| | | | Friday, August 16, 2024 | | A lot goes into when teams decide to call up their top prospects. It's never quite as simple as those of us in the Fantasy Baseball world want it to be, because while teams have service time considerations, defensive fit issues, and a whole host of other things to consider when they make the call, we're straightforward, and we're greedy; we just want to see the young guys play. | | We got what we wanted when Junior Caminero got the call last week, as the best prospect remaining in the minors finally joined the party, and it seemed like that might be the end of the parade. As Scott White noted in his Prospects Report column Thursday, there didn't really seem to be a whole lot of momentum building toward the promotion of names like Jasson Dominguez or Dylan Crews down the stretch, and there wasn't much reason to stash too many of the remaining prospects as a result. | | But that doesn't mean we won't see new prospects get the call in the six or so weeks left in the season, and we got a nice surprise in that regard Thursday when the Tigers opted to call on two of their top infield prospects, Jace Jung and Trey Sweeney. | | Now, neither Jung nor especially Sweeney is the kind of prospect on Caminero's level, worthy of dropping the majority of whatever remains of your FAB budget to make sure you get. Sweeney was ranked as the organization's No. 20 prospect in MLB Pipeline's midseason update, and while he has a bit of pop and speed – 15 homers, 20 steals in 107 games at Triple-A this season – he also has enough swing-and-miss concerns that I'm not sure anyone really expects him to be an impact player. | | | | Jung, though? Yeah, he might be. Jung is the No. 64 overall prospect for MLB Pipeline, and that's in a season where he's been a bit of a disappointment, hitting .257/.377/.454 at Triple-A. The 23-year-old is patient at the plate and has a decent enough 22.4% strikeout rate, and he needs both of those skills to come along with him to the majors because he has solid, but not necessarily exceptional power– his 87.7 mph average exit velocity is in the Jonathan India/Gavin Lux range among major-leaguers, though his max exit velo of 111.4 mph suggests there's at least above-average raw power. | | The good news is, Jung does have a swing geared toward making the most of the power he does have. He has hit more fly balls than ground balls this season and has pulled 50% of his batted balls, which is what you want to see. He brings long-term defensive questions to the table, and with a couple of middle infielders above him on the Tigers' top prospects list, it makes sense to call him up now and see if he can carve out a foothold here heading into next season because Kevin McGonigle might be pounding on the door of the majors by next summer. | | Given how much even much more heralded prospects have struggled in their first taste of the majors, you shouldn't expect Jung to make it to the majors and hit the ground running. But with prospects, there's always that mystery box factor, where the uncertainty in their profile makes them a better bet on the waiver wire than the likes of Geraldo Perdomo or Brendan Rodgers , to name just two of the most-added second basemen in CBS Fantasy leagues right now. | | Before we get to the rest of Thursday's news and performances you need to know about, here's a quick rundown of the other top prospects you need to know about from Scott White's Prospects Report: | | | Top prospects on the verge
| | | | Jasson Dominguez, OF, Yankees – "Notice I'm still calling Dominguez the top minor-leaguer to stash. An injury to any of the four aforementioned Yankees would clear a path for him, and Judge and Stanton especially are no strangers to injuries." | | Dylan Crews, OF, Nationals – "Crews' lackluster production between Double- and Triple-A this year has made me skeptical of a late-season call-up, but enough people on the Nationals beat have floated it as a possibility that I'm obliged to take it seriously. And suddenly, it's a little easier to take seriously because he's batting .333 (11 for 33) with three homers and two steals in his past eight games." | | Deyvison De Los Santos, 3B, Marlins – "De Los Santos' .279/.353/.541 slash line in 15 games at Triple-A Jacksonville is nearly the same as his .289/.338/.588 slash in 49 games at Triple-A Reno, which more or less confirms that he wasn't just a product of a hitter-friendly environment. But really, his superlative exit velocity readings already told us that much." | | Shay Whitcomb, SS, Astros – "Barring an injury to Jeremy Pena , Whitcomb obviously isn't going to break through at his natural shortstop position. But one of the good things about a natural shortstop is he can play just about anywhere, and it just so happens Whitcomb has played a fair amount of outfield at Triple-A Sugar Land this year. That's notable because the Astros don't have a great option in either left or right field right now." | | Brandon Sproat, SP, Mets – "It's not likely Sproat climbs all the way to the majors in his first full professional season, but after his latest move up to Triple-A, Mets media is at least asking the question. 'Do I think he can pitch in the big leagues right now? Yeah, he probably can right now,' Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner told MLB.com. 