RosterResource Chat – 6/5/25

Jason Martinez: Welcome to the RosterResource Live Chat! We have officially moved from Friday to Thursday, allowing us to focus on this chat on the slowest roster day of the week instead of the busiest. As long as there are questions coming in, we can stick around longer than the normal 60 minutes.

Here we go …

Lowe Distribution System: Ha-seong Kim getting reps at 2B in rehab.  How much do you think he plays there in the majors?

Jon Becker: I don’t think much at all, it’s just part of his rehab/throwing progression. Can’t recall seeing this done with a position player on arm/elbow/shoulder (in his case) rehab but the idea is to give him less challenging and shorter throws before sliding him over to short for the rest of his rehab.

Red Sox: Blaze Jordan coming out of nowhere through the Red Sox system. Any chance he’s their 1B by season end?

Jason Martinez: I actually added him to the playing time projections yesterday … https://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=ALL&teamid=3

Gave him only a few % just because anything can happen when there are like 8 options right now. Interesting profile (has some pop; doesn’t strike out much) and at least has a chance to force himself onto the Red Sox’ radar if he continues to mash at AAA.

Pokey Reese: Roki Sasaki worth stashing? What do we expect upon return?

Jon Becker: With the disclaimer/caveat that this isn’t a fantasy chat, neither of us play fantasy, and we don’t know your league/roster situation, I’d say yes as a general matter, though I’m not expecting much different from him when he comes back. I don’t think he was dealing with the shoulder all season so I don’t think he’s going to be automatically pumping 97+ when he’s back. He and the Dodgers have a lot of work ahead of them making his non-splitter pitches viable, work that’s best done in the offseason .

Fantasy Fiend: Any dudes that could be in line to become set up/high leverage guys and get a lot of holds that I should keep an eye on?

Jason Martinez: Two guys that I most recently tagged as “Reliever On The Rise” on the Closer Depth Chart are Brad Lord (WSN) and Braxton Ashcraft (PIT) … https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/closer-depth-chart

And I’ll probably take a much closer look later today to see if a few others should be.

Brandon Hyde: Predict the Orioles 2026 opening day lineup — not projecting free agent pick ups, just the current churn of roster? Is Bradfield CF?

Jon Becker: If you’re holding me only to internal guys, I’ll say:

Holliday 2B
Adley C
Henderson SS
Westburg 3B
Cowser CF
O’Neill LF (he’s not opting out at this rate)
Mountcastle DH
Kjerstad RF
Mayo 1B

I’m a big fan of Bradfield but he just hasn’t been able to stay on the field (only 23 games this year in AA), so going from that to Opening Day CF next year doesn’t strike me as very likely.

Jason Martinez: I’ll only add that trading Mountcastle (if not this season, in the offseason) should open at-bats for Basallo at the DH spot.

Guest: what’s the RR standard for a platoon, or is it by feel? Barger was sitting vs LHP, then got 3 straight starts, then sits again today. I see currently he’s not marked as in one, I assume that happened at some point during the 3 in a row?

Jason Martinez: I look at every lineup each day and determine as best as possible if that’s going to be the plan moving forward or just a one-day thing for some reason or another. In this case, I’m going with “one-day thing for some reason or another”. Blue Jays have faced a lot of lefties lately and Barger has been in there for most of them. For an early game facing another LHP today, I think it’s just an opportunity to give him a rest so I won’t make a change. But we’ll see what happens next time.

M. Elias: Andrew Kittredge has looked good so far — should/will he become the primary set up guy, or sharing duties with cano? Seems like he may have better stuff. Or maybe he slides into ‘high leverage whenever it happens’ role?

Jon Becker: He’s their most reliable setup guy for sure, but teams are by and large going away from “primary setup men” anyway. When starters only go 5-6 innings it’s more a question of “who’s in my circle of trust to get to the closer in the ninth?” and “who are my guys to use when we’re trailing?” with of course other considerations for who needs work, who’s pitched too much lately, who’s got something nagging, etc. That bullpen doesn’t have much variance (Bautista himself has looked the shakiest at times, and he’s the closer!) so there’s going to be a lot of mixing and matching depending on matchups and freshness.

Bullock: There are zero ways the Guardians can get Santana, Manzardo, and Fry in the lineup at the same time, right?  Seems such a waste to have Fry as a small-side platoon

Jason Martinez: Correct. I think Fry is back sooner than expected so the Guardians had to plan in the offseason to be without him for at least the 1st half and likely as a DH-only when he returned. Haven’t heard anything definitively about Fry’s ability to throw, but I wouldn’t expect him in the OF or C anytime soon. So that situation probably isn’t changing barring an injury or trade.

