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Michael Grennell's fantasy baseball prospects who are risers and sleepers entering Week 7 of the MLB season. Keep an eye on these rookies and call-ups for fantasy on the waiver wire.
We're one week into the minor league season and there is no shortage of prospects getting off to hot starts to talk about. Seriously, it took me a while to whittle a list of just over a dozen guys down to only four. But I finally got it narrowed down to a couple of starting pitchers, an outfielder and a second baseman for us to take a look at this week.
Before we get to them though, I wanted to take a quick look at the prospects from last week's column and how they've started off their 2021 campaigns. Terrin Vavra has been the most successful out of the bunch, going 3-for-10 with two doubles, three RBI and two runs scored through his first week of the season. Matt Hearn and Brewer Hicklen have both shown some speed but have struggled to get hits early on, as Hearn is 2-for-18 with a stolen base and two runs, while Hicklen is 3-for-16 with four steals. Yusniel Padron-Artilles — the only pitcher from that column — didn't fare so well either, as he allowed four runs on eight hits and one walk, while striking out four in four innings of work.
I don't intend to do much recapping of previous week's lists in this column, but given the fact last week was the MiLB Opening Day preview edition, I figured it warranted a quick look. But now let's get back on track and check out the guys to watch for in Week 7.
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Roansy Contreras - SP, Pittsburgh Pirates
Level: Double-A
2021 stats: 1 GS, 5 IP, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.000 WHIP, 11 K
One of the main pieces the Pirates received in the deal that sent Jameson Taillon to New York, Contreras looked sharp in his first start of the year against the Bowie Baysox. Contreras allowed five hits over five scoreless innings, while striking out 11 of the 20 batters that he faced. It looked like Contreras picked up where he left off in Spring Training, where he allowed just two walks and struck out five in two innings of work with the Pirates. It's just one start, but it was still impressive nonetheless. Especially when taking into consideration that as a 21-year-old, he is nearly four years younger than the weighted average age in Double-A Northeast. That continues his track record of playing well against older competition, as he quickly rose his way through the Yankees system in his first three years, culminating in his age-19 season in 2019 where he went 12-5 with a 3.33 ERA and a 21.1 percent strikeout rate in 132 1/3 innings of work.
Given the pitching woes early on in Pittsburgh, it's not outside the realm of possibility that Contreras could get a shot at playing time with the Pirates later on in the season. Make sure to keep him on your radar, and if you're in a dynasty league look into stashing him as he could be ready to make an impact in fantasy before the end of 2022.
Jackson Kowar - SP, Kansas City Royals
Level: Triple-A
2021 stats: 2 GS, 10.1 IP, 2-0, 0.87 ERA, 1.161 WHIP, 14 K
I wrote a little bit about Kowar earlier this year as one of the prospects managers should be watching in the AL Central this season, and so far he has gotten off to an excellent start at Triple-A. Making both of his first two starts against the St. Paul Saints, Kowar tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings while striking out nine in his first outing of the year, and then on Sunday he followed that up by allowing one run over five innings while striking out five. It's been a much sharper performance out of Kowar than what he put up in Spring Training, where he went 2-2 with a 10.80 ERA while striking out 10 in 11 2/3 innings of work. It's a small sample-size, but Kowar is looking like he's improved a bit with the year off, as he's started things off looking better than his previous career totals of a 3.50 ERA, 1.231 WHIP and 22.8 percent strikeout rate.
Much like with Contreras, I think Kowar has a good shot at making it to Kansas City at some point this summer. I'd actually say Kowar is likely to get more playing time in the majors this year than Contreras given Kowar's pedigree as a former first round pick, him starting the year off at Triple-A, and also simply being a couple years older than Contreras. Managers should continue to keep an eye on Kowar and be prepared for a call-up to Kansas City sooner than later.
Trevor Hauver - 2B, New York Yankees
Level: Low-A
2021 stats: 5 G, .556/.654/1.611, 6 HR, 13 RBI, 9 R
Now we finally get to "Homer" Hauver. I call him that because all he's doing so far is hitting home runs in the first week of the minor league season. After hitting two blasts on Opening Day, Hauver now has six home runs in five games Oh, and did I mention this is his first week of professional baseball? Hauver was the Yankees' third-round pick in the 2020 draft out of Arizona State, where he slashed .316/.426/.537 with 18 home runs, 77 RBI and 91 runs scored over three years with the Sun Devils. He's shown good plate discipline early on as not only does he have 10 hits in 18 at-bats, he also has drawn seven walks against five strikeouts to start his professional career.
This is a small-sample size and very early into his career to get too excited, but it's hard not to get excited by this hot start. If Hauver keeps this up, I expect him to get a promotion to High-A well before the end of June, and if he hits well there I think it's entirely possible he could end the season at Double-A. Conservatively, I'd say that the earliest Hauver will make an impact in fantasy will be in 2023, but managers should watch him closely because it's entirely possible he could end up seeing some playing time late in the 2022 season.
Jesus Sanchez - OF, Miami Marlins
Level: Triple-A
2021 stats: 6 G, .556/.571/1.074, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 6 R
Sanchez struggled in his major league debut in 2020, going just 1-for-25 with a double and two RBI over the first 10 games of his career. He didn't look much better in Spring Training, where he went 1-for-8 with two walks and three strikeouts. However, things are looking up for Sanchez early on at Triple-A, as he is 15-for-27 with one double, two triples and three home runs over six games. He has been looking much more this season like his career line of .300/.345/.468 with 50 home runs and 29 steals, which is an improvement over a 2019 season in which he slashed a career-worst .260/.325/.398 in 113 games between Double-A and Triple-A.
It's been a slow start to his time in Miami's system after he was traded by the Rays in 2019 as part of the deal that sent Nick Anderson to Tampa Bay, but this past week is the best he's looked at the plate since the trade. He's shown himself to be a double-digit home run and stolen base threat throughout his career, and if he can continue this hot start, he could be knocking on the door for another shot at playing time in Miami very soon. Out of the four guys on this list, Sanchez is the one managers should be keeping the closest eye on, as he has the potential to be fantasy relevant the soonest out of this bunch.
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