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Rookies and prospects who have recently been called up to the Major Leagues. Max Brill evaluates the most relevant rookies for Week 14 of the 2018 fantasy baseball season.
So Kyle Tucker is still destroying the minor leagues. He has a .301/.367/.505 triple-slash with 13 HR and 14 steals (82.4% success rate) and yet the Astros have not given him the call yet. Tucker has absolutely nothing left to prove in the minors and the Astros have indicated that they think he will come up at some point this year. I think it will be sooner rather than later.
Aside from Tucker, though, we don't have much information regarding who will be up in the coming weeks. There will have to be some prospects called up, that's the nature of this time of year, but whether any blue chippers are going to come up remains to be seen. I was cautiously optimistic last week but now I'm genuinely not certain whether we'll see any. The White Sox have no reason to promote Michael Kopech or Eloy Jimenez and start their service clocks, Tucker is toiling away in the minors, Rodgers likely won't see game action in the bigs this year, and Vlad is still injured. Overall, not a rosy outlook. But maybe we'll get lucky.
Mike Soroka and Sandy Alcantara, two NL East pitchers, leave the list this week. Willians Astudillo, and Ryan Borucki join the list. Without further ado, this week's rookie report:
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Prospect Call-Ups and Rookie Performances
Ronald Acuna (OF, ATL)
Acuna has gone 7-for-26 since returning from the disabled list. Not terribly inspiring, but not awful considering that he missed a month with an injury. The good news is that Acuna's power is still there; he has hit two HR in the last week. The bad news is that he is not seeing the ball great, with seven strikeouts to just one walk in his time since returning. Acuna should still be a great asset for anyone who owns him this season, but he's started somewhat slowly since coming off the DL.
Jonathan Loaisiga (SP, NYY)
Loaisiga got optioned to the minor leagues this past week. Unfortunate for those of us who were reaping the benefits of the young righty's pitching, but it seems that he is not in the Yankees plans for 2018. With a rotation of Severino, Tanaka, Sabathia, Gray, and German, the Yankees simply do not have space for Loaisiga right now. In the event of an injury, I have no doubt that he will be the first to get the call, but until that point he's not fantasy relevant. He's a safe drop in all non-dynasty formats if you need the space.
Shane Bieber (SP, CLE)
Last week, I said "Bieber is pitching himself into a rotation spot in Cleveland." The Indians must have read my column, because they gave Bieber a full-time rotation spot this past week. Adam Plutko was optioned to the minor leagues so now it's perfectly acceptable to have Bieber fever for the rest of the season. His first start since gaining that role was not too auspicious, he allowed four earned runs in six innings pitched, but that's probably his floor so feel comfortable rolling him out from now on.
Ryan Borucki (SP, TOR)
Borucki does not have overpowering stuff. With that being said, he's put up two quality starts in his first two MLB outings. One of those starts was against Houston (6 IP, 2 ER), and one against Detroit (7 IP, 2 ER), so Borucki has done good work against one of the best and one of the worst. Moving forward he will be a matchup-dependent starter/streamer in 12-team leagues or shallower and is certainly worth a watch list add. Anyone who debuts with two quality starts is worth noting.
Willians Astudillo (Swiss Army Knife, MIN)
Is Astudillo fantasy-relevant? Probably not. But it would be an injustice to publish this column without mentioning him. Astudillo has played every position (yes, even pitcher) as a professional, and he is the antithesis of the modern baseball player. In 14 MLB PA, he has no strikeouts or walks. In 2342 minor league plate appearances he's a .309/.347/.408 hitter with a 3.4% walk rate and 3.2% strikeout rate. There's some fantasy intrigue here if he can tap into his power, but for now just enjoy watching the guy who looks kinda like Bartolo Colon play every position on the diamond.
Gleyber Torres (2B/3B, NYY)
Torres landed on the DL with a hip strain on Wednesday. The injury will likely keep him on the shelf until just after the all-star break. If you have DL spots in your league, stash him. If you don't, keep him on your bench. He'll be back in short order.
Quick Hits
Diego Castillo (RP, TB)
Castillo over the past week: 3.2 IP, 6 SO, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 ER. He's still a great ratio buffer.
Juan Soto (OF, WAS)
Soto is 6-for-26 over the past week. He's hit only 2 HR. His OPS is now under 1.000 on the season. "Only."
Seranthony Dominguez (RP, PHI)
Dominguez over the past week: 3 IP, 4 SO, 2 BB, 2 H, 0 ER. He also has three saves. Elite.
Josh Hader Update
4 IP, 3 SO (gasp!), 2 BB, 0 H, 0 R. ERA: 1.21. WHIP: 0.74.
