Vinnie Pasquantino will begin his rehab assignment at Triple-A Tuesday, and if he doesn't have enough time to get back before the All-Star break, then he should definitely be back when the Royals return to action July 17. But given how bad he was before the injury, is he even someone we should be excited to see return?
I want to say yes. After all, Pasquantino was a top-80 pick on average in drafts before the season, and a bad couple of months shouldn't be enough to fundamentally change your opinion of a player enough to go from thinking he's worth a top-80 pick to thinking he's not even worth rostering. I thought Pasquantino was more worth drafting around the 100th pick, but even that wouldn't change the calculation there.
But here's the thing: Pasquantino was really bad before his injury, in a way that looked like more than just a slump. His average exit velocity had fallen 2.4 mph from last season, and notably, his average bat speed had fallen by nearly the same amount. He was still making a decent amount of contact, but his 17.5% strikeout rate was also a career-worst mark, and combined with his paltry .337 expected wOBA on contact, Pasquantino very much earned his slow start. And it's not like he's always been a great bat – he was pretty underwhelming in 2023 and 2024, and even in the first half of 2025, he was a pretty fringe-y starter.
And then there's this: Even if Pasquantino was healthy and playing like I expected him to this season, I'm not sure he'd definitely be a top-12 first baseman right now. Ben Rice would obviously rank ahead of even a fully healthy Pasquantino right now, but even other breakouts like Jac Caglianone and Sal Stewart have made the back half of the top 12 more crowded. And Pasquantino isn't necessarily better than Christian Walker, Miguel Vargas, Isaac Paredes, or Jonathan Aranda; he might not be better than Kyle Stowers, either, now that he's pulling out of his own slump to open the season.
Where does that leave Pasquantino? Around 20th at first base, by my estimation; higher if he was hitting like he did last season, but possibly lower if he hit more like what he looked like before last year's All-Star break. I'd probably rather have him than someone like Bryce Eldridge, but it's not a guarantee.
Which is all to say that you might have a tough decision to make with Pasquantino when he comes off the IL, and you might prefer to have him take his time getting back before you have to make that decision. Maybe something goes wrong with one of the other first basemen you have been using in his stead, which could make the decision easier. But as it stands, unless you are just unusually thin at first base/corner infield/utility, Pasquantino might not be worth rostering once he's no longer safely stashed in an IL spot.
You won't have to make that decision for a little while, but it's looming. And, at this point, I can hardly make the case that Pasquantino is someone you need to be looking to add if you play in one of the roughly 25% of CBS Fantasy leagues where he's available. That's a long fall from Draft Day, but it's a deserved one.
Pre-game Lineup Card
Here's what you might have missed from CBSSports.com's MLB coverage in recent days:
Bullpen Report. Tyler Wells looks like the top option in the ninth inning for the Orioles. Who else is working their way into the ninth-inning situations? Scott White looks into it.
Top 25 trade candidates. Tarik Skubal could be on the move, and he's not the only big name who could be traded by the end of the month. Mike Axisa ranks the biggest names on the market.
Caminero for MVP? Matt Snyder looks into how Junior Caminero has played his way into the AL MVP conversation.
Deadline buyers' guide. Where every team stands less than four weeks out.
Hitting the Wire
The top waiver-wire targets from Monday's action:
Cole Carrigg, OF, Rockies (65%) – Carrigg wasn't some kind of can't-miss prospect, but he came to the majors with a bit of hype and is hitting .309/.385/.593 through his first 25 MLB games after a three-hit game Monday against the Dodgers. The .344 BABIP probably won't prove sustainable and the underlying numbers don't necessarily back up what he's doing, either … but they don't suggest he's a total fluke. Despite Carrigg's mediocre 85.8 mph average exit velocity, he sports a .341 expected wOBA thanks to a line-drive-heavy swing and a more solid than expected approach at the plate. Maybe it'll all fall apart, but he does still play half his games at Coors Field, so he'll get the boost from that, and his athleticism gives him a path to production even when he isn't hitting well. I assume the playing time will only grow more consistent moving forward, too, so Carrigg looks like someone who should be rostered at least in all categories leagues, and could get there in points leagues.
