Prospect Power Rankings: Week 10

Every other week Razzball ranks the prospects closest to contributing to your fantasy roster. The list is limited to players who still have rookie eligibility (less than 130 at bats or 50 innings pitched) and who are currently in the minor leagues. It’s not a list based on talent alone, but rather it’s a mixture of talent and opportunity. It will change frequently over the course of the season as prospects graduate to the majors, injuries occur, or service time roadblocks are passed. Here are the top 15 prospects on the cusp of the major leagues for 2015 fantasy baseball…

1. Carlos Correa, SS | Astros

Need ideas for things to do while waiting for Correa’s promotion?

1) Organize your MIDI files
2) Play Facade and actually try to beat the game instead of just cursing at Trip/hitting on Grace
3) Apply for citizenship in Liberland
4) Reread old Razzball posts

2. Corey Seager, SS | Dodgers

Jimmy Rollins is 36 years old and hitting .209 on the year. He was recently moved to eighth in the lineup. Seager is hitting .405 with two homers in his last ten games at Triple-A. Whether it’s an injury, trade, or just performance, I don’t see how this story doesn’t end with Seager at shortstop for the Dodgers by August.

3. Byron Buxton, OF | Twins

Buxton hasn’t homered yet this month, but he has hit over .300 with five stolen bases in his last six games. That’s what makes Buxton so great and also what reminds me of a Carlos Gomez type. When Buxton isn’t hitting homers, he’s stealing bases/scoring runs and vice versa. To put it another way, he’s always going to be doing something to help your fantasy team.

4. Hector Olivera, 2B/3B | Dodgers +3

Olivera won’t need much time in the minors, so a promotion by the end of June is definitely a possibility. The recent injury to Howie Kendrick (although minor) will only add fuel to the speculation if Kendrick misses substantial time. I went to add Olivera on ESPN and saw he was listed as a first baseman despite playing all of 16 games there in his entire career…so naturally I responded by cooking my computer in my microwave. Get your shizz together ESPN!

5. Francisco Lindor, SS | Indians -1

Jose Ramirez is hitting .184 with a .252 on-base percentage. The Indians’ defense ranks 27th of 30 MLB teams according to Fangraphs. Terry Francona recently said Lindor “wasn’t ready”. Then he flexed his man muscles and rode off on a unicycle to Yakety Sax.

6. Jose Peraza, 2B | Braves -1

Maybin is playing pretty well at the moment, but he’s not exactly the poster boy for health. Peraza has played four of his last five games in center field, which could imply – a) the Braves are happy with Jace Peterson at second, b) Maybin could be traded at some point, or d) they just want to increase Peraza’s versatility and a call-up isn’t necessarily imminent.

7. Andrew Heaney, LHP | Angels -1

Hector Santiago has continued his Sandy Koufax impersonation, but his 4.66 xFIP suggests that the good times may not last much longer. Matt Shoemaker isn’t exactly doing much to instill confidence and Garrett Richards, well…I love Garrett Richards but holy cow that was bad yesterday. Heaney (2.4 BB/9 and 8.6 K/9 at Triple-A) should find his way into the Angels’ rotation before long.

8. Steven Matz, LHP | Mets 

Even when the Mets went to a six-man rotation they didn’t have room for Matz, so it’s hard to rank him much higher than this until something opens up. Since our last list, Matz has thrown another 18 innings with 14 strikeouts and only two earned runs.

9. Daniel Norris, LHP | Blue Jays +2

Norris is still struggling with his control, but did turn in a pretty outing on Wednesday. The southpaw threw seven innings with eight strikeouts and, more importantly, only one walk. Norris should be next in line when the Jays need another starter or if they decide to move Marco Estrada back to the bullpen.

10. Matt Wisler, RHP | Braves +5

Wisler debuted on the list in week 8, but jumps up five spots already thanks to another solid outing at Triple-A Gwinnett and my hunch that we’ll see him in the majors fairly soon. Wisler struck out seven batters in 8.1 scoreless frames his last time out and I’m starting to stash him in deeper formats. Williams Perez is striking out almost a batter per inning, but I’m betting on Wisler taking that fifth rotation spot before long.

11. Adam Duvall, 3B | Giants

While Matt Duffy is holding his own at third for the Giants with four homers and 23 RBIs, Duvall could force the issue by the end of this month with his play at Triple-A. He’s slashing .298/.329/.563 with 13 homers and 41 RBIs in Sacramento. Duvall hit .192 in a 28-game audition with the big club last year, so it’s not a given he’ll succeed upon arrival.

12. Miguel Sano, 3B | Twins -3

The three-spot drop is not about anything Sano did or didn’t do, and more about the three players ahead of him being a little closer to their promotions. In fact, Sano is hitting .342 with a pair of home runs in his last ten games. An optimistic ETA would be late July/early August, but a more realistic one would probably be September.

13. Aaron Nola, RHP | Phillies +1

I’m excited to see who my Phils take at #10 in tomorrow night’s draft, but it’s equally exciting to see last year’s first-round pick performing so well at Double-A Reading. He’s gone seven innings in each of his last two starts with one walk between them. Advanced command and control will limit the damage when Nola faces big league lineups (hopefully later this year).

14. Luis Severino, RHP | Yankees

Severino’s promotion to Triple-A brings him one step closer to the majors. The Yankees are getting by with what they currently have, and they’ll soon add Ivan Nova to the mix. Nevertheless, Severino should be able to contribute at some point this season. In two games started at Triple-A, the 21-year-old righty has pitched 11.1 innings with four strikeouts and three earned runs.

15. Jose Berrios, RHP | Twins

Now that Alex Meyer is working out of the pen, Berrios could be next in line for a promotion should the Twins decide to dip into their minor league pitching. We’ve seen a few pitchers skip straight to the majors from Double-A already this season, and Berrios currently leads the Southern League in strikeouts with 77 ponches in 69.1 innings pitched.

Graduates
I’ve been tracking the graduates from these lists, but wasn’t happy with just regurgitating their stat lines. So we’ll try something a little different (and hopefully a little more useful). Each graduate is listed with their highest appearance on the rankings, as well as their “Season to Date” and “Rest of Season” values from the Razzball Player Rater. I used the standard 12-team ESPN values entering Saturday night’s games and the table is sorted by $ROS.

Previous Rankings: Week 2 | Week 4 | Week 6 | Week 8