It’s a September call-ups edition of Big Hype Prospects. MLBTR’s Steve Adams and Anthony Franco already highlighted each club’s initial promotions. We’ll use that list to focus in on the most interesting inclusions and snubs.
Five Big Hype Prospects
Gunnar Henderson, 21, SS/3B, BAL (MLB)
8 PA, 1 HR, 1 SB, .375/.375/.750
Two games into his Major League debut, Henderson has already supplied a bevy of highlights in the field, at the plate, and on the basepaths. The legend will only grow. The Orioles second number one overall prospect to be promoted this season, Henderson’s arrival could help spur the club to a postseason berth. Of all the players promoted by contenders, he has the most impactful potential. While most playoff-bound clubs feature relatively complete rosters, Baltimore has regularly started Rougned Odor (406 PA, 0.1 fWAR). Additionally, third baseman Ramon Urias (2.0 fWAR) hasn’t hit much since late-July. Working Henderson into the infield mix should prove a net-positive in September even if he has some growing pains along the way. He’s started one game at third and shortstop.
Hunter Brown, 24, SP, HOU (MLB)
(AAA) 106 IP, 11.38 K/9, 3.82 BB/9, 2.55 ERA
Depending on the seriousness of Justin Verlander’s calf strain, Brown might draw a start or three down the stretch this season. Initially, he’ll be employed out of the bullpen with Cristian Javier rejoining the rotation in Verlander’s spot.
This season, Brown successfully built upon a decent 2021 campaign in which longstanding command issues led to muted results. Regardless of his future role, the stuff should play. The right-hander features premium fastball velocity and a pair of potent breaking balls. The curve pairs particularly well with his heater. A pitcher scouting report is never complete without a comment about a “still-developing” changeup. The success of players like Spencer Strider suggests a changeup or even a third offering of any kind shouldn’t be viewed as a requirement. If Brown ultimately stuggles as a starter, it’ll be more due to his lack of command than his repertoire.
One odd little wrinkle: Brown posted a 54.2 percent ground ball rate this season. That’s roughly in-line with past performances. What makes it odd is the way his fastball and curve tunnel together lend themselves to a fly ball profile. I’ll be watching closely to gain a better understanding of how he uses his repertoire.
Oswald Peraza, 22, SS, NYY (MLB)
(AAA) 429 PA, 19 HR, 33 SB, .259/.329/.448
As expected, the Yankees opted to grant Peraza his first taste of the Majors. Many Yankees fans were clamoring for Anthony Volpe to leapfrog Peraza straight from Double-A. Peraza profiles as a fairly classic shortstop prospect. Defensively, he’s smooth and athletic. In an era riddled with oversized shortstops who post positive defensive metrics mostly due to positioning, Peraza should comfortably stand out as a quality defender.
His hitting remains a work in progress. The fantasy-oriented among you will surely note the excellent combination of power and speed. Yet, there’s potentially a deeper issue with his triple-slash line. His plate discipline and feel for contact haven’t been as effective as many hoped. He remains quite young and could certainly continue to make gains in those areas. Early in his career, expect Major League pitchers to prey upon his willingness to expand the strike zone.
Spencer Steer, 24, 2B/3B, CIN (MLB)
(AA/AAA) 492 PA, 23 HR, 4 SB, .274/.364/.515
A gamer the Reds picked up at the trade deadline from the Twins, Steer is poised to fill an everyday utility role in Cincinnati for the next half decade or more. He profiles as an excellent fit for Great American Ballpark. While he’s hit perhaps too many grounders since joining the Reds org, he’s historically skewed towards fly ball contact. His raw power is a tad fringy for his pulled, fly ball contact profile, but GABP is often the gift that keeps on giving to fly ball hitters. No matter how his batted ball profile eventually shakes out, he has sufficient discipline and contact ability to stick in the Majors. He might not ever be an All-Star, but he looks like somebody who should carve out a tidy career.
