Fantasy Baseball Prospects: James Wood, Orelvis Martinez, Cade Povich, Junior Caminero

Hello, is there anybody out there? In the fantasy baseball prospects streets, it feels pretty empty. The players that have come up haven’t lived up to the hype, and the pool of who is worth stashing has gotten shallower. So is there anyone worth the title of “stashing.” I will explore that with the top names that have come to be associated with these types of lists.

Fantasy Baseball Prospects to Stash

Are there any left?

YES – James Wood (OF – WAS )

#FreeJamesWood because what else do you need to see Washington? He’s hitting .358 with 9 home runs, 10 stolen bases, and a 34/37 BB/K ratio. He’s homered in back-to-back games in AAA as of writing this and has hit seven of those nine home runs in May alone. Do we have split problems? He’s hitting .316 against Lefties and .370 against Righties. Here are some numbers for you

.087, .180, .184, .226 and .275

These are the batting averages of the current Washington outfielders.

14

This is the number of COMBINED home runs between the mentioned outfielders.

At this point, there is no good case for James Wood in the minors, unless you think and use Jackson Holliday as the test case. Which, to a degree, is valid. #FreeJamesWood

Editor’s Note: James Wood was removed from Thursday’s game early. There was some initial speculation his removal could be related to a callup, but he’s reportedly dealing with lower body soreness. He’s considered day-to-day for now.

Hearing that James Wood exited tonight’s Rochester game with lower body soreness. Not call-up related.

— Andrew Golden (@andrewcgolden) May 24, 2024

PROBABLY – Junior Caminero (3B/2B – TB )

Junior Caminero has now played 3 games at second base. Correlation is not causation of course, but in his last three games, he is hitless, going 0-12. His batting average has now dropped down to .279. The focus on a new position can take a toll on a hitter, which isn’t some awful thing. What it could mean though, is a bumpier road to getting a call-up. Brandon Lowe was activated recently, though since his activation he is hitless. The Rays could use his bat now, but they don’t seem motivated. If Caminero were called up today, would I say he’s a must-pickup? Yes! That’s what makes him so difficult. He is a player you want to have, but without a clear timeline, the stash is murky. The aggressiveness of picking him up now is probably a bit more dependent on league and roster restrictions. If there was someone worth taking the risk though, it’s Junior.

YES – Cade Povich (SP – BAL )

Johns Means’ elbow is not good. The Orioles are waiting on the results of an MRI as of writing this. If it’s bad, Povich…you ARE the starter. There are options the Orioles can toy with, but Povich has been one of the more dominant starters in the minors. Over nine starts in AAA he has a 2.08 ERA with 65 K’s in 47 innings pitched. He doesn’t overpower anyone with his fastball. He touched 93 in his last start and sits around 91.5. How he uses it, though, is the key. In his last start, he posted a 45% WHIFF rate on the fastball for nine whiffs. He uses a Fastball/Changeup/Curveball/Cutter mix while holding batters to a sub .200 BA in the minors.

Fun Povich Facts – He is third in baseball in strikeouts behind teammate Chayce McDermott and has the lowest starter ERA in AAA.

Maybe Not – Orelvis Martinez (SS – TOR )

For the stat sheet prospector, Orelvis was their champion. Some excitement was warranted though. In April, there were only four total games where he did not register a hit. That is wildly impressive. Jump to May 23rd, and he only has a hit in six total games. On May 1st he was hitting .310, but today he’s down to .243 after hitting .158 in May. The positive news is he has hit four home runs while riding the struggle bus through the month. We also have not seen dramatic regression in his strikeouts. His talents have been on display, but some of the worries are still there, especially in the form of consistency. I said earlier this year, a worry I had was he had never hit better than .275 in a single minor league season, as well as not hitting above .243 over the last two seasons. As of May 23rd, he’s hitting .243 with 11 home runs and 0 stolen bases. He’ll be someone to speculate on once the call-up happens, but I don’t view him as some you need to stash.

Fantasy Baseball Prospects for Your Watch List

I view these players as guys I’d pick up in deeper leagues or under the right circumstances. They aren’t must adds prospects, but players worth knowing their names if a surprise move happens. The list also incorporates a little guess work into them being the next crop of players we see.

Looking for more fantasy prospects? Follow me on Twitter @isitthewelsh and check out my fantasy prospect show, “Prospect One.”

MLB James Wood Jackson Holliday Junior Caminero Brandon Lowe Cade Povich Chayce McDermott Orelvis Martinez Connor Norby Niko Kavadas Will Warren Adam Mazur Sem Robberse Pedro Leon Caleb Durbin