“Knocking Down the Door” is a regular feature that identifies minor leaguers who are making a case for a big league promotion.
Dustin Fowler, CF, Athletics (Triple-A Nashville) | Athletics Depth Chart
Despite a devastating leg injury that occurred during the first inning of his MLB debut last June, many still expected Fowler to be the starting center fielder on Opening Day. While health did not appear to be a major factor—he had 47 plate appearances in 19 games this spring—the 23-year-old was understandably rusty at the plate. He hit just .222 with two walks and 13 strikeouts in the Cactus League. As a result, his Oakland A’s debut would have to wait until he began to show the form that catapulted him up prospect lists with the Yankees last season (.871 OPS, 13 HR, 19 2B, 8 3B, 13 SB in 70 Triple-A games). If the last seven games are any indication, he is getting close.
With 14 hits in his past 33 at-bats, including his first two homers of the season, a trio of three-hit games, three doubles and a pair of triples, Fowler has boosted his batting average over the .300 mark. He also has six stolen bases, which is a good indication that he’s recovered from his injury. The versatile Mark Canha has been productive while getting the majority of starts in center field as of late, but he’ll move back into a part-time role once Fowler arrives.
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Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 3B, Blue Jays (Double-A New Hampshire) | Blue Jays Depth Chart
A 19-year-old with only a few weeks of Double-A experience has no business being on this list. Or being this good, even if his father is a Hall of Famer. But Vladimir Jr., after just 96 plate appearances, is making it clear that he has no business being at this level for much longer. The right-handed hitting third baseman is slashing .380/.442/.582 with two homers, eight doubles, 10 walks and 10 strikeouts in his first 20 games. He was also 7-for-13 in MLB camp during an impressive spring that he capped off with a walk-off homer in an exhibition game in Montreal.
The only question for now is whether he makes a stop in Triple-A before he begins his MLB career. Once he’s in the Majors, he’ll be in the lineup on a regular basis. With Josh Donaldson expected back soon from the disabled list after missing time with shoulder discomfort, it’s possible that Guerrero spells him at third base a few days per week and serves as the designated hitter on other days. The odd man out would be Kendrys Morales, who is hitless in his last 21 at-bats and is 8-for-50 on the season.
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Josh Staumont, RP, Royals (Triple-A Omaha) | Royals Depth Chart
Entering 2017 as one of the Royals’ best prospects, Staumont flopped in his first full season in the upper minors with a 5.56 ERA and 7.0 BB/9 in 124 2/3 innings between Triple-A and Double-A. A move to the bullpen has him back on track so far in 2018.
While the walks are still an issue—he’s walked seven in 10 1/3 Triple-A innings—he’s allowed just one earned run and hasn’t walked more than one batter in seven of his eight appearances. The 24-year-old right-hander has also struck out 22 batters, including 10 over his past two outings (3 2/3 IP). Coincidentally, the Royals have one of the worst bullpens in the Majors. Their closer, Kelvin Herrera, isn’t part of the problem, but he’s expected to be traded to a contender by July 31st and probably sooner than that. Staumont should get a chance to prove that he can be a part of the team’s late-inning, post-Herrera relief crew.
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Christin Stewart, OF, Tigers (Triple-A Toledo) | Tigers Depth Chart
The Tigers had a fairly uneventful offseason, which wasn’t totally unexpected as they moved toward a rebuild. But with several free agents available at a discounted rate—Carlos Gomez, Carlos Gonzalez and Jon Jay are just a few examples—it was a bit surprising that they took a hard pass and began the season with Mikie Mahtook and Leonys Martin in their starting outfield. While it’s not clear whether the Stewart factored in to the decision—he hit 28 homers in Double-A in 2017, but also struck out 138 times—he could soon get the chance to show that he can be a part of the solution.
Not only has the 24-year-old left fielder continued to mash in the upper minors—he’s slashing .311/.404/.568 with four homers, five doubles and 11 walks in his first 89 Triple-A plate appearances—he’s also striking out at a much lower rate than in year’s past (24 % in ’17; 15 % in ’18). Playing alongside Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez should only help to continue that trend.
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Luis Urias, 2B, Padres (Triple-A El Paso) | Padres Depth Chart
Padres hitters continue to rack up strikeouts at a record pace. They lead the league with 309 whiffs in 1135 plate appearances and are on their way to surpassing the MLB single-season record of 1571. As a comparison, Urias has struck out 150 times in 1618 plate appearances in the minors. He also has 166 walks. The 20-year-old won’t be their savior in 2018, but he can certainly help this bunch.
Over his first 19 games in Triple-A, Urias is slashing .307/.416/.440 with two homers, four doubles, 13 walks and 15 strikeouts. He has nine hits, six walks and one strikeout over his last 22 plate appearances. The Padres moved quickly to fill two rotation spots with prospects—Joey Lucchesi and Eric Lauer both debuted in April—and now it’s becoming increasingly possible that Urias joins them to replace the struggling Carlos Asuaje (.576 OPS) as the starting second baseman.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
I got excited to see another pirate on this list, then I realized he wasn’t a pirate
So the last time I checked Josh Staumont is apart of the Royals and on there it says Pirates
Fixed. Thanks!
