The middle infield position always feels like a top-heavy one. Routinely you see a handful of the top fantasy performers occupying a middle infield spot, especially shortstop, but then there is usually a significant drop off from there. Let’s dive in to see which MiLB players are trending up or trending down to start the year.
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Dynasty Risers
Christian Moore, 2B, LAA
The Los Angeles Angels used their first-round selection in this summer’s draft on the 21-year-old Moore, a second baseman out of the University of Tennessee. It came to the surprise of pretty much nobody when the Angels did with Moore exactly what they have been doing with most of their recent early-round college selections – assigned him aggressively. Moore played all of two games at Low-A, going 6-for-11 with a home run before the Angels decided to move him all the way up to Double-A. That’s right, he skipped High-A completely.
He’s logged 14 games there now and is hitting a robust .357/.410/.661 with five home runs. That’s good for a .304 ISO. It feels like all seven players that went ahead of Moore in this year’s draft had steam as the best prospect in the class at one point or another this spring. Moore’s name never really entered that discussion, and while it would surprise me if he did come out as the top prospect in this year’s class, it’s clear that he was at least somewhat overlooked by the prospect community heading into the draft. He is striking out north of 30% of the time, so while his production is off the charge, there is at least one red flag early on to monitor moving forward.
This college season was an absolute breakout for Moore in his junior campaign. He hit .375 with 34 home runs, which equaled the number of dingers he had in his freshman and sophomore seasons combined. It’s clear that at the very least Moore has the potential to be a power-hitting second baseman.
We know how aggressive the Angels tend to be with their young players, so don’t be surprised if Moore is in the starting lineup come Opening Day 2025.
Marcelo Mayer, SS, BOS
This one has been coming all season, so the timing of including Mayer is a bit unfortunate as he just recently hit the IL with a hip injury. It’s extra deflating as Mayer had just earned a promotion to Triple-A and hadn’t even appeared in a game at that level before heading to the IL. Nevertheless, Mayer’s 2024 performance has been spectacular.
Through 77 Double-A games, the 21-year-old shortstop triple slashed .307/.370/.480 with eight home runs and 13 steals. Mayer has one of the highest hard-hit rates in all of the minors and he’s been a little bit more agreessive at the plate, walking and striking out a tad less than we’ve seen from him in fewer seasons.
So why is Mayer a riser? It’s easy to forget that his stock had fallen in 2023. He lost time due to a shoulder injury in 2023, and although he performed well at High-A (139 wRC+, seven home runs in 35 games), he struggled mightily at Double-A, hitting just .189 in 43 contests. Those who bought low on Mayer are seeing the pay-off, as Mayer has solidified himself as a top-20 prospect once again.
Honorable Mentions
Aidan Miller, SS, PHI: I held off on including Miller as a riser throughout the season, but it cannot be denied at this stage – Miller’s stock is a lot higher now than it was at the onset of the 2024 season. The Phillies selected Miller with the 27th pick in the 2023 draft and he got into 20 professional games a season ago. He kicked off 2024 at Low-A and triple slashed .275/.401/.483 with five home runs and 10 steals in 39 games. His bat was simply too good for the level, and the shortstop earned a promotion to High-A. My initial hesitancy on Miller came from him being a 20-year-old having his way with Low-A pitching, but he’s more than held his own at High-A, triple slashing .251/.350/.429 with five home runs and 10 steals in 49 games. He may end up being a third baseman long term, and he may end up trading some of those stolen base numbers for more power as he matures, but Miller has cemented himself as a top-50 or so prospect.
