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We look at a lot of prospects here at Fake Teams, with the hope that we can help out dynasty and keeper league owners as much as possible. As a result, our prospect coverage tends to look at the long-term value of a player. However, today I'll be looking at 5 different prospects that could get a look before the end of the season, and potentially help owners in non-keeper formats as well. These are all prospects that will need to be protected on the 40-man roster by their organizations during the offseason, so they could get that look, and potentially see significant playing time down the stretch. For these rest of season statistics, I am assuming a call up at the start of September and regular playing time, unless otherwise noted.
Chris Owings - SS - Arizona Diamondbacks
Currently Blocked by: Aaron Hill (2B) and DiDi Gregorius (SS)
Owings will need to be added this offseason, although both Hill and Gregorius are under team control for at least 3 more seasons each. I can see the Diamondbacks bringing him up in part to showcase him as a potential trade candidate. Owings is currently hitting .331 with 12 home runs and 16 stolen bases in AAA Reno, and I wrote him up back in early July. Reno is in last place in their division of the PCL, so I can see him added September 1st, and providing 3-5 home runs and 3-5 stolen bases in the last month.
Gary Brown - OF - San Francisco Giants
Currently Blocked by: Gregor Blanco, Roger Kieschnick, Andres Torres, and Jeff Francoeur
Brown seems more likely to me to get an extended look given his need to be added and, frankly, the struggles that have been seen over the past two seasons. Brown's numbers finished up better in 2012 after a poor start, but it's been very concerning how poor they have been in the PCL in 2013. He is considered a plus defender in center field, and could be the starter for the Giants on Opening Day 2014. For this year, there's not a lot blocking him really, but he hasn't really played well enough to deserve it on that merit alone. I could see him stealing 2-3 bases and hitting 1-2 home runs in a month of time, but he might hurt your batting average in that time as well. For me, he would be an NL-only play for that last month.
Billy Hamilton - OF - Cincinnati Reds
Currently Blocked by: Shin-Soo Choo, Ryan Ludwick
You know about the speed, and honestly double digit stolen bases in a month wouldn't surprise me from Hamilton even if he only plays two or three times a week. The Reds' AAA affiliate is still in the race for a playoff spot, just 4.5 back with 20 games to play, but are also 4 games under .500 and would need to pass five teams to get there. With the Reds in a playoff hunt themselves, I doubt they let a AAA playoff run keep them from adding a player who could make a difference in a tight divisional race. He is absolutely worth a flier down the stretch, as he can make an impact in the stolen base category in your league. The hard part is in weekly leagues where, without the potential guarantee of 5-6 starts, you'd be in a tough spot if you have an option that can play at a lower level, but with more at bats.
David Holmberg - SP - Arizona Diamondbacks
Currently Blocked by: Tyler Skaggs, Trevor Cahill, Randall Delgado, Zeke Spruill
Holmberg is having another great season, this time at AA, where he has a 2.76 ERA, 122 hits allowed, 103 strikeouts and 44 walks in 140 innings pitched. He's not a front-end of the rotation type of starting pitcher, but likely a very solid #4 starter. The back end of the Diamondbacks rotation has been a bit of a revolving door this season due to injuries and ineffectiveness, and with Holmberg needing to be protected this offseason, he could get a look if the Diamondbacks fall out of the race. It's more likely that his teammate in Mobile, Archie Bradley, could be an impact player down the stretch, but I could see a scenario where Holmberg is brought up to showcase him for a potential offseason trade as well. He's probably an NL-only play if he does, but I would watch for favorable matchups in mixed leagues if he does.
Christian Colon - 2B - Kansas City Royals
Currently Blocked by: Chris Getz, Jamey Carroll, Elliot Johnson, Johnny Giavotella, Miguel Tejada
Colon was knocked at the time of his draft for being the 4th best player in a draft class that had potentially 3 elite level players in Harper, Taillon and Machado, but was expected to be one of the quickest to the Majors. However, he is still toiling away at AAA Omaha, having a reasonable but not massively productive season at the plate with a .267/.327/.379 line with 12 home runs and 13 stolen bases. It's concerning that given how bad the Royals' production has been at second base that Colon has not been called up, but they have continued to run Chris Getz out there rather than a potentially better player in Giavotella. Colon seems the least likely of these five to get that shot, but more likely he gets a shot in Spring Training.