Jason Grilli has been one of the top middle relievers in all of baseball so far this season, netting a 1.80/2.33/2.16 ERA/FIP/xFIP along with 0.5 wins out of the bullpen in exactly 20 innings. Currently, Grilli has the highest strikeout rate of his career, by far, at 42.7%.
Last summer, the Dodgers traded longtime shortstop Rafael Furcal to the Cardinals, hoping to get something out of their oft-injured star before he reached free agency. Furcal was not only a useful cog on the St. Louis march to the championship, he’s been the best shortstop in the National League so far in 2012. The Dodgers, meanwhile, were left to fill shortstop with the overmatched Dee Gordon, who is almost certainly only still in the majors because the club simply has no viable alternatives to turn to.
Yet the Dodgers didn’t come away completely empty-handed, picking up 25-year-old Alex Castellanos in exchange for Furcal. Castellanos was crushing the ball for Double-A Springfield at the time of the trade – .319/.379/.562 (.411 wOBA) – and has continued to do damage since joining the Dodger organization, putting up a .361/.465/.711 (.493 wOBA) line for Triple-A Albuquerque this year that doesn’t even feature the usual massive home/road splits you’ll generally see from Isotope players. While the hit tool seems to be for real, Castellanos has never been seen as being on the fast track to the bigs, held back by questionable place discipline (411/122 K/BB in parts of five seasons) and an uncertain future on defense, since he’s shuttled from third base to right field to second base over the last several years.
Castellanos would have almost certainly been among those called up in April as the Dodgers suffered through a variety of injuries, but a strained hamstring on April 24 sidelined him for nearly a month; now, with Matt Kemp headed back to the disabled list and Castellanos once again healthy, he’s finally received the call. It remains to be seen exactly how he fits into the lineup, since his transition to second base was reportedly going well, and the Dodgers are without regular second baseman Mark Ellis through at least the All-Star Break thanks to a serious leg injury. However, Castellanos’ move to second is still a work in progress, and manager Don Mattingly indicated that he’ll likely use Castellanos mainly as an outfielder for now, preferring to stick with Elian Herrera, Ivan De Jesus, & Jerry Hairston at second base.
After spending the majority of the week day-to-day with flu like symptoms, I mustered the energy to begin my mid-season Top Prospect List. Honestly, I’ve never been a fan of lists, as they often beget spats about order rather than rationale. Alas, we must give the people what they want! Thus far, here are some biggest risers from my pre-2012 Top 100 list and, of course, the all important rationale for their movement.
Oscar Taveras (Pre-Season Rank: 56): Oscar Taveras tore up the Midwest League. That is undeniable. But, coming into the season, some questioned if his free swinging approach would undermine his outstanding tools – myself included. I typically don’t care about a player’s walk rate prior to AA, but one’s walk rate is mutually exclusive from one’s approach to a plate appearance. Oscar Taveras doesn’t possess anything that would resemble plate discipline, but can one blame him? Previously, I’ve labeled his hit tool “uncanny,” his swing is long and unconventional but he simply does not miss the ball. Taveras has tools in spades, but it’s hard to go “all-in” on a guy with that approach. For me, he’ll have to prove at every level that his approach will not undermine his ability to make consistent quality contact. Still, I’ve got him moving all the way to my number 7 overall hitting prospect.
Mason Williams (Pre-Season Rank: 69): Just prior to creating my list Bullpen Banter colleague Al Skorupa took a scouting trip to see the Yankees’ outfielder. He followed the trip up with one my favorite pieces of the off-season, which includes enough .gifs to make your prospect-loving heart explode (and your browser too). The article started a heated e-mail exchange where I stood alone to argue that despite a small frame Williams projected to have average or above average power. Only time will tell if I was correct, but even so, Williams has an interesting fantasy profile. His speed is elite, and his ability to make contact is very strong. However, like the aforementioned Tavares, he too is a free swinger. Of course, he can’t steal first base and he doesn’t barrel balls like Tavares so his lack of discipline is slightly more worrisome. Still, Mason projects to a well above average defender with who can hit for a high average, steal a ton of bases and maybe even have surprising pop for a guy his size.
Rougned Odor (Pre-Season Rank: N/A): Unless you’re drafting based on awesome names, Odor probably isn’t selected in your league. If you don’t pick him up soon, someone else surely will because Odor is likely to be the top second baseman in the minors at year’s end. By my eye, he’s grown quite a bit and is now a very muscular young man. He’s going above average home run power for a second baseman and when I’ve seen him he’s has no problem bombing the ball the ball the opposite way. He’ll be exciting one to watch.
If you’re reading this at work then you only have but a few short hours before being released to the weekend. If you’re reading this in pajamas at noon, then I am jealous of you. Today’s Roto Riteup didn’t have a large quantity of games to pick from, but the quality of the games was high.
• According to the box score, Bud Norris was throwing a beach ball at the Colorado Rockies yesterday. The good news is that Norris had a 10.8 K/9. The bad news is that he only lasted an inning and two thirds. It was his second start in a row where he failed to go five innings, but the prior nine starts were all of average to excellent quality. As it stands right now, Norris currently has the highest strike out and the lowest walk rates of any season in the majors. He currently has a better K/BB, ERA and WHIP than Tim Lincecum and Yovani Gallardo to name a couple. I doubt he’s available in your league, but if for some reason he is, grab him.
• Another player in the Rockies/Astros game that is setting season highs is Carlos Gonzalez. CarGo isn’t a stranger to impressive offensive numbers, but as of right now his OBP is 25 points higher than his best single season and his SLG is 55 points higher than any previous best. His skill set is deep and varied, as his 14 homers are impressive and are his eight steals to zero caught stealing so far. His wOBA in Coors Field this year is an absurd .515 (as of this writing) compared against a very human, albeit very good, road wOBA of .357. If he continues to improve against left-handed pitching then the (already high) ceiling of his talents would be blown off.
• Last night Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit his 10th home run in just 136 plate appearances. For the season Salty is hitting an impressive .281/.316/.594. If you happen to play in an OBP league then he comes a little less valuable, but overall Salty is swinging the bat well. Of catchers with at least 130 PA’s, he has the most homers and ranks in the top 10 of runs, AVG and just outside the top 10 of RBI’s. He usually sits against left-handed pitching, but you can’t expect a catcher to play every day anyways. I can over look his platoon splits. He’s owned in just 47% of Yahoo! and 26% of ESPN formats. Although Salty doesn’t have a Mike Napoli 2011 season in him, he is still a undervalued fantasy team member.
• Dexter Fowler managed to get a hit, draw two walks and steal a base last night. How he is only owned in 55% of Yahoo! leagues and 36% of ESPN leagues I will never know. He’s sitting at .282/.382/.573 for the season. Do some math and meet me back here in a second. Yes. That is correct. Dexter Fowler currently has an ISO of almost .300. That won’t continue for the entire year, but he does have eight home runs on the year already compared to a previous single season high of nine in 2008 – down in Double-A ball. He now has five stolen bases and zero caught stealing too. I don’t really know what else to say to advocate Fowler as worthy of being owned. Look at those numbers!
For those of you who play daily fantasy games like FanGraphs: The Game, or just like to stream players, here are a couple matchups you may be able to exploit.
A Pitcher for Today: Adam Wainwright at NYM
I love Waino’s curve ball. I could watch a looped video of him throwing that thing for hours at a time.
A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Daniel Hudson at SD
I think Hudson gets back on track after a long DL stint and pitching in Petco could be the perfect remedy.
A Hitter for Today: Mark Trumbo vs TEX (Colby Lewis)
Trumbo smash. Trumbo smash good.