| | | | Friday, April 11, 2025 | | Spencer Strider made what will likely be his final rehab start at Triple-A Gwinnett Thursday, and at this point, it's not a question of whether he'll be good coming back from elbow surgery; it's a question of just how dominant he'll be. | | If Thursday's start was the last before he makes his return, it'll come a little over a year after his 2024 campaign came to an end due to damage in his right UCL. He underwent an internal brace procedure to repair it, and has been throwing in games since the end of Spring Training, with his outing Thursday his fifth in an official game. | | And it sure sounds like it'll be his last. | | So, what should we expect? Based on the results during his rehab assignment, we should expect him to be Spencer Strider again. He had a whopping 25 swings and misses on 90 pitches Thursday, and through his three rehab starts, Strider has 27 strikeouts in 13.2 innings of work. It sure sounds like he's back to his pre-injury self. | | And I think he mostly is. But it's not 100% certain, because his velocity isn't all the way back yet. On Thursday, he was sitting at 95.3 mph, which is still plenty hard, but about two mph down from where he was in 2023, and his slider is similarly down. The results show he can still definitely be overpowering, but there's also obviously a pretty big difference between doing it against Triple-A hitters and doing it against a lineup full of big-leaguers. | | I expect Strider to be awesome, to be clear. I'm just not 100% certain he's going to be the same dominant force he was prior to the injury. And I would imagine the Braves are going to have to find some way to limit his pitches and innings after he threw just nine last season. We'll see some skipped starts, I would imagine, or at least some extra days off built into his schedule throughout the season. That won't matter much if he's who he was before the injury, but it could ultimately limit his ceiling for Fantasy, especially if he's a little bit less effective. | | That's what I expect, at least at first. Flashes of dominance, of course, because even at 95, Strider's fastball should play up, and his slider figures to be a killer at any velocity. But if you're expecting him to come out and be the best pitcher in Fantasy the rest of the way, I'd bet against it. There will be frustrating times, whether because Strider just doesn't have it on any given day or because the Braves pull him out of his starts earlier than you think they should. | | But, at least as far as getting him in your lineup goes, it's full steam ahead. Strider should be a must-start Fantasy option even if there are occasional setbacks and frustrations along the way. He's too talented not to be. And I'm excited to watch him back at work. | | Here's everything else you need to know from Thursday's action around MLB: | | | | Friday's top waiver-wire targets | | | | Chase Meidroth, SS, White Sox (6%) – The White Sox had a couple of interesting prospects competing for playing time in the infield this spring, and they ended up passing on most of them. But they're giving one of them, Meidroth, the chance to take the job and run with it after a couple of weeks. Meidroth is getting the call to join the team Friday after he went 8 for 30 with three homers and two steals in nine games at Triple-A this season. He already proved himself at the level last season, hitting .293/.437/.400, and while it's not a super Fantasy-friendly skill set – just seven homers and 13 steals last season, with no double-digit homer seasons to his name – he's still worth a look in deeper leagues. He should make a lot of contact and get on base, and hopefully, he'll steal a few bags and push his way to the top of the White Sox lineup. Given the competition, that won't take much. | | David Festa, SP, Twins (12%) – We were hoping Zebby Matthews would get the call to fill Pablo Lopez 's spot in the rotation after he was placed on the IL, but it was Festa who got the first call. And, while Matthews is probably the more interesting prospect of the two at this point, Festa shouldn't be overlooked entirely. He had an ugly 4.90 ERA in the majors last season, but he did plenty right along the way, sporting a 27.8% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate, with underlying numbers that suggest he deserved better – a 4.14 xERA, 3.76 FIP, and 3.58 xFIP. His changeup is a legitimate weapon, and his slider isn't bad either, so if Festa can keep his fastball from getting crushed, he could be a very useful Fantasy option – and there's a chance he sticks around even after Lopez is back if he holds his own. | | Taylor Ward, OF, Angels (56%) – Ward is one of those guys you're never excited about drafting, but you're usually happy he's around. It hasn't been an ideal start for him, which is why his roster rate has been trending down, but he was one of three Angels who homered