Chicks Dig the Fundamentals: Pete Crow-Armstrong has started every game at CF for the Cubs, and they really don’t have another obvious CF candidate on the roster. If PCA missed time, who is the the most likely to get the lion’s share of the CF reps?

Jon Becker: Depends how much time, I think. If it’s a “he’s sick and he’s out for a day” or “he’s banged up so he’ll miss a couple days but we’re not making an IL move” it would probably just be Bruján out there. If he had to hit the IL then Alcántara is the most plausible call-up since he’s on the 40-man, though he’s been below-average at AAA. Christian Franklin is also at AAA and playing plenty of CF, though not on the 40-man.

Deep-Fried Twinkies: Word is Pablo López will miss 2-3 months with David Festa getting the call to take the spot in the rotation. If another Twins starter goes down, who is next up from AAA in your opinion? Simeon Woods-Richardson, Travis Adams, and Marco Raya are all on the 40-man; Andrew Morris isn’t but he’s another option from St. Paul as well.

Jason Martinez: Boring answer but they’d probably just go back to SWR. Of all their SP prospects, only Morris has been pitching 5+ innings in his starts. I guess they’re being cautious with all the others with a lot of 3-4 inning outings. So, SWR or Morris would be my guess. If it’s just a spot start, I can even see Dobnak getting a shot.

Lowe Distribution System: Assuming Devin Williams is still combustible, who’d be next up?

Jon Becker: Cruz has been great all year and (homer to Manzardo on a pretty decent pitch notwithstanding) looked great yesterday in his return from the IL, and they’ve got the depth in the bullpen to withstand taking him out of his fireman role and installing him as the closer if Williams just can’t string together a few good outings in a row.

Jim: Should Kristian Campbell go down to AAA for a bit? Looks like he needs a reset.

Jason Martinez: Campbell probably does need a reset. But not sure there is another option that is worth risking him losing some confidence if demoted. I guess swapping Campbell for Vaughn Grissom could be an option. I think they’re hoping that moving Campbell to the bottom of the lineup takes some pressure off and gets him going. But if demoting him helps get Roman Anthony to the majors (move Rafaela to 2B?), maybe it’s worth sending him to AAA.

AH: When will the yankees start platooning goldschmidt? He hasn’t hit against RHP at all

Jon Becker: I knew he was mashing lefties, but didn’t realize how drastic the platoon splits were until I checked… 313 wRC+ against lefties and 88 against righties! Whenever Jasson’s finger feels better I think they should start considering sitting Goldy more against righties, and if Stanton looks good upon his return they’re almost going to have rest Goldy a lot more. I’m sure Goldschmidt wouldn’t love that but they need to do what’s best to win games, of course.

George: How would you go about the Nats OF logjam? At some point soon, Wood, Crews, Hassell, Lile, Young, and Call could all reasonable be competing for major league OF ABs. Especially if Bell stays locked into DH until at least the deadline.

Jason Martinez: Hassell and Lile both have a sub-.300 OBP and it sounds like Crews is gonna be out a while. So, I’d think this is a late-season question where the Nats are really trying to get a better idea of whether or not they should add an OF this offseason to go with Wood and Crews. Can Young hit enough to be more than a 4th OF. Hassell and Lile are young so their struggles can be expected. But both should have a good chance in Aug/Sept to prove they can be a starter in 2026.

NTK: Bradish is head to the MiLB soon, any chance he gets called up in July, or do you think August is the soonest?

Jon Becker: Even August might be early — sounds like he’s not even going to throw live BP until early July, and then from there he’ll need at least a month on rehab (and TJ patients can get 60 days instead of 30 on rehab). So maybe mid August to early September, and considering that they’re unlikely to be in contention they might not want to push him too hard to bring him back this year at all.

Lowe Distribution System: A reasonable team would trade Taylor Ward this year.  Do you think the Angels do it?

Jason Martinez: Reasonable strategy, in my opinion … Don’t shop him right now because they’re only 5 games out in the division. But keep an open mind because they are 5 games under .500 and set the price tag very high. However, Ward’s value is peaking because of his power surge over last month and they’d risk it going down if they wait until late July.

