It's said that patience is a virtue, which is a necessary thing for all sorts of reasons. Patience is what keeps me plugging away at both work and writing, knowing full well that by the time you read this I could be headed to the hospital with my wife for the birth of our second child. Or you know, continue to wait for when the baby decides is the right time for their debut. Either way, we get another week of the Buy and Hold while we wait patiently.
Patience can be a definite virtue for our fantasy purposes as well, as there are prospects still in the minors that can potentially have more upside for the rest of the year than other players currently sitting on the waiver wire. This is even with the growing number of prospects that have already been called up.
The week started out with the call up of Justin Nicolino by the Marlins, who threw seven innings of shutout ball against the Reds. He started on Friday against the Dodgers, but it could be his last start with the team currently. His next scheduled start would be on July 2nd, which also happens to be the same day as Jose Fernandez' announced return.
We also saw the surprise call up of Andrew Heaney on Thursday, and after a six inning outing with just a run allowed and five strikeouts, he'll likely get a start against the Yankees next week. I don't know how long the call up lasts, but he's worth a flier if you're looking for starting pitcher help.
The Mets also continue to look for ways to help limit the innings of their starters, announcing yesterday that they would be calling up Steven Matz to start on Sunday, and going with a 6-man rotation in the short-term. I'm wondering if this could potentially be a showcase to help facilitate a trade, as Matz has been excellent at AAA so far this year. He was going to be the #2 prospect on this list this week had his call-up not been imminent.
Alex Meyer was called up by the Twins, but his move to the bullpen likely kills a lot of his fantasy value for this year at least. It's possible he could end up as a closer at some point in the future, but Glen Perkins is about as safe of a closer as there is, barring an injury.
So who's next? Which prospect is still worth holding onto now for when they are called up to the majors later?
Graduates
Week 3: Kris Bryant, Yasmany Tomas
Week 4: Carlos Rodon, Addison Russell, Kevin Plawecki
Week 5: Dilson Herrera, Blake Swihart
Week 6: Noah Syndergaard, Austin Hedges, Eddie Rosario, Preston Tucker
Week 7: Maikel Franco, Lance McCullers Jr.
Week 8: Rusney Castillo, Wilmer Difo
Week 9: Eduardo Rodriguez, Chi Chi Gonzalez, Michael Feliz
Week 10: Joey Gallo, Joe Ross, Mike Montgomery, Scott Schebler
Week 11: Carlos Correa, Mason Williams
Week 12: Byron Buxton, Francisco Lindor, Kyle Schwarber (sort of), Matt Wisler, Adam Morgan
Week 13: Andrew Heaney (7), Steven Matz (4), Alex Meyer, Justin Nicolino
1. Corey Seager - SS - Dodgers (PR: 2)
The DL stint for Hector Olivera drops him down further this week, and we continue to wait for the Dodgers to decide that Seager can help them more at shortstop than Jimmy Rollins has. Rollins is hitting .304 over the past week, but with Seager hitting two more home runs and not being selected for the Futures Game, I still don't think it's long.
2. Kyle Schwarber - C/OF - Cubs (PR: 3)
Schwarber had an excellent first week in the majors, and as expected, was sent back to the minors following the weekend. He's gone 2 for 12 in his first three games, catching twice and DHing the other. I think the Cubs could potentially call up Schwarber by the time they need a DH again on August 14th, and it might be to stay by then.
3. Aaron Nola - P - Phillies (PR: 5)
There's a lot going on within the Phillies leadership right now with the news that Andy MacPhail will be joining the team and Friday's surprise resignation by manager Ryne Sandberg seems like it could keep Nola from being called up too quickly. That said, Nola has pitched well in both of his starts at AAA, and these changes in the front office could see a move to help distract somewhat from the other on-field concerns.
4. Hector Olivera - 3B/2B - Dodgers (PR: 1)
Olivera hit the disabled list this week due to a hamstring injury, and while it doesn't sound like it is expected to be a long injury, it does knock him down a little bit on this list. Justin Turner continues to hit very well, so it's not nearly as pressing at the moment that Olivera be called up.
5. Rusney Castillo - OF - Red Sox (PR: NR)
The Red Sox hadn't been playing Castillo consistently, and finally made the move to send him back to AAA to get consistent playing time. Castillo has already had a pair of two-hit games to go with a home run in his first two games back, but he's not likely to be back up quickly unless there's an injury with the Sox.
6. Miguel Sano - 3B - Twins (PR: 8)
The Twins continue to look for offense from their DH spot, although Kennys Vargas has hit .333 over the past week with a home run while primarily DHing. The Twins could plug Sano in, but with a ton of outfielders available as well as Vargas, I don't know if Sano is up before the All-Star break except out of desperation.
7. Jon Gray - RHP - Rockies (PR: 6)
Gray has now made three strong starts in a row with AAA Albuquerque, and is scheduled to go tonight against Salt Lake City. Meanwhile. Chris Rusin will be pitching for the Rockies on the same night, and could be potentially replaced if he pitches poorly again. There's not a ton of reason in terms of a pennant race to bring up Gray, but he may not realistically need much more development in the minors.
8. Daniel Norris - LHP - Blue Jays (PR: 9)
The Blue Jays promoted Matt Boyd to make today's start against the Rangers, and it seems unlikely that it will be a single start with Aaron Sanchez still on the shelf. Norris could still be back up relatively soon, although my primary candidate (Marco Estrada) has been excellent in each of his last two starts, and should get more chances to continue that.
9. Richie Shaffer - 3B - Rays (PR: 10)
The Rays opted to make a trade to acquire Marc Krauss from the Angels to fill in at first base, and while it's easy to assume that the 24 year old Shaffer could just slide right over to 1B if Krauss doesn't do reasonably well, Shaffer hasn't played first except in the Arizona Fall League in 2012 and 2013.
10. Aaron Judge - OF - Yankees (PR: NR)
Judge was promoted to AAA this week, and has already hit a home run in his first four games. I don't necessarily expect him to be up any time soon, but I also wasn't expecting the Yankees to have to bring either Slade Heathcott or Mason Williams up during the season either. Judge is one of the better potential power hitters in the minors, and even if he were only called up for a month, he could potentially provide 5+ home runs if he gets regular playing time.
HM: Luis Severino, Brian Johnson, Stephen Piscotty
For Those About to Rebuild, We Salute You
If you're already rebuilding with an aim toward the 2016 season (or rapidly looking like you should), you're probably looking for prospects to target that have a reasonably good chance at contributing for a majority of 2016. This list isn't necessarily likely to be drastically different from the list above some weeks, and should more closely resemble the top of the fantasy prospect rankings.
1. Corey Seager - SS - Dodgers (PR:1)
2. Miguel Sano - 3B - Twins (PR: 2)
3. J.P. Crawford - SS - Phillies (PR: 3)
4. Julio Urias - LHP - Dodgers (PR: 4)
5. Jon Gray - RHP - Rockies (PR: 5)