Minor League Baseball Studs! (April 24, 2025 Standouts)

I finally got to watch Jesús Made last night and will be back in Columbia again today for a double-header of Mudcat and Fireflies action. I will be writing a ton about what I saw from this Carolina-Columbia series afer seeing them a couple more times, but first I want to talk about what happened across the entire landscape of Minor League Baseball.

Let’s recap what happened across the entire landscape of pro baseball yesterday. If you are unfamiliar with the Dynasty Digest, it is a daily newsletter covering the previous days’ action. While the main focus is usually Minor League Baseball, I will also be hitting on MLB performances to know as well. 

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Each day, I will pick a hitter and pitcher who stand out and deserve the top spot on the sheet. Those players’ reports will be free for all to read. The rest will be paywalled for Dynasty Dugout Subscribers. The article is around 3000 words, giving you detailed player reports to encapsulate everything you need to know.

Sean Linan, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers, 20, A

Every start, the hype just builds a little more, and it might wind up going a bit far. It is hard to argue the results, though, as Linan tossed five more scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts. He now has 40 strikeouts in 20.2 innings with a 0.87 ERA. That is a 54 percent strikeout rate to just a 5.4 percent walk rate.

Throwing 70 pitches, Linan, pronounced “Lin-yahn,” landed 68 percent of those for strikes. Linan got 18 whiffs on 37 swings, good for a 49 percent whiff rate. He added 11 more called strikes for a 41 percent CSW. Linan also got swings on 53 percent of his pitches that were out of the zone.

While fastball works in the 92-94 mph range, it can sit closer to 93-95, and when it does, it plays exceptionally well. The movement profile is solid on the pitch, getting good horizontal movement on the offering.

The changeup that has been the bread and butter might be a 70-grade pitch. It gets up to 20 inches of arm-side fade and averages around 17 inches regularly, with good depth as well. The ball just dies in the air and falls off the map.

The slider sits in the mid-80s with shorter horizontal movement and good carry. It is capable of missing bats. This arsenal is just way too advanced for Single-A at this point. Yes, I also understand the concern of a changeup-heavy arm in the lower level of the minors. But, I still believe Linan can be good thanks to a fastball that plays and a solid slider. The changeup is just so impressive.

Eli Serrano III, OF, New York Mets, 21, A+

After being in a mini-slump, having just two hits in his previous nine games, Serrano bested that number on Thursday alone, collecting five hits. Serrano had a double and smoked a home run to right field on the way to an impressive day.

After a first-inning infield single, Serrano got back to the plate in the second inning and, after being down 0-2, hit a shot to the opposite field that wound up being a ground-rule double, plating two runs.

Serrano blooped another double into left field just past the outstretched glove of Carson DeMartini and wound up getting picked off at second base. It turned into an interesting series of events as Serrano trucked over Pierce Bennett, and the benches cleared.

That was the spark that Serrano needed as he got a 93 mph fastball down in the zone and smoked it over the wall. The chirping continued, and the managers came out to discuss with the umpires. It was a fascinating series of events, but Serrano got the job done at the plate on Tuesday.

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