Fantasy Baseball Today - Prospect Report: Jonathan Aranda Heating Up & Sal Frelick ETA (Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 Podcast)

Starting point is 00:00:02 Could we see Sal Freelick with the Brewer soon? Find out next on Fantasy Baseball today in five. Welcome into FBT and 5 on Saturday, June 24th. I am Frank Sample, joined by Scott White. Five prospects on the verge of getting the call. And I think Christian and Carnaccio-Strand might have the record for the longest streak of being on this list, but he remains at the top. Followed by... Certainly Desire's record.

Starting point is 00:00:30 There have been others who've been longer in the past. unfortunately. So he is number one on the list and then it's followed by Colton Couser and Grayson Rodriguez both in the Orioles and the two new names of the list Jonathan Aranda from Tampa Bay and Sal Freelick from the Brewers. Scott do you think we could see either one of those names with their respective teams soon-ish? Well I don't have the most up-to-date numbers for you but I could tell you at the time I wrote this article Jonathan Aranda, Aranda excuse me, of the raise had raised his batting over about a two-week span.

Starting point is 00:01:04 Jonathan Aronda's batting average went from 267 to 340. Wow. So he's been on fire. And his track record in the minors has a player who hits for average. He also makes very hard contact, doesn't strike out much, walks a ton, like seems like somebody who'd be right up

Starting point is 00:01:22 the race or really any team's alley. And you know, they're without their starting second basement right now, Brandon Lowe. So I'm a little surprised we haven't already seen Jonathan Oranda yet. He was up for a time last year, so it's not like it's, you know, the situation where they have to clear a spot for him on the 40-man roster. It'll have to happen soon. I mean, he's capable, he's played some third base and first base in the minors, too, so there's enough versatility there that they're going to want to get them active, I imagine, with as hot as he is

Starting point is 00:01:50 right now. He's 25 years old. One more does he have to accomplish in the minors. Very interesting player there, Jonathan Oronda, has a raw power, like I said, hits the ball, hard, but it hasn't always translated to home runs, though he has 10 this year. Anyway, Sal Freelick, yes, he has been hitting well since returning from a torn ligament in his thumb. It's only been a handful of games, so it may be too soon for the Brewers to make that move, but they could easily make room for him. They're playing Brian Anderson in Wrightfield. He's done nothing since early April.

Starting point is 00:02:27 They're also playing Luis Arias close to every day, even if they wanted to keep Anderson in, they can move him to third base and stick Freelick and right. Freelick doesn't have a lot of power, but he is near the top of the scales in both hit tool and speed. And in fact, after getting to AAA last year, he hit 365 and 466 games. So that gives you an idea of what Freelick brings to the table. I think he's, I think he would be of interest in all fantasy leagues despite that lack of power. One quick note on Christian Karnassian Strand.

Starting point is 00:03:02 I know we've talked about him a lot over the weeks. Every week he's that much closer to getting the majors. We don't know exactly when it'll be. But something that's happened just in the last few days is the Reds designated Will Myers for assignment. So that's one less body to clutter up the corner infield, outfield mix, and freeze up a spot on the 40-man roster. So hopefully that will create an opening for Ancarnassian Strand.

Starting point is 00:03:30 and hopefully that was the first indication that he's on his way soon. All right, the five prospects on the periphery. These are names that are doing something of note as of late. And let's start with Ronnie Maricio with the Mets, Sedane, Raphaela, an outfielder with the Red Sox, Connor Phillips, a starting pitcher with the Reds, Dominic Canzon, an outfielder with the Diamondbacks, and Joey Loperfeito, a second baseman with the Astros.

Starting point is 00:03:58 Scott, any quick notes on this group? So Ronnie Maricio has, it's kind of overflow from the previous group, but it's really kind of a six on the verge situation, because I think Maricio could be up any day now. The main reason he isn't, I suspect, is because Tommy Fam is heated up and left field for the Mets. But that's the position Maricio has been playing most recently at AAA. It's a natural shortstop.

Starting point is 00:04:19 It's also played a lot of second base, and has maintained a batting average well over 300 with some impressive exit velocity readings at AAA. Sedani Raphaela. Got off to a dreadful start. It looked like maybe he was a one-hit wonder last year, emerging as a top prospect, but he's really turned things around recently.

Starting point is 00:04:38 Take another look at his numbers if you haven't seen them. Connor Phillips, far and away, the minor league leader in strikeouts by a distant margin. Another pitcher in the Reds organization. Part of that has to do with the tacky ball they're using in the Southern League. That's probably elevating Connor Phillips' strikeout numbers a bit, but he has a good swing and miss stuff. Suffice it to say not every pitcher in the Southern League has 15 strikeouts per nine.

Starting point is 00:05:04 And then these last two Dominic Canzon and Joey Loperfito, they are a couple of under the radar names who have some really impressive numbers at the upper levels. They're both particularly good at getting on base. So in deeper dynasty leagues, if you want a sneaky pickup, I think both of them would suffice. All right. For more extensive fantasy baseball coverage, listen to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the Odyssey app, or anywhere else podcasts are found. Thanks for listening to Fantasy Baseball Today and Five, and we'll be back again next week. Bye-bye.

Fantasy Baseball Today - Prospect Report: Jonathan Aranda Heating Up & Sal Frelick ETA (Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 Podcast)

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