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, Austin Bristow II 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.
We had one player debut on May 29:
Jaime Schultz (P, Tampa Bay Rays, 26 years old)
Call Up Date: May 29th
Role: Bullpen arm
Organization Ranking: 28
Overall Ranking: N/A
Grades: Fastball: 65, Slider: 60, Changeup: 45, Control: 45, Overall: 45
Fantasy Relevance: Worth a look in dynasty leagues
Jaime Schultz is pretty much a two-pitch pitcher, but he’s got two really nice pitches—a fastball that floats around 91-97 MPH and a breaking ball that sits in the low-80s. The combo of the two pitches will certainly miss plenty of bats, as evidenced by his 14.60 K/9 in the minors last year and 17.02 K/9 in the minors this year. He struggles with his command, which will be an issue, but his impressive fastball/breaking ball combo should make him a solid setup man in the future. As it stands, it’s unclear whether he’ll stick around in the Rays’ bullpen and if he’ll be in a setup or middle relief role, but if he does stick around as a setup guy, he could be a useful fantasy asset for holds and K/9 leagues and is worth a look in dynasty leagues.
Missed a player’s debut? Read detailed reports on all 2018 MLB debuts in this spreadsheet.