There are prospects we’ve all known since the start of the season (Marco Luciano, Grayson Rodriguez) and prospects we’ve come to know over the course of it (Gabriel Moreno, Anthony Volpe). There are prospects who’ve performed up to expectations so far (Max Meyer, Nolan Gorman) and prospects who’ve fallen well short (MacKenzie Gore, Drew Waters).
And then there are those other prospects, the ones nobody knows about even though they’re putting up eye-popping numbers. My experience suggests that these prospects, if you could even call them that, make for some of the most rewarding inefficiencies in dynasty leagues.
Knowing a name is half the battle, and the minor leagues are so vast that sometimes it takes a while for a new name to come the forefront. But the reason a minor-leaguer has a job is because he has talent — at some point in his life, he was the best player on the field — and production is often the first indication of him realizing that talent.
With the season winding down (and all but over at every level but Triple-A and the majors), identifying prospects to stash for an impending call-up doesn’t seem like an appropriate use of the Prospects Report anymore. Plus, if I have to write about Bobby Witt one more time, I’ll scream. So I’m changing up the format of this week, instead using it to highlight a few of the relative no-names that you could pick up for free in your dynasty league.
The nature of this exercise would suggest that none of these pickups are safe bets to contribute something worthwhile, so I’ve gravitated more toward those with a shorter path to the majors in the belief you wouldn’t want a long wait too for an iffy prospect. If I’m wrong about that, then you may also want to check out Indians third baseman Jhonkensy Noel, Rays starting pitcher Taj Bradley and Giants starting pitcher Ryan Murphy, who are just a few of the emergent prospects that are at least a couple years away still.
Matt Brash, SP, Mariners
2019 minors: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K
2021 minors: 6-3, 2.26 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 91 2/3 IP, 44 BB, 136 K
Brash stands out most for his slider, a plus-plus pitch that makes everyone look stupid, as you’ll see here:
Some evaluators have called the pitch the best of its kind all the minors. He pairs it with a fastball that pushes triple digits and a good enough changeup to keep him in a starting role. The Mariners have put him to the test, too, letting him go deep enough to record double-digit strikeouts with regularity. Even when he fell short in his latest start, striking out just five in 5 1/3 innings, he still had 21 swinging strikes. His stuff gives him a chance to be a bat-missing marvel who may someday sit atop the Mariners’ embarrassment of pitching riches. Seeing as he’s 23 and already at Double-A, we’ll find out soon enough.
Dustin Harris, 1B, Rangers
2019 minors: .325 BA (209 AB), 1 HR, 9 SB, .810 OPS, 25 BB, 39 K
2021 minors: .327 BA (395 AB), 20 HR, 25 SB, .949 OPS, 47 BB, 72 K
Harris’ stat line is on some level a reflection of him beating up on younger competition given that he’s a 22-year-old who only moved up to high Class A about a month ago. But that stat line is indeed something to behold — and it’s only gotten better with his move up the ladder. The turning point was actually an adjustment in launch angle, which didn’t really take hold until the third month of the season but has combined with his natural bat-to-ball skills to make him an offensive force. The first base path is a narrow one, but he’s athletic enough to play third base or even the outfield, as evidenced by his stolen base total and rate (25 for 27).
Spencer Strider, SP, Braves
2021 minors: 3-7, 3.87 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 88 1/3 IP, 38 BB, 143 K
True, Strider’s ERA is a little on the high side, but you’ll forgive him for a bumpy transition to Double-A given that he was only drafted last year and began 2021 at low Class A. the 22-year-old has been focused on refining his changeup at Double-A, but in between, he has continued to do what he did at the two other levels: miss bats like no one else.
That’s not an exaggeration. His swinging-strike rate between Low-A, High-A and Double-A is 21.0 percent. The only major-leaguer in that range is Jacob deGrom. The leader among qualifiers is Corbin Burnes at 16.4 percent. Strider has a high-spin fastball that generates whiffs up in the zone and a slider that drops into oblivion. He’s still a work in progress, but when he’s been on at Double-A, it’s been magical.
Vinnie Pasquantino, 1B, Royals
2019 minors: .294 BA (211 AB), 14 HR, 17 2B, .963 OPS, 27 BB, 40 K
2021 minors: .309 BA (417 AB), 23 HR, 37 2B, .980 OPS, 61 BB, 62 K
Pasquantino’s breakthrough has been overshadowed by that of another first baseman in the Royals system, Nick Pratto, who’s a level ahead and has a higher-end outcome. But Pasquantino is a year older and now has a better stat line at Double-A than Pratto did before he moved up to Triple-A in mid-July. While Pratto stands out for his power, Pasquantino earns high marks for his hit tool, but he clearly isn’t lacking for power either. Amazingly, he has more extra-base hits (63) and nearly as many walks (61) as he has strikeouts (62). His path may be limited to DH with Pratto around, but it’s a path the Royals want him on.
Eddys Leonard, SS, Dodgers
2019 minors: .285 BA (209 AB), 4 HR, 7 2B, .804 OPS, 28 BB, 60 K
2021 minors: .295 BA (403 AB), 22 HR, 26 2B, .937 OPS, 51 BB, 110 K
Investing in a shortstop is always a plus in dynasty because even if the player doesn’t wind up at that position, odds are good he won’t be blocked. That’s especially true in Leonard’s case given that the Dodgers have already exposed him to the other premium positions, meaning center field, third base and second base. Scouts love the way he uses his hands to manipulate his swing, but it’s not a crutch. He’ll still take his walks. He has yet to be tested at Double-A, but seeing as he’s only 20, that’s no knock against him.
