MLB Daily Dish: September Call up tracker
If you are looking for a complete list of prospects called up from the minors this month, look no further than theSeptember Call Up Tracker over at MLB Daily Dish.
The Tracker provides a team by team break down of every prospect promoted to the big leagues.
Fantasy Football Week 1 Rankings
In case you missed it, I posted links to the position rankings for Week 1 of the 2013 NFL season last night and you can check them out in the link below:
If you still haven't drafted, make sure you check out all the fantasy football goodness linked in this post:
Fantasy Football 2013: Rankings, Sleepers, Targets and Avoids
Jason Parks' thoughts on Joey Gallo and Julio Urias
I was reading Jason Parks prospect chat over at Baseball Prospectus last night, and came across a couple responses to questions about Dodgers pitching prospect Julio Urias and Rangers third base prospect Joey Gallo that are worth mentioning here today.
Parks on Julio Urias
Shawnykid23 (CT): I saw somewhere that Dodgers officials are saying Julio Urias could be in LA as early as age 18. Given how agreesive they were with Puig, does this seem possible? Could he have a role 7 ceiling?
Jason Parks: I don't think it has anything to do with Puig; player specific.
But yes, I think he could pitch in the majors as an 18-year-old. Some marketing and PR advantages built in with Urias. but the overall profile could justify such an aggressive developmental plan.
All I have to say is wow. There is still a lot that can happen between now and then since Urias is all of 16 years of age pitching in Low A, but I have a hard time believing the Dodgers would do that to the young kid.
Parks on Joey Gallo
ttt (Manhattan): Most power in the minors? Sano or Gallo?
Jason Parks: Gallo has the most raw power I've ever seen at the minor league level.
Yeah, Gallo just took over the minor league lead in home runs over the weekend, hitting 41 home runs on the season, all at the young age of 18. The problem with Gallo is when he isn't hitting home runs, he strikes out quite a bit, like 37% of his plate appearances. He does walk in about 11% of his plate appearances, so he is a True Three Outcome hitter.
Pablo Sandoval homers three times
Well, it certainly hasn't been one of Pablo Sandoval's best season's at the plate, but he tried to make up for things yesterday, as he homered not once, not twice, but three times vs the Padres. In Petco Park!!
Sandoval went 4-5 with 3 HRs, 3 runs and 6 RBI in the Giants 13-5 win over the Padres. Sandoval is now hitting .277-.333-.415 with 13 HRs, 46 runs and 71 RBI in 119 games this season. He entered June with 8 home runs, but hit just two runs over the last three months, although he missed some time in June due to a foot injury. He could prove to be a bargain next season as he will fall in most rankings prior to draft day.
For more on Sandoval's big day at the plate, check out McCovey's Chronicles, SB Nation's Giants fan site.
David Ortiz: Gets better with age
Ortiz is having one heck of a season at the plate this year, and last night he continued his onslaught on American League pitching, as he went 3-5 with a double, 2 HRs, 3 runs and 4 RBI in the Red Sox 20-4 thrashing of the Tigers last night. Ortiz hit two of the Red Sox eight home runs last night.
On the season, the 37 year old Ortiz is hitting .313-.396-.567 with 26 HRs, 30 doubles, 64 runs and 89 RBI, and is on pace for another 30 HR, 100 RBI season. He seems to be getting better with age.
For more on Ortiz and the Red Sox 20 run outburst, check out Over the Monster, SB Nation's Red Sox fan site.
Round'em Up
Mets starter Dillon Gee has one awful start to the 2013 season, with ERAs north of 5.00 in each of the first two months of the season. But, things started going his way in June, and have been ever since. Gee limited the Braves to one run on 4 hits, a walk and 5 strikeouts in the Mets 5-2 win yesterday afternoon. Gee is now 11-8 on the season with a 3.53 and 1.28 WHIP in his 28 starts, and has given up two runs or less in eight of his last ten starts.
He only has 163 at bats since his call up, but Marlins outfielder Christian Yelich appears to be pretty comfortable at the plate at the big league level. Yelich only went 1-5 in the Marlins 9-7 loss to the Cubs yesterday, striking out three times, but he also stole a base. He is now hitting .288-.356-.405 with 3 HRs, 21 runs, 12 RBI and 6 stolen bases in 6 attempts, but he does strike out quite a bit, striking out in 39 of those 163 at bats thus far. He has 20-20 potential in 2014.
Unlike Pablo Sandoval, A's third baseman Josh Donaldson should shoot up third base rankings in 2014. Donaldson went 2-4 with a HR and 3 RBI in the A's big win over the Rangers yesterday afternoon. Donaldson is now hitting .293-.370-.487 with 20 HRs, 70 runs and 80 RBI this season, and with a big month of September could approach his first 100 RBI season.
Rangers ace Yu Darvish put up all kinds of crooked numbers vs the A's on Wednesday afternoon, giving up 5 runs on 5 hits, 6 walks and 4 strikeouts in the Rangers loss to the A's. Darvish is now 12-7 with a 2.91 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and a 240-66 K-BB rate in 179.2 innings this season. I will probably rank him right behind Clayton Kershaw on my starting pticher rankings that I am currently working on.
I included Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis in my Top 25 Hitters for 2014 article last week, and some readers disagreed with me on him, citing his second consecutive second half slump. Kipnis went 2-3 with a walk and 2 runs scored in the Indians 6-4 win over the slumping Orioles. Kipnis is now hitting .284-.368-.468 with 17 HRs, 72 runs, 76 RBI and 24 stolen bases, and could approach a 20-30 season with a solid last month of the season. Not many 20 HR-30 stolen base hitters in the middle of the infield, which makes him very valuable.
More from Fake Teams:
- Fantasy Football 2013: Week 1 Rankings
- Streamer Report: Thursday's Streamers
- Know Your Splits: September Surgers
- Deep League Thoughts -- Subtle DeJesus
- MLB Prospect Rankings: Reviewing My Bold Prospect Predictions, Part 2
- Roto Roundup: George Springer, Homer Bailey, Ubaldo Jimenez and Others
- Risers and Fallers: Adam Eaton, Avisail Garcia and Others