4 Recent Minor League Recalls For Final Week

It’s the final week of the regular season! It’s now extremely important to accumulate PAs to give you the best chance of racking up the counting stats. So let’s discuss four hitters who have recently been recalled from the minors and now find themselves in a strong playing time situation.

Pavin Smith | ARI 1B

Smith was recalled just over a week ago and has rotated between DH and first base, starting in five of seven, all against right-handers. The end of that sentence is important, as the lefty figures to platoon and not start against the two southpaws the Diamondbacks are projected to face this week. The good news is he should start in two of three games at Coors Field.

Remember what he did over a small sample in 2024? In 158 PA, he posted a career best 22% HR/FB rate with Statcast metrics to back it up, including a 14.7% Barrel%. I personally wondered if he reached a new level, but he did regress the following year and battled a massive strikeout rate spike. This season, his power has completely disappeared, while his BatSpd has declined.

His Triple-A number don’t give us much reason for optimism either, as even though he did post a 21.2% HR/FB rate, his maxEV and Barrel% were below average and don’t suggest much power. It’s not a great endorsement to pick him up for the final week.

However, the Diamondbacks have decided that giving Jordan Lawlar regular at-bats isn’t a priority, which benefits Smith. As bizarre at that sounds, you might as well take advantage and go with where the playing time is. Smith has shown power in the past and his strikeout rate and SwStr% has returned to his normal levels. It makes him worth a gamble in deep leagues.

Ronny Mauricio | NYM SS

The Mets former top prospect is back yet again, as he’s been up and down several times throughout the season. It seems likely he’ll be on the strong side of a platoon, sitting against left-handed starters. Unfortunately, the Mets are scheduled to face four lefties this coming week, meaning he may only start two games. So weekly transaction leaguers probably shouldn’t bother considering him for the week. Instead, deep daily leaguers should pay attention!

In 305 Triple-A PA this season, he showed excellent power as usual, with a 19.1% HR/FB rate and .232 ISO, supported by above average Statcast metrics, including a nice 14.3% Barrel%. He also swiped 12 bases to go along with his 18 home runs, putting him on a full season pace of 30+ home runs and 20+ steals. That makes him quite the intriguing fantasy prospect.

What’s interesting here is he looks like the second coming of Javier Báez. He swings and misses often, but consistently posts low walk and strikeout rates because he’s a free swinger. It’s a profile we’ve seen work, but it’s pretty rare, and a lot of the names suddenly flame out.

If he continues to platoon, that will really cap his fantasy upside, especially considering there’s nothing here to suggest he’ll hit for batting average. But for the two games he figures to start this week, he’s worth investigating for the possibility he puts his power and speed on display.

Adael Amador | COL 2B

I’ve learned the hard way to no longer speculate on young Rockies hitters, because they seemingly never get a long leash, or it takes too long to be given a chance in the first place. Even worse, they are technically starters, but still get benched far more frequently than a starter typically would. It makes for a very frustrating owning experience.

Amador is one such name. He was recalled at the beginning of September and has rotated between second base and DH. While three off days since doesn’t seem like a lot, he’s been on the bench twice in the last three games. It’s difficult to justify continuing to bench your top prospects, particularly when you’re talking about your fourth best one.

Anyway, he’s still technically the starter and will play three games at home this week. In 434 Triple-A PA, he walk more than he struck out, but showed limited power potential with just a 3.4% Barrel%. He did steal 11 bases though, matching his home run total, so with the Coors effect, perhaps a full season would allow him to reach double digits in both. He actually swiped as many as 35 bases back in 2024, so maybe he decides to run more again. Though he’s swiped just two bases in the Majors over 237 PA, so maybe not.

So far, Amador has shown little offensive potential in the Majors and doesn’t have a very exciting profile given his minor league performance. Solely due to half his games coming at home this week, I would consider him a deep league add and hope he starts all three of those home games, at the very least.

Ben Ross | MIN SS

Top prospect Kaelen Culpepper’s injury opened up a spot for Ross, who looks to be the team’s starting shortstop the rest of the way. Oddly, despite hitting right-handed, he was on the bench against a lefty on Saturday. Perhaps the team is just mixing things up, as they fight for third place in the division.

Ross is actually no prospect. He ranked just 29th in the organization with his best scouting grades coming from his speed and defense. The latter matters as it could help keep him in the lineup, while the former could potential result in some fantasy value if the speed translates into steals.

In 430 Triple-A PA this season, he posted a double digit walk rate and a high 20% strikeout rate. He was an extreme fly ball hitter, which is a bit odd given his middling Statcast metrics. With weak HardHit% and maxEV marks, I have no idea why he hit so many fly balls. Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt his BABIP, which was over .300, probably because the flies were offset by a high LD% and low IFFB%.

Thanks to all those flies, he actually recorded a 20-20 season between Double-A and Triple-A this year. Unfortunately, it looks to be quite fluky. Though he posted a .360 wOBA at Triple-A, his xwOBA was just .303, suggesting some serious luck, probably on both the BABIP and power side. A lower BABIP would reduce his OBP and stolen base opportunities, while weaker power results would mean fewer home runs.

Given that the strikeout rate is too high for his level of power, I doubt he’ll end up in the team’s long-term plans. But hey, he’ll probably end the season as the team’s starting shortstop, so he’s worth an add in deep leagues for the playing time alone, even if I don’t expect much from him.