Dean Kremer has been a staple of the Orioles rotation in recent times. Even whereas lacking vital time attributable to accidents in a few seasons, he’s made extra begins than some other Baltimore pitcher for the reason that starting of 2022, a span that encompasses each the division-winning Orioles from ’23 and final yr’s basement dwellers. But this previous weekend, Kremer was optioned to the workforce’s minor league camp, the odd man out in a rotation battle. He’s not the one acquainted title amongst these slated to start out the season within the minors attributable to such selections.
Opening Day is filled with fanfare and so typically freighted with that means, however it’s nonetheless simply at some point on the baseball calendar; the choices relating to who will get to be there (and who doesn’t) don’t really outline the season. Nonetheless, except they’re recalled to switch injured gamers — which is hardly out of the query — optioned place gamers want to stay within the minors for 10 days and pitchers for 15 days, counting from March 25 (Opening Day for the Giants and Yankees). In different phrases, they’ll be eligible to return on April 4 or April 9. Past that, circumstances change because the season progresses, and rosters are in a relentless state of flux.
Kremer stands out as a result of he’s totally established himself within the majors, whereas the opposite high-profile selections I’ve highlighted beneath contain gamers who’re or have been just lately thought of high prospects. They’re all headed to Triple-A, and I anticipate them to remain previous the aforementioned dates, however they’re notable as a result of they’re nonetheless anticipated to play substantial roles in 2026. The gamers are listed alphabetically.
Dylan Crews, Nationals
Dylan Crews debuted with the Nationals lower than 14 months after being picked second within the 2023 draft, however he hasn’t precisely been an in a single day success. He hit simply .208/.280/.352 (77 wRC+) in 85 video games final season whereas shedding 12 weeks to an indirect pressure, and failed to achieve a 100 wRC+ in any calendar month. He was practically helpless towards breaking balls, hitting simply .180 and slugging .220 towards them whereas whiffing on 36.5% of swings; in the meantime, he slugged .303 with a 40.6% whiff price towards offspeed stuff. He was additionally completely overwhelmed by lefties (.200/.241/.280, 44 wRC+).
This spring, the 24-year-old Crews went 3-for-29 with 11 strikeouts and simply an 85.1 mph common exit velocity whereas “laboring by way of a ton of changes,” as Eric Longenhagen noticed in some notes he shared with me. The Nationals’ new regime has tweaked Crews’ swing, and he doesn’t appear to have discovered a consolation stage but. “He was a toe-tap man (then no stride with two strikes) final yr, however now he’s utilizing a leg kick (earlier than once more chopping it with two strikes), and the best way his fingers arrange can be completely different,” wrote Eric, including that Crews is swinging beneath upper-level fastballs and lacking numerous them up and away.
The Nationals optioned Crews to Triple-A Rochester with the expectation that he can proceed engaged on some changes whereas beneath much less stress and scrutiny than he’d face whereas within the majors. Supervisor Blake Butera wasn’t keen to elaborate on the character of these changes, however noticed that Crews had been falling behind in counts, mentioned that his swing didn’t want an overhaul, and added, “We anticipate him up right here hopefully quickly.”
You Aren’t a FanGraphs Member
It appears such as you aren’t but a FanGraphs Member (or aren’t logged in). We aren’t mad, simply dissatisfied.
We get it. You wish to learn this text. However earlier than we allow you to get again to it, we might wish to level out a number of of the great the explanation why it is best to grow to be a Member.
1. Advert Free viewing! We can’t bug you with this advert, or some other.
2. Limitless articles! Non-Members solely get to learn 10 free articles a month. Members by no means get lower off.
3. Darkish mode and Basic mode!
4. Customized participant web page dashboards! Select the participant playing cards you need, within the order you need them.
5. One-click information exports! Export our projections and leaderboards to your private initiatives.
6. Take away the images on the house web page! (Actually, this does not sound so nice to us, however some folks wished it, and we like to present our Members what they need.)
