RosterResource Chat – 7/3/25

Jason Martinez: Welcome to the RosterResource Live Chat! Pretty sure your favorite team (if you have one) has been horrible at some point this season. Sorry if this is happening right now. It could get better. If your team is doing great, there’s a good chance they’ll be terrible in a week or two. That’s just the baseball gods at work.

1: Has Nick Martinez saved his spot in the rotation? Or back to the bullpen?

Jon Becker: For sure, he’s on a nice roll and there’s nobody knocking down the door to take his spot. Greene just threw a 20-pitch simulated inning yesterday so he won’t be back until after the All-Star break, and if Burns continues to have issues with pitch tipping like he did in his last start, he’d be the one losing the spot.

Josh B: Any chance Lazaro Montes gets the call this year?

Jason Martinez: Now that he’s in Double-A, anything can happen. Especially with the M’s having one iffy lineup spot (Canzone currently getting a shot). Julio had about 200 PA in Double-A and then made his MLB debut at age 21. Montes just arrived in Double-A and won’t be 21 until October. But if he continues to crush the ball (he’s 10-for 30 with 3 HR, 2 3B, 1 2B, and 8 BB so far), I wouldn’t rule it out in August/September.

Chris: How do you see it shaking out in Sacramento for Colby Thomas? Seems like they are pretty locked into Kurtz/Soderstrom/Rooker/Butler at 1B/DH/Corner OF.

Jon Becker: Kotsay was pretty clear when he got called up that he’d primarily come off the bench against lefty relievers, though he then started him against a righty (albeit one with reverse splits, IIRC, in Ryan Pepiot) in his second game in the majors. I think for now it’ll be a soft platoon with Soderstrom and a lot of coming in on defense late in games.

Drew: What if it turns out that Luis Ortiz gets banned for life for betting on games while he was with the Pirates. Can the Guardians file a grievance?

Jason Martinez: Would be quite the scandal and I think the Pirates would have a legitimate argument. Not sure if MLB would just ask the teams to negotiate some sort of compensation. Would be tricky.

Matthew Knauer: What do the Yankees do with Ben Rice? Sorta stuck with Stanton and Goldschmidt, but Rice looks like one of the game’s best hitters under the hood. Can he catch well enough? But that’s also backed up with Wells and Escarra

Jon Becker: I think he’ll continue to play plenty, whether behind the plate, at first, or DHing. Goldschmidt is really slumping and Stanton is going to need load management for the rest of his career, probably, so it’s not even that big of a puzzle. Rice has started 8 of the last 10 games against righties and I’d expect that pattern to hold.

Dave: How do you see the Rays infield shaking out once Kim is activated?

Jason Martinez: Should be pretty straightforward. Curtis Mead to AAA. Caballero continues in a super-utility role with regular at-bats vs LHP. Walls remains valuable as a backup SS at least until they feel Kim is ready to play just about everyday.

Lord Thunder: Did Bubba Chandler’s (ongoing) wild streak end his chances of being called up this year?

Jon Becker: No, not at all — there’s still a lot of season left. Misiorowski walked six guys in one of his final appearances before being called up, for example. That’s not to say that the Pirates will just ignore Chandler’s wildness and call him up right now anyway, but there’s plenty of runway for him to get back on track.

Hazmat Corntail: How shaky is Suarez in SD? The recent run has been scary and even yesterday you felt he was a pitch away from blowing the whole thing.

Jason Martinez: I have him listed as “On The Hot Seat” since Sunday’s blown save. Shildt/Preller are super loyal, which can be a good thing over the course of a season. But this is a very average team that will either barely squeak in to the playoffs or could miss out by a couple games. Every game they lose because the high-leverage relievers wear down or because they have 3-5 guys in the lineup who can’t hit at all will hurt their chances.

Suarez isn’t their biggest issue but I think Adam/Morejon/Estrada are fine as a closer committee if they allow Suarez to pitch in lower-leverage games for a bit. The issue is that he kind of is what he is. No breaking ball. Hitters eventually figure him out each season. He was shaky at the end of last season and rebounded in the playoffs. I prefer one primary closer and set leverage roles, but maybe this group is better if they go with best matchups each inning.

Kyle: What are your thoughts on Tovar going forward? He tore the cover off the ball before he got hurt. Trust him again coming back?

Jon Becker: He’s going to be a starting shortstop for a long time because of his glove, but guys who swing as much as he does and walk as little are going to be inherently streaky. I think if he’s truly healthy upon his return I don’t really expect anything different from last season, i.e., super talented but very frustrating at times.

