It has been about a month since the May rookie review so time for a June follow up. On this series I dive into both rookie hitter and pitcher performances’ so far this season and look to provide some outlook into their fantasy usefulness, provide tool grades, as well as find relevant comps for their tool profile.
One thing I will mention throughout the rookie review series are my DoubleScoop tool grades. Hit, Power, Discipline, and Speed for hitters, and Induced Contact, Contact Prevention, Control, and Arsenal for pitchers. These grades follow the traditional 20–80 scouting scale, where 50 represents MLB average, 20 being the lowest and 80 being the highest. I recommend checking out Fangraphs article – Scouting Explained: The 20-80 Scouting Scale | FanGraphs Baseball – or search online if wanting to understand the 20-80 scale better.
DoubleScoop Hitter Tools
- Hit – Grades player on ability to put the ball in play and quality of the contact
- Power – Grades player on their bat speed, Max EVs, and barrels
- Discipline – Grades player’s ability to control the strike zone and work walks
- Speed – Grades player’s sprint speed, aggressiveness, and their efficiency on the basepaths
DoubleScoop Pitchers Tools
- Induced Contact – Grades pitcher on ability to limit favorable hitter outcomes
- Contact Prevention – Grades pitcher’s ability to avoid hitters making contact
- Control – Grades pitcher’s ability to control their pitches in the zone
- Arsenal – Grades pitcher on the quality and randomness of their pitches
Chase Meidroth
Initially viewed as more of a complementary piece to top catching prospect Kyle Teel and 2024 12th overall pick Braden Montgomery, Meidroth has established himself as the everyday shortstop for the White Sox in 2025. Since May, he’s been locked into either the leadoff or No. 2 spot in the lineup, earning consistent at-bats. That opportunity has paid off, as he’s slashed .298/.383/.382 with a 123 wRC+, 7 SB, and 17 R over 149 plate appearances (33 games started).
Meidroth calling card is his hit tool, currently graded at a 70 by our DoubleScoop tool grades, along with above average discipline (55) and speed (55). While he should be able to run consistent high batting averages due to his hit tool, he also is not afraid to take his walks. Meidroth at the time of this article, is in the 97th percentile in chase rate, meaning he is one of the best in the league at not chasing pitches out of the strike zone.
His profile draws similarities to players like Geraldo Perdomo and Santiago Espinal—high-contact hitters with limited power, average-to-above-average speed, and solid plate discipline.
This profile can be fantasy relevant as we are seeing Perdomo have a 2025 fantasy breakout and already almost breaking his career high in HR and RBIs. In roto leagues, look at Meidroth as a 3-category contributor who will provide a nice batting average floor, solid run production, and around 15-20 SBs over the course of a full season.
Carlos Narváez
Carlos Narváez has been a nice surprise for the Red Sox this season, posting a .280/.357/.457 slash line, good for a 126 wRC+ while also providing strong defensive value behind the plate. Though never regarded as a top prospect and failing to make most organizational top prospect lists during his time in the NYY organization, he is certainly leaving his mark around the league. As of the time of writing, he currently ranks 2nd behind Jacob Wilson in fWAR among all rookie hitters according to Fangraphs.
Narváez grades out with average to above average tools across the board except for his speed, which is often not expected for catchers. He comps similarly to sluggers like Colt Keith (1B/2B/3B) and Brent Rooker (DH/OF) who also are graded out with average Hit tools with plus power and discipline. With Narváez behind the dish, I do not expect him to reach the lofty 30+ HR totals that Rooker has put up during the past few seasons. With 450+ PA, I see Narvaez having the skill set to hit 15-20 HRs which is valuable for a catcher in fantasy leagues.
Narváez has earned the larger share of playing time over Connor Wong due to his strong defense and hitting this season, but something to note as the Red Sox will still want to find ABs for Wong. Narváez should be started in all two catcher leagues at this point in 2025 and view him as a top-15 catcher in redraft leagues.
