The Prospect Stock Watch: Austin, Light, Lindgren

The baseball season is in full swing and prospects around baseball are already seeing their stock values start to shift up or down. Today we’re looking at four prospects from the American League — three of whom can found playing for organizations in the AL East.

Tyler Austin, OF, Yankees: The up-and-down career of Austin may finally be running out of ‘ups.” A highly-regarded amateur when he was drafted in 2010, had two solid pro seasons but fell on hard times in 2013 due to injury. He rebounded somewhat in 2014 but currently sports a .486 OPS in 34 Triple-A games. He’s managed just five extra base hits but has been striking out like a slugger with 38 whiffs. Added to the 40-man roster last November to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, he might go unclaimed through the waiver process if the Yankees were to need room on the roster. With aging hitters on the big league roster, the club will likely need to rely on its outfield depth in 2015 and could reach down into Double-A to promote 2013 first rounder Aaron Judge — rather than give a shot to the likes of Triple-A outfielders Austin, Ben Gamel, Ramon Flores, or Slade Heathcott. [Value Down]

Balbino Fuenmayor, 1B, Royals: Signed for big bucks out of Venezuela by the Blue Jays as a 16 year old all the way back in 2006, Fuenmayor — then a third baseman — spent seven seasons trying (unsuccessfully) to surpass Low-A ball. He also never managed to hit more than nine home runs. He was let go part way through the 2013 season and eventually latched on to an independent league team. Fuenmayor then caught the eye of the Royals and signed a 2015 contract. Interestingly, he was skipped over High-A ball and assigned to Double-A. In 32 games, he has a 1.053 OPS and has kept the strikeouts to a reasonable number (23). After walking just nine times in 113 games in 2009, he has managed seven so far this season. He’s also slugged nine home runs and one more will give him double digits a third of the way through the season. Now 25, it remains to be seen if Fuenmayor’s success will continue but he’s a feel-good story for 2015 and could eventually provide some big league value to the Royals, even if it’s some hits off the bench. [Value Up]

Jacob Lindgren, LHP, Yankees: New York has one of the best bullpens in the Majors but the scary thing is that it could be even better in the near future. Lindgren, a second round pick from 2014, has had few issues with minor league hitters in parts of two seasons. Currently in Triple-A, the right-hander is inducing ground-ball outs more than three times as often as the average hurler and he’s also struck out 26 hitters in 19.0 innings. For his career, batters are hitting just .164 with 26 hits in 44.0 innings — to go along with a whopping 74 Ks. He’s handled both left- and right-handed hitters well but he’s been nearly unhittable against same-side batters. With Justin Wilson struggling with his control (continuing an alarming year-over-year trend), Lindgren could weasel his way into the big league bullpen by the end of the summer. [Value Up]

Pat Light, RHP, Red Sox: Light, 24, was the 37th overall pick in the 2012 draft but you haven’t heard much about him. That’s because he hasn’t been very good. A starter for the first three years of his pro career, the right-hander had a 7.34 ERA in 2013 and “improved” in 2014 but struck out just 76 hitters and allowed 150 hits in 132.1 innings. Transitioned to the bullpen this year, and promoted to Double-A for the first time, the light clicked on for, um, Light. In 20.2 innings he’s allowed just 12 hits and five walks. He’s struck out 25 hitters with a fastball that can dial up into the 95-96 mph range. His ability to focus on a small number of hitters has helped his iffy command play up. The Red Sox could see some value out of Light as a middle reliever by the end of 2015 if he continues to perform well. [Value Up]