RADIO
Welcome to the second episode of this season of this series where I comb through the minor league leaderboards to see who is hot at the plate and then try to break down whether the performance is for real and if this player should be somebody that we should have on our radars in redraft leagues.
My hope for this series is to operate a bit like the Fringe Prospects article that Alex Chamberlain used to run which I always felt was a great way to put unheralded prospects on our radar. Although I will be including some guys who are more well-known in prospect circles just in case they are not well-known to all readers.
When I ran this piece last year, we were led to Jack Suwinski, Corey Julks, Spencer Steer, Stone Garrett, and Luke Raley, among others. In the first edition of this season, back in early May, we were put onto Matt McLain and Jake Bauers, so let's see if we can find some more interesting names.
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As a reminder, the search parameters are just for the last 30 days in order to also find players who have been heating up of late and may be pushing for an MLB call-up. However, I've included both those stats and season-long stats so you can get a sense of how the player has been performing all year.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 1B - Cincinnati Reds
Last 30: .365/.466/.729, 8 HRs, 27 RBI, 24 Runs in 24 games
Season: .354/.423/.709, 17 HRs, 47 RBI, 43 Runs, 1 SB
This will be a short one. Christian Encarnacion-Strand is one of the most impactful minor league hitter's we're likely to see get called up to the big leagues the rest of this season, and the only thing stopping him is how crowded the Reds infield is. With Spencer Steer playing well, Jonathan India entrenched as a team leader, and both Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz already up, the only spot for Encarnacion-Strand is at DH since Joey Votto is also on his way back.
However, on Thursday he did play RF, which could be another avenue for playing time if he can handle himself out there. That would also give him 1B/OF eligibility, which could be great for fantasy. Given the new position experiment, I would be stashing Encarnacion-Strand now since he could be up soon if the Reds feel confident in him playing the outfield.
Chris Williams, C/1B - Minnesota Twins
Last 30: .353/.450/.794, 9 HRs, 27 RBI, 18 Runs, 1 SB in 18 games
Season: .290/.394/.621, 13 HRs, 39 RBI, 30 Runs, 1 SB
Chris Williams is a 26-year-old catcher who I've never heard of before today. However, nine home runs and a .794 slugging percentage over the last month get you noticed. Williams also hit 28 home runs across two levels last year, but he appears to have moved to primarily 1B for Minnesota this season. That spot is currently being held down by Alex Kirillof and Donovan Solano, so it's unlikely Williams get a shot unless the Twins suffer some injuries. However, the Twins also frequently suffer injuries, so if you get a chance in a two-catcher league to add a catcher-eligible player who hit 28 home runs last year and is hitting .289 this season, that could be interesting.
Oswald Peraza, SS -New York Yankees
Last 30: .304/.382/.671, 9 HRs, 16 RBI, 19 Runs, 2 SB in 19 games
Season: .298/.370/.573, 10 HRs, 22 RBI, 23 Runs, 8 SB
The Yankees have been adamant that they are not going to send down Anthony Volpe, but he is really doing everything in his power to show them that he needs a little trip to Triple-A (a level he skipped) in order to get right. He has the worst on-base percentage among qualified hitters in baseball and the fourth-worst batting average.
Meanwhile, Peraza is tearing it up of late in Triple-A. Remember that Peraza also looked good in his brief MLB call-up last year, but had a bad spring training, so he lost the starting SS job. If the Yankees don't send Volpe down, then there isn't a clear path for Peraza. He's primarily playing SS in the minors, with a handful of starts here and there at 2B and 3B; however, those spots are also filled by Gleyber Torres, Josh Donaldson, and DJ LeMahieu.
Despite the Yankees having a pretty poor offense, outside of Aaron Judge, they appear content to roll with the older guys, which means it may be a while before Peraza gets meaningful MLB at-bats.
