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Welcome to the latest edition of RotoBaller’s Recently Promoted Prospects series for fantasy baseball! Here I discuss some recently promoted MLB prospects and rookies , making note of what I think their upside could be for fantasy baseball managers, and whether they are potential risers or fallers.
We have seen 125 rookies make their MLB debut in 2021. This week I'll look at three rookie pitchers that might work their way into fantasy relevance in 2021. I will use video looks, scouting reports, analytics, and RotoBaller’s premium projections to predict what each recently called-up player could do if given a continued opportunity in 2021.
Here are your recently promoted prospects for Week 12 of the fantasy baseball season.
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Matt Manning, Detroit Tigers
17% Rostered on Yahoo
Situation: By calling up Matt Manning to make his major league debut this week, the Detroit Tigers now have three promising young hurlers in the rotation. With Matthew Boyd, Julio Teheran, and Spencer Turnbull on the IL, the Tigers are looking to the future giving Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, and Matt Manning turns at the top of the rotation.
Skill: Manning is an athletic righty who gets excellent extension (7.0 feet) on his delivery, allowing his four-seam fastball to play a couple of ticks faster than it's 94 mph average velocity. He mixes in a slider, changeup, and curveball as secondary offerings, but none of them stand out as a MLB out-pitch at the moment. He figures to be fastball heavy early on, but it is a pitch that Manning can rely on if he's able to hit his spots with it.
Projection: Manning has been a highly touted prospect for some time now, so I think he projects to be a future bona-fide fantasy SP2 or 3 in the future. For redraft in 2021, I think it will take some time for Manning to get his legs under him. The good news is that, unlike some other rookie hurlers that we've seen debut in 2021, Manning's fastball should allow him to avoid getting barreled to death while he works on establishing his secondaries. I'll take the under on Steamer's 4.73 ERA projection, maybe even by a half run. Figure 75 innings of 4.25 ERA and a WHIP around 1.30 for 2021.
Kyle Muller, Atlanta Braves
0% Rostered on Yahoo
Situation: With the Braves in need of pitching depth this week, Kyle Muller was briefly brought up to make his MLB debut before getting shuttled back down to Triple-A. He pitched 1-inning of relief in his debut. He's likely going to be brought back up to make his first start in one of the Braves' doubleheader games this Monday.
Skill: While he got his first MLB look out of the bullpen, Muller is a lefty with the potential to contribute in the Braves rotation in the near future. He was a second-round choice out of the Texas prep ranks in 2016. Muller has posted strong strikeout rates during his minor league career, but has struggled with his control since 2018. If he can harness the control, he has the stuff to work as a MLB starter. His fastball comes in two varieties (four-seam and sinker) and he sits comfortably around 95 mph with the heater. He backs the fastballs up with a hard slider that could be a pitch he features more than the heater at times. It has good horizontal run and should generate a fair share of whiffs. Then he mixes in a slower curveball that still features some two plane break that can generate whiffs as well.
Projection: If Muller gets the nod as the 5th rotation option for Atlanta, he's definitely worth an add in deeper formats and he's a streamer play in shallow ones. Muller's stuff is good enough that it should generate strikeouts at the MLB level. There's still work to be done in the command and control department, so expect some bumps mixed in with the occasional gem from this young lefty.
Tony Santillan, Cincinnati Reds
10% Rostered on Yahoo
Situation: With Sonny Gray and Tejay Antone going down with injury over the last two weeks, the Reds have turned to Tony Santillan to plug the hole in their starting rotation. Santiallan, 24, was the Reds' 2nd round choice in the 2015 draft.
Skill: Santillan has been a steady starting pitcher in the Reds' organization throughout his minor league career. He's really a two-pitch pitcher, relying on a four-seam fastball that touches 95 mph and a tight harder curveball that runs about 10 mph under the fastball. He mixes in a changeup at times but hasn't shown a great feel for the pitch yet this season. The fastball should have enough rise and carry to play up in the zone and generate some whiffs.
Projection: Publicly available projection systems have Santillan around a 5.00 ERA for the remainder of the 2021 season. I tend to share their pessimism, as it's hard for me to see him getting by against MLB hitting on two pitches that are likely above-average at best. In the event that his changeup can come along, there's maybe more hope for Santillan as a streamer in nice matchups moving forward this season.
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