In all likelihood, they’re going to wait until mid-to-late July and trade him if they determine that they are a non-contender. You never know with that division. They’re not a bad team. If Joyce and Stephenson were healthy, that bullpen would be scary and I’d like their chances. But they’re not healthy and the bullpen is not the strength it would’ve been otherwise.

Dan: How much do you think losing a strong hit tool/great approach guy like Freddie Freeman is responsible for the failings of the Braves’ lineup? Freddie’s a line drives over the shortstop guy in BP and I think was probably a bit of a coach on the field. Feels like their priority should be getting a strong hit tool in that lineup. Maybe even if it means trading a guy like Harris…Tell me if I’m being dumb though, please.

Jon Becker: I think it’s easy to look at what Freeman is doing in contrast with what the Braves are doing and say that Freeman would fix a lot, but remember, they had one of the best offenses in post-integration MLB history in 2023 without Freeman. I don’t want to completely discount the value that Freeman can have as an example for other players or something of an extra coach, but at the end of the day he’s not standing in the box for Harris to make the swing decisions for him.

Tito: Where is Noelvi Marte ? And When will he return to my lineup ?

Jason Martinez: He had an oblique injury in early May and still hasn’t even started a rehab assignment. So it probably wasn’t a mild strain. I’d still expect him back by end of this month. Even with Jeimer Candelario back soon, I’d expect Marte to get the starting 3B job back when he’s healthy. After that 10-RBI game, his confidence was high and he was pretty good for about 2 weeks before the injury.

Sacremento Sadness: A’s cleaned house over the last couple weeks, significantly shaking up the roster and lineup, but they’ve continued to lose. Any last-ditch levers you see them trying to pull to stop the bleeding? Absolutely nothing has worked so far.

Jon Becker: They’re kinda running out of levers to pull, right? They got aggressive with Kurtz (who was heating up before getting hurt) when they actually were winning, Muncy and Clarke haven’t hit (though Clarke is delightful to watch in center), and the pitching pipeline isn’t really there at the high levels, though I suppose they could bring Luis Morales up. A Gage Jump recall would be a whole other level of aggressiveness but maybe they decide to do that, anyway.

Broken Bat: Alcantara is still a Cub at year end because of the Tucker unknown, right?

Jason Martinez: I don’t think they’re looking at it that way. At least they shouldn’t. They have the resources to re-sign Tucker or add another impact player to replace him in the lineup. So I think they’d trade Alcantara if the return was a starting pitcher who could  pitch Game 1 or 2 of a playoff series. I love their roster. But, looking ahead, I think they’re missing that frontline guy to pair with Imanaga in a playoff series. I also think they have a few other really good trade chips (Ballesteros, Caissie, etc) so they probably don’t have to trade Alcantara to get that SP.

Pete Alonso: What type of contract do you think I’m looking at in the offseason? I’m really having a bounceback season + I won’t have the qualifying offer.

Jon Becker: If he keeps this up, I think the Freeman contract with the Dodgers (6y/$162M) is a decent comp, but Alonso will be re-entering FA a year younger than Freeman was for his FA, plus inflation has to be a factor, so maybe something like 7y/$196M at the top end of possibility? I just don’t see 1B contracts getting considerably bigger any time soon and teams aren’t going to completely forget about Alonso’s 2024, either.

Yeah Well Hiura Towel: How long a leash does Sawyer get in the Tigers’ rotation?

Jason Martinez: Should be at least 3-4 starts unless they want to start doing bullpen games. Doesn’t sound like Cobb or Olson are close to returning. Jobe seems like he’ll be out at least another 6 weeks. Manning has been pitching out of the bullpen in AAA for the last few weeks.

Broken Bat: what are the %’s Strider can get back to 97 mph?

Jon Becker: He was up around there in his first inning of his first start against the Jays, so it’s in there, and I’d expect it back more and more often as the year goes on, the further removed from the surgery he gets. The bigger issue with him has been fastball command, just can’t get by at 94-95 down the middle the same way he did at 98-99. The shape of his fastball is still plenty good enough to get whiffs at the top of the zone at the lower velocity, though.

J: How do you think things play out for Horton this year? He’s looked the part but just has so few career innings.

Jason Martinez: Like I mentioned earlier, I think the Cubs should target a frontline SP at the deadline. Barring any other injuries, that would take a lot of pressure off of Horton and the Cubs having to make a decision about his usage down the stretch and into the playoffs. Ideally, he’s a guy who is still available during the post-season but the Cubs would be able to use him out of the bullpen. Probably not ideal if they need him to start games in Sept/Oct.

