I’d been thinking this would be a Sunday feature, but that’s partly because alliteration is word-weed for the brain, and Sunday Stash List feels like a party and mainly because I thought making the list once a week might naturally accommodate the list’s inherent turnover.
Well this week brought a bit more turnover than the typically three-day window, so we’ll reshuffle the stashes like a 70’s skin flick and bump prospect news to Sunday.
NOTE: This ranking is focused on redraft impact of players who’ve yet to debut in 2020. It’s a snapshot of all the information I can synthesize as of today.
1. Tigers RHP Casey Mize jumps to the one spot this week over Dylan Carlson due to the unknown of COVID-19. If St. Louis is back in action this weekend . . . but that seems like a thing we might not want to wait around for. Plus I’m not certain Carlson will steal any bases or play every day. I think he’ll play a lot, but the Cardinals don’t have the best track record for turning their youngsters loose.
2. Cardinals OF Dylan Carlson could be an impact bat in even ten-team leagues, and he might be part of the rona relief team prepping for 90 seconds of rooftop wreckage removal.
3. Phillies RHP Spencer Howard has a case for first on this list because a) his team set out to contend this year, b) he’s among the team’s top three pitchers, and c) he might’ve debuted last week were it not for postponements.
4. Dodgers 2B Gavin Lux is subject to any number of class-based puns. His team is so talent rich it can afford the . . . extravagance of waiting to promote him until they have maximum control over his future. America! Luck yeah!
5. Yankees RHP Clarke Schmidt’s 2020 fate is tied to what happens with JA Happ and James Paxton. Neither is on his game right now.
6. Cardinals RHP Alex Reyes is part of that track record in St. Louis, but he’s a talent I think they’d have loved to turn loose long ago. Hitting 99 at the training site on a team that will have some openings on the pitching side, Reyes is stash-worthy to me.
UPDATE: Reyes was recalled minutes after this post published. Or moments before. Rotoworld timestamp says 2:09. Here we go!
7. Rangers LHP Joely Rodriguez was activated from the IL on Tuesday and has a clear path to the back end of the Texas bullpen. He was Japan’s best reliever the past few seasons and could quickly establish himself as the primary option.
8. Atlanta LHP Tucker Davidson was my pick to fill the Folty opening–an opportunity that went to Touki Toussaint–and I’ll just play that song again now that Mike Soroka is out for the year.
9. Padres LHP MacKenzie Gore watched his good buddy Luis Patino get promoted on Tuesday but shouldn’t have to wait long. San Diego insists on seeing how the Lucchesi/Quantrill paradigm plays out, and I can’t blame them in a year when playoff positioning seems almost irrelevant.
10. Marlins RHP Jordan Yamamoto will actually start Thursday against Baltimore. We can’t be certain he’ll earn a long-term look if he pitches well, but we can be certain he’s got solid off-speed command and a chance to showcase it.
11. Rays LHP Brendan McKay is finally back to pitching after a long COVID layoff. He probably needs an injury to break into the rotation, but he needs time to ramp up anyway, and these things tend to take care of themselves, especially in 2020.
12. Tigers LHP Tark Skubal dooby doo, where are you? We’ve got some work to do now. If it wasn’t for that meddling Mize, Tarik could be unmasked by the end of next week.
Thanks for reading!
I’m @theprospectitch on Twitter and Reddit.
