2025 Fantasy Baseball: Minor League Player Updates (7/11)

Catchers

Francisco Alvarez, New York Mets

The Alvarez banishment to AAA stands at 16 days. Over his 13 games, he hit .217 with seven runs, four home runs, nine RBIs, while striking out 16 times across 46 at-bats. Alvarez doesn’t have a hit over his previous seven at-bats, heading into Friday.

Over this span, Luis Torrens has a solo home run with no other production for the Mets over his 36 at-bats (.139), with a high strikeout rate (30.8%). New York’s backup catcher (Hayden Senger) is 3-for-16 (.188) over this span with two runs. The Mets' pitching staff allowed six runs or more in nine of 15 games since Alvarez was sent to AAA.

Samuel Basallo, Baltimore Orioles

Despite the Orioles losing Adley Rutschman and Gary Sanchez to injuries, Basallo sits and waits for his invitation to the big dance in the minors. At age 20, he already has half a season of experience at AAA (.253/49/20/52 over 277 at-bats). This year, his approach (38 walks and 52 strikeouts) improved over his 240 plate appearances.

Basallo hit .265 over his first 196 at-bats this season at AAA, with 38 runs, 17 home runs, and 42 RBIs, which translates to an impact power bat at the catcher position. Baltimore has played him at catcher (22), first base (15), and DH (19) this season.

First Basemen

Jonathon Long, Chicago Cubs

Over his last 10 games at AAA, Long went 14-for-43 with seven runs, four home runs, and nine RBIs. He’s now batting .317 on the year over 315 at-bats with 52 runs, 13 home runs, 57 RBIs, and two stolen bases. Long also handled himself well over the back half of 2024 (.340/42/7/29 over 159 at-bats) at AA with a stronger approach (35 walks and 33 strikeouts). His strikeout rate sits at 19.8% in 2025.

Brennan Milone, Athletics

In 2024 and 2025, the A’s gave Milone 644 at-bats at AA, leading to a .276 batting average with 105 runs, 25 home runs, 105 RBIs, and 12 steals. They promoted him to AAA in late May. His batting average (.241 over 83 at-bats) is trailing at the next level, but he continues to take walks (18) with a league average strikeout rate (21.9%). Milone only has two home runs and 13 RBIs so far at AAA, but he’s scored 19 runs.

Second Basemen

Vaughn Grissom, Boston Red Sox

Grissom wondered his way through his first season with the Red Sox after being acquired in the Chris Sale trade. His bat has been in form over his last 12 games at AAA (20-for-44 with 11 runs, two home runs, and 10 RBIs). On the year, Grissom is hitting .287 over 303 at-bats with 57 runs, eight home runs, 36 RBIs, and eight stolen bases. Boston could trade him in part of a deal later this month for another starting pitcher.

Max Anderson, Detroit Tigers

Over his last 49 games at AA, Anderson hit .337 over 202 at-bats with 31 runs, six home runs, 32 RBIs, and two stolen bases. His high level of success has yet to lead to a promotion to AAA. For the year, he has outperformed expectations (.333/47/11/53/2 over 291 at-bats).

Third Basemen

Warming Bernadel, Colorado Rockies

The direction of Bernadel’s bat has been up since the middle of May. Over his last 36 games, he went 51-for-135 (.378) with 26 runs, three home runs, 18 RBIs, and two stolen bases. Other than 302 at-bats at AA in 2023 (.225/30/6/28/2), he has hit over .300 for most of his minor league career. The development of his power will be the key to his long-term viability in the majors.

Murphy Stehly, Washington Nationals

After a promotion to AA in mid-May, Stehly has been on a productive pace in batting average (.328), runs (26), home runs (5), and RBIs (18) over his 119 at-bats. His bat showed growth in his final season at Texas (.367/65/19/61/8 over 278 at-bats), resulting in the Nationals drafting him in the 10th round in 2022.

