Angels prospect Michael Hermosillo (3-for-5, 3 HR) has decided to hit for power this August. After hitting four homers in all of June and July, the 24-year-old outfielder has hit ten dingers this month. There should be a glossary term for the minor league version of a hot schmotato. Hot schmotatito? Between Hermosillo’s track record for power, the Juicy Juice brand balls in Triple-A, and the near 30% strikeout rate, I’m convinced there’s nothing to see here. But any time a guy has three multi-homer games in his last ten this close to September callups it’s noticeable. Speaking of callups, now’s the time to start thinking about who to stash for the last month of the season. For many of us, this is also our playoff season, so any help we can get to advance will be well worth the roster slot. Better to be a week early and get the guy you want than a week late and miss out on a huge month. Here’s what else is happening around the minor leagues…
Julio Rodriguez, OF | SEA – 4-for-5, with a homer as he was promoted to High-A. Welp, just two days after I went over JuRod in the prospect news, he was promoted to Modesto. He’s now in rarified air, with only Wander Franco hitting High-A at 18-years-old this year (Franco’s been there since late June). I compared JuRod’s stats at A-ball to Franco’s, and there’s not too much difference. Definitely an elite prospect and he came out with a bang in his debut.
Nico Hoerner, SS | CHC – 2-for-4 and four multi-hit games in his last five. Last year’s first round pick is hitting .271 with three homers and eight steals in Double-A. The nice thing about Hoerner is the guy rarely strikes out. But he doesn’t really have any flashy tools either, so the fantasy upside is a bit limited. Conservatively, he could turn into a relevant utility type in shallower leagues or a regular who’s kind of boring but useful in deeper formats. I know that all sounds negative, but I like him.
Lewin Diaz, 1B | MIA – 3-for-5 with a homer. Diaz is having a breakout season, hitting .283 with 25 homers between the Twins and the Marlins. He came to Miami in the Romo deal, and in 17 games since the trade he’s hit six homers. Diaz will be 23 years old this November, and come 2020 he could be in the mix for a spot on the Marlins roster. At the very least, he should be in Triple-A and close to the majors/fantasy relevance.
Anthony Kay, LHP | TOR – 5 IP, 2 ER, 8 K. That makes two straight outings with eight strikeouts for the left Kay, who was traded by the Mets in the Stroman deal. Kay’s new MLB org/league isn’t as good of a situation as it was in New York (NL), but he’s a solid MORP with a bit of strikeout upside for fantasy. He’s giving up less homers with the new club and his 3.00 ERA with Buffalo is less than half of what it was with Syracuse. I’m a sucker for lefties, but I’m a big fan of Kay’s and I’ve acquired a few shares this year.
Are you buying josh rojas? Do you like him rest of season and for 2020? His minor league numbers caught my attention, now I am considering adding him in a 12 teamer for sb. I just dont know about his playing time. He seems like a better option than lamb and some other guys that Az deploys regularly. Thanks
Sure, it’s just hard to predict playing time in AZ.
Julio Rodriguez. 4-5 with a home run. You couldn’t mention that HR was a grand slam?
Sorry JuRod!
Mike,
First, wanted to say I enjoyed your write-up the other day and mention of Julio Rodriguez. I drafted him this year in our minor league draft. While everyone else was drafting Triple A and Double-A guys, found Julio and decided he might be an elite guy based on the information available. Looks like this might very well be true. I saw a Mariners PR video about him that really impressed me with his size, built, athleticism for a an 18 year old kid. One of the Mariners trainers said “You want to know what an MLB player looks like? He’s what an MLB player looks like” in referencing Julio. The last time I said that to myself, I was watching George Springer in the minors. He just looked like a Major Leaguer if that makes sense.
If you have any additional thoughts on Julio, I would love to hear them.
Also, my question for today is about Aristides Aquino. He wasn’t anywhere on the radar as far as I can find. Perhaps two or three years ago he was considered a top 100 prospect but he disappeared and, obviously, has now reappeared in a monster way.
So, I’m wondering what thoughts you have on Aquino? I know he can’t sustain this pace. But I guess what I’m asking is do you believe he’s going to be legitimate? I keep going back to a comparison of Franmil Reyes and thinking that’s Aquino. But the more home runs he hits, I’m thinking Franmil could be the floor for this guy and Aaron Judge could be the ceiling LOL. I know that’s quite lofty but I’m baffled by what this guy has done.
I would love to hear what you think about Aquino? Care to indulge me?
Nice on JuRod! AA has always been toolsy but I think last year he became a nonprospect in a lot of folks’ minds because he was sitting there at 24 and still in AA. Then this year everybody is hitting in AAA so he continued to fly under the radar. I’d go back to the original scouting reports and forget that it took him a long time to develop. Shit happens. He’s got easy 30 HR power. I’d take the under on steals even though he has speed just because that doesn’t seem to be a big part of the game right now. But yeah, he’s totally legit, just a fantastic example of prospect fatigue and then resurgence.
Now that’s very interesting. I’ve heard that many times about guys .. prospect fatigue. I’m liking this more and more! I definitely hope you’re right about AA.
That’s how I found Trevor Story. Prospect fatigue. He had one bad year, bounced back, and nobody thought he was legit. I scooped him up in every league I was in and I’ve never looked back. Hopefully, AA will be a similar story for me someday!!!
Thanks for the thoughts.
One other thing, I heard Julio Rod got an HBP to the forearm is injured but nobody seems to know the severity of it. This makes me sad. :o(
No problem…ah that sucks about JRod.
any chance mountcastle gets called up in september? i kind of feel like there isn’t much to prove anymore and they could use any help they can get… also wondering about daulton varsho and evan white…
Definitely Mountcastle. Not sure about Varsho but I could see White get a few looks.