Oakland Athletics Jesus Luzardo heads up prospects that could impact 2018 playoff teams in 2019

Comments from Oakland Athletics management that they will give their elite lefty every chance to impact the major league club this season makes sense, but what other 2018 playoff teams may have a prospect provide impact on their 2019 success?

As Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported this week, the Oakland Athletics are very impressed with left-handed pitching prospect Jesus Luzardo. Discussion has focused on the opportunity that Luzardo will have to impact the 2019 Oakland Athletics.

Luzardo is a tremendous prospect who had a rise through the minor leagues akin to Ronald Acuna‘s in 2017 before his 2018 debut for the Atlanta Braves. He’s just one among a number of prospects that could have a significant impact on teams that made the 2018 playoffs as they hope to return to the 2019 postseason.

We’ll take a look a prospect for each 2018 playoff team, starting with Luzardo…

Jesus Luzardo

Originally born in Peru, Jesus Luzardo went to high school in Florida, where he established himself as one of the elite arms for the 2016 draft before elbow soreness put up some red flags for teams heading into the 2016 draft. The Washington Nationals, known for gambling on high school arms who may need Tommy John surgery, drafted Luzardo in the third round.

Luzardo was just getting back on the mound in 2017 when the Nationals traded him to the Oakland Athletics as part of the return in a deal that sent multiple relievers to the Nationals from Oakland. Overall in 2017, he tossed 43 1/3 innings in his return to the mound, but they were impressive innings, with a 1.66 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, and a 5/48 BB/K ratio.

While the Oakland Athletics let Luzardo make 23 starts in 2018, they managed his innings in his first full season back from surgery. His performance, however, has him among the best prospects in all of baseball.

Luzardo didn’t turn 21 until after the minor league season was over, yet he blew through three levels, really finding his first struggle in AAA, and even then, it was really his final start of the year that really skewed his numbers, as his first three starts at AAA, he had a 3.46 ERA with a 5/17 BB/K ratio over 13 innings before allowing 8 runs in 3 innings in his final start of the season. Overall, Luzardo tossed 109 1/3 innings with a 2.88 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and a 30/129 BB/K ratio.

With recently-signed Mike Fiers the only sure thing for the 2019 Oakland Athletics rotation, Luzardo has a wide-open shot to earn a spot out by midseason 2019, if not right out of spring training.

We’ll look next at the other Wild Card game loser, the Chicago Cubs and their Wild Card game opponent, the Colorado Rockies.

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs are currently working through issues of being cash-strapped, which makes pouring cash into their biggest weakness in 2018, a porous bullpen, an issue. That opens the door for one of their underrated young arms to really make an impact this year.

The Cubs drafted big righty Dakota Mekkes in the 10th round in 2016 out of Michigan State. The 6’7″, 250+ pound Mekkes features a low arm slot that he’s been able to generate up to mid-90s velocity on his fastball while working on locating the pitch very well throughout the zone. His slider and change both are average pitches, but he knows how to mix them with his fastball to dominate hitters.

How dominant has he been? Over his minor league career, Mekkes has now pitched to a 1.16 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and a 32.1% strikeout rate over 147 minor league innings. He has walked 11% of hitters, but even then, he’s been so difficult for batters to hit that he generates outs quickly.

After Mekkes put up a 1.44 ERA nad struck out 41 in 31 1/3 innings in a half-season in AAA in 2018, he’s ready for a shot at the majors, and he could be exactly what the Cubs bullpen needs.

Colorado Rockies

Though he got his feet wet in September with the big league club, so he’s not completely new to the big leagues, Garrett Hampson will get every opportunity in 2019 to handle a full-time big league role. The Rockies were quick to announce Daniel Murphy as a first baseman when they signed him recently, not a second baseman.

That leaves the middle infield slot open for Hampson, who would continue a history of Long Beach State infielders to have success at the big league level, including Evan Longoria, Troy Tulowitzki, Matt Duffy, Danny Espinosa, Bobby Crosby, and recently Jeff McNeil.

Hampson in 2018 had plenty of success across the upper levels of the minors, hitting .311/.382/.462 over 504 minor league plate appearances with 25 doubles, 6 triples, 10 home runs, and 36 stolen bases. At the major league level, he hit .275/.396/.400 over 48 plate appearances. He’s an excellent defender that should be a positive in base running as well for the Rockies.

We’ll then look at the division winners in what were considered the two weakest divisions in the game in 2019, though at least one of those is shaping up to be a tougher competition in 2019!

Cleveland Indians

The Indians roster is definitely in flux still this offseason, and in a matter of a month, there could be an acquired prospect that makes a significant impact on the roster, but this fall, one stepped forward and has impacted how trade negotiations are going this offseason.

After working Jason Kipnis in the outfield some the past two seasons, the Indians have found themselves comfortable with star infielder Jose Ramirez at either second base or third base. The ability to shift Ramirez to second base could open up a spot for Yu Chang.

Chang came to the Indians from Taiwan as a teenager, making his debut in 2014 in their system, where he hit .346/.420/.566 in the Arizona Rookie League, flashing power and speed, along with a tremendous glove. The glove and power have carried forward as Chang climbed the ladder, but his contact ability hasn’t been as strong, hitting between .232 and .259 each season.

Chang reworked his swing toward the end of the season, and while he struggled in-season with the change, he ironed out the change during fall instructs before heading to the Arizona Fall League, where he showed excellent ability to put the barrel to ball, hitting .337/.396/.523 with 4 doubles and 4 home runs. Chang also spent the majority of his time in the AFL at third base, where he put on a show at times with his strong arm at the position.

