This is the second consecutive week that a Top-10 pitching prospect has been promoted to the big leagues. Top Pirates’ prospect, Tyler Glasnow, made his Major League debut Thursday against the Cardinals after his promotion following Jameson Taillon’s placement on the 15-day DL.

With the All-Star Break next week, fantasy owners should not expect to see any more big prospect moves until shortly after the break. And with the trade deadline happening shortly after the All-Star Break, owners should expect to see some major roster shakeups and some big names popping up in the majors before August. Already Aaron Hill has been traded to the Red Sox which could potentially lead to a top Brewers’ prospect receiving a promotion.

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Hitters

Bryce Brentz (OF, BOS) - 1% owned
After a rough 2015 campaign in which he slashed .232/.308/.382 and suffered a knee injury that cost him two months, Brentz has turned in a very solid 2016 season that has seen him reach the big leagues for only the second time in his big league career. He began this year in Double-A and after only 12 games was promoted to Triple-A. There he slashed a promising .278/.307/.438 with three home runs and two stolen bases. And though his 22.0% strikeout rate and 4.0% walk rate did not look great, he was promoted nonetheless to the majors where he has spent eight games. To this point, Brentz owns a .333/.355/.500 slash line with a home run.

The Red Sox outfielder has spent seven years in the minors before finally getting a legitimate taste of big league action. At 27-years-old, Brentz is no spring chicken and has little more room for improvement. Scouts believe that he has a legitimate power bat, but they are also concerned that his poor plate discipline could lead to a low batting average and high strikeout rate.

The Red Sox have had issues in left field this season and unfortunately Brentz does not appear to be the solution. He may be serving as a stop gap before the Red Sox decide to call up a guy like Andrew Benintendi or before they acquire another bat. Brentz’s strikeouts are very likely to come back to harm him and his numbers are most certainly going to take a dip. Fantasy owners are not advised to snag him off the waiver wire as he does not appear to be likely to have much of an impact this season.

Jeimer Candelario (3B, CHC) - 1% owned
Just when you thought the Cubs couldn’t get any more loaded, they promote one of their top prospects and one of the more highly regarded third base prospects in baseball, Jeimer Canderlario. Prior to his promotion from Triple-A, the third baseman had slashed .333/.452/.600 with three home runs, a 15.1% walk rate and 19.4% strikeout rate (0.78 BB/K ratio). He had already spent time in Double-A this season and though the average wasn’t there for him, he still flashed the above-average power and patience.

His numbers accurately reflect what scouts have often said about Candelario. The 22-year-old is believed to have above-average pop as evidenced by the 15 home runs he hit last year and the seven he has this season. He is not going to mash more than 25 in any season, but he could be expected to hit 15-20 in a full season of work. Scouts praise his plate discipline which many believe will lead to him hitting for a .265+ average. Defensively, he is sound enough to stay at third, but he is no Gold Glover.

Candelario is not an explosive prospect like some of the other Cubs’ position players, but he could still have some value. Unfortunately for him and for owners, he has only two paths to consistent playing time: injury and trade. In my opinion, the latter is much more likely. If the Cubs go out and target an ace reliever like Chapman, they could certainly trade Candelario, a guy blocked at both corner infield spots by a pair of All-Stars unlikely to go anywhere in the near future. Fantasy owners should refrain from adding Candelario unless he appears likely to be traded or if someone is hurt.

Jason Coats (OF, CWS) - 0% owned
Coats was just mashing Triple-A before his promotion to the big leagues. A .335/.399/.567 slash with seven home runs, a stolen base, a 6.5% walk rate and a 18.9% strikeout rate were impressive enough to catch the eye of the White Sox and they decided to bring him up to the majors. This coming off a season in which he hit 17 home runs and stole 11 bases while batting .270 at Triple-A.

Coats’ numbers are impressive, but scouts are not quite sold on him being a big league regular. Scouts believe that his power bat is real and that he could be a 15-20 bomb guy, but that is likely his ceiling in the majors. Many believe the 11 stolen bases last season were a fluke from the 26-year-old outfielder as evaluators grade his speed as below-average at best. With the Sox, he is likely a spot starter at best and does not appear to be a hot commodity liable to be moved at the deadline. Coats has limited upside and probably will not receive much of any starting time this season. That 0% ownership rate should stay the same.

