Knocking Down The Door: June 24, 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 10-14 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.

•Jarren Duran (24), OF, Triple-A Worcester | Boston Red Sox | Prospect Rank: 72 (overall), 3 (organizational) | June 12-June 23: 17-for-44, 5 HR, 2 2B, 12 RBI, 5 BB, 10 K, SB

Danny Santana is 8-for-65 with 20 strikeouts since the Red Sox promoted him last month, making the team’s case for keeping Duran in Triple-A much longer a weak one. The 24-year-old center fielder hit his 13th homer on Wednesday and had at least two hits for the seventh time in his last ten games.

•Jake Meyers (25), OF, Triple-A Sugar Land | Houston Astros | Prospect Rank: n/a | June 13-June 22: 17-for-37, 7 HR, 4 2B, 3B, 12 RBI, 4 BB, 3 K, SB

Now that Myles Straw has finally heated up (19-for-62 since June 4), it will be tougher to supplant him as the Astros’ starting center fielder. But Meyers is still doing all he can to give the team something to think about. With 13 hits in his last 23 at-bats, the former 13th round pick out of the University of Nebraska has raised his OPS over 1.000 and has a 140 wRC+ in 167 Triple-A plate appearances.

•Hoy Jun Park (25), INF, Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes-Barre | New York Yankees | Prospect Rank: n/a | June 12-June 22: 13-for-32, HR, 2 2B, 3B, 6 RBI, 10 BB, 7 K, 2 SB

Park started in center field on Wednesday, possibly in an audition to prove just how valuable he can be off of the Yankees’ bench. We already know he can play shortstop, second base, and third base. He’s also putting on a hitting clinic in Triple-A with six homers, seven doubles, 25 walks, and a .504 OBP in his first 123 Triple-A plate appearances. Rougned Odor might have bought himself some more time with a big homer on Wednesday, but he might not be able to hold off Park much longer.

•A.J. Alexy (23), SP, Double-A Frisco | Texas Rangers | Prospect Rank: 19 (organizational) | June 6-June 20: 12.1 IP, ER, 10 H, 3 BB, 14 K

Alexy was a 19-year-old prospect in Low-A when he was acquired from the Dodgers in the Yu Darvish trade back in 2017. Nearly four years later, he could be closing in on the big leagues. While the Rangers are being very cautious with the 23-year-old, he pitched a season-high five innings in his latest start. Even if he’s not able to pitch more than 5-6 innings per appearance, he could still be utilized in a piggyback role or in a six-man rotation where they could continue to limit his workload.

•Dauri Moreta (25), RP, Double-A Chattanooga | Cincinnati Reds | Prospect Rank: n/a | June 5-June 19: 8.2 IP, 0 R  3 H, 3 BB, 15 K

The Reds’ bullpen has been a disaster and a 25-year-old making the jump from Double-A isn’t likely to make a huge difference, at least not right away. But as long as they’re still in playoff contention — they’re currently 4.5 games out in the NL Central —  they should be trying to determine if any internal options can help before they possibly look to the trade market. Moreta, who has a 43% strikeout rate and 19 consecutive scoreless innings streak intact, should be near the top of that list.