Griffin Jax, RP, Rays (80%) – He's only gone more than five innings once since moving to the rotation in late April – and the one time he did that, he still only threw 88 pitches, the only time he had even reached 80 before Monday night. So, there are some pretty clear limitations here with Jax's Fantasy appeal. Despite that, I think we're at the point where he just needs to be rostered everywhere regardless of the limitations. He struck out 10 in five innings against the Yankees, and while the three runs allowed aren't ideal, it just so happens that all three base runners who reached against him came around to score, so he really only made one or two mistakes here. Jax has a 3.81 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 41 strikeouts in 33 innings since the start of May and just looks like a viable starting option in all Fantasy formats.
Landen Roupp, SP, Giants (75%) – Roupp is one of the toughest pitchers in baseball to figure out right now, mostly because you never quite know when he's going to have his command and when he won't. He didn't have it in his previous start last week against the Diamondbacks and he was tagged for six runs while walking six in 2.2 innings. So, of course, he went out Monday and dominated with excellent command, walking just two over eight one-run innings against the Blue Jays. He threw his cutter a bit more than usual in this one and it was excellent, but that came at the expense of his curveball, which was down from a 27% usage rate for the season to just 14% in this one, which usually isn't a winning formula for Roupp. He made it work this time, and maybe there's something to build on here; Coup has found success with his newly expanded arsenal this season, and his curveball, nasty as it is, can often contribute to his control problems. He's a tough nut to crack, but he's also clearly talented, and his 3.43 xERA entering this start suggests he deserves better results than he's gotten. It's not a bad idea to bet on a talented pitcher in a great home park, even if it's hard to figure out just how good Roupp actually is.
Heliot Ramos, OF, Giants (50%) – Ramos has been around long enough that he's pretty much a known quantity, and while he's a good hitter, he'll probably never be a great one. Which is to say, this is probably just a hot streak he's enjoying right now. But it's a heck of a hot streak, as he is hitting .364/.391/1.000 with three homers and six extra-base hits in five July games. As long as you know he's probably just a hot-hand play outside of deeper leagues, I think Ramos is a fine player to target on waivers right now.
Curtis Mead, 1B, Nationals (57%) – The quality of the Nationals lineup is one of the biggest surprises in the league, and Mead's emergence is a big part of that. The former top prospect slowed down a bit in June, but he put together three multi-hit games in July, including a 3-for-5-with-a-homer showing Monday in a 12-11 win over the Astros. That performance pushed his season-long line to .240/.333/.483, and he's been playing regularly (though not quite every day) against righties for long enough that playing time concerns have largely gone away. This is a good hitter with the pedigree and underlying numbers to back it up, and while the batting average will probably continue to hover around .250, the power will make up for it. He's a viable starter at third base and a pretty good middle infield option – and he just gained second base eligibility, where he might just be a top-12 option.
Reynaldo Lopez, RP, Braves (45%) – Lopez has looked good since returning to the rotation, including Monday, when he limited the Mets to just one run over five innings with five strikeouts. He mostly did that on the strength of his fastball, which generated nine swinging strikes and a 38% called-plus-swinging-strike rate; his breaking balls had just one swinging strike otherwise. The limited arsenal is part of why I remain skeptical about Lopez, but at least his fastball velocity is holding up since his return to the rotation, and he has 12 strikeouts to three walks in 13 innings. Lopez is a pretty fringe-y option in Roto leagues, but his SPaRP eligibility gives him a nice little boost for H2H formats.
Three Up, Three Down
Three big performances that have players trending up, and three that have the arrow pointing in the opposite direction.
Three Up
Cam Schlittler bounced back
Coming off the worst start of his career, Schlittler wanted to make a statement Monday, and boy, did he. He carved the Rays up over eight innings, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out eight and allowing zero walks. The four-seamer was humming, accounting for all 16 of his swinging strikes, and he really didn't need much more than that. The previous outing was rough, with four homers leading to six runs, but it was also still just the fourth time all season he has allowed more than two earned runs in a start, so there wasn't much to panic about. I don't expect Schlittler to keep his ERA near 2.00 forever, but I don't expect it to be much higher than 3.00 the rest of the way either. He's a top-10 SP, maybe top-five.
Geraldo Perdomo is showing signs of life
The Perdomo skeptics are mostly looking right about him this season, but I can't quite bring myself to give up on him just yet. Part of why that is is just that the skill set hasn't changed that much – he's still got some of the best plate discipline in baseball, and his quality of contact hasn't gotten that much worse. And my faith has started to be rewarded, as Perdomo hit .286/.414/.385 in June and has had multiple multi-hit games in a row in addition to a homer and a steal Monday. He'll never be a top-20 Fantasy hitter again, but it's a well-rounded skill set that should still make Perdomo a starting-caliber option even if he's only a 10-12 homer guy now.
