“Holy crap, I totally forgot about him!” That right there is one of my favorite parts about covering minor-league baseball. Today’s column is a product of that sentiment, seeing as I had that reaction just the other day. I was perusing the Triple-A batting leaders when I came across the name Mikie Mahtook for what seemed like the first time in years.

When the 24-year-old was drafted 31st overall by Tampa Bay in the first round back in 2011, he was seen as a relatively polished player who, despite not having a sky-high ceiling, could advance quickly through the minors. The Louisiana State product was an absolute stud in his junior season, leading the SEC in slugging percentage, steals, walks and triples, while finishing second in the conference in home runs, batting average, total bases and on-base percentage.

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Agenda

1. Platoon Man Downside
2. Daily DFS
3. Saturday Picks
4. Table

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Full schedule, and then some, today. The Rays and Orioles have a day-night doubleheader, so both probables are list below, in case the order they pitch in changes. Let’s get into it.

Also, go USMNT. Always and forever.

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Welcome to the Top Impact Rookies for 2014. This ranking tool grades freshman players and prospects (who have not exceeded the 50 IP, 130 AB marks) based on their projected MLB impacts for 2014 only — not future years — so it will vary significantly from typical Top 50 or 100 prospects lists.

Updated: June 27, 2014

Sky Rocketing Gregory Polanco | Pirates (OF)

June 27: Just 22 years of age, Polanco has shown he belongs at the big league level. Through his first 15 games he has a .397 on-base percentage. The only thing he hasn’t done to date at the big league level is hit for power. The young hitter should continue to pair with all-star Andrew McCutchen and form an exciting outfield in Pittsburgh for years to come. Read the rest of this entry »

Way back in middle school I vividly remember Nelly’s “Country Grammar” being released. On this date 14 years ago the album was debuted and I was all about it. The track “Ride Wit Me” (warning: language) is something I have mostly memorized to this day.

On today’s agenda:
1. Welcome back, Wilson Ramos
2. A strong outing from Ryan Vogelsong
3. Mike Leake’s even better start
4. Bad news for Tony Cingrani
5. The daily five

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-Tonight’s ride on the Hector Rondon rollercoaster went off without a hitch. Rondon induced two groundouts to start the ninth before striking out Danny Espinosa to seal the 5-3 victory for the Cubs against the Nationals. The 14-pitch outing for Rondon is a relief for fantasy owners and Cubs nation alike, especially considering he’s allowed eight earned runs in his past five outings. As for the rest of the bullpen, Neil Ramirez finished off the seventh-inning and Pedro Strop allowed a hit in the eighth, but failed to allow the Nats to capitalize on Adam LaRoche’s bunt single. Rondon, available in ~60% of Yahoo! leagues, is now 9-of-11 in save opportunities with a 3.68 ERA (2.19 FIP) and a 28.4% K%.
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Episode 134

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live! Eno Sarris and Nicholas Minnix discuss Taijuan Walker and Erasmo Ramirez; Marco Gonzales; Zack Wheeler; James Shields; Ian Kennedy; Matt Shoemaker; Trevor Rosenthal; Joe Smith and Ernesto Frieri; and J.D. Martinez.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions so that we may answer them on our next episode.

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• Right after I published the MASH Report earlier this week, Andrew Cashner went on the DL for shoulder discomfort.  I look at his pitch data and here is what I found. First, he quit throwing his fastball in the last inning he pitched.

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Last week, I admitted I was conducting something of a fire sale in my FanGraphs staff ottoneu league. This is a big deal for me, I’m usually a harsh opponent of any kind of fire sale – they’re boring (once completed) and rarely pay off half as well as the seller expects. Mike Trout is a rare beast who has elevated everybody’s expectations of a top prospect. Most are like Jason Heyward or Domonic Brown or (gasp) Fernando Martinez – something goes wrong with either health or the skill set and leaves the owner with less than they expected.

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Agenda

1. Doubleheader Boons
2. Daily DFS
3. Friday Picks
4. Table

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