'Would he benefit from another couple months in Triple-A and refining his stuff? Probably. So I think either outcome puts us in a really good spot.'" | | | | News and notes | | Unfortunate news for the Brewers as Christian Yelich will undergo season-ending back surgery. He originally opted for rest and rehab, but due to a lack of progress, he's elected to undergo surgery and shift his focus to being 100% for 2025. Yelich finished 2024 with a .315 average, 11 homers, and 21 steals across 73 games, as he was a legitimate difference-maker when healthy. Back injuries have become a recurring problem for Yelich over the past few seasons, and it's hard to expect him to stay on the field for 150 games at this point. But he should be very good when healthy. | | Julio Rodriguez was out of the lineup after leaving Wednesday's game with a right ankle issue, the same one he was just on the IL with. Manager Scott Servais said Julio wanted to play, but the team opted to give him more rest and treatment, so hopefully that points to just a short-term absence here. | | Max Scherzer said Thursday that he's "turned a corner" and plans to throw a bullpen Friday. He received a nerve injection earlier in the week, but would likely still need a rehab assignment before he returns. And given how much he has struggled this season, I'm not expecting him to come back and be a difference-maker again. | | Brent Rooker is expected to return from the paternity list Saturday. | | The Twins placed Byron Buxton on the IL due to right hip soreness. He does not have any structural damage and should be back in the minimum time if all goes well. The Twins had Manuel Margot, Austin Martin, and Max Kepler in the outfield Thursday against LHP Cody Bradford , and they recalled Eduoard Julien from Triple-A – he still has some upside, but it's just not clear he's going to play enough to matter. | | Jorge Soler has been diagnosed with a mild left hamstring strain. Manager Brian Snitker labeled Soler day-to-day and said they're optimistic he'll avoid the IL. | | Well, that was fast. Coby Mayo was optioned back to Triple-A on Thursday. He started just six of 11 games since being called up and was just 1-for-17 with 10 strikeouts. Jackson Holliday had a similarly brief taste of the majors earlier in the season and has been fine since coming back in July, so let's hope Mayo's eventual return goes as well. | | Bobby Miller was scratched from his scheduled start at Triple-A on Thursday. He isn't said to be dealing with an injury, so there is some speculation that he's getting called up to start Friday against the Cardinals. He has struggled on his rehab assignment, so I'm not expecting Miller to be very good if he does get the call, but obviously, we'll be watching closely to see. | | A's prospect Jacob Wilson will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A on Saturday. You'll remember he got called up about a month ago and strained his left hamstring in his debut. He is 26% rostered and could be a viable starter down the stretch once ready. | | Thursday's Standouts | | Logan Webb, Giants vs. ATL: 7.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K – Webb hit a bit of a rough patch in July, but he's looked like himself over the past four starts, allowing just two runs with 25 strikeouts and only six walks in 29.1 innings of work. Both his sweeper and changeup have played up in that stretch, and he leaned on those two for eight of his 12 swinging strikes Thursday. Webb is never going to be an elite strikeout pitcher, but the regression of his changeup in particular seemed to be dragging him down earlier this season, and he's caught fire since rediscovering the pitch. | | Max Fried, Braves @SF: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K – Fried just hasn't looked right since coming back from his forearm injury a few weeks ago. He has walked at least three in each of his three starts, with 11 in 13.2 innings total. He wasn't dealing with any structural issues when he went on the IL, but the timing is hard to overlook here, despite the fact that his fastball velocity mostly looks the same as it did before the injury. What's more confusing is that it's not like Fried has just been struggling to find the strike zone – he threw 51% of his pitches in the strike zone Thursday and 46% in his previous two starts. He's still generating a bunch of weak contact, too (86.8 mph average exit velocity in this one), so I tend to think we're mostly just seeing a bump in the road and not something to be too concerned about … as long as that forearm is okay. | | Jack Flaherty, Dodgers @MIL: 5 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K – In three starts with the Dodgers, Flaherty has 24 strikeouts to four walks, which mostly looks like he did early in the season when he was dominating. Which is to say, I'm not too concerned about the seven runs he's allowed in 10.2 innings over his past two starts. He's struggled a bit with hard contact, though I'm not sure there's a good explanation for it – the biggest change in his approach with the Dodgers has been about a 10% point increase in his curveball usage, which has actually been arguably his best pitch at limiting hard contact (and generating whiffs) this season. His slider and four-seamer both gave up average exit velocities over 96 mph Thursday, but I just don't think there's much reason to think he's suddenly lost his feel for those pitches. I'm not particularly concerned about Flaherty as long as he's healthy. | | Bryce Miller, Mariners @DET: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K – You've got to give the Mariners pitchers this: They're gonna tinker in pursuit of the best version of themselves. In Miller's case, that meant adding a splitter in the offseason and then a new knuckle curve around the mid-season point, while occasionally featuring a slider or sweeper in any given start. It's made him a much less predictable pitcher than last season when he was just spamming fastballs, and it seems to be coming together to make him a much better pitcher. Since the start of July, he has a 1.91 ER and has started finding more strikeouts of late, with 19 in 17.1 innings in July. Consistency has been an issue for Miller, but it seems like he might have stumbled on to something here, with his two best xwOBA months of the season coming in July and August. | | Nick Pivetta, Red Sox @BAL: 5 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K – Pivetta's velocity was mostly back after he was skipped in the previous turn through the rotation, and the results were … fine. He made a couple of mistakes that turned into homers, but otherwise, it was a pretty effective start. However, he might have been lucky to get the results he did, as he generated just seven swinging strikes on 46 swings with a miserable 95.8 mph average exit velocity on 11 balls in play. The truth is, Pivetta has a 4.94 ERA since coming back from a forearm injury on May 8, and I don't think he's done enough in his career to earn the benefit of the doubt amid an extended stretch like that. He's capable of dominating on any given day, but he tends to give that back with blow-up starts – or even innings. | | Zach Eflin, Orioles vs. BOS: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K – You'd rather have Eflin than Pivetta at this point, right? I know Pivetta has the strikeout upside that Eflin is typically lacking, but Eflin is a standout when it comes to both control and quality of contact allowed, and that trumps the strikeout gap – especially when Eflin is still showing some upside in that regard, with seven strikeouts in three of four starts since getting to the Orioles. The biggest change Eflin had made to his approach before this start was to prioritize his changeup, but he just had arguably his best start of the season while throwing it just four times, so I don't know if that explanation works here. I think, ultimately, it just comes down to this: Eflin is a good pitcher, and he's gone from a pretty mediocre situation to one of the best in baseball. Even if you don't buy the strikeout gains (and I'm skeptical), he should be much better the rest of the way than he had been before the trade. In fact, his 3.30 xERA suggests he should probably be viewed as a must-start pitcher now. | | Cody Bradford, Rangers vs. MIN: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K – Bradford is back from his back injury and continues to get the job done, with this one lowering his season-long ERA to 3.50 despite giving up eight runs in 5.2 innings in his first two starts back from the IL. I don't think he's an ace, by any means, but Bradford has shown excellent control, decent strikeout skills, and solid quality of contact suppression – he allowed 21 balls in play with an average exit velocity of 83.7 mph in this one, which explains the good results despite the lack of strikeouts. He probably isn't much more than a streamer in Roto leagues, but Bradford's RP eligibility should keep him in lineups in H2H points leagues. | | Tobias Myers , Brewers vs. LAD: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K – You probably got lucky if you had Myers in your lineup in this one, as he gave up a ton of hard contact (91.1 mph average exit velocity on 24 batted balls) and got just the one strikeout. How long can you count on that luck? He's a mediocre strikeout pitcher with good control and pretty solid quality of contact skills (outside of this start, at least), but his xERA entering this start was 3.90, which is pretty uninspiring. I think Myers is a streaming type against the right matchups, but not much more despite the pretty 2.81 ERA. | | Jose Quintana, Mets vs. OAK: 4 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 1 K – Of course, the problem with relying on streaming types who are running hot is, eventually you're gonna be left holding the bag. We needed to stop treating the Athletics like a good matchup a while ago, and it appears the league has caught up to Quintana yet again anyway – he had a 2.05 ERA in July and a 2.63 ERA in June and July combined but is up to a 6.89 mark in August. There will be more good starts in the future for Quintana, but there really isn't much reason to keep Quintana around on your roster waiting for them. | | | | | | | | WNBA | | Big3 Championship | The stars of the WNBA return to CBS for a doubleheader Saturday. Tune into tomorrow to see gold medalists in each matchup, with the Lynx taking on the Mystics at 2 PM ET, followed up by Liberty at Aces at 4 PM ET on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
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| | Catch your favorite celebrities and see who is crowned winner of this year's BIG3 season with the Celebrity Game, All-Star Game and Championship Game between 3's Company and Bivouac at 3 PM ET this Sunday on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
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