7. Much more Steamer projections! We’ve handedness, percentile, and context impartial projections obtainable for Members solely.
8. Get FanGraphs Stroll-Off, a custom-made yr finish overview! Discover out precisely the way you used FanGraphs this yr, and the way that compares to different Members. Do not be a sufferer of FOMO.
9. A weekly mailbag column, completely for Members.
10. Assist help FanGraphs and our total employees! Our Members present us with crucial assets to enhance the positioning and ship new options!
We hope you will take into account a Membership at the moment, for your self or as a present! And we notice this has been an awfully lengthy gross sales pitch, so we have additionally eliminated all the opposite advertisements on this article. We did not wish to overdo it.
Thus, the Nationals plan to start out the season with 23-year-old lefty Daylen Lile in proper subject. A second-round decide from 2021, he’s a contact-oriented platoon sort who made the a lot of the alternative afforded by Crews’ harm final summer season, hitting .299/.347/.498 (132 wRC+) with 11 triples and 9 homers in 91 video games, although he undid a few of that worth along with his brutal protection (-14 DRS, -10 FRV). He’ll be joined by James Wooden in left and Jacob Younger in heart, with righty-swinging Joey Wiemer, who has spent a lot of the previous two seasons within the minors after serving as an everyday on the Brewers in 2023, as a backup. With each Robert Hassell III and Christian Franklin additionally optioned, the Nationals seem as if they’ll begin the season with simply 4 outfielders on their 26-man roster.
Bryce Eldridge, Giants
Bryce Eldridge, a 6-foot-7, 251-pound behemoth who positioned sixteenth on our High 100 Prospects checklist, was restricted to 100 mixed video games between Double- and Triple-A final yr by a bone spur in his left wrist (eliminated through surgical procedure in October) and a proper hamstring pressure. In 66 video games at Triple-A Sacramento, he hit .249/.322/.514 (105 wRC+) with 18 homers, but additionally struck out 30.8% of the time. He introduced his contact woes to San Francisco, going 3-for-28 with seven walks and 13 strikeouts in his 10-game cup of espresso, and this spring hit .225/.380/.450 with a 38% strikeout price in 50 plate appearances.
Whereas the 21-year-old’s elite energy can offset his tendency to swing and miss, his protection has seemed suspect this spring. The expectation is that after he arrives, he’ll share first base and DH duties with Rafael Devers, himself comparatively new to the place. The Giants want Eldridge to be on top of things, however he’s nonetheless studying the ropes. From Eric’s notes: “Luis Arraez is stretched at second base and often wants some assist from his first baseman. Conversely, generally the spectacular issues that Matt Chapman and Willy Adames can do require a scoop on the opposite finish of a tricky throw. Eldridge is so huge that he can battle to bend down and do that numerous the time.”
With Eldridge again at Sacramento, the Giants can discover taking part in time for Jerar Encarnacion, Arraez, and others within the DH spot, opening up extra taking part in time for Casey Schmitt within the infield.
Konnor Griffin, Pirates
Technically, this one isn’t an option-based choice, as a result of Konnor Griffin, the ninth decide of the 2024 draft out of a Mississippi highschool, hasn’t been added to the 40-man roster but — however as he’s tantalizingly shut, I made a decision to incorporate him right here. He’s the sport’s high prospect, “a franchise-altering entity whose expertise rivals that of Bobby Witt Jr., a younger, level-headed Hanley Ramirez, or a sooner Carlos Correa,” as our prospect workforce wrote for his High 100 entry. Whereas he received’t flip 20 till April 24, he entered the spring with a shot at changing into the primary teenager to debut in an Opening Day lineup since Ken Griffey Jr.. However after homering 3 times in his first six Grapefruit League video games, he added only one extra, and completed at .171/.261/.488 with two walks and 13 strikeouts in 46 plate appearances. His chase price towards sliders was round 50%.
