This past week, Jerad Eickhoff (PHI) made his big debut and those of you who knew his name from here were handsomely rewarded. In September, in the mad hunt for live arms, here are some more guys that can help you down the stretch.
These players are ranked in order of most likely to make an impact for your fantasy team in 2015. It does not include pitchers who have already hit in the majors this year.
Berrios continues to be part of your balanced breakfast. It looked like he would be an option to get called up last week but it was declined. It’s a shame, as he’s been even better in Triple-A, with a higher K rate and a lower walk rate. While he’s certainly deserving of a rotation spot (as he has been all year), the Twins may be watching his innings count.
– Snell has gotten better with every level he’s ascended in the minors, as when he started it looked like just strikeouts and good luck and now his peripherals are catching up. While on a rate basis he looks fantastic, his innings limit in most of his starts makes me wonder if he can go deeper into games or if it’s a team decision to keep him in play for September.
He has some of the best stuff in the minors, and he’s almost major-league ready. In his few starts in Triple-A, he’s kept it rolling with a 0.99 ERA and back-to-back shutouts in his latest two starts, with 9 strikeouts in his last one. His control still wavers somewhat, but it shouldn’t be that much of a problem if he can keep punching out batters like this.
– Fulmer looked like he was going to get the call this past week once Norris hit the DL but the Tigers decided to unceremoniously toss a beaten and bruised Buck Farmer back onto the hill for more punishment. In a few weeks Fulmer should get his chance to stake a claim on that rotation spot.
– Johnson threw another beautiful outing with 6 strikeouts and 1 walk, and wins my Snubbed Prospect Pitcher of the year award (the SPPOTY). I mean he at least deserved some spot starts since he has nothing left to prove.
In Urias’s latest start, he struck out 8 and walked one, in a gentle reminder to the Dodgers that he’s awesome and that she should not be forgotten among the imminent wave of call-ups.
Cotton continues to stuff the box score, with seven strikeouts and only one walk in his latest outing. While he lacks the raw upside of Urias and De Leon, his consistent excellent performance throughout the year may make him the most deserving rotation candidate.
Blair has somewhat predictably fallen back to earth after back-to-back shutouts. While he did throw two quality starts, he struck out 4 in one and only 2 in the other. If he can’t miss bats in the majors, he may end up giving up a good amount of homers.
Voth has continued to pubstomp Double-A, with 6 strikeouts and one walk in my latest start. He won second place in the SPPOTTYs, since he clearly has nothing left to prove and is just padding his stats at this point.
What he lacks in upside he makes up for in major league readiness. The Brewers have made it clear that they’re going to give their prospects a chance with the Santana promotion and Davies is atop the pecking order for pitchers to promote. He could get shelled so there’s some risk, but he could be a solid arm at the back of their rotation.
– Reyes has one of the most intriguing arms in the minors, and he was recently promoted to Double-A where he hasn’t slowed down much. While his control is a bit spotty, the 14% K rate more than makes up for that. His 3.70 ERA in Double-A sells him short as his FIP is just 2.09. He’s unlikely to see much time in the majors this year but don’t forget his name as he should be frequently bandied about in 2016.
has talent and upside, but his command has been worse than a Youtube comments section. While he’s struck out more batters since his promotion to Double-A, yeah a 7.62 BB/9 is not going fly. is a far better Lucas, with one of the highest upsides in the minors. But his Double-A campaign has been someone disappointing for a pitcher with his upside…after a 2.71 ERA with an 11.11 K/9 and a 2.58 BB/9 in High-A, he has posted a 3.77 ERA with a 8.79 K/9 and a 4.40 BB/9 since his promotion. He’s better than this, but may need more time. has one of the fastest fastballs in the majors, so his 1.40 HR/9 rate is quite surprising. The good news is he’s striking out batters at a 7.91 K/9 which is solid (but not great) and even moreso that he has limited walks, as control is sometimes hard to regain post-TJS. on the other hand, has struggled with his control since his promotion to Double-A. You may not notice it because of his shiny 1.71 ERA at the level. He’s still very talented and should be fine. A month ago, Mark Appel had a 6.52 ERA at Triple-A, but he’s trimmed it down to a more palatable mid-4s ERA with a string of solid starts giving up three runs or less. That is, until his last start in which he gave up 12 hits and 9 runs (6 earned). I hear some people still expect value out of him this year. I experience much jocularity at their expense.