Prospect News: Yesavage Hunts or Crooks Behind The Mask

With the rosters expanding from 26 to 28, we’ve seen a pile of promotions this week. A lot of them are depth pieces, but we saw some blue chippers, too. 

Freshly promoted Mariners C Harry Ford should get some run behind the plate and cover a few starts in the outfield. Cal Raleigh has tailed off a bit after the All-Star break and would likely benefit from a few more days at DH. In 97 games at Triple-A this year, Ford is slashing .283/.408/.460 with 16 home runs and seven stolen bases.

Cardinals C Jimmy Crooks is poised to steal some playing time in St. Louis. He hit 14 home runs in 98 Triple-A games and has one already through three major league games. A fourth-round pick out of Oklahoma in 2022, Crooks has posted a wRC+ above 100 at each level along his climb. His best traits, however, appear behind the plate, where he’s a plus thrower, blocker and framer. Ivan Herrera hasn’t played catcher since June 19, so he might already be fading from the long-term backstop picture. His below-average pop times in an age of aggressive baserunning may have him rotating between left field and designated hitter for most of 2026. 

Reds 3B Sal Stewart started at first base in both of his major league games, a logical move for the club given the season Spencer Steer is having. Stewart has excellent hands and plate skills, so even though it’s tough to drop a rookie into a playoff race, he has a good chance to succeed early. He’s among the club’s best nine hitters, and with the Reds five games out of the final wild card spot and fading fast, they have to try door number three and hope Stewart provides a daily-show boost. 

Diamondbacks 3B Jordan Lawlar went 0-for-21 when he was last a big leaguer in May. He was 0-for-11 since coming up against on August 28 before picking up a couple hits on Tuesday night. He’s now 2-for-36 with three walks and 16 strikeouts. This means nothing, of course: tiny samples separated by several months, but it’s not easy to ignore. Helps to focus on the 11 homers and 20 steals Lawlar compiled in 63 Triple-A games. He should head into 2026 with a regular job somewhere on the infield, and I’ll be buying in a few redraft leagues. 

The Giants acquired 2022 first-round pick OF Drew Gilbert from the Mets in the Tyler Rodgers trade and called him up to the majors after just five games with their Triple-A affiliate. He’s held his own through 19 games with San Francisco, batting .261 with two home runs and one stolen base. He also has zero walks against ten strikeouts, so it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, but it’s nice to see the power play in games for the 5’9” 195 lb sparkplug. 

Similar to the Sal Stewart situation, the Royals recalled C Carter Jensen shortly after I wrote about him in Prospect News: Floras For Flores or Crawford Fishing. 

Here’s the blurb from that August 31st article: 

“Over his last ten games, Royals C Carter Jensen (22, AAA) is slashing .405/.522/.892 with five home runs and a stolen base. When Kansas City traded away C Freddy Fermin, I thought they were clearing a spot for Jensen. Instead, they brought in Luke Maile, who has been playing every day for the past week or so. I find this confusing. KC is still in the hunt, Salvador Perez is best with some rest, and Jensen is liquifying minor league pitching. He’s got 13 home runs in just 40 Triple-A games, slugging .628 with a .394 OBP. Maybe they think his defense would be a liability. Tough to think of any other reason to leave him in Omaha.”

Question answered, kind of. Still a little weird to me that they went the Maile route, but at least they delivered us Jensen eventually. 

Athletics RHP Luis Morales has been incredible as a major leaguer, logging an ERA of 1.59 and WHIP of 0.99 through 28.1 innings. He features elite fastball velocity at 97.9 mph on average, and his sweeper has been untouchable (.067 slugging percentage on 107 pitches) for both right and left-handed hitters. He also throws a change-up to lefties and a slider to both sides, and so far, those four weapons look like plenty to make him a front-line starter in the long term. The command is not perfect, but it’s improved throughout the season and could tick up with time. Some of the numbers suggest regression, like his 3.91 xFIP, but I’d be looking at those as price suppressors more than harbingers of failure. 

Blue Jays RHP Trey Yesavage came out of the bullpen for the Triple-A Jays and threw three shutout innings in his first night on the job. The big league club needs relief on that front, so it makes sense they’d prep Yesavage to help there in the postseason. I think he goes back to the rotation next season, but he could provide a David Price like boost as a rookie reliever. 

Thanks for reading!