X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Join the Best Live Fantasy Chat Community!

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


LINEUP RESOURCES

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Pickups & Streamers
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

Evaluating MLB Rookie Performances - Week 6

It’s been a dream week for prospect watchers and dynasty owners who have been holding onto some of the recently called-up rookies for the past few years. Essentially every day this past week, we got news of a Top-100 prospect getting the call, something you’ll never see in a normal 162-game season.

For those of you with your frustrations and grievances against this year’s shortened campaign (yours truly, included), hopefully the past week’s excitement has helped you come around on the bizarre 2020 season a bit.

The Detroit Tigers were the clear center of attention in this week’s prospect bonanza, with their three call-ups, primarily star pitching prospect Casey Mize. I covered their debuts in an article earlier this week focused exclusively on the Tigers’ trio of prospects, so for this week’s edition of the recent call-up overview, I’ll be featuring the non-Tiger prospects who warrant your attention.

Featured Promo: Get any full-season MLB and DFS Premium Pass for 50% off. Exclusive access to our Team Sync platform, Premium articles, daily Matchup Rating projections, 15 lineup tools, DFS cheat sheets, Research Stations, Lineup Optimizers and much more! Sign Up Now!

 

Dylan Carlson (OF, STL)

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson, the organization’s top prospect, has gotten off to a rough start to his MLB career. Through his first nine games, Carlson had just one extra-base hit, a double, and was 4-for-31 overall with no RBI. He’s been primarily hitting in the bottom-third of the lineup, but has earned a few shots in the two-spot. He’s certainly going to need to come around quickly in order to warrant more starts near the top.

The 21-year-old Carlson did a little bit of everything in his minor league career, which is what led to his high prospect ranking. Last year, over 126 games split between Double-A and Triple-A, Carlson slashed .292/.372/.542 with 26 home runs, 95 runs and 20 stolen bases.

He has the makings of a future elite leadoff hitter, someone who could be a 30-30 threat for a number of seasons throughout his twenties.

However, this year, his outlook is more of a question. The Cardinals are built to compete this season and if Carlson doesn’t turn things around quickly, he’s either going to remain at the bottom of the lineup - which of course greatly lowers his fantasy upside - or he’s going to be sent back to the team’s alternate site.

He’s someone worth taking a shot on in deep redraft leagues if you have an open bench spot and are looking for someone with high upside. In more shallow redraft leagues, he can remain on waivers.

Dynasty owners, don’t fret over the slow start. If the Carlson owner in your league is hitting the panic button, go and get him.

 

Joey Bart (C, SF)

With San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey opting out of the 2020 season, it paved a more open path to playing time for one of the organization’s top prospects and he has finally made his highly-anticipated arrival.

Advertising

Joey Bart was the second overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft. That same year, he went on to win the Johnny Bench Award, given to the top catcher in college baseball, after a standout season at Georgia Tech.

Bart has shown fantastic contact-hitting abilities as well as elite power potential over the past few years in the minors. He hit .278 with 16 home runs and 48 RBI in just 79 games at High-A and Double-A last year.

In his MLB debut on Thursday, Bart hit sixth in the order and went 1-for-4 with a double. He should be in line to start regularly for the team going forward. Chadwick Tromp and Tyler Heineman had been splitting catcher duties for the team prior to Bart’s call-up, but both have hit under .200 this year and Heineman was optioned to the team’s alternate site when Bart got the call.

Bart should be added in all deep leagues and is worthy of consideration in shallow leagues as well for owners in need of catcher help.

 

Luis Garcia (SS, WAS)

With Starlin Castro (wrist) likely out for the rest of the regular season with a broken wrist, the Washington Nationals called up 20-year-old shortstop Luis Garcia a lot quicker than many of us thought.

Garcia made a lot of headlines for being the first player born in the 2000s to hit a home run in the major leagues.


 

Overall, his first week in the big leagues has been a resounding success. Through his first four games, he went 6-for-17 with four RBI and three runs. He started at second base and hit sixth in the order in each of his first four games.

Garcia struggled a decent amount last season at Double-A, which wasn’t too big of a surprise given the fact that he was just 19 years old at the time. He hit only four home runs and had an OPS of just .617 over 129 games in 2019. Those uninspiring numbers made his recent call-up all the more surprising.

If Garcia doesn’t have second base eligibility in your league, he will soon. And that’s where you’re most likely to get value out of him due to the depth of high-end hitters at shortstop.