Cam Smith
Cam Smith made headlines to start the 2025 season making the opening day roster for the Astros with just 32 MiLB games under his belt after being drafted 14th overall by the Cubs in 2024. Not only being challenged by MLB pitchers with limited MiLB experience, Smith is also dealing with learning a new position, having shifted from 3B to RF to find a way to get him into the lineup.
Results so far have been what you could expect with all that has been thrown at Cam Smith, posting a .246/.325/.363 slash with a 99 wRC+. Players with similar tool grades over the past two seasons are Jarred Kelenic (2024) and Nolan Jones (2025). Kelenic, a highly regarded OF prospect from SEA, also debuted at a young age at just 21 years old but so far has failed to develop into an everyday player.
Some of these current player comps may frustrate Astros fans, but at just 22 years old, there is still plenty of room for growth for Smith. One glimmer of hope is that Smith has the highest bat speed of the 3 players above averaging 75.2 mph on his swing, meaning there is more raw power that could be unlocked. While I am not a GM or in player development, it makes me wonder if some extra AAA time to work on developing a stronger plate approach without the pressure of playing on the MLB team could benefit Smith in the long-term and avoid following the path of Kelenic.
Caleb Durbin
Durbin, an undersized Yankees prospect, was traded to the Brewers system in December 2024 as part of the Yankees aquiring Devin Williams. While never a fixture on top prospect lists, he was a standout in the 2024 Arizona Fall League (AFL) slashing .312/.427/.548 in 24 games.
Durbin has not transitioned his AFL/minor league production into MLB production yet, slashing just .208/.302/.315 through his first 47 games. Looking under the hood, there are some things to like out of Durbin. Durbin possesses great contact skills, finding himself near the top of the leaderboards in K%, Whiff%, and contact % which is a big reason why his hit tool grades out at an elite level even though he is only batting .208 at the moment.
Durbin’s not likely to be a double-digit home run threat, maybe peaking at 10 in a season, but that doesn’t mean he can’t carve out fantasy value. His skill set is similar to that of Nico Hoerner, featuring a high-contact bat paired with plus speed.
I see Durbin being able to turn his season around and a walk-off HR against my Padres for his first big league HR should help his confidence. With an extremely low BABIP of .213, it is not hard to see some positive regression come along and start to see his batting average creep up closer to the .250 – .260 range this season. Getting on base will also allow Durbin to steal more bases, with only 5 on the season so far after posting 30+ steals each full season in the minors.
While Durbin’s profile is better fit for 2B, the Brewers have Turang locked in at 2B for the near future. I like Durbin in deeper dynasty leagues and will be looking at Durbin in 2026 roto leagues as a late round sleeper.
Jackson Jobe
Jobe entered the 2025 season ranked as the Tigers’ top prospect and the No. 5 overall prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. That only added to the already lofty expectations for the 22-year-old right-hander, who was drafted third overall out of high school in 2021. At the time, scouts and analysts raved about his high-spin slider and overall pitchability.
Now, just 22 years, Jobe finds himself on the IL with a flexor strain which no clear timetable on his return. Having had multiple personal flexor strains and a UCL strain myself, this is not great news for Jobe who was hoping to be a ROY candidate in 2025.
Over 10 starts and 49 innings in 2025, his pitch metrics have drawn comps to both Sandy Alcantara, who is returning from Tommy John surgery, and Frankie Montas. Most years, being compared to Alcantara would be a massive compliment, but in 2025, Alcantara has struggled to regain his elite command. Even the lower end of the comp in Montas represents a serviceable MLB starter, though it would be a notable drop-off for someone tabbed as the game’s top pitching prospect just months ago.
We will have to wait patiently to hear more news on Jobe’s injury and timeline to return to pitching. The Arsenal grade being listed as a 55 is a strong indicator that there is upside for more but will need to either find the right mix across his other pitches outside of his 4-seam and slider or tighten his command to take the next step forward. I’d consider dropping Jobe in redraft leagues unless you have IL stashes until you hear any next update on his injury.
