This was a week of several promotions! Here’s the quick rundown. Owens had a solid strong debut and Severino’s was even better. Boyd came back roaring with the Tigers, and Gray’s first start with the Rockies was, well rocky. Duffey got a cup of coffee…poured down his pants, and then got sent home to change…
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.
As I had predicted earlier, Duffey got the call ahead of Berrios, though I bet the Twins had second thoughts after Duffey got shellacked. Berrios is just as ready as Severino and more ready than other pitchers who got the call, and I wonder if the Twins will get bitten for being so conservative about promoting him. In his last start, he threw 7 quality innings even if he did give up two longballs.
All the guys ahead of Stevenson already got promoted, but recent reports stay Stephenson will stay in Triple-A for now. Much like Owens, Stevenson has struggled with control for most of the season but if finally improving and becoming more dominant as a result. He’s certainly still a big risk but his upside is ace-level and way higher than that of Berrios if he actually manages to keep it up, though I wouldn’t bet on it happening this year.
– It’s always exciting to see a prospect you like get promoted and then validate the decision by doing even better at the new level. Snell punched out 7 with one walk in his last start, and has 4 straight starts striking out at least 6 while walking one. On a rate basis, he’s looking more like a stud, but it’s worth noting that he hasn’t exceeded 5.0 innings since May… This could be a strategy to limit his innings so it may not be a genuine durability concern.
Lamb has continued to rack up the strikeouts in his new Cincy digs. He’s a good candidate to get a cup of coffee sometime soon and I think he’ll surprise the people who have written him off. The home park is less forgiving than the Royals’ park, but the NL is more forgiving and I think as long as he can limit the walks he can have a high-impact debut.
Davies hit the ground running since joining the brewers, striking out 7 in 6 innings in his first start. Worse pitchers like Tyler Cravy found themselves rotation spots so I could see Davies grabbing a September spot. And I hope that happens and they pitch on back to back days and “Cravy Davies” becomes a thing. What kind of thing? That’s your call.
Fulmer finds himself in a more favorable situation pitching for the out-of-contention Tigers’ organization than the starter-stuffed Mets. Fulmer has been consistently posted a combination of a strong strikeout rate and strong walk rate with the Mets’ Double-A club and did it again in his first start with the Tigers. Normally I’d say something about the Tigers being aggressive with promoting prospects, but I can’t say that for sure now with Dombrowski gone. He’s probably the next guy in line for a start, though.
– Eickhoff isn’t the sexiest fantasy pitcher, but the 6-foot-4 25-year-old has good opportunity to find himself in the rotation, and got off to a strong start with his new organization. His sabermetrics make him seem better than his scouting, but if he can keep the homer rate down I could see him being decent in Philly this year.
He could finally get a chance in September for the out-of-contention White Sox. He seems to have lost some of that midseason momentum, and I wonder if he’s going through a bit of a dead-arm phase as he’s suddenly been walking more and striking out less.
– He appears to be back on track after faceplanting upon landing in Triple-A. In his last start he allowed 3 earned runs while striking out 3 and walking 1, and has gone 3 starts without walking anyone. While his Triple-A K rate has revealed his lack of plus stuff, he still could get a September audition and 50% odds of pitching in Petco make him far more appearling.
Hagins’ last start was a little messy, with 4 Ks to go with 4 walks. His opportunity for a rotation spot isn’t great in TB but they are out of contention so I expect him to get a fair amount of innings. He’s here more due to opportunity for innings than talent, though.
) is sometimes called Jonathan, and is a hard thrower who hasn’t been able to translate it into strikeouts. He also walks a lot, but he still could find his way into the Pirates bullpen just because of his fastball. continues to be dominant, and struck out 6 with no walks in his last outing. Stastically he’s been slightly better than Fulmer, but the rotation opportunity just isn’t there. had a very entertaining line from his last start… 5 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 6 strikeouts! Oh yeah and 7 walks. Where did that come from? He could see time in September but probably not as a starter, hence the demotion. is back from his eye surgery, and somewhat expectedly he hasn’t been quite as dominant after a long layoff, but he’s been at least solid. He also could see time in September, and it’ll be interesting to see how much with DeLeon and Cotton as also deserving candidates. With that said, it’s worth noting that hit the DL this week with a sore back. I’d expect that they’ll handle him with kid gloves the rest of the way since up to this point they had been aggressive with him. But I don’t know how the Dodger’s staff will fit kid gloves on their hands, they must be so small!