RADIO
In a move nearly nobody predicted, the Washington Nationals called up teenage phenom Juan Soto in an effort to bring some firepower to the lineup on the heels of all the injuries the team has endured. Soto's first plate appearance was nothing to write home about but everything after that has been pretty noteworthy. I'll get to that later.
As I mentioned previously, despite us being eight weeks into the season, there are still a handful of names left in the minor leagues that have the potential to make a legitimate fantasy impact this season. Among those are Kyle Tucker, Eloy Jimenez, Michael Kopech, and Nick Senzel, the latter of whom is expected to return to game action at some point this weekend after missing a couple of weeks with vertigo.
Players on the list last week but not this week include Fernando Romero. Players joining (or-rejoining) the list are Juan Soto, Seranthony Dominguez, Luiz Gohara, and Mike Soroka.
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Prospect Call-Ups and Rookie Performances
Juan Soto (OF, WAS)
Soto was called up to replace the injured Howie Kendrick in the outfield after Kendrick went down with a season-ending knee injury. Soto struck out in his first MLB plate appearance and then continued on to set the world on fire in his first career start: he crushed the first pitch he saw over the left field fence for a three-run jack. He finished the game 2/4 with 3 RBI, 1 HR, 1 R, and no strikeouts. He is triple-slashing .300/.462/.600 (granted, it has been 13 PA), and has an equal number of strikeouts and walks. For a 19-year-old, Soto is extremely disciplined at the plate which bodes well for his future in the bigs.
Seranthony Dominguez (RP, Phi)
Dominguez has already been promoted twice this season to get to the major leagues and has dazzled in his short time in the bigs. The electric righty has nine strikeouts in as many big league innings and has yet to issue a free pass. He has allowed just one hit. He is likely the closer in waiting in Philly but Gabe Kapler manages his bullpen without any regard for your fantasy team, so pick up Dominguez and just reap the rewards of his ratios with the occasional save. Plus he has a really cool name, so if nothing else you should pick him up for that.
Luiz Gohara (SP/RP, Atl)
Gohara made his first start of 2018 last night and got mixed results. His 15.3% whiff rate last night was very good, as were his six strikeouts in four innings pitched. Not as good were the four walks he issued and the two earned runs he allowed. Even worse, Gohara is now on the bereavement list to visit his sick mother in Brazil. He's going to be a solid big league baseball player, but family comes first, so Gohara will have ample time to take care of his ailing mother before he has to refocus his efforts on the mound.
Nick Kingham (SP, PIT)
Kingham started against the Padres this past week and went six innings, giving up three earned runs. He struck out five and walked one. A good strikeout-to-walk ratio and a good shot at a quality start are always in the cards for Kingham any time he takes the mound. The trouble is that it does not seem the Pirates want to trot him out there that often; he was optioned back to AAA to make room for Joe Musgrove in the rotation. Kingham will be the next man up whenever the Pirates need a starter but there is no telling when that will be.
Gleyber Torres (2B/3B, NYY)
I told one of my friends that when Torres debuted I didn't think he was going to hit for power. I could not have been more wrong. Torres is triple-slashing .323/.385/.613 this season with eight homers. Five of those home runs have come in the past week. The Yankees have yet another impact bat in their lineup and this time it is a 23-year-old middle infielder. I hate the Yankees.
Freddy Peralta (SP, MIL)
I mentioned last week that Peralta's best career big-league start could be behind him and that he will likely run into trouble if he only has one big-league ready pitch. After a stellar debut in which he struck out 13 batters in 5.2 innings, Peralta managed to pitch just four innings in his most recent start. He walked more batters than he struck out and allowed four earned runs. Peralta is a lot like Vince Velasquez in that his fastball is his best pitch and his other pitches are subpar. Peralta will strike out a handful of batters this season but it is not going to be pretty. He's a safe drop in any league of 12 teams or fewer.
Quick Hits
Franmil Reyes (OF, SD)
Reyes' much-anticipated debut came up far short of expectations after he destroyed the PCL. His major league OPS is less than half of what it was in AAA this year. This may just be a case of the Pacific Coast League being extremely friendly to hitters. Reyes is a safe drop in all redraft leagues.
Walker Buehler (SP, LAD)
Same old, same old for Buehler: 7 IP, 6 K, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB. The only run given up was on a homer. Buehler is very good at baseball.
Josh Hader (RP, MIL)
Hader over the past week: 4.1 IP, 8 K, 3 BB, 1 H, 0 ER. His season ERA is down to 1.23 and his WHIP is down to 0.58. Hader, too, is very good at baseball.
Mike Soroka (SP, Atl)
Soroka was placed on the disabled list with a shoulder injury in the middle of last week. He is expected to throw a bullpen in the coming days. There is no timetable for his return.
Shohei Ohtani (SP/DH, LAA)
Ohtani is triple-slashing .308/.364/.582 on the year. In his most recent start he went 7.2 innings, racked up 9 strikeouts, walked 1, scattered 6 hits, and allowed 2 ER. Ohtani this year has compiled an equal amount of pitching fWAR to Stephen Strasburg and an equal amount of hitting fWAR to Christian Yelich (special shoutout to Jeremy Frank on Twitter for that).
