RosterResource Chat – 4/23/26

Jason Martinez: Welcome to the RosterResource Live chat! As always, a lot of cool stuff happening around the league. Of course Abrams and Wood are making JR Ritchie’s MLB debut difficult.

Here we go …

Sully: Assuming health (for conversation sake) Yankees will have a surplus of guys who can plug into a LOT of ML rotations right now once Rodon-Cole are back.

Sully: Keep them all for depth or spin a couple off for other needs?

Jon Becker: It’s always a good problem to have when you have seven legit starting options in Cole, Rodón, Fried, Schlittler, Warren, Weathers, Gil. I put them in rough order of how secure they should feel with a rotation spot (assuming health), and really the top four are locks to stay. Warren’s been great and Weathers has been more up-and-down but the stuff is undeniable. Optioning Gil is the most obvious move for one spot, but it’ll be interesting to see what they do with six SP options. Skip/piggyback Schlittler sometimes to manage innings? Put Weathers in the pen when there are days off and going with six SP for a stretch doesn’t really make sense?

Doc Estes: How often do you update the Closer chart and how are the “relievers on the rise” determined?

Jason Martinez: For the most notable stuff, it’s up-to-the-minute. If there’s a late-inning situation that’s up in the air (most teams), I’ll update during the games if usage or results necessitate a change. At the latest, I’ll make changes as I review the box scores at the end of the day.

For “Relievers on the Rise”, some are obvious. Lots of hype and they’re not allowing any runs over 3+ appearances. And I usually will leave the ROTR tag on a pitcher until the next time they’ve allowed a run. Now that we’re a few weeks into the season, I can view a leaderboard’s last 14 days and pick out some under the radar guys.

Brew Thirty!: Although he’s only had about 100 PAs in AA, Made is running an elite BB and K% and looks more than comfortable. Given the state of affairs on the left side of the Brewers’ infield, do you think he could bypass AAA and make see a callup later this year or is 2027 a pretty fixed timeline?

Jon Becker: Not impossible, but pretty improbable. Konnor Griffin was the most aggressive promotion to the majors (as far as age is concerned) since Juan Soto, and Made would be even more aggressive considering he’s yet to touch Triple-A. If they want to shake it up I have to imagine Cooper Pratt is ahead of Made in line since he just signed that extension (though he’s been awful in AAA, albeit in just 15 games), and Jett Williams is in Triple-A (and also struggling) too.

Sal’s Mom: After Kyle Nicolas’s blowup the other day, do we see Mey, Antone, or do they activate Ferguson?

Jason Martinez: Ferguson hasn’t even started a rehab assignment so I don’t think he’s anywhere close to returning. No one really lighting it up down in AAA. More than anything, they need a multi-inning guy so I can see them bringing up one of the starters (Franco, Petty, Aguiar) for a bit to fill the long relief role.

Antone will be a great story once he gets back. He’s only pitching 1-inning stints right now, however, and they also can’t option him to the minors once they call him up (out of options). So I don’t think that’s happening in the near future.

Doc Estes: Brandon Lockridge, Carlos Cortes, Leody Tavares, Jonny Deluca: any of these outfielders going to give full season production?

Jon Becker: Our rest of season playing time projections that Jason mostly runs (you can find these on the player pages or RosterResource pages or Depth Chart pages) project DeLuca for 340 more PA, Cortes 189, Taveras 173, Lockridge 120. That’s a lot for DeLuca but the Rays have really liked him whenever he’s been healthy since they got him in that trade, and they’re so aggressive with platooning he’ll soak up as many PA against LHP as they can get him, plus some RHP. Cortes should still play fairly often against RHP when Rooker is back but the OF is crowded, same with Taveras when O’Neill is back. Lockridge gets pretty far down the depth chart with a healthy Chourio and Yelich.

Bud: Condon is the Rockies starting 1B on June 1st, true or false?

Jason Martinez: False. I think they wait until the 2nd half. Rumfield and Johnston have been good. I think they’ll get a look at Blaine Crim before long as a right-handed hitting option. Rockies recently said (I think it was DePodesta) that they want Condon to get more comfortable in the OF. He’s made 8 starts in RF after not playing there at all last season. With Doyle and Beck both struggling, that might be his clearest path.

Michael V.: Any scenario where Pedro Ramirez is called up by the Cubs this season?

Jon Becker: Two if not three starting OF getting injured, I guess? Alcántara’s got to be ahead of him in line if there’s significant PA available, and ahead of Alcántara in line is Shaw. It’s cool to see Ramírez crushing it in his first taste of Triple-A but  I’d want to see a little larger of a sample before strongly considering a call-up.

