RoboScout Top MLB Prospects At Every Level On Sept. 8, 2024

Low-A Hitters (min 25 PA)

Rank	Name	Team	Robo	RoboCast
1	Leodalis De Vries	SDP	100	100
2	Colt Emerson	SEA	86	92
3	Eric Bitonti	MIL	86	92
4	Michael Arroyo	SEA	85	91
5	Aidan Smith	SEA	84	88
6	Franklin Arias	BOS	83	87
7	Kevin McGonigle	DET	82	87
8	Zyhir Hope	LAD	79	87
9	Demetrio Crisantes	ARI	78	85
10	Jaison Chourio	CLE	80	84
11	Lazaro Montes	SEA	89	84
12	Blake Mitchell	KCR	79	84
13	Robert Calaz	COL	84	84
14	Arjun Nimmala	TOR	84	82
15	Walker Jenkins	MIN	76	82
16	Jonny Farmelo	SEA	76	81
17	Josue De Paula	LAD	73	80
18	Eduardo Tait	PHI	86	79
19	Yeremi Cabrera	TEX	78	79
20	Luis Merejo	CLE	76	78
21	Welbyn Francisca	CLE	79	78
22	Max Clark	DET	76	77
23	Jeral Perez	LAD	74	76
24	Pablo Guerrero	TEX	78	76
25	Bryce Eldridge	SFG	70	76

Twins 2023 third-rounder Brandon Winokur has seven homers, nine steals and a 127 wRC+ over his last 128 plate appearances. He also as a 90th percentile exit velocity (104.5 mph) in the 88th percentile for the level and in the 85th percentile among teenagers with 25 or more Low-A plate appearances. Despite the teenager’s success, RoboScout has not been as optimistic about his future as one would expect. His hapless 62% contact rate comes with a 31% chase rate, which both grade as a 40 on the 20-80 scale. It’d be foolish to write off anyone with 30-homer and double-digit steal potential, but it’s a cautionary tale to not merely look at the counting stats and age-to-level and thinking the arrow is up.

Here are the highest-ranked 2024 draftees at Low-A (minimum 25 plate appearances), per RoboScout.

Rank	Name	Team	Robo	RoboCast
1	Cam Smith	CHC	67	74
2	Nick Kurtz	OAK	65	72
3	Callan Moss	KCR	64	71
4	Sam Antonacci	CHW	60	69
5	Brendan Jones	NYY	59	68
6	Robert Hipwell	SFG	55	65
7	Ryan Waldschmidt	ARI	58	65
8	Jared Thomas	COL	60	64
9	Jack Costello	SDP	54	63
10	Ian Petrutz	STL	58	62

Royals 1B Callan Moss has ranked in the Low-A top five for the last few weeks. It makes sense on face value given his 178 wRC+, two home runs and three steals in 72 plate appearances. The Statcast data also fully supports his case. Moss has some of the best data among FYPD players. The nondrafted free agent has a 106 mph 90th percentile exit velocity and has reached 111 mph. His contact rate is nearly 80% and he is chasing at less than 20% of pitches out of the zone. His overall quality of contact (xwOBAcon above .360) has transcended his suboptimal 60% groundball rate. Moss is an interesting first baseman sleeper who looks like he is worth a flier with a late-round FYPD pick.

White Sox shortstop Sam Antonacci is another interesting late-round pick. His 90% contact rate and sub-15% chase rate are both elite marks for the level. The infielder also has seven stolen bases without being caught. His lack of meaningful power is a concern. The 21-year-old’s 105 mph max exit velocity is in the lower third for the level for his age. Of course, he has had far fewer plate appearances to achieve a max. His 102.7 mph 90th percentile exit velocity, on the other hand, isn’t exactly in full slap hitter territory. Add it all together, and RoboScout has him as a late-round FYPD target.

Low-A Pitchers (min 15 IP)

Rank	Name	Team	Robo	RoboCast
1	Matt Wilkinson	CLE	100	100
2	Travis Sykora	WSN	94	95
3	Jonah Tong	NYM	91	92
4	Quinn Mathews	STL	86	88
5	Alejandro Rosario	TEX	85	87
6	Didier Fuentes	ATL	84	87
7	Jarlin Susana	WSN	81	85
8	George Klassen	LAA	81	84
9	Yujanyer Herrera	MIL	83	84
10	Santiago Suarez	TBR	80	84
11	Grant Taylor	CHW	77	83
12	Trevor Harrison	TBR	80	82
13	Kohl Drake	TEX	82	82
14	Sean Linan	LAD	78	78
15	Anderson Brito	HOU	73	78
16	Jace Kaminska	COL	76	77
17	Gabriel Reyes	DET	80	77
18	Alex Clemmey	WSN	77	77
19	Jojo Ingrassia	BOS	77	76
20	Mavis Graves	PHI	78	76
21	Josh Knoth	MIL	75	76
22	Gary Gill Hill	TBR	76	76
23	Michael Kennedy	PIT	78	75
24	Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz	BOS	75	75
25	Christian Zazueta	LAD	75	75

