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Fantasy Baseball Minor League Report (8/2)

Fantasy Baseball Minor League Report (8/2)

Remember last week when I said, “Get ready for prospect promotions up the ying yang?” I wasn’t kidding folks. There have been prospect promotions as far as the eye can see this week. And I’m not talking about your average prospects either. I’m talking top-level talent, including a few top-10 overall prospects getting the bump up a level. The trade deadline opened up some playing time at the Major League level for certain prospects too, most notably in St. Louis with Tommy Pham taking his talents to South Beach, just not by choice.

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Minor League Headlines/Notes

Eloy Imposing his Will

I dare you to find a hotter hitter in the minor leagues lately than Eloy Jimenez. The superstar power prospect has a .514 average and five home runs in his last 10 games, upping his Triple-A average to .376 in 27 games. In addition, his 1.303 OPS over the last month is tops in the minors. As good as Jimenez was at Double-A, he’s been even better at Triple-A. In addition to that sexy batting average, Jimenez has trimmed his strikeout rate from 17.1% to 10.8% while hitting for much more power. The White Sox aren’t going anywhere, any time soon. They could play the dreaded service time card, but at the same time, getting a look at Jimenez before potentially deploying him as a full-time starter next season is a wise play. Highly recommended stash for re-draft leagues.

Twin Power

This is actually going to be about three guys, so maybe I should call this triplet power. But wait, it’s about Twins prospects. Now I’m just confusing myself. I’ve gone over Alex Kirilloff a couple times here this season, but he’s not the only hitter in this Minnesota system flexing his star power this season.

In addition to Kirilloff, Brent Rooker and Trevor Larnach are putting their plus raw power on display in 2018. Rooker has 28 doubles and 20 home runs in 101 games while Larnach has of each in his first 11 professional games in rookie ball. Both players raw power grades out at 60, with Rooker potentially going as high as 65-70 grade down the road.

That dangerous heart of the order I mentioned above could happen as soon as the end of next season. Rooker is the closest to the show with an early-2019 ETA while Kirilloff and Larnach should move quickly through the Minnesota system with late-2019 ETAs not out of the question, though, 2020 is more likely for Larnach. With the talent they’ll likely have hitting around them, runs and RBI should be bountiful as well. The dynasty stock for all three players is solidly on the rise.

Prospect Promotions of Note

There have been a ton of notable prospect promotions since our last minor league report. We’ll start with big mamma of prospect promotions; Vladimir Guerrero is FINALLY up in Triple-A. All it took was a .399/.451/.665/1.116 slash line in Double-A games. That’s all. I know he’s still very young at 19 and all, but it was quite obvious that Vladdy was way too good for the level.

I’m done trying to poke inside the minds of the folks in the Toronto front office to speculate on an ETA, but now that he’s at Triple-A, a September call-up is still within play. However, Toronto could always go with the incredibly frustrating service time route. Please don’t do that Toronto. What can we do to bribe you? A case of Labatt Blue?

Vladdy isn’t the only high-profile prospect promotion of late. Far from it actually. In addition to him, Brendan Rodgers, Jesus Luzardo, and Kyle Wright all got bumped to Triple-A, while Jo Adell and Cristian Pache now gets to terrorize Double-A pitching.

Luzardo is the one I want to highlight here. All the rave is about hitting prospect per usual, but Luzardo has quietly progressed into one of the best pitching prospects in baseball this season. In 19 combined starts across two levels, Luzardo has a 2.12 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 2.2 BB/9, and 10.7 K/9 in 93.1 IP. Though still 20-years-old, Luzardo is one of the most advanced and polished arms in the minors. He features a mid-90’s fastball with arm side run and sink and pairs that with two plus offspeed pitches, with his change-up being the better of the two.

The great thing about Luzardo, as you could probably tell from his low walk rate, is that he has great control and command of his entire arsenal. The kid pitches like a 10-year veteran and shouldn’t have many hiccups transitioning to the Majors whenever Oakland decides to give him the call.

