Prospect News: Remember Paris or Tawa Bunga

Diamondbacks 1B Tim Tawa (25, AAA) had three walks, three home runs, two steals and zero strikeouts in his first four games, a monster start in all of our Triple-A fantasy leagues. Have to take his Salt Lake outcomes with a grain of . . . skepticism . . . but Tawa has produced throughout his career, which you kind of have to do to make your way as a 5’11” utility type, and the organization has enough confidence in him to use him at the keystone in Ketel Marte’s absence. If he hits, they might try to find room for him off the bench. 

Tigers OF Justyn-Henry Malloy (25) got the call with Gleyber Torres heading to the injured list. He was off to a hot start in three Triple-A games and kept it cooking in his first six plate appearances, going two-for-four with two walks. He batted just .203 in 71 Triple-A games last year, but Malloy has always put in good at bats and generated good outcomes, so I’d be surprised if he doesn’t play better this time around. 

Pirates RHP Thomas Harrington (23) got knocked around in his debut, surrendering six runs in four innings. Command is typically his calling card, but he wasn’t hitting his spots at all on Tuesday, walking four batters that night after walking just eight in 46 Triple-A innings last year. Carmen Mlodzinski looked incredible for three innings in his season debut, but he ran out of gas in the fourth inning and wound up with four earned runs despite a 2.31 FIP. If Pittsburgh has tipped its hand about who will get the ball next time the team needs a fifth starter, I haven’t seen it, but I like both pitchers and think either could get the job done. David Bednar’s demotion adds another wrinkle in the sense that Mlodzinski could be part of the late-inning picture. 

Angels 2B Kyren Paris (23) caught my eye this spring with his approach and physicality (he looks bigger/stronger at a glance through the television). I think he got promoted a little fast for his hit tool, but he almost certainly got promoted earlier than his man-muscles developed, which makes it hard to get a real read on a young hitter. The spring gains appear to have carried over, as Paris is slashing .545/.643/1.000 with a homer and three steals. He’s played center field three times, so he’s about to add OF eligibility in our game. His role is uncertain, but the team’s release of Mickey Moniak makes more sense today with the Angels needing to hold space for Paris. 

Rockies OF Zac Veen has a 152 wRC+ through six games, in case you’re wondering how that’s going. 

Athletics 1B Nick Kurtz (22, AAA) is slashing .462/.500/.923 with three home runs in six games. He’s looked ready for the majors all spring. Wish I had him everywhere. Trouble is, Tyler Soderstrom has three homers in six big league games, and Brent Rooker isn’t going anywhere. Seems Kurtz will need an injury to get the call. 

Cardinals DH Luken Baker (28) has a similar issue in that he has nothing to prove in the minors but can’t get a regular lineup spot to save his life. St. Louis has Willson Contreras at first base and Alec Burleson at designated hitter most nights. Baker gets Burleson’s spot against lefties, and I suspect he’ll mash in that role, but he’ll probably need an injury to get on the field more than that. 

White Sox C Kyle Teel (23, AAA) is slashing .286/.355/.571 with two home runs and nine RBI in seven games. Edgar Quero (21, AAA) is at .400/.556/.450 through six games. While the long-term organizational plan might involve both guys spending most of this season in the minors, that’s not going to be practical if they’re dominating. I’d try to make room for Teel in redraft leagues where I needed some help behind the plate. Matt Thaiss appears to be the team’s everyday catcher, so any ideas that Korey Lee could command a full season of reps is already a bit outdated. 

Marlins SS Max Acosta (22, AAA) just keeps hitting, slashing .333/.394/.467 with a homer and two steals through seven games. I’m starting to build my first stash list of 2025, and Acosta was pretty quick to mind among guys who should get a good long look this year. 

I started hitting with wooden bats in Perfect Game leagues when I was 14 years old, and lately I’ve been reminded of my early thoughts in regard to the shape of the bats. They were so much skinnier than metal bats, and skinnier for so much longer than metal bats, that it took me a long time to trust my swing. Did that to a lot of kids. One of the best hitters on our high school team went something like zero for his first 50 at bats. I still have a pretty clear memory of lobbing soft toss with him during and in-between the games as we tried to work our way out of it. All this is to say the torpedo bats seem way overdue to me. Interesting creatures: humans. Not uncommon to see us just ignore the most obvious thing in the universe. 

Thanks for reading!