Prospect News: Always Look On The Leiter Side Of Life

Big week for redemption-arc prospects, particularly Rangers RHP Jack Leiter and Astros RHP Forrest Whitley. Leiter is scheduled to make his major league debut Thursday, just a couple days before he’ll turn 24 on April 24. He has not fared well as a professional, logging ERAs of 5.54, and 5.07 in two extended stretches in Double-A heading into 2024. Leiter’s command has been much better this season, as seen in his 0.98 WHIP and 38.6 percent strikeout-minus-walk rate across 14.1 Triple-A innings. He’s pulled an interesting trick of becoming found money after being the 2nd overall pick in 2021. Could provide a nice boost if he gives the Rangers anything this year. 

The same goes for Forrest Whitley, who joins a beleaguered bullpen headlined by Josh Hader, who is first-degree murdering my CBS AL-Only team right now. Apologies for the grotesque hyperbole. I knew better than to have Hader this season but got caught price-enforcing, something I very rarely do in auctions for this exact reason. Tis the season, though. I’m more upset about my various misses right now than I will be at any other point of the year. It’s so fresh, particularly a trade I made for Nick Castellanos last week. Perhaps I need to start a ridiculous apology here so he can interrupt me with a home run . . . no? Okay. Maybe next time. Back on the ground in Houston, Whitley was reportedly hitting 98 mph in Triple-A, so the club looked past his 12.00 ERA through three outings and called him up. Might not be a long stay, but weirder things have happened than a 6’7” fireballer establishing himself as a big league reliever after a long and winding road to that door. 

Once upon a time, OF Andy Pages was my number one Dodgers prospect. A few short months later, he’s with the big club after a hot start to his season at Triple-A, where he was slashing .371/.452/.694 with five home runs in 15 games. His role is a little unclear from the outset, but that’s the only way to join a roster as loaded as this one. Life finds a way. 

White Sox RHP Nick Nastrini pitched well in his debut, allowing three hits, two walks and two runs in five innings. It’s hard to envision a scenario where he spends much time in the minors this year. Also tough to imagine he’ll get many wins for his efforts, but he recorded five strikeouts in this one and should be good for about a punch out per inning moving forward. 

Mariners OF Jonatan Clase faces an easier path to playing time in Seattle now that Dominic Canzone is on the injured list. This team needs a spark, and Clase can provide that in terms of energy and daring on the base paths. A 5’9” switch hitter, he was slashing .311/.396/.622 with two home runs and three stolen bases through 12 Triple-A games. 

The Dodgers are calling RHP Landon Knack up to make his debut today. He posted a 0.96 WHIP in 15.2 innings across three Triple-A starts this year and should translate fairly well as a 26-year-old rookie if he can maintain the velocity and command gains he’s shown so far in 2024, when Knack has shown a real aptitude for the sweeper.

Cubs OF Alexander Canario was posting a 123 wRC+ through 13 games in Triple-A this season when he was recalled to replace the injured Seiya Suzuki. Mike Tauchman, Garrett Cooper and the also-injured Patrick Wisdom complicate Canario’s path to playing time at right field and designated hitter, but the Cubs could benefit quite a bit from rotating Canario into those spots for a couple weeks to see what happens. None of the other options offer the upside of long-term team control. 

Athletics OF Colby Thomas (23, AA) is slashing .472/.524/.861 with four homers and three steals through nine games after posting a line of .290/.333/.516 in 54 High-A games last season. Decent chance he’s sitting around on some waiver wires today. Hard to say what he becomes with Oakland as we watch Esteury Ruiz waste away for reasons unclear to the objective eye, but we simply can’t ignore production like this from a guy who is in the process of doubling his walk rate from 4.6 percent last season in High-A to 9.5 percent in the early going this year. He walked eight percent of the time in 72 Low-A games, for what it’s Werth. 

Reds 3B Cam Collier (19, A+) is off to a nice start in a league where he’s much younger than the average player. He’s hitting .353 with two home runs in eight games, which is closer to what the team expected from its 2022 first-round pick than his .246 batting average with six home runs in 111 Low-A games. Probably just a case of a guy settling in, getting more comfortable and aggressive. Collier has walked just 2.9 percent of the time after posting a 12.4 percent walk rate in Low-A. 

Thanks for reading!