slim. Rasmussen is a really good pitcher who generates a lot of weak contact and generally avoids walks well. But he doesn't strike many hitters out, and the way the Rays treat him just limits the upside every time out. He has to be basically perfect to get to a quality start, and if that matters in your leagues, I do think Rasmussen is probably someone you can look to try to sell high on, because I don't think the leash is likely to get much longer here. | | Kevin Gausman, Blue Jays vs. ARI: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 4 K – I kind of think this is just who Gausman is now. Not "seven runs in 4.1 innings"- bad or even 4.60 ERA-bad, necessarily, but I do think he's just not a very good pitcher anymore. There will be stretches where he looks excellent, as he did in May, and there will be stretches where he looks awful, as he has in June, but I think in the end, he's just going to be a pretty underwhelming pitcher. Useful and capable of big games, but not someone who should be counted on to be a big contributor moving forward. He hasn't been that guy since 2023, and I think at this point it's time to stop hoping for it, or to stop thinking the hot streaks are the sign of him turning back into one. | | Andrew Heaney, Pirates @DET: 4 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 2 K – Heaney entered the start with a 3.33 ERA and a 4.72 xERA. He leaves the game with a 3.94 ERA. There's still plenty of room for regression here, in other words, and this highlights why I don't like doing the "Yeah, but he's getting good results, just play the hot hand" thing. It's not a good process, and while it can work for a while, if you don't eject in time, you can get burned. | | Nick Martinez, Reds vs. MIN: 2.2 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 4 K – Thursday was the day the Regression Monster came for all of the "Yeah, but he's getting good results, just play the hot hand" pitchers. In fairness, Martinez was quite good last season and does have a stronger base of skills than Heaney, with elite command and very good quality of contact suppression skills, hence his solid 3.88 xERA. I actually think he's probably better than Heaney, despite some lower highs this season, and is a viable rotation filler piece, if not necessarily a must-start pitcher in most 12-team leagues. | | Ryne Nelson, Diamondbacks @TOR: 5.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K – The results have been pretty solid for Nelson since his return to the rotation for the Diamondbacks, with a 2.76 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in 29.1 innings of work. The problem is it has come with just 17 strikeouts, which makes it hard to get too excited about it. However, Nelson's next start does come against the White Sox, making him a viable streaming option for next week, where he's available. | | News and notes | | The Dodgers optioned Emmet Sheehan to Triple-A Thursday, which is pretty disappointing after his promising debut Wednesday . Apparently, they need bullpen depth, but now Sheehan will have to spend at least 15 days down in the minors. Unless another pitcher goes on the IL. Given the way things have gone for the Dodgers, I think there's a pretty good chance we see Sheehan before those 15 days are up. I think it's fine to hold Sheehan in most leagues. | | It sounds like Wilyer Abreu is expected to return on Friday, which is good news for the Red Sox lineup, as he was hitting .245/.321/.471 before going on the IL. | | Shohei Ohtani's next pitching start is set for Sunday. He's likely to throw just an inning or two, and we're probably looking at a few more weeks before Ohtani really matters as a pitcher in Fantasy. | | Bryce Harper threw and took some dry swings Thursday. He's working his way back from right wrist inflammation, and given this, it sounds like we could see him back in the next week or two if he continues to make progress. | | Gabriel Moreno was placed on the IL with a right hand contusion. The Diamondbacks called up Aramis Garcia, which is pretty frustrating, as Adrian Del Castillo has been very good since coming back from a shoulder injury. He has played just five games at Triple-A this season, so maybe they just want him to get more reps before calling on him. Castillo hit .313/.368/.525 in 25 games last season and could be a viable option if they add him to the MLB roster anytime soon. | | Aaron Nola was shifted to the 60-day IL, which means he can't return until after the All-Star break. That's been the expectation for a while with his ankle injury, so this doesn't really change things much for Nola. | | Max Scherzer is dealing with some soreness in his right thumb following his latest rehab start, but that wasn't necessarily unexpected. Still, it's worrisome that this remains an issue after so much time off, and at this point, I don't think you can really expect Scherzer to remain healthy. Let's just hope he can be a useful Fantasy option before he inevitably has to go back on the IL. | | Noelvi Marte will begin a rehab assignment Friday. He's been out since early May with a left oblique strain, but was impressing before the injury and remains worth stashing. | | Yu Darvish is scheduled to throw another simulated game Friday. If all goes well, he could head out on a rehab assignment. | | Tony Gonsolin was shifted to the 60-day IL. He's out with right elbow soreness and can't return until August 7 at the earliest. He can probably be dropped in most leagues if you need the roster spot. | | | | | | | | Big 3 | | 24/7 Sports News | Ice Cube's 3-on-3 tournament is back this Saturday at 1 ET on CBS and streaming on Paramount+!
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