Minor League Watch

Warning: All these stats are in extremely small sample sizes. The reason we are bringing these up is that these players have already displayed solid skills. If a player is displaying an uncharacteristic skill in 20-50 AB sample sizes, you should probably discount it. 

International League (AAA)

Wilkin Ramirez has tons of fantasy upside.

Wilkin Ramirez is off to a fantastic start. In his first 7 games, he’s hitting .310 and is a perfect 5/5 in stolen base attempts. He also has a home run, a triple, and a double. Ramirez has a tremendous fantasy ceiling due to his speed and power. That said, he strikes out way too much and doesn’t walk enough. The Tigers have Marcus Thames and Josh Anderson platooning in the lineup spot he would have to take, so it’s not like he’s playing behind Albert Pujols, and if he continues to play like he has the Tigers might be forced to give him a shot.

Austin Jackson is also off to a good start so far, hitting .480 with a triple and 3 steals. He also showed off his power this spring, slugging over .600 with 3 homers. Jackson’s ultimate upside is debatable. He’s a great athlete with tons of speed, and as we saw this spring the power upside is there. The problem is his disappointing season last year, in which he only hit 9 homers in a full season at AA. If he keeps playing this way, and Brett Gardner struggles, he could find himself in New York by the second half. Either way, he’s probably the Yankees starting center fielder on opening day next year. 

Everyone expected Matt Laporta to make it to the big leagues at some point this year, but that schedule may be excelerated the way he is hitting the ball. Laporta is hitting .400 with a homer, a triple, and three doubles. He’s also only struck out twice in his first 20 at bats. Travis Hafner is also hitting well at the big league level so the DH spot isn’t open, but Casey Blake has struggled, potentially opening up the first base spot. I’d keep an eye on him, he will be in the big leagues soon enough. 

Andrew McCutchen is fast. In his first 7 games, he’s got 2 doubles, 3 triples, 2 steals, and is hitting .281. McCutchen, who made strides in his pitch selection last year, has walked 4 times and only struck out 3 in 36 plate appearances. 

Finally, Ryan Raburn has hit 4 homers so far on the season. The Tigers are loaded with power hitting outfield types, and Raburn is 28, however he has shown good power throughout his minor league career. At his age, he has peaked and is unlikely to do all that much at the big league level, however if he gets a call he’s worth a shot in AL only leagues. He could chip in a few homers. 

Pacific Coast League (AAA)

Matt Gamel has been absolutely destroying AAA so far this year, and with the Brewers 3B situation, they will eventually have to suck it up and deal with his defense at the hot corner. He’s just too good with the bat. He’s batting .500 with 4 doubles and 2 homers in 28 plate appearances. He’s walked 5 times, been hit by a pitch, and struck out 3 times. He’s proved everything he can in the minor leagues the last couple of years. The Brewers will have to bring him up soon. 

Brandon Wood has been to the plate 15 times this year. He’s also hit 3 home runs and a triple. He has insane power and has been more selective this spring. Erik Aybar shouldn’t be holding him back at SS. He will be up soon. 

24 year old Dodgers outfielder Xavier Paul has started off well, hit .542 with 5 doubles, a triple, and 3 steals. Paul hit over .300 with 9 homers and 7 steals at AAA last season, and had hit over .285 with double digit homers and steals the two years before, so we know he can hit. He has solid gap power, and plenty of speed, with a great arm and solid defensive abilities. The question is when he will get a shot. With Manny, Ethier, and Kemp, that probably wont happen until someone gets hurt. He’s still 24, so watch him.

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I’ll run down AA at some point in the next week.