Hot Fantasy Prospects To Watch For Week 19

Boy that was an insane trade deadline wasn't it? We saw a lot of prospects end up on the move, including Keibert Ruiz who I just wrote up about in last week's column.

In this week's column we're going to take a look at four prospects who didn't get moved at the deadline. Last week's column was all about position players, so for this week we're going to take a look at some pitchers who have been on fire recently on the mound. If you want to read up more on the prospects that did land on new teams last week though, I highly recommend you check out Phil's write up where he covers every prospect who got traded before the deadline.

Without further ado, let's check out who is dominating on the mound in the minors right now.

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Freddy Tarnok - SP, Atlanta Braves

Level: Double-A
2021 stats: 9 G, 7 GS, 4-2, 4.19 ERA, 1.112 WHIP, 43.7 K%, 38.2 IP

Despite the high ERA, Tarnok has been having a solid year on the mound so far splitting time between High-A and Double-A. In fact, Tarnok has actually managed to put up better numbers so far at Double-A, as he has gone 1-0 with a 2.61 ERA and 0.871 WHIP over his first two starts with Mississippi while striking out 21 in 10 1/3 innings of work — including a season-high 12 batters in his last outing against Pensacola. This year has seen a significant spike in his strikeout rate, as his 43.7 percent rate far exceeds his 21 percent strikeout rate from his first three years in the minors.

He's 22 years old now and it looks like he could have turned a major corner this year in terms of his future potential. While he may still be at least a year away from contributing to fantasy, managers should watch how he performs over the rest of the season at Double-A. If he continues to put up similar numbers, he should be a top target to acquire in dynasty formats, and managers in redraft leagues will want to remember his name for if he gets called up next year.

Riley O'Brien - SP, Cincinnati Reds

Level: Triple-A
2021 stats: 15 G, 14 GS, 5-5, 4.12 ERA, 1.305 WHIP, 24.4 K%, 74.1 IP

O'Brien has had a couple of poor showings this year that have significantly inflated the ERA and WHIP, but otherwise he's had a pretty solid year in his first taste of Triple-A action. His strikeout rate is a slight tick below his career 25.9 percent mark, and while most of his other numbers are a little down as well, overall he's still managed to pitch well enough while others have struggled after losing development time from the cancelled 2020 season. He's pitched particularly well over his last six starts, where he's gone 3-2 with a 2.32 ERA and 1.065 WHIP while striking out 32 over 31 innings of work.

As it stands currently, it's unlikely that we'll see O'Brien this year. And given the rise of Vladimir Gutierrez and Tony Santillan, as well as with Hunter Greene waiting in the wings, it seems likely that O'Brien could end up starting 2022 back at Triple-A. But if he does start there, he would likely be among the first called up to Cincinnati if needed, and if he does get the call he should be able to provide solid value in most formats.

Luis Frias - SP, Arizona Diamondbacks

Level: Double-A
2021 stats: 16 GS, 6-6, 4.64 ERA, 1.159 WHIP, 28.2 K%, 77.2 IP

While he's had a bit of an up-and-down year so far, Frias has done fairly well between High-A and Double-A this season. His strikeout rate is up over his career 27.1 mark and he's lowered his walk rate from 9.4 percent in 2019 to a career-best 8.7 percent this year. He's also been pitching deep into games recently, as he has pitched at least six innings in each of his last three starts and has gone seven innings in two of those three outings. His last start was his best performance of the year so far, as Frias tossed seven hitless innings, allowing just one walk while striking out six against San Antonio.

It's unlikely we'll see Frias this season, but given the current state of the Diamondbacks it would not be surprising to see him competing for a job out of Spring Training in 2022. The biggest key will be if Frias can develop some more consistency over the remainder of this season. If he can continue to pitch well and rack up the strikeouts, there's no doubt we'll see him at some point in 2022, where he should be a solid rookie pitcher to roster in deeper-mixed and NL-only formats.

Yerry Rodriguez - SP, Texas Rangers

Level: Double-A
2021 stats: 14 GS, 1-1, 2.63 ERA, 1.149 WHIP, 29.6 K%, 51.1 IP

And now last but not least we get to Rodriguez, who is coming off his best performance of the year in which he recorded a season-high 11 strikeouts while allowing three hits over six scoreless innings against Corpus Christi. This year has been a great season for Rodriguez when it comes to strikeouts, as he has nearly matched his career-high 31.5 percent strikeout rate from 2018. The ERA and WHIP are both up a touch from his 2019 numbers, but they're still very good numbers that you'd like to see from a prospect. However that could be partly due to the fact that he had been kept to a low pitch count early on in the season, as he pitched four or fewer innings in each of his first seven starts. He's since been stretched out though, and over his last four outings he threw at least 80 pitches each time out and went 1-0 with a 1.74 ERA and 1.113 WHIP with 28 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings pitched.

Rodriguez has some great strikeout potential in his arm, and he shows no signs of slowing down just yet. There's a good chance we see him start off the 2022 campaign at Triple-A, but he could very quickly force his way onto the major league roster. Managers will want to keep a close eye on Rodriguez going forward this year, and come draft day next season, managers in deep AL-only formats may want to consider grabbing him as a late round flyer and stashing him until he gets called up.

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