Jason Martinez: By the way, Ramirez is No. 1 overall on the RosterResource MiLB Power Rankings. And he was already there before his 8-RBI game yesterday.

https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/minor-league-power-rankings?…

Alec: Does Detroit go six man once Verlander is back? Can they justify sending Montero to Toledo or long relief based on how he’s pitched so far?

Jason Martinez: Depending on when Verlander comes back, maybe they can for 1-2 turns in the rotation with 6 starters. But Montero is a very valuable SP6 and he can’t be that without starting games on a regular basis. As long as everyone is healthy, I’d expect him to continue starting in AAA until much later in the season when they can use him to strengthen the ‘pen. He’ll be out of options after 2026 so the Tigers will take advantage of that when necessary.

Rob A: It seems like the Mets are breaking the spirit of the 1 option remaining by yo-yo ing Ronny Mo this way — calling him back before the options “vests” for lack of a better term. What is the history of this rule? I may be missing something.

Jon Becker: The rule is that a player burns an option year if he spends at least 20 days in the minors over the course of the season; the days can be non-consecutive. He’s already been down for 20 by my count so he’ll be out of options next year no matter what, and I doubt he lasts too long on the MLB roster anyway.

mike: How long would our patience last for Matt Wallner at this point? He looks like last year…..and he cannot play D this year at all. Thanks, (he still has a minor league option)

Jason Martinez: He’s had some huge months as a major leaguer so  I think they’re giving him some time to figure it out. He could post a .900 OPS in May and it wouldn’t be a surprise. But because he also ended last year in a slump (.140 BA in final 66 PAs), the chances of a demotion have increased since he hasn’t been productive since last August. It would be a major shake-up so I think they want to be sure before doing something big like swapping Wallner for Emmanuel Rodriguez.

Doc Estes: Any thoughts on Cole Ragans?  I’ve heard it floated he may be injured?

Jon Becker: He got hit in the hand/wrist area two starts ago and then was awful in his next start (eight walks!) but it’s not like they would have let him pitch if his pitching hand was that compromised. If I recall correctly, it was pretty cold in The Bronx during that start and while I don’t want to chalk it up entirely to the weather, it’s certainly a factor. I’m on medium alert for now but it’s worth monitoring.

Sal’s Mom: How many bullpens in the MLB would you take over CIN? They’ve gotta be top 10, right?

Jason Martinez: I’d go SDP, ATL (with a healthy Iglesias), and then CIN. The psychological impact of having to face Mason Miller in the 9th inning (and Adam/Morejon before him) is why the Padres are so good despite having a decimated rotation and a terrible offense. I don’t completely trust Pagan, but the Reds might have the deepest bullpen in baseball. 7 reliable relievers who can pitch in high leverage.

Brew Thirty!: Two teams both win the same number of games. One, however, overperformed while the other one underperformed. Which one do you think is more fun to watch?

Jon Becker: I guess they’d be exactly as fun to watch for a fully rational/unbiased observer/fan, but since nobody like that truly exists, definitely the over-performing team. Winning 84 games and making the playoffs when you’re projected to win 78 is way cooler/less anxiety-inducing for fans of that team than being projected to win the division with 91 wins and sneaking into October with 84.

Cy Luebke: How long before we see Giolito make a start at Petco? What do you think the corresponding roster move(s) could be? Yuki, Song and Canning should be back soon right? Thanks guys!

Jason Martinez: I read that Giolito has to be called up within 25 days so I’d expect him around mid-May. Canning should be back 1st week of May. Waldron is the odd man out. If everyone is healthy when Giolito is ready, then it’s between Buehler and Marquez. So their next 3-4 starts will be an audition to be the SP5.

Padres lineup is desperate for another lefty bat. It’s probably Song. No other internal options. He’s heating up in AAA so that’s a good sign. Castellanos is probably the odd man out very soon.

Dr. Oneil Cruz, Esq.: Small sample size caveat’s obviously apply, but Cruz just *looks* more comfortable against lefties, and is running a career high barrel rate and career low whiff rate against them. You guys slapped the platoon label on him to start the year. How long does he have to do this for him to shed it permanently?

Jon Becker: We removed the platoon label from Cruz pretty early on in the season and he’s not giving us any reason to change it back anytime soon. Maybe he crashes back down to earth against them and there’s soft platooning (not starting against the elite lefties) but he’s shown more than enough to start against most of them in perpetuity now. Totally agreed with you that he looks way more comfortable, the swings and even takes are so much more confident.

