Reid Detmers has thrown a no-hitter in the major leagues, and no one can ever take that away from him.
But I can take your joy away from you by pointing out that, from what I can see, there isn't much to get excited about in Fantasy.
Sure, he's a former first-rounder and top prospect who just did something historic in only his 11th career start, and you might think the analysis can end there. But for a guy who had 15.2 K/9 in the minors last year, he has shown no ability to miss bats in the majors, none whatsoever, and even in Tuesday's start, he struck out only two. He had a pedestrian 10 swinging strikes on 108 pitches, bringing his career rate to a Jordan Lyles-like 9.7 percent.
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This is not what we were promised, not when you consider the rate at which he was missing bats in the minors. Of particular disappointment is the curveball, which was supposed to be his make-or-break pitch when the Angels drafted him 10th overall in 2020 and continued to earn high marks during his time in the minors. So far, it's played as below-average, rarely coaxing swings and misses from major-leaguers, and if it's not going to be the pitch that sustains him, it's not clear that any other can.
Maybe this no-hitter will serve as a springboard of sorts, instilling Detmers with the confidence he needs to unlock his latent potential -- it wouldn't be the first time for a pitcher of his ilk -- but that's a hypothetical with no actual evidence to back it up. So while I wouldn't fault you for picking up a high-profile rookie coming off a headline-grabbing performance, I can't say it's a particularly high priority for me.
Then again, this latest crop of potential waiver claims isn't looking particularly strong ...
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An early-season biceps injury was the last straw for many who were willing to give the 2020 home run leader another look after his falling out with the Yankees. He was off to a miserable start and didn't look any better on his rehab assignment, going 0 for 18 with 12 strikeouts. That 2020 season wasn't an outlier, though. In parts of four seasons with the Yankees, Voit hit .271 with a .901 OPS, and given the state of offense around the league, I'm willing to give him another shot. For what it's worth, he says he developed bad habits playing through the biceps injury but got a chance to right himself in 25 simulated at-bats Monday. He went 0 for 2 with two walks in his return to the lineup Tuesday.
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The Cardinals finally made the move we were all waiting for Tuesday and sent struggling shortstop Paul DeJong to Triple-A. And in his place, they called up ... no, not Triple-A home run leader Nolan Gorman. But you have to think that's the eventual offshoot of this. Gorman himself isn't a shortstop, of course, but the Cardinals plan to give second baseman Tommy Edman more pregame work at that position. We may be days away from him making the switch to accommodate Gorman. Granted, the 22-year-old's exorbitant strikeout rate at Triple-A doesn't help, but Gorman struck out just 19.2 percent of the time in 76 games there last year. It won't take much to convince the Cardinals he's ready.
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Chris Towers already highlighted Josh Naylor in yesterday's waiver wire column, but the 24-year-old homered again Tuesday as part of a 2-for-4 performance. Frankly, it was good just to see him in the lineup again given the inconsistent playing time so far. That may be changing, though. The Guardians have taken to using Amed Rosario in left field specifically to free up first base for Naylor (by shifting Andres Gimenez to shortstop and Owen Miller to second base). Naylor put up stud numbers as a minor-leaguer in the Padres system but was promoted young and struggled to stay healthy. So far this year, he's been impacting the ball like a genuine masher while striking out just 13 percent of the time.
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I have a feeling I'll regret painting Martin Perez in any sort of positive light -- the track record sort of speaks for itself -- but I can no longer stay silent after his fourth straight quality start. He's allowed a total of 13 hits in 26 1/3 innings during that stretch, which is impressive no matter how you slice it but also speaks to the unsustainability of it all. He had 20 swinging strikes in this latest start, which was also impressive but totally out of character, even for this year. One measure that has improved is his ground-ball rate, which now rates as elite, and maybe his pitch-to-contact ways will play better without the juiced ball. Color me skeptical, though.
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Kyle Bradish showed little in his first two big-league starts but straight-up dominated in his latest Tuesday, playing his slider off his fastball for a double-digit strikeout total. Strikeouts were his thing in the minors, too. He averaged 11.8 per nine innings between Double- and Triple-A last year. Of course, he also struggled to command his pitches, elevating both his hit and walk rates, but it clearly wasn't an issue in this start, as evidenced by the zero walks and 71.1 percent strike rate. Clearly, Bradish has the stuff to succeed, and if he's learning to locate it more consistently, a breakout could be forthcoming.
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Maybe the Tigers will have no choice but to ship Alex Faedo back to the minors with Casey Mize and Matt Manning both working their way back from injury, but the 26-year-old certainly showed something in his second career straight. Most notably, he piled up 17 swinging strikes on just 83 pitches, including 10 on the 26 sliders he threw. It's a pitch that always earned high marks and made him the 18th overall pick in the 2017 draft, but he struggled to find his footing in the minors. He's coming off a career-altering event, though -- Tommy John surgery in 2019 -- and has looked better than ever with 20 strikeouts compared to three walks in 15 2/3 minor-league innings. We'll see if the Tigers keep him around.
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