1: If Megill comes back healthy this year do you think he rejoins the rotation?

Jason Martinez: If he comes back — elbow sprain is not good — I think there’s at least a chance he finishes as the No. 5 behind … Manaea, Senga, Peterson, Holmes. But so many options, including Blackburn and Montas, and one of their young guys could emerge (Tidwell, Sproat, McLean).

Slim: Estury Ruiz anything? How do you think he plays out in LA?

Jon Becker: He was doing pretty well in the PCL and, as expected, stealing a ton of bases, but I don’t think he’s getting the call (presumably to replace Muncy) to play much at all. Probably just a PH against lefties and pinch-runner late in games.

Danny T.: What do the Dodgers do at 3B if Muncy missed extended time with the knee injury?

Jason Martinez: The fact that they’re probably calling up Esteury to replace him means that Kiké, Miguel Rojas, and maybe Edman could fill in at 3B. At least for now. Dodgers don’t need to have any sense of urgency. They appear to have zero competition in the NL West despite having like 20 pitchers on the IL. If Muncy is out for more than a month (or for the season), I think Alex Freeland could start playing regularly at 3B in AAA (he’s started 10 games there this season so far) and could get the call in a few weeks or they could just address it at the trade deadline.

Lowe Distribution System: Who’s next in line for Cleveland’s rotation now that Ortiz is going away for presumably a long while?

Jon Becker: Cantillo is getting the start tonight, but it’s unclear if he’d definitely stay in the rotation going forward or if he was just the freshest option for today. But he was solid as a reliever earlier this year and has made four good enough starts at AAA for him to probably get at least a couple chances. Vince Velasquez(!) has actually been their best arm at Columbus.

Isaac Collins: Think he gets close to everyday at bats for rest of season?

Jason Martinez: No reason to make a change right now (Collins has been very good offensively/defensively) and there’s not really any competition, especially with Garrett Mitchell out for the season. We’ll see what happens when Blake Perkins returns. He’s been a very good CF and has looked like he should be an everyday player at times. They could also give Yelich more time in LF to open a spot for another bat (1B/DH) but I don’t think that’s under consideration. As long as Collins continues to play well, he’ll be in LF a lot more often than not.

Closers: Will either Reid Detmers or Garrett Whitlock become the closer for their respective te4ams next year? Both the Sox and the Angel currently have geriatric (albeit effective) closers right now.

Jon Becker: Detmers seems likelier than Whitlock to me, since he’s been a 3-4 outs guy for months now and has really taken to that role. Whitlock on the other hand is often working multiple innings and they seem to really like him in that role. So I’ll say Justin Slaten gets first crack at the job next year if they don’t add one in the offseason.

Rocky: Who closes for the Pirates if Santana and Bednar are traded?

Jason Martinez: Both are under team control thru 2026 so they don’t have to trade either. But, at this point with so few teams likely to be sellers, my guess is that they trade Bednar, Santana, and Caleb Ferguson. I think the Pirates would lover for Holderman to regain his pre-injuries form and take hold of the job. But he’s been bad this season when healthy (or maybe he’s just not been healthy when active). Braxton Ashcraft would probably be next in line for saves. Isaac Mattson has also been very good.

Jackie: What do you think the asking price for Finnegan is? not to close, but as a fan of a contender I feel like hes still a good piece

Jon Becker: I don’t think he’ll cost much at all as a non-elite closer, albeit one who’s legitimately been better than he was last year. But he’s also 33 and had a great first half last year too before cratering in the second, so teams will probably be wary.

Logan’s run: L. O’Hoppe may be the streakiest catcher in MLB. Lots of power, few walks… think he’ll ever figure it out?

Jason Martinez: If he was an elite defender, I think he would be one of those guys that was still super valuable because he can hit 30 HR. But he’s not an elite defender. He’s struggled behind the plate. And if you were watching every game, the 4% BB rate and 34% K rate stands out much more than the HRs. He’s still young enough to think he can improve. But probably needs to be paired with someone throughout his career who can complement him (lefty batter with plate discipline/strong defender) and probably plays a bit more.

Will Graham: Jacob Young hold full time at bats the rest of the season?

Jon Becker: I don’t think he’ll have regular playing time when Crews comes back unless he starts hitting a lot better. Call’s been very solid all year so I’d expect a Wood-Crews-Call outfield. Maybe Young starts against lefties with Josh Bell out of the lineup and one of the outfielders sliding to DH.