Jonathan Aranda, 24, 1B/2B, TBR (MLB)
(AAA) 465 PA, 18 HR, 4 SB, .318/.394/.521
Aranda isn’t truly considered a top prospect due to physical attributes scouts have a hard time accepting. However, he has advanced feel for barreling the ball. He’s no better than league average from a raw power perspective, possibly even minus, but he makes up for it via a lofty, contact-driven BABIP and a healthy HR/FB ratio. He’s not a conventional prospect as he’s a tad undersized for first base and isn’t really sufficiently fleet-footed for a utility role. However, the bat should play, and the Rays are absolutely the right org for figuring out how to squeeze him into the lineup without any detrimental effects. With Brandon Lowe once again on the injured list, Aranda could bounce between second base and designated hitter. He also has minimal experience in left field.
Five More
Ken Waldichuk, OAK (24): Waldichuk made his debut on Thursday. His command woes were on full display even while Nationals hitters were clearly uncomfortable. The Washington offense is best considered a Quad-A unit. We’ll see how Waldichuk fairs against true Major League caliber opponents later this month.
Spencer Torkelson, DET (23): No longer technically a prospect because he made 298 plate appearances earlier in the season, Torkelson is nonetheless still a development piece. If one is hunting for positives, Torkelson hit particularly well at Triple-A in 58 plate appearances since mid-August. On the whole, he posted a modest 100 wRC+ in 155 Triple-A plate appearances – hardly inspiring output for a former Top 10 prospect. He rejoined the big league lineup tonight.
Josh Jung, TEX (24): Perhaps the most-notable snub, Jung has thrashed Triple-A pitching in 83 plate appearances. The Rangers are using guarded language when talking about when they’ll promote their top prospect. I’m now inclined to believe they intend to hold off on promoting him until next season. While it’s certainly plausible that they want another year of club control over Jung, he’s not exactly… young. It’s equally plausible the Rangers legitimately believe remaining in Triple-A will be better for Jung’s health and development.
Esteury Ruiz, MIL (23): Following the Josh Hader trade, many (myself included) thought Ruiz would immediately join the Brewers outfield mix. Then, when they consistently passed him over even as the Major League club floundered in the NL Central, it became clear they didn’t believe he could improve upon the work of Tyrone Taylor, Jonathan Davis, Garrett Mitchell, and others of questionable utility. It’s possible he’s mostly on hand to serve as a pinch runner and defensive replacement. Notably, Ruiz has not homered since June 15, though he continues to run with aplomb.
Triston Casas, BOS, (22): Another roster expansion snub, Casas has hit .300/.410/.515 since rejoining Triple-A on July 22. He has 11 doubles, a triple, and five home runs over the same span. While he appears to be both big league ready and an obvious upgrade over the Red Sox current mix of first basemen, the Red Sox appear to be undecided about how to handle Casas. They could be jockeying for the extra season of club control, or they might merely be delaying a decision.
I heard Henderson really struggles vs lefties. But he is in the lineup vs a lefty tonight.
LouWhitakerHOF;
We shall see.
I love Jorge Mateo’s game. Maybe the best SS range in MLB. Throws over 100 mph when needed. Always threat to steal, possibly the fastest runner around the bases in MLB (I believe he’s been clocked as such) – routinely scores from 2B on a single and 1B on a double. But he makes a lot of errors (some due to his range where needs to eat the ball because he has no play). However, if Henderson can play SS 80% as well as Mateo he may take over that position.
If Henderson does struggle against LH pitchers that puts him in with Vavra, Stowers, Rutschman, and to some degree Santander (the last 2 switch hitters that do much better LH). They’re all young. The O’s hitting coach(s) have some work to do there then next year or two.
I like Gunner’s swing. Looks short/compact and very quick. Chase Utley like?
C Yards Jeff;
I think that deep, high LF wall at Camden Yards is hurting their RH hitters (of course it helps the pitchers). They ought to being that in next year maybe a dozen feet; and if it makes them feel better, move the wall in Right back the same distance.
@Samuel; as always, interesting insight. Thanks! Deeper RF wall? Farout! Hey, in regards to LF wall move back, has it gotten in to Mountcastle’s head a bit?
They aren’t moving the RF wall…that’s ridiculous. It’s a frigging huge wall.