twice Thursday against the Rays, and you can usually count on him to be a solid, dependable option, especially in five-outfielder leagues. From 2022 through 2024, he has hit .260/.339/.441 with 24 homers, 80 runs, 72 RBI, and seven steals per 150 games. It'll never be superstar production, but as a bench bat especially, he's nice to have around. | | Quinn Priester, SP, Brewers (7%) – The Brewers just threw Priester into the deep end, as he made his first start since being acquired from the Red Sox Thursday in Coors Field. And he held his own! He sat at 93.9 mph with his sinker, up nearly one mph from last season, and showed his whole seven-pitch arsenal. There weren't many swinging strikes to speak of, but that's pretty normal in Coors Field. He has shown moderate strikeout ability along with good groundball rates and control at Triple-A, and he could be pretty useful with a good Brewers defense behind him. And his next two matchups are fine, against the Tigers and Giants, so I'm not scared of him there. | | | | Thursday's standouts | | Spencer Schwellenbach, Braves vs. PHI: 6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K – Schwellenbach didn't dominate the Phillies the same way he did the Marlins , but just go ahead and read those two matchups again before you think about holding it against him. He probably could have gone deeper if not for a rain delay, and he did a lot more than just hold his own. I still have some concerns about how he's going to hold up after last season's huge innings increase, but he's pretty clearly a top-20 starting pitcher at this point, and that might not be giving him enough credit. | | Bailey Ober, Twins @KC: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K – This is more like what we're looking for from Ober. You'd like to see a few more strikeouts, but the swinging strikes have mostly been there, so I'm not too worried about that. His velocity remains about 1 mph down from last season, and that could keep the strikeout rate below his career-best mark from last season, but I'd still bet on him being an above-average source of K's, along with an elite source of WHIP and a manageable ERA. | | Jesus Luzardo , Phillies @ATL: 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K – I thought about moving Luzardo ahead of Ober based on his strong start because he really does look about as good as we've ever seen. Even in this one, with his fastball velocity dipping below 96 mph for the first time, he still pitched an excellent game, and he's now up to 25 strikeouts to just five walks in 18 innings of work. Luzardo tends to perform best when his fastball is sitting at 96 mph or above, so as long as he remains in this range, he should continue to be very good. Concerns about how sustainable this is – both the performance and health – will serve as a drag on his place in the rankings, | | Gavin Williams, Guardians vs. CHW: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K – Williams cleaned things up after a shaky first inning, but you still want to see him going deeper against a lineup like the White Sox. He wasn't bad in this one, obviously, but if you can't even get a quality start out of him against the White Sox, how much upside is there here? Williams is talented, and maybe he figures it out at some point – maybe incorporating last year's cutter could help – but right now, I think he's just a fringe starter for Fantasy. | | Chris Bassitt, Blue Jays @BOS: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K – We've gotten more Good Bassitt than Bad Bassitt so far, despite the fact that his velocity is down – and it was down to 90.4 mph in this one, two full ticks from last season. His command has been much better so far after he uncharacteristically struggled with it last season, and he generated a whopping 16 swinging strikes in this one, including at least two on seven different pitches. There aren't many pitchers doing it like Bassitt these days, but outside of 2024, it usually works for him. He's not a must-start pitcher anymore, but I haven't seen any reason to sit him yet. | | | | Walker Buehler, Red Sox vs. TOR: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K – This is a reason not to cut Buehler if you were planning to. However, while the results were good, he still hardly looked dominant – Buehler had just eight swinging strikes on 89 pitches in this one. He commanded his wide arsenal well, and I can see a world where there isn't much difference between Buehler, Bassitt, and someone like Seth Lugo. But I think that's probably the ceiling, which tells you how far Buehler has fallen. In all likelihood, I think he's just a streamer at this point, and I don't mind dropping him – I already did it in one league, as a matter of fact. | | Jose Soriano, Angels @TB: 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K – The ball was flying out of Steinbrenner Field Thursday, but