Graduated from Prospect News: Stash List Volume: All-Inclusive Cruz: Elly De La Cruz, Royce Lewis, Andrew Abbott, Bryan Woo
1. Guardians RHP Gavin Williams | 23 | AAA
Another week = another handful of wasted frames from baseball’s best minor league pitcher, but this time he actually got hit around a bit, allowing three runs in four innings against the Elly-free Triple-A Reds.
2. Reds 1B Christian Encarnacion-Strand | 23 | AAA
The best of those Triple-A Reds just keeps on bashing while reducing his strikeout rate and doubling his walk rate, slashing .333/.406/.650 with eight home runs in his last 28 games.
3. Giants OF Luis Matos | 21 | AAA
Matos has a case for the top spot after taking things up a notch in Triple-A. In 20 games at the level, he’s slashing .380/.412/.587 with three home runs, four stolen bases and just eight strikeouts. The outfield is a bit crowded in San Francisco, but they don’t have a true centerfielder, which should create a lane for Luis.
4. Orioles OF Colton Cowser | 23 | AAA
In his first two games after two weeks on the shelf with a quad injury, Cowser went 4-for-5 with two walks and a home run. Doesn’t seem like he can do anything to speed up the timeline though. Just waiting on the Orioles to push the button.
5. Orioles 2B Jordan Westburg | 24 | AAA
Has 33 home runs and 14 stolen bases in 143 Triple-A games, which feels like a lot of Triple-A games for a first-round pick who’s slashing .305/.383/.601 on his return to the level.
6. Pirates C Henry Davis | 23 | AAA
Once upon a time, the Pirates looked like the Reds, full of hope and hype, counting the minutes until they could unleash their most competitive roster. They’ve lost something like 30 straight games since then, and Austin Hedges is hitting .176 with a .241 on base percentage. I probably couldn’t do that as a 40-year-old desk jockey, and I certainly couldn’t add the defensive value Hedges brings, but I have to wonder how this guy is worth five million actual dollars on top of blocking the team’s two best prospects. Davis will turn 24 in September and has two walks and two strikeouts along with his .300 average across three Triple-A games.
7. Dodgers RHP Emmet Sheehan | 23 | AA
The 6’5” 220 lb Sheehan has struck out 88 batters in 53.1 innings at Double-A. He has a 0.88 WHIP over that stretch and doesn’t have much left to do at that level.
8. Guardians C Bo Naylor | 23 | AAA
Over his last ten games, Naylor is slashing .314/.467/.571 with two home runs, ten walks and eight strikeouts. Here’s the part where I share some thoughts about why he’s not up yet or when his chance might come or something along those lines, but we all know the only good guess is money or defense, and they both ring pretty hollow right now.
9. Brewers OF Sal Frelick | 23 | AAA
Will Brennan has been hot in Cleveland after a slow start, and Frelick is on the extremely talented end of the Brennan spectrum for left-handed contact hitters who steal bases and don’t strike out. Here’s a link to an article published yesterday in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about Frelick’s progress, in which Todd Rosiak reports that Frelick’s back in action.
10. Phillies RHP Andrew Painter | 20 | AA
Painter tossed a 20-pitch bullpen session on Saturday. That’s all I’ve got. Pretty sure that’s all there is at the moment, but here’s a link. I’m going to check my leagues for him right after I finish this sentence. Hmm. He’s available in some places where I could really use him, but he’s not IL eligible, which is partly why he’s a free agent, of course.
11. Rays 1B Kyle Manzardo | 22 | AAA
On Thursday, Manzardo hit his first homer in almost a month. No big deal. Everyone slumps. But everyone isn’t first-base-only bat on a loaded team that prizes defensive versatility.
12. Rays LHP Jacob Lopez | 25 | AAA
Has struggled his last two times out, relative to his earlier dominance. A 1.63 WHIP in his second and third starts at Triple-A is not the stuff quick promotions are made of.
13. Diamondbacks OF Dominic Canzone | 25 | AAA
Hitting .500 in June with two strikeouts and two walks in five games, Canzone offers a glimpse at why getting a real chance at the highest level is tough to overrate when mining for fantasy value.
14. Mets SS Ronny Mauricio | 22 | AAA
The Mets have not been impressive this season, and their handling of Mauricio is a microcosm of the organization’s issues. He’s not a pop-up prospect by any stretch because he’s a big-money, famous-name guy on the prospect side, but he feels like a pop-up prospect in the sense that he’s made huge leaps in a short timeframe, and the team has no idea what to do with him.
15. Rangers OF Evan Carter | 20 | AA
I’m putting Carter here more because people keep asking about him than any real confidence he’ll be up soon. Also because we’ve reached a dry patch of sorts at the bottom of this barrel. Carter hasn’t played since June 1st after slugging .281 in May. He’s on something called the “Development List,” which, I mean, full credit to baseball: I learn something new every day. I didn’t know you could put a guy on a list to say “He’s just practicing now.” I also included Carter here because he’s a case study in the kinds of prospects you won’t often see me pushing around here but who will quickly ascend other lists. Stat-built prospecting models love a young guy with patience, whereas I tend to punish a player if I watch his approach and think it might be too passive to prepare him for facing upper-level arms, which are a totally different species of pitcher than lower-level arms. This spot should probably go to Rays RHP Evan McKendry, Orioles OF Heston Kjerstad or Royals OF Dairon Blanco on merit, which I suppose is kind of happening now anyway as they commandeer the end of this week’s missive.
Thanks for reading!
