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Poll: Should The Cubs Call Up Cade Horton?

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When Justin Steele went under the knife for UCL revision surgery last month, ending his 2025 season early, the pressure of carrying the load at the front of the Cubs’ rotation went from being shared between two All-Star southpaws to falling entirely on the shoulders of Shota Imanaga. Imanaga’s first eight starts of the year have generally gone quite well, as he’s pitched to a 2.82 ERA despite his peripherals regressing significantly (4.52 FIP, 4.69 SIERA) relative to last year’s dominant rookie campaign.

Unfortunately, his own season was at least temporarily derailed yesterday when Chicago placed him on the injured list due to a strained left hamstring. Fortunately, the Cubs and Imanaga appear to view the strain as a fairly mild one. Manager Craig Counsell suggested during his postgame interview yesterday (h/t Marquee Sports Network) that the outcome was “pretty good news” and that it was at least possible that Imanaga wouldn’t take much longer than a minimum stay on the shelf to recover. Even so, another starter will be needed to join Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd, Ben Brown, and Colin Rea in the rotation.

Perhaps the Cubs need look no further than the hurler at Triple-A who was already on the same schedule as Imanaga prior to the injury. Top pitching prospect Cade Horton, selected in the first round of the 2022 draft, has been nothing short of dominant so far this year. A consensus top-50 prospect in the sport, Horton has made six starts for the club’s Iowa affiliate this year and has posted a sparkling 1.24 ERA in that time with a strikeout rate of 30.6%. It’s the sort of dominance that will naturally lead to fans calling for a big league debut, and those calls have only grown louder in the aftermath of Imanaga’s injury. It’s hard to argue any pitcher currently on the big league roster has a higher ceiling than Horton, who sports a mid-90s fastball that touches 98 and a plus slider as part of a strong four-pitch mix.

For his part, Counsell told reporters (including Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun Times) that Horton is “an option” to replace Imanaga in the rotation. With that being said, Counsell also noted that veteran right-hander Chris Flexen remains stretched out after recently having his contract selected from Triple-A ahead of a uniform opt-out opportunity in his contract on May 1. Flexen threw 54 pitches in three scoreless relief innings last week and sported a 1.16 ERA with a 22.3% strikeout rate in 23 1/3 innings of work at Triple-A before his contract was selected. A veteran of eight MLB seasons who also briefly pitched for the KBO League’s Doosan Bears, Flexen has generally been a roughly average swingman since he returned from South Korea with a 4.56 ERA (90 ERA+) in 582 2/3 innings of work.

His numbers fell off substantially over the past two years, but it’s hard to deny that he’s looked impressive since joining Chicago on a minor league deal. Still, there’s no question that Horton is the more talented pitcher with much higher upside. Horton seems likely to have a very successful career with the Cubs in the coming years, but there are other considerations that could tip the scale towards Flexen. The Cubs’ bullpen, which ranks bottom ten in the majors with a 4.37 ERA, has already been stretched somewhat by short starts from Rea and Brown this year. Horton would add another hurler who can’t be expected to pitch deep into games to the rotation mix, seeing as he’s maxed out at just 78 pitches this year. Flexen, meanwhile, has maxed out at 95 pitches and pitched into the sixth inning in three of his four full-length starts with Iowa.

Horton’s injury woes over the years, from Tommy John surgery in college to a subscapularis strain that cost him most of his 2024 season, have left the Cubs in a position where they’ll need to carefully manage the talented right-hander’s innings this year. For a team with postseason aspirations, it’s fair to wonder if calling him up in early May is the right call when his electric arm may be needed come October. On the other hand, however, it’s worth noting that Horton did not throw a single pitch after May 29 last year. Health for a pitcher is never guaranteed, so it’s possible the Cubs would be best off simply calling up Horton now while he’s pitching well and figuring out how to manage his innings later by either shutting him down at some point this year or moving him to the bullpen.

How do MLBTR readers think the Cubs should handle the vacancy in their rotation while Imanaga is out of commission? Should they turn to the high-upside prospect knocking on the door of the big leagues while he’s healthy and pitching well, or instead opt to use Flexen in order to manage Horton’s innings and preserve the bullpen? Have your say in the poll below:

Who Should Fill In For Shota Imanaga?
Cade Horton 70.18% (2,342 votes)
Chris Flexen 23.04% (769 votes)
someone else 6.77% (226 votes)
Total Votes: 3,337

Poll: What Should The Red Sox Do About First Base?

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The Red Sox entered the 2025 season with big expectations after adding Garrett Crochet and Alex Bregman to a team that already had Kristian Campbell, Roman Anthony, and Marcelo Mayer all knocking on the door. So far, things have not gone quite as smoothly as fans in Boston were surely hoping. While the club is just two games back in the AL East, that’s with a lackluster 18-18 record thanks in part to spotty health in the rotation behind Crochet. The injury bug has now moved onto the lineup as Triston Casas has undergone season-ending surgery on his knee.

The 25-year-old was expected to be a major piece of the club’s lineup this year, but his campaign is now over before it ever really got going. Casas’s 112 plate appearances this year were subpar, as he hit just .182/.277/.303 across 29 games before going down with injury. Those struggles were mostly fueled by a low .217 BABIP that was sure to rebound given time, however, and there was little reason to think Casas wouldn’t eventually experience enough positive regression and finish the year in that range of a 125 wRC+, which was his career mark entering 2025. Now, of course, he won’t get that opportunity.

Without Casas locking down first base, the Red Sox don’t have many obvious solutions they can rely on to take up the lion’s share of playing time at the position. Romy Gonzalez was off to a hot start (133 wRC+) to open the year in a part-time role, but his .421 BABIP is completely unsustainable and he’s never hit at an even league average level before in his career. Gonzalez is currently slated to share time with Abraham Toro at first base in the short-term, but the switch-hitter has a similarly lackluster career 81 wRC+ while playing mostly in part-time capacities around the AL West over the years. Depth options at the minor league level are similarly uninspiring. Vaughn Grissom was a top prospect in the not-too-distant past but has yet to establish himself at the big league level. Blake Sabol has at least a little experience at first base, but didn’t hit at all in a brief call-up earlier this year.