He may open at AAA to get more of a feel at the position in game action, having played just 39 games there in his minor league career previously. However, with the adjustments at the plate and the strong glovework he can offer, Chang could be a huge piece of keeping the Indians atop the AL Central.

Atlanta Braves

He made 5 starts in 2018, but Mike Soroka ended up missing out on meeting rookie standards due to injury, leaving him still a prospect, and he is the obvious choice at this spot. Soroka very well may have gone from one of the most underrated prospects nationally to one of the same among Braves fans, as multiple top prospect lists have come out with Soroka down on the list quite a bit.

If you look at his experience in the majors, this makes little sense. You simply need to look at two games – his debut May 1st and his final full start on June 13th, both against the New York Mets. He faced Noah Syndergaard in the first game and Jacob deGrom in the second game. In those two starts, Soroka tossed 12 1/3 innings, allowing one run on 7 hits and a walk, striking out 9.

Soroka has been compared very favorably to a pitcher in the mold of Roy Halladay or Corey Kluber – a guy who can manipulate his pitches and attacks hitters on the mound as much mentally as with raw stuff. He will almost certainly take a rotation spot for the Braves in 2019 now that he’s healthy, and he will be something special to watch on the mound.

Now, we look at the team from the Bronx, the other Wild Card winner…

Houston Astros

This would be an obvious one, but it seems like the team continues to put up roadblocks for the success of top prospect Kyle Tucker. That leads me to put Josh James into this spot.

James was drafted out of Western Oklahoma State in the 34th round of the 2014 draft. While he was a late pick, he came from a school with a very positive reputation. While the top player who has come up to the majors so far from the school is Andrelton Simmons, Western Oklahoma is highly recruited by major colleges for transfer students that often end up draft picks.

James has taken a quick path to the major leagues, producing solid numbers at every level, well beyond his draft level. After putting up a 3.23 ERA over 114 1/3 innings in the upper levels of the minor leagues this season with 171 strikeouts, James got a call to the majors, where he was instrumental to the Astros down the stretch, making 3 starts among his 6 appearances, tossing 23 innings, with a 2.35 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and a 7/29 BB/K. In the ALCS against Boston, James struck out 7 over 4 2/3 innings, though he did allow 4 runs over that time.

With the Astros in significant need for starting rotation help entering 2019, James will get every chance to win a rotation spot and prove himself with the big league club, and he could be a big reason the team returns deep in the playoffs in 2019.

Milwaukee Brewers

Brewers fans certainly sighed heavily when the team signed Cory Spangenberg this past week, hoping that would not be the team’s only infield signing, afraid that the team would be left with Spangenberg and Hernan Perez platooning at the keystone.

What’s forgotten is that one of the top prospects in the Brewers system entering 2018 was a middle infielder who was at AAA before an injury ended his season early. Coming over from Boston with Travis Shaw in the Tyler Thornburg deal in December 2016, Mauricio Dubon is an impressive defender up the middle with excellent contact ability and plus speed.

In 2017, Dubon hit .274/.330/.382 with 29 doubles and 8 home runs, stealing 38 bases across AA and AAA. He opened 2018 in AAA, and he looked like he was going to end up in the majors quickly with a .343/.348/.574 line, with 9 doubles, 2 triples, 4 home runs, and 6 stolen bases.

Dubon is supposed to be 100% healthy for spring training, and if he can offer impressive defense and high-contact skills that play well at the top of the lineup, he could earn plenty of time for manager Craig Counsell.

Now onto the World Series teams…

Los Angeles Dodgers

While they’re certainly not done with the offseason, there are not many teams that value versatility the way that the Dodgers do. That will allow Will Smith to have an impact on the 2019 season for the Dodgers.

Smith was a first-round pick by the Dodgers out of Louisville, known for his adeptness behind the plate more than his bat, which made many surprised that he was selected in the first round in what was considered a deep college catching crop.

While he’s not dominated with the bat, Smith’s .233/.322/.455 line with AA and AAA in 2018 is certainly playable, especially with his home run power (20 combined home runs). He’s also shown defensive versatility, playing 68 games between second base and third base along with his time behind the plate, where he’s an excellent defender.

Boston Red Sox

It’s no secret that the Red Sox have really just one hole for 2019 that they’re currently shopping to fill, and that’s the bullpen. However, the costs associated with bringing in essentially an entire bullpen will be difficult. Right now, the options in-house are almost entirely right-handed.

In the Arizona Fall League this year, many saw what scouts had been noticing all summer long – Hernandez had incredible raw stuff that could play up significantly in the bullpen. Pitching exclusively out of the bullpen in Arizona, he tossed 11 1/3 innings, with a 1.59 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, and a 6/24 BB/K ratio.

While the Red Sox may want to develop Hernandez further as a starter, he’s really maxed out physically at a rotund 6’2″ and 250ish pounds. He can reach the upper 90s and even touch triple digits out of the bullpen while he seems to work much better with commanding his hard slider in short bursts than over the course of a start. He could have a very high ceiling as a reliever, and he could even end up in that role as soon as Opening Day 2019.

The 2019 season should be a very interesting one to watch the playoff teams from 2018 shuffle both new players from the free agent and trade markets onto their roster while also using their own prospects. While Jesus Luzardo of the Oakland Athletics is certainly the best, there could be plenty to watch!