Fantasy Baseball Minor League Pitcher Report: Clayton Kershaw, Ranger Suarez, More

Several key pitchers—including Ranger Suarez, Andrew Painter, Tony Gonsolin, and Clayton Kershaw—are making progress in their rehab assignments as the Phillies and Dodgers eye postseason pushes.

Oklahoma City's Clayton Kershaw (22) throws a pitch during the minor league baseball between the Oklahoma City Comets and the Tacoma Rainers a the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, April, 16, 2025. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Several high-profile arms are on the comeback trail, with contenders like the Phillies and Dodgers closely monitoring their progress. Here's the latest on Ranger Suarez, Andrew Painter, Tony Gonsolin, and Clayton Kershaw as they work toward returning to MLB action.

Ranger Suarez, Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies have given Suarez two rehab starts at A-Ball, and he has looked sharp over seven innings (one run, four hits, one walk, and 11 strikeouts). His next start will come at AAA at the beginning of next week, where they want him to throw about 70 pitches. His ETA back to Philadelphia could be the last couple of days in April if he pitches well in his next outing.

Ranger Suarez just finished his second start of the season for the Clearwater Threshers.

4.0 IP | 3 H | 1 ER | 1 BB | 7 K | 54 Pitches pic.twitter.com/LRyiLRDAzM

— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) April 16, 2025

Andrew Painter, Philadelphia Phillies

Philadelphia expects to make the postseason this year, which is why it is playing the long game with Painter's right arm. He made his first appearance at A-Ball on April 11th (two runs, three baserunners, and three strikeouts over 1.1 innings). The Phillies will push him to two innings on Friday night while only pitching him once a week. The goal is to have him major league-ready sometime in June. In 2022, Painter pitched 103.2 innings across three levels of minor league baseball, leading to a 1.56 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, and 155 strikeouts. 

Tony Gonsolin, Los Angeles Dodgers

Over the first half of April, Gonsolin made three starts at AAA (three runs, 12 baserunners, and 13 strikeouts over 9.0 innings). He struggled a bit in his last outing on April 15th (three runs, eight baserunners, and five strikeouts over four innings) while throwing 66 pitches. 

Bobby Miller pitched poorly in his start with the Dodgers, pushing back to the minors and potentially opening up a call-up for Gonsolin next week. His starting window may only last until Blake Snell returns (he started throwing again this week).

Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

Before the start of the season, Los Angeles placed Kershaw on the 60-day injured list. Surprisingly, he pitched three shutout innings at AAA (two hits and two strikeouts) on April 16th. His fastball lacked velocity (88.1 mph), an area that has been fading over the past couple of seasons. To combat this regression, Kershaw threw his split-finger pitch (toyed with in 2023 and used some in 2024) at a higher rate (13.3).

Back on the mound 😤

Clayton Kershaw pitched three scoreless innings today in his first rehab start. pic.twitter.com/IqUcmZdl2t

— MLB (@MLB) April 16, 2025

Kershaw is at least six weeks away from pitching for the Dodgers. They have tons of starting pitching depth, creating a fantasy management issue if all hands are on deck over the last four months of the season. At the very least, Kershaw could be a handcuff option for Dustin May because he has not been throwing many innings over the past few seasons due to injuries.

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