Earlier this season, the Minnesota Twins promoted outfield prospect Alex Kirilloff to the big-league club, prompting some baseball fans to note they had already seen the left-handed hitter debut during the 2020 playoffs. Yep, that happened, as Kirilloff singled in four at-bats in Minnesota's wild-card series loss to the Houston Astros last season. His regular season debut came two weeks ago. Fantasy managers should like him a lot. He will hit.
Well, the Tampa Bay Rays acted similarly with left-handed pitcher Shane McClanahan, debuting him during their World Series run last October. He became the first pitcher to make his big-league debut in the playoffs. McClanahan pitched four times in relief, with little success, but fantasy managers should not let that dissuade them from paying attention to his Thursday regular-season debut, as he is an intriguing starting pitcher with upside.
An electric hard-thrower whom the team chose in the first round of the 2018 draft after he had pitched for two seasons at South Florida, McClanahan turned 24 years old on Wednesday. He made four starts for Double-A Montgomery of the Southern League in 2019, missing bats but permitting an unlucky .366 batting average against over that small sample size. He did not struggle at other minor-league spots.
I caught one inning of McClanahan on television during spring training and he hit 100 mph several times, including once with what appeared to be a sharp slider. This is rare, and left-handed hitters are going to have an uncomfortable time dealing with this fellow -- especially when throws from a low arm slot. McClanahan struck out seven of the 10 hitters he faced this spring, allowing one hit and no runs, although facing Oakland Athletics hitters Thursday will be different. McClanahan also uses a curveball and changeup. We shall see if he can command all his pitches.
None of this means McClanahan will dominate this season in the majors, or even what his role might ultimately be. The Rays enter Thursday with only six quality starts all season (four coming from right-hander Tyler Glasnow), but have no rotation room. Expect the Rays to handle McClanahan cautiously for now in terms of pitch count and innings, only to extend him for more innings later in the season. If he pitches well, perhaps he sticks around. For example, highly touted right-hander Luis Patino made his Rays debut (as an opener) just a few days ago, and he remains in the bullpen. Expect both Patino and McClanahan to start again, but remember that there are no promises.
When will we see them?
The Rays do an excellent job developing young baseball players and the top prospect lists are flooded with their organization's players. Patino and McClanahan are two of their more interesting arms, along with Brendan McKay, Shane Baz, and Cole Wilcox. McKay is a two-way player, but it sure appears as though his future will be on the mound. He is on the mend from last August's shoulder surgery and, while it makes sense to keep him around in dynasty formats, he may not play much of a role in 2021. Baz is another potential ace with nasty stuff, yet another prize from the Chris Archer trade.
The top Tampa Bay prospect is, of course, shortstop Wander Franco, the 20-year-old switch-hitter with power, speed, plate discipline and the upside to be a fantasy building block. I had surmised we would see Franco in the majors last season at third base, since shortstop Willy Adames handled things offensively and defensively well enough, but the Rays were patient. Adames is currently hitting .173 with a .535 OPS. We have no idea how Franco looks because there are no games.
Minor-league baseball starts soon, so I think most teams want to see their young players get a month or so of game action before promoting them. I contend that we may see Franco and Seattle Mariners OF Jarred Kelenic and San Diego Padres LHP MacKenzie Gore get their promotions by the middle of May, after they have played some games at the Triple-A level. We shall see!
Rookies in the news
Try to keep Miami Marlins 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr. rostered despite his IL placement on Wednesday for a hamstring injury. The Marlins seem confident that Chisholm will miss the minimum 10 days, and we know baseball teams never lie. OK, I could not help myself. In this case, I remain optimistic. Chisholm probably cannot hit .290 for six months with a 31% strikeout rate, but 20 home runs, 25-plus stolen bases and perhaps a .260 batting average remain in play.
Chicago White Sox C Yermin Mercedes will not stop hitting. He is a machine, leading the majors with a .432 batting average. Other than the ridiculous .475 BABIP, I really do not see problems in his statistics. These numbers are not buoyed because he only hammers lefties. He hammers everyone! Let's be reasonable with batting average, but I could see him hitting .300 from here on out, with 15 more home runs. Yeah, I have Mercedes up to my No. 7 catcher for roto leagues. I believe.
As we noted a few weeks ago, Detroit Tigers OF Akil Baddoo is a raw left-handed hitter who struggles in at-bats versus left-handed pitching. With a 40% strikeout rate versus right-handers his batting average will continue to fall. There is exciting power here, but not enough to roster in a 10-team fantasy league.
Texas Rangers OF Adolis Garcia may play enough to hit 25 home runs this season, which is cool for most fantasy formats even if he hits around .250, but I still cannot contain my utter disappointment about the since-demoted Leody Taveras. Taveras, still a rookie, managed only four singles in 46 at-bats -- half of those ending with strikeouts -- and looked about as overwhelmed as I have ever seen a young hitter. He should return to the majors soon, and perhaps steal the bases we all expected. Sigh.
White Sox RHP Michael Kopech has dominated as both a starter and long reliever, but I do think the organization wishes to keep his innings in relative check this season. Still, give him 100 innings and he might whiff 140 hitters -- and with run prevention. Roster him either way.
The 28-year-old Mercedes has to be the current leader in the AL rookie race, since he has captivated the nation and leads Rays OF Randy Arozarena by 132 points in batting average. The NL race, on the other hand, offers more names. St. Louis Cardinals OF Dylan Carlson already looks like a star, with his .912 OPS and power profile. He has yet to attempt a stolen base, which was obviously part of the appeal. ... Atlanta Braves RHP Ian Anderson and Marlins LHP Trevor Rogers have been even better. Anderson dominated the Chicago Cubs this week, mainly with his changeup. Rogers boasts seven-plus strikeouts in four consecutive starts. He's mainly a fastball guy with an effective changeup and slider. All hese guys are fun to watch. Roster them!