The Dynasty Digest: April 15, 2025 (MLB Top Performers)

Happy Tuesday, a new week of baseball is upon us and we had plenty of good Major League action last night. While Monday is the typical off day for Minor League Baseball, it resumes tonight with a new six-game series of action. I will be on-site in Spartanburg as the Rangers High-A affiliate opens their new stadium for the first time.

As typical on Tuesday, my breakdown is just on the major league side, and I provide everything you need to know that stood out across baseball. Tuesday’s report is free, so enjoy the read today. Thanks to all who read and support me.

Major League Baseball Standouts

Shane Baz, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays

Baz was feeling it last night, but if you have watched him pitch this year, this has been an all-season thing for him. Facing off against the Red Sox, Baz allowed two hits across six innings while not allowing a walk. Baz did allow one run to cross the plate, but he struck out 11 batters, generated 17 whiffs, and had a 32 percent CSW.

Baz’s performance might not even be the most notable thing. The fastball was moving, averaging 97.4 and touching 100 mph. Last season, Baz averaged 95.7 mph, so the velocity jump is substantial. As far as pitch shape goes, it remained very similar to last season as did his release point.

The pitch mix was notable, however. Baz is sequencing differently depending on the start, which is a sign of mature growth in a pitcher. He used the changeup more than we had seen previously, and Baz also used the fastball at a 50 percent rate, which has steadily risen all offseason.

Baz’s slider also showed a slightly different shape. While seeing close to a one mph drop in velocity, it also showed more depth, having four more inches of drop. The changeup looks a tad different as well, having higher spin rates and four inches more of arm-side fade on average.

We have seen three impressive starts from Baz at this point, and he has 27 strikeouts and just four walks over 19 innings. Breakout Baz is here.

Tarik Skubal, LHP, Detroit Tigers

Skubal looked human in his first two starts of the season, but has bounced back in a strong way the last two. After shutting out the Yankees last time out over six innings, Skubal tossed seven scoreless against the Brewers on Monday with nine strikeouts.

Like with Baz, the best pitchers’ sequence differs depending on the start and that was the case on Monday as Skubal led with his changeup, using it 34 percent of the time. The change generated nine whiffs on 15 swings.

With his two fastball variations, Skubal induced weak contact on his sinker and ran a 73 percent in-zone contact rate on the four-seam fastball. The slider looked sharp as well. Skubal is an ace; not much more needs to be said.

Clay Holmes, RHP, New York Mets

Holmes cruised through four innings, having just two hits allowed and no walks issued. The fifth inning started this way for Holmes: walk, hit-by-pitch, walk. Holmes escaped the inning with just one run allowed and finished with a line of five innings pitched with two hits; one earned run and eight strikeouts.

Strike-throwing was a bit of an issue at times, as he walked three batters and landed just 60 percent of pitches for strikes. Despite that, Holmes generated 12 whiffs for a 29 percent whiff rate, and he had a 27 percent CSW.

The arsenal is deep, and Holmes threw six pitches and used each to both left and right-handed pitches. The sinker and changeup are the primarily used pitches, and 11 of his 12 whiffs came on those two offerings. Holmes still needs to prove he can pitch at a high level deep into starts but the stuff is clearly there.

Grant Holmes, RHP, Atlanta Braves

The other Holmes, Grant, was perfect through four innings last night against the Blue Jays before issuing a walk to Andrés Giménez to start the fifth. He took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before allowing a home run to Myles Straw. The wheels came off a bit in the eighth inning, but Holmes probably should not have been put back out there in that spot.

The final line was 7.2 innings with two hits, three earned runs, two walks, and four strikeouts. While he generated just nine whiffs, Holmes added 16 more called strikes for a 27 percent CSW. He effectively mixed five pitches and used four of them at least 18 percent of the time.

Holmes is not going to be flashy, but he could be a very solid pitcher that you look back at the end of the year and you are very pleased with the production he provided.

Dustin May, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers

May is breaking out, and it is fun to watch. You could argue Monday was May’s best start of the year as he did not issue a walk, struck out seven batters, and allowed just one run across six innings.

