2019 MLB Prospects: 5 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers Who Have Never Been In The Majors Yet
Finding great sleepers is one thing, but drafting a player who has never been on an MLB diamond before and goes on to produce is another level of gratification. The following players have incredible promise, but represent risk too. In some cases, we may not even see them play in the majors in 2019. Still, I’ll make the case for why we will see these players and why they’ll contribute to winning fantasy teams.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 3B, Blue Jays: Guerrero Jr. is the son of an absolute legend, and his minor league production thus far in his young career gives him the look of an apple that hasn’t fallen far from the tree. Guerrero Jr., only 19 years old, has already ascended to Triple-A for Toronto, and he slashed .336/.414/.556 in 30 games at the highest level of minor league baseball. At Double-A he was truly monstrous, slashing .402/.449/.671, and mashing 14 home runs over a 61-game span. He’s an unreal hitter --just like his dad – although he already seems to have surpassed pops in terms of batting eye. All indications are that Guerrero Jr. will probably mash at a surreal rate from Day 1 in the majors, although that’s never a guarantee. The question is “when will he be a major leaguer?”
Toronto is likely going to struggle this season. They traded away star 3B Josh Donaldson to the Indians in 2018, and are currently slated to replace him with Brandon Drury, whom they acquired last year by dealing J.A. Happ, probably their best pitcher. This rebuilding phase they’re entering means there’s a good chance we’ll see one of the best prospects in baseball this year. Drury, Richard Urena, Russell Martin etc. are not formidable obstacles to Guerrero Jr.’s path to the majors, so you can comfortably draft this prodigy even if your league doesn’t have an NA slot. We’ll see him sooner rather than later, and perhaps even on Opening Day if he has a great spring.
Yusei Kikuchi, SP, Mariners: Kikuchi is the latest big name pitcher to come from Japan, although he’s arrived with much less fanfare than Yu Darvish or Masahiro Tanaka. He’s 27 years old, and currently projects to be the Mariners “ace,” at least nominally. At bare minimum, you aren’t going to worry about opportunity for Kikuchi unless he completely bombs, which is unlikely. He’s been excellent over the past three years for the Seibu Lions; in the last three campaigns in Japan his ERA never exceeded 3.08, and in 2017 he posted a sub-2.00 ERA while winning 16 games. He’s exhibited great control since 2017, walking just more than two batters per nine over 49 total starts, and striking out at least eight batters per nine for the last four seasons. Even better, Kikuchi’s stuff is MLB-ready. He sits at about 92-94 miles per hour with his fastball, touching 98 when he has to according to MLB.com. He also has two breaking pitches, a slider and curveball, to play off his “above-average” heat. Don’t count on Kikuchi to anchor your staff, but he will undoubtedly be a fantasy-relevant pitcher.
Eloy Jimenez, OF, White Sox: Jimenez is close to Guerrero Jr. in how good of a hitter he projects to be. He split time in Double-A and Triple-A last year, combining to smack 22 home runs in 108 games while exhibiting incredible on-base skills despite decidedly unremarkable walk rates. Jimenez has shown himself so far to be a heavy pull hitter, so he could be vulnerable to slumps and shifts when he comes up for the White Sox, but that’s a nitpick. This man can absolutely rake and kill the ball, and he will in 2019; his competition at the corner outfield spots are Nicky Delmonico and Daniel Palka. If you’re asking “who???” you’re not alone. That’s by design, friends. The path is clear for Jimenez to be the foundation of the next White Sox playoff push.
Forrest Whitley, SP, Astros: Whitley, just 21 years old, hasn’t been above Double-A yet in his career. I don’t think that will stop him from debuting in the majors in 2019, however, because the Astros whiffed on their top free agent targets and have big question marks behind Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander in the rotation. Not many pitchers have the kind of vicious strikeout stuff Whitley has shown so far as he’s risen through Houston’s system. In 2017 at Single-A Whitley was striking out upward of 14 batters per nine, and that went up when he was promoted to Double-A for 14.1 innings. Last season he pitched 26.1 innings at Double-A, where he was striking out more than 11 per nine. Walks seem to trouble him at times, but that’s a product of harnessing his frontline stuff at a young age. Whitley isn’t likely to be a dominant fantasy force this year based on his lack of overall innings; he’s never thrown more than 100 innings in a season. For those in keeper leagues, however, you’d be wise to throw a late pick out there on this guy, because he has the ability to be a No. 1 starter in the near-future.
Dylan Cease, SP, White Sox: Cease, acquired from the Cubs in the trade that sent Jose Quintana across town, is going to become an important part of the White Sox’ rebuilding time table. Walks have continued to be a bit of an issue for the 23-year-old, as he’s never posted a BB/9 lower than 3.52. That will rear its head at times in the big leagues, and likely lead to some games where he just gets pounded. But to focus on that hitch would be to ignore his insane strikeout ability, which is his meal ticket. Cease is taking aim at the trio of Lucas Giolito, Manny Banuelos and Reynaldo Lopez, the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 starters per RosterResource.com. None of those guys are guaranteed anything at this point in their careers, and Cease’s ability to miss bats is something the White Sox will need if they want to start moving forward with their young core. At 23 years old, Cease isn’t that young to be breaking into the bigs, and he was dominant at Double-A last year over the course of 52.1 innings. He’s shown improvement at every level of the minors, and he figures to be in the MLB rotation for much of the season.