Graduated from Stash List #7: Buy Tong In Time For Grilling Season: Adrian Del Castillo
Note: Anyone promoted during the current season is ineligible for the stash list.
1. Cardinals SS JJ Wetherholt (22, AAA)
Nolan Gorman is headed to the injured list with lower back pain. Bad timing for him. Gorman has a 101 wRC+ despite a 30.1 percent strikeout rate, and he’s hit eight of his nine home runs since June 1, posting a 134 wRC+ despite still striking out an awful lot: 32.5 percent. The team already has something of an extra bat in C Yohel Pozo, but they’re in the wild card race. Would make the playoffs if they started today. JJ Wetherholt would be part of the Cardinals’ best playoff roster, so somebody’s going to lose some playing time sooner than later, so they might as well just go with Wetherholt rather than await the return of Gorman. So far, they’ve recalled Thomas Saggese. Meanwhile, Wetherholt went 4-for-5 with two doubles on Friday night, his fourth game in Triple-A, where he’s hitting .500 and slugging 1.000.
2. Orioles C Samuel Basallo (20, AAA)
No idea how to handle Basallo in this exercise, but I think he’ll be a fantasy factor right away when he gets his chance. He’ll turn 21 on August 14 and should finally make his debut a week or so after that unless this oblique injury turns out to be pretty serious.
3. Giants 1B Bryce Eldridge (20, AAA)
Dominic Smith continues to play first base while Rafael Devers does not. Smith has a 92 wRC+ in 29 games, but we know what this guy is, and it’s not somebody who blocks a top prospect if said prospect looks ready. Eldridge was adapting to Triple-A in a hurry and had multiple hits in four out of five games before getting injured. He spent just one game on the complex league during his recovery from the hamstring issue and is back in Triple-A today. If he can get hot, I think they’ll bring him up.
4. Guardians OF Chase DeLauter (23, AAA)
Hasn’t played for a while due to wrist soreness aka bone-itis. I considered bumping him off the list altogether in a rage-drop scenario, but that’s an overreaction. Still, the best predictor of future injury is past injury, and this guy is racking up quite the collection of past injuries.
5. Phillies OF Justin Crawford (21, AAA)
Has 29 steals and a 129 wRC+ in 74 games, slashing .328/.406/.428. Cue the broken record part where I say he’s somehow underrated for fantasy baseball. I’m puzzled by it. I suppose the fear is that he’s never impactful enough to crack a first-division lineup, but I just flat out disagree with that.
6. Pirates RHP Bubba Chandler (22, AAA)
Chandler’s been a coin flip kind of pitcher over the past couple months, and we saw the bad version again on Friday night, when he allowed five runs and two homers in 3.2 innings. The Pirates figure to trade one of their pitchers and maybe more than one if they can find takers for Andrew Heaney and Bailey Falter. When that happens, I’m going to try and pretend all these Triple-A blow-ups didn’t happen because I think Chandler will be more consistent with a big league plan of attack in big league stadiums.
7. Mets RHP Jonah Tong (20, AA)
Nobody hits this guy. His path isn’t super clear, but I think he’s pretty special, and life finds a way. Unlike some other arms on this list, Tong was totally unphased by the break, allowing four baserunners in 5.1 innings with seven strikeouts Friday night, giving him 132 strikeouts in 84 innings on the season.
8. Nationals 1B Yohandy Morales (23, AAA)
Washington might like to offload their first base crew of Nate Lowe and Josh Bell and get a little closer look at Morales. He’s gotten hot in July, batting .333 with five home runs in 12 games this month. I’m not sure they’d find takers for Lowe or Bell, but Bell could be released after the deadline.
9. Cubs 1B Jonathon Long (23, AAA)
The theory here is that the Cubs are reportedly in contact with several teams trying to solve multiple problems in the same trade, which sounds like it would require a handful of pieces coming from the Cubs. They’ve built up a stockpile of interesting bats in the high minors and figure to trade from that strength if they find the right fit. Long would become an easy add in most leagues if he got traded into a clearer path to playing time.
10. Mets RHP Nolan McLean (23, AAA)
Sean Manaea returned and looked sharp, so they’re five deep again in the rotation, but there’s still plenty of injury and performance risk in the group that McLean could pitch his way into the postseason. On the other hand, he got rocked Friday night, allowing six runs in 3.2 innings, walking three batters and plunking another two.
I just want to say before I go that I saw Blue Jays 2B Orelvis Martinez on a Rotoballer stash list this week, so I was like oh Wow, is he finally hitting? And it might shock you to discover, dear readers, that he is most definitely not hitting. He does have 11 home runs in 72 games, but he’s slashing .192/.287/.372 with a 28.2 percent strikeout rate. Toronto hates strikeouts. Please do not stash this man in your leagues.
Thanks for reading!
