On the heels of George Springer's stellar month of May and Oscar Taveras's curtain call in his Major League debut, many are wondering — who's next?
As I mentioned in my NL & AL Rookie of the Year Contenders article, the "super-two" cutoff date is coming in early-to-mid June. The Major Leagues will begin seeing many more top prospects coming up from the Minor League levels at this time. There have been plenty of guys putting up good numbers down in the farm system, so let's examine some of these players and take a look at when they could be called up.
Top Three Prospects Who Will See MLB in 2014:
1. Gregory Polanco, OF, Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Stats- AVG: .349 HR: 6 RBI: 46 SB: 12
Polanco has put up those jaw-dropping stats in just 54 games at the Triple-A level. The Pirates are 7.5 games back from the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers. They're currently using a platoon of Jose Tabata and Travis Snider in right field, and the combination has been average at best - the two have combined to hit .245 with 3 HR and 21 RBI up to this point in the season.
Polanco will help fill a few immediate needs for the big league club. They have struggled to get production out of their leadoff hitters as they rank twenty-fourth in the league in on-base percentage from that spot. Polanco's speed and good approach at the plate are both signs that he can handle the leadoff spot.
Expect Polanco to come up within the next few weeks.
2. Andrew Heaney, SP, New Orleans Zephyrs (Miami Marlins)
Stats- W: 5 L:2 ERA: 2.09 IP: 64.2 K's: 66
With Jose Fernandez going down and undergoing the dreaded Tommy John surgery earlier this month, the Marlins have fallen to a four-man rotation. The fifth spot has been filled with a combination of pitchers, including Randy Wolf, Kevin Slowey, and Brad Hand.
Both Slowey and Wolf are veterans who have proven to be inconsistent as starters in recent seasons, and Brad Hand was placed on the DL just last week. Jacob Turner and Henderson Alvarez have had issues with their throwing arms. with Turner dealing with shoulder issues and Alvarez getting pulled from his last start with elbow stiffness. Heaney has two starts at the Triple-A level in which he has one win with a 0.89 ERA and 14 K's in 11 innings pitched. He is both the top pitching and overall prospect in the Marlins system, so the time to call him up is now.
Heaney should be part of the Marlins rotation by mid-June.
3. Jon Singleton, 1B, Oklahoma City RedHawks (Houston Astros)
Stats- AVG: .267 HR: 14 RBI: 43
[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH-kM4CWxac[/embed]
Yes, another Houston Astros player may be on his way up soon. Singleton was traded from the Phillies to the Astros in 2011 as part of the Hunter Pence deal. He's currently the No. 3 rated prospect for the Astros organization and their No. 1 overall prospect at first baseman. Singleton will join the red-hot George Springer and look to continue the power surge for the Astros once he gets called up.
Through 54 games with the RedHawks, he has drawn 42 walks but also struck out 52 times - a number that's a bit high - but Springer's strikeout rate was high too, and the Astros decided to call him up anyway. With DH/1B Chris Carter hitting an abysmal .193, 1B Marc Krauss only at .178 and their backup first baseman also struggling with a .206 average, there is no hiding that the Astros need help at that position.
Singleton should come up and see time at 1B and DH as soon as the cutoff date passes.
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