And just like that, May is almost over. It was a heck of a month, with plenty of players playing out of their minds. It’s been particularly awesome to see previously featured players like Parker Messick, Cam Schlittler, Jordan Walker, and, of course, Munetaka Murakami continuing to perform like superstars. Let’s check in with some of these guys at the end of June and see if they’re still killing it by then!
Max Meyer, SP, MIA
While we were all looking for the Sandy Alcantara and Eury Pérez bouncebacks this season, it seems that Max Meyer is the one in the driver’s seat for Miami’s ace role.
It’s important to note that we’ve been here before with Meyer. Last year, he was looking like a top 30 pitcher through April, peaking with an outstanding six-inning, 14-strikeout affair against the Reds at home. From there, he lost his feel for everything, eventually going down for the year with an unfortunate injury. A breakout unfortunately cut short, but he’s more than making up for it in 2026.
What sets Meyer apart from many other starting pitchers is his incredible slider. The pitch is outstanding by every metric, from velocity to whiff rate to (especially) PLV, our in-house pitch grading stat. He also features a sweeper, which also has a similarly great PLV mark, which is definitely derived from the excellent velocity and movement on the pitch. It’s kind of surprising to see the difference in movement between the two pitches, as they’re very distinct, despite not having the big gap in velocity which you see from lots of pitchers with a slider/sweeper combo.
The concern with Meyer has been his fastball. He has the look and usage rates of your traditional fastball/slider power pitcher, but he hasn’t gotten much from the four-seamer in recent years. The pitch is supposed to be the foundation, and without a solid heater, even the greatest slider can be limited in its efficacy. I’m happy to report that Meyer has made gains with the fastball. It’s seen an increase in vertical break, reaching some seriously impressive marks in domed environments like his home ballpark of Miami. I do have some concerns about the drop in extension, which is pretty major compared to last season. Oh, and last thing, he’s getting better results on the changeup this year! PLV actually likes it significantly less (it’s lost a bit of velocity), but the swinging strike rate has doubled on the pitch!
Verdict: Possibly Legit. Get excited! I really love what we see from Meyer this year. He’s given us a longer stretch of dominance than he has in the past, and I feel there’s a tangible enough change in stuff and approach to last season that makes me want to buy in. Again, though, we’ve seen it fall apart from him, and he’s not always consistent from start to start, both in terms of results and stuff.
Ryan Waldschmidt, OF, ARI
The Diamondbacks have quietly become a bit of a hitting factory as of late, with players such as Ildemaro Vargas having surprise breakout campaigns, and their stars like Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte are currently mashing. So what about the youth movement? Well, they are getting plenty of that from their top prospect, Ryan Waldschmidt, who is currently ranked #33 on MLB Pipeline’s list.
Waldschmidt has been a ratio god since coming up to the big club. The Diamondbacks’ top prospect has been hitting quite a bit, hovering above .300 so far in his limited sample size. Since he’s getting on base, he’s contributing in the run department, making it home fairly often for this hot offense. This all comes with him not hitting any home runs, although he’s come close with a few of his fly balls. One double he hit at home would have been out in 15/30 ballparks, which is a sign that the first knock is possibly soon to come.
Waldschmidt also possesses elite speed, which is key to his value moving forward. In 2025, across two minor league levels, he stole 29 bases. If he can get on base often (which he is doing right now), he’s probably going to be a threat to grab 20 on a yearly basis.
Verdict: Not Legit. For now… Waldschmidt is an elite prospect and has plenty of tools. I just don’t think he’s going to continue to excel at the rate he has. He’s already slipped a bit in the wRC+ column since I decided to feature him this week, and I doubt a player with the high whiff and K rates that he holds will continue to bat over .3o0. I guess that we will probably see more extra base hits, as he has shown decent power at all levels, but it does feel like this super high batting average guy is a mirage at this stage of his career.
Curtis Mead, 1B, 2B, 3B MIN
Just when you’d almost forgotten about former Rays top prospect Curtis Mead, he breaks out right in front of our eyes!
Mead is unfortunately often most associated with the trade where the Rays acquired him, in which Cristopher Sánchez went back to Philadelphia. Yikes. He couldn’t stick with the Rays, so they threw him to the White Sox in another somewhat regrettable trade. The Sox cut bait to the Nationals, and voila! Mead is playing well.
The area where Mead is excelling most right now is on-base percentage. As a prospect, he was touted as being a guy who was going to hit a lot of hard line drives, which would turn him into a hit machine. In the minors, he often chased pitches out of the zone, and that carried forward into the majors, which limited the odds of him walking often. Now, he’s walking at a 13% clip. His batting average is still in line with the marks from the past 2 seasons, though in those, his on-base percentage was sub-.300. Now, he’s above .350 and he’s looking for that to stick. He also has a career high in home runs already, knocking seven out of the ballpark. The secret to this burst in power? It’s not improved bat speed or blistering exit velocities. Mead is pulling the ball in the air a lot more than he has in past seasons, going from a below-average rate of 16% last year to a well-above-average clip of 23%. This leads to more home run potential, which if Mead could become a guy who pops 20 out of the park, that would be a great player.
I also like how Mead is becoming a balanced player against lefties and righties. When he came up with the Rays, he was mostly only hitting off lefties, and he became a bit of a platoon hitter. The pendulum swung the other way last season, as he was an average hitter against righties but had putrid numbers against lefties. Seeing Mead become a permanent everyday player would be awesome, and it looks like he may be on his way.
Verdict: Possibly Legit. Yeah, it’s a bit of a cop out to again go with a possibly legit grade for Mead as well. It’s tough with players who it feels like we’ve given so many chances to and are ready just to accept that who they are is who they are. However, as we saw with Jordan Walker, players can make tangible changes to their games to reach their potential. I can’t say for certain that Mead has become the player we wanted, but with a wRC+ over 130, he’s certainly been effective this year.
