With the Super 2 status deadline of June 1 quickly approaching, baseball fans, fantasy owners and team owners (though they won’t come out publicly) are all itching to see the next young crop of talent to hit the big league stadiums.
What’s incredibly captivating about how teams are now operating, is how quickly they’re willing to move players through the system. Odor is just 20 years old. He hasn’t played past Double-A, and was signed just three years ago. That’s a major move for a young player.
In 2014, there is a plethora of young talent that could continue the trend of players bi-passing levels of minor league ball and skipping stages of development for the sake of helping a team win in the present.
While there’s a group of players this could apply to, there’s also a group of very mature young talent that could have an impact on a major league field this year as well.
A lot of the names I’ll talk about are very recognizable, some not so much. Some are close to a big league call up, and others are a year, maybe two away.
I mentioned the call up of George Springer for the Astros. ‘Stros fans through last year, mainly later in the season and into the winter were itching to see him perform for the big club in games that mattered. He started the year at Triple-A. Springer started the minor league season slow, but wasted no time in getting himself right, and earned a big league call up just a few short weeks in to the year. Now Astros fans are calling on ownership to give the green light to Jon Singleton.
Since that time, Singleton has done nothing but make his case for being with the big club sooner rather than later. He started the year red hot and has continued to tear apart Pacific Coast League Pitching. He is second in the PCL in homers, (as of May 28 he’s logged 13) with 40 RBIs and a .269 average. In 183 at-bats, he’s struck out 58 times and walked 40. If my memory serves me right, part of the reason the Astros allegedly didn’t break camp with him was to see if he could continue to get on base like he did in spring training, and so far he has. His OBP is .401. Stellar for where he’ll likely sit in the lineup, which is at cleanup.
Singleton figures to be a big part of what the Astros are doing in the future and his arrival at to Houston should be imminent. The Astros wasted no time getting Springer up, I am curious if they will wait another couple weeks while the team struggles mightily to score runs. My gut is they will. The Astros begin a 17-day stretch of games with no rest in between. If I had a guess, they bring him up June 3. If it isn’t June 3, my next best guess is May 29, when they start a homestand with the Orioles.
What I like about Jon Singleton is he’s overcome a drug addiction, and the Astros have supported him through the whole thing. Before a 50-game suspension at the beginning of last year, he was poised to break into the big leagues in 2013. He dominated Double-A ball in 2012 and so far appears to be showing he has nothing left to prove in Triple-A.
When talking about guys that are major league ready, probably none stands out more than Gregory Polanco. Polanco is in his first full season at Triple-A, after a sip of coffee last year.
Polanco flew through three levels last summer, and this year, he’s proving he’s ready to to spend minimal time in Indianapolis and make his final stop in the big leagues. Pittsburgh isn’t a franchise to move guys up and down and experiment to see if they’re ready (a la the New York Mets). If you don’t believe me, check in to Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, and Gerrit Cole.
Polanco is slashing and mashing .345 with six homers, 43 RBIs and ten stolen bases. The Pirates say Polanco struggles recognizing breaking pitches. OK, fair. But really? If he is, he’s clearly recognizing fastballs and mashing them. If he’s not? Well they obviously aren’t fooling him and he’s doing enough to lead the minor leagues in hitting.
Polanco may be ready, but like I mentioned, the Pirates aren’t going to rush him for the sake of getting production from one spot in their lineup. I could understand if they were tail-spinning out of contention in mid-May, but they aren’t, and no one is running away with the NL Central, and no one other than Milwaukee is really doing much.
Point being, there is no reason to rush Polanco up, but if he continues a pace of above .350, there clearly isn’t any reason to keep him in Triple-A.
A guy that may be just as hot as Polanco, who too, is tearing up Triple-A in his first full time around is Dodgers top outfield prospect Joc Pederson. Pederson is belting .347 with 15 homers, 13 stolen bases and 32 RBIs. Scouts say he does everything well but not nothing exceptionally. Unless Triple-A is no longer a challenge, his skills really seem to be surprising everyone.
The Dodgers obviously barely have room for the four outfielders they have in Los Angeles, let alone a fifth stud.
My guess is still the Dodgers make room for someone to play everyday by making trades. How all that plays out is really anyone’s guess. But Pederson is a major league caliber outfielder that will get a shot somewhere, and unless it plays out like a Wil Myers type situation, Pederson figures to be factor this year.
The name will sound familiar to baseball fans that go back. Allan Dysktra is an under the radar guy who many think will ultimately take over at first base in Queens. Dysktra is hitting .298 with eight homers and 42 RBIs for the Mets Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas.
As many know, the Pacific Coast League, and Vegas especially, inflates the numbers of hitters, and on the flip side, inflates pitchers numbers. Dykstra’s .298 mark is almost undoubtedly a result of such trend, however, what stands out about Dykstra is his ability to get on base.
