Juan Soto (OF-WAS) - Ronald Acuna, Soto, and soon, Vlad Guerrero Jr. It's a good year for great young talent. Soto struck out as a pinch-hitter in his first MLB at-bat on Sunday, but Monday proved just a bit better - 2-for-4 with a three-run opposite field home run. I'll be moving him ahead of Victor Robles in my next prospect update. Soto has been promoted from Low-A to High-A, then on to Double-A and straight to the big leagues. In the span of just over a month. The 19-year-old now has 15 home runs overall this year in just 187 at-bats. He's not a big base stealer, but he has swiped three while walking more than he's struck out. With Robles and Adam Eaton both out for an extended period, Soto should play most every day for an extended period of time. He may be even up permanently. Matt Adams could steal some time should they want to get his power bat in the lineup on occasion, but the more likely scenario has Soto being the permanent LF for the balance of the season. He may not have the hype of an Acuna, but Soto's natural ability is right up there.
Nick Pivetta (SP-PHI) - I've been a closet Pivetta fan for a while, but by now, hopefully more people are seeing how good this guy is. Pivetta had a strong outing again Monday, holding the Braves scoreless on four hits over seven innings with a 7:1 K:BB. Pivetta is now 4-2 with a 3.23 ERA, and in his last three starts, he's allowed one run over 19 innings with a 25:2 K:BB. Not bad. Of some concern is that in those starts, his G/F ratio is 10/27, but the contact he's inducing isn't hard contact for the most part. Prior to this run, Pivetta barely made it out of the first inning in a game against Washington, allowing six runs in an inning of work before departing. Safe to say he's made some adjustments.
Mike Mikolas (SP-STL) - Mikolas tossed a complete-game four-hit shutout Monday in a win over the Royals, walking one and striking out nine to improve to 6-0 with a 2.24 ERA. Perhaps we should give more weight to Japanese stats for guys that spend time there and come back to the states. Mikolas received a two-year $15.5 million deal this winter, but if teams saw this sort of start coming, MIkolas would likely get more like 3-4 years at $12MM+ annually. Basically Alex Cobb money for far better work. Mikolas isn't striking out a ton of hitters, but still, a 46:6 K:BB in 60.1 innings? I'll take that. The Royals aren't very good, but it's not like Mikolas was junk before Monday's start. With a 94+ mph fastball, this isn't flukish.
Brandon Nimmo (OF-NYM) - Nimmo was 0-for-4 Monday, but as the team's leadoff hitter for now, the Mets would have to seem to be pleased with a .253/.417/.440 slash from a table setter. Nimmo has always drawn a ton of walks, posting a 14% MLB career BB% while showing maybe 10-12 home run power with a handful of stolen bases. This year for the Mets he's swiped three in 96 PA, so as an outfielder in OBP leagues, one could do worse. Nimmo could lose his job this week when Yoenis Cespedes returns, but if the Mets want to make a baseball decision, they will put Jay Bruce at first and move Gonzalez into a bench role of off the roster. Nimmo will have to probably raise that BA the next few games though to make that a strong possibility.
Corey Knebel (RP-MIL) - Knebel pitched a perfect ninth Monday for his second save of the season as he continues to ease back into the closer role post-injury. After a rocky first four appearances, Knebel hasn't allowed a hit in his last four while walking one and striking out five. With a 0.65 WHIP overall and a 10:1 K:BB in 7.2 innings, it's safe to say he's the guy in most cases should a save opportunity arise going forward. I'm sure his fantasy owners aren't forgetting last year's elite closer numbers - 1.78 ERA, 39 saves, 126 strikeouts.
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