Put on a nice shirt. Floss. I meant your teeth. Stop doing that stupid dance. Get serious. You need to look presentable when he comes to save your fantasy rotation. He’s Jesus Luzardo and he’s the cat’s pajamas. The real nice ones with the pockets. Luzardo is still building up after a shoulder injury sidelined him for the first half of the season, but in Thursday’s start at Triple-A he threw 66 pitches over five innings. There shouldn’t be too much further to go from here before he’s able to join the Athletics rotation, which is where we thought he’d be back in March. My guess is he’ll be promoted after two, maybe three more starts, or shortly after the All-Star Break. Luzardo was the headliner in Grey’s buy column this past Friday, and outside of maybe Dylan Cease, there aren’t many impact pitching prospects left in the minors for this season. So accept Jesus in your heart and on your fantasy team. Here’s what else is happening around the minor leagues…
Joey Bart, C | SFG – 3-for-6 and riding a six-game hit streak. After missing all of May, Bart has been back for the better part of June. For the month, he’s hit .250 with three homers. Nothing spectacular, but he’s coming back from a broken hand. If you have to own a catching prospect in your dynasty league, he’d be the one.
Ian Anderson, RHP | ATL – Struck out 14 batters in seven no-hit innings for Double-A Mississippi. That gives Anderson 113 strikeouts in 85 innings pitched this season. And a 2.94 ERA. Impressive stuff. I don’t think there’s room in the Braves rotation this year, but for 2020 I’d definitely keep Anderson in mind.
Isan Diaz, 2B | MIA – 4-for-4 with a homer and a pair of doubles. The homer was his seventh of June after hitting eight in May. He now has 17 dingers on the season and is hitting .297 with a .384 on-base percentage. After the All-Star Break, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Marlins give Starling Castro a spot on the bench and Diaz a shot as the starting second baseman. If you lost out in the race to stash Luis Urias, Diaz could be a nice consolation prize.
Vidal Brujan, 2B | TBR – Promoted to Double-A Montgomery. A lot of prospects will be promoted in the next week or so, but I think it’s important to keep mentioning Brujan. He gets overshadowed by uberspec Wander Franco, but Brujan is a very good prospect in his own right. Prior to the promotion, he’d hit .290 with 24 steals for High-A Charlotte. I like his plate discipline more than anything else. He’s posted a walk rate of 9% and a strikeout rate of 13% this season. If he develops even 8-12 homer power, it’s a really nice offensive package.
Thanks Mike! 2 quick questions ….
1. What kind of ratios and k rate do you expect from Luzardo?
2. Can we expect a writeup on Jasson Dominguez aka The Martian any time soon? Thanks Mike!
Anytime…
1. K/9 north of 9 and an ERA just under 4 would be gravy.
2. Havent looked into him closely yet but I’ll add it to my list.
Trade help, please!
I’m in a 10-team league where each team can keep up to 8 players without penalty. Scoring is h2h categories. See below for my current roster. I starred the players that I currently plan on keeping.
C – Contreras
1b – Abreu
2b – Scooter
3b – Bregman*
CI – Bryant*
MI – Machado*
OF – Acuna*
OF – Dahl
OF – Eloy*
OF – Marte
U – Ohtani
Bench bats – McNeil, Yordan
IL bats – Mondesi*, Correa*
P – Sale*
P – Flaherty
P – Tanaka
P – Woodruff
P – Greinke
P – Kimbrel
P – Holland
P – Pressly
Bench arms – Wheeler, Leclerc, Darvish, Marquez, Gant, Luzardo, Stripling
IL arms – Treinen
Trade offer is… his Juan Soto and Lucchesi
for my Eloy, Yordan, and Scooter
Thoughts? Is this too much to give for Soto?
Since I can only keep 1 of Eloy and Jordan, I figured that I could move them for Soto, who I consider to be an upgrade. McNeil has been great and has some versatility, so figured I could roll with him as my 2b, especially when I have Correa and Mondesi in my lineup.
Yeah I like that as a consolidation.
Can you rank top 3 in a dynasty keep forever that has K’s and K/9: AJ Puk, Sixto Sanchez, Alex Reyes, Casey Mize, Matt Manning, Nate Pearson, Deivi Garcia, Ian Anderson
Sixto, Mize, and Pearson for me. I like Reyes too if relievers have value, just not sure he’ll make it as a starter.
Hi,
just got offered Luzardo and Varsho for Luis Robert? Take it?
It’s fair, but I’d rather have Robert.
Hey guys, ive asked for some advice on these guys before, but last time. Thanks for the patience!
Season is over for me this year, looking to improve next year in an auction keeper league. All values are what they are worth next year in our leagues.
I’m sending Sale (worth $25 next year) mike minor ($5) and $3 auction cash
receiving voit (cost me $14 next year) wander franco ($1 and protected at the price until he plays a full season) montas $5 and kieboom $5
what do you guys think? should i pull the trigger?
No problem! I like it if you’re going for future value., especially Franco. He’s special.
I just picked up Luis Patino in a dynasty league. Where do you currently rank him overall in your prospect ranks? Also does he have a lot of upside?
Happy Sunday Mike…I’m sure you’ve posted this somewhere before but is there an ETA on Luis Robert? Any chance we see him in 2019? Appreciate your post(s).
