With 120 teams and 5,000+ players spread through four levels (not to mention the Dominican Summer League and the renamed Complex leagues in Arizona and Florida), keeping up with minor league performances can be difficult. If you wait until end-of-season wrap-ups, a breakout prospect may no longer be available. You can scout stat lines all year, but that can be tedious, and it’s difficult to keep an eye on every tweet of a new highlight. But fear not, intrepid dynasty league manager: Welcome to Pitcher List’s MiLB Player and Pitcher of the Week!
This is a weekly column where I’ll select one hitter and one pitcher who performed outstandingly in the prior week. Not only will you get a name, but also we’ll dive into what powered their results and where their future value stands.
Player of the Week: SS Noelvi Marte SEA, High-A
Stats: (6 games) 11-23, 3 HR, 2 doubles, 6 RBI, 11 runs
Marte entered the 2022 season as easily one of the top 3 SS prospects in the minors alongside Anthony Volpe and Marco Luciano. But once the year began, Marte looked to be over-matched in his new assignment at High-A Everett.
Through each of the first three months of the season, his peripherals decreased, capped off by a June where Marte posted a .218/.303/.391 line with a 26.3% K rate. With his rates in free fall, Marte also saw his counting stats underwhelm, hitting only 8 HRs with 8 SBs through just under 300 PAs. By comparison, in 2021 at Low-A Modesto, he had accumulated 12 HRs and 10 SBs in roughly the same amount of appearances.
But suddenly, the calendar turned to July and Marte seems to be back in form. This past week marks easily his best of the year, good enough to also be awarded the MiLB Player of the Week award.
Marte is still quite young (he won’t turn legal drinking age until the season is over) and this is just his third season of pro ball after dominating the Rookie League and Low-A. The competition is a bit better now but it does look as though Marte is adjusting. If you found a very impatient or spooked manager three weeks ago, you may have been able to swindle them into dealing Marte at an appealingly low price; but for now, that hypothetical window has snapped shut.
Similar to his peers Volpe and Luciano, it just took a bit of time at the new level for Marte to remind everyone of why he’s been so highly ranked. Now it’s just a matter of finishing the season on a high note and then preparing for the next test: Double-A.
Honorable Mention: OF Everson Pereira, NYY, High-A
Stats: (6 games) 9-26, 1 HR, 2 doubles, 2 triples, 9 RBI, 6 runs, 1 stolen base
With all of the talk of the Bronx Bombers’ potential on the dirt between the afore-mentioned Volpe and Oswaldo Peraza along with some kid named Dominguez getting the hype as an OF, Pereira is a name that you may easily miss. However, he may be developing into an incredibly valuable and exciting player for the Yankees completely under the radar.
Pereira has the speed and instincts to stick in center defensively and has shown some strides in his plate discipline advancing his hit tool in his continued assignment at High-A, decreasing his K rate from 29.9% to 26.8%. The power is a bit off of last year’s pace as Pereira had already gone deep 14 times in 127 PAs vs. this year’s 8 HRs in 321 PAs. On the other hand, he’s upped his stolen bases from 9 in 12 attempts (2021 season) to 18 in 23 attempts (2022 season).
Ultimately, Pereira still has some maturing to do, coincidentally having a profile reminiscent of older Yankee farmhand Estevan Florial who himself is just now finding consistent success as a prospect at age 24. Pereira may need a similarly longer runway for additional seasoning but a fascinating final dish he could be. Strongly suggest as a stash in 14T or higher with standard 15 minor league/NA spots.
Pitcher of the Week: SP DL Hall, BAL, Double-A
Stats: (1 start) 6 IP, 1 ER, 3 hits, 2 BB, 14 Ks
The walks will probably always be a part of Hall’s game, he has some inefficiency with his pitch execution that seems to just be a core component of his makeup. However, this start is a great illustration of what the Orioles dreamed of having at Oriole Park when they drafted Hall #21 overall in 2017. So far, you’d have to call 2022 a success for Hall after having elbow injuries prematurely end his 2021. He’s shown a fastball/curveball/changeup mix that can rack up a large number of strikeouts in a short amount of time, with 10 of 14 starts garnering at least 6Ks.
Unfortunately, the short amount of time is still somewhat of a lingering issue for forecasting Hall’s final destination as a Major League pitcher. The Orioles want to be slow to bring Hall back given his recent injury history and the pandemic season completely wiped a year of competitive innings pitched. But the fact remains that this past week’s start is his first one over 5 IP since 2019 and he’s never thrown for 100 innings or at over 6 innings in a start. Add that to the existing command questions and I’m still not sure that Hall has done enough to shake reliever risk from his possible outcomes.
It may not hurt to shop him if you roster Hall just to see what you might get in a package deal and if you’re interested in acquiring him, you may want to wait to see if the Orioles are confident enough in Hall to promote him after the All-Star Break.
Honorable Mention: SP Eury Perez, MIA, Double-A,
Stats: (1 start) 6 IP, 1 ER, 1 hits, 0 BB, 10 Ks
It’s been a while and even though Perez is well-known at this point and hasn’t put up the same type of video game numbers on a per-game basis as last season, he remains very consistent and very good. At this point, the promotion to Triple-A (if not directly to the major league club) is inevitable this season.
Perez’s stuff and command are so incredibly sharp no matter the level, it seems smart to just expose him to AAA bats to check the box and then prepare for him to be a part of the Marlins’ roster (timely as Trevor Rogers seems to be coming apart at the seams). Having Perez and Max Meyer available to pair with Cy Young front-runner Sandy Alcantara and Pablo Lopez is a nice position to be in if you’re a Marlins fan.
Fantasy-wise, there’s nothing new to say for dynasty/keeper league managers, as last year was time to get on board. For redraft leagues, I wouldn’t pull the trigger now but Perez would be on my shortlist for 2023 adds.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)