Recent Callups Worthy Of Your Attention

The minor league callups keep coming, and they will continue to until the regular season ends in less than three weeks. That’s good news for those in deeper leagues with holes to fill as new replacement options are constantly arriving. Let’s discuss five of those names that are worthy of your attention.

Bryce Teodosio | LAA

The Angels placed both Jo Adell and Kevin Pillar on the IL, triggering a pair of minor league callups. One of those is Teodosio, who was unranked in the latest Angels top prospects report, but highlighted in the “Tweener Outfielders” subsection of the “Other Prospects of Note” section. So that isn’t very exciting.

However, what he did at Triple-A this year should grab your attention, particularly if you need stolen bases. Despite a mediocre .339 OBP, he swiped 40 bases over just 462 PAs, while getting caught just four times for a splendid 91% success rate. Anyone with that kind of stolen base potential should be on fantasy owners’ radars.

But can he hit? Because, ya know, you can’t steal first base. Welllllll, strikeouts and simply making contact had been a major issue heading into this season. He had posted strikeout rates over 30% during his time at Double-A in both 2022 and 2023, but improved dramatically this year, bringing it down to 26%. That’s still not great, but no longer alarming. He also reduced his SwStk% from over 19% to 13.9%, which is again not ideal, but not worth raising any red flags. He’s not a big walker with a 7.6% walk rate this year, but it could be worse!

While there’s little chance he maintains such an inflated mark, he did BABIP .372 this year, but a high IFFB% and just averageish LD% suggests that’s not going to be carried over to the Majors. All told, he’s not going to be a batting average or OBP contributor. Of course, over a tiny sample size of a couple of weeks, anything could happen, so I wouldn’t be too concerned about his long-term potential to get on base enough to add to your stolen base total.

It wasn’t clear when he and former prospect Jordyn Adams were recalled which one would be favored for a starting job. But the fact that Teodosio got the start on Saturday while Adams rode the bench suggests it’s Teodosio, while Adams forms a weak side platoon with Mickey Moniak. Of course, Adams hit higher in the order than Teodosio on Sunday when both started, and then the latter was pinch hit for by Moniak, so I’m not entirely sure what Ron Washington is doing. At this point, I’ll assume Teodosio will earn more PAs than Adams, making him worthy considering if you’re in need of steals in AL-Only leagues.

Tristan Gray | OAK

Gray was recalled just over a week ago and looks to have secured a strong side starting job, rotating between first and third bases. He’s not exactly a prospect, having last been ranked back in 2020 and already 28 years old. But in a deep league, I’m interested in anyone who starts most days, which Gray should do, at least if and until Tyler Soderstrom returns from the IL.

He has spent four seasons at Triple-A, where he has posted a HR/FB rate over 20% in both 2022 and 2023, but saw that fall to 16.7% this year. Still, he maintained a maxEV over 112 MPH, which is pretty good, and hits more than enough fly balls to take advantage of his power. He has also posted ISO marks well above .200 since 2022. He doesn’t steal bases, so his power is going to be key to delivering any sort of value the rest of the way.

His strikeout rate improved this year, dropping below 30% again after jumping above that level during his 2022 and 2023 seasons at Triple-A. He also reduced his SwStk%, but it’s still elevated and makes me question if he’ll make enough contact in the Majors. Over a tiny sample so far, he has already struck out 51.6% of the time, with a 23.6% SwStk%.

He’s more of a lightning in a bottle type if you need a couple of homers, as there doesn’t appear to be any long-term value here and he may not even last on the strong side of a platoon by season’s end.

Marco Luciano | SF

Finally, a legit prospect! Luciano was last ranked as the team’s ninth best prospect, but that was a decline from fourth best back in 2023. He actually made his MLB debut last year, but spent most of his time in the minors this year, while earning several stints with the Giants. With 70/70 Raw Power from a shortstop, he’s definitely worth your attention.

At Triple-A this year, he posted an 18.9% HR/FB rate, backed by a 47.7% HardHit% and 110.1 MPH maxEV. He’s been in that mid-to-high teen range for the past couple of years, while posting marks just over 20% back in Rookie ball and Single-A over his first couple of professional seasons.

