As prospects in general have garnered increased hype over the past few fantasy-season cycles, the pool of post-hype prospects has also gotten deeper year over year. We turn the page in a hurry when a player struggles to capitalize on that first big chance, or that second big chance, or the third. Even the most patient players among us have to acknowledge reality after a while. We need these roster spots for the stats they can provide. Can’t just use our parents’ house as a free-rent incubator a la Erlich Bachman.
Angels OF Jo Adell (25) is enjoying a full slate of playing time for Ron Washington, cutting his strikeout rate from 40.3 down to 24.4 percent in the early going. He’s got four homers, seven steals and a slash line of .243/.302/.468 with a 114 wRC+ on a .278 BABIP. He turned 25 last month, and while he probably won’t reach heights of his prospect pedigree, Adell has reintroduced himself to fantasy relevance.
Twins OF Trevor Larnach (27) worked to refine his pitch selection and attack angle over the off-season, and the results so far suggest his profile has changed shape. His strikeout rate of 18.5 percent is way down from his career rate of 32.5 percent, so even if the gains don’t all stick, he has a lot of ground to give. He’s slashing .354./407/.521 with two homers and a 166 wRC+. Seems locked into a strong-side spot in the middle of Minnesota’s platoon-heavy lineup.
Defensively limited Twins 3B Jose Miranda (25) will always have to hit to play, but hey, who doesn’t? He’s batting .292 with a 15.3 percent strikeout rate and two home runs in 72 plate appearances spread across 22 games. He’s even thrown in a stolen base. Playing third in the absence of Royce Lewis, Miranda could earn a share of a first-base or designated hitter gig and set himself to be a starter next season when Carlos Santana hits free agency. Even if he can get back healthy by June, Lewis might warrant a few more starts at designated hitter.
Marlins 2B Vidal Brujan (26) is a lineup regular for the first time in his career and has very few competitors looking over his shoulder for their own shot. He might even be atop the organizational depth chart at both middle infield spots, given the struggles of shortstop Tim Anderson on a one-year deal.
Athletics OF JJ Bleday (26) was showing signs of life in his contact rate early, but it’s easy to look the other way when a guy has struggled to approach .200 in two seasons across two teams. Well, he’s now on pace for a 3-WAR season as the Athletics’ everyday centerfielder, slashing .248/.331/.438 with four home runs. He’s been especially hot over his last nine games, walking 22.9 percent of the time against a 14.3 percent strikeout rate. I dropped him early in a 15-team dynasty league because I had just traded for Nick Castellanos. On Monday, the team that sold me Castellanos added Bleday for $6 out of a $1000 budget. Well played. No doubt Castellanos is safer than Bleday, but he’s also 32, and Bleday is free.
Cubs RHP Hayden Wesneski (26) felt like a forgotten man in Chicago until he threw six shutout innings with eight strikeouts against the Brewers. One advantage of having prospect thoughts across the years occurs when everyone else is scrambling to add the latest new players, while I’m scrambling to find the ‘old’ players in new opportunities. Development is not linear. A little failure can go a long way. I’m not saying Wesneski is going to retain the 0.54 ERA and 0.72 WHIP he’s posted in 16.2 innings, but I can say he was free for me in three difficult dynasty leagues this week and one difficult NL Only league.
Brewers RHP Bryse Wilson (26) has bounced around since his prospect days. He debuted as a 20-year-old, kicked around as an up-and-down piece for a while, played in Pittsburgh hooray, then reinvented himself as a relief arm last season in Milwaukee, posting a 2.58 ERA and 1.07 WHIP across 76.1 innings. It’s a kitchen-sink approach without a ton of strikeouts, but it worked for six scoreless innings apiece against the Rays and Royals in his last two starts, during which he allowed one run today and recorded 12 strikeouts.
Cardinals C Ivan Herrera (23) never generated a ton of hype because he’s a catching prospect who has always been blocked, but he’ll get all the work he can handle now with C Willson Contreras on the injured list with a broken arm. Here’s hoping Herrera can somehow crouch on top of the plate without getting whacked. He’s got three home runs in the early going and is batting cleanup today.
Pirates 2B Nick Gonzales (24, AAA) hasn’t returned to the majors yet, but he’s slashing .364/.424/.619 with four home runs and a 17.4 percent strikeout rate through 29 games, a nice drop from the 26.6 percent he posted there last season. The 7th overall pick in the 2020 draft, Gonzales was free to me in the Highlander Dynasty Invitational on Sunday night.
And now for a pre-hype guy on the way out. In 25 games with Low-A Rancho Cucamonga, Dodgers 3B Jeral Perez (19, A) is slashing .312/.440/.538 with four home runs and three stolen bases. A right-handed power bat at 6’0” 179 lbs, Perez has drawn 19 walks against 25 strikeouts in 25 games and is climbing fast in one of baseball’s best organizations. Likely a top hundred guy before the draft wave creates a big reshuffle.
Thanks for reading!
