Fantasy Baseball Today - Top Prospect Report: Max Meyer & Jacob Wilson Coming Soon? (Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 Podcast)

Starting point is 00:00:00 Who are the newest editions to the Prospect Report? Find out next on Fantasy Baseball today in five. Welcome into FPT and 5 on Saturday, July 6th. I am Frank Stamfield, joined by Scott White, and just a heads up that Scott wrote his prospect report earlier in the week. So Shane Boz and Brooks Lee are on this list, but yes, they have been called up. The five on the verge, Shane Boz, Brooks Lee, but also Kobe Mayo of the Orioles, Max Meyer of the Marlins, and Jacob Wilson of the Oakland A's, who is the newest

Starting point is 00:00:29 edition. Yes, but let's start with Kobe Mayo because he is who I think, he's the one who I think is the closest and would be the most impactful if he got called up. Of course, he's been a terror at AAA all season, but since returning from a fractured rib, he's really cut down on the strikeouts. In fact, through his first few games there, he actually had more walks than strikeouts. and GM Mike Elias recently said, there's the quote, he's at the level of talent and experience

Starting point is 00:01:05 where you start figuring out ways to work him in because I do think he's ready, very close to ready, for a major league challenge. The Orioles have had an opening in their infield all year. Of course, they want a Jackson Holiday to fill it. It didn't work out. And now Jackson Holiday's deaching because of an elbow issue.

Starting point is 00:01:22 So he's not even in the conversation anymore. Kobe Mayo is. to step in a third base rather than second. Jordan Westberg's sliding over, and I think he's going to be called up real soon, and a guy who hits the ball exceptionally hard, I think he could be impactful in that lineup. I also think Max Meyer is gearing up to return.

Starting point is 00:01:44 I remember he had three great starts for the big club early in the year, got sent down, said they were going to space out his starts, reduce his innings, call him up later in the year. It hasn't gone well for him at AAA. The numbers are bad, but that's in large part because the Marlins had him experimenting with other pitchers, not leaning so much on the slider, which he threw about, I think, 49% of the time in those three major league starts.

Starting point is 00:02:10 It's a great pitch and obviously was successful for him. In his latest start of AAA, it was his longest and most effective start since getting sent down there, and he threw his slider 48% of the time. I think we saw Max Meyer transitioning from development mode. back to competitive mode and his return is going to be in short order. Obviously, the Marlins could use them because their whole rotation has been devastated by injury.

Starting point is 00:02:36 To get to the guy you wanted to talk about here, Jacob Wilson, son of Jack Wilson, former Pirate Shortstop. He was the sixth overall pick in last year's draft, and I was inclined to write him off. Not much power there, not much speed there. It seemed like kind of a silly choice for the A's that high in the draft. But all he's done here in his first full professional season is hit 464, more than 100 points higher than any minor leagueer outside of rookie ball.

Starting point is 00:03:06 And he's hit over 400, whether it's been double A, AAA, AAA. He missed a month with knee tendinitis and his comeback hitting over 500 since that injury. So it's not like he just was super hot and then the injury slowed his momentum. and he kind of normalized after that. He's maintained this batting average that would seem impossible by the mathematics of baseball. And I think it is impossible

Starting point is 00:03:35 by the mathematics of baseball, but it does tell us Jacob Wilson has an exceptional hit tool. And the power is actually not as bad as I imagined. His iso slugging percentage minus batting average, a reflection of how much of the bat, how much of the slugging percentage

Starting point is 00:03:53 which comes from extra base hits rather than just singles. It's 242. It's pretty good, at least as of this recording. Mostly doubles, but he has more homers than I expected. I think he's going to be up soon for the athletics because he's old enough too, and obviously they have a needed shortstopping. He's forcing the issue.

Starting point is 00:04:14 It's an atypical profile that you don't see a lot of in the modern game, but I think there's a chance Jacob Wilson is going to make it work can be a fantasy asset even without being a consistent 20 homer guy. All right, the five prospects on the periphery, Curtis Mead of the Reyes, Matt Shaw of the Cubs, Bubba Chandler of the Pirates, Matthew Lugo of the Red Sox, and Emiliano Tejoto of the Rangers, who actually got to see out in the Arizona Fall League,

Starting point is 00:04:40 but as a reliever, they've transitioned him back to being a starter, and he's been fantastic. Yeah, he has. and what seemed like the turning point for Emilio Teoto is introducing a sinker last year to give, that offers a better movement profile than the four seamer. He always threw the ball. It's very hard, triple-digit velocity pretty easily. But since introducing that two-seamer, he's been a lot more effective.

Starting point is 00:05:12 ERA below two at AAA, or at double A, I should say, K-per-9, almost 12. still too many walks for Emiliano Teoto, but to be performing this well this far up the minor league ladder, I think suggests there's a legit prospect here on the Rangers' hands, and you can count them among the biggest risers as far as pitching prospects go this year. You can also count Bubba Chandler in that group, Pirates pitcher, who seemed to come on late last season. Final 9 starts 166 ERA.8.2 whip.

Starting point is 00:05:48 9.4K per 9, but he struggled early this season, specifically with throwing strikes. That's completely changed over his last few starts. His last six appearances now, he has a combined three walks, and two of those six appearances, double-digit strikeouts, first two double-digit strikeout games,

Starting point is 00:06:11 Bubba Chandler has had in the miners. A lot of upside here, three pitches that rate is plus, and after already introducing Paul Skeens and Jared Jones to their rotation this year, I think the Pirates have another good one on the way in Bubba Chandler. All right, for more extensive fantasy baseball coverage, listen to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, the Odyssey app, or anywhere else podcasts are found.

Starting point is 00:06:37 Thanks for listening to Fantasy Baseball Today and Five, and we will be back again next week. Bye-bye. Thank you.

Fantasy Baseball Today - Top Prospect Report: Max Meyer & Jacob Wilson Coming Soon? (Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 Podcast)

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