Trea Turner (2B, WAS) - Waiver Wire Pickups

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ANALYSIS: With Ryan Zimmerman on a short paternity leave, the Nationals are promoting top prospect Trea Turner. Currently MLB Pipeline’s No. 9 prospect, Turner will join the big-league roster for the second time. His first stint in the majors — a 45-day stretch at the end of the 2015 season — didn’t go as planned, as he slashed a measly .225/.295/.325 with one home run and just two stolen bases in four attempts. At the time, he was nothing more than a deep-league option for owners desperate for steals.

Now, Turner is closing in on his 23rd birthday, and the Nats are hoping he has matured as a hitter. In 197 AB in Triple-A, he has posted a .310/.376/.472 line with three longballs and 17 SB. He also owns a respectable .162 ISO to go along with an improved 0.51 BB/K. He is primarily a base stealer, but after two years of .300 ball in the International League, he should have dismissed any notions of being a one-category player.

As with all prospects, it remains to be seen whether Turner will stay with the club long-term or drop back down to Triple-A in a few days. However, given that Turner’s service time cutoff just recently passed, the Nats can permanently promote him now and still keep him under team control for that extra year. Danny Espinosa and his .200/.296/.341 slash line are simply not the answer at shortstop for a team trying to get over the hump and win the pennant, so it would behoove Mike Rizzo and company to give their promising middle infielder another shot sooner rather than later. Add Turner immediately in all but the shallowest of points leagues. Even if he does take a trip back to Syracuse, the young speedster is stash-worthy in deep formats.