Weekend in Review

Though not surprising, Julio Urias extended his scoreless streak on Friday night; he’s up to 27 straight scoreless innings. It’s only a matter of time before the Dodgers give him the call. The only issue is that it’s possible he could pitch out of the bullpen.

Blake Snell, who has already made a start for Tampa Bay this season, pitched his longest outing of the season at Triple-A this year on Friday night. The 23-year-old lefty pitched six scoreless innings and recorded nine strikeouts for the second straight game. With an inflated BABIP of .358, Snell isn’t posting the eye-popping numbers that he has in previous seasons. With that said, he’s clearly ready for a full-time workload in the major leagues.

Joey Gallo returned from the minor league disabled list and hit his first home run since April 25. As long as he’s healthy, you can expect a lot more bombs from Gallo.

Archie Bradley continues to impress in a big way at the Triple-A level. His latest start against Omaha saw him throw eight scoreless innings with nine strikeouts. Walks have been, and likely always will be, an issue for Bradley, but he’s striking out more than a batter per inning this season in the minors. Keep him stashed away. He just needs everything to click.

No matter how a season is going overall, any night you drive in seven runs should be considered a monumental accomplishment. That’s exactly what happened to Cubs minor league outfielder Jeimer Candelario. Coming into Friday’s game, Candelario was batting just .197. He proceeded to go 4-for-5 with one homer and seven RBI. His spot is safe in Double-A, though with the outfield logjam Chicago has, it’ll be a while before he’s on the North Side.

It was a phenomenal day for Giants’ prospect Chris Shaw on Sunday. Coming into the game with a .309 average and eight home runs, Shaw went deep twice against Rancho Cucamonga. He’s fifth on San Francisco’s prospect list and clearly has enough power to make a serious difference in the future.

On Sunday, Cardinals Prospect Alex Reyes made his season debut after missing 50 games due to a drug suspension. He struck out eight over four scoreless innings, picking up right where he left off last season. Last season he posted an elite K/9 number of 13.5 at Double-A and those numbers should translate well once he reaches the majors. He’s certainly owned in all dynasty leagues, but he’s stash worthy in NL-Only leagues as he could get called up late in the year.

The Brewers may be one of the worst teams in baseball, but there is help on the way. Josh Hader, one of the focal points in the deal that sent Carlos Gomez to Houston, lowered his ERA to 0.79 after firing five scoreless frames on Sunday. It’s only a matter of time before he’s called up to Triple-A, though the Brewers may not rush him as they aren’t competing in 2016. With Hader’s ability to miss bats (10.1 K/9 in the minors), he has a ton of value in dynasty leagues.

J.P Crawford was promoted to Triple-A earlier this week and recorded his first hit on Sunday. He’s the top prospect in the Phillies system and could receive a call-up in September.

Not a prospect, but certainly newsworthy none the less—Yu Darvish finished up his rehab assignment on Sunday and will join the Rangers rotation later this week.

Recent Call-ups

Chris Taylor, Mariners

Taylor has spent the better part of three years in Triple-A with a few major league stints sprinkled in. He has very little power and average speed, but could be in line for starts with Ketel Marte on the disabled list. You can add him in deeper AL-Only leagues.

Keon Broxton, Brewers

The Brewers placed Domingo Santana on the disabled list and gave the call to Broxton. Though Broxton power and speed upside, he just hasn’t been able to catch at break at the major league level. He is a fine player to add in NL-Only leagues as Broxton has the ability to hit for power and swipe plenty of bags. He must make the most of this opportunity, otherwise he won’t hold the job very long.