He’s worth adding in all deep redraft leagues and NL-only leagues, but if he starts to struggle don’t be too attached to him.

Advertising

For owners of Garcia in dynasty leagues, it’s certainly inspiring to see the youngster contribute in the majors already and this recent stretch surely increases his value, putting to rest any concerns of his disappointing 2019 output.

 

Dane Dunning (SP, CWS)

On the other end of Casey Mize’s MLB debut this past week was another top pitching prospect, Chicago White Sox pitcher Dane Dunning. While Mize certainly had the bulk of the attention in the game, Dunning definitely held his own in the battle of MLB debuts.

Dunning went 4 1/3 innings this past Wednesday, allowing five hits, one walk and three earned runs, while striking out seven. He had two extremely dominant pitches in the game. His four-seamer, which he led with and threw 41.1% of the time, induced a whiff rate of 50%, while his slider, thrown 28.8% of the time, had a whiff rate of 53.8% and a put-away percentage of 55.6%. He also mixed in an effective sinker as well as a curveball and a changeup.

Dunning missed the entirety of the 2019 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, which makes it all the more surprising he was able to step in for his MLB debut given the bizarre course of the 2020 season. In his last competitive action, pitching in Double-A and High-A in 2018, Dunning made 15 starts and had a 2.71 ERA and 1.19 WHIP and averaged 10.4 K/9.

Dunning was sent back to the team’s alternate site the day after his debut, but fantasy owners shouldn’t be alarmed by this. The team has two days off next week and they are slated to go with a four-man rotation until Dunning is needed to step in again, likely the following week.

Dynasty owners should be jumping on Dunning right away if he’s available. In redraft leagues, it’s a bit more complicated. For deep, daily lock leagues, he’s someone worth adding once we get an announcement regarding his next start. He has fantastic strikeout potential and with the way the White Sox are hitting lately, he should have decent win potential as well.

 

Brendan Rodgers (SS, COL)

Colorado Rockies shortstop Brendan Rodgers, the third overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft, was called up this past week for his second trip to the majors. Rodgers played in 25 games last season before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. He struggled over those 25 games, slashing just .224/.272/.250 with only two extra-base hits (both doubles) and 27 strikeouts.

Rodgers became one of the top prospects in all of baseball after a standout 2017 campaign when he slashed .336/.373/.567 and hit 18 home runs over just 89 games split between High-A and Double-A. He was just 20 years old at the time.

Now, fresh off his 24th birthday earlier this month, Rodgers is certainly under a good amount of pressure to start delivering in the big leagues. In his first start of the year this past Thursday, Rodgers played second base and hit seventh in the lineup, going 0-for-5 with two strikeouts in the game.

Playing time is certainly a big question for Rodgers. With David Dahl (back) placed on the Injured List, Garrett Hampson should see more time in the outfield, opening up opportunities at second base. However, the team also has Ryan McMahon getting starts at second as well as Chris Owings.

Advertising

Rodgers needs to start producing quickly in order to attain regular playing time. If he does, then he’s someone worth adding in all deep redraft leagues as his best case scenario is an extremely productive hitter in the league’s best hitting environment. For now, however, he can remain on the waiver wire.



Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App

Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy baseball app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, sleepers, prospects & more. All free!



More MLB Prospects Analysis




LINEUP RESOURCES

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Pickups & Streamers
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

WIN MORE IN 2024

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Pickups & Streamers
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

ROTOBALLER PLAYER NEWS

RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

MORE RECENT ARTICLES

 
Alexis Diaz fantasy baseball closers rankings draft sleepers waiver wire pickups

MLB Closers and Saves: Fantasy Baseball Depth Charts

Saves are an important component for many fantasy baseball leagues. Closers are one of the most volatile positions in fantasy baseball, and one of the highest turnover positions in MLB. Each year, closers drop like flies and many MLB teams make in-season changes due to injuries or poor performance. In addition to closers and saves, relief... Read More


Do These Prospects Matter for Fantasy Baseball?

The 2023 fantasy baseball season has been highlighted by the promotion of nearly two-dozen top prospects to the major leagues to impact fantasy rosters. This week's edition features one player who was called up as the piece was being written. Will these strong performers join the ranks of those who have moved to the majors... Read More


clayton kershaw fantasy baseball rankings draft sleepers MLB injury news

articles report test

this is a test


Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Welcome back! It's Week 24 of our fantasy baseball Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups series! There are just two precious weeks left, and every start is becoming more and more important as most of the fantasy baseball world is in playoff matchups. If you've made it this far, there's a good chance you don't really... Read More


Aaron Nola - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Injury News, DFS Lineup Picks

Starts & Sits for MLB Week 23 - All Starting Pitcher Matchups for Fantasy Baseball

Welcome back RotoBallers! Big week in fantasy leagues as we approach the end of the season and playoffs! As always, we are here with our starting pitcher starts and sits series to help you set those winning lineups for the week ahead! For those who are not familiar, RotoBaller puts out a weekly grid of... Read More


Gunnar Henderson - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Prospects, Draft Sleepers

Points League Hitters: Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Welcome to Week 24 and our fantasy baseball waiver wire hitters. We'll be doing this roundup of points leagues every week here at RotoBaller, with waiver wire targets and streaming pitchers being evaluated in terms of the different scoring systems of ESPN, Yahoo!, CBS, and Fantrax. Player values can vary wildly from platform to platform,... Read More


Brayan Bello - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, Waiver Wire Pickups

Two-Start Pitcher Streamers for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Yo, it's Jon Anderson, continuing to run the show here in terms of late-summer fantasy baseball writing. There are just two weeks left of streaming pitchers, so let's make it count! This weekly fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups column aims to identify starting pitchers expected to make two starts in the upcoming fantasy baseball week,... Read More


Fantasy Baseball Week 24 Injury News and Updates: Tyler Glasnow, Ozzie Albies, Starling Marte, Anthony Rizzo, Zack Wheeler

September is now more than half over. The baseball season is slowly coming to a close. At this point, fantasy players are pushing for their league titles or just playing for pride. Major League Baseball teams continue to do the same and injuries continue to happen, now with the dreaded term "done for the season"... Read More


Joe Musgrove - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, MLB Injury News

Free MLB Betting Picks - Today's Best Bets, Expert Predictions, Odds (9/17/22)

Happy Saturday, RotoBallers, we're back for another weekend of MLB betting picks! Make sure you're following my Twitter, as I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to get the added plays written here in the article, but I will typically add whatever else I'm playing throughout the day. The entire RotoBaller team has been... Read More


DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (9/17/22): Today's Top MLB DFS Lineups

Today's MLB slates are split up as is the norm for September baseball. Half the guys I think will play will not, so you have to be as flexible as Gumby to play MLB DFS in September, but that also means that there is a lot of money out there should you dare to dive... Read More


Max Fried - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, MLB Injury News

Free MLB Betting Picks - Today's Best Bets, Expert Predictions, Odds (9/15/22)

Happy Friday, RotoBallers, we're back for another weekend of MLB betting picks! Make sure you're following my Twitter, as I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to get the added plays written here in the article, but I will typically add whatever else I'm playing throughout the day. The entire RotoBaller team has been... Read More


Robbie Ray - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Injury News, Draft Sleepers

DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (9/16/22): Today's Top MLB DFS Lineups

Fridays are big MLB DFS days and offer a nice respite from the NFL, who command our attention on Thursdays, Sundays, and Mondays. This slate, like most Friday slates, is a big one as all MLB teams are in action today and 28 of those teams are on tonight's 14-game DFS slate. This was a... Read More


kyle farmer fantasy baseball rankings draft sleepers MLB injury news

Top Hitter Streamers and Starts for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

There are only two weeks left of fantasy baseball! It's going to be very sad when the season comes to an end, but the impending end of the season means that these are the most important, and therefore most fun weeks of the year – for those of you still competing, at least. I have... Read More


TODAY’S MOST VIEWED PLAYERS

rotating JS ad test

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF

MORE RECENT ARTICLES

 
derrick henry fantasy football rankings news NFL DFS lineup picks

test publish 5 mins in future

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is finally underway and that means our friends over at PrizePicks have a TON of great props we can look to take advantage of. PrizePicks is a great DFS picks site where you can choose to select plays in terms of fantasy points or single stats. The... Read More


PrizePicks NFL DFS Picks - Monday Night Football

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is finally underway and that means our friends over at PrizePicks have a TON of great props we can look to take advantage of. PrizePicks is a great DFS picks site where you can choose to select plays in terms of fantasy points or single stats. The... Read More


D'Andre Swift - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL DFS Lineup Picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports For NFL RBs: Updates for Aaron Rodgers

