The Stash List: 11th Edition, 2016

For a refresher on the four types of players that are eligible for inclusion on this list, please see the first edition of the year to find out why players like A.J. Pollock, Michael Brantley, and Yasiel Puig are not listed below.

Last week’s Stash List can be found here.

The Graduates: (3) Blake Snell, (4) Anthony DeSclafani, (20) Tim Anderson, (24) Erik Johnson, (25) Zach Eflin, (Next 10) Jose Peraza

Blake Snell was recalled from Triple-A Durham at the beginning of the week, and is set to make his Tropicana Field debut today against the Mariners, sending Matt Andriese to the bullpen as a result.

Snell’s ability to make an impact in leagues of all sizes courtesy of the strikeout is unquestioned, but with Tampa’s reluctance to have their starters work through the order a third time, his ability to make any type of impact in the wins and/or quality start categories likely resides in his ability to limit the free passes and avoid becoming a WHIP-drain. After walking a season-high five batters on May 4th at Indianapolis, Snell walked 13 over his next seven starts, but it’s worth noting that his 1.33 WHIP in 12 starts this season is his highest since a 1.41 WHIP in 2014 over 16 starts at High-A Charlotte.

Anthony DeSclafani finally made his 2016 debut for the Reds on June 10th at home against Oakland and went six innings, giving up eight hits and one earned run on a solo shot courtesy of Stephen Vogt. “Disco” only struck out two Oakland batters in his first start back, but he flashed solid strikeout potential over the second-half of 2015, striking out 22 percent while walking only four percent. As I mentioned in last week’s Stash, I like DeSclafani as a top 40-50 starting pitching option over the rest of the year, and his velocity was right back where it was last season in his first time out in 2016.

The White Sox–unlike the Dodgers last season–cut the cord on Jimmy Rollins just after the presumed Super Two cutoff, calling upon their top prospect, conveniently a shortstop, to take his place on the roster. If you’ve read previous versions of The Stash List this season, you’re probably already aware of my disdain for Tim Anderson’s walk rate (3.1 percent) in his first taste of Triple-A action this season, but the South-Siders, who certainly qualify as a team in need of a spark, have installed their soon-to-be 23-year-old shortstop as their leadoff man in each of the team’s last three games.

Continued placement atop the White Sox order would certainly enhance Anderson’s ability to make an impact in 12 or 16 team mixed leagues this season, but I remain skeptical that placing Anderson–who had the lowest walk rate of any qualified hitter in the International League–in the leadoff spot is a strategy that is going to be effective for an extended period of time. However, Anderson’s ability to utilize his wheels to score runs and steal bases does give him a better shot to make a fantasy impact this season than a slugger with the same lack of plate discipline. I ranked Anderson directly behind Trevor Story and Trea Turner in my Three-Year Shortstop Projections prior to the season, and while I remain confident in his long-term fantasy prospects, the bumps in the road are likely to be plentiful for Anderson over the rest of 2016.

George Bissell and Christopher Crawford had more on Anderson’s call-up last week.

The Padres gave Erik Johnson his first National League start at Coors Field, and the results weren’t all that surprising (4.2 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K). He is scheduled to make his next start tonight at home against the Nationals.

The Phillies called upon Zach Eflin–picked 33rd overall in 2012 by the Padres–to make his major-league debut against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Tuesday and things got ugly quickly for the 6-foot-6 inch right-hander. Eflin failed to escape the third inning and was knocked around for nine runs (eight of which were earned) on nine hits, three of which left the ballpark, including a two-run shot by slugger Ezequiel Carrera and a grand slam by actual slugger Josh Donaldson. The three homers allowed were more than Eflin permitted in 11 starts on the season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, and he’s slated to take his next turn in the Philadelphia rotation on Sunday against Shelby Miller and the Diamondbacks at home.

Jose Peraza was recalled by the Reds on Tuesday and started at shortstop while hitting leadoff against the Braves on Wednesday night. Peraza had a weird 55 games while at Triple-A Louisville this season, as he increased his walk rate to just under six percent, which doesn’t sound like much, but it served as his highest rate since he was in the South Atlantic League (Low-A) as a 19-year-old in 2013. The problem, as it relates to Peraza, is that he only stole nine bases in those 55 contests, and those came on an inefficient 16 attempts. As of right now, Peraza doesn’t have a clear path to playing time with Zack Cozart still in the fold at shortstop, Brandon Phillips at second, and Billy Hamilton in center field, and if he’s not running, it’s going to be extremely difficult for Peraza to make any impact whatsoever outside of NL-only leagues this season.

The Dropouts: (None)

With the amount of movement on this week’s Stash List, the “Stash List Spotlight” will return next week.

Now, onto the 11th Edition of The Stash:

1) Trea Turner, SS, Washington Nationals (Last week: 1)

Turner has seen his batting average dip under .300 for the first time all season at Triple-A Syracuse, thanks in part to a 9-for-42 slide over his last 10 games. Turner’s cold streak comes just as Danny Espinosa’s bat is finally showing a pulse; Washington’s starting shortstop has homered in five of 11 June games, and is hitting for an 1.165 OPS in 39 at-bats this month and has brought his OBP all the way up to .313.