that's not as much of a concern for a groundballer like Soriano. He's off to a pretty strong start, with a 2.70 ERA and 1.00 WHIP through his first three starts, with 18 strikeouts in 20 innings of work. There was a bit of breakout hope for Soriano this offseason, but I don't think we're seeing that in action. But he should still be a solid, mid-to-high-3.00s ERA pitcher, and that has value. | | Michael Wacha, Royals vs. MIN: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K – 11 strikeouts to eight walks in 15 innings of work is not what you want to see. I'm not going out there and dropping Wacha, because he'll probably return his usual, boring mid-3.00s ERA, but I'm probably avoiding him in his next start at the Yankees. Which means he's going seven shutout innings, right? | | Zack Littell, Rays vs. LAA: 4 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 4 K – There was some bad luck here for Littell, who gave up four homers, none of which would have been out in more than 20 of 30 MLB ballparks – and one that only would have been out in Steinbrenner Field. On the other hand, he gave up 16 balls in play with an average exit velocity of 91.9 mph, so it's hard to say he didn't earn a bad start. This is just how things go for pitchers like Littell who rely on command more than stuff – because he'll never miss bats at a high rate, sometimes he will be at the mercy of the Gods of Variance. They did not bless him today. | | Ryan Feltner, Rockies vs. MIL: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K – I might be alone in this one, but I'd actually really like to see Feltner away from Coors Field. He'll occasionally flash real upside in starts like this, and I'd like to see what he could do pitching full-time in a non-ridiculous environment. He had a 3.93 ERA last season on the road, after all. Unfortunately, he's remaining in Colorado, which means we're going to get these rare flashes, but nothing consistent enough to rely on. | | Jonathan Cannon, White Sox @CLE: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 6 K – Cannon has put together a couple of pretty useful stretches for Fantasy, but starts like this are why I've never been willing to buy in. There are just way too many ways for things to go really wrong for a guy with iffy command and no strikeout upside. He's AL-only fodder. | | Kyle Manzardo, DH, Guardians – The biggest question about Manzardo coming into the season was whether he could hit lefties, which makes it pretty funny that his homer off Cannon Thursday was his first of the season off a righty – he has three off lefties already. He has started two of three games against lefties, too, so the Guardians might be buying in. And now he's just two appearances away from being first-base eligible. He could be emerging as one of the most valuable picks in any Fantasy league this season. | | News and notes | | Ronald Acuña will have a checkup with doctors early next week and is expected to be cleared for lateral movements and change-of-direction running. I'm still hoping for an early May return to the majors. | | Ezequiel Tovar was out of the lineup Thursday due to a hip issue. | | Jesus Sanchez began a rehab assignment at Triple-A on Thursday. He's on the IL with a left oblique strain but has some mixed-league appeal, especially in daily lineup leagues as a righty crusher. | | Austin Hays also began a rehab assignment at Triple-A on Thursday. He's on the IL with a left calf strain. He could emerge as a very useful option in Cincinnati's bandbox ballpark, and they could really use him. | | The Pirates optioned Thomas Harrington back to Triple-A on Thursday. He had a rough first start and then served as a piggyback reliever with Carmen Mlodzinski on Monday. Ryan Gusto will start Astros Saturday against the Angels, and he needs to show something before anyone considers adding him in mixed leagues. | | Kyle Gibson made his first start at Triple-A for the Orioles, throwing 3.1 innings of one-run ball and getting up to 47 pitches. He's probably still going to need a few more starts before he is fully stretched out, but the Orioles could really use him right now. Which is a bad sign for the Orioles. Mike Tauchman went back on the IL due to a right hamstring strain. | | Ryan Bliss will undergo surgery Friday to repair his left biceps tear and is expected to be sidelined 4-5 months. | | Yoan Moncada was placed on the IL with a right thumb sprain. That'll help Kyren Paris get in the lineup consistently. | | Yasmani Grandal signed a minor-league deal with the Red Sox. That makes sense with Connor Wong on the IL, but he doesn't have much appeal left at this point in his career. | | | | | | | | 2025 Masters Tournament | | Golazo Network | Stream live coverage of the 2025 Masters Tournament with On The Range, Amen Corner, Featured Groups and Holes 15 & 16 all week long!
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