The dog days of summer of are coming to an end and that means there will be an infusion of minor leaguers into the Show in the coming weeks. Contending teams will call up their top prospects in hopes of sparking a run to the playoffs and cellar-dwellers will give some of their Triple-A players a big league look in an effort to get fans excited for next season.
Regardless of what the expectations are for late-season call-ups, this time of year always provides a good opportunity for fantasy teams to catch lightning in a bottle with unknown players. Two such players who have recently received their ticket to big league teams are Danny Salazar and Andrew Albers (pictured above). Their roads to the Show could not have been more different, but these two pitchers have one thing in common — they get hitters out.
Salazar, a Cleveland right-hander, was the Indians’ top pitching prospect before being called up in July. The 23-year old has made four starts since his promotion and has looked as good as advertised. He has compiled a 3.52 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in those four outings.
Salazar’s .181 opponent batting average is a testament to how good his stuff has been. In his 23 major league innings, the rookie has had an average fastball velocity of 96.3 mph, which has contributed to hitters swinging and missing at 14.8 percent of his pitches. Both of those figures are the best in baseball over the last month and they explain why the flamethrower has an insane 11.35 K/9 ratio in the big leagues.
It’s no surprise that this hyped prospect has missed bats at the major league level. He compiled a 2.70 ERA combined at AA and AAA in 2013 before his call-up and struck out more than 12 hitters per nine innings in the minors. It seems likely he is in the Show to stay, so pick him up and enjoy owning one of the hardest-throwing pitchers in baseball.
Like Salazar, Andrew Albers has set the baseball world on fire since his debut, but that is where their similarities end. Albers was pitching in Canadian pro baseball as recently as 2011 before the Twins signed him to a minor league contract. Since then, the left-hander has pitched very well everywhere he’s been.
The 27-year old began 2013 at Triple-A and posted a 2.86 ERA in 22 starts there before he made his big league debut on August 6. Albers has made three other starts since that debut and has compiled a 3.00 ERA and a stellar 0.87 WHIP in 30 total big league innings.
Unlike Danny Salazar, Albers does not throw hard. In fact, his average fastball velocity is just 86 mph. I’m pretty sure half the pitchers on my high school team threw that hard. What Albers does well, however, is change speeds. In his most recent start against the Tigers he struck out Torii Hunter on a curveball that registered just 65 mph on the radar gun.
Even though Detroit chased Albers from the game after just 5 2/3 innings, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said, “I thought Albers did a great job. He changed speeds, moved the ball around.” Keep in mind that was the worst of Albers’ four starts as a big leaguer.
If he can continue to change speeds with that much effectiveness, Albers will minimize the damage that can be done on his snail-like fastball. He proved himself at Triple-A, he’s proving himself at the next level and I highly recommend adding him for your fantasy stretch run.
Dylan Sinn is a freelance contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSinn or subscribe at Facebook.com/CraveOnlineSports.
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