With the cancellation of the minor-league season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, MLB teams have been more aggressive than usual with their prospect call-ups, and we got the latest example of that Monday. The Tigers are set to call up Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal and Isaac Paredes, three of their top-10 prospects.
Should Fantasy players be picking up all three? Let's go through each one by one to see how excited you should be about adding them:
Mize a no-brainer
There really isn't much question at all about whether Mize has elite talent -- he's pretty much a top-15 prospect across the board despite a concerning track record of injuries. He's a prototypical power-pitcher, with a mid-90s fastball and plus grades or better on his slider, splitter and cutter. It's a profile that makes Mize arguably the best pitching prospect in the game based on pure stuff, with the injury concerns serving as the only real black mark on his record.
That is, of course, more of a long-term question than one we should be worried about right now. Mize made it to Double-A in his first full season, posting a 3.20 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 78.2 innings, with just 18 walks and five home runs allowed — and he did that despite dealing with somewhat diminished velocity after coming back from a shoulder injury. Mize is a potential ace and should be viewed as a must-add pitcher in all formats now that he's on his way. He'll make his first start Wednesday against the White Sox and should probably be treated as a top-50 starter right off the bat.
Skubal a must-add, too
Depending on who you ask, Skubal isn't far behind Mize (and Matt Manning, the other member of the Tigers' prize trio of pitching prospects). Like Mize, he reached Double-A in his first full pro season, and he was even more dominant than the more-hyped Mize, sporting a 2.42 ERA with 179 strikeouts in 122.2 innings. He's a lefty with a big fastball and a pretty good slider, and that was enough against minor-leaguers.
The question now becomes whether it will be enough while facing major-league hitters multiple times -- or whether the rest of the arsenal has taken a step forward while working at the alternate site. There were some scouts who thought the changeup could be an above-average pitch, and there's a curveball he's been working on, so there is certainly potential. However, he was a roughly 70% fastball pitcher last season, and there aren't many pitchers who thrive in the majors that way these days.
All that being said, there's no denying the obvious potential here. If you have to choose, Mize is the priority add, but try to find room for Skubal, too. Given how many pitcher injuries we've had to deal with so far, it shouldn't be much of a problem. He'll debut Tuesday against the White Sox.
Paredes a fringe-ier option
If you're just going on the numbers, there's quite a lot to like about Paredes, who has hit .291/.376/.425 in 166 career Double-A games. However, scouts don't love the tools because Paredes isn't an impressive athlete in the box or on the bases, which holds back his profile. And the same is true for Fantasy because Paredes has maxed out at 13 homers and five steals at any level. There's good bat-to-ball abilities here, and a lower-end Jeff McNeil projection wouldn't be unreasonable, however there are other bats worth targeting ahead of Paredes — Scott White profiled a few in his look at the waiver wire Monday.