Brett Eibner (OF, KC) - 1% owned
Now we reach arguably the toolsiest player on this list. Outfielder Brett Eibner was promoted on May 26 and has since contributed a promising .261/.320/.500 slash line with a pair of dingers and a walk-off hit against division rival White Sox. Why do I call him the toolsiest of the players? Well in his MiLB career, the outfielder has consistently put together seasons where he not only displays promising power (he has hit 15+ home runs in three of his five full seasons) and has shown that he can apply the burners on the base paths (five or more steals in every season except 2011).

Scouts back up what the numbers have displayed. Scouts view him as a 15+ home run guy while also believing that he has the speed to swipe double-digit steals in a full season. Though his plate discipline leaves a lot to be desired, Eibner has a promising enough power/speed combo that fantasy owners could live without the .250+ batting average in deeper leagues.

Between Lorenzo Cain on the 15-day DL, Alex Gordon in the middle of his worst big league season and Paulo Orlando a questionable defender, there is a chance Eibner could force himself into more playing time. While it is unlikely that he will be worth owning in leagues with 12 or fewer teams, he could be worth owning in 14+ team leagues if he starts to see more consistent playing time.

Ryan Schimpf (2B/3B, SD) - 0% owned
Since his promotion on June 14, Schimpf has proven himself to be a very capable power hitter at the big league level, even in Petco Park. In his 19 games played, Schimpf has hit four home runs. His .216 batting average is rather misleading as it is largely held down by an extremely unlucky .200 BABIP and could start to rise up as he plays more often.

Schimpf is almost the very definition of an all-or-nothing guy according to scouts. He is not considered to be a great hitter for contact and many see him as batting at or below .250 given full playing time. Like a lot of power hitters, he takes a lot of walks, but his long swing and pull tendency leads to plenty of strikeouts. But for a second baseman, Schimpf has a lot of power with some seeing him as a potential 20 homer threat. He has surpassed the 20 home run mark four times in his extensive MiLB career of eight years and has already reached 19 between Triple-A and the majors this season.

What has not been mentioned yet about Schimpf is that he actually was a free agent after the 2015 season in spite of never having reached the majors. He had spent every season between 2009 and 2015 in the Blue Jays’ system and had never received a look and finally became a free agent. With super-utility infielder Yangervis Solarte splitting time between second and third base for the Padres, Schimpf is no sure lock to receive consistent playing time, but if he continues to improve in this season he may shift Solarte to third permanently. With his power at a generally weak offensive position, Schimpf could be worth owning in 12+ leagues once he starts to see more playing time.

 

Pitchers

Tyler Glasnow (SP, PIT) - 12% owned
We have arrived at the highlight of this article, the entree of the meal and the reason you are probably reading this right now. Finally, after months of dominating Triple-A pitching, Tyler Glasnow was promoted to join the rotation. It only took the Pirates placing both their ace, Gerrit Cole, and his replacement, Jameson Taillon, on the 15-day DL. While in Triple-A this season, Glasnow had thrown 96.0 innings pitched with a 1.78 ERA, 2.94 FIP, 10.59 K/9, 4.88 BB/9 and 0.38 HR/9. In his debut against the Cardinals, the right-hander allowed only four runs in 5.1 innings of work while giving up three hits and two walks while striking out five. He had only allowed two runs through the first five innings, but allowed two more in the bottom half of the sixth.

Glasnow is considered by scouts to be among the best starting pitching prospects in the game of baseball. Standing at 6’8”, 225 pounds, the big right-hander has always had one of the larger frames among pitching prospects. Since being drafted 152nd overall back in 2011, he has really developed his elite stuff from that frame. He has an upper-90s fastball that is considered to be one of the best in the minors, a well-above average curveball and a changeup that now looks like a third above-average pitch. The question has never been about his stuff, however, it has always been about how well he will command the strike zone. This has been an issue for him as evidenced by the 4.88 BB/9 that was the sole reason he didn’t debut with the Pirates back in April.

If you ask me, Glasnow needed the Pirates and pitching guru Ray Searage and the Pirates needed him. Searage should be able to help him throw more strikes and he will provide near unhittable pitching for the Pirates in a time where they desperately need some more help reaching the big leagues. For fantasy owners, the WHIP stat could sometimes look ugly and his lack of command leads him susceptible to more clunkers than a guy like Lucas Giolito who has above-average command. But Glasnow is one of the best at striking out batters and should be able to continue that trend into the big leagues. With his potential, he should be owned in all leagues as he should be expected to dominate the majors.

