Hundreds of baseball players make their debut over the course of a season. However, for every Ronald Acuña and Scott Kingery, there are dozens of lesser-known prospects making their debuts who aren’t as frequently discussed. To remedy that, Alex Fast, Adam Garland, Ben Palmer and I will be doing a write-up on every single player making their MLB Debut. Inspired by the Effectively Wild podcast and Andrew Perpetua, we’ll discuss each debut’s skill set, how long they will likely remain in the majors and any other pertinent information you need to know. Each player will also be stored in a spreadsheet featuring further information (bio, D.O.B, player ID’s, etc) that can be accessed at the bottom of the article.
Here are the debuts from June 5th:
Austin Wynns (C, Baltimore Orioles, 27 years old)
Call Up Date: June 5th
Role: Bench Depth
Organization Ranking: 22nd
Overall Ranking: N/A
Grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 40 | Run: 35 | Arm: 55 | Field: 55 | Overall: 45
Fantasy Relevance: None
The Orioles sent Andrew Susac down to the minors as he had been struggling significantly during his brief time in the majors. As a replacement backup catcher, they brought up Wynns who was slashing .257/.314/.404 in Triple-A. He will primarily serve as a backup to Chance Sisco—who is the Orioles primary catcher—and thus isn’t likely to have much in the way of fantasy value, barring a long-term injury to Sisco or a significant hot streak for Wynns.
Zack Littell (SP, Minnesota Twins, 22 years old)
Call Up Date: June 5th
Role: Spot Start
Organization Ranking: 15th
Overall Ranking: N/A
Grades: Fastball: 55 | Curveball: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 55 | Overall: 45
Fantasy Relevance: None
Littell may not have elite stuff, but that hasn’t stopped him from performing well in the minors and being in demand with multiple organizations as he’s been traded twice, most recently by the Yankees to the Twins as part of the Jamie Garcia deal last year. This season, Littell has a combined 4.06 ERA across Double-A and Triple-A. His peripheral numbers, however, suggest he’s pitched much better than his ERA would indicate as he has a 3.35 FIP, 28.8% strikeout rate and 7.0% walk rate. Littell was called up to be the starter in the 2nd game of a double-header on Tuesday, and will be sent back to AAA immediately so his lack of major league role will limit his fantasy relevance. His upside is that of a quality back end of the rotation pitcher, but until he secures a more permanent role, he’s best left on the wire in all but the deepest of leagues.
Missed a player’s debut? Read detailed reports on all 2018 MLB debuts in this spreadsheet.