Edwin Arroyo, 2B/SS, CIN: Getting a little creative with this one. Let’s go back in time to Spring Training. Arroyo was sizzling. He had 20 plate appearances and collected six hits, two of which were doubles, and walked three times. That was good for a .921 OPS. Of course, this was an extremely small sample, but the point is that Arroyo’s Spring Training performance was leading to some serious hype, especially after pairing it with a hot two months at High-A to close 2023. Unfortunately, Arroyo suffered a torn left labrum in his left shoulder and was forced the entire 2024 season. There is no update here – Arroyo is still out for the year. But depending on your league size, there is a good chance that someone like Arroyo was dropped back in March. This is an opportunity to add him as we are running out of games in 2024, and his stock will only go up once he returns to action in the spring.
Dynasty Fallers
Liover Pegeuro, 2B/SS, PIT
Peguero exhausted his prospect eligibility in 2023, but has been a minor leaguer for the entire 2024 season, so it’s fair to discuss him here. It feels like Peguero has been around forever, but he’s still only 23-years-old. A hitter that age spending the entire season in Triple-A isn’t unheard of and it doesn’t mean that he can’t be productive at the MLB level down the line, but it is discouraging that Peguero hasn’t really done much in 2024 to show that he can be a big league player.
Backing up a bit, the Pittsburgh infielder had a breakout season in 2021. As a 20-year-old in High-A, Peguero hit .270 with 14 home runs and 28 steals in 90 games. He took a step back at Double-A in 2022 – finishing the 121-game campaign with a sub-.700 OPS, before bouncing back in 2023. Last year, he split time between Double-A, Triple-A, and the majors. In 76 minor league games, he hit .260 with 13 home runs and 21 steals. That performance earned him a chunk of time at the MLB level where he finished wit a 74 wRC+, seven home runs and six steals in 59 games. The strikeout rate was high at 31.5%, but we’ve seen rookies with worse numbers.
That brings us to 2024. Peguero has played in 105 Triple-A games and has an 84 wRC+. Even with Nick Gonzales missing a good chunk of the season, the Pirates didn’t turn to Peguero for help. Instead, they traded for Isiah Kiner-Falelfa and Nick Yorke, indicating that maybe the organization doesn’t have a ton of faith in Peguero. He was once a Top-100 prospect but a down 2024 is making it difficult to envision him having any sort of long-term fantasy impact without a change of scenary.
Tai Peete, SS, SEA
Peete has been fine this season, triple slashing .258/.335/.389 with six home runs and 37 steals in 102 games at Low-A. The Mariners took Peete with the 30th overall pick in the 2023 draft and given the recent track record that Seattle has had with these types of selections (Cole Young, Colt Emerson, Edwin Arroyo, Jonny Farmelo) performing well in the lower minors, expectations may have just been a little too high for the shortstop who only recently turned 19.
The most concerning aspect of his profile is that Peete is striking out north of 30% of the time. He is walking at a double-digit rate, so there is a chance that Peete is being too selective at the plate and he can trim that strikeout number in the coming years, but it’s much more common for that metric to continue to climb against better quality pitching. From a fantasy point of view, it wouldn’t surprise me if Peete’s best case outcome turns into someone like Christopher Morel – a player that can hit a bunch of home runs and steal a good amount of bases but strikes out a lot of the time and makes you sweat by just looking at his batting average.
He still has several years of development in front of him, so there is no reason to give up on Peete at this point. Peete should also always remain as infield prospect too, which helps his fantasy value in the long-run, assuming he does one day put it all together and make it to the big leagues.
Honorable Mentions
Dyan Jorge, SS, COL: Jorge had a pocket in time in 2023 where he quickly shot up prospect rankings. He started the year at the Complex Level and in just 21 games, triple slashed .370/.495/.644 with three home runs and nine steals. He also walked more than he struck out by a considerable margin. He then spent 49 games at Low-A where his power disappeared but he still managed to hit .283. In 2024, Jorge has spent the entirety of his season at High-A. He’s posted an OPS around .650 in 108 games, with just two home runs, though he has managed to swipe 30 bases. That 2023 blip feels like forever ago at this stage.
Feature image by Michael Packard (@CollectingPack on Twitter) | Photo by Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire