Here they come.
Not a week after I bemoaned the lack of early prospect buzz on the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast, we suddenly have a little call-up action.
The most notable is the most stashed of all minor-leaguers, Julio Urias, who's a little over-owned for this piece at 82 percent. But word of him starting Thursday, as sources told the Southern California News Group's J.P. Hoornstra, makes him worth singling out here just in case you're in the 18 percent of leagues where he's unowned or you play on one of those other sites that emphasize smaller roster sizes.
Of course, he'll actually have to perform to justify that roster spot, which is far from a guarantee. His three starts at Triple-A Oklahoma City were short by design, but his nine walks in 14 innings suggest he wasn't exactly a model of efficiency. Still, unlike most prospects of his caliber, he can actually point to some success against major-league hitters.
More than just some, really. Over his final eight appearances, six of them starts, he put together a 1.34 ERA.
Why else do you think so many owners were willing to dedicate a roster spot to him? The temptation to drop him at a point in the year when waiver wire activity is at its peak must have been high, especially without a clear timetable for his arrival.
But arriving he is. The time is now, and if you have anyone you could justify dropping in one of those leagues where someone couldn't justify holding, you have to give the 20-year-old phenom a chance to break through for you.
Coming up sooner than expected because of Rich Hill's recurring blister issue, Julio Urias has a sparkling pedigree and something of a track record already. His innings limitations might make for some frustrating weeks, but he has the upside to deliver ratios not too unlike we expected from Hill.
The source of the other call-up news Monday is now positioned as the Giants' starting third baseman, bumping Eduardo Nunez to left field, but with 23 home runs in 1,465 minor-league at-bats (including three in 474 just last year), Christian Arroyo may lack the power to make a real Fantasy impact. The 21-year-old was showing the potential for more in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, but now he's going to the park most known for suppressing power. Add only if you have a real need for a shortstop.
For as long as Jason Heyward was a Fantasy asset prior to last year, he deserves the benefit of the doubt with his hot start, even if not all of his batted-ball tendencies support the narrative that his overhauled swing is paying off. Here's one that does: All three of his home runs (which have come in his last four games) had a higher exit velocity than any of the seven he hit last year.
It's true David Peralta has sat against some left-handers in the early going, but he's doing his best to reduce that number to zero, collecting multiple hits in six of his last seven games. He had four doubles in one, is up to three home runs and three stolen bases, and is all in all looking like the same varied performer who got our attention with an .893 OPS in 2015 before falling victim to a wrist injury last year.
How many games like Monday's 2-for-4 performance with a home run and a double does Corey Dickerson need to have before we take notice? He's on pace for 39 homers. He's on pace for 62 doubles. His line-drive rate is back to a more typical 22.8 after dipping to 17.5 in his first year away from Coors Field, and he has started against two of the last four lefties the Rays have faced. This isn't some nobody, so for his ownership percentage to trail that of Avisail Garcia, Brandon Drury and Hunter Renfroe is just mind-boggling.
There isn't a lot peripherally here to get you excited, but the fact is Miguel Gonzalez is coming off back-to-back eight-inning gems in which only one of the combined six hits he allowed left the infield. He also has a 2.54 ERA in 17 starts dating back to last year, but again, the peripherals don't support it. If he can eat innings with just a respectable ERA, he could be a poor man's Ervin Santana, I suppose, but on a rebuilding club, he doesn't need to be universally owned. More than 39 percent, though.
