Agustin Ramirez (C? - MIA) - A report surfaced after Sunday's game (another 0-4 for Ramirez with another SB allowed) that the Marlins are sending the 24 year old down to AAA and bringing up catching prospect Joe Mack. Ramirez is so bad defensively behind the plate, and despite some solid top-end exit velocities he just wasn't hitting with as much authority as last year, although he was walking much more. He probably just needs to get out from behind the plate and concentrate on hitting....I'll be curious to see what their plan for him is down at AAA. Mack isn't necessarily a must-add for me, as he'll probably share time with Liam Hicks at catcher, plus his contact ability is fairly poor to go along with good power and good catcher speed (below average speed). All in all, this is a pretty negative fantasy move for just about everyone concerned.
CJ Abrams (SS - WAS) - Abrams was 2-4 with 2 runs and a steal on Sunday, and the 25 year old is now hitting 297/406/534 on the season. So far we're seeing a continuation of two career-long trends for Abrams: an increase in exit velocity (he's above average for the first time in his career) and a decline in swing% (under 50% for the first time). He's seeing the lowest zone% of his career by a large margin as well, suggesting that pitchers are pitching around him a bit, which isn't all that surprising given the lack of power from most of his non-Wood teammates. Having settled into the cleanup spot for the Nationals, a career high in HR and RBI looks nearly certain this season, and he's still on pace for close to 30 steals as well. Abrams was SS8 during drafting season this year, and with this power and patience increase it's possible that he'll vault into the top-5 for 2027.
Bryce Eldridge/Jesus Rodriguez (1B/C - SF) - The Giants are expected to call up both 1B Bryce Eldridge and C Jesus Rodriguez in advance of their upcoming 6-game homestand on Monday. Eldridge, 21, is a massive 1B/DH with big-time power, poor contact ability, and no speed. Rodriguez is a 24 year old catcher with very good contact ability and good speed but very little power. It's easy to see Rodriguez stepping in as the primary catcher and pushing Patrick Bailey to the bench, but I'm not sure what the plan will be at 1B/DH, because they now have 3 of them with Eldridge, Devers, and Schmitt (Schmitt can certainly play other positions), and the one who has been the hottest lately is Schmitt, the one who would normally seem to be the odd man out. Regardless, I doubt they're calling up Eldridge to sit the bench, so those desperate for some power could try a claim to catch lightning in a bottle here. I think that Rodriguez is definitely worth a claim in any 2-catcher leagues, while Eldridge is a much riskier proposition...I'd probably grab him in 15-team leagues and NL-only formats, but it would depend on my level of need for the former.
Griffin Canning (SP - SD) - Canning made his return to the majors roughly 10 months after tearing his achilles, and the 29 year old looked decent in the process, holding the White Sox to 1 run on 3 hits over 5 innings, walking 3 and fanning 7. It looked a lot like his minor league rehab to be honest, with slightly increased velocity, some solid bat-missing, and very poor control. I've been intrigued by Canning's potential for almost a decade now, and there have been flashes of productivity at the major league level, but never sustained success. He fits the profile of a player that I'll pick up and stash on reserves to use as a streamer, but I'm not sure he's built up quite enough yet for me to throw him in there against St. Louis next week, as he only threw 73 pitches on Sunday. He's on my "watch list" at the very least, especially with the slight velo bump and corresponding increase in swinging strike rate.
Logan Henderson (SP - MIL) - Henderson was very solid on Sunday against the Nationals, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits over 6 innings and striking out 8 without walking a man. The 24 year old misses plenty of bats with solid control, although he does allow quite a few flyballs....he can be a solid back-end rotation member, and although he's supposedly only filling in for Brandon Woodruff while the veteran is on the 15-day IL, it's very possible that Woodruff could return to supplant Brandon Sproat instead of Henderson. I'm in favor of snapping up Henderson in all formats, as the upcoming schedule (@STL, SD, @MIN) is reasonably favorable for him, and the skill set to be successful is there.
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