Major Minor Matters 5/19

Braylon Payne Adds Two Home Runs, Brings Season Total to 10, Pushes Slugging Percentage Over .600

Payne is a wonderful athlete. He’s fleet of foot, svelte and muscular simultaneously, and is tapping into heretofore unseen game power. He’s eclipsed last year’s home run total in 48 fewer games (209 fewer plate appearances). His exit velocities are up dramatically year-over-year. The rub: he’s making contact at a concerning 68.2% rate and striking out in just under 30% of his plate appearances. There’s enough in the raw tools department to place him as a top 100 prospect, but I have real concerns about his swing plane and suspect he’s susceptible to breaking and off-speed pitches.

Jace LaViolette Collects Three Hits Including Home Run, Doesn’t Strike Out for First Time in Six Contests

LaViolette was a presumptive top-3 draft pick entering his draft year. He suffered a broken left hand and had a down season, ultimately concluding with his selection at 27th to the Cleveland Guardians. He was widely acknowledged as a high risk, high reward selection in FYPDs — and the risk is showing itself early. He’s carrying a 41.0% strikeout rate through 28 games. All else looks normal; he has solid fly ball and pull rates, a healthy BABIP, and reasonable power production, but an unsightly 58.6% contact rate jumps off the page. Perhaps a blemish-free evening at the plate that included three hits and a homer is the inflection point we’re hoping to see.

Clegg Does It Again: FYPD “My Guy” Jamaurion ‘Jay’ McQueen Off to Hot Start in Arizona Complex

McQueen was a 20th rounder as a two-way player out of the Mississippi high school ranks last summer. He featured in Chris’s pre-season article titled The Players I Am Not Leaving my Dynasty FYPD Without in 2026 as a deep league target primarily for his athleticism and physicality. He’s off to a hot start, adding four hits including two doubles on Tuesday, bringing his season line to .457/.578/.600 through 11 games. He’s currently rostered in just 1% of Fantrax leagues, but I expect that number to rise as people catch on to his Arizona Complex League performance.