Manuel Margot (OF-SD) - It's sounding possible in reading some quotes from Padres management that both Margot and Hunter Renfroe may not be up before September 1, but it's hard to buy that. Tuesday, the Padres fielded an outfield of Alex Dickerson, Travis Janikowski, and Jabari Blash. If you're wondering who these guys are, don't feel bad, as even I'm not all that familiar with them. Janikowski does have a .356 OBP and Dickerson has shown some 4th OF ability, but Margot and Renfroe are the future. Margot seems likely to get the call first, and he's currently hitting .305/.356/.428 with 24 stolen bases. He's just 21, so there's a ton of upside here, but one thing to monitor is that Margot has been dealing with an Achilles' injury in recent weeks. That shouldn't be anything serious for now, though the Padres could take the cautious route with arguably their top prospect.
Yasmani Grandal (C-LAD) - Grandal hit his third homer in six games and #16 overall on the season in Tuesday's loss in Coors Field. Grandal is now batting .221/.337/.455 on the year, and in July, Grandal posted a 1.130 OPS, a number that he's well on his way to reaching again in August at this rate. With Grandal striking out nearly 25% of the time and walking over 14% of the time, he's almost a "three-outcomes" type of guy, but the Dodgers will certainly take this level of production given their offensive woes overall this year. He should continue to play most every day.
Rob Whalen (SP-ATL) - You won't find Whalen on too many top prospect lists, but he will get the call from Triple-A to start for the Braves on Wednesday regardless. Whalen had a 1.93 ERA in three Triple-A starts after posting a 2.49 mark in Double-A, and the 22-year-old is averaging nearly a strikeout an inning with a 112:44 K:BB in 120 innings. He's usually in the 91-93 mph range with his fastball and Whalen has already outperformed his 12th round draft position (2012). He's doing a much better job this year than last in missing bats, and he's getting a nice reward for his efforts.
Wilson Ramos (C-WAS) - We always knew a healthy Ramos was one of the better-hitting catchers in the league, but he's obviously taken his game to a new level this year. After going 2-for-5 with his 16th homer of the season Tuesday, Ramos is batting a cool .331/.381/.536 on the year with 59 RBI. Ramos did play in a career-high 128 games last year, but he hit just .229. This year he should play in 130+ for the first time, and batting behind guys like Bryce Harper isn't hurting his RBI total. Ramos is making the best contact of his career with a minuscule 12.6% K%, and his 7.6% BB% is his highest mark there in several years. A .348 BABIP may be indicative of some luck on balls in play, but even if the BA regresses into the .290s the rest of the way, he's still going to hit well over .300 with perhaps 25 homers and 90+ RBI. Just a great a season all around.
Aaron Altherr (OF-PHI) - Altherr had a great night Tuesday, going 3-for-5 with a homer, stolen base, and Altherr now has a 1.121 OPS in 18 at-bats. He had just 31 minor league at-bats having missed most of the season with a wrist injury, but he certainly has our attention now in what is obviously a very limited sample size. He's not a complete unknown after posting a respectable .827 OPS in 137 at-bats for the Phillies this year, and given the lack of overall outfield talent the Phillies have on the roster, he should continue to play as long as he's showing even a minor pulse.
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