Man, an actual starting second baseman in San Diego? That’s crazy talk.
The Jays would be silly to bring up Vladdy this year at all.
If they fall out of it and trade some guys at the deadline, I could see him making a late season cameo. Otherwise I think it’s rushing him, although he’s been incredible so far and he could probably handle it.
I think he could handle it for sure. He’s still super young though and would it not burn a year of control to bring him up this year?
The Jays would be nuts to burn a year of control and start the clock ticking on Vlad jr. This year will end up a washout for the Jays, they don’t have the rotation to compete. Forget it. Leave him down and let him learn more.
It wouldn’t burn a year, but it’d just push back his call up date in a future season. But if they’re in the race and Guerrero can help make a push for the playoffs, it probably won’t matter. Give him some AB’s in a pennant race, that’ll probably be a lot better for his development rather than AAA meatballs
AGreed, except for I don’t think the Jays are going to be anywhere near a playoff race, so leave him down unless it is a critical call up for sure to be a playoff bound team.
Don’t count the jays out yet! Remember fellas is two wildcards 1 probably belongs to Boston or NY and the last one is up for grabs!
That’s assuming Vlad will spend more time in the minors in future seasons and won’t be up for good. I doubt that’s an assumption the Jays would make, so the timing of when they bring him up has to be a consideration, they can’t necessarily just make up for it later. That said, they should just get him extended as far into the future as they can right now and forget about worrying about service time with him.
Even Bichette is doing well, one would think, and agreeing with Jimmer, they both stay in the minors but will very likely be up possibly next year for the full year
At the very least Vlad should be called up to Buffalo and I’d do it soon.
We can talk about team control, there’s something more important than that; impact player.
Odds are, Vlad will take some time before becoming that impact player. In 2011 Mike Trout was brought up just shy of his 20th birthday and gained major league experience. That would be beneficial for Vlad. Delaying the inevitable because of team control is the wrong approach. If he rakes in AAA, bring him up in August. Jays would need to lock him up anyway if he’s that good.
If he can’t handle it at 19-20, I doubt he’d handle it at 22-23. If he earns the right to be on a major league roster he should be on a major league roster. Let to organization and the agent work out a long term deal in the near future.
Urias is coming soon
Urias will be a big shot in the arm for the team whenever he gets called up. The guy is an on-base machine.
I don’t see why Padres would call up Urias before late June. Why get him Super 2 status, they don’t gain much by having him for an extra 45 games this year.
What about Bo Bichette?
He’s not tearing up AA like Vlad has been, and has made way too many errors. Most likely he spends the entire season in AA.
Vlad only plays this year if the jays make the playoffs. JD and Vlad could cycle between 3rd 1st and DH with smoak playing 1st and DH. Also Vlad could play LF vs LHP and JD could play 2nd if Travis/Diaz/Gurriel aren’t playing well and Granderson/Pearce are playing well. So there are options but I’d say 95% chance Vlad doesn’t get AB’s this year, the fisher cats will prob b in the playoffs (vlads AA team) also out side chance Buffalo makes the post season aswell
Smoak should be trade bait to allow Vlad to come up. Smoak can get a nice return. That all changes, however, if the Jays are in contention.
The Jays have enough depth to cover DH (assuming Morales was DFA’d, as the article implies) that calling up Vlad shouldn’t be necessary, nor would it be ideal to have him DH’ing even semi-regularly as opposed to playing the field full-time.
The time is rapidly approaching when TOR will have to swallow hard and DFA Morales. They’ll have to eat his salary, but when you have a DH who’s hit below replacement level for more than a year, you don’t have many more options than DFA or relegate him to pinch hitting duty.
As a Braves fan, I think the Jays should lose Vlad since it was widely reported they had a deal in place long before he was eligible to sign
I don’t think you understand why the Braves were in such hot water. Every team does “handshake deals”. The braves did package deals and gave prospects things they weren’t supposed to be given
If that is the case, Anthopoulos and his staff at the time should be suspended. Oh wait, didn’t that happen to your previous GM in Atlanta?
The Jays would be stupid to rush Vlad Jr. There is no need. Donaldson will be back soon & Solarte can spell him if needed. Let Vlad continue to play every day. If the Jays fall out of the race & trade Donaldson, then bring him. Otherwise, let him in the minors
Hard to find the Vlad stats on Baseball Reference, but after going to Google and hunting and hunting….here you go…baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=gue…
So glad to hear that Fowler is doing well. I was absolutely devastated for him on his debut. Then he gets traded for Sonny Gray while he recovers. Oh well. Keep working hard and you’ll be back in the majors in no time!