None of those options appear likely to provide even average production at first base this year for the Red Sox. That could lead the club to look for external additions, but those options may not be substantially better than their current internal group. After all, teams are typically reluctant to swing significant trades this far from the trade deadline, so external additions would likely be limited to non-roster players in other organizations like Mike Ford, Dominic Smith, or Jon Singleton unless they can convince a player like Anthony Rizzo to resume his playing career at this late point in the calendar. Any of those options could make sense as a lefty complement to Gonzalez, and Smith in particular was used as a stopgap by the Red Sox just last year with some success.

Perhaps they could even pry an ancillary 40-man player away without a clear path to playing time away from another organization. Jake Bauers (Brewers) and former Red Sox Justin Turner (Cubs) are both playing in bench roles in the NL Central. Boston’s former chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom now works for the Cardinals, who have Luken Baker on the roster but without much playing time to offer. Juan Yepez is on the Nationals’ 40-man roster but currently playing the minors. Any of those external options could likely be more productive than the club’s internal group of first basemen, but going outside of the organization would require working out a trade with another club who may not be inclined to sacrifice their own depth, particularly in the case of players already on the 40-man roster, and they’re hardly impact options themselves for a team that sorely needs a boost.

One way to replace Casas with a player who can offer a more impactful ceiling would be to move some of the club’s existing talent to first base. Rafael Devers got bumped off third base by the Bregman signing and is currently the everyday DH in Boston. Perhaps he could be shifted to first base, opening up DH for either Anthony or Mayer to make the jump to the big leagues. Another option would be to get Anthony or Mayer regular reps at first in the coming days ahead of a promotion in the near future. Perhaps even Masataka Yoshida, who has been sidelined this year after shoulder surgery hampered his ability to make throws in the outfield, could handle first base and make a quicker return from the injured list.

Any of those players would be a fairly definitive offensive upgrade over either the club’s internal options already familiar with the position or any realistic external additions at this point in the calendar. The problem with that plan, however, is that none of those players have ever played first base as a professional. While the position is fairly low on the defensive spectrum, asking a defensively-limited player like Devers to pick up an entirely new position on the fly seems risky, as would be the case for asking either Mayer or Anthony to balance learning a new position with the adjustments and struggles that can often come with a young player’s first call-up to the majors.

That’s why, as noted by MassLive’s Chris Cotillo over the weekend, Red Sox brass have indicated that they don’t intend to move anyone to first base on the fly. That, of course, could change. The general expectation when the Red Sox signed Bregman was that he would play second base and Devers would remain at third, and that changed fairly quickly after Spring Training began. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that the club finds itself unsatisfied with the options at its disposal and eventually begins having one of the club’s other players taking grounders at first.

How do MLBTR readers expect Boston to address the vacancy at first base? Will they stick with their current group of options, find someone from outside the organization, or move one of their own players to first? Have your say in the poll below:

How Will The Red Sox Replace Triston Casas?
They'll move someone who was already in the conversation for regular playing time to first base. 39.00% (2,194 votes)
They'll stick with internal depth options who already play first base before re-evaluating at the trade deadline. 32.69% (1,839 votes)
They'll find an external addition as soon as possible. 28.30% (1,592 votes)
Total Votes: 5,625

Poll: Anthony Santander’s Slow Start

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After missing out on the top available free agent for the second consecutive offseason when they fell short in the Juan Soto sweepstakes, the Blue Jays remained in the hunt to find a slugger who could complement Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and a hopefully resurgent Bo Bichette. Toronto had already brought Andres Gimenez into the fold as a glove-first regular, but his defensive-minded profile was never expected to be a huge boost to the lineup. After being connected to slugger Pete Alonso, third baseman Alex Bregman, and even a possible reunion with Teoscar Hernandez, the Blue Jays finally landed Anthony Santander on a five-year, $92.5MM contract that comes with enough deferred money to lower the net present value of the deal to around $70MM.

The switch-hitting Santander swatted 44 home runs for Baltimore last year while hitting .235/.308/.506 with a 129 wRC+. That power-driven profile had proven to be fairly consistent for the slugger in recent years despite his generally low on-base numbers; Santander slashed .244/.317/.478 with a wRC+ of 124 since the start of the 2022 season. That was a long enough track record to give the Jays reasonable confidence in his ability to perform as a middle-of-the-order bat for them entering his age-30 season.

It’s a bet that hasn’t paid off so far. In Santander’s first 132 trips to the plate as a Blue Jay, he’s hit just .178/.258/.314 with a wRC+ of just 65. That’s 35% worse than league average and, in conjunction with his lackluster defense, has left him tied for the eighth-lowest fWAR total among qualified major leaguers. His overall production has been similar to that of another low on-base, defensively limited corner bat in Jake Burger, whom the Rangers just optioned to Triple-A last night due to his own struggles.

A look under the hood does suggest that Santander shouldn’t be expected to be quite this bad. While his strikeout rate has jumped four percentage points from last year, that 23.5% figure is not very different than the 23.2% he posted in 2023, when he turned in a perfectly respectable 119 wRC+. What’s more, Santander is actually walking more than ever this year. He’s garnered free passes at a solid 9.8% clip, more than two percentage points higher than his career norm. While his swinging-strike rate and contact rate are both down relative to last year, both numbers are more or less in line with his 2023 season. Between a strikeout rate within his ordinary range and the highest walk rate of his career, that .258 on-base mark seems likely to improve alongside his BABIP, which sits at an extremely low .202.

Where there is a more significant negative change in Santander’s numbers is the power department. A look at Santander’s batted-ball metrics reveals some troubling signs. His 5.7% barrel rate so far this year is his lowest since 2018, and his 39.8% hard-hit rate is also the lowest he’s posted since the shortened 2020 season. His exit velocities appear to still be more or less in line with where they have been in recent years, but Santander’s launch angle is down several points. That’s resulted in a ten-point drop in Santander’s fly ball rate and a seven-point jump in his ground-ball rate. Hitting the ball into the dirt is hardly a recipe for success for a power hitter like Santander, whose sprint speed is in the 23rd percentile of big league position players, per Statcast.

