Prospect Watch for May

Once a month I want to take time and talk about the latest and greatest Fantasy Prospects down on the farm that if you’re taking your team seriously you need to watch with a close eye.

Matt LaPorta- (Cle – OF) – He received the call up when Travis Hafner went down. Originally brought up to platoon with David Delucci (Why Eric Wedge, WHY!), he has started three games so far. Although he is only 1-10, that one hit happened to be his first major league homer (If you don’t believe his power is real check out this video). LaPorta, who was acquired in the CC Sabathia trade with the Brewers last year, was awful post trade in Double-A. LaPorta was even worse playing the in Venezuelan winter league (.164 BA 22k’s in 67 AB’s). But this was no cause for concern. He was batting .333 with 5 homers when he received the call up this year. This guy is a fantasy stud, and once he gets his bat going consistently will be a factor in Clevland OF. Ben Francisco is LaPorta’s only roadblock, it’s only a matter of time before he falters. Find a spot for LaPorta on your roster in all but the shallowest formats, he will pay dividends shortly.

Mat Gamel – (Mil – 3B) – Another stud 3B to come up through the Brewers system. The important thing to remember here is that he will get promoted because of bat definitely not his defense (his defense believe it or not is worse than Braun’s, 5 Errors in AAA already this season). Gamel’s only roadblock is Bill Hall (let’s remember that Bill Hall was benched for a period of time last year), but you can only deny a .385 AVG, 7HR’s and a .756 slg percentage for so long. Look for Gamel’s call up to come between now and July. If you have a spot in dynasty or deep leagues you should stash him. He will be an immediate impact when he does arrive at the big show.

Tommy Hanson – (Atl – SP) - Hanson should have started the year with the big club, but was demoted to AAA probably so Atl could hold his rights a little longer. Since he has been sent down down he is killing the AAA level. Hanson has 48 strikeouts in his first 32 2/3 innings. Batters are hitting a dismal .179 against Hanson. His only roadblock is Jo-Jo Reyes, who has been terrible for the last 2 years. I would expect a late May early June call-up. He is a SP worth stashing in every format.

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