Fantasy Baseball: Top Prospects Called Up
By Craig Bozic
Fantasy Baseball: Prospect Call Ups
The trade deadline has now been and gone and boy did it live up to the hype, but it isn’t just traded players finding their feet with new teams, as in recent days we saw the prospect call ups of Andrew Benintendi, Orlando Arcia and Joe Musgrove to their respective big league teams.
2016 has had a lot of top prospects struggle out of the gate on their call up to the big leagues, but that doesn’t mean that you should give up hope on the super talented youngsters as an adjustment period is often required at the highest level.
With just 2 months to go in the regular season, and many teams now looking to the future, now is the time to start speculating on which prospects could help you now and in the future, and I am here to help you differentiate between the two.
This week I will be guiding you through the latest round of prospect call ups, including the much-anticipated call ups of top prospects Andrew Benintendi and Orlando Arcia.
Next: Andrew Benintendi
Andrew Benintendi, OF, Boston Red Sox:
Drafted out of the first round in 2015, Andrew Benintendi has had a year to remember. Starting the season at a talented High A Salem Red Sox team along with other top prospects Yoan Moncada and Rafael Devers, Benintendi didn’t take long to over-match the competition. After playing 34 games at High A, in which he triple slashed an impressive .341/.413/.563 with 21 extra base hits he found a new home at Double AA Portland.
The former Arkansas star struggled out of the gate early in AA adjusting to the new level, but soon found both his rhythm and power stroke hitting 31 extra base hits in his 63 games including 8 home runs to the tune of .295/.357/.515. If this wasn’t enough then throw in 16 stolen bases and a K:BB ratio of 39:39 into the equation for 2016, which all in all results into a well rounded player with an exciting future ahead.
It is important to remember that the 5’10, 170 lb outfielder was only drafted in 2015, and the likelihood is that Benintendi will take some time to adjust to the major league level given his lack of exposure to top level pitching, but given the offensive skill set and the fact he is joining one of the most talented offenses in baseball this should be a household name in the future for fantasy owners.
Next: Orlando Arcia
Orlando Arcia, Shortstop, Milwaukee Brewers:
The Milwaukee Brewers may be out of the playoff race, but the trade deadline bought plenty to cheer about for the future by adding high-end prospect talents in Lewis Brinson, Luis Ortiz, Phil Bickford and Wendell Rijo to the organisation. It isn’t just the future that the Brewers will have an eye toward but the now, as fans now have a chance to see what all the hype is about surrounding the organisations top prospect Orlando Arcia.
Brother of Oswaldo Arcia, the 21-year-old Orlando had a meteoric rise in prospect rankings in 2015
where he hit for a .307 average, whilst swiping 25 bags and hitting 52 extra base hits to complement his outstanding defensive abilities at a prime position in AA. 2016 has not been quite so kind on the offensive end for the Venezuelan, and fantasy expectations should be tempered despite the high prospect ranking because of his advanced defensive ability to stick at a prime position.
In 2016 Arcia has had some struggles at the plate at the AAA level, hitting .267/.320/.403 with 8 home runs and 15 stolen bases. Although the walk rate his increased by 1.2% in 2016 he has also seen the strikeout rate increase 13.2% to 17.5%, his highest at any level of the minor leagues.
There is some upside here for fantasy owners with the speed, and the Brewers commitment to give him a good look at shortstop with Villar moving to 3B, but just be sure to have realistic expectations in fantasy as Orlando Arcia profiles as a better real life player than fantasy asset in the short-term while remembering that he is still only 21 years old.
Next: What to expect from David Dahl
Head to the wire in your league and make sure these players are not available!