Even if Santander will need to make some changes in order to get back to being that consistent 30-to-40 homer threat he was over the past two years, the deflated BABIP and strong walk rate do suggest that he should see at least some improvements, leaving him with an xwOBA 35 points higher than his actual wOBA. Even that .293 expected figure would be Santander’s worst in a full season of plate appearances, however. It’s a troubling trend and one that the Blue Jays and Santander will need to work to correct in the coming weeks in order to get his season back on track.

How do MLBTR readers think the rest of Santander’s first season as a Blue Jay will shake out? Will he manage to get things back on track well enough to post numbers similar to the expectations he’s created in recent years, or will he fall short? Have your say in the poll below:

How will Anthony Santander finish the 2025 season?
He'll bounce back enough to be an above-average hitter this year, but not return to the sort of impact he offered the Orioles in recent years. 52.71% (1,371 votes)
His power outage will continue, and he'll be an average to below average hitter come the end of the season. 28.10% (731 votes)
He'll bounce back to his 2022-24 level and post a wRC+ of 120 or better. 19.18% (499 votes)
Total Votes: 2,601

Poll: Should The Phillies Try A Six-Man Rotation?

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As has been the case for each of the past several seasons, the Phillies’ rotation remains the team’s greatest strength. Their starters rank fifth in MLB in ERA and first in strikeouts, K-BB%, and SIERA. They trail only the Mets in FanGraphs WAR. Philadelphia’s continued success in this area has plenty to do with the talent the team has acquired and developed, but health has been another critical factor. In an age when arm injuries are a greater concern than ever, the Phillies have done an excellent job of keeping their pitchers on the field, and they have reaped the rewards. As Matt Gelb of The Athletic pointed out this morning, the Phillies were the only team in Major League Baseball not to make any major league pitching transactions during the first month of the season; the 13 pitchers on their active roster right now are the same 13 they started with on Opening Day.

Philadelphia’s pitching staff will grow healthier still on Sunday when left-hander Ranger Suárez is reinstated from the injured list. He has been out since the spring with back tightness. There is no doubt the Phillies will be pleased to have Suárez back on the bump. An All-Star for the time last summer, he has pitched to a 3.27 ERA and a 3.92 SIERA in 537 innings since the start of the 2021 season. He has been particularly dominant in October, with a 1.43 ERA in 10 postseason appearances (eight starts). No active pitcher has thrown more postseason innings (37 2/3) with a lower ERA. Nevertheless, Suárez’s return raises a difficult question for the Phillies that few other teams are lucky enough to have to answer: What are they going to do with all of their starting pitchers?

The Phillies are one of just five teams to have used only five starting pitchers so far this season. Zack Wheeler has continued to shine in his age-35 campaign, posting a 3.48 ERA and a 2.52 SIERA with 57 strikeouts across an MLB-leading 44 innings of work. Meanwhile, offseason trade acquisition Jesús Luzardo has looked unexpectedly ace-like himself, with a 1.73 ERA and a 3.12 SIERA through his first six starts with his new club. Cristopher Sánchez put an injury scare last week behind him, and his 3.54 ERA and 3.00 SIERA suggest he’s picking up right where he left off in his All-Star 2024 season. Aaron Nola has struggled at times, pitching to a 5.40 ERA, but his underlying numbers (3.63 SIERA, 3.58 xFIP) are stronger, and he has given the Phillies at least five innings in all six of his starts. Finally, Taijuan Walker has been a pleasant surprise as the no. 5. After an ugly 2024 (7.10 ERA, 5.25 SIERA), Walker has been much more effective so far this year. His 2.78 ERA might not be sustainable, but his 4.41 SIERA paints the picture of a capable back-end starter. That’s the kind of pitcher the Phillies hoped they were signing when they gave him a four-year, $72MM contract in December 2022.

It’s not up for debate who Suárez would replace if the Phillies decide to stick with a traditional five-man rotation. Walker might have a sub-three ERA right now, but he’s not the same caliber of pitcher as any of Wheeler, Luzardo, Sánchez, or Nola. If his dismal performance last season wasn’t enough to prove that, his 20% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate in 2025, both the worst rates among Phillies starters, should do it. The question, however, is whether the Phillies would consider keeping all six arms in circulation once Suárez returns.

Asked exactly that on Tuesday, manager Rob Thomson offered a cagey response. “Possibly,” he told reporters, including Noah Levick of NBC Sports Philadelphia. “We’re kind of walking through that a little bit right now.” In contrast, Gelb wrote this morning that the Phillies are “highly unlikely” to use a six-man rotation. That said, even Gelb didn’t shut down the idea entirely, and he acknowledged that sticking with a five-man rotation would “prompt a tough decision” for the Phillies to make.

The crux of the issue is that the Phillies need Walker – they just don’t need him right now. As long as Wheeler, Nola, Luzardo, Sánchez, and Suárez are healthy, Walker is all but irrelevant on this team. Yet, rotation depth is essential to get through a 162-game season, even for a team with a strong track record of keeping pitchers healthy. Walker proved how valuable he can be when he stepped in for Suárez during the first month of the season. The Phillies surely want to have him as an option again should any of their top five starters suffer an injury.

However, if the Phillies don’t keep Walker in the rotation, they’ll have to move him to the bullpen. They don’t have the option to send him down to Triple-A, where he could stay stretched out and ready for his next big league opportunity. It’s not that the Phillies don’t have room for Walker in their bullpen; he would almost surely be an upgrade over Carlos Hernández. The eighth man in Philadelphia’s arm barn has given up eight runs in 11 innings, striking out eight and walking seven. His 10.01 Statcast xERA is among the worst in the sport. The concern is that Walker wouldn’t be as effective yo-yoing between the bullpen and rotation as he is right now after having had a full spring training to prepare as a starter. A six-man rotation would allow the Phillies to keep Walker stretched out and pitching on a consistent schedule.

