Over the past few years, one thought has kept bouncing around in my mind: “I must be taking crazy pills.” Don’t run off to the comments to complain about this post getting political, because that’s not the point I’m trying to make. Over the past few years, longstanding institutions and norms have come crashing down without so much as a peep from the people charged with defending them. Whether you think that’s good or not, it’s a matter of historical fact.

Therefore, we live in disconcerting times. COVID, AI, mass media consolidation, man’s inhumanity to man… it messes with one’s sense of order in the universe. We’re rapidly approaching an era in which battery tech and solar power actually make electricity too cheap to meter, but NATO and the Washington Post might not exist by the time we get there.

It’s unsettling. There have been times when I’ve looked around and found that the most logical explanation is that I am, genuinely, being slipped crazy pills without my knowledge. Because surely this must make sense to someone. Read the rest of this entry »

Cody Ponce left his first start on a cart with a trainer.

Ponce collapsed in considerable pain Monday after making an awkward attempt to field a grounder in the third inning against the Rockies. He appeared to twist his right knee in a direction it’s not meant to go. He stood and limped to the cart on his own before exiting. Blue Jays’ manager John Schneider said after the game that Ponce will get an MRI.

The injury is an unfortunate setback for Ponce, who was making his first start in the majors since 2021. He was perhaps the most anticipated in a quartet of free agent pitchers who signed out of the KBO or NPB this winter. I’d already planned to write about each of them, leading with Ponce for the reasons he displayed before the injury. And while I don’t want to overreact to one start, I think there are interesting takeaways from each that could inform the shape of their respective seasons to come. Read the rest of this entry »

Chase DeLauter got an odd start to his major league career last fall — and an inauspicious one, at that — when he became the sixth player to debut in a postseason game before playing in a regular season one. The Guardians’ rookie right fielder has fared much better in the early stages of his first regular season in the majors, going on a home run binge that made a bit of history.

Facing the Mariners in Seattle on Opening Day last Thursday, the 24-year-old DeLauter started things off by homering in his first plate appearance, launching a towering 358-foot solo shot off Logan Gilbert. It was the first Cleveland run of the season, and though at least 140 players in AL/NL history have homered in their first career at-bat, in the ninth inning he joined a much more exclusive club. With the Guardians ahead 5-4, DeLauter hammered a 422-foot solo home run off Cooper Criswell, helping to seal the victory and becoming just the sixth player to homer twice in his regular season debut:

Read the rest of this entry »

The Brewers and shortstop prospect Cooper Pratt are reportedly close to terms on an eight-year extension. The deal would guarantee Pratt $50.75 million over the life of the deal, and there are also two club options worth about $15 million apiece. As it’s a major league contract, Pratt must be added to Milwaukee’s 40-man roster. A corresponding move to make the terms work has not yet been announced.

While extensions for prospects who have yet to debut are becoming more common, Pratt’s is a little unusual. These tend to either be large deals to consensus top prospects, often with the carrot of a ticket to the Opening Day roster as a sort of signing bonus, or smaller sums for enticing but flawed farmhands. The eight-year, $82 million extension Milwaukee inked with Jackson Chourio prior to the 2024 season is a good example of the former (as is the eight-year, $95 million pact the Mariners reportedly just struck with Colt Emerson), while the six-year, $25 million pacts Seattle signed with Evan White and Philadelphia with Scott Kingery cover the latter. Pratt’s deal doesn’t fit cleanly in either category. It’s a pretty good chunk of change for a player who evaluators generally don’t see as a future star, and it’s also not a pay-for-play deal, as Pratt will likely remain at Triple-A after signing.

Pratt was taken in the sixth round of the 2023 draft from Magnolia Heights High School in Mississippi. Eric ranked him 25th on the Draft Board that year, but his $1.35 signing bonus was commensurate with more of a second-round talent. As you’d expect for a prospect in consideration for this kind of contract, he’s performed well in pro ball. After a successful cameo on the complex in his draft season, Pratt notched a 132 wRC+ at Low-A as a 19-year-old, with strong contact skills and a low walk rate. He spent all of 2025 at Double-A, where he played a clean shortstop and hit .238/.343/.348, good for a 107 wRC+. He also dropped his strikeout rate to 15.2%, impressive for a 20-year-old at that level. Read the rest of this entry »

Luke Stevenson was quoted earlier this month when I wrote about how Ryan Sloan and Kade Anderson profile as Seattle Aces in the Making. My spring training conversation with the 21-year-old backstop also included what he had to say about his own skill set, which in many respects it is similar to what Cal Raleigh’s was in the minors. Stevenson’s FanGraphs scouting report, which included mention of the Mariners’ All-Star slugger, described him as “a power-hitting catcher with strong receiving skills.” Drafted 35th overall last year out of the University of North Carolina, he currently ranks as the eighth-best prospect in the Seattle system, with a 45 FV.

Brendan Gawlowski did the write-ups on our Mariners list, and he sees the potential for more from Stevenson. As Brendan put it, “If there is any jump in Stevenson’s throwing ability or bat-to-ball as he develops, he’ll climb into that [50] tier on subsequent lists.” The Raleigh comparison fits here, as well. Described as having a “power-and-OBP-over-hit profile,” Big Dumper ranked seventh in the system with a 45 FV when he reached the majors in July 2021 at age 24.

Stevenson didn’t shy away from the comp when I brought up their early-career similarities.

