NL Prospect Watch

Clearing The Bases: NL Prospect Watch

 By George Kurtz, The Fantasy Sports Forum.com 

The Philadelphia Phillies have already called up young starters J. A. Happ and Antonio Bastardo to fill out their rotation.  How these two perform could go a long way in determining the winner of the National League East.  If they are ready for prime time, than the Phillies will not have to give up additional minor league talent to trade for a proven starter, Brad Penny.  If not, than the Phillies don’t have enough rotation depth at this point in time to believe they can survive the remainder of the season.

 

Fernando Martinez has been trumpeted as the jewel of the Mets organization for quite a few years now.  He finally earned his call up to the big team with a slew of injuries, but really hasn’t shown what he is capable of yet.  His time may be running out.  After interleague play is over and the team can no longer use the DH as a spot to put Gary Sheffield, he may have to go back to the minors in order to play every day.

 

The Marlins have been toying with the idea of having top prospect Gaby Sanchez, a first baseman, play third base for them.  Emilio Bonifacio has not been getting the job done, and the Marlins would like to get his bat in the lineup.  This is always risky however, as the pressure to perform in the big leagues and learn a new position could set back his development.

 

The Atlanta Braves finally called up Tommy Hanson after much hype this spring.  We’ve been hearing about Hanson all season and had been wondering when the Braves would finally give him the call.  Hanson had a rough first start, but that is to be expected.  His second start was much better and he may be ready to help the Braves this season.  He is the real deal, and if you have a spot for him on your roster, you have to seriously consider grabbing him.  With the call- up of Hanson and the trade for McLouth, the Braves are sending notice that they are going for gold this season.

 

Matt Gamel has been on the Brewers roster for about a month now.  He has shown flashes of the power potential he possesses, but the problem is Milwaukee is not playing him every day. And although he only has one error so far, he is a defensive liability in the field.  He may not get every day at bats unless there is another injury to the team.

 

Now that Ryan Ludwick and Rick Ankiel have returned from the disabled list, the playing time for Colby Rasmus is certain to be a bit lighter.  Actually Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa has been driving fantasy owners nuts this season by not playing any of the above three regularly.  He is playing matchups which seem to lend to all three playing 4-5 games a week.  This may be good for Rasmus, but one has to wonder if this is the reason for the subpar season for Ludwick and Ankiel so far.

 

The Pittsburgh Pirates received two promising young prospect from the Braves in the Nate Mclouth deal.  Charlie Morton is a hard throwing righty who has had some control problems but should be a good starter for the Pirates.  He only lasted an inning in his first start for Pittsburgh after tweaking a hamstring and he will miss his next start, but should be good to go after that.  Gorkys Hernandez is a player that has mixed reviews, some say he will be a star, others just an average regular.  Either way, he will get a chance to play in Pittsburgh eventually.

This post was written by TFSF