“Knocking Down the Door” is a regular feature that identifies minor leaguers who are making a case for a big league promotion.
Ronald Acuña, OF, Atlanta Braves (Triple-A Gwinnett) | Braves Depth Chart
The Braves were non-contenders in 2016 when they surprisingly called up top prospect Dansby Swanson from Double-A and inserted him into the starting lineup. Out of playoff contention late in the season once again, would they do the same with the 19-year-old Acuña, considering how Swanson has mostly struggled in his first full MLB season?
There is one notable difference between Swanson in 2016 and Acuña in 2017. Swanson was having a decent season in Double-A (.261/.342/.402 in 84 games) at the time of his call-up. Acuña has been absolutely tearing the cover off of the ball and seemingly getting better throughout the season during stints in High-A, Double-A and Triple-A. In 26 games since a July promotion to Gwinnett, the right-handed batter is slashing .347/.426/.574 with four homers, seven doubles, 13 walks and 22 strikeouts.
While the Braves will likely explore a trade for one of their current outfielders this offseason in anticipation of Acuña’s arrival as an everyday player in 2018, they could work him into the mix late this season with three-to-four starts per week.
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Ryan Borucki, SP, Toronto Blue Jays (Double-A New Hampshire) | Blue Jays Depth Chart
The 23-year-old lefty was pitching in High-A less than a month ago, so a promotion to the Major Leagues soon after probably seems unrealistic. However, the recent trade of Francisco Liriano and the fourth disabled list stint for Aaron Sanchez has left the team’s rotation so thin that journeyman Nick Tepesch is being added to the 40-man roster to start on Wednesday to replace another journeyman, Cesar Valdez, who was placed on the disabled list after allowing 12 earned runs over his past two starts.
Meanwhile, Borucki has been outstanding since a promotion to Double-A, posting three consecutive seven-inning starts with a total of 18 strikeouts while allowing only one earned run, 11 hits and three walks in 21 innings. The former 15th-round pick, who idolized Mark Buehrle as a kid and is comparable in many ways, is already on the team’s 40-man roster and only at 119 innings on the season.
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Willie Calhoun, 2B/LF, Texas Rangers (Triple-A Round Rock) | Rangers Depth Chart
In six games since the July 31st trade that sent him from the Dodgers to the Rangers for Yu Darvish, Calhoun is 7-for-25 with four homers, pushing his season total to 27. Not only can the lefty-swinging Calhoun hit for power—he also had 27 homers and 25 doubles in Double-A in 2016—he’s one of the toughest hitters to strike out in the Minors. Hitting 25+ homers in the upper minors is notable, but accomplishing that feat while striking out fewer than 100 times is extremely rare. The 22-year-old struck out 65 times while drawing 45 walks in 2016. He has 36 walks and only 50 strikeouts this season.
The good thing about being traded to the American League is that Calhoun’s future position in the Major Leagues, whether it’s second base or the outfield, probably doesn’t have to be sorted out before he gets the call to the Majors. The kid can flat out rake. With Mike Napoli struggling—he’s 4 for his last 32 with 17 strikeouts— the Rangers could give Calhoun plenty of at-bats at the DH spot with an occasional look at second base or in left field.
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J.P. Crawford, SS, Philadelphia Phillies (Triple-A Lehigh Valley) | Phillies Depth Chart
After an impressive stint in Double-A earned him an early-season promotion to Triple-A in 2016, Crawford appeared to be on the fast track to the Majors. Of course, only the “light-hitting” Freddy Galvis appeared to be standing in his way at the time. But in an unpredictable turn of events, Galvis went on a home run binge while the 21-year-old Crawford, considered one of the top prospects in baseball, struggled during his first taste of Triple-A. Since last July, Galvis has homered 24 times in 706 plate appearances while posting an OPS over .700.
Crawford was never going to simply be handed the starting shortstop job, but any chance of a 2017 promotion was dwindling unless he forced himself back into the picture. His performance in July, and so far in August, probably fits that description. With an OPS over 1.000, 10 homers, six doubles, three triples, 21 walks and 27 strikeouts over that span, Crawford has earned a late-season look as the Phillies’ regular shortstop. Galvis, who will be a free agent after the 2018 season, has probably done enough over the past year to generate some offseason trade interest whether he plays regularly down the stretch or not.
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Rhys Hoskins, 1B/LF, Philadelphia Phillies (Triple-A Lehigh Valley) | Phillies Depth Chart
With the Phillies committed to giving Tommy Joseph a full season to show what he can do as the team’s starting first baseman, it appeared that Hoskins, one of the most productive hitters in the Minors over the past three seasons, would probably have to wait until 2018 before getting a chance. But following the release of Michael Saunders, the trade of Howie Kendrick, and Aaron Altherr’s second trip to the disabled list, the Phillies’ outfield is looking thin enough that the 24-year-old Hoskins was given the green light to play left field for the first time in his professional career on Monday. He played there again on Tuesday.
