Brewers OF Jackson Chourio has been promoted to Double-A at the age of 18, which is a little surprising but only because most teams don’t operate this way. Chourio would’ve likely opened next season at Double-A in a lot of organizations after posting a 119 wRC+ in High-A. They just would’ve let him play out the month at the lower level. I like how the Brewers are being aggressive and flexible in trying to keep challenging a player as unique as Chourio.
Dodgers OF Juan Alonso made his Low-A debut on August 23 as an 18-year-old. He’s about four months older than Chourio but an age-to-level phenom nonetheless. He homered on that first night in A-ball and has a 101 wRC+ in ten games there despite a 37.5 percent strikeout rate. He’s got that patience-heavy approach that can sort of obscure outcomes at the lower levels, but Alonso is a plus athlete at 6’0” 180 lbs, so we can dream on him a little more than the average Juan Doe.
Over his last 20 games, Royals OF Diego Hernandez (21, AA) is slashing .359/.409/.474 with two home runs and nine stolen bases. He’s listed at 6’0” 150 lbs everywhere I’ve looked, but he’s gotta weigh a bit more than that these days. That might be a signing day number from five years ago. Not that he’s Pop-Buttons Valenzuela or anything, but he’s hung a little man-muscle on his frame, which has given him a bit more arm, thump, speed, and stamina, I suspect. He’s got 33 extra base hits and 37 stolen bases in 109 games across two levels, improving his game throughout the season and getting his best outcomes ever in Double-A, where Hernandez is 3.2 years younger than the average-aged player in his league.
Yankees SS Keiner Delgado (18, DSL) is a tiny dude who will always be punching up, barring some early twenties growth spurt. New York seems to be slow-playing his development, leaving him in the Dominican Summer League this season despite his .504 on base percentage in 52 games at the level. He stole 34 bases and slugged .506, too, so he wasn’t only slapping singles, even if that’s his fate for the next few seasons. My thinking is we can’t really know that until we see the 5’8” 145 pound switch hitter against better pitching. Until we can cross him off because he’s not catching any heat in most scouting circles or whatever, I’ll be keeping my eye on his 24.4 percent walk rate and 11.8 percent strikeout rate.
Is Rangers 3B Josh Jung making a push for the top 100 . . . in redraft leagues next season?
And where would you draft Pirates SS Oneil Cruz today?
How about the over/under line for his homers and steals in 2023?
Is 30/20 too aggressive?
Too conservative? His rookie season pace so far, stretched across 155 games, is 32.4 home runs and 16.2 stolen bases. He’s hitting .227 and striking out 36.4 percent of the time. I think he’ll be much better than that in both categories next year. Pretty easy to get out of hand future-casting on Cruz. Worth a shot to send a few trades for him this off-season in your leagues.
Yankees OF Jasson Dominguez got promoted to Double-A this week as a 19-year-old. Unique journey for him through the dynasty value-sphere, but he’s poised to come out the other end in the top ten walking into a wide open Yankees lineup.
Rangers OF Evan Carter and SS Thomas Saggese were promoted to Double-A this week as well, Both are 20 years old. Both earned this jump a while ago. Saggese is slashing .343/.391/.577 with seven home runs and four stolen bases over his last 35 games, and Carter has a .388 OBP across 100 games in High-A. Carter is probably rostered in most leagues already, and I probably wouldn’t be trading for him, but Saggese could be sitting on some wires where he probably shouldn’t be.
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