Shortstops

Jeremiah Jackson, Baltimore Orioles

From 2022 to 2025, Jackson’s minor league home was AA, where his bat offered a dull batting average (.229) over 1,376 at-bats. He scored 172 runs, hit 59 home runs, and drove in 204 base runners while stealing 47 bags.

The Orioles promoted him to AAA in early June, and Jackson kicked up his game a notch (.372/19/8/15/5 over 121 at-bats) while striking out only 12 times. He’s riding a 12-game hitting streak (21-for-55 with seven runs, two home runs, four RBIs, and two steals).

JJ Wetherholt, St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals drafted Wetherholt seventh overall in the 2024 MLB June Amateur Draft. His bat offered the most value in 2023 at West Virginia (.449/67/16/60/36 over 225 at-bats). He finished his college career with the same number of walks (82) and strikeouts (82).

St. Louis gave Wetherholt 62 games of experience this year at AA (.300 over 223 at-bats with 39 runs, seven home runs, 34 RBIs, and 14 stolen bases). They promoted him to AAA earlier this week, leading to four hits over 11 at-bats with four runs, a home run, and two RBIs.

Outfielders

MJ Melendez, Kansas City Royals

Over his last 16 games at AAA, Melendez went 20-for-67 with 13 runs, four home runs, 13 RBIs, and three stolen bases while striking out 26 times. His bat has been in good form since May 11, leading to a .265 batting average over 196 at-bats with 31 runs, 10 home runs, 36 RBIs, and a surprising 14 steals.

Jack Suwinski, Pittsburgh Pirates

A seven-game hitting streak (12-for-23 with 11 runs, three home runs, nine RBIs, and two stolen bases) led to the Pirates calling up Suwinski from AAA this week. Over this span, he showed an improved approach (nine walks and five strikeouts). Since May 23rd, Suwinski has been working his way back to the majors (.309/30/8/31/4 over 110 at-bats).

Carlos Cortes, Athletics

The A’s continue to develop hit bats at AAA this year. Cortes is the next man up after extending his hitting streak to 15 games on Wednesday (25-for-60 with 13 runs, six home runs, 21 RBIs, and one steal). He took nine walks over this span with 14 strikeouts. His bat has been even better over his last 32 games (.370/28/9/42/1 over 127 at-bats).

Nathan Church, St. Louis Cardinals

After four games at A-Ball (2-for-13 with three runs and one RBI), Church has been a beast over 56 games between AA and AAA. He has 79 hits over 227 at-bats (.348) with 42 runs, 10 home runs, 40 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases. He posted a favorable walk rate (9.4) and strikeout rate (9.8). Church should be the next man up for the Cardinals in the outfield in the minors.

Esmerlyn Valdez, Pittsburgh Pirates

Valdez leads South Atlantic League outfielders in home runs (21) and RBIs (57). He hit .303 over 277 at-bats with 46 runs and two steals. His success led to a call-up to AA in July (5-for-24 with a run and one RBI). He struck out 24.6% of the time at High A.

Bryan Torres, St. Louis Cardinals

At age 28, Torres doesn’t have a major league at-bat. His swing showed growth in 2024 at AA (.329/79/2/55/33 over 447 at-bats), but his lack of power didn’t move the major league needle. The Cardinals moved him to AAA this year, leading to more success at the plate (.313 over 208 at-bats with 38 runs, five home runs, 20 RBIs, and 21 stolen bases).

Starting Pitching

Nolan McLean, New York Mets

After a dull 18 starts at AA in 2024 (2-8 with a 4.30 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, and 80 strikeouts over 81.2 innings), McLean has been a much better pitcher over two levels of minor league baseball this season. He opened the year with success over five starts at AA (1.37 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and 30 strikeouts over 26.1 innings).

Over 11 games after his promotion to AAA, McLean posted a 2.67 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and 65 strikeouts over 60.2 innings. His arm screams major league ready after two elite outings in July (two runs, 14 baserunners, and 20 strikeouts over 11.0 innings).

