Welcome back RotoBaller, to another edition of our rookie roundup. After an awe-inspiring week of offensive prospect call-ups, this week has seen three consensus top pitching prospects promoted.

Though some of the bats are a bit lacking, these are some arms who could play a big impact on fantasy teams looking to help themselves out for the rest of the season.

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Hitters

Pedro Severino (C, WAS) - 0% owned
It is always exciting when a catching prospect is promoted to the big leagues, especially in a season in which there are few promising bats from that position. But fantasy owners should not be jumping out of their chairs to scramble and stash Severino.

Prior to his promotion, he slashed .259/.307/.324 with two homers, three steals, a 14.2% strikeout rate and 6.0% walk rate. Now sure, some hitters struggle at Triple-A but maintain their hype based on how that .259 average would look like. But I will save fantasy owners the trouble of looking up the tapes and just say that his bat is nothing to write home about. Evaluators believe that defensively, he is great, but offensively he is very much lacking and probably will not have much of a future as a starter. It probably does not help that the Nats’ starting catcher, Wilson Ramos, is an All-Star and having a career year. There is nothing to see here for fantasy owners.

T.J. Rivera (3B, NYM) - 0% owned
Now here is a guy fantasy owners should at least warrant a look in some deeper leagues. Third baseman T.J. Rivera was promoted by the Mets with the intention of using him at third base after absolutely crushing Triple-A this season. He slashed .349/.391/.513 with 11 dingers and three steals. He also on struck out 12.3% of the time and walked 5.4% of the time.

Now Rivera is not a top prospect, but he has the greatest gift of all: playing time. The Mets have been looking for consistent production from third base and appear to be giving Rivera a shot to do just that. He does not possess much power or speed, but the 27-year-old has a solid bat capable of hitting for a very solid average. 12 team league owners will have no need for the third baseman unless he flashes power, but owners in very deep leagues or NL-only leagues could benefit from a guy who gets consistent playing time.

Darrell Ceciliani (OF, TOR) - 0% owned
Ceciliani was recently promoted amid the news that Jose Bautista would be hitting the 15-day DL. Like Rivera, Ceciliani is not considered to be a top prospect, but he has put together a nice season at Triple-A. Along with a slash line of .268/.331/.444, the 26-year-old also bashed nine homers and swiped 10 bags.

The outfielder will have to fight a lot for playing time and odds are he will lose most of those battles. Ceciliani does have a little bit of a power/speed combination to offer owners in deep leagues, but with Melvin Upton, Kevin Pillar and Michael Saunders manning the outfield for now, it will be unlikely he snags any playing time. He can be passed up in all leagues.

Rob Segedin (3B/OF, LAD) - 0% owned
The fourth batter called up with the intention of being used as a backup, Segedin was recently promoted to joining the Dodgers backing up at third base and in the outfield. He had been coming off a stellar Triple-A campaign in which he slashed .319/.392/.598 with 21 home runs, three steals, a 19.1% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate. Promising for fantasy owners is that in the four days he has been up in the big leagues, Segedin has started in three games.

Segedin was promoted to be a bench player, but he has provided solid production and could be making his way towards more consistent playing time. With promising power and plate discipline, he could be worth owning in some very deep leagues if he continues to receive starts at the hot corner and in the outfield.

Nick Noonan (2B, SD) - 0% owned
Now we have a guy who has a good chance of receiving oodles of playing time and of course he does not have too much to offer. Recently, Noonan was promoted with Jose Rondon being demoted to Triple-A and MLB.com reports that Noonan will receive the majority of starts at shortstop for the Padres. Though he slashed .321/.353/.445, the 27-year-old only has four home runs and no stolen bases and has not come close to double-digits in either category since 2012 when he had nine homers and seven steals.

There are some deeper leagues who might find value for a guy who receives consistent starting playing time, but I still think Noonan is probably best worth avoiding. He has reached the big leagues before and has always struggled to hit, due in large part to his poor plate discipline. And without a cushion of any power/speed counting stats, he has very little to reward owners. He is best worth avoiding in all leagues.

 

Pitchers

Alex Reyes (SP/RP, STL) - 8% owned
If you want a pitcher with extremely high upside, look no further than Alexander Reyes. The 21-year-old right hander has been ranked highly by most evaluators, with Baseball America considering him the second best prospect in baseball and MLB.com ranking him at number nine.