A six-man rotation would also give the rest of Philadelphia’s starters some additional rest, which could prove critical in helping them all stay at full strength down the stretch and (potentially) into October. This isn’t an option for most teams because it’s hard enough to find five MLB-caliber starters, let alone six. It would make sense for the Phillies to take advantage of this unusual opportunity for as long as they have a surplus of healthy arms.

Of course, a six-man rotation has its downsides, too. For one, it would lead to fewer starts for the Phillies’ best pitchers. In other words, it would diminish what has been the team’s greatest strength so far this season. What’s more, the Phillies have two off days coming up in the next two weeks (May 5 and 15). With a six-man rotation, there would be times when their starters were waiting a full week between outings. It’s fair to wonder if that’s too much time off. Rest is good. Rust is not. It is also important to think of the ramifications a six-man rotation would have on the bullpen. Philadelphia’s bullpen has struggled enough this season as it is, producing a 5.03 ERA and eight blown saves. Those numbers might be even worse if they’d had to split the 98 1/3 innings they’ve pitched so far between seven arms instead of eight. The team could ameliorate this problem somewhat by cycling through the optionable arms at the bottom of the 40-man roster or taking full advantage of the waiver wire, but that’s hardly the smartest bullpen strategy long-term.

Lastly, the Phillies need to consider the Andrew Painter of it all. The top prospect in the organization and one of the top pitching prospects in the sport, the 22-year-old righty is currently rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. His goal is to make his MLB debut at some point this summer. If everyone else is healthy when Painter gets the call, that could be the ideal time for the Phillies to switch to a six-man rotation. They could push their starters a little harder now with the understanding that some respite would be coming later in the season.

Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham recently told the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber, “We’re okay with not chasing a win today to win a bunch of games down the road.” While he wasn’t directly addressing the idea of a six-man rotation when he spoke those words, he nonetheless did a good job laying out the argument for such a strategy. One or two fewer starts from arms like Wheeler, Sánchez, Luzardo, Nola, and Suárez early in the season could mean more starts (and better starts) from all of them when it matters more. Moreover, keeping Walker in the rotation now could help prevent depth issues down the line. With that said, the argument against a six-man rotation is robust, and the most recent reporting suggests it’s still unlikely.

So, what do MLBTR readers think? Would the Phillies be smart to try out a six-man rotation, even just temporarily? Or would they be better off sticking with a traditional five-man set-up and moving Walker to the bullpen? Have your say in today’s poll:

Should the Phillies go with a six-man rotation when Ranger Suárez returns?
No 42.08% (664 votes)
Yes, but only temporarily 33.65% (531 votes)
Yes 24.27% (383 votes)
Total Votes: 1,578

 

Photos courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images.

Poll: Can Ben Rice Keep This Up?

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Yesterday, Yankees slugger Ben Rice enjoyed a three-hit game that saw him slug two homers. It was a great game, but that’s become almost commonplace for the 26-year-old through the season’s first month. After making his big league debut at first base while filling in for Anthony Rizzo last summer, Rice entered Spring Training this year in the mix for a bench spot as a pinch-hitter and backup catcher behind Austin Wells. An injury to Giancarlo Stanton created an opportunity for regular playing time, however, and Rice was chosen to take those regular reps.

He’s certainly making the most of the opportunity, having done nothing but rake since the season began. In 106 plate appearances this year, Rice has slashed an incredible .278/.387/.611 (184 wRC+). Rice has clobbered eight homers already, leaving him tied for the ninth-most long balls in the majors and just two behind Eugenio Suarez and Cal Raleigh for the major league lead. Sandwiched between those two and Rice with nine homers is Aaron Judge, for whom Rice’s emergence has created the sort of protection in the lineup that Juan Soto offered him last season. If comparing the 26-year-old’s early season production to Soto’s 2024 campaign sounds hyperbolic, it isn’t; Rice’s aforementioned 184 wRC+ currently makes him the fourth-best qualified hitter in baseball and second only to Judge in the AL. Soto’s 180 wRC+ last year made him the third-best qualified hitter in baseball and second only to Judge in the AL.

The question for Rice, however, is how sustainable this hot start will prove to be. The Yankees would surely love for Rice to emerge as star-level bat both for this season and the long-term, when he could take over for Paul Goldschmidt as the club’s regular first baseman. This isn’t the first time Rice has come out of the gates with a hot start, however, as his cup of coffee last year started with a 24-game, 92-PA stretch where he hit an impressive .228/.315/.494 with six homers. That start proved to be unsustainable for him, as he hit a paltry .110/.209/.192 the rest of the way to finish as a well below-average hitter overall across his 50 games in the majors.

In that 24-game stretch of success last year, Rice struck out at a 22.8% clip, walked 12.0% of the time, and posted an incredible 20.0% barrel rate. Those are all solid peripherals, though his 38.3% hard-hit rate was somewhat concerning and helped to explain his lackluster .222 BABIP. That’s especially true when combined with his 50% fly ball rate over that stretch; while elevating the ball often helps with homers, leading to the aforementioned massive barrel rate, softly-hit fly balls are the worst type of contact a hitter can make. That weak contact in the air led to very few balls dropping in for hits, and once the home runs stopped coming his overall production cratered.

How does Rice’s start to 2025 measure up to last year’s hot start? The signs are mixed in that regard. His strikeout rate (24.5%) has actually gotten worse, and his walk rate (12.3%) is mostly stagnant. The real story here can be found in his batted ball data. Rice’s 21.9% barrel rate is phenomenal, but not a massive change from the 20.0% figure he put up during last year’s hot streak. However, Rice is making loud contact much more consistently so far this year. His hard-hit rate has jumped up to a phenomenal 62.5%, good for second in all of baseball this year behind Oneil Cruz’s 62.7% and slightly ahead of Shohei Ohtani’s 62.3%.

