Last week my #2 ranked Pitcher, Dinelson Lamet, was called up to the Majors. Lamet was not even in the ESPN or Yahoo player pools before his game, so you could not even stash him. He performed quite well with eight strikeouts in five innings pitched. He is a guy worthy of an add, but I wouldn’t waste a high waiver claim on him. I can see him in the 50-70 range rest of season but has potential to move into the 40s. Anyway, let us get down to business.
Every weekend, I will be posting about the minor leaguers you should be stashing on your team. This list will be arranged by impact for this year only. Players that will be called up sooner will be ahead of players with more talent who might only be called up late in the year. Prospects are a great way to stay ahead of everyone else rather you are in a dynasty league or a 10-team league. With the minor league season going, we can start seeing some movement with this list. With more and more games to evaluate, new players will jump onto the list, while others could fall off entirely.
Note: Julio Urias and Blake Snell are no longer prospect but are worth stashing on your team.
1. Jose De Leon, Tampa Bay Rays AAA, ETA: June
De Leon had some difficulties in his last outing allowing four earned in four innings while striking out four. He is still working his way back from his injury, but we want to start seeing more innings pitched in his stats. The potential is there to make an impact like Mike Clevinger and Jose Berrios, but he is competing with Jacob Faria, and Blake Snell now for the Rotation spot.
2. Jeff Hoffman, Colorado Rockies AAA, ETA: June
Trevor Story was activated from the DL and the Rockies sent Jeff Hoffman back down to AAA. I do not believe the wait will be long for Hoffman to be back in the Black and Purple as he pitched admirably in his brief stint. Jeff Hoffman struck out 17 in 13.2 IP with a 3.29 ERA and a whip of 0.88. I do not expect him to be an everyday ace but I imagine he would rank in the 40-65 Range for starting pitchers rest of season when he gets the call.
3. Luke Weaver, St. Louis Cardinals AAA, ETA: June
Luke Weaver is the only pitcher from MLB Pipelines top 30 Organizational Rankings in AAA that has an ERA under 2.00 through 30 + innings pitched. His 1.97 ERA and 1.00 Whip establishes his high floor. He is not a top 30 Starting Pitcher in standard leagues, but with leagues that include K/BB, he is gold as he currently is sporting a K/BB of 7.25. Only Kershaw, Ivan Nova and Josh Tomlin have that mark in the bigs.
4. Reynaldo Lopez, Chicago White Sox AAA, ETA: July
Reynaldo strung together eight straight starts allowing three earned runs or less, but then Friday night he was absolutely clobbered for eight earned in four innings. His ERA shot up from 2.94 to 4.08 after that start. This will happen to any player, so I am not sweating it so much. I am interested in seeing how he responds in his next start. Lopez still has some work to do in the minors; he is working with a WHIP of 1.38, so we want to see him command his pitches better. He might not be ready to stash yet, but he probably has some of the best stuff on this list.
5. Jacob Faria, Tampa Bay Rays AAA, ETA: July
71 strikes out in 47.2 IP. That is all you need to know. His ERA is all right at 3.40, and his whip rests at 1.22. He is a guy that will rack up the strikeouts but allow some runs. He reminds me a bit of Jeff Samardzija. ERA and WHIP will be high but against inferior opponents, he is a great player to own.
6. Nick Pivetta, Philadelphia Phillies AAA, ETA: June
Pivetta made four starts for the Phillies before being sent back down with a 5.12 ERA. Don’t be discouraged though, he did have a 9.8 K/9 through those starts and his opponents? The Dodgers, twice vs the Nationals, and the Rangers during their win streak. He was not exactly eased into the bigs, but more thrown into the deep end. Pivetta has made one start since being sent back down, and went seven innings, striking out nine and walking none. He is a good option and hopefully the Phillies give him another shot soon.
7. Yohander Mendez, Texas Rangers AA, ETA: June
Yohander has allowed only 36 hits in 55.1 IP in Double A which means his BAA is sitting pretty at .188. He also has seven straight starts of six or more innings pitched. He will not be a high strikeout guy but if he can work 7 innings and strikeout five while maintaining a good whip and era, he will be a solid guy to own.
8. Francis Marte, Houston Astros AAA, ETA: August
His terrible command is worrisome, but his pitches are undeniably awesome. The Astros are easing him along, as he has only seven starts while others on this list are at nine already. That is mainly so he is an option for the playoffs. His last outing, Marte struck out nine in 5.2 Innings and only walked one. That is a vast improvement with his command as he has a BB/9 over seven. He has plenty of work to do, but the talent is there and he has put it all together on occasion. I think he is a late season option, which would make him a stash option as one point.
9. Lucas Simms, Atlanta Braves AAA, ETA: June
Lucas has had a couple bad starts to end May giving up nine earned in 8.1 IPs in his last two starts. His ERA has shot up from 2.16 to 3.42 in that period. He does have a K/9 north of nine per game, and he would pitch in the NL East, so there is a positive aspect. He does need to work on keeping the ball in the park though as he has allowed seven homers in nine starts. I like Sims, he will not be an Ace, but he is a solid pitcher who can eat up some innings and be a streamer option in Fantasy.
10. Steven Brault, Pittsburgh Pirates AAA, ETA: July
Welcome to the list Steven Brault! He is the eighth ranked prospect in the Pirates organization and made his MLB debut in 2016 which did not go so well, 4.86 ERA, 1.860 WHIP, and 29 strikeouts in 33.1 IP. He has however, a 2.92 career minor league ERA. He does not have any plus pitches, but He has good command of his pitches, and mixes them pretty well. He is a good streaming option if he does get the call.