Graduated from Stash List #6: Chase’s Fire or Colby Jacks Cheese: Chase Burns, Brady House, Harry Ford.
Note: Anyone promoted during the current season is ineligible for the stash list.
1. Guardians OF Chase DeLauter (23, AAA)
Slashing .314/.434/.500 with three home runs and more walks (17.9%) than strikeouts (12.3%). If I have to pick just one of these guys to swing some standings the rest of the way, it’s DeLauter by a mile. Cleveland might drag their feet a bit, but they’ve struggled like crazy to keep this guy on the field, and it makes sense to get him on a big league travel and rest schedule as soon as possible now that he’s locked in. Plus, it takes a while these days for young guys to adjust. Best to get him going now so he can help in August and beyond.
2. Orioles C Samuel Basallo (20, AAA)
Real definition of insanity feeling in my fingers as I type this. I like to factor in all the known knowns and the known unknowns and cook it up to make this list as predictive as possible. I like to think my way into the perspectives of the people making these decisions. I feel like a fool attempting this for the Baltimore front office. Adley Rutschman is going to be out a while, and Maverick Handley got hurt right after Adley, but the team is resolute in keeping Basallo out of the building so he can continue to mutilate minor league pitching. He’s been especially hot in June, slashing .339/.467/.678 with six home runs and a 200 wRC+, striking out and walking 14 times a piece (18.7%). They’re getting good run out of Ramon Urias, Ramon Laureano and Gary Sanchez, but it feels like they’ve lost sight of the forest looking at all these trees.
3. Pirates RHP Bubba Chandler (22, AAA)
Unlike Basallo, Chandler has had a miserable June, posting a 10.61 ERA and pitching just 9.1 innings in four starts. It’s a little too neat to blame the organization for letting him linger in the minors all year, but I’m gonna go ahead and do that anyway. Sure, there are other factors in play, and yeah, I guess you could make a case they were right to leave him down considering how his June is going, but that kind of thinking neglects the butterfly effect and the idea that humans behave certain ways in certain contexts and that those patterns might be different in different contexts.
4. Phillies OF Justin Crawford (21, AAA)
As I’ve mentioned a few times in this space, Crawford would be valuable for our game even if he never accessed his power potential. All my homies think Chandler is the coolest Simpson since Bart, but nobody’s all that into Justin Crawford, who’s back on the field after missing time with a quadriceps issue and could be stealing bags for our squads in July.
5. Mets RHP Nolan McLean (23, AAA)
New York has a full five-man rotation on the injured list right now, and while Sean Manaea is due back soon, the past is probably prologue in this scenario. It’s hard to imagine they’ll suddenly turn a corner and get a stretch of clear health from Senga, Megill and Manaea. Blade Tidwell is part of this picture, too, and I actually like Jonah Tong more than any of these guys, but McLean is pretty nasty himself. A two-way player settling in on the mound, he’ll have a little extra upside over the next few seasons and is already thriving with a 2.63 ERA and 34 strikeouts over his last 37.2 innings.
6. Rangers 3B Cody Freeman (24, AAA)
A fourth-round pick in 2019 listed at 5’8” 180 lbs, Freeman didn’t figure to be a big part of the picture in Texas this season. Then the club traded Nate Lowe for Robert Garcia and handed the job to Jake Burger, and Burger never got cooking, so they tried Blaine Crim for a minute but didn’t trust him enough to let him play much before Burger came back but remained cold. Meanwhile, Freeman has struck out just 9.2 percent of the time in Triple-A while improving his power output and slashing .321/.372/.500 with ten home runs and seven stolen bases in 69 games. He’s nobody’s first choice and first base, but they’ve been playing Josh Smith there and opening up the DH spot for . . . Sam Haggerty, who has actually been pretty good (114 wRC+). Rumor mill suggests they might sign JD Martinez this week, which, if true, means they’re at least considering their options. Freeman’s never really hit like this before, but that happens sometimes when a high school draftee ages into his body and his game. Over his last 29 games, Freeman is slashing .384/.439/.616 with seven home runs and six stolen bases. I’d love to see him get a shot while he’s still in the zone.
7. Diamondbacks C Adrian Del Castillo (25, CPX)
Injuries are mostly responsible for Del Castillo being eligible for this list, and he’s back in the complex league rehabbing another injury as I type. He missed two months with a shoulder injury, came back and crushed the baseball as the DH, then went on the IL with a back issue. If he can get healthy, particularly if he can actually play behind the plate, he could be a big factor for leagues of every shape and size.
8. Red Sox OF Jhostynxon Garcia (22, AAA)
In just 31 Triple-A games, Garcia has nine home runs. He’s walking more than ever this year, and the patience is paying off on contact, too, as he’s evolving from a bad-ball hitter who can get to pretty much anything to zone-focused pull-hunter who can pick his spots to attack.
9. Yankees OF Brennen Davis (25, AAA)
I’m more than a little nervous about including Davis here because he hasn’t played since June 22nd, and he’s struggled with back issues throughout his career. Talent has never been the problem, and he’s showing out in a big way for the Yankees in Triple-A, slashing .346/.407/.808 with seven home runs in 15 games with the team. Solid add in deep leagues to see where this goes.
10. Mets RHP Jonah Tong (20, AA)
Could pick any number of fantastic stats to illustrate why Tong makes the list all the way from Double-A, but my favorite might be two. That’s the number of home runs he’s allowed in 73 innings across 14 starts this season. In the era of piggyback starters and workload management, Tong has averaged 5.21 innings per start despite being 2.9 years younger than the average age at his level. Doesn’t make sense for him to be in Binghamton much longer. If you strike a lotta guys out and never give up homers, you’re gonna be tough to score on in any era but especially this one where teams aren’t built to string together hits.
Thanks for reading!