2) Tyler Glasnow, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates (Last week: 2)

Glasnow’s most recent outing on June 11th encapsulated the full “Glasnow Experience,” as he was virtually unhittable in allowing just two knocks on the evening while striking out nine, but also failing to get out of the fifth inning due to walking five and running his pitch count up to 95.

With Gerrit Cole hitting the disabled list with the dreaded “right triceps strain” on Tuesday, it appears that Jameson Taillon will be inserted into his spot in the rotation, leaving Glasnow, and possibly his teammate in Indianapolis Chad Kuhl, as viable rotation options for a team with numerous struggling starters and one that finds itself closer to the Rockies in the Wild Card standings than to the second Wild Card spot.

3) Kolten Wong, 2B/OF, St. Louis Cardinals (Last week: Not eligible)

Wong was dispatched to Triple-A Memphis on June 6th, and he’s taken his frustrations out on PCL pitching, hitting four home runs in his first six games. More importantly for Wong’s fantasy outlook over the rest of the season, the Cardinals have given him multiple starts over the last week in center field, which gives the team an opportunity to deploy him against right-handed pitching more frequently upon his recall, possibly moving Randal Grichuk or the cooling Aledmys Diaz to the bench against righties when Wong returns. Although Wong previously had zero experience in center field as a professional, he did play 58 games there as a freshman at the University of Hawaii.

Wong finished 2015 as a top-12 second baseman on ESPN’s Player Rater, and he was ranked 198th overall on Bret Sayre and Mike Gianella’s updated rankings that were released prior to Wong’s demotion at the end of May, signifying the impact that a productive Wong can make over the rest of the season.

4) Joey Gallo, 1B/3B/OF, Texas Rangers (Last week: 5)

Gallo has been doing plenty of Gallo-like things this month at Triple-A Round Rock, namely hitting bombs into pools, and striking out at a prolific rate, punching out in 15 of his 47 plate appearances on the month. Gallo has four home runs in 11 June games, and while his strikeout rate has ticked back up to 26 percent on the season, it’s important to note that it’s still an improvement over last season’s 40 percent rate while at Round Rock, and that he’s also walking at a Pacific Coast League-leading 19 percent clip (min. 100 PA) this season.

Adrian Beltre is set to rejoin the Ranger lineup today, but if he is unable to answer the call and lands on the disabled list, Gallo should be ready defensively if needed at third base, as he’s split his time in the field pretty evenly between first base and third this month. However, as Beltre has been sidelined over the past week, Jurickson Profar has made every start at third base in his absence.

5) Alex Bregman, SS/3B, Houston Astros (Last week: 6)

On Tuesday, the Astros dipped into the minors and summoned a third baseman, but it wasn’t Bregman who got the call, or his teammate at Double-A Corpus Christi J.D. Davis, or even Matt Duffy or Colin Moran–the latter two of whom had already seen time at third in Houston this season. Instead, it was 30-year-old Danny Worth who received the promotion from Triple-A Fresno, where he was hitting .340/.449/.550 with eight home runs and two steals in 54 games this season. Worth got the starting nod at third and hit second in the Astros order in each of the team’s two games since his recall, further muddying the team’s plans for the hot corner over the second half of the season.

6) Jose Berrios, RHP, Minnesota Twins (Last week: 7)

After punching out 11 batters on June 6th against Triple-A Buffalo, Berrios was touched up for five earned runs in 6 2/3 innings on Saturday against Toledo. Berrios is striking out hitters at a nice 26 percent mark this season at Rochester, but he’s also running a walk rate of just over 10 percent, which is more than double that of his walk rate from 2015 while at the same level.

7) Luis Severino, RHP, New York Yankees (Last week: 8)

Severino pitched a season-high seven innings in his last outing on Monday at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, striking out eight and allowing three runs against Toledo.

Severino has pitched well (3.24 ERA, 2.76 FIP) in four outings since his demotion, but with the resurgent CC Sabathia (who J.P. Breen profiled in his most recent Buyer’s Guide on Monday) pitching better (cFIP of 97) than he has in three or four years, Severino’s chances of rejoining the Yankees rotation anytime soon will likely hinge on how well Ivan Nova (107 cFIP) pitches.

8) Zack Wheeler, RHP, New York Mets (Last week: 10)

9) Alex Reyes, RHP, St. Louis Cardinals (Last week: 11)

After failing to get out of the second inning of his June 7th start against Iowa, Reyes was once again dominant (5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K) in his last start on Monday at Triple-A Nashville.

10) Cody Reed, LHP, Cincinnati Reds (Last week: 12)

Reed sailed through his first eight starts of the year at Triple-A Louisville, but has struggled (4.50 ERA) in his last three outings. International League batters are hitting for a .301 AVG against Reed over his last three starts, but his last outing against Syracuse on Monday, in which he allowed one run in six innings, looked much more like his first two months of the season.