Mike Clevinger (SP, CLE) - 0% owned
Clevinger, who already got his feet wet earlier in the season as a starter, was recently recalled to Cleveland to serve as a reliever. Prior to his promotion, the 25-year-old right-hander had thrown 70.0 innings in 13 Triple-A starters with a 2.70 ERA, 3.12 FIP, 9.77 K/9, 3.60 BB/9 and 0.64 HR/9. He had been roughed up in his three big league starts (three starts, 14.1 innings, 8.79 ERA, 5.54 FIP), but as a reliever he should do just fine.

I am very high on Clevinger and believe he has the makings of a middle-of-the-rotation starter in the future. He has a strong mid-90s fastball and three average to above-average secondary offerings. At 6’4”, 220 lbs, he has a big frame to work with and could stand to add a few more miles per hour on his fastball as he continues to mature and could become a number two starter in the big leagues.

For owners of 2016 fantasy leagues, unfortunately, there is just not enough out there to make him worth snagging. Though dynasty owners see him as a guy who will eventually fill in a starting rotation spot for some team, Clevinger will be used only as a reliever for the remainder of this season in Cleveland barring a trade or an injury.

Chad Green (SP, NYY) - 2% owned
Talk about a guy who came out of nowhere. Chad Green had just completed a stellar season with the Tigers’ Double-A team in which he threw 148.2 innings to the tune of a 3.93 ERA and 3.22 FIP when he was traded in the offseason to the New York Yankees in exchange for reliever Justin Wilson. Between then and his recent promotion, Green had thrown 81.2 innings at Triple-A with a 1.54 ERA, 2.17 FIP, 9.04 K/9, 2.09 BB/9 and minuscule 0.22 HR/9. His debut with the Yankees earlier in May was a rough outing, but if his latest start against the Padres was any indication (six innings, one run, three hits, no walks, eight punchouts), the Bronx Bombers may have the sleeper of the year.

Scouts have never been overly high on Green with many viewing him as a one-pitch wonder. He has a mid to upper-90s fastball that gives him one well above-average pitch. His changeup and slider and considered below-average offerings with the slider serving as the better of the two. Scouts praise his above-average command and while some see him as a bullpen arm in the future, others see him as an innings-eating back-of-the-rotation arm.

With Luis Severino, Ivan Nova and Nathan Eovaldi owning both 5.00+ ERA and FIP numbers, there is certainly a need for rotation help in New York. And if the Yankees decide to sell at the deadline, 35-year-old veteran C.C. Sabathia who is in the midst of his best season since 2012 could find himself dealt to a contender, opening a spot for Green. With his limited upside, Green is not a guy to be owned in leagues with 12 teams or fewer. But if you find yourself in a 14+ team league and in need of some rotation depth, the 25-year-old right-hander could be just the guy for you.

Brooks Pounders (SP, KC) - 0% owned
A starter for most of his Minor League career since coming to Kansas City, Pounders was promoted to the big leagues following the placement of Wade Davis on the 15-day DL. There is a lot to like about Pounders as the right-hander has a mid-90s fastball, reliable command and an average slider. There is also a lot not to like. Standing at 6’4”, 270 lbs, the 25-year-old has certainly put on the pounders over the years and thus lacks athleticism, leading many scouts to question his ability to start in the long term.

The Royals need help in the rotation, but Pounders is not going to be the guy to give them that help. He is going to fill in the bullpen until Wade Davis returns from his injury and then will likely be sent back down to the minors. He is not worth owning in any leagues, re-draft and dynasty alike.

Steven Brault (SP, PIT) - 1% owned

Optioned to Triple-A after making only one start at the big league level, Steven Brault found himself on this list because he debuted recently and might be back to the big leagues later on this season. Brault had been in the middle of a fine season at Triple-A where he accumulated 35 innings pitched while maintaining a very solid 2.57 ERA and 2.81 FIP thanks in large part to an outstanding 11.31 K/9. And all things considered, he pitched very well in his debut against the Cardinals when he went four innings, gave up only two runs (one earned) on four hits, two walks while striking out five. Scouts aren’t in love with his stuff and he will likely be a back-of-the-rotation starter in the majors, but with strikeout numbers like what he posted at Triple-A, he is at least worth noticing. If promoted to join the rotation at any point, he is worth a flier in 14+ team leagues. But he is not a guy anyone in any league needs to be stashing at this point.

 

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