Thoughts on Recent Prospect Promotions
No deep-dive analysis here, just some quick thoughts on a few prospect promotions I’ve been asked about lately. I’ll have a more in-depth prospect piece geared for dynasty leagues coming out soon.
Jose Miranda, 3B, Twins — Entered 2021 as an older, unheralded prospect who broke out in a major way. He was one of just two minor leaguers to hit 30 doubles and 30 homers last summer (Bobby Witt Jr. was the other).
Throughout the season he ranked lower on traditional prospect lists than his stats indicated he should’ve since he wasn’t viewed as having a true defensive position and because he came “out of nowhere” post-pandemic.
Miranda, the cousins of Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda, credits his emergence to improved pitch selectivity and a focus on early-count offerings that he could drive. Scouting reports I’ve read noted that he also showed strong bat-to-ball skills against pitchers’ pitches.
After a 7-for-36 start at Triple-A this spring Miranda hit .300 with a homer and 8 doubles over the next two weeks, so he’s back on track. I didn’t approach his promotion as a “must add” situation on Monday. This is partly because of how badly rookie bats have struggled over the past two seasons, at least initially.
Still, Miranda plays third base, which has been a brutal position for some in 2022. He also has theoretical upside. I’m definitely okay with rolling the dice and picking him up, but I just wanted to note we shouldn’t be scrambling to the waiver wire for him. He’s 1-for-9 with a double to start his big league career.
MJ Melendez, C, Royals — While Miranda was great in ‘21, Melendez might’ve been even better. He hit .163 with 9 homers in 110 games in 2019. Then he led the minors with 41 homers in 2022. So yeah, he also broke out seemingly out of the blue.
Melendez’s success stemmed from opening up his stance, calming his leg kick, and buying into Kansas City’s hitting development program. I did a podcast with Alec Lewis (The Athletic’s beat writer for the Royals) over the offseason, and he shared some insight on how Kansas City is approaching their minor league bats these days.
The production hasn’t carried over to 2022 - at least not yet. Melendez was hitting .167 with a 61 wRC+ in 21 games before receiving the call-up. I’m curious to see how much he even plays considering Salvador Perez has yet to receive a day off this season. In fact, Salvy has started 197 of the Royals’ past 199 games, which is fucking insane. 151 of those starts have come at catcher. What?!
Anyways, Melendez is only with the team because backup catcher Cam Gallagher suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain and the club needed another healthy body. He served as KC’s DH on Tuesday and went 1-for-3 with a single and a walk.
Due to the slow start at Triple-A and the playing time concerns, Melendez isn’t a realistic option in redraft leagues right now. The promotion is exciting for those rostering in dynasty, though.
Kyle Bradish, SP, Orioles — Baltimore’s farm system is loaded right now, which means Bradish gets buried behind their other A-listers. Acquired in the Dylan Bundy trade with the Angels, Bradish throws from an over-the-top angle that makes hitters uncomfortable.
In his MLB debut against the Red Sox last weekend he tossed six innings of two-run ball while allowing five hits with a 2:1 K:BB. The absence of more Ks was a bummer, but given how few starters reach the sixth inning in 2022, let alone in their first ever start, this outing still turned out very well.
Peeking under the hood, Bradish still generated 9 whiffs, including one on each of his four offerings. The 25-year-old has also struck out over 10 batters per 9 innings throughout his minor league tenure, so there will be strikeouts down the road.
Since he plays for Baltimore, we can’t expect many wins. Bradish doesn’t have streaming value in 12-teamers yet, but he’s a name to consider in 15-team leagues as well as deeper dynasty formats.
