| | | | Wednesday, April 30, 2025 | | It's been a pretty boring couple of weeks on the waiver wire at starting pitcher. The most-added pitchers in recent weeks have mostly been boring veterans like Andrew Heaney, Tyler Mahle, and Jameson Taillon , useful enough streamers, but not the kinds of pitchers worth getting excited about or who should be part of your long-term plans. | | And that didn't really change in Tuesday's games. Michael Lorenzen was probably the best widely available pitcher in Tuesday's matchups, and he's … Michael Lorenzen. He's fine. But he's rarely ever more than fine, and he's usually only even fine for a few months at a time before you'll want to put him back on the wire. | | But, there are a couple of pitchers who are worth keeping an eye on as they make their season debuts Wednesday – Tony Gonsolin and Lucas Giolito. My expectations are higher for Gonsolin, both because he is younger and has been good more recently, and because he gets the Marlins for a nice soft landing. But both are worth a speculative add ahead of their debuts, in case they can tap into some of the upside they showed prior to their injuries over the past couple of years. | | But that's not all. We also have two young pitchers making their MLB debuts Wednesday. And while each is probably only coming up for a spot start, both are talented enough that they could pitch their way into something more than that. So, before we get into our usual Tuesday recap, let's meet Chase Petty and Noah Cameron: | | | | Chase Petty, SP, Reds (4%) – Petty is the less heralded of the Reds' prospects named "Chase" – Chase Burns is one of the most exciting pitching prospects in the game right now – but he's still a name worth knowing. The former first-round pick, acquired in the Sonny Gray trade, has made seven starts over the past two seasons at Triple-A, striking out 34, walking 12, and allowing a 3.00 ERA in 33 innings. He hasn't been dominant – and has especially struggled with the long ball in the early going this season – but he has plus velocity, a couple of good breaking balls (the slider might be more than just "good") and will make his debut as part of a doubleheader against the Cardinals Wednesday. He will likely head back to Triple-A for some more seasoning, but the 22-year-old has a chance to put himself into position to steal a rotation spot if he pitches well. Let's hope he does. | | Noah Cameron, SP, Royals (5%) – With Cole Ragans having his start skipped Wednesday due to that groin injury from his previous outing, Cameron is expected to get the call to start against the Rays , and while Cameron isn't exactly a must-add pitcher, he's an interesting one to keep an eye on. He's off to a strong start this season at Triple-A, striking out 27 over 22.2 innings, and he now has a 2.58 ERA and 29.4% strikeout rate over 14 starts at Triple-A over the past two seasons. Cameron sits around 93 mph with his four-seamer from the left side, and neither that nor the cutter really rates out all that well according to scouts. But he has a big curveball with a lot of drop and a changeup with big velocity separation from the fastball, and those two pitches have allowed him to find success at the MiLB level. It might not be enough to work at the MLB level – and he might only be up for a spot start – but his high-minors success makes him worth keeping an eye on as he makes his debut. | | Here's what else you need to know about from Tuesday's action around MLB: | | | | Wednesday's top waiver-wire targets | | Jorge Polanco, 2B, Mariners (76%) – Polanco continues to look so good. He had two more homers Tuesday, hit 108.1 and 108.9 mph, and he had another fly out to right-center that died at the wall but was hit 106.7 mph and would have been a homer in 18 of 30 MLB ballparks. He's just mashing the ball right now, to a level we've never seen before – which is a good reason to think he won't keep it up. On the other hand, we've seen Polanco be a must-start Fantasy option before, so while I don't think he is suddenly one of the 10 or so best hitters in baseball, I do think it's reasonable to assume that his hot start is indicative of a return to form – and, most importantly, a return to health. He should be 100% rostered. | | Carson Kelly, C, Cubs (63%) – I don't have a good explanation for why Kelly suddenly looks like peak Mike Piazza, except to say that weird things can happen in 62-PA sample sizes and it's almost certainly a fluke. Still, there are some underlying changes to point to – Kelly has shortened his stride and is swinging 1.4 mph harder than he did last season on average. That seems like an awfully small change to take Kelly from a below-average expected wOBA to one of the best in baseball