Impact Call-ups
August 15, 2005
The first wave of next year's impact
rookies are making their way to the majors via early call-ups, as well
as some not-so-young call-ups that could have an impact in single
league formats this year.
The biggest name promoted since the
trade deadline passed was Felix Hernandez (SEA). Often unfairly
compared to Dwight Gooden in terms of talent, he nevertheless will
become one of the better strikeout pitchers in the league. But
just like Scott Kazmir when he was first called up, he will have his
share of ups and downs this year and through a good part of 2006.
Last night's 10 K outing was an obvious "up", but was it because he was
simply on his game or because he was facing the Royals? He'll be
a solid contributor to strikeouts the rest of this year, and with his
friendly home park will probably be a help in ERA. But wins and
WHIP help probably won't come until 2007.
I wanted to add a couple of notes
about Seattle before moving on... one day after Mike Hargrove said
without reservation that Mike Morse
would not start over Yuniensky Betancourt at shortstop, Morse started
at short while Betancourt was at 2nd. There are some managers who
are completely safe to ignore everything they say... Wiki Gonzales got
sent down in favor of Miguel Ojeda. Gonzales had been hitting
extremely well before he pulled a hamstring earlier this summer.
Since then, not so good. I guess once he returned he finally
realized he was Wiki Gonzales. Ojeda is not a particularly adept
catcher, especially when it comes to throwing out baserunners, but he's
got some pop in his bat. He won't replace the offensively
challenged Yorvit Torrealba because of his defense, but he could have
some value as a Sal Fasano-type occasional home run hitting back-up
catcher. OK, back to the topic...
Juan Dominguez (TEX) had an
impressive return to the majors, striking out 10 Yankees this
weekend. Early in his minor league career he racked up strikeouts
at an impressive rate so this some aberration where he got to face John
Flaherty and Tony Womack (although he did face those two and struck out
both twice). He also struck out Gary Sheffield twice, something
that Sheffield had done only twice since early June. But the
biggest positive from his start in the Bronx is that he didn't allow a
rough first inning or a two-homer third to set off a complete
meltdown. Dominguez lack of control, not of the strikezone but of
his emotions, had been his biggest obstacle so this should be a signal
that he has finally turned the corner. He's a definite buy in
AL-only leagues.
With Rondell White out, Curtis
Granderson (DET) got the call and hopefully the Tigers will realize
that he deserves to stick around the rest of the year. He's not
on exciting Conor Jackson-type talent who will be a perennial All-Star
within the next few years, but he will be a Grady Sizemore-type all
around useful player. He won't be quite as good as Sizemore
because he's slightly older and doesn't have the good strikezone
judgment, but he should contribute 12-15 homers and steals a season as
soon as he gets regular playing time.
I've never been a big fan of Todd
Linden (SF), but it's hard to argue with 30 home runs even if he did
get them in AAA Fresno. My concern had been his plate discipline,
but it looks as though he made a concentrated effort to improve this
season as his walk rate is up slightly and his strikeout rate is down
by almost a third. He should be capable of 20 homers next year
with 500+ at bats and will be the best position player the Giants
developed in recent memory (not saying that much there really).
Brady Clark's injury afforded Corey
Hart (MIL) his first look at the bigs and not surprisingly, he hit his
first major league home run in his first game. Hart has often
been compared to Richie Sexson because of his height, lankiness and
home run power. While he doesn't have nearly the home run
potential of Sexson, he does offer considerable speed to more than make
up for it in terms of fantasy value. In each of the last 4 years
he has stolen at least 17 bases with a high of 31 set this year in AAA
Nashville. Obviously, 20/20 talents with position flexibility
like Hart - he's listed as an infielder but has
played just about everywhere but short, second and catcher - are
rare. Hopefully, the Brewers will see their future with Hart a
little more clearly than they've seen some of their other prospects.