Jose Caballero has a career-high in homers
Caballero is a weird player for Fantasy. He's probably playing over his head, especially after his OPS spiked to .711 after a two-homer game Monday. Those homers give him 10 for the season, a career-high mark, but he's also dramatically overperforming his expected stats, which suggest he should be one of the worst hitters in baseball. The primary appeal here is the speed, and I don't think he'll come close to another 10 homers the rest of the way – I might take the under if you set it at 4.5. But he's more valuable than his actual numbers for Fantasy in part because he is eligible at every position except catcher and first base, and that kind of player is especially valuable on teams where you are trying to maximize streaming pitchers; having even a mediocre hitter who can play basically every in your lineup is really nice to have around when you only want one or two hitters on your bench. Which is all to say: While I'm not saying Caballero needs to be much more rostered than his 72% rate currently is, I don't think he's too over-rostered, either.
Three Down
Cristopher Sanchez finally stumbled
We always want an explanation when things go wrong, especially when they go as wrong for Sanchez as they did Monday, when he was tagged for nine runs in 3.1 innings of work. But I don't think there's anything here. Sanchez's velocity was fine, and he generated a healthy 15 swinging strikes on 83 pitches, so there doesn't appear to be much physically wrong. His changeup was generating a few more inches of drop and he seemed to struggle to command it, leading to an unusual amount of hard contact, and when that happens to your best pitch, it's usually game over, even for the best pitchers. But Sanchez also dealt with poor defense that extended his disastrous first inning, and that's enough for me to write this one entirely off. Even pitchers like Sanchez stumble, but I don't see much reason to expect this to continue.
Freddy Peralta's struggles continued
I had Peralta as a bust coming into the season, but man, I really didn't see him being this bad. And I really don't think he is this bad. He failed to get out of the fifth inning for the third time in his past four starts, and while he allowed just one earned run, he gave up six hits over 4.2 innings while throwing 103 pitches, so it's hard to say he pitched well here. Peralta hasn't had a quality start in over a month now, but his 4.68 ERA looks like a bit of bad luck, too – his 3.77 xERA is a lot closer to what I expect from him moving forward. That's not to say there's nothing that needs to be fixed here, as Peralta has really struggled to throw his slider lately and hasn't had the same feel for his changeup. But I'm pretty confident he's going to figure that stuff out, get the strikeout rate up, and be more like a mid-3.00s ERA pitcher moving forward. He just probably won't be doing it for the Mets for too much longer, and honestly, a change of scenery wouldn't be unwelcome at this point.
Kevin Gausman just doesn't look right
Given Gausman's long track record of success, I'm inclined to just give him the benefit of the doubt whenever he struggles. And he's really struggling right now, with a 6.51 ERA and 1.47 WHIP over his past seven starts after he was tagged for four runs on five hits and five walks in 5.1 innings against the Giants Monday. His command has clearly taken a step back over the past month-plus, something that seems to happen pretty regularly with splitter-heavy pitchers like Gausman. That pitch was effective for him in this one, leading to nine of his 14 swinging strikes, but he seemed to have trouble finishing hitters off, hence the high walk rate. I tend to think he'll figure it out and get back on track, but if you want to sit Gausman for his next start and let him prove himself again, I can't argue with you on that one.
Extra Innings
The Braves let Owen Murphy down
There's no crying in baseball, I get that. But jeez, the Braves really put pitching prospect Owen Murphy in an impossible situation Monday. Murphy got the call for his MLB debut Monday and the Braves threw him right into the fire, calling on him to pitch in relief for the first time as a professional. In extra innings. In a tied game, with the Manfred Man runner on. Opening the inning against Francisco Lindor. Yeah, of course, he gave up a couple of runs and took the loss. Murphy was called up to add some length to the bullpen after the team has dealt with a bunch of injuries in recent weeks, and I doubt this was the situation the Braves wanted to put him into for his MLB debut. But that's the way it shook out, and it didn't go how anyone would have liked. Murphy is a pretty interesting young pitcher who has flashed some strikeout and has a 3.88 ERA in Triple-A, so maybe he'll get a real chance in a situation he can actually succeed in sometime soon.
