Knocking Down The Door: June 2, 2021
“Knocking Down The Door” is a weekly column highlighting minor leaguers who are making a case for a major league promotion. Listed below are the names of this week’s picks and the player’s team, age, level(s), prospect ranking, and last ten days of statistics.
The analysis can be viewed in the embedded video of the previous day’s episode of The RosterResource Show, a weekly live stream focused on all things related to rosters, transactions, and RosterResource content at FanGraphs.
- Wander Franco (20), SS, Triple-A Durham | Tampa Bay Rays | Prospect Rank: 1 (overall), 1 (organizational) | May 21-June 1: 12-for-37, HR, 3 2B, 3B, 11 RBI, 5 BB, 2 K, 2 SB
- Cal Raleigh (24), C, Triple-A Tacoma | Seattle Mariners | Prospect Rank: 7 (organizational) | May 21-June 1: 20-for-42, 4 HR, 4 2B, 10 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K
- Bailey Falter (24), SP, Triple-A Lehigh Valley | Philadelphia Phillies | Prospect Rank: 12 (organizational) | May 21-June 1: 9.2 IP, 0 R, 6 H, BB, 16 K
- Cooper Criswell (24), SP, Double-A Rocket City | Los Angeles Angels | Prospect Rank: n/a | May 21-June 1: 10.1 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 15 K
- Jake Eder (22), SP, Double-A Pensacola | Miami Marlins | Prospect Rank: 26 (organizational) | May 21-June 1: 9.2 IP, ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 16 K
General feedback: Can you set the streaming to be muted by default? A bit jarring to open a tab and start hearing voices.
Not sure that’s something he can adjust, but I’ll say that it is muted by default for me so I wonder if it’s something WE can control
I’ll try to find a solution. It’s muted for me so I’m not sure if it’s something in the browser settings or something else.
Falter’s stuff seems to always outshine his ranks. What is there to expect with prospects like that?
It’s all about opportunity for a lot of these guys and then taking advantage. When they aren’t prospects and don’t have elite stuff, the window of opportunity is narrow. See Cole Irvin. Got a chance with Philly. 2 good starts, 1 bad start, and then sent to the bullpen and back to the bottom of the depth chart until he was traded for cash considerations. He created another opportunity with Oakland by having a great spring and then making the most out of it.
I can’t imagine how much pressure is on these types of players. They are probably talented enough to be at least average big leaguers, but might only get a few chances (if they’re lucky) to prove they belong.