A BURGEONING STAR?
Josh Harrison has been an utter failure this season for the Pirates as he’s posted a .491 OPS through 28 games. The guy had a .490 SLG last season. Not that I expected this much of a pull back, but Harrison wasn’t exactly given a glowing report in his preseason Player Profile. “Josh Harrison will likely be over-drafted in many a league this season. The odds are heavily tilted in favor of overall regression for Harrison… don't expect him to run off a series of seasons that match the overall production he posted last season.” His grip on a starting job with the Pirates is slipping.
Jordy Mercer is a great glove but the bat has simply never matched and allowed him to be anything other than an NL-only option up the middle. Last season’s effort – a .255-12-55-56-5 line – is about as good as it’s gonna get with that guy. Much like Harrison though, things have been awful for Mercer this season with an even worse than Harrison OPS of .481. Yikes-a-rama.
In to that scenario steps Jung-ho Kang. Last season in 117 games Kang hit .356 with 40 homers, 117 RBIs and a 1.198 OPS in Korea. How would that offense transition to the big leagues? He had a pretty rough spring training, and things didn’t start out too well this season either. But then he started hitting. At this point Kang is batting .333 with a .898 OPS over 53 plate appearances. Given the struggles of Harrison and Mercer why wouldn’t the Pirates play Kang more? It’s a bit premature to say Kang is a must add in mixed leagues, but if things keep going the way they are right now, Kang might end up being the player to own of the trio.
MINOR LEAGUE UPDATES
Carlos Correa was promoted to Triple-A. When will he reach the majors? My thoughts can be found in When Will Carlos Correa appear?
Maikel Franco is closing in on a promotion to the big leagues according to GM Rueben Amaro. If Franco is out there add him now versus waiting for his actual 
call up date during which time a rush to waivers will ensue. Cody Asche just isn’t getting it done for the Phillies hitting .235 with four RBIs over 102 at-bats. That’s 661 big league at-bats for Asche with a resulting .685 OPS. Not remotely close to being ideal for a corner infielder. Meanwhile, Franco is ripping up Triple-A batting .336 with a .879 OPS over 29 games on the farm. Can’t figure they call him up to merely bid his time. When he’s up, Franco is gonna play daily as the nearly 23 year old appears ready for the bigs. Franco is an elite talent with impressive bat speed, but he’s also a bit too aggressive and often gets out in front of off-speed stuff (he appears to be a “guess” gutter at times). He’s not a finished product by any means, but scouts think he could eventually be a .275, 25 homer type of batter. Bid away with that knowledge in tow.
Joey Gallo has three homers in four games at Double-A Frisco. He’s pushed his average up to .346 in his 15 games this season but he’s also racked up 20 strikeouts. More raw power than just about anyone not in the big leagues, but Gallo is a huge strikeout machine and it’s unlikely we see him for much more than a cup of coffee late in the year – unless injuries strike the big league club in Texas or he goes nutso with the bat.
Rougned Odor is on his way to the minors as he’s been optioned to Triple-A. Not shocking in the least as the 21 year old has looked completely overmatched this season. That’s what we call it when you have a .486 OPS over 29 games. That’s as bad as the Pirates duo we were talking about earlier. Difference being with Odor that he’s only 21, has no real track record, and could certainly stand to pick up some seasoning in the minors. Might not see him for a while though… he’s looked really bad. It appears that Adam Rosales will take over the majority of playing time at second base. Who is Morales? He’s the owner of a .224/.291/.341 slash line over nearly 1,150 plate appearances. He hustles. That’s about it. Nothing to see here other than AL-only folks looking for some at-bats. Maybe Delino DeShields Jr. gets a look too?
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday at 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).
IGNORE WHAT IS BELOW - FOR TESTING PURPOSES ONLY
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