Keep eye on young Twins hitters
Opportunity, skill sets often are key to lifting second-half fantasy value
With two-plus months remaining in the baseball season, contenders will be trying to shore up offensive holes in anticipation of the stretch run and the postseason. And some rebuilders will be holding early auditions for 2017.
While name prospects are beginning to get their first taste of major league pitching, there are plenty more experienced post-hype youngsters who could finally emerge with greater opportunity.
The following is a mixed bag of stilldeveloping players who might be in line for more playing time and improved production down the stretch. Only fantasy owners with room to speculate need apply. (All stats through Sunday.)
The rebuilding Minnesota Twins have plenty of reason to spend August and September evaluating pieces of their future. Despite shaky plate skills and limited high minors at-bats, outfielder posted an impressive debut in 2015 (.267, 13 home runs, 11 stolen bases).
His free-swinging ways and a .200 average this season earned him a demotion to the minors after 115 at-bats. During that stint, Rosario hit .319 over 160 at-bats. Back with the Twins, he has improved his contact rate while going 15-for-39 in July. If he can keep his average above water, Rosario’s sneaky power and speed can shine.
Rosario’s teammate, is another July call-up who is tearing it up in a small sample (11-for-29, three homers) since his return. Vargas has had a similar career trajectory, fashioning an intriguing MLB debut (.274, nine homers in 215 atbats) in 2014 with no Class AAA experience before struggling badly the next season.
A lack of patience and too many ground balls were cutting into Vargas’ tremendous raw power, but he showed signs of addressing both deficiencies in the minors. Contact and the batting average remain question marks, and Vargas has plenty of competition in Minnesota at the DH-1B spots. But if you need a power boost, Vargas is a candidate to help there.
Reeling a bit after sputtering on offense and losing 10 of their last 14 games, the Chicago Cubs have begun playing time auditions for hitters to complement their core. A mild surprise to date has been the performance of whose ability to play second base and third base has allowed the Cubs to shift Kris Bryant to the outfield more frequently.
La Stella has struggled in July (2-for-16) since returning from a strained hamstring. But for the season he has posted a .263/ .352/.432 slash line (batting average/onbase percentage/slugging percentage) over 95 at-bats, making plenty of hard contact that hints at improved patience and power. A left-handed line-drive hitter who doesn’t strike out often, La Stella could be a significant post-All-Star break factor. Another piece of the Cubs’ puzzle is
who has yet to fulfill the promise he showed during the team’s 2015 postseason run. After a miserable start to 2016, Soler was showing month-overmonth improvement, and had been 5-for-11 in June before a hamstring strain landed him on the disabled list.
Frequently mentioned as a trade target, Soler is 24 and showing improved plate skills despite his recent issues. Regardless of whether he remains a Cub, there’s huge 30-homer, .280-average upside waiting to be unlocked.
The San Diego Padres outfield is frequently cited as one torn in two directions, with a group of incumbent veterans who might get traded on one side and an incoming crop of prospects on the other. But the Padres also have interesting decisions looming behind the plate, where Derek Norris might be moved. Through 105 atbats, has recorded an intriguing .276/.319/.457 line that includes five homers. Along with improved power, 24-year-old Bethancourt has shown his athleticism by adding five games in the outfield to his résumé.
And in the minors, receiver extraordinaire has been torrid since returning from a broken hamate bone in late April. Since coming off the DL in June, Hedges, 23, has blasted 14 home runs while going 46-for-121 (.380) and striking out 18 times — an 85% contact rate concurrent with all that power.
A favorable hitting environment at Class AAA El Paso is a factor, but Petco Park isn’t close to being the power graveyard it once was. Particularly given the sorry state of catching in the majors, this Padres tandem is an interesting speculative play for the remainder of 2016.
For AL-only fantasy owners in need of power and a late-season flyer at catcher, consider the Seattle Mariners’
who is at Class AAA Tacoma (Wash.) despite having 968 major league at-bats to his credit.
A polished receiver with power, Zunino’s problem has been poor contact, resulting in a sub-.200 batting average, and the fact that he was rushed to the majors as a 22-year-old in 2013. Seattle’s plan to restart his career has been successful at least at Tacoma, where Zunino has put up a .285/ .371/.520 line with 17 homers and a respectable 33/67 walk-to-strikeout rate through 277 at-bats. He even blasted two home runs during a brief two-game call-up before the break. Still just 25, Zunino’s upside at catcher and the Mariners’ fading postseason hopes suggest he’ll get another bigleague opportunity in August and September. All Cleveland Indians outfielder
has done since his June recall is hit .311 (33-for-106) with 10 home runs, a combination that has increased his playing time. Naquin has never hit for this kind of power (this surge has eclipsed his previous full-season home run total at any level). A hike in his strikeouts suggests that the batting average is at risk, too. But Naquin’s pedigree as a first-round draft pick includes back-to-back Big 12 college batting titles, and he has made better contact than this in the minor leagues. At age 25, we can’t rule out a step forward in his development.
The contending-again St. Louis Cardinals are sorting through outfield options that include rebounding and the newly versatile Grichuk is on fire (12-for-34, three homers) in July after a mid-June demotion that lasted less than three weeks. Grichuk’s skill set of above-average power but subpar average remains intact, with age (24) on his side.
After his early June demotion, Wong is also trying to recover playing time at second base in a reconfigured Cardinals infield while also moonlighting in the outfield. He has shown outstanding contact and patience over the past month (59 at-bats) and, at his best, is another power-andspeed threat who can fill those categories.