• Minors: Previewing potential June call-ups

  • By Jason Grey | May 26, 2011 2:34:19 PM PDT
"I remember I was a scared rookie, hitting .220 after the first three months of my baseball season, and doubting my ability." -- Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski

That particular outcome -- a .220 average after three months of a rookie season -- is the chance we take with any youngster in fantasy baseball. For all the talent a player might have, it could take awhile for it to show up as the player adjusts to the big stage. Of course, that doesn't help your team win a fantasy title.Still, every fantasy -- and major league -- team is looking for a boost, and as the calendar turns to June, the concerns over "service time" or "super-two" status or "starting a player's (major league service) clock" are lessened, and we start seeing more prospects make their ascent. Today we'll look at a few of the bigger names, and what you should expect from them.For the purpose of this blog, I don't address players who have already seen major league time this season, such as Brandon Belt, who is getting called up again following the Buster Posey injury, and Julio Teheran, one of the top starting pitching prospects in baseball (though he's not quite ready to stick in the bigs just yet). I also don't address players who have recently been called up, such as Eric Hosmer, Domonic Brown, Andrew Oliver and Rubby De La Rosa, who has emerged in Los Angeles and could move to the back of the Dodgers' bullpen soon.This list is not an exhaustive one, just some quick capsules that focus on some of the key players:

Desmond Jennings, OF, Rays

His offensive ability and potential opportunity make Jennings the best bet in the minor leagues for fantasy teams chasing stolen bases. Sam Fuld, the story of the first few weeks of the season, has come back to Earth, and quickly; he now has a cumulative stat line of .224 AVG/.273 OBP/.339 SLG. So there's a good possibility Jennings will step up and take the left field job.Jennings is hitting .271 with a .378 on-base percentage at Triple-A, and though he hasn't attempted as many steals as expected, he has gone a perfect 9-for-9 on the basepaths this season. He stole a combined 91 bases (in 104 attempts) the previous two seasons and would likely get the green light often with the Rays. Most encouraging is that he has stayed healthy thus far -- he has proved he has recovered from prior shoulder and wrist injuries -- and that has allowed him to produce seven homers as well. Jennings' good approach at the plate, contact skills and ability to utilize his speed to leg out infield hits gives him plenty of fantasy potential down the stretch. He could offer steals in bunches.Projected role and fantasy utility: Starting left fielder who could provide steals, runs and maybe even a decent batting average, making him useful in all formats.

Brett Lawrie, 3B, Blue Jays


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