This will be a weekly series that will outline the prospect promotions from the previous week throughout the year. With rosters expanding, this is the biggest promotions week of the year. All stats are of September 2.
September 3
Connor Wong, C, BOS (preseason PL team rank: 21): Wong has a backup backstop profile. He has a .701 OPS at Triple-A in 2021 and while he has hit for some power in previous seasons, he hasn’t found his power stroke this year.
Kirby Mead, P, TOR (preseason PL team rank: UR): Mead is having a career season. In 35.1 Triple-A innings, he’s struck out 47 and posted a 1.78 ERA. He’s allowed just two earned runs in his first seven MLB innings and looks like a future big-league relief arm.
Ashton Goudeau, P, COL (preseason PL team rank: UR): Goudeau is a relief-only arm and has bounced between multiple organizations this season. He’s a low-leverage arm when in the minors.
Sam Moll, P, OAK (preseason PL team rank: UR): Moll first made his MLB debut back in 2017, and 2021 marks the first time he’s seen big-league time since then. He’s a low-leverage relief arm.
José Siri, OF, HOU (preseason PL team rank: UR): Siri is a former top-100 prospect. He had a breakout 2017 but struggled in the following years once he reached the upper minors. He’s had a bounce-back 2021 where he’s hit .318 with 18 home runs and 24 steals in Triple-A. He has the potential to be an all-categories stud in fantasy, but it will depend on how much he can limit strikeouts against big-league pitching.
Janson Junk, P, LAA (preseason PL team rank: UR): Junk is a relief-only arm that came over from the Yankees. He has a 2.81 ERA in Triple-A this year but has struggled since joining the Angels’ organization.
Septemeber 4
Travis Blankenhorn, INF/OF, NYM (preseason PL team rank: 16): Blankenhorn has bounced between four different organizations this season but seems to have found a stable home with the Mets. His ability to get on base and his defensive versatility are his carrying tools, but he’s likely a bench utility player.
Sebastian Rivero, C, KC (preseason PL team rank: 19): Rivero is a defense-first backstop. He could see some time as the season winds down and the Royals give Salvador Perez games at DH to rest him for 2022.
Humberto Castellanos, P, ARI (preseason PL team rank: UR): Castellano has had some success at the MLB level in 2021, tossing 24.2 innings and posting a 3.65 ERA. He’s a backend starter profile.
Miguel Sanchez, P, MIL (preseason PL team rank: UR): Sanchez has spent a good chunk of the season working out of the Milwaukee bullpen. He’s been fairly effective there, striking out 21 in 22 innings while recording a 4.09 ERA.
Drew Carlton, P, DET (preseason PL team rank: UR): Carlton is a relief-only arm that has had a nice season at Triple-A, posting a 3.12 ERA and striking out about a batter an inning in 49 frames.
Josh Rogers, P, WAS (preseason PL team rank: UR): Rogers is a lefty arm that has worked mostly as a starter in the minors. He has a career 3.88 ERA in the minors but has struggled in the upper levels.
September 5
Ryan Feltner, P, COL (preseason PL team rank: 13): Feltner is a starting pitching prospect that is having a breakout season in 2021. Across High and Double-A, the righty has 125 strikeouts in 110 innings with a 2.62 ERA. Skipping Triple-A could prove to be a challenge, but he’s an arm to keep an eye on.
Kutter Crawford, P, BOS (preseason PL team rank: 19): Crawford’s stock was on the rise before he needed TJ surgery following the 2019 season. His strikeout ability has been on full display in the minors in 2021, fanning 103 in 75.2 innings. He’s worked as a starter for most of his career in the minors but he’s likely a bullpen arm long-term, although he has a chance to be a good one.
Mitch White, P, LAD (preseason PL team rank: 21): White has been an effective arm for the Dodgers in 2021. He’s used primarily as a bulk pitcher in bullpen games and has recorded a 3.49 and 4.04 FIP in 38.2 innings. He’s knocking on the door of exceeding prospect eligibility.
Camilo Doval, P, SF (preseason PL team rank: 34): Doval is a relief-only arm with big strikeout upside but concerns around his ability to limit walks.
Henry Ramos, OF, ARI (preseason PL team rank: UR): Ramos is a 29-year-old outfielder. Despite the poor record, the Diamondbacks have several guys that they can plug into the outfield so it would be surprising to see Ramos get consistent opportunities. That being said, he’s hit .371 in Triple-A so it is worth monitoring what he can do against big-league arms.
Kean Wong, 2B, LAA (preseason PL team rank: UR): Wong has bounced between the majors and minors for seemingly the entire month of August. He’s a light-hitting utility player.
Kyle Keller, P, PIT (preseason PL team rank: UR): Keller is close to exceeding prospect eligibility. He has a career 5.92 ERA in the majors.