The one red flag with his power potential is that his fly balls have inexplicably dried up. After posting FB% marks over 40% in 2022 and 2023, that mark plummeted to just 24.9% this season. That’s great for his BABIP, which jumped to .338, but not so much for his power, as he posted just a .130 ISO. I’m not sure why his batted ball type distribution changed so dramatically, but where that ultimately lands will determine how much home run upside he has. So far over a small MLB sample this year, his FB% has rebounded, so that’s a good sign.

Even if a middle infielder is known for his power and doesn’t necessarily have high Speed scouting grades, I still always just assume they steal a handful of bases. Not Luciano. He swiped just four this year, so although that’s not nothing, this is truly just a power bat right now.

Impressively, despite his young age, he’s got strong plate patience, typically walking at a double digit clip, including an elite 16.9% mark at Triple-A this year. He does strike out, but not at too high of a rate considering his walk rate, but it means he’ll likely earn more value in OBP leagues.

Finally, the Giants seemingly haven’t committed to him as their starting second baseman, as he has only started four of six games, with Brett Wisely filling in for two starts. I can’t comprehend how a team not in the playoff hunt isn’t playing one of their better prospects every day, but then again, there are quite a lot of managerial decisions made every day that make little sense to me. So it makes it tough to be starting him in weekly leagues.

Jonathan Aranda | TB

Having missed a chunk of time to injury, Aranda is now back in the Majors. The 26-year-old was last ranked as the team’s fifth best prospect back in 2022 with a good Hit tool and some power. That power seems to be blossoming now.

Last year and this year over a small sample at Triple-A, he has posted HR/FB rate marks of 26.9%. This from a guy who never exceeded 4.4% from 2016 to 2019! Of course, he debuted at age 18, so it’s cool to see his power develop. He posted HardHit% marks over 40% both seasons, along with a 113 MPH maxEV last year, but a less impressive 107.9 MPH mark this year. If you combine the last two seasons at Triple-A, you end up with nearly 600 PAs and 32 home runs.

One concern to monitor is his strikeout rate skyrocketed at Triple-A this season, jumping from 20% last year to 32.6% this year, while his SwStk% increased to double digits for the first time in a minor league season, excluding his Rookie league years back in 2016 and 2017. He was much more intriguing with a 20% strikeout rate and that power than with a 30% strikeout rate.

Like Luciano, Aranda has excellent plate patience. He walked at a 14.7% clip last year and 16% clip this year. That walk rate combined with a .387 BABIP resulted in an elite .449 OBP last year. That’s going to give him a big boost in value in OBP leagues.

Right now, his playing time is questionable. As a left-hander, he clearly won’t be starting against southpaws. However, he had started the last three games against right-handers, rotating between first and second base. But, Brandon Lowe was hurt, so it’ll be interesting how the playing time shakes out against a right-hander when Lowe is in the starting lineup.

Jacob Amaya | CHW

Now on his third team this year, Amaya has started eight of the last nine games at shortstop for the White Sox. The 26-year-old was last ranked as the Astros 12th best prospect with no real standout skills.

In seasons past, he’s shown some home run power, with double digit HR/FB rates in four straight seasons, but he posted just an 8.5% mark this year at Triple-A, with a .113 ISO. With a maxEV of just 106.6 MPH and a 107.4 MPH mark in 2023, it’s clear that he’s not going to be much of a home run contributor.

He stole six bases in half a minor league season this year after swiping six all of last year. So even in the steals department, he hasn’t been an accumulator.

He strikes out a bit too much for someone with limited power, but he does make up for it with his plate patience. He has consistently posted double digit walk rates, and has done so everywhere he’s played, saved for a small sample sub-100 PA stint at High-A back in 2019. That high walk rate should give him additional value in OBP leagues, especially considering his BABIP marks have been underwhelming, which won’t lead to a very good batting average.

So the interest here comes entirely from his current playing time. In deep leagues, buying playing time is key, especially at the end of the season when you’re trying to accumulate every last counting stat you can.