The same 25 pitchers stay in the Top 25 at Low-A. With the season materially over, I don’t expect much to change. In other words, these are essentially the Low-A ThrowboScout pitcher rankings.

Seven of the top nine were promoted out of the level. Only Travis Sykora (Nationals) and Dider Fuentes (Braves) from that group remain.

Chen-Wei Lin was Cardinals’ pitcher of the month for August. Since July 29, Lin has a 24.5% strikeout-minus-walk rate, a 0.91 WHIP and a 1.06 ERA while averaging over five innings in his last six appearances. On the season, the 22-year-old righthander has a 19% strikeout-minus-walk rate and a 2.79 ERA. His arsenal is better-than-average with a 96 mph four-seam fastball with big extension, an 85 mph bullet slider, an 87 mph changeup that gets over 50% whiffs, a 94 mph two-seam fastball, and even a splitter that gets over 50% chases too.

Right now, RoboScout doesn’t see him as more than an up-and-down starter because he is a bit older than other prospects at the level. His lower-level success is primarily driven from his offspeed mix, but he has a better-than-average arsenal and should be watch-listed. That being said, if in 2025 the pitch mix once again plays against more advanced hitters, he could be a quick riser, both on fantasy prospect lists and across levels as well.

High-A Hitters (min 25 PA)

Rank	Name	Team	Robo	RoboCast
1	Michael Arroyo	SEA	100	100
2	Luke Keaschall	MIN	92	95
3	Colt Emerson	SEA	92	94
4	Bryce Eldridge	SFG	92	94
5	Luke Adams	MIL	90	92
6	Cam Collier	CIN	91	92
7	Lazaro Montes	SEA	98	92
8	Walker Jenkins	MIN	89	91
9	Sebastian Walcott	TEX	98	91
10	Kevin McGonigle	DET	87	90
11	Josue De Paula	LAD	85	89
12	Sal Stewart	CIN	84	89
13	Carter Jensen	KCR	86	87
14	Alex Freeland	LAD	76	83
15	Thayron Liranzo	LAD	78	83
16	Xavier Isaac	TBR	90	83
17	Jhostynxon Garcia	BOS	79	83
18	Anthony Huezo	HOU	88	82
19	Max Clark	DET	80	82
20	William Bergolla	CHW	81	82
21	Jesus Baez	NYM	80	80
22	Cooper Ingle	CLE	74	80
23	Tre’ Morgan	TBR	76	79
24	Ralphy Velazquez	CLE	78	79
25	Angel Genao	CLE	75	79

In 2021, Phillies outfielder Hendry Mendez caught the attention of RoboScout while in the Brewers system on the strength of his bat-to-ball skills. He maintained a solid walk-to-strikeout rate in full-season ball in 2022, but fell out of favor with just a .074 ISO, a 63% groundball rate, and fringe-average speed, essentially eliminating himself from fantasy relevance. Mendez hinted at the green shoots of a renaissance after the Phillies acquired him prior to this season in the Oliver Dunn trade, posting a 129 wRC+ as a 20-year-old for High-A Reading. He has really turned it on over the last month.

Mendez owns a .356/.441/.535 triple slash with a 13% walk rate and a 9% strikeout rate over his last 111 plate appearances. He’s still hitting the ball too much into the ground. Mendez has a 60% groundball rate with only three home runs in 369 plate appearances. But he’s raised his 90th percentile exit velocity from 102.5 mph in 2023 to 104.6 mph in 2024. He’s also hit a ball at over 111 mph this year too, surpassing his career max velocity of 109.7 mph coming into the season. His swing decisions and his contact rates remain above-average to plus, and at 20 years old, projects to a near .340 on-base percentage in the major leagues.

Interestingly, Mendez has near identical Statcast metrics to another Phillies outfielder in his age-20 season at High-A, with the exception of a far lower chase rate and much less speed.