Warning: Undefined array key "amp_post_template_footer" in /var/www/rotoballer.com/wp-content/plugins/php-code-for-posts/Classes/Shortcode.php(91) : eval()'d code on line 6 Warning: foreach() argument must be of type array|object, null given in /var/www/rotoballer.com/wp-content/plugins/php-code-for-posts/Classes/Shortcode.php(91) : eval()'d code on line 6 Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers received five total writing awards and 13 award nominations by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, tops in the... Read More


derrick henry fantasy football rankings news NFL DFS lineup picks

PrizePicks NFL DFS Picks - Monday Night Football

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is finally underway and that means our friends over at PrizePicks have a TON of great props we can look to take advantage of. PrizePicks is a great DFS picks site where you can choose to select plays in terms of fantasy points or single stats. The... Read More


Justin Jefferson - Fantasy Football Rankings, DFS Lineup Picks, NFL Injury News

NFL DFS Prop Picks for Monkey Knife Fight - Monday Night Football

Welcome to NFL Monday Night Football, where we have two games scheduled between the Minnesota Vikings vs. Philadelphia Eagles and the Tennessee Titans vs. Buffalo Bills.  Monday's games mean our friends at Monkey Knife Fight are offering some fantastic props for us to play once again! The good people at Monkey Knife Fight offer some... Read More


D'Andre Swift - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL DFS Lineup Picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports For NFL RBs: Week 2 Updates for Najee Harris, J.K. Dobbins, D'Andre Swift, Alvin Kamara, Mark Ingram

Below you will find our fantasy football injuries report for running backs in Week 2, as of September 17. The injury statuses for various NFL running backs are up in the air for Week 2 including D'Andre Swift, Najee Harris, Alvin Kamara, J.K. Dobbins, and more. The fantasy football season may be just getting underway,... Read More


michael pittman jr. fantasy football rankings NFL DFS lineup picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports For NFL WRs: Week 2 Updates for Michael Pittman Jr., Mike Evans, Tee Higgins, Allen Lazard, Julio Jones

Welcome to Week 2 of the fantasy football season and the Saturday edition of our WR injury reports! Below you will find our fantasy football injuries report for wide receivers in Week 2 as of September 16th. The injury statuses for various NFL wide receivers are up in the air for Week 2, including Michael... Read More


justin herbert fantasy football rankings NFL DFS lineup picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports for QBs: Week 2 Updates for Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert, Jameis Winston, Mac Jones

Below you will find our updated fantasy football injuries report for quarterbacks in the days before Week 2 of the 2022 NFL season as of Friday, September 16. There are a few NFL QBs dealing with injuries, including Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert, Jameis Winston, and Mac Jones. Being up-to-date on NFL injury news can give... Read More


Trey Lance - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Key Starters and Tough Calls - Lineup Spotlights for Fantasy Football Week 2

Every week, I share some of my favored choices and players to go with when dealing with challenging lineup decisions. These selections are based on my Premium Weekly Lineup Rankings, available as part of the RotoBaller NFL Premium Pass. Enter promo code KING at checkout for a discount and get access to my ranks in all formats, plus... Read More


Saquon Barkley - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, Draft Sleepers

Week 2 NFL Pick Em Selections for No House Advantage

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is underway and that means our friends over at No House Advantage have a TON of great DFS plays we can look to take advantage of. No House Advantage is a unique DFS prop picks site where you do not have to play against the house to... Read More


Wide Receiver Matchups to Target in Week 2: Greg Dortch, Terry McLaurin, Christian Kirk

Week 1 made some things come to light as we got some clarity on some murky situations. Unfortunately, many of our WR targets for DFS last week were victims of this. Robert Woods finished the game with one reception for 13 yards, as the Titans used the rookie receivers much more than him. Brandon Aiyuk... Read More


Carson Wentz - Fantasy Football Rankings, Waiver Wire Pickups, Draft Sleepers

Thunder Dan's NFL Betting Picks for Week 2: Top NFL Player Props Bets

Football season is back! Whether you like to bet game totals, sides, or player props, I have something in here for you, and try to cover a little bit of everything! This year, I started my own free sports betting newsletter, and the good people here at RotoBaller are allowing me to share my picks... Read More


Fantasy Football IDP Injury Reports For NFL Defensive Players: Week 2 Updates for T.J. Watt, Jamal Adams, Jalen Thompson, Ed Oliver

T.J. Watt owners, you know the feeling... I had T.J. Watt in my home league last season. He was constantly checking out of games early with nagging minor injuries, but he must have led every IDP manager who started him to the playoffs. I went back to the well and drafted him early this year.... Read More