Tanner Houck, Boston Red Sox

Houck has made five rehab starts between AA and AAA over the past three weeks. He struggled over his first three games (nine runs, 16 baserunners, and two home runs over 6.1 innings with five strikeouts). His arm showed improvement over his last two games (one run, eight baserunners, and 10 strikeouts over 9.1 innings). 2025 hasn’t gone well for Houck this year, so his risk outweighs his reward at this point of the year.

Kyle Harrison, Boston Red Sox

The excitement of Harrison helping fantasy teams after his trade to Boston has been drifting away in each of his three starts at AAA. He allowed 11 runs, 25 baserunners, and five home runs over 13.0 innings with 10 strikeouts. His fastball (93.5 mph) was down in his last outing, which isn’t a good sign. The Red Sox continue to work with Harrison, leading to a new slider and a rebound in the usage of his changeup.

Bubba Chandler, Pittsburgh Pirates

Hope returned to Chandler’s right arm after an uptick start on July 4th (no runs, seven baserunners, and six strikeouts over six innings). Over the past month, he battled his command (14 walks over 18.2 innings), leading to a 5.79 ERA, 1.93 WHIP, and 17 strikeouts. Will Pittsburgh call him up this year?

Logan Henderson, Milwaukee Brewers

Last week in the high-stakes market, I dumped Henderson in multiple leagues, ending his buy-and-hold ride for me. His release was driven by three consecutive poor starts at AAA (11 runs, 19 baserunners, and five home runs over 14.1 innings with 13 strikeouts).

As is the nature of fantasy baseball, Henderson regained his form in his next outing (two runs and six hits over five innings with five strikeouts). Overall, Henderson has been exceptional between AAA and the majors (11-3 with a 2.80 ERA, 1.076 WHIP, and 102 strikeouts over 83.2 innings).

Andrew Painter, Philadelphia Phillies

The lust for Painter in 2025 has been slipping away in his recent starts at AAA. He allowed nine runs, 17 baserunners, and three home runs over his last 10.1 innings with 10 strikeouts. As a result, his AAA stats (28 runs, 74 baserunners, and nine home runs over 50.2 innings with 55 strikeouts) have drifted in the wrong direction.

Grayson Rodriguez, Baltimore Orioles

Over the last week or so, Rodriguez threw a couple of bullpen sessions, putting him closer to a rehab assignment. I don’t expect him back before August, and I’m not confident his body will be able to hold up enough to help Baltimore in 2025.

Shane Bieber, Cleveland Guardians

The Guardians slowed down Bieber’s rehab work over the past month. After a bullpen session and a couple of rounds of batting practice, he looks poised to begin a rehab assignment to build up his arm strength. Bieber will need multiple appearances before returning to the majors.

Luis Garcia, Houston Astros

The road back to the Astros' starting rotation began on July 7th at their Rookie Complex. He served up a solo home run over two innings with four strikeouts. His last start in Houston came on May 1st in 2023 due to TJ surgery.

Robby Snelling, Miami Marlins

The Padres had high hopes for Snelling after drafting him 39th overall in the 2022 MLB June Amateur Draft. He struggled in 2024 between AA and AAA (5.30 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, and 108 strikeouts over 110.1 innings), leading to a midseason trade to Miami. Snelling was on a similar path this season after his first five appearances (14 runs, 38 baserunners, and 28 strikeouts over 21.2 innings).

His left arm turned the corner over his previous seven starts, resulting in a 2.68 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and 43 strikeouts over 40.1 innings at AA. The Marlins should promote him to AAA soon.

Tobias Myers, Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers gave Myers six games to prove his worth this year, but finding home plate (10 walks over 20.0 innings) was a problem, highlighted by his losing ERA (4.95) and WHIP (1.80). Despite his failure, he gave up more than two runs in only one start, while also pitching more than five innings only once.

After some struggles at AAA (13 runs, 34 baserunners, and three home runs over 22.0 innings with 22 strikeouts), Myers regained his form over his last four starts. He allowed three runs (all in one game) with 19 hits, five walks, and 24 strikeouts over 23.0 innings. The Brewers should have him on speed dial when they need another starting pitcher.