	PA	wRC+	GB%	Whiff%	90EV (mph)	Chase%	Brl%	xwOBAcon
H Mendez	365	129	60%	19%	104.6	19%	12%	.299
J Crawford	317	124	61%	19%	104.8	35%	12%	.301

Mendez is back to having a solid starter pack for a fantasy prospect. He really needs to address his preponderance for near-horizontal launch angles. Considering the bat speed gains, Mendez is worth a flier in 400-prospect leagues.

D-backs 3B Gino Groover was an interesting FYPD pick in 2023 on account of his low 16% strikeout rate and 105 mph 90th percentile exit velocity while at NC State in his final college season. Unfortunately, in his professional career, Groover has not really performed. His production is a useful reminder to lower exit velocity expectations when accounting for the transition from aluminum to wood bats.

Groover has achieved only a 101 mph 90th percentile exit velocity in both 2023 and 2024. He has seven homers in 175 plate appearances with High-A Hillsboro. Six of those, however, came in the last five weeks, earning him a promotion to Double-A where he has hit a bomb and stolen a bag with a 174 wRC+ in his first six games at Amarillo.

Under the hood, Groover has maintained the plus contact rate and average chase rate that he showed in his college career. Because of the above-average hit tool, he could conceivably be a .265/.330 bat in the majors, but with below-average power and speed unless he meaningfully improves his bat speed. Groover has a hard bar to clear for a fantasy third baseman, but we’ll keep our eye on him.

Here are the highest-ranked 2024 draftees at High-A (minimum 24 plate appearances), per RoboScout.

Rank	Name	Team	Robo	RoboCast
1	Cam Smith	CHC	69	76
2	Brendan Jones	NYY	62	72
3	Travis Bazzana	CLE	58	68
4	Dylan Dreiling	TEX	55	63
5	Joshua Kuroda-Grauer	OAK	52	60

With his first home run in High-A to go along with a stolen base and a 180 wRC+, Cam Smith (Cubs) continues to be the top-ranked FYPD name by a large margin. With a max exit velocity of 111 mph already, the thump is real. When paired with average to better-than-average contact rates and swing decisions, he looks more than capable of 25-homer power.

High-A Pitchers (min 15 IP)

Rank	Name	Team	Robo	RoboCast
1	Alejandro Rosario	TEX	100	100
2	Jarlin Susana	WSN	96	98
3	Quinn Mathews	STL	96	96
4	Matt Wilkinson	CLE	98	96
5	Noah Schultz	CHW	93	96
6	Owen Murphy	ATL	93	94
7	Luis Perales	BOS	91	94
8	Chase Dollander	COL	90	92
9	Sean Sullivan	COL	95	92
10	K.C. Hunt	MIL	93	92
11	Kohl Drake	TEX	93	91
12	Jedixson Paez	BOS	93	89
13	Zebby Matthews	MIN	86	87
14	George Klassen	PHI	87	87
15	Jonah Tong	NYM	88	87
16	Alessandro Ercolani	PIT	82	85
17	Thomas White	MIA	84	85
18	Owen Wild	TBR	85	84
19	Ryan Lobus	TEX	82	82
20	Moises Chace	PHI	79	82
21	Jaden Hamm	DET	84	82
22	Ethan Pecko	HOU	82	81
23	Ty Johnson	CHC	81	80
24	Andry Lara	WSN	83	80
25	Austin Peterson	CLE	82	80

Fireballing Nationals righty Jarlin Susana has ascended to the penultimate High-A rank after 20 strikeouts to just three walks across his last 10 innings. Susana has a 40% strikeout rate over his last seven starts, trailing only Rays pitchers Ty Johnson and Jackson Baumeister among starters who have made at least three starts since July 29. Susana also has a 20% swinging strike rate during that time, leading the same cohort of pitchers.

Susana has a 9% walk rate in High-A–it has crept into the double digits recently–and his command will ultimately drive his future potential as a starting pitcher. He gets an inordinate amount of groundballs, however, which mitigates his bullpen risk. He owns a 53% groundball rate for the level after posting a wormicidal rate of 65% in his 56 innings at Low-A.

A sleeper in 2023, Susana has firmly put himself back on the top pitching prospect radar. RoboScout agnostically ranks him in the top 10 overall based on his single-year performance. If that surprises you, here are the top strikeout-minus-walk-rates in High-A since 2006 amongst pitchers 20-years old or younger, with at least 40 innings pitched (and note that Michael Kopech’s 2016 season is just off the list with a 25.9% rate):

We mentioned Rays righty Ty Johnson last week. The former Cubs arm pitched another three innings this week with four more strikeouts and no walks. Ever since joining the Rays, it appears he’s throwing from a release height four inches lower compared to his time with Chicago. Whether directly attributable or not, his four-seam fastball has gained 1 mph of velocity since joining the Rays and has elicited whiffs at a 42% rate compared to 37% while with the South Bend Cubs.