Everyone should know Adell by now, but Pache is another name flying up prospect boards. The speedster has made improvements across the board, especially in the power department with 20 doubles and eight home runs so far after not hitting any home runs in his minor league career before this season. Surprisingly though, Pache has only attempted 13 steals with a 54% success rate. The speed tool here is 70-grade, so with some further development, the stolen base numbers should begin to rise.

With the exception of Adell and Pache, it’s within the realm of possibility that we see Luzardo, Guerrero, and Rodgers at the Major League level this season. Stay on your toes and get ready to pounce. If you have deep benches, stashing these guys is highly recommended.

Tucker Demoted

Well, that didn’t go well. We had all been clamoring for Tucker to be promoted for months, and once he was, he proceeded to hit 156 in 45 at-bats. You can blame some of that on a low .200 BABIP, but Tucker also wasn’t hitting many balls in the air either. We haven’t seen the last of Tucker in an Astros uniform in 2018.

Prospect Power Rankings

Prospects currently in the minors that can make the biggest 2018 impact.

1. Michael Kopech (RHP – CWS) – Make it four starts with solid control in a row for Mr. Kopech, as the right-hander allowed just two walks over seven innings against Norfolk (BAL) on Tuesday. His walk rate now sits at 1.5 BB/9 over those four starts to go along with a 2.25 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and 12.0 K/9.

2. Eloy Jimenez (OF – CWS) – I dare you to find a hotter hitter than Eloy Jimenez right now. Over his last 10 games, Jimenez is hitting .514 with five homers and 10 RBI. The White Sox have got to be feeling the pressure to call their prized prospect up to the show.

3. Peter Alonso (1B – NYM) – Alonso hasn’t left the yard in eight games, but he does have seven RBI in that span and hits in all but one game.

4. Austin Riley (3B – ATL) – The Braves not trading for a third baseman is a huge boon to Riley’s ROS outlook. Unfortunately, his .171 average and goose egg in the home run column over the last 10 games aren’t doing him any favors.

5. Vladimir Guerrero (3B – TOR) – See headlines section for more on Vladdy. It’s becoming a long shot he makes the Majors in 2018, but until that call-up, 100% doesn’t happen, he’s staying in this section.

Call-Up City

Fantasy-relevant prospects that have recently gotten the call or a call-up is imminent.

Tyler O’Neill (OF – STL)

Add this man immediately. With Tommy Pham out of town, O’Neill is back up with the Cardinals and should be playing almost every day. This isn’t O’Neill’s first stint with the Cardinals, or even his second or third. He received 44 at-bats earlier in the season across three separate stints, before being sent back to Triple-A to work on his plate discipline after striking out in 42.6% of his first 47 Major League plate appearances. Many fantasy owners who had added O’Neill and got all warm and fuzzy inside when he hit home runs in back to back to back games in his first three starts after being recalled from Triple-A Memphis in early-May. Unfortunately, 13 of his next 19 trips to the plate ended by way of the K prompting his demotion.

The high strikeouts are something we’re going to have to live with if we want O’Neill on our rosters. He’s never going to be a low strikeout, high average type of hitter. That’s just not his style. But what we can expect is around a .250 average and plenty of home runs. O’Neill is incredibly strong with 70-grade raw power.

Kolby Allard (LHP – ATL)

Well, that was shortlived. Allard made his MLB debut on Tuesday, picking up the win against the Miami Marlins but was promptly sent back down after the Braves acquired Kevin Gausman from the Orioles at the deadline. Allard has a stellar 2.80 ERA in 18 Triple-A outings this season, but likely won’t get another crack at the rotation unless there’s an injury to one of the current Braves starters.

Ryan McMahon (1B – COL)

Forget about him? Well, it’s time to refamiliarize yourself with the rook, because McMahon is back with Colorado and has started in four of his first five games since his recall. The playing time situation is still up in the air, but McMahon’s offensive upside and hitter-friendly home confines make him an intriguing speculative add if you have the roster space or play in a deeper mixed or NL-Only league.

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Eric Cross is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Eric, check out his archive and follow him on Twitter @EricCross04.

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