Dykstra’s OBP is .443. The batting average hasn’t been this high in his minor league career, but his on base percentage holds steadily over six seasons near or above .400. While you want power in your corner infielder, the Mets could really use a guy who gets on base like Dysktra.
When does Dysktra get a chance? It may just have to be a drastic situation for the Mets to call him up. We’re talking Lucas Duda going down, Daniel Murphy going down and likely Wilmer Flores going down. All three of those guys have experience at first. The Mets are [overly] committed to Duda, and are likely to give him all of 2014 to give himself a reason to stay there long term.
Dykstra may be stuck at Triple-A until at least September, and maybe longer if Vegas makes the PCL playoffs.
Aguilar got a brief taste at the big leagues, but that didn’t last long. None-the-less, I think Aguilar, no matter where he fits defensively, could be a nice addition to the Indians lineup, given his power potential.
With the way the Colorado Rockies are hitting right now, it’s hard to imagine them being better. But that’s just what they ultimately may be if this guy finds himself in the lineup full time.
Kyle Parker (right) is a guy I mentioned in my Rockies preview as a could be impact guy. Parker is blocked at almost every position he can play. Justin Morneau has been incredible for the Rox at first base, Charlie Blackmon, Carlos Gonzalez and Michael Cuddyer are going nowhere fast (in terms of opening a spot for Parker, they’re all mashing right now). And if one of them goes down or goes into an epic tailspin, Drew Stubbs figures to get the first cracks as their replacements.
If you want my full thoughts on Parker, check out my Rockies preview from March. Right now he’s at a .283 mark with five homers and 29 RBIs. He’s not exactly lighting the minor leagues on fire either with a .338 OBP. He doesn’t strike out a lot, definitely a positive thing, but he doesn’t walk a lot either. The Rockies are generally speaking, careful with their prospects, and Kyle Parker will likely join that list.
On top of not having a position, he’s not coming to Coors Field any time soon to sit the bench. I like Parker long term, but I may be waiting to see him until September, or even into 2015.
Right now I’m going to shift gears and focus on guys that may not be at the big league level for a while.
Gabriel also has a cannon of an arm and most scouting reports you see tell you he still has a lot of work to do. The bloodlines are definitely encouraging. There’s a long way for the kid to go, but my gut tells me he’s going to be something special.
As of May 28, Mets prospect Brandon Nimmo is second in the Florida State League in on-base percentage, at .468 with a .340 average.
He’s nearing 200 at-bats, and as he approaches that threshold, he has has walked more than he’s struck out. And it’s a significant number, a 45 walk to 43 K rate. That’s unreal.
An expert on the Mets minor league system and tracking a players progress told me Nimmo, who is only now 21, needed to work on his patience at the plate and cut down on his strikeout totals. I don’t have the official numbers but there was a stretch of games where Nimmo was walking two or three times a game and not striking out. The mark on Nimmo out of high school was the power was raw, and would come eventually, but he made solid contact and sprays the ball all over the field. With only a handful of homers (4), Nimmo has seven doubles, four triples and eight stolen bases.
The expert I spoke to about Nimmo speculated it wouldn’t be until July when Nimmo goes to the next level, which is Double-A for those wondering. I have to think if he keeps up this monster pace of walking without striking out, Double-A may call sooner than later.
Another stud that could be pushing his way into the Double-A ranks is Joey Gallo.
The Texas Rangers' power-house of a hitter crushed his way to 40 home runs last year, which led all of the minor leagues. Gallo’s power is elite, make no mistake about it. But he comes with a hefty dose of strikeouts as well. Last year he struck out 172 times in 411 at bats. (That’s 42% of the time for those not mathematically inclined I cheated and used a calculator)
However, Gallo seems to have turned the page in 2014. Playing High-A ball in 2014, Gallo is tearing the cover off the ball. He’s at a .323 mark on May 28, with 18 homers already and 40 RBIs. What’s different about Gallo, is not just the average is up, last year he finished at .251, but his patience at the plate has improved. His strikeouts are still a bit high, right now he’s at 55 in 164 at bats (34%), but his walks are way up. Way, way up. 44 walks so far to the 55 strikeouts. That is a complete 180 from what he did last year, walking 50 times on the entire season!
I think the Rangers are probably going to play it safe with him, he is only 20, but I don’t think he is far from a Double-A call up. It will be interesting to see how he does with the rise to the upper levels of the minor leagues. If he hits at Double-A and the Rangers quickly get over Mitch Moreland at first base (Gallo is a 3B by trade, but could be destined for first given his size), we could see him early next year in Texas.
I’ve got a cluster of Cubbies I want to talk about, but I’m going to wait on them for a few days. I’ll also get to a few other minor leaguers that could be impact players in the not-so distant future.
Those are just a few of the guys I'm keeping an eye in the early season. Check back soon for more updates and as we wind down May, I'll give my thoughts on where the still young baseball season stands.
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