Beano: Should the Dodgers put Casparius in the rotation? Make him the closer? Leave him be?

Jon Becker: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. They’re about to get Kopech and Yates back, too, so maybe Casparius is needed for multiple innings less often and maybe they can tamp down his workload a little bit so he’s not gassed by August.

AH: Is there any chance that off-days will be accounted for in the bullpen usage charts so that we don’t have it looking like pitchers were on the IL/in AAA for all but one day with a gap on an off-day?

Jason Martinez: It’s one of those weird things that’s not ideal, but probably not an easy enough fix for such a small issue. Priority is to just list pitch counts for AAA games whenever we do have access to that data.

Yeah Well Hiura Towel: Are Zebby and Festa now both rotation mainstays until they falter?

Jon Becker: Yeah, absolutely, and with López out 8-12 weeks they’ve both got a lot of runway to have a hiccup or even downright bad start here and there.

Beano: What do you make of all the moves in SF? Will DJohnson, J Encarnacion play regularly? Will D Smith 1b-block Eldridge? Will Adames ever recall how to hit?

Jason Martinez: Sometimes, you just have to shake things up because things are going so bad. And adding Johnson, a journeyman who was playing in the Mexican League a month ago, was probably the difference in yesterday’s win. So it worked out great. Of course, there’s also a chance he’s not on the roster in a month. But, for now, he gives them another OF option with Yastrzemski struggling. Smith at 1B makes sense because he won’t be terrible and he also won’t block Eldridge if he’s forcing his way onto the roster in a couple months.

Showbusiness77: what do we think the Royals do with their 6 healthy starters?

Jon Becker: Might be time to think about shifting Lorenzen to the bullpen if Cameron keeps pitching well (he’s through 5.1 shutout innings as I type this). He’s got experience there and has always been down to do whatever’s asked of him to help his teams win, so it’s not like it would go over badly, either. (They should also think about letting him hit.)

Scott: Best bet for an under-the-radar big name that could get moved this year as we start to move into trade season?

Jason Martinez: That’s tough to do, at least when having a discussion with baseball fans who play close attention to baseball news on daily basis. Any good players on a bad team will be discussed in rumors. So it’s easier to look at teams that are surprisingly bad — Braves, Rangers, Red Sox — and have fun looking at their payroll pages and which players might be available if things don’t turn around in a month.

https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/payroll/braves
https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/payroll/rangers
https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/payroll/red-sox

Marcell Ozuna, Mahle, Aroldis, Whitlock would be interesting names on the trade block. Those are the names that stood out at first glance.

Rocky: Between c, 1b and DH, does Liam Hicks play full time vs RH?

Jon Becker: That seems to be the case right now for sure. He doesn’t hit the ball hard but he optimizes his contact really well, pulls the ball in the air a good amount, and doesn’t strike out much with a healthy walk rate. Nice player to get out of the Rule 5 draft.

Fantasy Friend: Back to the relievers on the rise — any middle relief types on Top 10 teams that are worth snagging in fantasy to get extra H/S opportunities plus the potential to slide into more trust set up roles with others goign down with injuries?

Jason Martinez: A couple of the Padres’ late-inning guys seem to be running on fumes lately, especially Jason Adam. Not sure if Shildt ever gives them a break or 1-2 of them get an IL stint at some point. But Sean Reynolds and David Morgan are next up for a high-leverage role.

Mariners’ late-inning situation is also unsettled outside of Muñoz/Brash. There’s an opportunity for someone to step up. Jackson Kowar has a chance.

RAGBRAI: Does Milwaukee do anything to change their IF or do they hope Durbin and Ortiz start picking it up from the slow starts they’ve had?

Jon Becker: Anthony Seigler is having his best pro year ever down in Triple-A and has been playing all over the place (both at catcher and shortstop this year!) so I wonder if they’re toying with the idea of a call-up. That said, Durbin and Ortiz have actually hit pretty decently lately so they might just stay the course with them as long as they keep winning anyway.

Jason Martinez: I was just looking at Seigler’s page before Jon took the question. Other than his defensive versatility and his really good numbers in AAA, he’s also listed as a (S) batter and (S) thrower. Not sure that’s useful during a game, but it’s a fun tidbit. Giving him everyday at-bats at 2B would force Turang to SS, though, so I wonder if he could handle 3B.

Jason Martinez: That will do it for today. Thanks for joining us on this new day of the week for us. We’ll be back next Thursday. Have a great rest of the week!