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 30, and one that we missed from May 29:
Dereck Rodriguez (SP, San Francisco Giants, 26 years old)
Call Up Date: May 29th
Role: Spot starter
Organization Ranking: N/A
Overall Ranking: N/A
Grades: N/A
Fantasy Relevance: Deep Leagues only
The son of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez, Dereck Rodriguez has made himself a fine career pitching in the San Francisco Giants system. After coming up a hitter in the Twins system, Rodriguez switched to pitching then signed a minor league deal with the Giants this past offseason. The transition has been smooth, as the 26-year-old right-hander has struck out 53 batters in 50.1 innings with AAA Sacramento while posting a 3.40 ERA. His first taste of the MLB came in relief, as he pitched 3.1 innings before being removed after a comebacker hit him in the calf. Rodriguez appears to be fine however, and may make his first career start on Sunday against the Phillies. While he is likely not going to be a star, Rodriguez may be worth a flier in deep leagues with 15 teams or more. His value will truly be determined after his first start in the Bigs.
Tim Peterson (RP, New York Mets, 27 years old)
Call Up Date: May 30th
Role: Bulllpen arm
Organization Ranking: N/A
Overall Ranking: N/A
Grades: N/A
Fantasy Relevance: None
There isn’t a whole ton to say about Tim Peterson. The former 20th-round pick has been called up to help the ailing New York Mets bullpen after posting solid numbers in the minors. The 27-year-old has recorded seven saves with a 3.45 ERA and a 12.56 K/9 in 28.2 innings pitched. He’s never really been a starter in the minors, pitching in over 120 games since joining the team in 2012 but starting in just four. There’s not really any fantasy value to be had here unless he gets put into a higher-leverage role, but for now, he seems to just be some bullpen help for a team that needs it.
Mitch Walding (3B, Philadelphia Phillies, 25 years old)
Call Up Date: May 30th
Role: Injury fill-in
Organization Ranking: N/A
Overall Ranking: N/A
Grades: N/A
Fantasy Relevance: None
Walding was a 5th round pick back in 2011, and has had a slow climb to the majors before making his MLB debut last night against the Dodgers. He’s had success this year in AAA with a .271/.379/.484 line with 7 HRs, and he’s supported that line with a strong 14.3% walk rate and a poor 29.7% strikeout rate and overall has been worth a 148 wRC+. His swinging-strike rate is slightly below average as well with a 12.7% mark and those sort of contact skills make it tough to project a lot of fantasy relevancy for Walding. He’s been called up to be an injury fill-in for infielder Pedro Florimon who broke his foot on Tuesday. The bench role and contact concerns leave Walding as a guy with little fantasy relevancy outside of the deepest of leagues.
Missed a player’s debut? Read detailed reports on all 2018 MLB debuts in this spreadsheet.