Hitting the ball hard that consistently is obviously a good thing, but the hard contact has come at the cost of Rice elevating the ball much less than he was last year. His 15.6% line drive rate is down five points from last year and his 35.9% fly ball rate is down eight points; consequently, that’s led to a 13-point spike in his ground ball rate, which now sits at 48.4%. That huge grounder rate may seem like it would limit Rice’s power, and that’s true to a least some extent. Even so, plenty of hitters have emerged as legitimate power threats over the years despite hitting the ball on the ground a lot as long as they hit the ball hard enough to send it out when they do elevate. Gunnar Henderson, Ketel Marte, and Teoscar Hernandez are among the players who posted big seasons last year despite ground ball rates in a similar range as Rice. What’s more, advanced metrics generally seem to buy that Rice has earned his production so far. His .428 wOBA this year is virtually identical to his .425 xwOBA.

How much do MLBTR readers believe in Rice’s offensive explosion to open the season? Have the Yankees found another star slugger to pair with Judge in the middle of their lineup, or will this hot start prove to be a flash in the pan like last year? Have your say in the poll below:

How will Ben Rice finish the season?
Rice won't be able to maintain All-Star caliber production, but he'll still finish the year as a quality everyday player. 55.44% (1,559 votes)
Rice will mostly maintain his hot start and post an All-Star caliber campaign in 2025. 29.91% (841 votes)
Rice will regress badly as he did last year and appear miscast as an everyday player in the majors by season's end. 14.65% (412 votes)
Total Votes: 2,812

Poll: Should The Rangers Be Worried About Marcus Semien?

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On balance, Rangers fans are surely happy that the club signed Marcus Semien prior to the 2022 season. After all, his second year with the club saw him make the AL All-Star team, finish as a finalist for the AL MVP award for the third time in his career, and join the rest of the Rangers in hoisting the Commissioner’s Trophy after bringing home the first World Series championship in franchise history. Flags fly forever, so in a sense that surprising seven-year, $175MM contract that Texas brass shelled out to convince Semien to join a team coming off a 102-loss season is already a resounding success.

Perhaps that’s a good thing, as Semien has shown some worrying signs as he enters his mid-thirties. Last season represented a notable step back from his star-level production thanks primarily to a down season at the plate. In 159 games for the Rangers last year, the veteran hit .237/.308/.391 with a 99 wRC+. It was a step back from the 126 wRC+ he had posted the previous year, but hardly out of the ordinary. 2024 was the seventh year in a row where Semien had alternated a relatively average offensive season with one where he mustered up enough offense to finish third in AL MVP voting. It’s a trend that stretched across three different teams, starting during his time in Oakland in 2018 with a pedestrian season that he followed up by crushing a then career-high 33 homers in 2019.

The trend continued when he suffered a down season during the 60-game 2020 campaign, though Semien came roaring back with a 45-homer season and 6.0 fWAR in 2021 as a member of the Blue Jays. That was the platform campaign Semien put together ahead of his decision to sign with the Rangers, and overall the first three years of that deal have been successful overall with a .254/.320/.433 (111 wRC+) with 14.8 fWAR. Despite his pedestrian season offensively last year, Semien still managed to piece together a four-win campaign thanks to him offering some of the most defensive value in the entire sport with his work at second base. Among all qualified players regardless of position last year, Semien’s +19 Outs Above Average were eclipsed by only fellow second baseman Andres Gimenez. His Fielding Run Value was similarly impressive, as his +14 figure was tied with Gimenez for the league lead among all infielders.

That sort of wizardry with the glove can make up for a pedestrian bat, but it can’t make up for the sort of numbers Semien has put up in 2025 so far. In Semien’s first 115 plate appearances this year, he’s hit a paltry .155/.226/.223, good for a 30 wRC+. That’s 70% worse than league average, and the third-weakest offensive performance in the majors among qualified hitters so far this year. That sort of offensive production is nearly impossible to make up for with the glove and on the bases, and that’s assuming Semien can replicate his elite defense from last year despite being just a few months shy of his 35th birthday. With three years and $72MM still remaining on his contract after this year, Semien’s age and brutal start to the season are clear causes for worry in Texas.

Fortunately, Semien’s underlying offensive numbers do provide reason for at least some optimism. Semien’s .175 BABIP won’t stay more than 100 points below his career mark (.281) all year long. In the power department, his 8.1% barrel rate is actually the highest he’s posted since his 45-homer campaign with the Blue Jays back in 2021, though his 31.7% hard-hit rate is the lowest its been in a 162-game season since 2017. The more concerning metrics are those regarding his plate discipline. While Semien’s 8.7% walk rate is largely unchanged from last year’s 8.9% figure, his strikeout rate jumped from 14.6% in each of the past two seasons to 20.0% so far in 2025.

That increase in strikeouts has been due to an increase in whiffs, especially outside of the strike zone. Semien’s swinging strike rate this year is up to 10.9%, a full two points higher than his career mark of 8.9% and the highest he’s posted since his 21-game cup of coffee with the White Sox back in 2013. When looking at pitches outside of the strike zone, Semien is making contact just 45.5% of the time, down more than ten points from last year. Even though Semien can expect some positive regression in the power and BABIP departments, his newfound issues with whiffs outside of the strike zone could limit his ability to be an above-average bat in the majors if not corrected.

How do MLBTR readers think Semien’s 2025 season will play out? A rebound on at least some level appears all but guaranteed, given that Billy Hunter of the 1953 St. Louis Browns is the last player to post a 30 wRC+ or lower while qualifying for the batting title. The real question appears to be whether Semien will be able to get his offense back to a level that would allow his defense to make him an above-average major leaguer. Have your say in the poll below:

What's in store for Marcus Semien this year?
He'll bounce back enough to be an average or better player overall, though his offense will remain below average (99 wRC+ or lower). 42.97% (1,388 votes)
He'll continue to struggle badly enough that he's a below-average player overall at the end of the year. 28.92% (934 votes)
Semien will bounce back strongly enough to post an at least average offensive season (100 wRC+ or higher). 28.11% (908 votes)
Total Votes: 3,230

Poll: Will Cedric Mullins Sustain His Hot Start?