While a slight increase in defensive versatility could be a key to Hoskins arriving in the Majors this season, maybe as soon as this week, it’s hard to imagine him not being the starting first baseman in 2018. Joseph is having a below-average season for a first baseman (.741 OPS, 16 HR, 97 K) and is currently in a 1-for-22 slump. Hoskins still has to prove that he can hit MLB pitching, but his current .280/.383/.571 slash line with only 75 strikeouts is a pretty good indicator that he will do just that.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Jp better stay down Freddy is my shortstop in fantasy
The Phillies have to look out for your fantasy team, who the heck do they think they are!
If Freddy Galvis is your fantasy SS then they’d be doing you a favor.
Hahahaha such a hilarious post! Bc fantasy brings in so much money for an MLB team vs putting a winning team out lmao kid is a complete idiot.
His post wasn’t even that annoying honestly. If you get upset about that then you ought to stop reading these comment sections.
Acuna is future #1 prospect
Have you ever seen him play in person? I’d bet against it for sure. The kid has great skill, but I saw him play two games earlier this month and he looked lost in the outfield. He was terrible in left field. He was unsure on flyballs and he misjudged a few line drives. Also, at the plate he has no two-strike approach. He is very good gap to gap power but the only hits I saw him get was early in the count aggressive swings. However, later in the game in the 10th inning he had a great at bat and fot the game winning double. He is a great prospect, but not the best because he does have weaknesses.
Remember, he’s 19 y/o lighting up AAA pitching. He reminds me so much of Andruw Jones it’s silly.
” he looked lost in the outfield. He was terrible in left field. He was unsure on flyballs and he misjudged a few line drives.”
Your memories of Andruw Jones are different from mine.
And that’s ok. But prich’s opinion of him is not mine.
16 HR is hardly “gap to gap power”, but thanks for sharing your scouting report.
I didn’t get to see BP lol but he seems to be very comfortable in the right center field gap from what I see. So I just assumed he is a gap hitter
It can be when your only 19 playing with 23-25 year olds. He is a solid looking prospect with holes like anyone else. Looks like a good prospect.
Probably because he plays Center and Right Field, not Left Field normally, if hardly ever…
I didn’t know that. But if he does play center and is good then he has much more value. I just saw him play a terrible left field.
Um he doesn’t play LF normally so maybe you caught him the one game he was playing out of position. He’s a CF who they lived to RF because he has an arm and Ender is in CF
It was still when Lane Adams was in AAA. I guess he was just pushed to left when Adams was around.
Doubtful he should be called up before he reaches that ranking
I think call Acuna up in September and put him in the lineup when markakis or kemp rest or get injured. Let him get some reps in the MLB for a while then trade one of the corner outfielders in the offseason.
It is documented quite a bit, but we need the roster spot we’d have to give him and protect someone that could be taken in the Rule 5 Draft, like Luiz Gohara, unless they trade someone opening up a roster spot.
The 40 man roster was not taken into consideration in this post at all. I believe Crawford fits into this category as well, and why wasn’t Scott Kingery mentioned if the 40 man is not a concern for this post?
Crawford is rule 5 eligible after this season.
Acuna is an extremely exciting young player. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him come up soon, but I still would think it isn’t likely. Acuna isn’t on the 40 man roster currently and the Braves have a lot of players that require protecting this off season. Despite the interest Acuna would generate for the Braves fan base I think that Atlanta will play it safe and keep him down until 2018 (and at least one outfield spot is traded away).
They’ve already made quite a few blunders trying to appease the silly Braves fan base, including calling up Dansby late last year only to watch him watch sliders pass him by this year. Let Acuna continue doing Acuna things and we’ll see him bright and early, hopefully without Markakis or Kemp, in 2018.
Lol if that’s the case I’d hate to know who your a fan of every post I see of you on here is the worst I’ve seen ever you have no clue what your talking about
I don’t think Albies was ready for a promotion either. They would’ve been better off keeping SROD or playing Phillips at 2nd base. Albies is barely 20 years old and he wasn’t exactly forcing himself onto the braves roster. He’s been having a solid but unspectacular year. obviously a fantastic year for a 20 year old in AAA but not enough.
FREE WILLIE!!!
YESSS!!!!
Crawford sucks, Hoskins needs to come up now
That’s an insightful well supported argument.
Quick, someone hire him on as a scout. He’s a genius!!..
JP is still real young he couldn’t hit a thing earlier this year but man if he can hit 75% of the way he has been over the past month you have yourselves a hell of a SS.
I’m not saying he should be called up this year and yeah like 98% of all hitters do, at one point this season, he slumped. By no means does Crawford suck, and if he does pan out I will be very excited for him and kingrey up the middle for a lot of years.
Hoskins should be called up Thursday to play the Mets because they have pretty awful pitching and the next series is against San Diego. It would be smart to put him in a good position to succeed.
