The Buy and Hold: Week 19

It was another busy week of call ups, with three more prospects getting the call (on top of the fact that we already knew Severino was coming), so let's get right into this week's call ups and top 15.

Henry Owens debuted against the Yankees on Tuesday night, posting five strikeouts but with six baserunners and three earned runs in the loss. The Red Sox are clearly at the point where they are seeing who can help them for the 2016 season, and I would expect Owens to get a fair amount of starts the rest of the way. He can potentially provide high strikeout totals, but it does come with some WHIP risk.

Richie Shaffer has already played a game at first, a game at third, and served as the DH for the Rays since his callup on Monday, and has already hit his first home run in the bigs. He even can laugh at himself a little bit, as he got the silent treatment and it didn't stop him from giving out high fives without his teammates right there. He looks like he'll get playing time at the corners and could even see time in the outfield down the stretch, and could be a nice source of power the rest of the year.

Jon Gray finally was called up by the Rockies, and made his debut on Tuesday against the Mariners. He went just four innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out four in a no-decision. It sounds like Gray will be on a fairly tight innings limit the rest of the way, so keep that in mind when planning out his use for your team for the rest of the season. I can easily see him being shut down at the end of August given the 30-35 innings limit it sounds like is anticipated.

Luis Severino was excellent in his debut against the Red Sox on Wednesday, striking out seven over five innings. The Baseball Tonight podcast on Thursday speculated that the team could limit his innings within each start to help keep him making starts through October without going over his innings cap. It's something to keep in mind if your league uses games started as opposed to innings limits, as he could end up with a lot of five inning starts toward that end.

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
Week 14: Miguel Sano (6), Wilmer Difo
Week 15: Brian Johnson (15), Kyle Schwarber (3), Aaron Nola (5)
Week 16: Michael Conforto (6), Joe Ross (9), Stephen Piscotty (11)
Week 17: Rusney Castillo (4), Daniel Norris (5), Luis Severino (10), Ketel Marte
Week 18: Henry Owens (7), Richie Shaffer (5), Jon Gray (8)

1. Joey Gallo - 3B/OF - Rangers (PR: 1)

Gallo went nuts on Thursday night, hitting three bombs to give him 25 on the year between the minors and the majors. It's still not clear where they would play him if he is called up in August, but he has the highest potential to provide a 7+ home run month with regular playing time.

2. Corey Seager - 3B/SS - Dodgers (PR: 2)
3. Jose Berrios - RHP - Twins (PR: 13)

The Twins called up Tyler Duffey this week to make a start, which went about as well as you might expect it to go against the juggernaut that is the Blue Jays. The team also optioned him back to AAA, which means he won't be able to take his next turn without someone going on the disabled list. They don't need a fifth starter until the 15th, so who knows if we see Tommy Milone return or the call up of Jose Berrios. Hopefully it's the latter.

4. Aaron Judge - OF - Yankees (PR: 4)
5. Hector Olivera - 3B - Braves (PR: 3)

Olivera had a setback in his rehab, and with that it sounds like he may not be ready until closer to September 1st. His drop now is more related to the fact that he's only going to have the potential to get into about 25-30 games as opposed to the previously anticipated 40-45. It's not a big difference, but at this time of year it can make an impact.

6. Robert Stephenson - RHP - Reds (PR: 6)
7. Justin Nicolino - LHP - Marlins (PR: 9)
8. Nick Tropeano - RHP - Angels (PR: NR)

Marlins' starter Jose Urena pitched just two innings on Thursday night against the Braves, and while Jarred Cosart has begun throwing, I think the Marlins turn to Nicolino sooner rather than later. The Angels are planning to call up Tropeano to start on Sunday, and honestly, I'd rather take a shot with him the rest of the way than run Jered Weaver out there.

9. Dalton Pompey - OF - Blue Jays (PR: 11)
10. Nomar Mazara - OF - Rangers (PR: 12)
11. Trevor Story - SS - Rockies (PR: 14)
12. Tyler Glasnow - RHP - Pirates (PR: 15)
13. Trea Turner - SS - Nationals (PR: HM)
14. Mark Appel - RHP - Astros (PR: NR)
15. Rob Refsnyder - 2B - Yankees (PR: NR)

We've reached the portion of the list where it's a number of players that I don't necessarily see getting calls before September, but that could have a solid value down through that final month if they get regular playing time. The callups this season have been so frequent that we're starting to stretch to see prospects that can still provide impact for most fantasy owners. Out of this group, I think Glasnow ends up in the bullpen for the Pirates, Appel may make a couple spot starts to help keep innings down, and at some point please let the Yankees stop running Stephen Drew out there at second base.

Honorable Mentions:

Blake Snell - LHP - Rays (PR: NR)
Jose Peraza - 2B/OF - Dodgers (PR: HM)
Domingo Santana - OF - Brewers (PR: HM)

Snell has had a meteoric rise this season, starting the year at High-A and now on the cusp of the majors. I can see the team giving him a couple starts down the line here since he has to be protected on the 40-man roster in the offseason anyway. Whether he makes the team out of Spring Training remains an open question, but I think he's up to stay at some point next year.

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. Joey Gallo - 3B/OF - Rangers (PR: 2)
3. J.P. Crawford - SS - Phillies (PR: 3)
4. Julio Urias - LHP - Dodgers (PR: 4)
5. Nomar Mazara - OF - Rangers (PR: 5) 
6. Tim Anderson - SS - White Sox (PR: 6)
7. Chi-Chi Gonzalez - RHP - Rangers (PR: 7)
8. Aaron Judge - OF - Yankees (PR: 8)
9. Trea Turner - SS - Nationals (PR: 9)
10. Tyler Glasnow - RHP - Pirates (PR: 10)