On condition that, and the truth that Griffin has performed simply 21 video games in Double-A (he hit .337/.418/.542 in 98 plate appearances at Altoona) and none at Triple-A, it’s not arduous to know why he’s not breaking camp with the large membership. However inevitably given his blue-chip standing, there are extra layers to this. The Pirates reportedly mentioned a long-term extension price greater than $100 million with Griffin, and a few have speculated that had he agreed to a deal, he would have stayed up, although that doesn’t imply that sending him down constitutes service time manipulation. It’s true that rostering him from the outset of the season would have made the Pirates eligible to obtain an extra draft decide and improve the scale of their bonus pool by roughly $3 million if he wins Rookie of the Yr honors through the Prospect Promotion Incentive; even lacking Opening Day, if he’s known as up in time to accrue 172 service days, he would retain PPI eligibility. On the similar time, if Griffin wins Rookie of the Yr honors, he’ll be credited with a full yr of service time no matter when he debuted, à la Paul Skenes in 2024, after he debuted on Might 11.
“Coming into Spring Coaching, we weren’t closed off to the concept completely, however knew that he’s actually younger, and he’s extremely vital to us, and we expect he has an opportunity to be a really, superb participant for a very long time,” mentioned basic supervisor Ben Cherington on Monday. “We really feel some obligation to be sure that we’re doing every part we will to help him and being that very, superb participant for the longest time potential.”
Supervisor Don Kelly mentioned on Sunday that the workforce will open with Jared Triolo at shortstop and Nick Gonzales at third base. The 28-year-old Triolo was slated to be the workforce’s common third baseman; he received a Gold Glove as a utilityman in 2024 and has been about common within the subject in his restricted obligation at shortstop, however he’s scuffled on the plate, with final yr’s 86 wRC+ representing a profession excessive. The 26-year-old Gonzales, who has been supplanted at second by the arrival of Brandon Lowe, dropped from a 94 wRC+ in 2024 to 82 final yr, although he does challenge to be the higher hitter of the 2.
Whereas Griffin has been despatched down, colleague Jon Becker famous on Thursday that 20 prospects from our High 100 (actually our High 110) are set to be on Opening Day rosters or injured lists.
Hyeseong Kim, Dodgers
Although he spent seven full seasons taking part in frequently within the KBO (2018–24), Hyeseong Kim was solely on the verge of turning 26 when he signed a three-year, $12.5 million cope with the Dodgers in January 2025. After starting final season at Triple-A Oklahoma Metropolis, he performed 71 video games for the large league workforce, hitting .280/.314/.385 (95 wRC+) with 13 steals whereas splitting time between second base, heart subject, and shortstop.
It was a stable sufficient rookie season, however Kim missed all of August attributable to bursitis in his left shoulder, doubtless a consider his .143/.160/.204 skid within the second half, with a 22-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 51 plate appearances. Included on the Dodgers’ postseason roster, he didn’t bat; as a pinch-runner, he scored the Division Sequence-clinching run on Orion Kerkering’s error, and within the World Sequence, he logged only one inning as a defensive alternative, recognizing for Miguel Rojas — who regardless of having hit the game-tying dwelling run within the ninth inning was coping with an intercostal harm — at second base in the course of the eleventh inning, recording a putout on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s sacrifice bunt.
Regardless of hitting .407/.448/.519 in 30 plate appearances this spring, Kim is heading again to OKC whereas Alex Freeland will stay with the Dodgers. The 24-year-old Freeland entered final yr as a 50-FV prospect ranked thirty fifth on our High 100, however hit simply .190/.292/.310 (73 wRC+) and struck out 36.1% of the time in 97 plate appearances for the Dodgers whereas splitting time between second and third. He was downgraded to a 45-FV prospect on the latest Dodgers checklist, with our prospect workforce elaborating:
“Freeland’s contact price plummeted within the majors, and his tendency to take pitches led to numerous pitcher’s counts and subsequent punchouts. We don’t wish to draw robust conclusions from what quantities to a handful of at-bats, however the best way he received labored towards lefties once more leaves us questioning if he ought to stop switch-hitting. Visually, he’s extra dynamic and fluid from the left facet, and statistically, he’s carried out considerably higher that method.”