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There wasn’t much for Orioles fans to be excited about back in 2021, as they ultimately lost 110 games that season. Center fielder Cedric Mullins was the exception to that, however, as the then-26-year-old broke out in a big way that year with a .291/.360/518 slash line in 159 games while playing strong defense in center. Flash forward to 2025 and while the Orioles are certainly not going to lose 110 games, their fans are once again staring down disappointment as their 10-17 record puts them dead last in the AL East. Amid that disappointment, however, Mullins is once again emerging as a bright spot.

Now in his age-30 season, the club’s center fielder is putting on by far the best offensive performance of his career. He’s slashing .279/.421/.547 in his first 107 trips to the plate, production that’s good for an incredible 185 wRC+. His six home runs put him on pace for a career-best mark over a full season, and he’s pairing that surge in power with a massive 17.8% walk rate while maintaining a fairly low 19.6% strikeout rate. He remains an impressive baserunner as well, with five stolen bases in six attempts, and that entire offensive package has been paired with his typically-stellar defense.

In all, it’s the sort of scorching start that would be MVP-caliber if maintained over a full season; only Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt Jr. have posted more fWAR than Mullins in the AL this year. That sort of season would not only help the Orioles get back into the conversation for a playoff spot, but it would be game-changing for Mullins himself ahead of his first foray into free agency this winter. In a free agent class that has long looked relatively light on quality offensive options, a strong offensive season for Mullins could earn him quite the raise on the open market as was the case for fellow outfielders Anthony Santander and Jurickson Profar this past offseason following their own strong walk years.

Just how feasible is it for Mullins to maintain this production? Some of it certainly looks sustainable. He’s posting a career-high in hard-hit rate (40.0%) while posting his best barrel rate (7.7%) since his 30-homer campaign in 2021, so there’s some reason for optimism about his power increase. His .305 BABIP is within spitting distance of his .290 career mark, and a 20.3% line drive rate (his best since 2020) provides an easy explanation for the slight increase. In general, Mullins is elevating the ball more than he ever has before in his career with a ground ball rate of just 26.6% and a launch angle of 24.1 degrees, both career-best marks. With that said, his aforementioned barrel and hard-hit rates are both still below league average and seem unlikely to keep generating homers at quite this level and his .423 expected slugging percentage is more than 100 points below his actual figure.

While the sustainability of Mullins’ newfound power is questionable, his improved plate discipline is backed up by underlying numbers. Mullins is swinging just 42.1% of the time, the lowest figure he’s posted since his debut season in 2018, and most of that patience has come against pitches outside of the zone. He’s swinging at balls outside the strike zone just 20.7% of the time, and he’s combined that with a knack for making contact on pitches in the zone, connecting on 90.8% of his in-zone swings. It’s led to a swinging-strike rate of just 7.5% so far this year and, while his gargantuan 17.8% walk rate will almost certainly come down at some point, it’s easy to imagine this sort of approach resulting in a career-best walk rate for Mullins, who walked in just 8.1% of his career plate appearances entering this season.

While some regression appears all but guaranteed to come for Mullins eventually, there’s enough real improvements to his approach that it’s not hard to imagine him matching or perhaps even surpassing his career-best 2021 campaign. Mullins’ .366 xwOBA, while nearly 60 points below his current wOBA, is actually 22 points higher than his 2021 figure and by far the best of his career. That expected number puts Mullins in the same ballpark as players like Witt, Seiya Suzuki, and Francisco Lindor this year, and it’s in line with the production of Freddie Freeman, Kyle Schwarber, and Corey Seager at the plate last season.

How do MLBTR readers think Mullins’ platform season will play out? Will he enter free agency coming off of a career year, end up in line with his 2021 numbers, or regress back to his career norms? Have your say in the poll below:

How will Cedric Mullins perform in 2025?
He'll post a season more or less in line with his career-best 2021 season (136 wRC+, 6.0 fWAR) 40.90% (670 votes)
He'll regress to his career norms by the end of the season (107 wRC+, 2.0 fWAR) 38.46% (630 votes)
He'll post the best season of his career, eclipsing 2021. 20.63% (338 votes)
Total Votes: 1,638

Poll: Should Nick Pivetta’s Hot Start Be Believed?

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Right-hander Nick Pivetta languished for quite some time on the free agent market after he turned down a Qualifying Offer from the Red Sox in search of a multi-year deal. The 32-year-old wound up being one of the final pitchers to come off the board this winter. He ultimately signed with the Padres on a four-year, $55MM pact that comes with some protection for the club against Pivetta undergoing significant elbow surgery. That relatively low-cost deal seemingly wouldn’t have been difficult for another club to beat this offseason, and so far Pivetta has made the rotation-needy clubs who passed on him look foolish.

In his first five starts this year, Pivetta has pitched to a 1.20 ERA across 30 frames. He’s struck out 27.0% of his opponents, walked just 6.3%, and made it through seven full innings in the majority of his appearances. For years, Pivetta has been viewed around baseball as a potential breakout arm with electric stuff despite never quite putting it together across a full season in the majors, with a career 4.66 ERA and 4.30 FIP. That led the Phillies to deal him to the Red Sox back in 2020, and that led Boston brass to shuffle Pivetta between the bullpen and rotation during the 2023 season. Even his best seasons with the Red Sox from 2021 to 2024 saw him pitch to a middling 4.33 ERA and 4.20 FIP. Could the veteran’s long-anticipated breakout have finally arrived in his first year with San Diego?

The possibility cannot be dismissed out of hand. After all, Pivetta’s success has come in spite of two his his five starts coming against the Cubs, who sport the NL’s best offense and the most runs scored in all of baseball to this point in the calendar. His first start against Chicago was a lackluster one, with three runs allowed in three innings of work, but his second time facing the club saw him strike six batters out while walking just one with one run allowed in six innings of work. Combine that with the seven scoreless innings he twirled against the Tigers and their own top-10 offense in the sport so far, and it’s hard to say Pivetta has coasted through an easy schedule so far this year.

