Fantasy Baseball Prospect Watch: Jordan Lawlar, Andrew Painter Turning Heads
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Jordan Lawlar’s red-hot bat at AAA is putting serious pressure on the Diamondbacks to call him up, while Andrew Painter continues his promising return from injury with eyes on a midseason debut for the Phillies.
Jordan Lawlar, Arizona Diamondbacks
The success of Lawlar’s bat at AAA over his last 19 games almost forces the Diamondbacks to call him up. Over this span, he hit .355 over 76 at-bats with 20 runs, five home runs, 20 RBIs, and eight stolen bases. His play has been even better over his last eight starts (14-for-31 with nine runs, four home runs, 11 RBIs, and four steals) while having six walks and six strikeouts.
The Diamondbacks sent Jake McCarthy back to AAA on Monday after a horrific start to the season (3-for-41 with two runs, three RBIs, and one steal). On the positive side, he only had six strikeouts. Another franchise looking for outfield help should try to acquire McCarthy.
Jordan Lawlar: Star power 🌟@Dbacks | @MiLB | #Aceball pic.twitter.com/rrFj5j7gBq
— Reno Aces (@Aces) April 22, 2025
The best path for Lawlar to start this season in the majors would be for Arizona to shift Eugenio Suarez to DH. His glove (three errors) has been below par out of the gate.
Ketel Marte has been out of action since April 4th, but he did take batting practice last week. There haven’t been any setback updates, suggesting a rehab assignment is far off.
Andrew Painter, Philadelphia Phillies
It’s time to pay more attention to the progress of Painter. He made his first appearance at A-Ball on April 11th (two runs, three baserunners, and three strikeouts over 1.1 innings), followed up with an excellent outing (three shutout innings with three hits, no walks, and four strikeouts) last Friday. He threw 49 pitches (71.4% for strikes).
Andrew Painter touches 💯 mph three times and notches three strikeouts in his 2025 debut!
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 11, 2025
MLB's No. 7 prospect (@Phillies) logs whiffs on nine of 17 swings for the Single-A @Threshers. pic.twitter.com/h00rN0HOqI
Philadelphia expects to make the postseason this year, allowing them to play the long game with Painter's right arm. 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.
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Fantasy Baseball: Jason Foley, Brandon Woodruff Headline Key Pitchers In Week 4 Injury Report
With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.
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