You too man. There’s a chance since he’s been in AA for a bit. I could see late July/early August. Thanks!
Mike,
You dropping Heaney for cease?
12tm h2h cat keeper (keep 12)
Thanks
I could also drop Alzolay for Cease if you think it’s worth holding onto Heaney
I’d hold Heaney. I could see swapping Alzolay though.
Cease is being called up for Wednesday… Just announced
Hot damn!
With Cease struggling at AAA in June, is Luzardo > Cease even with the unknown call up date for the lizard?
I think Luzardo will end up with the better ratios, just depends how long it takes for him to come up.
Drop Mikolas or Kingery for him??
Nah.
Even in a 12 team keeper with 13 keepers?
In a keeper/dynasty format I could see swapping Mikolas for him.
Excellent. Been on the road all weekend. Just arrived in South Carolina!
Awesome, South Carolina is for “Lovers who were deemed too odd for Virginia!”
Ha! That’s the vibe so far.
Haha
Cease dropped in my league just before the news came out. You guys think he is worth a top waiver claim? Been sitting in the #1 waiver spot all year, not sure I’ll have another use for it, but also not super crazy about rookie pitchers.
I guess it depends on what other prospects are still out there but he’s one of the few impact callups left.
I reckon I’ll go for it.
We only keep 4 per year and he won’t make the cut for me, unless he comes up and is an absolute ace, but probably a better chance that he’s useful than somebody better coming available.
Love your articles, led to a perfectly timed Gallen stash a couple weeks ago. Still waiting for Urias to get the call though. After the break, maybe?
Thanks! Yeah, hopefully Urias is up in the next week or so.
Mike, I have Gennett who just came off the DL on my bench. Drop him for Urias or hold? I’m thinking Urias for upside, though I also have Hiura.
I’m also wanting to stash Tucker, but it could be the trade deadline when he’s finally brought up. I think his trade value is high and Astros have no reason to risk lowering it.
Thanks!
I’d stick with the known in Gennett if it’s a redraft. Yeah, I’m stashing Tucker too. Hoping it’s before the end of July.
Thanks Mike. I’d have to drop Gennett to grab Tucker…Wouldn’t be too broke up about it. We’ll see.
Anytime man…go for it.
Mike, Do we see Jose Hernandez (AAA-Astros) soon? 13.5 K/9 and 6:1 K/BB rates. Dominating the PCL.
Possibly, although he’s not on the 40 and they have some other options.
Looks like he’s an option to start Tuesday in Colorado.
Hey Mike,
Would you deal Morton to a competing team for Dahl and Kopech. Morton is ranked 12th in this 15 team qs k/9 keeper and would still have value for me next year but I do like Dahl.
Happy Canada Eh weekend
You too! Yeah I’d do that. I like Dahl.
Hey Mike –
I’m in last place in a keeper league and starting to get questions about some of my top players who have passed the 3 year keep limit. I have someone interested in Judge. He’s offered various combinations of Senzel, McKay, Kyle Tucker, Tatis Jr, and Brendan Rodgers. I can probably get two for Judge. I already have Gallen, Luzardo, and Paddack as pitching keepers for next year. I have some hitting keepers too, but not as promising as the young pitchers.
What should I ask for? I was thinking Tucker / Tatis or Tucker / McKay. I like Tucker’s power and hopefully there’ll be a spot for him next year.
BTW, I also have Khris Davis who is unkeepable after this year, so I could probably do a 2 for 3 deal for Judge and Davis.
Thanks,
Jeff
Tucker/Tatis is a nice haul. I’d go for bats since you have such nice pitching keeps already.
Thanks!
Anytime.
You are churning out great stuff.
Is luis robert a future star or is there too much swing and miss ? I’m tempted to try and get him everywhere.
Thanks! I’m a Robert believer. I’d grab him if you can.
Cease getting the call on Wednesday. Can you see dropping Mikolas or Kingery for him?
eh, nah I’d hold.
Agree.
Sorry, agree with Dave W, solid stuff man.
Thanks!
I have two Minors spots.
Robert and Franco are in my spots.
Is Robert still ahead of these guys?
Yup, only one I could see would be Luzardo, but I’d rather have the bat.
The Rays have a logjam in infield right now. That’s what scares me the most. I like brujan since I’m in a points league. I just dont know when we are going to see him. Some dude name Franco will also be knocking on the door soon enough.
Speaking of TB, what is going on with Nate Lowe? The Rays seem to be jerking him around which is typically not how they work. Is he going to be up this year and play or is it next year? He is he kind a of stuck in quad A. And do you think he will eventually get an opportunity or turn into an AJ Reed? Again the Ray’s have a ton of INF depth. Thanks
True story. Brujan looking like mid 2020. Nail on the head with Lowe. Quad A purgatory right now. Looks like he’ll have to wait until next year for a real shot. Trade could open things for him this year but I don’t see the Rays moving him.
That was Brujan.
Great stuff, thanks Mike. Which 2b ‘spect do you like better long term, Diaz or Brumaire?
Long term Brujan.
Great work, when do you think we see Brujan in MLB? Midseason 2020?
Thanks! Yup, current pace puts him mid 2020.