War2D2: Jason! Jon! Jonson?! The Cubs have a decision to make at the end of the season, with 2/3rds of their outfield hitting free agency. If you put on your imaginary POBO hat for a moment, what do you do? Do you sign one of Happ/Suzuki and give Shaw the other field? Do you drop both and bring up Kevin Alcantara and have 3 potential gold gloves in the OF (and 3 potential sub-100 wRC+ bats)? Or do you pull a Dombrowski and run it back regardless of what it costs? (Probably worth noting that 3/5ths of their rotation is also hitting free agency)

Jason Martinez: A lot of $$$ coming off the books and they should be able to sign both Suzuki and Happ if they wanted, but they’ll have to decide what their priorities will be. Rotation would still be in pretty good shape … Steele, Boyd, Cabrera … but they’ll have to add at least 1 starter to the mix.

I think a lot will depend on how they view Shaw and whether he is a legit starting RF. So far, so good. But they’ll need the full season to determine whether he should be locked in to that spot in 2027 and beyond. I don’t think they’ll go another season with him as the super-utility guy.

Sully: Given reliever volatility, is it smart the Yankees just try a few bullpen fliers to start the year and then build it out near the deadline?

Jon Becker: Not that they should build a roster to appease the fans, but fans might riot if they take that approach without a Proven Closer and Guys Who Have Been There in the bullpen. Reliever volatility is real but it’s not as if there’s total randomness there, and in their bullpen specifically everyone’s performed roughly as expected. Bednar’s often a slow starter, Cruz isn’t giving up hits but is walking and striking guys out (very typical for him), Hill is rock solid, Doval is his usual maddening self. Headrick has been a really nice arm for them but even he wasn’t really a flier, they’ve liked him a ton since last year. He just was optionable to the minors (and still is) so they took advantage of that.

Guest: is there any pattern to short side platoon hitters getting more playing time, besides keep hitting well and have an injury ahead of you on the depth chart?

Jason Martinez: Not really. Not a lot of patterns when it comes to lineups since they change so often. But for a young and unproven player who is only getting starts vs LHP, that’s clearly their audition for more starts vs RHP. Jeremiah Jackson crushing LHP probably helped him get everyday at-bats but it’s more because of injuries. Austin Martin is crushing LHP but he’s still not playing much vs RHP. But I’m sure it could help his cause at some point.

Sal’s Mom: Ashcraft should be closing over Pagan, right? Gotta go with the guy with elite stuff that also never gives up dingers over the career 1.5 hr/9 guy right?

Jon Becker: Pagán earned the role as their closer last year and is getting paid like it without doing much of anything to show that he shouldn’t have the job. If I remember correctly, five of his six runs allowed were in one game, a non-save opportunity. If I’m Francona I love having guys like Ashcraft and Santillan to come in with runners on base, and Ashcraft has the 4+ out ability I wouldn’t want to lose if he’s the closer.

Daniel Lo: Next pitching prospect to get the call? Robby Snelling has to be close.

Jason Martinez: Speaking of top pitching prospects, JR Ritchie gave up solo homers to Wood and Abrams and nothing else thru 6 innings. And is now in line for the Win in his MLB debut. Maybe he sticks, although Strider’s close to a return so he might be headed back to AAA until the path is clearer.

Snelling has done what he needs to do. Janson Junk threw 5 shutout innings yesterday but that might not be enough to hold off Snelling much longer. They gave Paddack $4MM (a lot of $$$ for the Marlins) so they’re not going to DFA him this quickly. My guess is Snelling is up in May and Junk will be back in the ‘pen to make room.

Aside from Snelling, I’d guess that Riley Cornelio (Nationals) could be next to get the call.

Umps with six-pack ABS: Since Jon’s a North Shore kid, Dear Frank’s or Tony’s Subs?

Umps with six-pack ABS: I’m actually now hungry for lunch and on the North Shore. Thoughts?

Jon Becker: I grew up in Deerfield so VERY familiar with both of these places. Enjoy them both but Tony’s has a special place in my heart because I’d often go there to grab a sandwich when I had the last period of the day free senior year of high school and then I’d go back for baseball games. Not sure what suburb you’re in right now but my favorites when I’m back up there are Josh’s and Grill House in Northbrook, The Peanut Gallery in Lake Forest, and Walker Bros. if you’re in the mood for breakfasty food. And now I’M hungry (despite having had lunch already).

Keith: Thanks Jason and Jon. Whenever Jesus Made is called up for good, do you think he goes to 2B (with Turang sliding to short) SS or 3B?

Jason Martinez: I don’t even think the Brewers know yet. They gave Cooper Pratt the contract extension, which is a big deal, and he’s only played SS in AAA. Jesus Made played 2B and 3B last season but he’s only played SS in 2026. The answer to your question is going to become clearer once we start seeing those 2 play a different position on at least a semi-regular basis. But as long as they aren’t, we can assume that Turang is staying at 2B and any change in 2026 will involve SS and/or 3B.

Jason Martinez: That will do it for today. Thank you for joining us! We’ll be back next Thursday.