We’re now two months into another fantasy baseball season and we once again have been blessed with plenty of exciting rookie performances. For the purposes of this article, I’m going to hold off on writing about “The Big Three” who all debuted back in April: Shohei Ohtani, Gleyber Torres, and Ronald Acuna. They’re all studs. Let’s instead focus on some prospects who have more recently made the jump to Major League Baseball.
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Juan Soto (OF – WAS)
What a meteoric rise it has been for this 19-year-old outfielder. Soto began the 2018 season in Single-A before getting promoted to High-A and Double-A, and then finally to MLB. That’s three promotions in less than two months, which is basically unheard of. They were all warranted, however. At those three minor league levels Soto, who is younger than Google, batted .362 with 14 homers and a 1.218 OPS in just 39 games. He’s holding his own in the majors now too, beginning his big league career 12-for-32 (.375) with an OPS over 1.000. What’s most exciting about Soto moving forward is that he led off on Wednesday. It’s unclear if that’ll continue, but it’s a sign that the Nationals believe in him, and that he isn’t going to be sent down anytime soon.
Austin Meadows (OF – PIT)
While Soto was grabbing all the headlines, Meadows’ promotion flew a bit under the radar. The 23-year-old is a former elite prospect who sort of fell down the ranks after some disappointing numbers in Triple-A. He was still ranked as Baseball America’s 42nd overall prospect entering 2018, but the hype had definitely died down a bit. Meadows was originally called up when Starling Marte was hurt, and the thought was he would be sent back down when Marte returned. Well, Marte is back and Meadows is still here. Not only is he continuing to play, but similar to Soto he has been moved up in the order. Meadows has hit second in each of the past four games for Pittsburgh. In 12 games in the majors, he has hit .419 with four homers and three steals. Soto is the sexier name for fantasy players, but Meadows may end up being more valuable this season.
Alex Reyes (SP – STL)
Reyes made his highly anticipated 2018 debut on Wednesday versus the Brewers, throwing four scoreless innings while allowing three hits and two walks in his return from Tommy John. He struck out just two and threw 73 pitches. It was a bit of a letdown after the 23-year-old made minor league hitters look silly on his rehab assignment (In 23 innings he posted a 0.00 ERA with 44 strikeouts). At one point on Wednesday Reyes was seen talking to a trainer. His velocity also dipped a bit after the first inning. However, he finished the start by regaining his 95 mph fastball and afterward said his arm feels fine. The Cardinals are insisting the decision to take him out was precautionary. Fantasy owners sure hope so. His next scheduled start is set to come next Tuesday versus the lowly Marlins. If you include his 2016 numbers, Reyes now has a 1.44 ERA in 50 major league innings.
EDIT: On Thursday afternoon Reyes was placed on the 10-day DL with a right lat strain. It sounds serious, though it’s worth noting that the Cardinals insisted yesterday his removal from the game was precautionary. Reyes also never left the dugout with the training staff, which is a good sign. He’s absolutely worth stashing in a DL spot, even if he’s forced to miss a few starts.
Seranthony Dominguez (RP – PHI)
Not only does “Sir Anthony” have the best name in MLB, he’s also quickly becoming one of the most dominant relief pitchers in the league. The 23-year-old made his debut on May 7th. In 10 appearances since then, he has thrown 11 2/3 shutout innings with a 0.17 WHIP. He has a 13/0 K/BB ratio. Yet what makes him so valuable to fantasy players is Dominguez already has one save to go along with six holds. He’s more valuable in leagues that count holds right now, but it’s getting to the point where he needs to be rostered everywhere. Phillies manager Gabe Kapler likes to mix and match at the end of games, but he certainly trusts Dominguez and it’s conceivable he could become the closer later this year. Even if that doesn’t happen Dominguez figures to provide elite ratios with plenty of strikeout upside.
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Brendan Tuma is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Brendan, check out his archive and follow him @toomuchtuma.
