MINOR LEAGUE NUMBERS
Dylan Bundy is having his innings and pitches managed very closely by the Orioles who hope to have Bundy strong late in the year so that he can contribute down the stretch. Through three starts, lasting only nine innings, he’s struck out nine and walked two. There’s still a debate about if his cutter will come back after Tommy John surgery, but Bundy still polished enough to be an extremely successful big league starter even if his best pitch never regains its former elite status.
Byron Buxton has appeared in 16 games at Double-A. He’s hitting .210 with two homers, three steals and seven runs/RBIs. He’s also got 15 punchouts. He could be up in the second half for the Twins, but he’ll need to produce after his lost 2014 season due to injury.
Mikael Franco is pushing for a call up to the bigs. Cody Asche is batting .306 with a .358 OBP through 18 games with the Phillies, so it’s not like Franco has to be called up to play the hot corner. Still, Franco is batting .338 with a .901 OPS over 18 games at Triple-A as he’s also driven in 11 runs. At the same time, despite the success, Franco has only one homer and has struck out 19 times in 80 at-bats, a terrible ratio. A call up is coming for Franco, but it might be a while.
Joey Gallo has appeared in three games. He’ produced four hits. He’s dealt with an ankle issue in the early going. He might get a September call up.
Jon Gray has sucked eggs at Triple-A early on. He’s appeared in four tames allowing a massive 32 hits in 17.2 innings. Read that again. Crazy. He’s also walking 4.08 batters per nine innings leading to a 2.26 WHIP. Ugly. And he will be pitching for the Rockies when he is called up.
Francisco Lindor has appeared in 18 games batting .284. He’s swiped six bags in eight attempts and is getting on base at a .360 clip. A call up could come as 
soon as May, but realize Lindor’s game is much more about his glove than his bat at this point of his development. Lindor production is likely to be something like… Erick Aybar at the top end. The top.
Noah Syndergaard has appeared in three games at Triple-A with a 2.45 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 16 strikeouts in 14.2 innings. He will make starts for the Mets this season, with solid depth in the rotation – and Dillon Gee coming off his great game (see Daily Notes) – there’s just no place for Noah right now.
CATCHER NEWS
What are the Reds doing? They are being stupid. What astute analysis right? I speak of the situation with Devin Mesoraco. His hip is jacked up. He hasn’t started a game since April 11th. Since then he’s pinch hit three times. He’s out of the lineup yet against Tuesday. So three at-bats over more than two weeks. Uh Reds, there is this thing called the DL. There’s no end in sight for this situation either – we just don’t know when Mesoraco will return to starting. #Idiots
Jon Morosi is reporting that the Mariners have had internal discussions about whether to pursue Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The Mariners currently have Mike Zunino and Jesus Sucre, and obviously they aren’t content with that duo. As for Salty, he was designated for assignment on Monday so the Marlins have 10 days to try and find a trading partner before losing him (if no team were to claim him he would become a free agent and able to sign for a prorated amount of the league minimum. The Marlins would still own him nearly $21 million over the next two years). J.T. Realmuto will be the man for the Marlins behind the dish. He could be a solid second catcher in mixed leagues, but he has an issue with trying to pull everything.
Give the video section of the site a look and check out my Big 3, April 28th report where I talk about Collin McHugh, George Springer and Fernando Rodney.
Player News
Kyren Paris hit a two-run homer in Wednesday’s win for the Angels over the Blue Jays.
That’s the first homer for Paris since April 9 when he went deep twice against Tampa Bay and caused everyone to lose all sense of rational thought. The 23-year-old did also single and walk to improve his on-base percentage to .311,, while the homer bumps his slugging mark to .378. There is long-term upside in Paris with flashes that suggest he can be a fantasy option. Fantasy managers should still absolutely looking elsewhere for options up the middle.
Jorge Soler hit a three-run double in the bottom of the ninth to give the Angels a 5-4 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday.
Trent Grisham went 1-for-1 with a game-tying two-run home run in the eighth inning of a 4-3 win over the Padres on Wednesday.
While the Yankees won this game on a walk-off in the 10th inning, Grisham’s game-tying home run in the eighth was the biggest moment. He came on as a pinch-hitter for Jorbit Vibas against the usually stout Jason Adam and smashed a two-strike changeup into the right field seats. This clutch shot will only continue to push Grisham’s playing time in the right direction after he just started eight of the last 10 games, hit either first or second in each, and already has 10 homers in 31 games played this season.
Jeff Hoffman blew a save and picked up a loss Wednesday against the Angels.
Devin Williams struck out three batters with one walk and hit another in a scoreless 10th inning to earn the win against the Padres on Wednesday.
The Yankees entrusted Williams with the all important 10th inning and the inherited ghost runner on second base after their dramatic comeback. While he loaded the bases and had some tense moments, he left the inning unscathed and opened the door for them to win it right after. It should be noted that Luke Weaver came on for what were the most important outs of this game at the time, after Ian Hamilton walked two to begin the eighth inning and Weaver allowed both of those inherited runners to score. He was called upon as the fireman though and will likely get the next save opportunity. Still, this was a massive step in the right direction for Williams.
Max Fried allowed five hits and one run with no walks and eight strikeouts over seven innings in a no-decision against the Padres on Wednesday.
Fried’s excellent season continued as he set down the Padres easily besides for a mammoth solo home run by Jackson Merrill. It was no matter though, as they rarely threatened otherwise and Fried continued to find his strikeout stuff. This was his fourth outing of the year with at least seven strikeouts, a mark he only hit 10 times last season in 29 starts. Fried with a strikeout rate that’s better than league average – which is where he’s at right now – is a clear top-10 pitcher in fantasy baseball. He’s set for a two-start week coming up against the Mariners and Mets.