These Kids Are Alright is FanHouse's look at minor league prospects who could have a fantasy impact in the near future. Pay attention, we gave you Mat Gamel and Nolan Reimold the day before both were promoted.For this week, we're going to concentrate on three guys who should be a help to pretty much any fantasy owner in the very near future. Matt Wieters recently got the call and will make his major league debut Friday. Clay Buchholz and Tommy Hanson continue to tear up the minors. Let's take a look at the respective value of all three players at this point in the season.
Wieters
He's no secret. He's viewed by many as the best prospect in baseball and he's owned in most fantasy leagues (63 percent in Yahoo! as of Wednesday morning). Let's take a look at what we can expect, though. He's going to play most everyday, otherwise the Orioles would be stunting his development. He's obviously not going to catch everyday, but I'm betting the O's use him at DH on days when he doesn't suit up in the tools of ignorance.
Wieters got off to a bit of a slow start -- by his standards -- in triple-A this season, but he's recently amped it up. He's hitting .368 with 12 RBI in his last 10 games. According to pretty much every scout, he's got the potential to be a Mike Piazza-like hitting catcher. For every Ryan Braun and Evan Longoria who don't really go through an adjustment period you have a handful of Upton brothers' who need a year or more. Using everything at my disposal -- which, unfortunately, doesn't include a crystal ball -- I'm saying Wieters is more Braun and Longoria than Upton. The Orioles have been very deliberate and have made sure not to rush him. He's ready, and bringing him up in the midst of a hot streak is exactly the right time.
Expected Line: 100 games played, .280, 15 home runs, 60 RBI, 45 runs.
If Wieters is available and that's definitely more than you are going to get from your catcher from here on out (like Rod Barajas, Ramon Hernandez, Yadier Molina, Dioner Navarro, A.J. Pierzynski and Jason Varitek), get grab the kid.
Buchholz
Just as I'll mention below with Hanson, there comes a point when it's detrimental to the development of a young player to leave him in triple-A. He's not facing elite competition yet, so when a pitcher is putting up the numbers Buchholz is -- 3-0, 1.30 ERA, 0.74 WHIP, 49 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings -- he's clearly ready to have a permanent home in the bigs. I don't care how it happens, because it needs to. Leaving him in the minors, you run the risk of him not staying as sharp as he could be in addition to the possibility that he develops bad habits. Case in point: Buchholz followed up more than 20 scoreless innings pitched with a bad outing on May 19 (4 1/3 innings pitched, 7 hits, 3 earned runs). He rebounded next time out, Monday, with a complete game, one-hit shutout.
From the Red Sox end, they are still waiting on John Smoltz while also using Brad Penny and Tim Wakefield in the rotation. A trade or injury could make room for Buchholz, but the Red Sox need to address this situation very soon. I recommend grabbing Buccholz in all league where you have good bench space. He's got the potential to win loads of games for the Red Sox and he strikes out a batter per inning. He's ready. Whenever the Red Sox decide they are ready for him, he's usable in every fantasy league. You can expect his strikeout rate to sit around 7 per 9 innings and he'll be posting a 4.00ish ERA and 1.25ish WHIP in the bigs. If he was called immediately to stay in the rotation, I'd project 10 wins.
Hanson
Speaking of being detrimental to the development of a young pitcher, we give you Tommy Hanson (again). Only twice in 10 starts has he allowed more than 1 earned run (3 each time -- his ERA sits at 1.48 right now). His lowest strikeout output was 6 (he's sporting a gawdy total of 82 in only 60 2/3 innings).
Kris Medlan got the call about a week ago over Hanson and he's had two sub-par outings. He did show progress from one outing to the next, but if Medlen has another bad outing the Braves may realize their error and go with Hanson. The safe move would be a roster Hanson in all fantasy leagues now, but if you have a really short bench, keep an eye on Medlen's start Sunday against the Diamondbacks. If he has a bad outing, it would behoove you to jump on Hanson immediately. He's not going to be in the minors for long. If he was called immediately I'd project 7 wins, an ERA in the 3.50 range and about a strikeout per inning. His WHIP, though, could be an issue and hover around 1.40 considering he's never thrown in the bigs before. Still, very ownable in all leagues due to the punch-out power.
