OK, so we couldn't nail every one of the "High Five" June 1 call-ups. Tommy Hanson didn't make it in time. But seeing him arrive a week later, along with the likes of Andrew McCutchen and Gordon Beckham (less than a year after he was drafted out of Georgia) is not a bad bit of consolation for all of us.
Hanson immediately becomes the best rookie pitcher in baseball. More promising than even David Price, because of his knockout stuff and incredible strikeout rate.
But you have heard us say that too many times already. This space this week will be used to trumpet the future Fantasy star, Beckham.
While he didn't look as good as McCutchen in their debuts Thursday afternoon, he will wind up being the next Dustin Pedroia -- except with more power and less steals. Beckham will be the Hanley Ramirez to Pedroia's Jose B. Reyes. We called Ramirez a stronger but a step-slower-Reyes when he was preparing to arrive many springs ago.
We said the same of Beckham compared to the reigning AL MVP Pedroia this spring. They even look similar standing in the box. Beckham, 6-feet and 190 pounds, looked like a boy among men at the plate Thursday in Chicago.
Beckham should be a man on the stat sheet over the long haul, though. There is pop in his bat, evidenced by the 23 doubles and four homers in 175 at-bats between Double- and Triple-A. The White Sox will also get him position versatility, moving him around at third (his initial position), shortstop (his eventual position) and second base (his situational position).
Beckham will play virtually every day at one position or another. Prospects that make the majors less than a year after being drafted don't come up to play a reserve role.
The Georgia product has hit everywhere he has been, including homering in his first official spring training at-bat. He then went 44-for-147 (.299) in Double-A and wasn't challenged in his week-plus in Triple-A, going 13-for-28 (.464) with six doubles.
It might be a slow start for Beckham initially, as it has been for Matt Wieters (3-for-21) in his first week. Even the '07 AL ROY and '08 AL MVP Pedroia had a miserable first month in the majors, hitting .172 in his first 58 at-bats (just 10 hits). Boy, the talk Pedroia wasn't ready for the majors in early April '07 looks real silly now.
The White Sox said Beckham wouldn't arrive unless they were out of the race or the season was an unmitigated disaster. Manager Ozzie Guillen miscalculated. Beckham arrives to help the White Sox close the gap on the front-running Tigers.
One Tommy exit, one Tommy enters
We said the Braves needed to decide the future of Tom Glavine (shoulder) and Kris Medlen wouldn't be in Hanson's way. It couldn't have been more blatantly obvious Wednesday.
The Braves cut costs releasing their future Hall of Famer, a real cold-hearted move, considing the work he put in to return. Then, they immediately trade for Nate McLouth and announce Hanson as their starter Saturday.
As we said above, Hanson will be the best rookie pitcher in Fantasy Baseball here on out. Yes, even better than the still-eligible David Price. A poll of Hanson vs. Price was posted on FantasyNews.CBSSports.com on Wednesday, June 3, and the early returns were slightly in Hanson's favor. Click here to cast your vote.
On one day of news June 3, we get the arrival of the potential AL (Beckham) and NL (Hanson) Rookie of the Year winners.
You gotta love getting to see the future stars after June 1. It's like Christmas to Fantasy owners.
Some other intriguing recent call-ups or soon-to-be called up (ranked in order of intrigue): Ricky Nolasco, SP, FLA; Matt Joyce, OF, TB; Antonio Bastardo, SP, PHI; Vin Mazzaro, SP, OAK; Matt Maloney, SP, CIN.
Prospect watch
Every week we break down all the minor leaguers who are owned in at least 1 percent of our Fantasy leagues. This will be your essential guide to unearthing the elite prospects before they hit the big time.
Rookie watch
Top AL rookies to date
- Rick Porcello, SP, DET -- His past start wasn't great, but his overall numbers are still great.
- Elvis Andrus, SS, TEX -- The 20-year-old shortstop has been every bit as good as advertised, perhaps better.
- Nolan Reimold, OF, BAL -- Despite just 68 at-bats, masher leads all AL rookies with five homers.
- Andrew Bailey, RP, OAK -- His talent suggests he is more than just the A's flavor of the season closer.
- David Price, SP, TB -- His second outing makes us believe he will only rise from here.
- Honorable mentions: Jeff Niemann, SP, TB; Scott Richmond, SP, TOR; Josh Outman, SP, OAK; Clayton Richard, SP, CHW; Brett Gardner, OF, NYY; Alfredo Aceves, RP, NYY; Trevor Cahill, SP, OAK; Matt Palmer, RP, LAA; Ryan Perry, RP, DET; Brett Anderson, SP, OAK; Daniel Bard, RP, BOS; Phil Coke, RP, NYY; and Francisco Cervelli, C, NYY.
Top NL rookies to date
- Colby Rasmus, OF, STL -- He leads all NL rookies with six HRs, 20 RBI and 24 runs.
- Dexter Fowler, OF, COL -- His steals are still carrying him, which says more about the NL rookie class.
- Micah Hoffpauir, OF, CHC -- He is second to Rasmus in the power categories right now.
- Gerardo Parra, OF, ARI -- He has been a pleasant surprise and could earn full-time status now.
- Antonio Bastardo, SP, PHI -- It is just one start, but it has us excited right away.
- Honorable mentions: Shairon Martis, SP, WAS; Jason Motte, RP, STL; Bobby Parnell, RP, NYM; Omir Santos, C, NYM; Jason Jaramillo, C, PIT; Fernando Martinez, OF, NYM; Joe Thurston, 2B, STL; Juan Gutierrez, OF, ARI; Kenshin Kawakami, SP, ATL; and Edwin Maysonet, 2B, HOU.
Talking talent
Dennis Tucker: Any chance of Michael Taylor, OF, PHI, getting listed soon?
Emack: He is in there now and red-hot in Double-A, but we might figure he has a better chance to be dealt for an ace pitcher than arriving in Philly this season. By the way, we also added the even hotter Andrew Locke, OF, HOU, and Angels 2005 No. 1 pick Trevor Bell, who has been impressive in Double-A. Locke is a bit old to be a real impressive long-term prospect, but the same was once said of Hunter Pence. Bell won't get a look in the Angels rotation this season, but he could position himself to help in 2010.
You can e-mail Emack your Fantasy Baseball prospect questions to DMFantasyBaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Prospects in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state. Be aware, due to the large volume of submissions received, we cannot guarantee personal responses to all questions.
