Sonny Gray's hamstring injury opens the door for Payton Tolle's promotion to the Red Sox rotation. Robby Snelling is also gaining attention as a rising prospect.
Key points
Sonny Gray is out with a hamstring strain.
Payton Tolle is expected to be promoted to the Red Sox rotation.
Tolle hasn't pitched since April 12.
Robby Snelling is gaining traction as a prospect.
Tolle's promotion is significant for fantasy baseball.
Boston Red Sox
payton-tolle.jpg
When injuries take a toll, they give back a Tolle.
That's the expectation, anyway, with Sonny Gray being lost to a hamstring strain. The Red Sox have an opening in their rotation Saturday, and it's hard to imagine anyone but the big left-hander filling it. Or perhaps even before then, seeing as Tolle hasn't pitched since April 12. The Red Sox were holding him back, according to MLB.com, because they thought they might need him as a spot starter at some point. What foresight!
This impending promotion is reason enough to vault Tolle to top of the Five on the Verge. Such is the value of proximity, you might say, but he was making inroads regardless because he's just that good.
FIVE ON THE VERGE
(Here are the prospects most worth stashing in redraft leagues.)
You wouldn't know how good Tolle is from his brief time in the majors last year. He arrived to great fanfare with eight strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings in his Aug. 29 debut, but then was pretty useless after that, finishing with a 6.06 ERA. Still, the whiff rate on his fastball, which most publications rate between a 70 and 80 on the 20-80 scale thanks to the elite ride generated by his low arm angle and top-of-the-scales extension, verged on 30 percent, and there is no greater weapon for a pitcher than a fastball that can miss bats.
Tolle was a little too in love with the pitch during his late-season cameo, throwing it 64 percent of the time, but he's added a sinker and cutter to the mix at Triple-A this year. Having three variations of a fastball can make up for a lack of a secondary arsenal, particularly when the stuff is as good as his. Tolle rated as an even better prospect than Noah Schultz coming into the year, and he might just figure out a way to stick in the rotation even if Sonny Gray's absence is a short one.
Bryce Eldridge, DH, Giants
2025 minors: .260 BA (384 AB), 25 HR, .843 OPS, 42 BB, 127 K
2025 majors: .107 BA (28 AB), 2 2B, .476 OPS, 7 BB, 13 K
2026 minors: .315 BA (73 AB), 2 HR, 6 2B, .904 OPS, 11 BB, 27 K
Bryce Eldridge was surging at this time a week ago, but his past five games have seen him go 4 for 20, with his strikeout rate climbing back over 30 percent. I'm not convinced he'll ever bring that strikeout rate down a meaningful amount, so the key for him will be impacting the ball hard enough that it doesn't matter -- which, fortunately, he does. Of course, that was true before the Giants sent him down, too, so it's not clear that the calculation for his promotion has changed at all. If anything, his path has been complicated by a surprisingly strong performance from Casey Schmitt. That's not the reason Eldridge has fallen to the No. 2 spot here -- I still think he's one extended hot streak away from promotion -- but the immediate payoff for Payton Tolle takes precedence for now.
Didier Fuentes hasn't pitched since the release of the last Prospects Report, which has led to rampant speculation that the Braves might be preparing to insert him for Martin Perez or just as a spot starter. That speculation has begun to die down, particularly in light of Spencer Strider's excellent rehab start Tuesday, which signals that Perez may not be long for the job anyway. More likely, the Braves were simply skipping Fuentes for innings management reasons, especially given that he went seven the last time he pitched. The push and pull of building up Fuentes while also slowing him down may lead to him getting leapfrogged by JR Ritchie, who's less of a bat-misser but has a 0.99 ERA in five starts at Triple-A. Fuentes is still the preferred stash, but the urgency for doing so may be lessening.
The opposing pitcher in Spencer Strider's aforementioned rehab start was Braxton Garrett, who may have even outshone him with eight no-hit innings. So, as with Didier Fuentes, Robby Snelling doesn't look to be the next in line for his respective team. Then again, the Marlins starting rotation still contains both Chris Paddack and Janson Junk, not to mention a frequently injured Max Meyer. Fair to say, then, Snelling's turn is coming sooner or later, and after the way his last two starts have gone, the Marlins might prefer it to be sooner.
Another gem for Robby Snelling 💎
The @Marlins' No. 2 prospect strikes out 9 over 6 scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 1.89 and WHIP to 0.95 across four starts for the Triple-A @JaxShrimp. pic.twitter.com/8lIqfKZmyk
The latest saw him strike out nine over six two-hit innings. The previous one saw him strike out 12 over five two-hit innings. Those two starts serve as necessary reassurance after a bumbling spring training. Also reassuring is the way Snelling's velocity has trended up after lagging early on. His swinging-strike rate is still suspiciously low at 10.7 percent, but the strikeouts themselves aren't leaving much room to quibble.
