Baltimore SS Jorge Mateo has lived multiple lives on fantasy planet, first as a beloved but complicated Yankees farmhand, then as the primary rerun for Sonny Gray in Oakland, then as a utility piece scrambling for at bats in San Diego, and now as a human being with a pulse in Baltimore. I’m eager to see how this plays out. None of his previous organizations is particularly adept at actualizing their own prospects at the big league level. Baltimore isn’t the cat’s pajamas either in this regard, but unlike his previous clubs, the Orioles are in position to really invest in Mateo, both in terms of playing time and big league coaching. For his part, Mateo might well understand this could be it for him as a big leaguer. I wouldn’t say he’s had any singular career near-death experience, but he’s certainly been passed around enough to understand his clock is ticking. I’m not comparing him to Anthony Santander or Cedric Mullins, necessarily, but he’s in that mold as a player with talent that nobody expects to become a major league mainstay, and I think his natural gifts measure up well against either. He’s a buy for me in just about every league until proven otherwise.
The same goes for Pittsburgh OF Anthony Alford, who has mastered the minor leagues but will need some time to develop on a big league field. Here’s hoping the Pirates, who batted Alford cleanup yesterday, see enough in Alford to give him everyday run down the stretch.
Cleveland RHP Cal Quantrill is not a prospect, but perhaps you remember some excitement about his newfound prospects when he was sent to Cleveland in the Mike Clevinger deal. I only mention him here because I think he snuck up on the fantasy world regardless of how predictable it is when Cleveland helps a young pitcher hit his 99th percentile outcome. Over his last five starts, Quantrill has 0.90 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 0.30 HR/9. Small samples and such, but over that stretch he’s faced Tampa, St. Louis, and Detroit at home and travelled to take on the A’s and White Sox. Offensive juggernauts, maybe not, but functional offenses all. Against a hot Detroit lineup last week, CQ went 7 shutout innings with 10 Ks and no walks. He’s gotten a bit lucky in the left-on-base department (91.5%) over the hot streak, but we’ve seen this happen in Cleveland so many times it would be foolish to ignore a potential breakout in progress. Sharp low–hanging trade target if that’s still an option in your leagues. I had to drop him in 15-teamer due to an IL squeeze but was still able to buy him back after that magical night in Motown. I had to pony up because I didn’t want to miss out, but I suspect he’d be cheap in most corners of the fantasy world.
Recently promoted Cleveland LHP Francisco Perez was less effective in AAA (1.36 WHIP) than he had been in AA (0.63 WHIP), but his outcomes were still positive at the minors’ highest level (1.96 ERA) despite losing the grip on his command (5.89 BB/9). How he’ll fare in his first taste of the majors is anyone’s guess, but he’s a high-strikeout lefty with dominant stuff in Cleveland, meaning he’ll be a SV/HLD league asset as soon as he finds his footing.
Cincinnatti SS Leonardo Balcazar is a 17-year-old playing in the Dominican Summer League, so we shouldn’t put too much stock in his outcomes. It’s only been 18 games, so there’s another reason to pretty much ignore what we’ve seen so far; nonetheless, he’s having zero trouble at the level, with 5 HR and 7 SB to go along with 10 walks and 18 strikeouts. The hardest thing to evaluate in the DSL is approach. The pitchers are wild, so a patient hitter might put up an incredible BB/K without really learning which pitches invite him to turn it loose and which pitches need to be ignored in the gray zone (K-zone fringe). I like what little we have here, with Balcazar taking his walks but maintaining the kind of aggressiveness I believe one needs to truly learn how to hit elite pitching.
Chicago (NL) OF Owen Caissie is 19 and a month, so he’s the right age for the Arizona Complex League, but he seems to be a little beyond the competition there. Over 24 games, he’s slashing .363/.495/.675 with 6 HR and 1 SB. He’s also striking out 27.7 percent of the time, which isn’t bad enough to matter given the impact of his contact, but it does make me slightly concerned about his patience. You can just wait for walks and meatballs in some lower level leagues, and it’s never really a bad sign when a young hitter can do that; it just means they’ll have to add some aggression and contact ability as they climb the ladder. I’d like to see Caissie spend the last month in Myrtle Beach but suspect Chicago brass will just let him mash in glorified scrimmages until the off-season.
Don’t forget about Los Angeles (AL) SS Kyren Paris. Since coming off the IL on July 29, the French capital has hit the first two home runs of his career along with a .318/.500/.591 slash line, 7 walks, and 7 strikeouts. I have ranked him as high as 60th in my top 100, and now that he’s back on the field and tapping into his power potential, the top 25 beckons. He’s 19 now and will likely play his way out of Low A over the final five weeks.
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