1. Giants 1B Bryce Eldridge (21, AAA)
Patience has been the key to Eldridge’s approach so far this year. He has been hit 31 times in 63 plate appearances, good for a .492 OBP. In his last three games, he got on base 10 times in 15 plate appearances and hit his first home run of the season. San Francisco plays handyman Casey Schmitt at first, and he doesn’t make many friends there. It doesn’t make much sense to me. “Play your f*cking hope!” That’s what Matt Chapman meant that day.
2. Diamondbacks BY Ryan Waldschmidt (23, AAA)
He didn’t come out screaming out of the gate but he quickly improved, slashing .367/.457/.633 over his last seven games. I think Jordan Lawlar could have kept him out until the summer, but with Lawlar on the coaching staff, it shouldn’t be long before Waldschmidt replaces Jorge Barrosa in left field.
3. Twins SS Kaelen Culpepper (23, AAA)
Hitting .294/.368/.490 with three home runs, one steal and ten strikeouts (17.5%) compared to five walks (8.8%), Culpepper should soon be contributing to a 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 to third and give Culpepper the green light at shortstop earlier this week.
4. Max Clark’s Tigers (21, AAA)
Wenceel Perez got the start after Parker Meadows was injured, and Perez is a legitimate big leaguer (103 wRC+ in 2025), so Clark may have to wait a little longer. The Tigers got off to a slow start though. They just entered a four game series with Minnesota. You may need to act quickly.
5. Mariners SS Colt Emerson (20, AAA)
It’s a strange start to the season for Emerson, who usually shines with plate skills but currently has 14 strikeouts (30.4%) against just one walk. It makes sense that he’s pushing hard, unconsciously trying to earn that $95 million and force a promotion every time he steps up to the plate. He’s still hitting .302 and slugging .465 despite the hitting issues, which is a pretty good sign of how things will go once Emerson regains the kind of confidence that makes him strong. He doesn’t turn 21 until July 20th, and JP Crawford is back in the lineup, so maybe Seattle will take it slow with this kid.
6. Blue Jays RHP Trey Yesavage (22, A)
He’s had some early runs since his Low-A resume, allowing four runs on four hits in 2.2 innings, but that’s just the intensity of a guy who’s proven himself to be up to even the biggest challenges this league can throw at him.
7. White Sox LHP Noah Schultz (22, AAA)
He’s listed at 6’10” 240 pounds, so there may be some size-related incentives to get Schultz to pitch when he’s healthy. It’s easy to keep him healthy in a big league system, I suspect, with big league hotels and such. 0.43 WHIP and 1.29 ERA along with Lotta issues at play here as Chicago plays the long game.
8. Rockies 1B/OF Charlie Condon (22, AAA)
Hitting .286/.405/.571 with three homers and nine steals, striking out a manageable 23.8 percent of the time. A few more healthy weeks this time around should be enough to force the issue even though the Rockies have held him back a bit from his first success. TJ Rumfield again Troy Johnston. It’s a good problem to have.
9. Joshua Baez Cardinals (22, AAA)
Slow start to the season for Baez. He struck out four times on Friday night but also had his first home run of the season. He gets this spot in part because Nathan Church looks extremely good at the plate, and Lars Nootbar won’t be ready to return for a long time. He underwent surgery on both feet to address Haglund’s deformity in his heels. Wow. Something’s going on with my right heel these days, too, Lars. It’s not fun. Thomas Saggese is mixed in the left field picture right now, but that’s not a long-term solution, and Baez could be.
10. Marlins LHP Robby Snelling (22, AAA)
Outings for Baltimore’s Triple-A team at last: 12 K, 4 BB, 2 H, 0 ER allowed. Things that rule. Another chance or two like this and she’ll be packing her swimsuit for Miami.
Thanks for reading!