With that being said, there hasn’t been much in the way of drastic changes. Pivetta’s 27.0% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate this year are both better than his career norms, but weaker than last year’s figures of 28.9% and 6.3% respectively. His fastball velocity also remains virtually unchanged from last year, when he posted a fairly pedestrian 4.14 ERA and 4.07 FIP across 145 2/3 innings of work. That lack of tangible change is a potential red flag that suggests this dominance won’t continue, as are Pivetta’s .205 BABIP allowed, 88% strand rate, and 2.9% home run-to-fly ball ratio.

All of those figures as well out of line with not only Pivetta’s career norms but what can be expected for MLB hurlers in general. Pivetta’s HR/FB is particularly noteworthy, however, as home runs have been the righty’s primary bugaboo throughout his career. Pivetta has allowed the fifth highest number of home runs since he arrived in the majors back in 2017 among all pitchers. Among those with at least 800 innings of work since then, Pivetta’s home run rate is also the fifth-highest, while his home run-to-fly ball ratio is ninth-highest. The long ball has always been what’s held Pivetta back throughout his career, but he’s allowed just one home run in his first five starts.

While this year’s level of home run suppression is all but impossible to imagine being sustainable, the underlying metrics do suggest that Pivetta has done better than usual in terms of keeping the barrel off the ball. His 8.1% barrel rate so far this year would be the lowest he’s posted in any season since 2018 if maintained over a full season, and he’s currently sporting a 37.8% hard-hit rate that would be his lowest since 2019. Combine that with the lowest average exit velocity and highest infield fly ball rate of his career, and it’s not hard to see why Pivetta’s allowing less home runs than ever. Regression back to the mean must be expected, but there’s at least some signs that the veteran could allow fewer homers this year than he has in any of his previous full seasons of work.

On yet another hand, there are generally more home runs in the warmer months. It’s perhaps not a coincidence that Pivetta’s career splits form a sort of bell curve, with his ERA lower in the spring and fall but higher in the summer. He has a career 4.01 ERA in March/April, then 4.34 in May, 4.66 in June, 5.11 in July, 6.02 in August, then 3.84 in September/October. As the weather heats up, all pitchers have a harder time keeping the ball in the park, which could be especially noteworthy for Pivetta.

Do MLBTR readers believe in his strong start or is the right-hander going to come back down to Earth eventually? Have your say in the poll below:

How will Nick Pivetta finish the year?
Pivetta will continue to dominate and enjoy the best season of his career in 2025. 53.18% (1,287 votes)
Pivetta will regress to the mean and post a season similar to those he posted from 2021 to 2024. 46.82% (1,133 votes)
Total Votes: 2,420

Poll: Can Willson Contreras Get Back On Track?

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When the Cardinals announced over the offseason that they were moving Willson Contreras to first base, it came as something of a surprise given that they we just two years into a five-year deal they gave him to fill the shoes Yadier Molina had stood in for the past 19 years. Signing a bat-first catcher to replace one of the best defenders in baseball history behind the dish was a bold move, and while Contreras hit an excellent .263/.367/.468 (129 wRC+) in his first two seasons as a Cardinal, his tenure behind the plate did not come without controversy. St. Louis moved him off catcher briefly during his first season with the club after complaints about his glove. Last year, he missed time with a broken arm sustained when he was hit by a swing after the organization suggested he move closer to the plate to improve his defense.

If those controversies set the table for the decision to move Contreras away from catching, the departure of incumbent first baseman Paul Goldschmidt for the Bronx this winter and the club’s two up-and-coming catchers Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages making solid cases for more playing time made the possibility that much more realistic. After all, a position change for Contreras would allow the Cardinals to make some progress on their desired youth movement without needing to pull off a trade, and there was at least a possibility that Contreras’s strong bat from his first two seasons with the club could blossom even further if he didn’t need to split his focus between hitting and catching.

Unfortunately, that’s not how things have gone so far. In 24 games this season, Contreras has slashed just .200/.269/.305 this year. That leaves him with a 62 wRC+ that’s not only well below average but also extremely uncharacteristic of him. While questions about Contreras’s defensive abilities have dogged him since the early days of his MLB career with the Cubs, his bat has never been in doubt as he’s posted above-average numbers at the plate by wRC+ in every single year of his career until now. A .258/.353/.461 (121 wRC+) hitter for his career, Contreras had elevated his game to another level since the start of the 2022 season with a .256/.367/.467 (133 wRC+) line across the past three seasons.

Has all of that changed in his age-33 season? It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that a catcher in his early-to-mid 30s suffered a sudden and drastic decline, although moving to first base should at least theoretically help preserve Contreras’s health. The frustrating reality of the veteran’s situation is that, while below-average offense can be acceptable behind the plate, first base is a bat-first position where he’ll need offensive results in order to stick as a regular. That’s even more true with youngsters like Alec Burleson and Luken Baker ready to step in and take their own shots at the first base job if given the opportunity.

As lackluster as Contreras’s work at the dish has been so far this year, it’s not as if all hope is lost. The veteran’s .270 BABIP this year matches his career low, and if it bounces back to something closer to his .309 career level, that would go a long way to lifting his production. Another reason for optimism is that he’s still putting the barrel on the ball fairly often. While his 9.1% barrel rate and 40.9% hard-hit rate this year are the lowest figures he’s posted in either category since 2018, they both remain solid. When combined with his top-of-the-line bat speed, it’s easy to imagine Contreras being able to generate more power than he’s shown so far.