like he has now, but hey, a butterfly flaps its wings in Kansas and all that. I'm not really buying it, but if we're going to get excited about any catcher with a whiff of upside … well, there's more than a whiff with Kelly right now. | | Lance McCullers, SP, Astros (23%) – My expectations for McCullers are extremely low at this point, given all the injuries that have kept him from reaching even 50 innings in any season since 2021. But I'll admit, I'm mildly intrigued by what he's showing on his rehab assignment. In four starts across Double-A and Triple-A, McCullers has struck out 30.2% of opposing hitters while allowing just four earned runs over 12.2 innings of work. His average fastball velocity is down about 2 mph from his peak, so skepticism is the right response here, but I'm interested in seeing how his return to the majors goes, and that could come some time in the next week. | | Kevin Ginkel, RP, Diamondbacks (5%) – With A.J. Puk out with an elbow injury and Justin Martinez looking a bit shaky while dealing with shoulder fatigue, there could actually be a path to a significant role for Ginkel as he returns from his own shoulder injury. Obviously, that depends on him being at full strength himself which is no guarantee. But Ginkel has been a closer-caliber reliever over the past three seasons, putting up a 2.95 ERA, 9.7 K/9, and a 2.83 FIP, so if Martinez falters, Ginkel could figure into the ninth inning plans for the Diamondbacks. And, for whatever it's worth, whenever manager Torey Lovullo would always mention Ginkel as an option to close before the season, even if Fantasy players never really believed him. | | | | Tuesday's standouts | | Jacob deGrom, Rangers vs. OAK: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K – Hey, now that's more like it. I've written multiple times this season about how deGrom hasn't looked like Jacob deGrom yet, but Tuesday's start was the closest he's come. He got eight whiffs on his four-seamer – that's been the biggest way he hasn't looked like himself this season – and was cruising and looked like he might put together a truly dominant outing … until the Rangers pulled him with just 65 pitches. They were winning 12-0 at the time, so the move makes sense – and fits with how they said they would approach him before the season – but it was still frustrating to see. | | Logan Webb, Giants @SD: 5 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 6 K – The growth of the rest of his arsenal has helped Webb find new ways to succeed when his changeup isn't working, but it's not a guarantee he'll be good every time out. He didn't have the changeup Tuesday, throwing just 11 of them and finding the strike zone just once, and the rest of the arsenal wasn't enough to make up for it. I still think this might be the best version of Webb we've ever seen, but this wasn't a great outing. | | Freddy Peralta, Brewers @CHW: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K – Even against this matchup, I'm not particularly concerned about a relatively underwhelming line … as long as Peralta is healthy. He was sitting between 1.6 and 2.1 mph down from where he typically is, which is enough to set off a very small alarm bell. I didn't see any explanation for the velocity dip, so as long as Peralta is fine, I'm going to keep starting him moving forward. | | Mackenzie Gore, Nationals @PHI: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K – Gore's control has been so good so far. He has his walk rate down to 5.5% through his first seven starts, by far the lowest mark of his career – the previous career-best was 8.9% last season. This is also the lowest it's ever been over a seven-start stretch in his career, while simultaneously sporting the highest strikeout rate for a seven-game stretch. We've been fooled by Gore before, so I'll just go to one of my favorite phrases – if Gore were breaking out, this is what it would look like. | | Carlos Rodon, Yankees @BAL: 6 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K – That's three strong starts in a row for Rodon, who leaned on his four-seamer more in this one and more than held his own against the Orioles . Rodon has had to adapt to losing his elite fastball and is now a legitimate five-pitch pitcher, which has fueled a 3.43 ERA and 0.98 WHIP for the season. There will be some frustrating blowups along the way, but I feel pretty confident that this is the best version of Rodon we've ever seen with the Yankees, even if I certainly don't expect him to get back to his San Francisco days. | | Sandy Alcantara, Marlins @LAD: 2.2 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 5 BB, 2 K – I called Alcantara a buy-low candidate yesterday, and I stand by it. But it's