“I would love to get compared to him,” said the former Tar Heel, who debuted professionally with Low-A Modesto last summer and slashed .280/.460/.400 over 100 plate appearances “He’s unbelievable. Being able to work with him here in camp has been awesome, and super helpful. What he does… I mean, I definitely would like my game to resemble his.”

My mention of the power-over-hit element of his profile elicited a bit of pushback, but his response was largely a validation of Brendan’s report. Read the rest of this entry »

In general, the Pirates’ first series of the year could’ve gone better. What everyone’s going to remember from this past weekend is the worst start of Paul Skenes’ career — probably of his entire life. But it could’ve been worse. Winning one of three at Citi Field against the Mets is probably going to end up looking like even par for one of the tougher assignments in the National League, especially with one of those losses coming in extra innings.

Brandon Lowe hit three home runs. Even Skenes’ awful opening inning was only made possible by some horrendous defense and ridiculous batted-ball luck. And Carmen Mlodzinski struck out the side against the top of the Mets’ order on Sunday. Twice. Read the rest of this entry »

On Saturday, in the third inning of their game against the Yankees at Oracle Park, the Giants scored a run. Normally, this wouldn’t rate as particularly noteworthy, but that was one more run than they’d scored in the previous 20 innings while dropping their first two games of the 2026 season. As far as their season-opening series went, it was a one-shot deal, as they didn’t score again.

Indeed, the Giants were utterly stifled by the Yankees over those three games. On Wednesday night, when the two teams had the stage to themselves for a nationally televised game on Netflix (don’t get me started about that production), Max Fried and three relievers held the Giants to three hits, all singles, in a 7-0 loss; the Giants reached base just four other times in that one via two walks, a hit-by-pitch, and an error by shortstop Jose Caballero. On Friday afternoon, following a day off, Cam Schlittler and four relievers limited the Giants to one hit in a 3-0 defeat, a second-inning double by Heliot Ramos; in that one, the Giants additionally reached base only twice, on walks in the seventh and ninth innings.

With that, the Giants and Yankees made some history. Those double zeroes marked the first time in the Giants’ 144-year history that they were shut out in their first two games of the season. It had happened just once to any other team within the past decade, the 2023 Royals (at the hands of the Twins). For the Yankees, it was the first time since their 1903 inception that they shut out opponents over their first two games. What’s more, according to the Associated Press it was the first time that any team was shut out and held to a combined total of five hits or fewer over a season’s first two games. Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t believe in love at first sight? The Orioles do. Back in December, Baltimore traded a draft pick and four prospects — including two top-40 picks from their 2025 draft class — to Tampa Bay for right-handed pitcher Shane Baz. And on Friday, roughly 48 hours before Baz threw his first competitive pitch in orange and black, they signed him to a five-year, $68 million contract extension that will keep him in Maryland through 2030. It’s the richest contract the Orioles have ever given to a pitcher.

Baz did OK in his first Orioles start, by the way. The Twins scored four runs in 5 1/3 innings, and Baz allowed at least one hard-hit batted ball (i.e. 95 mph exit velo) on each of the four pitch types he threw. That included his changeup, which he only broke out four times and which only generated one swing. Read the rest of this entry »

Below is an analysis of the prospects in the farm system of the Colorado Rockies. Scouting reports were compiled with information provided by industry sources as well as my own observations. This is the sixth year we’re delineating between two anticipated relief roles, the abbreviations for which you’ll see in the “position” column below: MIRP for multi-inning relief pitchers, and SIRP for single-inning relief pitchers. The ETAs listed generally correspond to the year a player has to be added to the 40-man roster to avoid being made eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Manual adjustments are made where they seem appropriate, but we use that as a rule of thumb.

A quick overview of what FV (Future Value) means can be found here. A much deeper overview can be found here.

All of the ranked prospects below also appear on The Board, a resource the site offers featuring sortable scouting information for every organization. It has more details (and updated TrackMan data from various sources) than this article and integrates every team’s list so readers can compare prospects across farm systems. It can be found here. Read the rest of this entry »

Miami Marlins bullpen coach Brandon Mann was featured here at FanGraphs last September, the subject at hand being changeups thrown by the team’s hurlers. Mentioned at the end of the piece was a southpaw whose changeup Mann called “really, really good.” I was remiss in not asking for specifics. Ryan Weathers has one that is well worth knowing about.

I’ve since had an opportunity to hear about it straight from the horse’s mouth. Weathers is now wearing pinstripes — New York acquired him via trade back in January — and with Mann’s mention in mind, I broached the topic on my visit to Yankees camp in mid-March. Not only was the 26-year-old left-hander amenable to discussing his signature offering, he did so in nuanced detail.

Here is my conversation with Weathers, who is scheduled to make his first start with his new team tonight against the Mariners in Seattle.

———

David Laurila: Brandon Mann told me you have a good changeup. What is the story behind it?

Ryan Weathers: “When I got traded to the Marlins [from the San Diego Padres] in 2023, I didn’t really have a good changeup. Scott Aldred, who was the pitching coordinator at the time, showed me a grip. I kept playing with it, but it didn’t have the downward vertical break that I wanted, nor the separation from my fastball. But then, during the offseason going into the 2024 season, I had one bullpen on Trackman where — same grip — it just started bottoming out. I was like, ‘That looks like a splitter.’ Ever since that bullpen, my changeup has been around one vertical, one horizontal, more like a split-changeup than a traditional changeup. If I click one, it will go down into the negative. It kind of has a mind of its own.”

Laurila: What is the grip? Read the rest of this entry »