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Man it's hard to believe we're already two months into the season. I swear it feels like Opening Day was only two weeks ago. and yet here we are. The White Sox are leading the AL Central. We've got a four-way tie for the home run leader with some of the top young stars of the game in Ronald Acuña Jr., Fernando Tatís Jr. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Adolis García all knotted up at 16 home runs, and Jacob deGrom continues to dominate as he lowered his ERA to an obscene 0.71 mark after his outing on Monday.
In the midst of these past two months, we've also seen plenty of prospects getting their chance to shine in The Show. Look no further than Garcia, who still has his rookie eligibility this season, as well as guys like Jazz Chisholm Jr., Yermin Mercedes and Trevor Rogers to name a few. Which is what brings us to this column as always — our desire to look for and find the next hot fantasy prospect. All four of these guys are playing at Double-A right now, and while the cancelled 2020 season has thrown off their timing a bit, they all have a chance at some playing time later this year if they can continue to stay hot at the plate and on the mound.
Let's not waste any more time. For the 10th time this season let's check out some prospects.
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Jose Miranda - INF, Minnesota Twins
Level: Double-A
2021 stats: 24 G, .319/.389/.564, 6 HR, 24 RBI, 17 R
A second round pick in the 2016 draft, Miranda has steadily climbed the ladder from the Gulf Coast League in 2016 all the way up to Double-A in 2019. And while the 2020 campaign was a lost year for most minor leaguers, Miranda still saw some action playing in the Puerto Rican Winter League and the Caribbean Series, where he combined to slash .250/.325/.382 with one home run over 20 games.
It's possible that getting those extra reps could have helped his development, as he is off to one of the hottest starts of his career this season at Double-A Wichita. His average, OBP, and SLG are all the best marks of his career currently, and he is on pace to break his career-high of 16 home runs as he already has six homers this year in over 100 fewer games than it took him to set his career-vest mark in 2018.
One of the biggest things that will help Miranda reach Minnesota sooner is his positional flexibility. Over his career he has played primarily at third base, with second base the position he has appeared at the second-most. But this year at Wichita, Miranda has gotten playing time at first base, second base, third base and shortstop, with most of his time being split fairly evenly between first, second and third.
This positional flexibility will make Miranda a more attractive option to get called up in the event of a trade or injury, and it seems there's a decent chance we'll see him at some point later this summer. When he gets the call, he'll be a solid waiver-wire target in AL-only formats as a bench guy to plug in almost anywhere in the lineup that can provide some decent pop and a solid average.
Johan Mieses - OF, Boston Red Sox
Level: Double-A
2021 stats: 22 G, .288/.374/.725, 11 HR, 22 RBI, 18 R
It's been a long and not-always-successful road for Mieses in the minors, but it's starting to look like we could see him reach the majors pretty soon. He's shown some pop in his bat throughout his career, averaging over 23 home runs per season from 2016 through 2019, but he's in the midst of a power surge this year as he already has 11 homers in 22 games. Obviously that's an unsustainable pace, but there are signs that he could be turning the corner, including his .288 average — his highest mark since 2014 in the Dominican Summer League — and he has watched his strikeout rate decline for the third straight season — going from 33.6 percent in 2017 to 18.7 percent this year.
There is a chance that Mieses could simply be benefitting from playing at Double-A, where at 25 years old he's almost a year older than the league weighted average age. He has reached Triple-A before when he was in St. Louis' system, and he showed some success there in 2019 where he slashed .339/.414/.677 over 22 games at Memphis. If Mieses continues to swing a hot bat, he should get promoted to Triple-A sometime in the near future, and that will be the bigger test of whether he will get called up to Boston this season. Keep an eye on him for now, and if Boston promotes him, managers should look to target him in 14-team and deeper mixed leagues, as well as AL-only formats.
Hunter Greene - SP, Cincinnati Reds
Level: Double-A
2021 stats: 5 GS, 28.1 IP, 3-0, 1.91 ERA, 0.953 WHIP, 41 K
It feels like it's been longer than four years since Greene was drafted No. 2 overall. That's probably because he hasn't pitched since 2018 due to Tommy John surgery and then the cancelled minor league season. That time off doesn't seem to have slowed him down in the slightest, as he's now 3-0 with a 1.91 ERA and a 37.6 percent strikeout rate over 28 1/3 innings.
That strikeout rate is currently the highest mark of his career, while the 1.91 ERA and 0.953 WHIP far surpass his previous career marks. He matched his career-high with seven innings pitched in his last start against the Tennessee Smokies, allowing two runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out eight.
In some ways I feel Greene could be one of the guys on this list who is closer to reaching the majors, but in other ways I see him as one of the furthest away. The big thing is that he hadn't pitched the past two years, and his career high for innings pitched in a season is 68 1/3. This being his first year back from Tommy John surgery — albeit he has had additional time to heal up — I can see the Reds deciding to be overly cautious with Greene, who they expect to be a big part of their future plans.
At the same time I don't see anybody running away with the NL Central title right now, so if the Reds are in the playoff race late in the year, I could see Greene coming up to provide a boost to the pitching staff. The bottom line is he won't be making an appearance until the second half of the season at best, but if/when he does, he'll be a high-strikeout upside pitcher to take a look at acquiring in most formats.
Nick Pratto - 1B, Kansas City Royals
Level: Double-A
2021 stats: 21 G, .315/.458/.726, 8 HR, 4 SB, 16 RBI, 16 R
Rounding out this list is yet another 2017 first round pick, as Pratto was the 14th overall pick by the Royals out of Huntington Beach High School. Pratto put up solid numbers in his second season in the minors in 2018, slashing .280/.343/.443 with 14 home runs, 22 steals, 62 RBI and 79 runs scored at Single-A Lexington. In his third year in 2019 his numbers took a big hit, as he slashed just .191/.278/.310 while managing to record nine home runs and 17 steals at High-A Wilmington.
Something must have clicked for Pratto during the year off in 2020 though, as he is now tearing the cover off the ball with career-bests in average (.315) and OPS (1.184) while recording eight homers and four steals in just 21 games. The other notable change is his significantly improved plate discipline, as he has dropped his strikeout rate from a career-worst 34.7 percent in 2019 to a career-best 21.9 percent this year, as well as raising his walk rate from 10.4 percent to 19.8 percent.
Pratto is just 22 years old, but I think we have a decent shot at seeing him reach Kansas City this year. While Carlos Santana is having a good year at the plate and has the first base job locked down currently, I could see Pratto coming up and taking over the designated hitter role and replace Jorge Soler, who has struggled at the plate this year as the team's primary designated hitter.
When Pratto does get called up, managers should look to target him in most formats as I can see him putting up somewhat comparable numbers to what Paul Goldschmidt was recording in Arizona. If he doesn't get the call this year, I see him as a strong threat to break camp with the Royals out of Spring Training in 2022.
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