Dom smith should be up for the mets too. I’m sure mets fans have seen enough of Wilmer Flores this year
Yea and then they put Smth in a spot to succeed too because Phils have weak pitching. It’s gonna be fun going to a Mets-Phillies game while both teams are awful. Normally it is one is always better than the other. Now no fan can really trash talk lol
In typical phillies fashion, they’ll call up Hoskins when he’s 30
Keep Freddy G.,let’s get Hoskins&Cusins up!
I don’t think Dylan cozens is going to hit any better than tommy Joseph at the ML level. Can’t muster a .225avg in AAA. I’d much rather see Crawford up
Same
Cozens has been tinkered with by the hitting coach a ton this year. Completely different swing from last year. I think he can benefit from time with Matt Stairs in September.
Scott Kingery should be on this page because he has done everything possible to get the call. Kid is a beast and is a guy everyone wants on their team.
Im sure theres a bunch of prospects worthy of being called up, not mentioned in this article.Kingery just might not be an option with him having another year before being added to the 40 is necessary,plus Cesar Hernandez has been 1 of the Phillies best on base guys.just look at Crawford last year, thats likely how things will go with Kingery.
Yeah I agree kingery has no place to play right now even as good as he’s been. The phils don’t want to handcuff their 40 and potentially lose a guy to the rule 5 for a guy you’d have a hard time fitting in the lineup right now.
Kingery is the top on the Phillies board of minor leaguers I am sure. He is a guy they will and should make room for. This is the end of the Cesar era in Philly this year. But yea Kingery won’t be called up unless maybe Cesar gets hurt again. Kingery is the best fielder I have ever seen play an AAA game
Realisticlly tommy Joseph isn’t good enough to really be any teams starting first baseman. He’s always going to be a guy you’re looking to upgrade, if Hoskins can play a passable left field once or twice a week that might be a way to keep Joseph around. He’d be a nice power option off the bench and if you could get him in the lineup 2 maybe 3 times a week at 1B and shift Hoskins out to left. that’d help negate having a 1B only guy like Joseph on the bench. To me that seems like the best case scenario at this point.
Joseph can still be a starter in the league.gotta consider this being his 1st full season,and he dont really have a consistent lineup around him.the problem for him is that Hoskins has shown possible all star potential,while his ceiling is likely above average at best.but its not as if he’s an expensive contract.he could be a rh power bat off the bench,or he could be used in a deal of some kind.
I mean he’s not going to become more athletic overnight so his defense is always going to be below average. If he develops some plate discipline he might be able to start but I doubt it. That’s why he I think philly would be best suited to keep him. I dont think the return on him in a trade is going to be worthwhile. if he’s a bench bat/part time player he’s earnings will be supressed in arbitration as well
Should’ve used the edit button on that one…
Hoskins in left is a very short term solution. Aaron Altherr returns from injury in a few weeks and the team might want to get Roman Quinn some September MLB at bats. He hasn’t played much due to injury so if he’s healthy enough to play it may have to be at the big league level.
Idk if he looks competent enough out there I think it could stick at least in a part time role. Quinn is probably a good 4th Ofer/ speed off the bench I don’t think he hits enough to start but you’re right he’s going to get his look it’ll be interesting how they shuffle the lineup with all these guys.
If Acuña is called up he’s starting 6-7 times a week, not 3-4. Otherwise they won’t calm him up and burn a spot on the 40 for no reason
7 a week? Is he playing in a little league game on the travel day?
Acuna most likely won’t be up this year. Braves need every roster spot they can get for Rule 5 eligible guys.
He just turned 26, and he’s only been in the majors for over a year.if he can become more consistent at the plate,like a 270 hitter, he could put up 25hr 85rbi in the right lineup.id personally try to trade him for an established lh relief arm, but i have no problem keeping him as a rh power bat off the bench.
Im just not looking at Hoskins as an of option after this year,Phillies already have Herrera,Williams, and Altherr on the roster.we have other of prospects close,and we have other log jam issues at 2b & c…we have enough options to atleast dangle him around the league. Id personally try to get an established lh reliever for him, but id be happy with a lottery ticket prospect or 2 as well.
Could always get insurance at 1b with a low level free agent,like a Nava type.
Well yeah it’s easiest for Joseph to go which is also part of the reason why I think he won’t command much of a return. Especially in the pitching first world we live in now. Hoskins could be a complete disaster in the OF to the point where you don’t even want him out there once or twice a week and then there’s really no discussion here.
Sorry for mentioning id try to get a lh reliever for him twice. Just re-read my comment and realized i did that.
This is a nice problem to have,and the Phillies have similar issues all over the diamond,with the exception of 3b. 6 of their top 12 prospects are in Lehigh. They have the pieces,they just gotta assemble them together right.
Joseph would fit much better in the American League as a DH. His power is underrated. I believe that Cesar is dealt this offseason, but they keep Freddy on to ease Crawford into it. Believe it or not, Galvis is the longest tenured Philly (2012) and he has really become an amazing leader. He could help Crawford get his feet wet.
Keep acuna down until kemp is gone