Top Dynasty Keepers – Westburg And Montero

Welcome to the last weekend of regular season baseball.

Many fantasy leagues have already ended their seasons, and if you won a title, congratulations! Some leagues are still going, so if you are playing in the title game, good luck.

Because a lot of leagues have closed up shop for the season, adding players off the waiver wire may not be possible. But since you are in a dynasty league, trades are always ready to be made. Thus, I have selected two targets that I think would be good players to try to add to your roster.

The first is Jordan Westburg of Baltimore. A reader asked me what I thought about him last week, so I figured I would go more in-depth about the Orioles’ rookie this week. The other player is Elehuris Montero of Colorado.

A Little Background

Westburg was a star infielder at Mississippi State, helping the squad make the College World Series in both 2018 and 2019. Baltimore loved his combination of power and speed and selected him with the 30th overall pick in 2020. Westburg’s compact swing and bat speed produces power from gap to gap, a nice feature considering the deep left field of Camden Yards.

Meanwhile, Montero was signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Cardinals in 2014 and spent two years in the Dominican Summer League before coming to the States in 2017. He then established himself as a top prospect after a fantastic 2018 season before eventually being traded to the Rockies ahead of the 2021 season as part of the Nolen Arenado trade.

Both players are now trying to establish themselves as major leaguers, but I believe both should be on your radar as players to target.

Jordan Westburg

Statistics

After being drafted and signing with the Orioles, Westburg spent the rest of 2020 at the team’s instructional camp as COVID wiped out the 2020 minor league season. While there, he made a strong impression and then played across three minor league levels in 2021, slashing .285/.389/.479 with 15 homers, 79 RBI, and 17 steals.

In 2022, Westburg proved 2021 wasn’t a fluke. Playing in Double-A and Triple-A, he hit 27 homers, drove in 106 runs, and swiped 12 bases while also slugging .496 while hitting .265 with a .355 OBP. He started this season at Triple-A and showed he needed to be challenged at the major league level as he slashed .295/.372/.567 with 18 homers, 54 RBI, and six steals in 67 games.

Getting the Call

With nothing left to prove in the minors, the Orioles recalled Westburg from the minors and he made his major league debut on June 26 against Cincinnati, going 1-for 4 with a walk and an RBI. Through his first four games, he was hitting .385 with a .467 OBP.

Then came July. As pitchers around the league started to get a scouting report on Westburg, he struggled a bit at the plate as he slashed .226/.273/.403 with one homer and six RBI to go with two stolen bases. Slowing Westburg down at the plate was a propensity to be overanxious during his at-bats. He had a 28.8% strikeout rate (19 Ks in 66 plate appearances) while also walking only three times.

But Westburg made adjustments in August. He cut his strikeout rate down to 18.4% while his walk rate increased from 4.5% to 6.9%. His batting average jumped to .269 for the month and his OBP increased to .310. So far this month, he is slashing .250/.321/.438, though with a 30.2% strikeout rate.

Where’s the Power?

With only three home runs so far, you are probably wondering where is his power production. Right now, it has not shown up in the stats, but I believe it will come.

• First, his average exit velocity and hard-hit percentage are above average, especially his hard-hit% rate of 44.4 (MLB average is 36.3).
• Second, his fly ball percentage currently sits at 21.2%, well below the MLB average of 26.2%. However, his line drive rate of 28.5% is well above the MLB average of 23.9%. He’s hitting the ball hard, just not with enough launch angle to produce the home runs we saw in the minors.
• Third, playing half his games at Camden Yards is not helping his home run totals. If he played all his games at Cincinnati or Seattle, he would have eight homers already. Within the division, he would have six homers if he played his games in New York or Tampa and five up in Toronto.

Westburg has the power to deliver 20 or more home runs, as you can see on this shot to center in Boston. He will just need to make a few adjustments to get some more lift on the ball. Even if that doesn’t lead to a lot of homers to left field in Baltimore, it will on the road and a host of doubles in home games to boost his slugging percentage.

Westburg qualifies at both second and third base, giving him some versatility for your team. But in the long run, I see him settling in at second due to his lack of arm strength. But 20-plus homers from a second baseman is a player I would want on my team.

Elehuris Montero

Statistics

As I mentioned above, after signing with the Cardinals in 2015 it took a couple of years before Montero finally started playing in the United States and got going. In 2018 he slashed .315/.371/.504 with 16 homers and 82 RBI at two different levels in A ball. He was unable to duplicate those numbers in 2019 thanks to a broken hamate bone in his left hand, limiting his season to 63 games.

After the lost 2020 season in which Montero spent his time at the alternate training site, he was traded to the Rockies. In his first season with the organization, he had a fantastic 2021 campaign, hitting 28 homers and slashing .278/.360/.529 across two levels. Even more impressive was the drop in his strikeout rate, going from 30% in 2019 to 22%. A fast start at Triple-A in 2022 led the Rockies to promote him in June (aside from a one-game stint on May 1).

Montero’s major league career did not start as he or the club hoped it would, however. Playing sparingly, he slashed .100/.143/.150 in seven games (20 at-bats) in June and then only appeared in three games in July, slashing .200/.200/.300) before being sent back to Triple-A.

Finally Showing His Talent

Montero was back in Colorado in August and given regular playing time he showed what he could do at the plate. In 21 games, he slashed .279/.296/.532 with eight doubles, four home runs and 14 RBI. The only drawback to the month, really, was his 29.6% strikeout rate and paltry 1.2% walk rate, drawing only one walk in 81 plate appearances.

He struggled again over the last month of the season, striking out 30.4% of the time. But the good news was the fact he did raise his walk rate to 8.7%.

Up and Down

Montero has spent the majority of this season going back and forth between the Rockies and Triple-A. In the minors, there is nothing left for Montero to prove. In 35 games down on the farm this season he slashed .359/.411/.718 with 15 home runs.

The Rockies gave Montero a change in April, but in 51 at-bats he hit only one homer and slugged .373. After spending most of May in the minors, he got 47 at-bats for the Rockies in July and managed only a .149/.163/.277 slash line with one home run.

But things started to turn around for Montero in August, and this is why I like him going forward. In 19 August games, he hit two homers and drove in 10 while slashing .221/.264/.382. This month has been his best as a major leaguer. Through 24 games in September, he is slashing .306/.375/.518 with four home runs and 11 RBI.

Settling in at First Base

Also helping Montero this month is the fact that the revolving door at first base seems to have ended with Montero fielding the position. A third baseman for most of his career, Montero has appeared in 51 games at first base, hitting five homers and driving in 24 runs in 178 at-bats while playing first. He put up decent numbers as a third baseman (.286/.318/.405) but so far he is not suited to be a DH, slashing .163/.212/.408 in 49 at-bats.

Montero still has some work to do in order to become a top first baseman. He needs to cut down on his strikeout rate and not be so reliant on pulling the ball for home runs. All of his home runs have been to the left of center field. His power potential is there, so if you have a starting first baseman you really like, Montero would be great depth until he develops into the hitter I think he will become.

Thank You

If you have been a regular reader of Top Dynasty Keepers, I just want to say thank you and thanks for the comments. Hopefully, these little spotlights on players throughout the season have been helpful or maybe even changed your mind about a player.

While this weekly feature is closing down until next season, don’t fret. Starting in mid-October will be the return of the top 2024 keepers at each position, starting with relievers. So until then, enjoy the final weekend of the regular season and the start of the playoffs.