Ryan Waldschmidt, OF, Diamondbacks
2025 minors: .289 BA (484 AB), 18 HR, 29 SB, .892 OPS, 96 BB, 106 K
2026 minors: .337 BA (83 AB), 2 HR, 4 SB, 1.009 OPS, 14 BB, 25 K
I'm taking a break from Charlie Condon for a week to highlight what Ryan Waldschmidt has been doing at Triple-A Reno, which, in short, is reaching base at a .455 clip. He's been especially hot over his past 11 games -- batting .439 (18 for 41) with two homers, two triples, and two doubles -- which is the sort of dominance that often precedes a big league promotion. You may think the timing is less than optimal with Lourdes Gurriel having recently returned from ACL surgery, but the Diamondbacks are still running Alek Thomas out there every day. Waldschmidt, who the Diamondbacks drafted 31st overall in 2024, was a stud in 2025 as well, demonstrating power, speed, and most especially, on-base prowess. For as good as his top-line numbers are, his exit velocities are a bit lacking in Triple-A, with an average of 88.5 mph and a peak of 110.1, but he hit six balls harder than 110 mph in spring training.
FIVE ON THE PERIPHERY
(Here are some other prospects doing something of note.)
Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF, Twins
2025 minors: .269 BA (208 AB), 6 HR, 10 SB, .840 OPS, 55 BB, 85 K
2026 minors: .271 BA (59 AB), 4 HR, 2 SB, .954 OPS, 16 BB, 22 K
Prospect fatigue was beginning to set in for Emmanuel Rodriguez prior to this season, dropping him outside of the top 50 on most rank lists after he had placed in the top 20 just a year earlier. Fortunately, his return trip to Triple-A St. Paul has brought about new optimism. He continues to impact the ball like an elite slugger, delivering an average exit velocity of 92.4 mph, but now he's elevating the ball enough to get the most out of it, his fly-ball having nearly doubled from a year ago. Here he is hitting a 117 mph screamer out of the park Saturday.
Admire the hardest hit ball in franchise history, by a full 1.5 mph. Emmanuel Rodriguez hits one 117.1 mph, 426 feet out to right. His fourth of the season. The 117.1 mph is tied for the second hardest hit ball in ALL of baseball this year (Oneil Cruz, 119.0 mph) pic.twitter.com/EA3Va6AbZM
The strikeout and walk rates have always run high, which makes Rodriguez the epitome of a three-true-outcomes player. He's a little more athletic than most, though, showing the capacity to steal some bases. The Twins likely aren't going to pull the plug on Matt Wallner yet, but if Rodriguez keeps his strikeouts under control and remains healthy (which has also been a challenge for him), he could soon find himself in my Five on the Verge.
Seth Hernandez, SP, Pirates
2026 minors: 12 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 23 K
A week ago, I highlighted the Mariners' Kade Anderson, who was widely considered the best pitcher in the 2025 draft and was finally getting a chance to show it. Now, I'm doing the same with Seth Hernandez, who was widely considered the second-best pitcher in the 2025 draft, trailing less on talent than uncertainty, given that he was drafted out of high school rather than college. Yeah, things are looking more certain now. Hernandez hasn't allowed a hit in his past two starts, spanning nine innings total, while notching 15 strikeouts. His swinging-strike rate is an outrageous 27 percent. He's clearly too good for Low-A and already boasts such a full arsenal that I could see him flying through the Pirates' entire system this year, positioning himself for an early 2027 debut.
Josh Adamczewski, 2B, Brewers
2025 minors: .320 BA (253 AB), 5 HR, 7 SB, .910 OPS, 43 BB, 53 K
2026 minors: .290 BA (31 AB), 5 HR, 1 SB, 1.237 OPS, 9 BB, 8 K
Josh Adamczewski introduced himself as a curious little prospect last year, standing out most for his command of the strike zone and ability to adjust his hands to the baseball. The question was whether he'd develop the sort of power that would make him a real asset for Fantasy. Well, he's already matched last year's home run total (five) in one-seventh of the games. Factoring in the Arizona Fall League, he has homered nine times in his past 31 games, showing himself to have even more upside than imagined, and the plate discipline hasn't at all suffered with the power surge. He's listed as a second baseman here because that's where he played most of last season, but so far this year, he's played mostly left field.
Sean Keys, 3B, Blue Jays
2025 minors: .217 BA (424 AB), 19 HR, .773 OPS, 86 BB, 117 K
2026 minors: .347 BA (49 AB), 6 HR, 1.243 OPS, 8 BB, 15 K
Selected in the fourth round of the 2024 draft, Sean Keys had a forgettable first full professional season last year, but the scouting reports suggested he deserved better. He appears to be delivering on that "better" now, having homered five times in his past seven games and six times overall. Few batters pull the ball as consistently as he does, which, of course, helps with home run output, but in reality, he hits the ball hard enough to send it out of any part of the ballpark. His batting eye should allow him to reach base at a high clip, even if his pull tendencies undermine his batting average. At a time when there are few third base prospects in the minors, Keys is emerging as one of the best.
A middling prospect coming into the season, John Holobetz has picked up a little on his fastball, which already had advanced characteristics due to his low release height and plus extension. Both it and his improved breaking ball were on full display in his latest outing for Double-A Portland, in which he struck out 11 over seven one-hit innings. Here's what that looked like:
— Red Sox Player Development (@RedSoxPlayerDev) April 21, 2026
In all, Holobetz has registered 23 strikeouts while facing just 58 batters. Seeing as he threw nearly 125 innings last year, he could serve as a mid-to-late-season reinforcement for the Red Sox, provided his new bag of tricks plays just as well at Triple-A, where he should arrive soon.