On the other hand, Contreras is already more than 100 plate appearances into his first season as a first baseman, and he’s currently matching his career-high in strikeout rate (28.6%) and pairing that with a career-low walk rate of 6.7%. Contreras has always been a bit of a streaky hitter, as exemplified by his 2018 season where he carried a 123 wRC+ into the All-Star break before hitting a paltry .193/.282/.280 across his final 50 games, so it stands to reason that he may well be just one hot streak away from getting back to being the bat he’s shown himself to be throughout his career. Even with that in mind, the signs of declining plate discipline and reduced power are concerning. That’s especially true when combined with his age and the years of wear and tear he accumulated behind the plate.

How do MLBTR readers think the rest of the 2025 season will go for Contreras? Will he be able to bounce back and post numbers similar to what he’s offered in each of the last three seasons? Or will his first year as a first baseman be the worst offensive season of his career? Have your say in the poll below:

How will Willson Contreras perform for the rest of the year?
Contreras will rebound enough to be a roughly average hitter, but not post the impactful numbers he's offered in recent years. 41.34% (1,156 votes)
Contreras will bounce back and post a strong final line close to that of his previous seasons with the Cardinals. 34.37% (961 votes)
Contreras's down season will continue and he'll post the first below-average season of his career. 24.28% (679 votes)
Total Votes: 2,796

Poll: Should Spencer Torkelson’s Breakout Be Believed?

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Not long ago, Spencer Torkelson seemed to be out of time. The Tigers first baseman was selected first overall in the 2020 draft to plenty of fanfare, and he instantly became a consensus top-5 talent in the minor leagues. A disappointing rookie season in 2022 tempered those massive expectations, but a strong second half in 2023 caused many around the league to think the following year would be Torkelson’s season to shine. That didn’t happen either, as the slugger was once again a below-average hitter overall and wound up optioned to the minors for much of the year. When the Tigers signed Gleyber Torres to push Colt Keith over to first base, it seemed like a bad omen for 25-year-old’s future in Detroit.

Spring Training changed all of that, as the club’s entire outfield mix save Riley Greene wound up on the injured list. That opened up enough roster spots for Torkelson to have a real shot at the Opening Day roster, and he made the most of the opportunity by hitting .340/.389/.680 in 55 plate appearances during camp. Spring stats only count for so much due to the less competitive environment, however, and Torkelson would need to show out in actual major league games if he was going to turn his career around. So far, he’s done just that. Torkelson has not only been the Tigers’ best hitter this year, but he’s been one of the top hitters in the majors.

Across 24 games this year, the slugger has slashed an excellent .273/.377/.591 with a wRC+ of 176. It’s enough to have made him the 12th-best qualified hitter in the major leagues to this point in the year. It’s early enough in the season that the leaderboard still looks fairly unusual; just ahead of Torkelson with a 177 wRC+ is veteran outfielder George Springer, who it goes without saying is unlikely to maintain a .444 BABIP all season long. While there’s plenty of reasons to be skeptical of small-sample performances, many of them don’t apply to the 106 plate appearances Torkelson has taken to this point in the year.

Torkelson’s BABIP is .309, which is the highest of his career but well within the range of expected outcomes for a hitter and not substantially higher than the .285 BABIP he posted last season. The fact that Torkelson is hitting the ball on a line (17.7% line drive rate) more often than last year (15.1%) surely helps his outcomes on balls in play, as well. His 26.4% strikeout rate is also a tick lower than last year’s 27.6%, but none of these are the most encouraging signs regarding Torkelson’s start to the 2025 campaign. The most exciting news here is that he’s not only resumed crushing the ball at the level he was during the 2023 season, but that he’s paired it with newfound patience at the plate.

The 25-year-old is swinging less than ever, at just 44.3% of his pitches. Torkelson’s swing rates both inside and outside of the strike zone are lower than ever, and that newfound patience has allowed him to not only draw walks at a phenomenal 13.2% clip but also make more contact when he does swing. His 10.2% swinging strike rate this year is the lowest of his career, and he’s making contact on 52.2% of pitches he swings at outside of the zone after putting the bat on just 40.6% of those same pitches last year.

That more judicious approach at the plate has allowed Torkelson to rediscover his titanic power after posting a paltry .155 ISO last year. He has seven homers and seven doubles already this year, and that power is backed up by his underlying numbers: he’s managed a phenomenal 17.7% barrel rate that would be by far the highest of his career if maintained over the full season and is nearly triple last year’s 6.1% clip, and 50.0% of his balls have been considered hard hit, good for a 95mph exit velocity or higher.

All of this is extremely impressive, and if Torkelson can keep anything close to this going for the full year, he’ll have finally tapped into the potential scouts saw in him half a decade ago as an amateur. Over his final 300 plate appearances in 2023, Torkelson hit .238/.320/.506 with a wRC+ of 125. His 26.7% strikeout rate was more or less identical over that stretch to this year’s figure. His 16.6% barrel rate and 52.2% hard-hit rate weren’t far off, either. Those numbers are all close enough to serve as a reminder that Torkelson’s first 100 plate appearances this year don’t guarantee his future production will be close to as impactful, although his 2025 numbers do have a few key advantages over his second-half numbers in 2023.

For one thing, Torkelson’s line drive rate is three points higher while his soft contact rate is nine points lower this season. Those figures could help to explain the huge difference in BABIP, which sat at just .262 during his final 300 trips to the plate in 2023. His discipline is also noticeably improved, as he walked 10.0% of the time during that stretch, nearly four points lower than this year. If Torkelson’s improved plate discipline holds up and he continues to make soft contact this sparingly, it’s not hard to imagine him being able to keep up this level of production over the long haul.

What do MLBTR readers think of Torkelson’s hot start? Is this finally the year he puts it all together and looks like the dominant offensive force he was always expected to be, or will this prove to be another flash in the pan like his late 2023 production? Have your say in the poll below:

How will Spencer Torkelson finish the year?
While he won't hit this well all year, the improvements are legitimate enough to make him a well-above average hitter going forward. 66.14% (2,324 votes)
He'll sustain this breakout fully and emerge as one of the league's top hitters. 20.43% (718 votes)
His hot start should not be believed, and he'll regress to his career norms. 13.43% (472 votes)
Total Votes: 3,514
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