The Kansas City Royals can’t catch a break this year. Between Jorge Soler and Hunter Dozier slumping and Adalberto Mondesi hurting and all the pitching prospects fumbling their first big chance, it’s all the Royals can do to put on a brave face and wave for their adoring public.
Things seemed to take a turn for the better this week, with Ryan O’Hearn carrying his AAA fire over from Omaha and Emmanuel Rivera going 2-for-4 in his big league debut. But then, in his second game, Rivera took just one at bat before being removed due to wrist pain. No word yet on the severity, but wrist pain is bad for hitting. It’s a pretty irritating outcome. Rivera’s been hot all year as the Royals rolled out the corpse of Kelvin Gutierrez at third base. Can get fairly redundant watching this happen over and over again: teams drag their feet on promotions and miss their windows. Edward Olivares is still demolishing AAA while Nick Pratto and Bobby Witt do the same at AA. Royals could’ve had a whole new wave in mid May and be breathing fire by July. And maybe they would have if the young pitchers had played well. But hey their AA club won 19-to-4 on Tuesday, so they’ve got that going for them.
Here’s what else I’ve been seeing around the game.
Minnesota 3B Jose Miranda debuted in AAA on his 23rd birthday and hit three home runs, finishing the night 5-for-6. He’s been on fire all year and is forcing the issue regardless of whether the Twins have a fire sale or not. Might be too late to add him in most dynasty leagues, but it’s worth a quick look to see if he’s available in yours.
Chicago (AL) 1B/OF Gavin Sheets debuted in right field, going 2-for-4 with a double. I think he can play. Ranked him 91st on the freshest Top 100 Prospects for 2021 Fantasy Baseball and 15th on the latest Stash List Wander Edition: Top 40 Prospects for Redraft Leagues.
AAA Chicago (AL) 3B Jake Burger flipped a quarter-pound beef bomb in a 4-for-4 showing. Gotta figure he’s up soon after the Futures Game, where he will work the grill between his at bats. Had him 14th on the stash. Maybe Chicago could give the Yerminator some time to lay low with Sarah and John before the big finale.
Ranked 16th on the stash list, AAA Tampa Bay RHP Joe Ryan looks ready. 5.1 IP, 3 baserunners, 1 ER, 9 K. Over his past six starts: 30.2 K-BB %, 0.67 WHP. Rays for days coming in waves.
A+ Pittsburgh OF Matthew Frazier was a third round pick out of Arizona in 2019 who was overmatched in the New York Penn League on the back of his draft season, resulting in a .221/.287/.266 triple slash across 43 games. New year new front office new Matt Frazier. Now in High A, Frazier is carrying a .297/.397/.508 slash line with 10 HR and 7 SB across 46 games. A big lefty masher at 6’3” 205 lbs, Frazier would fit perfectly in PNC Park and could fill the club’s one-Frazier quota by the end of 2022.
AAA Boston OF Jarren Duran hit two home runs Tuesday night. Please don’t ask when he’s coming up. He can do nothing more to prove he’s ready. He’s a 24-year-old with 15 HR in 37 games and an 11.1/23.3 percent walk to strikeout rate.
AA Philadelphia SS Bryson Stott went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. He’s catching some helium in the echo chamber this week, and I’d shop him around if I had any shares. The tools aren’t loud. It’s a plate-approach and experience-driven success story so far, there’s little hope of stolen bases, and the park at AA Reading leads to more empty hype than just about any setting in baseball. It’s not just the park or league either but the fact that Philadelphia has demonstrated little ability to actualize its hitting prospects at the big league level.
AA Miami RHP Max Meyer had walked 14 batters over his last 14 innings heading into Tuesday night, when he righted the ship by tossing six scoreless innings with no walks. If the Marlins weren’t looking a little dead in the water, Meyer would be in line for a look later this summer.
AAA Tampa Bay 2B Vidal Brujan went 3-for-3 with two doubles and two walks. Slowly working his way through a June swoon that submarined his shot at replacing the injured Taylor Walls. All he has to do to get promoted is look like he’s part of their best playoff roster. One more hot stretch should do the trick. Tampa’s main problem in the playoffs last year was making contact, and that’s Brujan’s greatest strength.
The Futures Game rosters are being announced as I finalize this piece, and I’ve just seen that Brujan and Baz will be there. If they play well through that July 11 tilt, they’ll be promoted shortly after. The Futures Game and All-Star games across the leagues tend to function a little like graduation ceremonies all the way down the minors. Just have to hope nobody gets senioritis awaiting their next big step.
Here’s a link to the rosters so far: https://www.mlb.com/all-star/sunday/futures-game/roster
I can be kind of a humbug about it (surprise surprise), but the Futures Game carries real weight in Prospect World. Great time to trade Stott, especially if he hits well there. If you see anyone you like who’s a free agent in your dynasty leagues get invited to that showcase or even subbed in late, you might as well pick them up ahead of time in case they make a splash. Might even try to trade for your favorite Futures Game participants before that potentially big glow up. (Paging Pedro Leon owners across my leagues).
Looks like Jasson Dominguez is going to be there, which is just so Yankees I have to grin.
Thanks for reading!
I’m @theprospectitch on Twitter.