Unfortunately, you can’t ride upside forever and there are warning signs with Reyes. Though evaluators are high on him, there is no denying that he did nothing this season to warrant a promotion. His strikeout rate was extremely high at 12.81 K/9, but as usual command issues plagued him as he walked an average of 4.41 batters per nine innings. Plus that 4.96 ERA, though not entirely indicative of his performance, is not altogether promising. Now Michael Wacha was placed on the 15-day DL recently, but the next guy on the list will be the one to take over his spot in the rotation. For now, Reyes is nothing but a high strikeout guy pitching out of the bullpen for St. Louis. Until he is given a spot in the rotation, he can probably be avoided by fantasy owners.

Luke Weaver (SP, STL) - 3% owned
Weaver may not be the most highly anticipated promotion to come from the Cardinals, but he may be the most worthy of owning in fantasy leagues. Ranked 75th by Baseball America and 93rd by MLB.com, Weaver has received quite a lot of praise from scouts and has done everything in his power to warrant the high praise. Before making a lone start at Triple-A this season, he had accumulated 77.0 innings at Double-A in which he flashed dominance. There he owned a 1.40 ERA, 2.01 FIP, 10.29 K/9, 1.17 BB/9 and 0.47 HR/9. Based on the numbers alone, you would probably think Weaver was a much better prospect than Reyes.

And for fantasy purposes in 2016, you would be right. Weaver will start against the Cubs on Saturday and should be expected to take over Michael Wacha’s spot in the rotation. And based on several rumors, there is a chance Weaver stays in the rotation and Wacha moves to the bullpen upon his return from the 15-day DL in an effort to help reduce the number of injuries. Weaver does not possess the upper-90s fastball and he only has one above-average pitch (a changeup), but he possesses outstanding command and appears to be a relatively low risk pitching prospect (which is more than can be said for the aforementioned prospect). He is certainly worth owning in 12+ team leagues and could be worth owning in shallower leagues if he can prove that his strikeout numbers are for real.

Jake Thompson (SP, PHI) - 2% owned
Philadelphia Phillies’ fans and fantasy owners alike have to be excited to see Thompson finally promoted. The top pitching prospect in the Phillies’ system has dominated Triple-A this season in 129.2 innings of work, owning a 2.50 ERA and 3.77 FIP. Though the strikeout numbers weren’t really there for him (only a 6.04 K/9), he has done an excellent job limiting the walks as he only averages 2.57 walks per nine innings.

Fantasy owners looking to add Thompson need only one thing: quality innings. If you are looking for a guy with 10 K/9 upside, maybe the previous two guys on this list are the ones for you. But with Thompson you are buying a starter as reliable as they come who should give six to eight innings seemingly every time out. Don’t buy in too much to his debut as most young pitchers have a rougher first outing before really getting their feet under them. He should be just fine moving forward and owners should expect to see him produce a solid mid-3.00 ERA moving forward. He is worth owning in all 12+ team leagues.

Rob Whalen (SP, ATL) - 2% owned
The other three pitching prospects on this list garner much more hype and attention, but owners in deeper leagues should not sleep on Rob Whalen. Whalen was outstanding in the minors prior to his promotion, throwing 120.0 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. Over the course of his 21 starts, he owned a 2.40 ERA and 3.06 FIP with a promising 8.40 K/9 and decent 3.30 BB/9. Now granted, his numbers don’t entirely tell the story as most evaluators believe that his upside is limited due to his underwhelming stuff, but the numbers are worth taking note of.

He has already made two starts this season, once against Pittsburgh in his big league debut where he lasted only five and walked four while giving up four hits and four runs and another outing in which he lasted six innings against Milwaukee where he walked only one, gave up five hits and struck out seven. Owners should expect somewhere in the middle between those two outings. He will last five to six innings, strikeout four to six batters, and post a quality start against lackluster offenses. Thankfully in the NL East, there’s a lot of those. Owners should not be overly excited, but if you are in a 14+ team leagues, Whalen could be a solid option for you to own if you are desperate for pitching help.

Josh Ravin (RP, LAD) - 0% owned
A true journeyman reliever, Ravin has been pitching in the minors since 2006 when he was drafted as a starter in the fifth round by the Cincinnati Reds. Now with the Dodgers, Ravin is a relief pitcher who has shown himself to be very capable of racking up solid strikeout numbers after posting a 12.21 K/9 in his last full taste of Triple-A action. But as usual for fantasy owners, a relief pitcher with little hope for save chances is rarely worth owning and the 28-year-old is no exception. He has poor command so it is possible even keeping a low ERA could be a struggle for him. At this point, he is not worth owning in any formats.

 

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