Double-A Hitters (min 25 PA)

Rank	Name	Team	Robo	RoboCast
1	Emmanuel Rodriguez	MIN	100	100
2	Roman Anthony	BOS	90	91
3	Agustin Ramirez	NYY	89	90
4	Luke Keaschall	MIN	85	89
5	Moises Ballesteros	CHC	88	87
6	Cole Young	SEA	84	85
7	Kristian Campbell	BOS	80	85
8	Matthew Lugo	LAA	80	84
9	Samuel Basallo	BAL	90	81
10	Carter Jensen	KCR	80	80
11	Alex Freeland	LAD	74	80
12	Ryan Clifford	NYM	80	80
13	Edgar Quero	CHW	77	80
14	Dalton Rushing	LAD	72	79
15	Carson Williams	TBR	80	78
16	Hao-Yu Lee	DET	78	78
17	Jimmy Crooks	STL	72	78
18	Matt Shaw	CHC	76	77
19	Cooper Ingle	CLE	70	76
20	Deyvison De Los Santos	ARI	83	76
21	Jhostynxon Garcia	BOS	73	75
22	Alejandro Osuna	TEX	71	75
23	Colby Thomas	OAK	72	74
24	Jacob Wilson	OAK	68	74
25	Tre’ Morgan	TBR	71	73

In 2022, Orioles infielder Frederick Bencosme was a popular name in the data-driven prospect model space. He had an 11% walk rate, a 12% strikeout rate and a 138 wRC+ as a 19-year-old in full-season ball, earning a promotion to High-A at the end of the year. Despite again showing a solid hit tool in 2023 with a strikeout rate below 15% to go along with 28 steals, he had a very disappointing 88 wRC+ and 0.072 ISO over 476 plate appearances at High-A Aberdeen. As it has since his stateside debut, his contact rate has remained at around 80% and his chase rate has remained around league average in 2024. This season, though, is hitting with more authority and with more regularity.

Bencosme’s 90th percentile exit velocity was 95.1 mph in 2022. In 2023, it was 98.1 mph. This year, with over 325 balls in play, his 90th percentile exit velocity is up to 100.1 mph and he’s raised his xwOBAcon from .282 in 2023 to .323 this year, essentially league average. On the season, he still only has a 97 wRC+ over his 471 plate appearances at Double-A Bowie, but in his last six weeks, over 131 plate appearances, he has hit four home runs and stolen 11 bases with a 147 wRC+.

As an athletic 21-year-old in Double-A who can play adequate shortstop defense or above-average second base defense, his floor is actually relatively high. Bencosme’s long leash should give him ample opportunity to answer the question whether he can achieve his 90th percentile true talent outcome of a .270/.330 hitter with 15 home runs and 20 stolen bases.

Rockies second baseman Adael Amador has had a very volatile season. For months, he was one of the coldest hitters in the minors before quickly becoming the hottest and earning a major league callup to a Colorado club beset by injuries. Amador was once again relatively quiet after being sent back down to Double-A Hartford. He has started to pick it up as of late.

In the last six weeks, Amador has a 126 wRC+ with six home runs and eight stolen bases over 139 plate appearances. His contact rate for the season is still plus at 79%, but that feels like a disappointment considering it was 87% in 2023. He also has maintained a chase rate around 20%. Although the gloss has become a bit more matte of a finish, he still shows an above-average hit tool. With the Coors factor, he should still be able to put up 20/20 type fantasy seasons with the Rockies. It just hasn’t been the step forward into the elite prospect tier in 2024 as we had hoped.

Double-A Pitchers (min 15 IP)

Rank	Name	Team	Robo	RoboCast
1	Zebby Matthews	MIN	100	100
2	Noah Schultz	CHW	98	98
3	Tink Hence	STL	99	96
4	Logan Henderson	MIL	98	96
5	Kumar Rocker	TEX	97	95
6	Quinn Mathews	STL	95	94
7	K.C. Hunt	MIL	95	92
8	Moises Chace	PHI	91	92
9	Bubba Chandler	PIT	91	91
10	Chase Dollander	COL	90	91
11	Chandler Champlain	KCR	95	91
12	Braxton Ashcraft	PIT	91	90
13	Thomas Harrington	PIT	90	88
14	Brandon Sproat	NYM	89	87
15	Brett Kerry	LAA	91	87
16	Sean Sullivan	COL	91	86
17	Eiberson Castellano	PHI	88	85
18	Zach Penrod	BOS	88	85
19	Brandon Young	BAL	90	85
20	Troy Melton	DET	85	85
21	Cameron Weston	BAL	86	84
22	Ben Shields	NYY	85	84
23	Caden Dana	LAA	86	84
24	Andrew Morris	MIN	86	83
25	Carson Palmquist	COL	85	82