The sinker/sweeper combo is absurd, and the horizontal separation between them is impressive. Averaging 19 inches of horizontal movement on his sinker to the arm-side, May then averages 17 inches of glove-side movement on the sweeper.

For a while, it was just fun Pitching Ninja gifs, but now May is missing bats, and he looks the part. May generated 14 whiffs on Monday and his sweeper presently grades as one of the best in baseball. It has a 39 percent whiff rate and a 3.7 run value/100. Impressive stuff.

Landen Roupp, RHP, San Francisco Giants

Roupp’s start began like this: single, double, strikeout, walk, single, walk. Spotting the Phillies three runs in the first, Roup bounced back in a big way and wound up striking out eight batters across five innings of work. He wound up allowing six hits and four earned runs with three walks. Most of the damage was done in the first inning.

Pounding the zone with his curveball, Roupp generated 15 whiffs on that pitch alone and wound up having a 45 percent whiff rate on the start(20 whiffs). Much like we talked about with May, Roupp gets excellent horizontal separation between the two, averaging 20 inches of horizontal on the curveball and 18 on the sinker to the arm-side.

Roupp is off to a solid start to 2025, and it looks like he will be holding a rotation spot for the long run as he continues to pitch this way.

MLB Hitters

Kameron Misner, OF, Miami Marlins

Is Misner breaking out? Getting regular playing time with Josh Lowe on the shelf, Misner has looked good and turned in his best game to date on Monday, blasting two home runs and adding a single and a walk.

While one of the homers was a bit of a cheap shot, leaving the bat at 96 mph, the other was legit, traveling 431 feet with a 107 mph exit velocity. There is plenty of bat speed in the tank and despite inconsistent launch angles, Misner is still creating barrels, running a 12 percent barrel rate to this point.

Misner’s Air Pull rate is one of the best in baseball at 26.5 percent. The contact numbers look strong as well, and Misner has a 91.4 percent in-zone contact rate with a solid approach. This just might be a legit profile. Buy in if you have not already.

Austin Riley, 3B, Atlanta Braves

Riley has plenty of power, and we have long known that, dating back to his 104 home runs between the 2021 and 2023 seasons. Last year, injuries limited his time on the field and production as Riley hit just 19. But Riley looked back to his vintage self on Monday, blasting two home runs and having three batted balls at or above 110 mph.

A first-inning ground out was smoked at 109.8 mph, and his third and fifth-inning homers were 111.7 and 110.2 mph, respectively. Given the underlying data in the early going, Riley looks to be back to form.

Fernando Tatis Jr., OF, San Diego Padres

There are few things I want to see more than Tatis be fully healthy for a season and reach his upside because he has the best player in baseball quality type of stuff. Two more home runs on Monday night pushed Tatis to six on the year to pair with six stolen bases. The homers left the bat at 107.8 mph and 111 mph, respectively.

Tatis has always hit the ball hard, and everything is in line there. Where Tatis has taken a step forward(in a small sample) is contact. His 85.9 percent contact rate is a six-percentage point jump from last year and 8.5 percent above his career mark. The overall contact rate looks improved as well.

The early returns of Tatis’ 2025 season are shades of Ronald Acuña Jr.’s 2023, when he took a leap forward with contact and cut his strikeout rate. He wound up hitting 41 home runs and stealing 73 bases. Is Tatis going to do that? Probably not. But it does look like Tatis could put together the best season of his career.

Tyler Fitzgerald, 2B, San Francisco Giants

Fitzgerald put together a big game in Philadelphia last night, winding up a single shy of the cycle. His second-inning home run was the softest hit ball of the day, leaving the bat at 96.6 mph and traveling 369 feet to the pull-side.

He nearly left the yard twice more, adding an opposite-field triple off the wall that left the bat at 97.4 mph. Then, in the top of the ninth, Fitzgerald one-hopped the wall to left-center with an exit velocity of 102.6 mph.

It has been a semi-slow start to the year for Fitzgerald, but he now owns a .809 OPS and has a home run and four stolen bases. Maybe Monday’s game is a catalyst for him moving forward.

Saves Report

Devin Williams, New York Yankees (2)

Tanner Scott, Los Angeles Dodgers (5)