Shea Spitzbarth, P, PIT (preseason PL team rank: UR): Spitzbarth is a relief-only arm but he’s recorded a 1.56 ERA in Triple-A in 2021.
September 6
Zac Lowther, P, BAL (preseason PL team rank: 18): Lowther is a starting pitching prospect that cruised in 2019 but has struggled in 2021. He’s only made 10 starts, so it could just be a result of a small sample, but his season-long ERA is hovering around six. He’s a back-end starter profile.
Jimmy Lambert, P, CHW (preseason PL team rank: 22): Lambert’s stock was on the rise in 2018 but he needed Tomy John surgery the following year. He’s racked up strikeouts in Triple-A this season but has struggled with keeping runs off the board. He used this promotion to throw a successful spot start, allowing just one run across five frames.
Kervin Castro, P, SF (preseason PL team rank: UR): Castro is a relief-only arm but a good one. He’s only 22 years old and carved up Triple-A this season, striking out 60 in 44 innings while posting a 2.86 ERA. He can have issues with walks from time to time but expect Castro to have a big-league role in 2022.
Cody Ponce, P, PIT (preseason PL team rank: UR): Ponce is close to exceeding prospect eligibility. The Pirates have used him as a spot starter and a reliever, but he’s allowed just shy of a run an inning in 2021.
September 7
Michael Baumann, P, BAL (preseason PL team rank: 8): Baumann carries some relief risk but he’s looked sharp in 2021, posting a 3.48 ERA in 18 starts across three minor league levels. He still has had issues with walks so the relief risk remains but Baumann should get a chance to make some spot starts in 2022, if not sooner.
Louis Head, P, TBR (preseason PL team rank: UR): Head is a 31-year-old relief arm. He made his MLB debut this year, but he’s turned in a good campaign to date, striking out 26 in 27.2 innings to go with a 2.93 ERA.
Brandyn Sittinger, P, ARI (preseason PL team rank: UR): Sittinger is a relief-only arm that has spent most of his minor league career with the Tigers organization. He has a career 3.89 ERA in the minors.
Eddy Alvarez, INF, MIA (preseason PL team rank: UR): Alvarez is a 31-year-old utility man. He’s hit well in the minors in recent seasons but has not gotten an extended big-league look.
Manny Barreda, P, BAL (preseason PL team rank: UR): It will be a feel-good story if Barreda makes an MLB appearance. He is yet to appear in a big-league game. He’s spent 11 years in the minors and is a 32-year-old relief arm.
September 8
Luis Gil, P, NYY (preseason PL team rank: 4): Gil famously was on a shutout inning stretch to begin his MLB but ran into trouble following this promotion, issuing seven walks. He’s still a mid-to-backend starter in the future that will see inconsistent work in 2021.
Josh Lowe, OF, TBR (preseason PL team rank: 6): Lowe offers one of the better power/speed combinations in the upper minors, hitting 21 home runs and swiping 24 bases at Triple-A this season. He knows how to take a walk and has registered a double-digit walk rate every season since 2018. Because of the patient approach, his strikeout rate is usually in the mid-20s, which I would expect to creep toward 30% in the majors. The Rays have shown they are ok with this type of profile, but it will probably limit Lowe’s ceiling for batting average. Still, this is a great player getting his first taste of the big leagues. He probably won’t have a permanent role until 2022 at the earliest.
Lewin Díaz, 1B, MIA (preseason PL team rank: 10): Díaz has struggled at the MLB level, hitting just .132 in 80 plate appearances. He’s a slick-fielding first baseman but is starting to look like a Quad-A bat.
Colten Welker, 3B, COL (preseason PL team rank: 14): Welker is a former top prospect whose stock dipped after he had just an ok 2019 at Double-A as a 21-year-old. He’s been limited to just 33 games in the minors this season but he’s showing more power than in years past which could be a big boost to his profile. He’s a great buy-low in dynasty leagues.
Miguel Romero, P, OAK (preseason PL team rank: 29): Romero has worked both out of the bullpen and the rotation this year, but if he has a future big-league role it’s as a reliever. He’s had a rough go of it in the minors in 2021 (an ERA north of six).
Antonio Santos, P, COL (preseason PL team rank: 39): Santos is a relief-only arm and has struggled mightily in 2021, with an ERA north of eight in Triple-A. He’s a low-leverage arm.
September 9
Andre Jackson, P, LAD (preseason PL team rank: 16): The Dodgers tend to use Jackson as a multi-inning reliever in bullpen games or as a piggyback arm. He’s shown to be capable thus far in 2021, with a 1.04 ERA and seven strikeouts in 8.2 innings.
Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Ethan Kaplan (@DJFreddie10 on Twitter and @EthanMKaplanImages on Instagram)