Cardinals righty Tink Hence has passed Kumar Rocker (Rangers) on the Double-A robo-rankings. Hence is now firmly at No. 3 after striking out eight Royals and walking one over four innings this past week. Despite a relatively quiet season, Hence has actually performed extremely well in 2024. He looks poised to join the Cardinals in a substantive capacity in 2025.

Although Pirates righty Bubba Chandler has received far more fanfare this year, both he and Hence are in their age-21 season. The Cardinals righty has actually achieved better results in Double-A:

	AA IP	K%	BB%	WHIP	ERA	GB%	SwStrk%
Hence (22.1 yr old)	78.1	34%	8%	1.06	2.76	42%	16%
Chandler (21.11 yr old)	80.1	29%	8%	1.01	3.70	41%	13%

Hence is a top-40 fantasy prospect per RoboScout.

Red Sox righty Isaac Coffey doesn’t have stuff that pops on contemporary pitch models. Still, he has quietly dominated for Double-A Portland since July 29. Over his last six appearances, he has struck out 38% of batters, walked fewer than 5% with a 0.94 WHIP and 2.03 ERA over 31 innings.

Coffey’s four-seamer only averages 89 mph. But he throws it from one of the lower slots for a starting pitcher in the minors. Coffey’s four-seamer comes in at a super flat -3.7 VAA and has over 20 inches of armside run. His 74 mph slider/sweeper, on the other hand, has over 18 inches of gloveside run, while his 82 mph cutter bridges the chasmic East-West movement. On the season he has a lofty 10% walk rate but cut his walk rate in half on his month-long hot streak–after raising his release height by around 4.5 inches. His 138 strikeouts are second-highest in the Eastern League this year.

Coffey is an interesting specimen. He shows flashes of back-of-the-rotation potential, but with his unique look from the right side with massive horizontal movement, he could probably best serve the Red Sox as a member of the bullpen as a Greg Weissert-type.

Triple-A Hitters (min 25 PA)

Rank	Name	Team	Robo	RoboCast
1	James Wood	WSN	100	100
2	Jackson Holliday	BAL	93	92
3	Kyle Manzardo	CLE	86	90
4	Coby Mayo	BAL	86	90
5	Adrian Del Castillo	ARI	79	86
6	Miguel Vargas	LAD	79	86
7	Andy Pages	LAD	79	85
8	Roman Anthony	BOS	81	84
9	Chase Meidroth	BOS	76	83
10	Jose Fermin	STL	71	80
11	Dillon Dingler	DET	70	78
12	Shay Whitcomb	HOU	75	77
13	Jasson Dominguez	NYY	73	77
14	Jacob Wilson	OAK	70	77
15	Kristian Campbell	BOS	68	77
16	Nacho Alvarez Jr.	ATL	69	76
17	Moises Ballesteros	CHC	75	76
18	Luis Matos	SFG	70	76
19	Agustin Ramirez	MIA	70	75
20	Matthew Lugo	LAA	67	74
21	Andres Chaparro	ARI	68	74
22	Orelvis Martinez	TOR	71	73
23	Joey Loperfido	HOU	65	73
24	Junior Caminero	TBR	70	73
25	Dalton Rushing	LAD	62	72

Old friend George Valera (Guardians) has been on a bit of a hot streak for the last month or so. In his last 122 plate appearances, the 23-year-old outfielder has a 137 wRC+ with eight home runs and four stolen bases. The strikeout rate is a little high at 29%, but his contact rate is just about league average at 71%. The thump has remained very much real and spectacular. His 106.0 mph 90th percentile exit velocity is actually essentially identical with Dalton Rushing (Dodgers) and Andy Pages (Dodgers) who are all in the same-aged season as Valera, and ahead of org mate Kyle Manzardo (Guardians).

Valera’s prospect stock has fallen significantly but keep in mind that he is…

• A) in Triple-A
• B) Still only 23 years old
• C) The Guardians could use a lefthanded-hitting outfielder with power

Add it all up, and Valera might be providing useful fantasy production in 2025.

