Nationals OF Dylan Crews leads us off for the second time in a week after taking the top spot in last Sunday’s Stash List Vol. 8: Crews Control or Hubba Bubba.
Here’s what I said then: “His last ten games have been arguably his best of the season: .300/.383/.600 with three home runs, two steals and a 10.6 percent strikeout rate. Small sample goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway and then say the Nats have had Crews on the escalator all season and will reportedly make room for him sooner than later. That’s what has him in the top spot, for what it’s Werth: the likelihood of a call-up turned out to be more valuable than usual in the construction of this list. Lots of uncertainty in the stash game this time of year.”
Last week me was all over that one. Crews has continued hitting this week and will reportedly make his major league debut on Monday.
Cubs 3B Matt Shaw (22, AAA) is employing something of a three-true-outcomes approach this season, tripling his walk rate from 2023, and it’s working pretty well in Triple-A. He has three home runs and two steals in 15 games along with a .387 on base percentage and 123 wRC+ along with a 16.1 percent strikeout rate. He’s at 17 home runs and 27 stolen bases across 101 games between Double and Triple-A this season and looks like he’ll be an impact fantasy player early in his career. It’s unclear how the Isaac Paredes acquisition affects Shaw’s future, but it’s not ideal. I think you can make a case for Shaw over Paredes as an organizational asset even now. Feel like I’m questioning the Cubs even more than usual these days, and I’m sure there’s some sour fading fandom mixed in with that, but I dunno, they’ve got a lot of relevant prospects, so it comes up a lot. I just think if your number one pick from 2023 is cruising through the minors, don’t go out of your way to block him right before he’s ready for primetime heading into 2025. And if you don’t think he can play defense anywhere on the infield, maybe just trade him before you make that obvious.
To try to remain fair, I should note that the front office might’ve simply been surprised at how much the Rays liked Christopher Morel, a high-upside type, low-floor type the club has mostly moved away from in its evaluation and planning, preferring to err on the side of plate skills. I can’t really fault them for that, but everybody, and I mean everybody, know that Isaac Paredes wasn’t going to work as well in Wrigley. Right? The Cubs just steered straight into the wind of common knowledge here, yeah? Especially had to disregard the power of infographics. All a person had to do was lay the Paredes spray chart over Wrigley Field to know the pull-heavy approach was not a fit for their park. Didn’t have to get that far, really. That doesn’t even account for the full effect of the air flow in Chicago and its lake-based, seasonal impacts.
Rangers RHP Jack Leiter (24, AAA) has traveled a circuitous route to this moment, but here he is dominating Triple-A hitters on the cusp of a late-season call-up like any other pitching prospect. Over his last nine starts, Leiter has a 2.57 ERA with 63 strikeouts in 42 innings. His 1.24 WHIP isn’t the prettiest number on the planet, but it’s good enough. He’ll probably get a chance within the next couple weeks, and if it goes well, Leiter and Kumar Rocker could both be on the opening day pitching staff next season.
Rockies OF Zac Veen (22, AAA) is headed to Triple-A after successfully rehabbing a lower back strain. The ninth overall pick in 2020, Veen is a little like Leiter in that his development has been anything but linear, but that doesn’t matter much now as he’s young for his level and looking at a major league debut down the stretch or early next season. In 36 Double-A games this season, Veen is slashing .268/.359/.457 with five home runs and ten stolen bases.
Rays 1B Bob Seymour (25, AAA) sounds like the name of a large human, and at 6’3” 250 lbs, this Bob Seymour does not disappoint. A left-handed hitter with plus power, Seymour strikes out too much, but over his past 29 games, he has 12 home runs and 148 wRC+ despite the 35.5 percent K-rate over that same stretch. The Rays are in a shuffle-up-and-deal stretch of their build, so while this particular player type might not appeal to them at their best, he’s probably worth a look right now in an era when run-scoring is down. I’m surprised how slow some teams have been to employ more boppers in the Big Christmas mold in the right situations. I also would expect more teams to play the hot hand between Triple-A and the majors. Over the years, I’ve felt that most teams operate as if there’s little to no correlation between AAA and MLB to the point that maximizing AAA hot streaks isn’t a thing. Maybe they’re right. I’d rather live in a world where a player can earn a lineup spot with a great month at AAA and then get to have that lineup spot until he’s not hitting anymore.
Thanks for reading!