Forrest Wall, OF - Atlanta Braves
Last 30: .326/.421/.478, 3 HRs, 11 RBI, 20 Runs, 20 SB in 25 games
Season: .274/.378/.422, 5 HRs, 29 RBI, 43 Runs, 39 SB
It's going to be hard for Wall to break through on a Braves lineup this good, especially with Michael Harris II starting to heat up of late, but he deserves to be mentioned here because of his speed. Wall has 39 steals on the year after stealing 52 bases last year. That's category-winning speed.
He's also not on the 40-man roster, so even if there was an injury to Eddie Rosario or Marcell Ozuna, which would open up an OF spot or would allow the Braves to shift a mediocre defender like Rosario to DH, it's not clear that Wall would be the first call-up. But if you do see him called up and you need steals, you should pounce.
Derek Hill, OF - Washington Nationals
Last 30: .371/.440/.697, 6 HRs, 21 RBI, 23 Runs, 6 SB in 23 games
Season: .328/.395/.548, 8 HRs, 30 RBI, 38 Runs, 10 SB
Derek Hill has bounced around a bit, last getting a shot with Detroit last season, but nothing has clicked for him at the big-league level. Still, he’s just 27 years old and is hitting .338 in Triple-A with six home runs and eight steals in 39 games. The chip-in power/speed combo has the makings of a 15/15 type player that could be useful in 15-team leagues if the Nationals decide to move on from Corey Dickerson, Stone Garrett, or Alex Call.
However, much like with Wall, Hill is not on the 40-man roster so it would take a corresponding move to get him up in the big leagues.
Davis Wendzel, 3B/SS/2B - Texas Rangers
Last 30: .330/.425/.807, 12 HRs, 28 RBI, 28 Runs in 23 games
Season: .250/.367/.530, 14 HRs, 38 RBI, 39 Runs, 1 SB
Another player I did not know about before this exercise, but he was the Rangers' 45th-ranked prospect in 2022 according to Fangraphs. The scouting report said, "His swing is a carbon copy of Justin Turner’s, which enables him to get the barrel on inner-half fastballs, but seems to leave him vulnerable elsewhere." Oh, well that's an interesting comparison.
The scouting report also gave him 55 raw power, which we're seeing with 14 home runs in 57 games and 12 in just his last 23 games. He's played primarily 3B and SS for the Rangers in Triple-A this year, which makes him a logical replacement for Josh H. Smith as an INF bench bat if the need were to arise. Since Smith is hitting .211 with a 28% strikeout rate this season, it's not far-fetched to think that need might arise.
Matthew Batten - 2B/SS/3B, San Diego Padres
Last 30: .327/.402/.531, 5 HRs, 19 RBI, 27 Runs, 10 SB in 23 games
Season: .248/.370/.426, 8 HRs, 43 RBI, 53 Runs, 21 SBs
Batten makes it a third player that I didn't know about before I started this exercise. Last year, he had 12 home runs and 18 steals with a .281 average in Triple-A. This year, he's hitting .248 but has eight homers and 21 steals in 60 Triple-A Games. He's posted walk rates above 12% for three straight years and could be an interesting steals asset if he gets a shot. He'd almost be exactly the type of player Ha-Seong Kim is, with a .249 average, five home runs, and 11 steals in 64 games while playing all over the infield.
That's not overly exciting, but it is useful in many leagues.
Trey Cabbage -1B/OF, Los Angeles Angels
Last 30: .241/.366/.506, 6 HRs, 16 RBI, 15 Runs, 8 SB in 23 games
Season: .281/.367/.589, 18 HRs, 44 RBI, 42 Runs, 17 SB
I covered Trey Cabbage a few times in my Substack, the Samulski Sunday Tribune, which you should check out. The 26-year-old was a former top prospect in the Twins organization but has taken his game to a new level this year thanks to 17 steals in 61 games. He had never stolen more than 10 bases in a season. 18 home runs and 17 steals in 61 games is certainly intriguing from a fantasy perspective, especially with a .281 average; however, he also has a 31% strikeout rate this year and had a 34.6% rate last year, so there will be some swing-and-miss in his game which could hurt at the big league level.
With Jared Walsh being awful again and both Gio Urshela and Anthony Rendon getting hurt on Thursday, we could see Cabbage get a shot at the 1B job.
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