going to take some time. The command just isn't there right now – he bounced several changeups and sliders in this one – and the Dodgers made him pay immediately. I think he'll be a must-start pitcher at some point this season, but he certainly isn't one right now. | | Eduardo Rodriguez, Diamondbacks @NYM: 4 IP, 9 H, 8 ER, 1 BB, 1 K – I've been touting Rodriguez this season, and that looks pretty dumb right about now. There will be better days in the future, but I can't tell you to hang on to Rodriguez when the results have been as bad as they have been. He's not such a sure thing, nor is the upside so high, that you have to roster him through the lean times. | | Andrew Heaney, Pirates vs. Cubs: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 0 K – I never bought into Heaney's hot start, because I know who Andrew Heaney is. He was pitching well, but he also wasn't really showing new skills – his pitch mix has been largely unchanged from last season, and his stuff certainly wasn't looking any better than it did before. Sometimes, guys just get locked in for a few starts, and you run the risk of these kinds of blowup starts if you chase them without a compelling reason. Heaney is easy enough to drop after this two-start week. | | Bowden Francis, Blue Jays vs. BOS: 3 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 0 BB, 1 K – I was open to the possibility that Francis might have some kind of confounding secret sauce that helped him succeed last season – something about elite command leading to a low walk rate and good results on balls in play, ala peak Kyle Hendricks. I was open to that possibility, even if I wasn't convinced. But Francis has been just getting clobbered so far, going from very good quality of contact results last season to some of the worst in baseball in 2025. That makes it fairly easy to dismiss last season as a fluke, though I'm okay with holding on to him as a streamer in H2H points leagues, where his SPaRP eligibility does still give him a path to relevance. But I don't expect Francis to be a must-start pitcher moving forward. | | News and notes | | Cristopher Sanchez has been cleared to start Wednesday against the Nationals. He left his previous start with left forearm soreness, but he never had an MRI taken, so the concern level seems pretty low. I'll feel better about him if and when he makes it through this start without issue, and let's hope his velocity is there, too. | | Shota Imanaga left his start early on Tuesday due to leg cramps. At least he got through five innings before leaving, and there doesn't seem to be any reason to be concerned moving forward. | | Jazz Chisholm left early with right side discomfort. That's concerning, given Chisholm's injury history. | | AJ Smith Shawver left his start Tuesday after being hit on the right arm by a line drive. He pitched well in Coors Field before leaving, at least, and still has some upside if this injury ends up being relatively minor. | | Yordan Alvarez was back in the lineup after leaving early Monday after an awkward slide. That's good to see. | | Royce Lewis is likely to be activated when the Twins begin their next homestand on May 6. He has been out since the spring with a hamstring injury and obviously still has plenty of upside when healthy. | | Austin Hays has a tender hamstring and will undergo further testing. It would be a shame if his breakout season was derailed by another injury. | | Dylan Moore was placed on the IL with right hip inflammation. | | Shane McClanahan has begun throwing-like activities but is not playing regular catch yet. He's on the IL with a nerve issue in his throwing arm and is out until at least late May at this point, and probably longer. | | Josh Lowe could begin a rehab assignment as soon as Saturday. He's out with an oblique injury but hopefully will be back sometime next week if all goes well. | | Ranger Suarez could rejoin the Phillies rotation this weekend against the Diamondbacks. | | Speaking of the Phillies, prospect Andrew Painter will start at Triple-A on Thursday. His first three starts came in Single-A, and he's probably still out until June, at least, as the team tries to manage his innings. | | Shane Bieber is set to throw in simulated games in the Arizona Complex League. It sounds like he's expecting to return closer to the All-Star break. | | The Blue Jays activated Daulton Varsho from the IL. He's been out while recovering from shoulder surgery. | | | | | | | | Golazo Network | | UEFA Champions League | Get everything you need to know for the UEFA Champions League Semifinals from CBS Sports Golazo Network, our 24/7 network dedicated exclusively to global soccer coverage!
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