It’s Wednesday. You know what that means. We are back with another prospect report where we look at rookies who were just called up, making an impact in the big leagues or are turning heads in the minors. Since the promotions have slowed up somewhat, I’m going to look at a few players who have recently gotten the call as well as how a few prospects who were recently sent down are doing.
Let’s not waste any time and get right to it.
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All stats are accurate as of Tuesday afternoon on May 30.
Hayden Wesneski (SP – CHC)
Wesneski was a popular draft-season darling, as his pure stuff looked like it could sneakily play for fantasy at the big-league level. But the results haven’t been good for him in 39.1 innings, as he has a 5.03 ERA and a 6.15 xERA.
Wesneski, who is allowing a 12.3 Barrel% and has just a 16.7K%, is getting a call back to Chicago and seems like a candidate to piggyback with Kyle Hendricks, which could give him some fantasy value. He’s a wait-and-see as of now, but the Spring Training hype was there for a reason.
Grayson Rodriguez (SP – BAL)
If you’re in a dynasty league, you should be turning to the G-Rod manager in your league and looking to acquire him. He’s struggled so far, and I was wrong about his immediate impact, as he was a big-league-ready arm.
He’ll go back to Triple-A, but I can’t imagine that it will be for an extended time. He’ll be worth grabbing again in redraft leagues once he gets called back up.
Jordan Westburg (SS – BAL)
Don’t look now but Westburg is annihilating the ball in Triple-A, posting a .981 OPS with 13 home runs, 84 runs+RBIs, and a 142 wRC+ in 44 games.
The Jorge Mateo experience is going to end soon, and if it’s not Joey Ortiz, I’m happy that it will be Westburg – who is the better player and has a higher fantasy ceiling – to run with the job. The 24-year-old should appear in Baltimore in the next week or two.
Ben Joyce (RP – LAA)
The Angels called up their 2022 draft pick, and he was pretty impressive, throwing 11 sinkers and one cutter in his 12 pitches. With his sinker, he averaged – yes, averaged – 101.3 with it, and it shockingly only had 14 inches of vertical drop.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Joyce take over the ninth-inning duties for the Angels eventually, but he can be a strikeout and ratio resource for the time being.
Royce Lewis (3B,SS – MIN)
Lewis was in the midst of his breakout season last year before suffering a season-ending injury. It’s easy to forget just how good he was.
He’s back to remind us, as he had a home run and four RBIs in his return to the bigs on Memorial Day. Lewis has had really bad injury luck so far, derailing his promising career. He’s a top-12 shortstop for me moving forward.
James Wood (OF – WSH)
Say what you will about the Nationals farm system (it isn’t good) and ability to develop pitching (also, not good), but they are aggressive when it comes to promoting their hitting prospects.
Wood got the call to Harrisburg, and if he continues to progress there, I wouldn’t at all be shocked if he skips Triple-A and goes to Washington this year. The 20-year-old has massive power and some speed, too, and the thing that we need to watch the closest with him is his ability to make consistent contact given that his strikeout rate in High-A was 27.1 percent this season.
Elehuris Montero (3B – COL)
Montero should have never been sent down. There, I said it. But it’s the Rockies, so things happen. The former Cardinals prospect has forced his way back to the big leagues thanks to Charlie Blackmon going on the IL. Montero posted a .383/.435/.765 line with 13 home runs in 28 Triple-A games. Now, it’s up to Colorado to get him (and the recently promoted Nolan Jones) regular plate appearances.
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.
