MLB Debuts – May 28th

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.

We had two players debut on May 28:

Matt Skole (1B, Chicago White Sox, 28 years old) 
Call Up Date: May 28th
Role: Injury fill-in
Organization Ranking: N/A
Overall Ranking: N/A
Grades: N/A
Fantasy Relevance: None

A 5th round draft pick of the Nationals from 2011, it’s been a long journey in the minors for the 28-year-old Skole! He finally made his major league debut yesterday and impressed with a 2 for 3 day with a home run plus a walk against the Cleveland Indians. Skole has shown some interesting skills in the minors, namely patience and power. He has 3 20 HR seasons in the minors, with his career best being 27 HRs back in 2012 which he paired with a .286/.438/.578 line. The reason for the slow progression through the minors has been inconsistent contact skills that are slightly below average. He’s got a career K rate 22.9% in the minors, and this year is up 27.9% at AAA. That poor K rate at AAA has fueled a mediocre .259/.360/.442 line this year, and that likely shows the limits of Skole’s upside as a viable fantasy option going forward. Skole was called up to replace Matt Davidson who was placed on the DL with back spasms, and Skole will likely return to the minors once Davidson is healthy again making Skole nothing more than an injury replacement. He should be left on the wire in all but the deepest of leagues.

Dustin Peterson (OF, Atlanta Braves, 23 years old) 
Call Up Date: May 28th
Role: Injury fill-in
Organization Ranking: 15
Overall Ranking: N/A
Grades: Hit: 50, Power: 50, Run: 50, Arm: 45, Field: 50, Overall: 45
Fantasy Relevance: None

With Ronald Acuna hitting the DL, the Braves called up Dustin Peterson to act more than likely as little more than a bench player, as Preston Tucker is likely to garner the majority of the left field starts. Peterson projects as a potentially solid major league contributor. A second-round pick in 2013, Peterson has shown solid power and decent contact ability during his time in the minors. As of now, there’s no fantasy relevance here, but one day in the future, he may be a solid, everyday starting outfielder.

Missed a player’s debut? Read detailed reports on all 2018 MLB debuts in this spreadsheet.