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Boy talk about great timing. In last week's column, I wrote about Tony Santillan as a prospect to watch. Sure enough, later on in the week he gets called up to Cincinnati where he allows one run and strikes out five over 4 2/3 innings in his Major League debut.
And that's the thing I love about prospects — the unpredictability. You never know who's going to get called up when, and while you can guess and predict, you can never be sure just who will succeed and who will flame out. I mean, one of my coldest of cold takes since joining Rotoballer was that I didn't think Juan Soto would get called up until very late in the season in 2018 (ha), and when he did get called up, I doubled down and said he likely wouldn't have much fantasy impact right away (hahahahahaha). So that's the beauty, you never know for 100 percent certainty what's going to happen with prospects, but you can absolutely pick out the guys to keep an eye on in the minors based on their potential.
Now with these four guys, it's entirely possible any one could get called up to the majors tomorrow. It's also possible that they won't see any Major League action until 2022 at the earliest. What you can be certain of is that these are guys you should keep an eye on.
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Cody Thomas - OF, Oakland Athletics
Level: Triple-A
2021 stats: 25 G, .267/.330/.616, 7 HR, 17 RBI, 16 R
Thomas is a guy I got to watch in person during his first season in 2016, and he showed plenty of pop in his bat with 16 homers in 52 games at Advanced-Rookie Ogden. Now in his first taste of Triple-A action, Thomas is continuing to show some nice power potential in his bat with seven homers in 25 games and a .616 slugging percentage — his highest mark since 2016. He's been on fire over his last 12 games, slashing .356/.431/.800 with five homers, 14 RBI and 13 runs scored as he's managed to turn things around at the plate from a sluggish start in May.
The one thing that might concern managers is the fact that his 36.2 percent strikeout rate this season is the worst of his career. Most of that stems from his poor performance in May, where he posted a 50 percent strikeout rate over 13 games. Since the start of June, Thomas has posted a 23.5 percent rate over 12 games.
Obviously that strikeout rate could prove to be a problem in the majors, but I like the power potential in his bat. The Athletics are fairly well set in the outfield currently, but it's still possible that we could see Thomas get a potential call up later in the season if injuries strike or players underperform. It's much more likely we won't see him until 2022, but he's a power bat worth keeping an eye on.
Nolan Gorman - 3B, St. Louis Cardinals
Level: Double-A
2021 stats: 34 G, .316/.388/.566, 10 HR, 3 SB, 23 RBI, 23 R
You know, if it weren't for the canceled 2020 season, it's possible we could've seen Gorman competing for the starting third base job this spring. However, the missed year of development put him behind and the Cardinals ended up trading for Nolan Arenado. He's not letting that stop him from raking in his first action at Double-A, as he has been on fire over his last 12 games with seven home runs, 13 RBI and nine runs scored while slashing .385/.439/.808 in that span. That's now 42 homers, 129 RBI and 137 runs scored for Gorman across 222 games in the minors.
At 21 years old, there's no reason for the Cardinals to rush along what figures to be a future All-Star caliber player. And with Arenado blocking the way and Paul Goldschmidt firmly entrenched at first base, Gorman will likely need to find a new position in order to crack the Cardinals roster.
That new position looks to be second base, as Gorman has started there in nine of his 34 games this season. If he can stick at second base and continue to rake at the plate, I could see the scenario where he gets a late season call-up to St. Louis if they're in the thick of the playoff hunt.
Kaden Polcovich - 2B, Seattle Mariners
Level: High-A
2021 stats: 31 G, .262/.367/.508, 7 HR, 7 SB, 27 RBI, 25 R
Seattle's third round pick in last year's draft, Polcovich is flashing a nice power-speed combo in his first year of pro ball. Over his last nine games alone, he's slashing .324/.405/.811 with five homers, one steal, 11 RBI and nine runs scored. That brings him up now to seven homers and seven steals over 31 games, and he's also displaying decent plate discipline with a 25.2 percent strikeout rate and 12.9 percent walk rate.
Obviously Polcovich is a ways away from making an impact in fantasy, given he only has 31 games of experience in the minor leagues. That being said, there's not a whole lot standing in his way between High-A and Seattle. There's virtually no chance that Polcovich gets even a single at-bat in the majors this year and he'll likely not get much playing time in 2022 outside of a late-season call-up.
If he continues to hit well between now and then, there's a very good chance he could compete for the starting second base job in 2023. This guy is a guy to watch solely in dynasty leagues for now, but outside of those formats, managers should still keep a casual eye on him as he could be a potential fantasy star in the future.
Ethan Small - SP, Milwaukee Brewers
Level: Double-A
2021 stats: 7 GS, 34.1 IP, 1-2, 2.36 ERA, 1.252 WHIP, 58 K
Small is the only pitcher to make this week's list, but he does a good job making up for the lack of pitching in here. I mean seriously, what are they putting in the water in Milwaukee? Over seven starts this year, Small is 1-2 with a 2.36 ERA and 58 strikeouts over 34 1/3 innings — which translates to a 41.4(!) percent strikeout rate. Just in his last three starts alone, Small has allowed only one run on eight hits and seven walks while striking out 31 in 17 1/3 innings of work. Oh, and this strikeout rate is no fluke. This season's performance has lowered his career strikeout rate to only 43.3 percent.
We're looking at potentially the next Corbin Burnes/Brandon Woodruff/Freddy Peralta in Milwaukee. If it weren't for the canceled 2020 season, I think we likely see Small playing in Milwaukee for a good chunk of the second half of the season, but at this point Small has a grand total of 55 1/3 innings pitched in his career. I would think that the Brewers are going to limit his workload at some point this year.
However, if he continues to pitch well and the Brewers remain in the playoff hunt, I could see Small getting called up late to help boost the Brewers' bullpen down the stretch. If that happens, Small becomes a solid guy to target in SV/HLD formats. Regardless of this year, managers should start keeping an eye on him, as Small could very well take a crack at Milwaukee's rotation out of Spring Training next year.
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