The Orioles are a tenant of Camden Yards. If the owner thinks revenue can be enhanced by moving that right field wall, they may just do it. Doubtful of course, but not an impossibility. Do you know who the owner is?
RedFraggle;
The wall in LF is larger, and they moved/built that last offseason.
I like Hunter Brown.
Don’t understand Casas not playing in Boston yet
He has only 80 games @AAA level. Nearly 50% K rate vs lefties. He needs more seasoning more than the Sox need him right now. He could use another half year in Worcester to hone his skills further. Just not ready to make the jump despite his recent success.
I am shocked no one challenged you on this. There was only one season Casas had over a 35.4% K rate vs lefthanded pitching and that was in 2019 when he had 2abs with 2k’s. I’m not sure where your numbers are coming from but they aren’t reality. He isn’t great against lefties but he is nowhere close to striking out 50% of the time.
@varoroberts 1221… I messed up and compared it to his at bats. My bad. I read it wrong from the column. Thats just being careless on my end. There was never intention on my part to misrepresent the facts, but that is exactly what happened. I apologize to anyone who read my post and took it as fact. Certainly appreciate you pointing it out in a factual way and straightening me out. I will try not to do that again.
I don’t understand why Oswald Peraza has not been playing for the Yankees for the past month, the kids been ready to play for a while now. Smh
The reason is all about rookie status. He can’t have more than 130 AB if he is to retain rookie status. If he, or any September call up surpasses that number then it could potentially cost the team a future draft pick. If the team keeps his at bats limited to under 130, and he makes the team out of spring training next year; stays in the bigs the entire season and wins ROY or other major awards or places high in voting, the team receives draft picks.
Peraza just got called up and he’s not even in the starting lineup for what should have been his big league debut. This organization loves favoring tomato can veterans over talented young players
@Ronk325- not sure why but why do I get the feeling this is Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman’s last season? It’s definitely time for a change. Smh
I believe they’ve already said both will be back next year. At this point Cashman is an honorary Steinbrenner and will have that job as long as he wants. On that same note, Boone is Cashman’s hand picked guy so he’s probably in it for the long haul as well
Ronk325;
There may be a reason for that, but we don’t know it.
The Yankees under Hal Cashman have been ruining position players for years. Like their fans, they’re impatient with players – MLB teams cannot win doing that.
In that vain, come the deadline they TRADED:
LH pitcher Montgomery (5-0 in 6 starts / 36 innings, 1.46 ERA with the Cardinals), along with a young LH pitcher J.P Sears (a 3-0 / 2.95 ERA with the Yankees) as well as some prospects
FOR
Montas (0-2, 7.01 ERA with the Yankees), Trivino (1-2 with a sterling 0.82 ERA with the Yankees) and the fine defensive CF Harrison Bader that hasn’t played for the Yankees due to injuries…..when they have .CF Estevan Florial slashing .290 / .372 / .500 / .872 in AAA…..and even if he can’t hit ML pitching he’s an above average defensive CF.
This is really bad. I don’t know how that organization can keep pace with the FO’s of the Rays and Orioles (both top-tier organizations), the Jays (that are not as good, but still very good), and the restructuring Red Sox that I believe will build a solid FO and organization as well in the current MLB environment.
I think the issues in the past with prospects transitioning to the big leagues had more to do with the coaching staff at the time. In some cases the prospects just weren’t very good, Greg Bird and Chance Adams. Matt Blake and Dillon Lawson are far superior to Larry Rothschild and Marcus Thames and should go a long way towards helping the next round of prospects transition.
Monty was also a weird case with the Yankees. They bizarrely never gave him run support and he often lacked confidence and would nibble with hitters too much. The advanced stats always indicated he was better than the surface level but he was never able to get there in NY. A change of scenery has really helped him. As for Sears, he’s a solid pitcher but nothing spectacular. Playing in a low pressure environment and spacious park in Oakland will help him. I’m much more concerned about losing Waldichuk and Medina than him.
Montas has struggled with location so far and that has led to walks but that’s something he can straighten out. It seems like he’s spiritually replaced Monty in that regard. Bader will help the Yankees form arguably the best up the middle defense in the league once he’s ready and also allow Judge to go back to RF full time. That trade looks bad now but it’s still too early to say.