Ben Casparius
Casparius has thrived in a relief role with the Dodgers in his rookie year in 2025, posting a 2.93 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 27.3% K-rate, and 4.3% BB-rate in 40 innings (21 appearances). Primarily used a starter in the minors, he now operares as a multi-iinning weapon out of the Dodgers bullpen. He served as an opener on April 23rd (2.2 IP) and got a spot start against the Padres today, going four innings as a wrote this article.
While Casparius grades out well as a reliever, it looks like the Dodgers are preparing to stretch him out as a starter to help cover a rotation plagued by injuries. To try and project Casparius grades as an SP, I took 2024 grades for the innings that Kris Bubic, Clay Holmes, and Grant Holmes pitched out of the bullpen and compared it to their 2025 grades as starting pitchers. From there I took the average % in change and applied that to his 2025 grades. Below are Casparius 2025 grades as a RP as well as his projected SP tool grades with comps to other similar starters.
The estimated SP tool projections for Ben Casparius are strong across the board and have intriguing comps, including Ryan Weathers and Jacob Degrom. Casparius has an SP arsenal with his 4-Seam, Sweeper, Cutter, and Curveball mix which he mixes up well against LHP and RHP.
If stretched out to go five innings consistently, Casparius could become a major fantasy asset as we approach the season’s midpoint. I’m comfortable viewing him as a top-30 SP talent for the rest of 2025. Even with 107.2 innings in 2023 marking his career high, I’m betting that at age 26, and with the Dodgers’ current rotation woes, they’ll let him ride as long as he stays healthy.
Go snag Casparius off waivers or free agency if he’s still out there, he might just be one of the sneakiest SP values of the season!
Hunter Dobbins
Dobbins, ranked as the No. 13 Red Sox prospect ahead of the 2025 season by MLB Pipeline, has managed to hold onto a rotation spot due to a combination of injuries and struggles from other Red Sox arms (Giolito, Houck, Crawford, Fitts). So far, he’s been a serviceable starter, posting a 4.20 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 2025.
Dobbins features a five-pitch mix made of a 4-seam, slider, curveball, sweeper, and splitter of which he throws all pitches at least 10% of the time. While only striking out hitters 17.9% of the time, he makes up for his lack of K’s by limiting free passes (4.8% BB-rate).
Dobbins skill profile matches up similarly with Jameson Taillon, a veteran pitcher known for his ability to mix and locate his pitches rather than overpowering stuff. Even though Dobbins is striking hitters out at just a 17.9% rate, his 50-grade contact prevention indicate he may be able to tick up his K% closer to 20%. Notably, his curveball and slider generate strong whiff% at 40% and 30.3% respectively. That said, he will need to continue to refine his off-speed pitch mix as he only generates a 13.3% whiff rate on his 4-seam with hitters batting .313 off the pitch.
Without a plus fastball,Dobbins does not project as a frontline starter. Dobbins more realistically profiles as a solid 4th starter or lower end 3rd starter during his peak.
Logan Evans
Ranked as the #10 Seattle prospect in 2025 by MLB Pipeline, Evans has found himself with opportunities to start this season due to injuries to George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, and Bryce Miller. Evans has a deep arsenal, including a cutter, sweeper, sinker, change-up, 4-seam, and curveball, each thrown over 10% of the time.
Through seven starts this season, Evans has a 3.38 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 18.0% K-rate, and 7.2% BB-rate. While the ERA and WHIP are respectable, I expect regression from Evans given his below average contact prevention with only league average induced contact.
Evan’s arsenal could play up with his three different fastballs and his strong command. With improvements to his induced contact, he could see a higher-end comp like Michael Wacha. I do not expect him to improve his contact prevention much as he does not have any pitches with a 30% whiff rate, with the top being his cutter with a 25% whiff rate.
Evans currently profiles as a back of the rotation arm who should eat innings and be useful in good streaming matchups. His 3-fastballs are a good foundation for a starter and could see improvements in his induced contact if he continues to develop. For now, plan on using Evans as a streamer at home or vs poor offenses.
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