Lowe Distribution System: Chase DeLauter is beating up AAA but at any moment might have his foot fall off.  Cleveland’s has two empty lineup spots.  They should call him up while he’s healthy, yes?

Jason Martinez: Nolan Jones is showing some signs of life (111 wRC+ over his last 47 PA) but shouldn’t be a reason to not promote DeLauter. He’s earned it. He has at least 1 hit in 19 of his last 20 games and has a 164 wRC+ over that span. When a MiLB hitter gets on this kind of streak, it starts to become obvious they’re too good for that level. It should only be a matter of time. But I might have said that last week, too.

NICK: Joe Boyle only went 6 innings once during June and struggles to get past 5 innings consistently. Do you think this says more about him or more about the Rays usage of him?

Jon Becker: Am I allowed to say it’s both? There’s not really an expectation for all that many starters to get beyond 5-6 innings consistently anyway, and if you’re the Rays you probably just want Boyle to throw his 80-90 pitches without his command completely falling apart. He’s never going to be super efficient but neither is Blake Snell, so it doesn’t mean he can’t be a valuable member of the rotation.

Ramblin Rod: Let’s talk A’s outfield. Larry Butler: do you see him losing playing time vs. lefties to Colby Thomas or someone else?
Also, is Soderstrom starting to lose playing time? Or just a rest and reset?

Jason Martinez: Butler was very good vs LHP last season so it’s understandable if they’re still giving him a chance despite this season’s struggles (75 wRC+ vs LHP). But he’s sat against 2 of the last 3 lefty starters so they might be running out of patience. And once Miguel Andujar returns, they’ll have another good right-handed bat in the lineup and another reason to sit Butler.

I think Soderstrom is in rest/reset territory for now. But Thomas getting off to a great start while Soderstrom struggles could force that issue. Also, Andujar and Gelof returning soon could make things very interesting, depending on where Andujar plays more often (3B or LF).

Adenolith: Who’s more likely to pitch (effectively) again this season – Ragans or Schwellenbach?

Jon Becker: I’ll say Ragans, if only because he got hurt earlier than Schwellenbach and they’re each shut down for a month. Maybe mid-August for Ragans and hopefully mid-September-ish for Schwellenbach?

Lowe Distribution System: I’m curious about your listing the Detroit and Texas closers as co-closers, when both seem pretty clearly one-sided to me.  Is there some particular standard you’re using or just your sense of things?

Jason Martinez: Vest/Kahnle were definitely co-closers for most of the season. Vest has gotten the last 3-or 4, I believe, but it’s been over the course of like a month so not as easy to spot unless someone points it out. Maybe needs a change. I’ll take a closer look.

I thought Garcia was the guy in Texas but Jackson got a save a few weeks back and I think he was at least warming for a save chance recently so I changed it to co-closers. Chris Martin also has a save recently. Trends aren’t always easy to pick up on if saves are spaced out like this. And managers are purposely not very forthcoming with who their closer is these days.

Idol of millions: Will Dietrich Enns, the well-known idol of millions, stay in the Tigers rotation? After his years in the wilderness, has he found his golden arm?

Jon Becker: Watching Enns’ first MLB start since 2017 was super cool, and he legitimately pitched great! With SGL on the IL with neck stiffness they’ve got room for both Enns (who starts tomorrow) and Reese Olson (who comes off the IL to start Friday). I assume they’ll take it start by start with Enns but if he keeps pitching anywhere near this well he’ll stick around.

ashtray: I’m firmly convinced that the Yankees royally screwed up the development of both Volpe and Peraza when they chose Volpe as their starting shortstop in 2023. To this day it blows my mind that they made their decision purely because of a few nice home runs in spring training. Peraza had progressed through the entire minors system and performed well in the bigs at the tail end of 2022 while Volpe was still striking out 30% in limited AAA exposure. Volpe was rushed and Peraza stagnated and now look at both. Am I just an old man yelling at clouds about this or can you validate what I’m saying?

Jason Martinez: I think the reason baseball fans can often sound like “old man yelling at clouds” is because we actually have no way of knowing what has gone on behind the scenes. We see the result with our own eyes. This stuff happens all the time. But it’s frustrating because we don’t know what happened behind the scenes and won’t ever really know. Every situation is unique and every player is going to improve/decline based on a lot of different circumstances. Baseball is a really, really difficult game. So, yes, young prospects often get hyped up. Then we totally forget about them once they struggle or get hurt. And then we’re surprised if they break out years later. It’s all part of the fun.

Jason Martinez: That will do it for today. Thanks for joining us. Back next week for the final RR Live Chat of the 1st half!