What a week it was for MLB middle infielders, which featured the much-awaited Elly De La Cruz callup. He’s been as electric and entertaining as advertised with a loud homer, steal, and blowing past Reds third base coach to score one of his runs. Hopefully, you had him stashed or won him in your FAAB bids. As Elly De La Cruz gets set to spend the rest of the year in the Majors, he’s likely one of the last highly-touted minor league middle infielders that could make a huge impact in our game this season, as shortstops Jackson Holliday, Marcelo Mayer and second basemen Temarr Johnson and Jace Jung look to be a few years away from their Major League debuts. The next couple of impact minor league middle infielders look to be Jordan Westburg of the Orioles and David Hamilton of the Red Sox. The Itch just mentioned Westburg in yesterday’s Prospect Update and speed demon David Hamilton seems to be on the cusp of a callup, but has recently been sidelined by a thumb sprain.
Here’s a look around the rest of the league as it relates to middle infielders:
Luis Arraez – Marlins: Batting .402 entering play Sunday, slashing a hot .500 in the past week. Wild to see he’s still batting .400 this late in the season and he has MORE multi-hit games in his career than games without a hit, as Arraez continues to reap the benefits of the banned shift.
Gunnar Henderson – Orioles: Heard the rumblings of the O’s faithful clamoring for Jordan Westburg (.+300, great power/speed combo) and has responded with a hot week (7/14 with a couple homers and steals). Notably, he batted 1st in Saturday’s game and the early lineups feature Henderson leading off again Sunday. Hopefully, his hot start sticks, I know I’ve been patiently holding Henderson on my bench for what seems like ages now.
Taylor Walls – Rays: Good news: Walls has been receiving more consistent playing time. Bad news: he’s on a 10/70 skid this past month. My guess is Walls will continue to bat at the bottom of the lineup while providing the Rays with defensive value at second, third, and short.
Marcus Semien – Rangers: Saw his hit streak snapped at 25 games, but is providing tremendous value, especially at a weak second base position. He’s leading MLB in runs and leading the Rangers top-ranked offense. Just wait until the ball really starts flying out of Globe Life park in the summer.
Edouard Julien – Twins: Jorge Polanco’s hammy is acting up again, and as a result, Julien is the main beneficiary. The Twins really seem to like him, as he has a great eye at the plate. He’s primarily played against RHPs and has batted at the top of the Twins lineup.
Luis Urias – Brewers: Returned from the 60-day IL this past Monday, and the Brewers are playing it safe with him, as he hasn’t been playing more than two games in a row. Look for the Brewers to do more of the same these next few weeks, especially as Owen Miller remains hot.
Ketel Marte – Diamondbacks: Quietly having an impressive 2023, as he bounces back from previous injury-plagued seasons, slashing 41/9/26/.277/.345/6 and a big part of the Diamondbacks success this year. The Statcast numbers support his hot start.
Bobby Witt Jr. – Royals: Grey called it this preseason with his Schmohawk post. The 10 HR/20SB combo is great but the .235 average and the .267 OBP leaves much to be desired. The Royals finally bumped him from the leadoff spot recently. Perhaps 2024 is the year to get a good draft value on Bobby Witt Jr.
Ryan McMahon – Rockies: Having a respectable 34/9/36/.261/.336/4 season but regressing with his strikeouts (back up to over 30%). McMahon is the middle infield version of a Brandon Belt sleeper, another player who is a solid player in real life, but in the fantasy world, just kept hanging on for that next breakout year that never satisfied our expectations.
Christopher Morel – Cubs: Having a rollercoaster ride of a season, 10 homers in 85 at-bats but striking out a third of the time. An exciting player, but tough to roster in a weekly lineup.
Corey Seager – Rangers: BABIP fortune has swung the other way in his favor this year, but Seager’s success is not solely BABIP-fueled. He’s hitting the snot out of the ball and more importantly, spraying the ball with authority all over the field. Definitely a far cry from last year, when Seager lost an estimated 26 base hits from the shift in 2022.
Trevor Story – Red Sox: As midseason draws closer, there have been conflicting reports out of Red Sox Nation concerning Trevor Story’s return. The BoSox have come out and said they are considering Trevor Story return as a DH. Red Sox Insider Tom Caron of NESN suggests Story will only come back when ready to play the field, as Adam Duvall, Justin Turner, Triston Casas, and Jarren Duran are around and will rotate time at DH. As it stands today, Story is not ready to face live pitching, so his rehab looks to be extended past his original timeline.
Have a great week!