Freeland has hit simply .125/.302/.229 in 63 plate appearances this spring, however the Dodgers have favored his swing selections; he’s drawn 13 walks whereas placing out simply 11 instances. “I’m not blind to the truth that Alex didn’t have a floor line of manufacturing in spring, and Hyeseong did,” supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned of the choice. “[Freeland] performed the at-bat higher even when he was struggling,” he added. “He didn’t end off at-bats, however I do assume that the method was proper. And so I feel that’s one thing we’re keen to wager on.”
In the meantime, the workforce has been working with Kim on his swing mechanics, and believes he’s higher off taking part in six days every week in Triple-A as a substitute of platooning at second base with Rojas and recognizing in heart. With Tommy Edman and Enrique Hernández each recovering from surgical procedure (proper ankle for the previous, left elbow for the latter), that is hardly the final phrase on the lineup, however for now, Freeland will share second base duties.
Dean Kremer, Orioles
The 30-year-old Kremer is coming off a career-high 2.6 WAR, having pitched to a 4.19 ERA (104 ERA-) and three.97 FIP (95 ERA-) in a team-high 171.2 innings. These clearly aren’t dominant numbers, however they aren’t out of character, both; for the reason that begin of 2022, Kremer has pitched to a 3.95 ERA (98 ERA-) and 4.17 FIP (105 ERA-) whereas averaging 150 innings and 1.9 WAR per yr. To name upon a time period that’s gone considerably out of favor as beginning pitcher workloads have developed, he’s a League Common Innings Muncher (LAIM).
The Orioles rotation was a scorching mess final yr following an unimpressive winter and a slew of accidents, rating twenty fourth within the majors with 8.1 WAR; Kremer and Trevor Rogers the one starters to complete greater than 1.1 WAR. Rogers led the employees with a 1.81 ERA and three.3 WAR regardless of making simply 18 begins; he’s gotten the nod for Opening Day. Kyle Bradish, who made simply six begins after getting back from June 2024 Tommy John surgical procedure, is totally wholesome, and given his sub-3.00 ERA in restricted obligation from 2023–25, he’s worthy of a spot, as is free agent signee Chris Bassitt. The Orioles are clearly excessive on the upside of 26-year-old Shane Baz, a former High-100 prospect acquired from the Rays in December; he posted a 4.87 ERA final yr, however has above-average stuff in response to our pitch modeling programs, and struck out 24.8% of hitters, whereas Kremer’s stuff grades out as beneath common, and he struck out simply 20.1%.
Thus the choice got here right down to Kremer and Zach Eflin, who was restricted to 14 begins with a 5.93 ERA whereas lacking time attributable to a lat pressure and decrease again irritation. The Orioles consider that the 31-year-old Eflin, whom they re-signed to a one-year, $10 million deal after he underwent a microdiscectomy in August, can be prepared to start out the season; with three days off in the course of the span of their first 13 video games, the workforce received’t even want a fifth starter till mid-April. Eflin made his case with 5 1/3 innings of one-hit shutout work towards the Yankees on Friday. Afterwards, president of baseball operations Mike Elias mentioned, “Coming into the spring, we have been slightly guarded that he could not be capable of get himself ready for Opening Day and the season, and he clearly did. Each when it comes to optics and consequence, did about in addition to you would have imagined, particularly coming off that surgical procedure.”
It could not have helped Kremer’s trigger that earlier than lacking time for the World Baseball Basic (the place he threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings for Workforce Israel), he made a few rocky Grapefruit League begins in late February. Thus he’ll begin the season in Norfolk, however the odds are excessive that he’ll spend time within the Orioles rotation in the end.