Twins infielder Payton Eeles may be an interesting redraft target in 2025. The lefthanded hitter has been a jack-of-all-trades adequately playing second base, shortstop, third base, and even center field. He is showing extremely similar Statcast traits to fellow potential MLB utilityman Tyler Black (Brewers). In fact, the following players in Triple-A are all kind of clustered in a similar Statcast cloud:

	Contact%	90th EV	xwOBAcon	Chase%	Barrel%
P Eeles (24 yr old)	86%	100.6 mph	.320	19%	12%
T Black (23 yr old)	81%	101.7 mph	.337	20%	14%
J Triantos (21 yr old)	86%	102.3 mph	.302	29%	11%
C Meidroth (22 yr old)	89%	101.2 mph	.327	16%	11%

It’s a bit of a clunky comparison. They are not all the same age and there are some outlier contact and chase rates among them. But it does help to illustrate that Eeles has an above-average hit tool with fringe-average power. He’s likely underrated considering that he can play average-or-better defense all over the diamond. With his above-average speed, RoboScout sees him as a viable fantasy bat who could put up full-season lines in the majors of .260/.330 with 10 home runs and 20 stolen bases. Eeles is extremely underrated and sure to rise in prospect lists in the offseason.

Triple-A Pitchers (min 15 IP)

Rank	Name	Team	Robo	RoboCast
1	Paul Skenes	PIT	100	100
2	Christian Scott	NYM	91	90
3	Zebby Matthews	MIN	88	87
4	Tylor Megill	NYM	88	85
5	Bubba Chandler	PIT	84	84
6	David Festa	MIN	88	84
7	Jack Leiter	TEX	82	81
8	Reid Detmers	LAA	87	80
9	Logan Henderson	MIL	83	80
10	Yilber Diaz	ARI	83	79
11	Will Warren	NYY	80	79
12	Thomas Harrington	PIT	81	78
13	Cade Povich	BAL	82	78
14	Chayce McDermott	BAL	80	77
15	Quinn Priester	PIT	82	77
16	Louie Varland	MIN	79	76
17	Cristian Mena	ARI	79	74
18	Carson Spiers	CIN	75	74
19	Alec Marsh	KCR	77	74
20	Noah Cameron	KCR	80	74
21	AJ Smith-Shawver	ATL	76	73
22	Brandon Young	BAL	79	73
23	Michael McGreevy	STL	78	73
24	Tobias Myers	MIL	73	73
25	Brandon Sproat	NYM	74	72

Tigers righty Ty Madden is No. 37 on the Triple-A ThrowboScout rankings but earned a callup, and has made two appearances in the major leagues. On the season in Triple-A, the 24-year-old righthander has a 28% strikeout rate, an 11% walk rate and a 1.77 WHIP and 7.97 ERA over 79 innings. In his last four appearances, spanning 24 innings, he had a 35% strikeout rate, a much more palatable 6% walk rate and the highest swinging strike rate of any Triple-A starter since July 29th with 19.7%.

Looking under the hood, Madden tweaked his mechanics in the second half of the season, lowering his release height since June 28 by 2-3 inches, leading to an increase of about half a tick in velocity across the board on his pitch mix while throwing his changeup about half a tick slower. This led to an increase in his called-strike-plus-swinging-strike-rate (CSW%) from 42% on June 28 to 49% in the 48 innings he’s thrown since then. Not only that, but his whiff rate increased from 34% to 39% and his chase rate increased from 25% to 35% in that same time period. If these substantive changes are sticky, Madden increases his likelihood of staying in the big leagues as a midrotation starter.

Since being promoted to Triple-A at the end of July, Noah Cameron (Royals) has thrown 44 effective innings with a 30% strikeout rate, a 5% walk rate, a WHIP of 1.00 and an ERA of 2.64 while never throwing fewer than six innings in any of his seven starts.

The lefthander’s four-pitch mix doesn’t jump off the page from a “stuff” perspective. He throws a 92 mph four-seam fastball which has kissed 96 mph, an effective 80 mph changeup, an 80 mph curveball that has an above-average CSW%, and a 90 mph cutter. But he has had success pounding the strike zone at Triple-A Omaha and actually has a Steamer projection that is very similar to Michael Wacha.

The Royals need to add Cameron to the 40-man roster after this season or risk another team plucking him in the Rule 5 draft. RoboScout bets that the Royals add him and that he plays a significant role in their rotation in 2025.

Happy bidding!