The Prospect Train

We all get aboard it. The fantasy world goes crazy whenever a top prospect is called up. In the past few weeks we have seen Michael Fulmer, Sean Manaea, Blake Snell, and Jose Berrios make their major league debuts. We eagerly anticipate for the moment that Trea Turner or Tyler Glasnow get the call. How many of these early top prospects remain fantasy relevant throughout the season? To get a fair sample size, I have researched the last three years and limited my search to prospects called up in April through June.

In 2013, Jurickson Profar was called up on May 19th by the Texas Rangers, he had played 9 games for them in 2012. Ultimately injuries derailed his season (and career) and he did not achieve much fantasy relevance despite the hype.

Jurickson Profar

2013

Jose Fernandez made the Marlins opening day roster as a rookie back in 2013. He turned in an incredible season to win the Rookie of the Year

Jose Fernandez

2013

Yasiel Puig took the baseball world by storm, hitting close to .400 for the first few weeks. After making the All-Star game, he cooled off a bit, but had stellar numbers to close out the year.

Yasiel Puig

2013

As we transition into 2014, it should be noted Jose Abreu will not be included, as his situation was different then others that are included on this list. There were not many early in season call ups in the 2014 season, however, there were some notable guys who made their teams out of Spring Training.

Billy Hamilton played some games in September of 2013, with his speed he was given the chance to play everyday in 2014. His Speed excited many fantasy players. Ultimately, he disappointed everyone, proving the concerns that he could not hit.

Billy Hamilton

2014

Travis d’Arnaud was an exciting prospect traded to the Mets in the R.A. Dickey deal, along with his oddly spelled last name came the hope that his power could catapult him to the top of the catcher rankings when he got called up on June 24th, 2014.

Travis d’Arnaud

2014

Jake Odorizzi made Tampa’s rotation out of Spring Training in 2014, after pitching 29.1 innings in 2013 for the club, while not spectacular, Odorizzi did remain fantasy relevant during the entire season.

Jake Odorizzi

2014

2015 probably holds the most well known early call up on this list, Kris Bryant’s hype going into that season was astronomical, when the Cubs called him up on April 17th, the entire fantasy world was buzzing with anticipation. Bryant did not disappoint, ultimately winning the Rookie of the Year

Kris Bryant

2015

Noah Syndergaard was called up on May 9th to join the Mets rotation that featured Matt Harvey and Jacob Degrom, while he did not quite match their stats, he turned in a decent season of his own

Noah Syndergaard

2015

On June 9th, the Brewers called up Taylor Jungmann to man the rotation, after his first 11 starts, he had a 2.26 ERA, but dropped off after that, finishing with a 3.77 ERA.

Taylor Jungmann

2015

So what is the takeaway from this trip down memory lane? Does past performances from rookies even matter when it comes to this year’s crop? It’s not so much the numbers that matter, but the perception. Every year people go prospect crazy, they will drop good fantasy players to get the next big thing. Some work out, i.e Kris Bryant, and some won’t, i.e. Jurickson Profar. This happens more in public leagues. This week I was able to claim J.D. Martinez off waivers, because a guy dropped him for Javier Baez. While dropping Martinez might not be common in most leagues, the sentiment that is shown there can influence anyone. We all love the excitement of the “next big thing”, but we need to be careful that our hype does not turn into micromanaging our teams into oblivion.