As for Florial, I’ve always rooted for the guy but he just doesn’t look like a major league hitter. He constantly waives at low pitches and strikes out way too much for a guy with solid but not great power. He’d probably be better off reworking his swing in order to make more contact. That’s something he’ll probably have to do elsewhere though because I doubt he’s in the Yankees system after December.
You’re not wrong though in saying the Yankees need to let their young guys play. Peraza should be the starting SS going forward with IKF being a utility player. IKF was brought in to be a stopgap and should not become a blockade. Beyond that, Volpe should have every opportunity to win the 2B job next spring, assuming Peraza is still around and playing SS. Wells should have an opportunity to play by mid season, whether that be at C, 1B, or corner OF, maybe even all of them at first. A less heralded prospect but still a solid one, Elijah Dunham should get a look in LF at some point next year as well.
It’ll be interesting to see the direction this team goes this offseason. Especially if they continue to spiral out this year
Ronk325;
Excellent, well thought out response. Appreciate it. Best Yankee fan post I’ve ever read.
Yes it’s the Yankees coaching, but it goes further. In todays MLB there has to be a philosophy running through the entire organization – FO, manager, coaches (and there’s a lot of them), scouts, analytic people, the trainers, etc.
Winning organizations start with a structure on how they want their position players and pitchers to execute. The scouts have to find players that fit those requirements – draftees, non-draftees (shorter rounds now in the draft), players available in trade (both major and minor leaguers) DFA’s, veteran FA’s in both America and playing in foreign countries. Need a plan for each player. Don’t know who’ll work out but need to have patience.
For years I was on here writing that Rothschild was no longer an effective pitching coach – anyone could work with bullpen guys; what’s hard is developing pitchers that can go 3-4 times through an opponents batting order. They hit a HR with Matt Blake. He’s the reason they’re competitive this year. But the position players…….
Teams start with defense, because pitching is the name of the game and they need support from their D (teams count pitches, when a D doesn’t make plays it shortens the innings a pitcher throws). Defense starts with the Catcher(s) – the most important position in a baseball team They need to work not just with the individual pitchers and call a game; each day they have to factor in where the manager and coaches are at with them and run the game accordingly. SS and CF come next – pure defensive positions. The Yankees go after big name sluggers first.
The offense needs a blend of LH / RH hitters. Guys that can get on base. Guys that are run producers. Guys that can steal and/or have the speed to take extra bases. Guys that can work counts. Guys that can hit to the opposite field, bunt, do situational hitting. Now – NO ONE player in MLB can do all those things. But the object is for the team to have a balance so that they can win a game in multiple ways….and then provide a ML roster for the manager to use his 26 players to do so (and I haven’t touched on the Rays genius in not just depending on a bullpen, but having their pitchers throw from different arm slots to keeps hitters off balance each game.).
The good teams do these things. It takes years to build that infrastructure and culture resulting in people working together. The Yankees are so far behind the good organizations in MLB that it’s ridiculous. They’re like the White Sox, Padres and others – every year trying to “fill holes” like rotisserie league players – i.e. we need a SS that can hit .270, an OF that can knock in 90 runs, and a # 3 starting pitcher that can get an an ERA between 3.50 and 4,00. That’s not the way to win in MLB.
I get everything you’re saying to an extent. The Yankees defense has been very good for the most part this year. They’ve been a bit sloppy lately but have otherwise held it down. The entire lineup going cold aside from Judge is the clear culprit of their slide.
The biggest point you hit on was the organizational philosophy. They’re reluctant to play young guys because they’re “unproven” but never give them a proper chance to prove themselves. This year we’ve seen this problem with Schmidt and Marinaccio being sent down in order to keep mediocre RPs like Abreu and Luetge. Now we’re seeing Peraza looking at a part time role in favor of a bum like IKF. If they don’t change this philosophy, they’ll continue to tread water
Dodgers 2022 draft pick is another catcher out of Louisville and he’s killing A ball pitching, Dalton Rushing. Add another catching prospect to the pile.
Mr Ruiz was called up! About time! He needs to be moved back to 2nd base and be our leadoff hitter for next year!