Davis Daniel, SP, Angels
2021 minors: 4-5, 2.53 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 96 IP, 28 BB, 132 K
I see so many parallels between Daniel and Joe Ryan. Like Ryan, Daniel is overlooked by traditional evaluation methods even though his numbers are superlative. Like Ryan, Daniel succeeds mostly by way of a fastball that stands out less for its power than its deception and movement. They both even have two first names! (OK, so Daniel’s first name is more like a last name, but don’t tell him that.) One key difference is that Daniel’s curveball is a better secondary offering than anything Ryan has, but nonetheless, it’s Ryan’s early success in the majors that makes Daniel worth a longer look. For goodness’ sake, he has five double digit-strikeout efforts this season.
Tommy Romero, SP, Rays
2019 minors: 13-4, 2.15 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 125 1/3 IP, 38 BB, 104 K
2021 minors: 5-2, 2.98 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 93 2/3 IP, 28 BB, 128 K
Didn’t I just compare a pitcher to Joe Ryan? OK, well, Romero fits the mold as well. He throws a lot of strikes, he misses a lot of bats, and he does so mostly on the strength of a high-spin fastball that sits in the low 90s. Maybe it’s a gimmick that only works against minor-leaguers, or maybe it’s an evaluation inefficiency that you can exploit in a dynasty league. Prospects are a crapshoot anyway, right? His big step forward this year has come between Double- and Triple-A, and he’s taken it to another level over his past three starts, striking 30 while allowing just four hits in 18 2/3 innings.
Joey Wiemer, OF, Brewers
2021 minors: .301 BA (376 AB), 25 HR, 30 SB, .962 OPS, 57 BB, 100 K
Beyond even the numbers he puts up, Wiemer is just plain fun. His unorthodox setup has a lot of moving parts, which surely gives the scouts fits, but pretty soon all the kids will be mimicking it with the way he keeps mashing. It’s been especially notable with his move up to high Class A, where he’s batting .361 with 12 homers in just 29 games.
What’s most surprising about Wiemer being so overlooked, though, is that he isn’t just a big bat. The 22-year-old is tooled up across the board and established a highlight real in college just by the athletic way in which he evaded tags, as you’ll observe here:
You can’t even ding him for plate discipline given that he’s reached base at a .404 clip between two levels. True, his wonky swing will be tested more as he moves up the ladder, but they said the same about Bo Bichette once upon a time. I’m inclined to give Wiemer the benefit of the doubt for now.
Ian Seymour, SP, Rays
2021 minors: 4-0, 1.95 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 55 1/3 IP, 19 BB, 87 K
How under-the-radar is Seymour? Baseball America didn’t even include him in the Rays midseason top 30. Strangely, he was in the preseason top 30, if only barely, so what more he had to do to move up the list is anyone’s guess. What he actually has done in his first year of professional ball is dominate, just like he did at Virginia Tech. Like so many others on this list, he makes up for his lack of pure stuff with deception, keeping the ball hidden as he starts his delivery before zipping it in from the left side.
The microscopic batting average against him is reminiscent of Cristian Javier, who also didn’t get much prospect love, and while it’s mostly come in the lower levels, Seymour’s two Triple-A appearances have seen him give up just four hits in 10 innings.
Steven Kwan, OF, Indians
2019 minors: .280 BA (479 AB), 3 HR, 26 2B, .735 OPS, 53 BB, 51 K
2021 minors: .339 BA (242 AB), 10 HR, 15 2B, .962 OPS, 28 BB, 27 K
Kwan is another one who didn’t crack his team’s midseason top 30 for Baseball America, but given the kind of numbers the 24-year-old is already putting up at Triple-A, where he was promoted at the beginning of September, we’re so close to finding out whether he’ll sink or swim. You might as well take a flier and see, especially since Cleveland’s perpetual outfield shortage is almost certain to earn him a look.
His contact skills are some of the best in professional baseball, his 9.7 percent strikeout rate putting him on the level of David Fletcher. He also hits the ball on a line to all fields, so it’s easy to see why his batting average is so high. Project his power numbers over a full season’s at-bats, and he’s no slouch there either.
Cody Morris, SP, Indians
2019 minors: 7-4, 4.35 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 89 IP, 27 BB, 111 K
2021 minors: 2-1, 1.20 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 52 2/3 IP, 16 BB, 79 K
This one is a Nando Di Fino special, meaning I’ve seen Nando — and basically no one else — picking him up in all of my dynasty leagues. The industry icon has a pretty good track record with these sorts of oddball pickups, and looking at the numbers, you can understand his enthusiasm.
The knock on Morris is durability. He couldn’t sustain his best stuff over 89 innings in 2019, and he won’t reach even that threshold this year because of a sore shoulder that robbed him of the first two months. The Indians have a tendency to get the most out of their pitching prospects, though, and have already equipped him with a downer curveball to pair with his high-spin fastball. As a 24-year-old at Triple-A, he could be their big find next year.