11) A.J. Reed, 1B, Houston Astros (Last week: 13)

The slugging former Kentucky Wildcat’s month of June (.804 OPS with two HR in 13 games) has gone a bit better than his career-worst May (.724 OPS with one HR in 18 games), but his overall production (.816 OPS with eight HR in 50 games) this season hasn’t been much better than his teammate (and fellow first baseman) in Fresno, Jon Singleton (just a year older than Reed), who has hit for a .795 OPS and 14 homers in 57 games–and is already on the 40-man roster.

12) Lucas Giolito, RHP, Washington Nationals (Last week: 14)

13) Shelby Miller, RHP, Arizona Diamondbacks (Last week: Not eligible)

Miller’s ownership has sunk to 18 percent in ESPN leagues–making him eligible for the list–just as he’s set to return to the Diamondback rotation on Sunday at Philadelphia. I’d be hard-pressed to recommend starting Miller in his first outing back, but he looked good–as a major-league starting pitcher should–in his two rehab starts at High-A Visalia of the California League, striking out 19 and allowing only one run.

Miller has a clear path to a rotation spot, something many below him on the list do not, and I just don’t believe that a 25-year-old coming off of a 3.02 ERA and 3.45 FIP in 205.1 innings last season is done–or is going to be nearly as bad over the rest of the season as his first 10 starts of the season, but that’s an admittedly low bar to clear. Miller’s mental break could lead to an opportunity to buy a mid-rotation arm for peanuts, as the former Brave was ranked no. 153 on Bret Sayre and Mike Gianella’s Top 300 list prior to the season.

14) Hyun-jin Ryu, LHP, Los Angeles Dodgers (Last week: 23)

Ryu returned to game action for the first time since May 25th, throwing 45 pitches over three innings in a start at High-A Rancho Cucamonga on Sunday. His next scheduled rehab outing–the second of what likely will be at least four–will take place on Friday, also at Rancho Cucamonga.

15) Henderson Alvarez, RHP, Oakland Athletics (Last week: 22)

After completing a 45-pitch bullpen session on Wednesday, Bob Melvin said that Alvarez could potentially join the team after his rehab start, which is scheduled for five or six innings on Saturday at Triple-A Nashville.

16) Brandon McCarthy, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers (Last week: 15)

McCarthy survived his first rehab appearance of the year on June 11th, a 20-pitch two-inning start at High-A Rancho Cucamonga. He’s scheduled to make his second rehab appearance today.

17) Tyler Skaggs, LHP, Los Angeles Angels (Last week: 9)

Skaggs suffered a setback prior to making his third start at extended spring training in Arizona. “Shoulder discomfort” is how the team termed his latest misfortune, and the team will give him “another couple of days,” before deciding when to send Skaggs back out into game action. Skaggs’ most recent setback is not believed to be serious, but at this rate it’s hard to see him returning before mid-July–at the earliest.

18) Mike Minor, LHP, Kansas City Royals (Last week: 16)

The timeline for Minor’s return to a rehab stint at Triple-A Omaha remains “fluid.” Danny Duffy (cFIP of 74) has thrived in the Royal rotation upon Kris Medlen hitting the disabled list, and Minor will likely have to supplant Chris Young (6.15 ERA, 5.61 DRA, 127 cFIP) to have any chance of joining the rotation over the season’s second-half.

19) Joe Musgrove, RHP, Houston Astros (Last week: 17)

Noted Urban Meyer speech enthusiast Joe Musgrove has not pitched since his June 6th outing against Triple-A El Paso, but is listed as the team’s starter on Friday at Tacoma.

20) Dansby Swanson, SS, Atlanta Braves (Last week: 18)

It looks as though Swanson is in the midst of his first rough patch as a professional, hitting for a .143 AVG with 13 strikeouts and two walks over his last 10 games.

21) Ozhaino Albies, SS, Atlanta Braves (Last week: 19)

As Swanson, his future teammate in Atlanta scuffles a bit at Double-A Mississippi, Albies, nearly three years younger and playing at a higher level, has begun to acclimate himself to Triple-A pitching, hitting for a .308 AVG with almost as many walks (five) as strikeouts (six) over his last 10 games, with three steals thrown in for good measure.

22) Nick Williams, OF, Philadelphia Phillies (Last week: 21)

Nick Williams 2016 Walk Watch: Four walks (in six games) since last week’s list, upping his total to 15 on the season in 237 plate appearances, and moving his walk rate to just over six percent on the year (against 60 strikeouts).

Williams has continued his improved work with the bat over his last 10 games, hitting for a .325 AVG with two home runs, and his OBP currently sits at .331 on the year as the 22-year-old adjusts to Triple-A pitching.

23) Alex Cobb, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays (Last week: NR)

Homer Bailey, RHP, Cincinnati Reds
Socrates Brito, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks (Last week: NR)
Mike Clevinger, RHP, Cleveland Indians
Willson Contreras, C, Chicago Cubs (Last week: NR)
Jose De Leon, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers
Ryon Healy, 1B/3B, Oakland Athletics
Aaron Judge, OF, New York Yankees
Tom Murphy, C, Colorado Rockies
Richie Shaffer, 1B/3B/OF, Tampa Bay Rays
Robert Stephenson, RHP, Cincinnati Reds