Prospects Make Mark With Playoff Teams
Major league teams don’t make the playoffs without a cavalcade of star players, savvy veterans and poised pitchers who get outs at crucial moments.
Increasingly, winning teams aren’t getting there without contributions from players who began the year in the minor leagues but ended up playing key roles for the parent club during the dog days of summer.
Here is a look at the 10 playoff teams in 2016 and which prospects came up during the season to provide valuable contributions to their playoff push.
Teams listed by record. All wins above replacement (WAR) figures from Baseball-Reference.
CHICAGO CUBS
Record: 103-58
Top homegrown players: 3B Kris Bryant (7.7 WAR), Javier Baez (3.4 WAR)
Top acquired player: 1B Anthony Rizzo (5.7 WAR)
Top midseason trade addition: LHP Aroldis Chapman (1.1 WAR)
Top in-season prospect additions: C/LF Willson Contreras (1.8 WAR), OF Albert Almora (0.7 WAR), LHP Rob Zastryzny (0.6 WAR)
The story: Contreras, the organization’s No. 2 prospect this spring, made his debut June 17 and remained with the big club the rest of the way, hitting .282 with 12 home runs and an .845 OPS while playing catcher and left field. Almora (No. 6) hit .277 after a June callup while playing Gold Glove-caliber defense in center field, and 2013 second-round pick Zastryzny provided valuable lefthanded relief help with a 1.13 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 16 innings.
TEXAS RANGERS
Record: 95-67
Top homegrown players: 2B Rougned Odor (2.4 WAR), LHP Martin Perez (1.8 WAR)
Top acquired player: 3B Adrian Beltre (6.4 WAR)
Top midseason trade addition: C Jonathan Lucroy (1.5 WAR)
Top in-season prospect additions: RHP Matt Bush (2.1 WAR), OF Nomar Mazara (0.4 WAR), RHP Jose Leclerc (0.4 WAR)
The story: Bush’s tale has been well told. The 2004 No. 1 overall pick emerged from a prison sentence for a drunk-driving hit-and-run to make his major league debut on May 13, almost 12 years after he turned pro. Mazara (No. 3) became a Rookie of the Year candidate after being called up from Triple-A six days into the season when Shin-Soo Choo went down with a calf strain. His best days are ahead of him. Leclerc (No. 21) came up for good in September and was big down the stretch with a 1.93 ERA in nine appearances over the final month.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Record: 95-67
Top homegrown players: 3B Anthony Rendon (4.1 WAR), RHP Stephen Strasburg (3.3 WAR), SS Danny Espinosa (1.7 WAR), OF Bryce Harper (1.6 WAR)
Top acquired player: RHP Max Scherzer (6.2 WAR)
Top midseason trade addition: RHP Mark Melancon (1.1 WAR)
Top in-season prospect additions: CF/2B Trea Turner (3.5 WAR), LHP Sammy Solis (1.1 WAR), C Pedro Severino (0.7 WAR)
The story: Turner (No. 2) came up for good on July 10 and tore up baseball as one of the majors’ top players with a .342 average, 13 homers and 33 stolen bases in only 74 games while playing three up-the-middle positions. Solis (17) developed into a top-notch lefty reliever with a 2.41 ERA and 10.3 K/9 while Severino (No. 11) hit .321 with a 1.067 OPS and threw out 43 percent of baserunners behind the plate in backup duty the final two months of the season. He could play a much larger role with Wilson Ramos out with a knee injury.
CLEVELAND INDIANS
Record: 94-67
Top homegrown players: SS Francisco Lindor (5.7 WAR), 2B Jason Kipnis (4.1 WAR), 3B Jose Ramirez (3.9 WAR)
Top acquired player: RHP Corey Kluber (6.4 WAR)
Top midseason trade addition: LHP Andrew Miller (1.6 WAR)
Top in-season prospect additions: LHP Ryan Merritt (0.4 WAR), RHP Mike Clevinger (0.3 WAR)
The story: The Indians didn’t get much in the way of midseason prospect additions, but Opening Day roster member Tyler Naquin (No. 6) nailed down the starting center field two weeks into the season and was one of the AL’s top rookies with a .296/.372/.514 slash line and 14 home runs. The rest of the system’s contributions came in providing trade pieces such as Miller.
BOSTON RED SOX
Record: 93-69
Top homegrown players: OF Mookie Betts (9.6 WAR), 2B Dustin Pedroia (5.6 WAR), OF Jackie Bradley Jr. (5.3 WAR)
Top acquired player: DH David Ortiz (5.1 WAR)
Top midseason trade addition: RHP Brad Zeigler (1.0 WAR)
Top in-season prospect additions: OF Andrew Benintendi (0.6 WAR), LHP Robby Scott (0.3 WAR), RHP William Cuevas (0.1 WAR)
The story: Benintendi (No. 3) began the year in high Class A and was in Boston by August, hitting .295/.359/.476 with 11 doubles and 16 runs scored in just 34 games. Scott and Cuevas provided quality relief in small doses and infielder Marco Hernandez (No. 12) hit .294 with a .357 on-base percentage over three different stints throughout the year with the Red Sox.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Record: 91-71
Top homegrown players: SS Corey Seager (6.1 WAR), LHP Clayton Kershaw (5.6 WAR), OF Joc Pederson (3.4 WAR)
Top acquired player: 3B Justin Turner (4.9 WAR)
Top midseason trade addition: LHP Rich Hill (1.3 WAR)
Top in-season prospect additions: OF Andrew Toles (1.4 WAR), Julio Urias (1.0 WAR), LHP Grant Dayton (0.6 WAR)
The story: The top-ranked farm system entering the season delivered. Most of the Dodgers’ top prospect contributions came from rookies who were on the Opening Day roster, namely Seager, OF Trayce Thompson and RHPs Kenta Maeda and Ross Stripling. In terms of midseason additions, minor league free agent pickup Toles was a pleasant surprise after beginning the year at high Class A Rancho Cucamonga and hitting .314 in 48 games for the Dodgers, while the long-touted Urias (No. 2) delivered a 2.73 ERA over his final 69 1/3 innings after an uneven start. Dayton, acquired from the Marlins in July 2015 for Chris Reed, became one of the Dodgers’ most reliable relievers down the stretch with a 2.05 ERA in 25 outings after making his MLB debut July 22.
TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Record: 89-73
Top homegrown players: RHP Aaron Sanchez (4.8 WAR), OF Kevin Pillar (3.4 WAR), RHP Marcus Stroman (1.4 WAR)
Top acquired player: 3B Josh Donaldson (7.4 WAR)
Top midseason trade addition: RHP Joaquin Benoit (1.4 WAR)
Top in-season prospect additions: RHP Danny Barnes (0.1 WAR), LHP Chad Girodo (0.1 WAR)
The story: Barnes was more impactful than his WAR suggests with a 3.72 ERA and nearly a strikeout per inning over nine games in the final month during the Blue Jays’ playoff push. Girodo (No. 17) helped out earlier in the year with a 3.45 ERA in his first 13 appearances before a bad final outing inflated his numbers. Rule 5 draft pick Joe Biagini was the team’s best rookie contributor, with 67.2 quality innings and a good deal of trust from manager John Gibbons.
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Record: 87-75
Top homegrown players: LHP Madison Bumgarner (5.0 WAR), C Buster Posey (4.7 WAR), SS Brandon Crawford (4.5 WAR), 1B Brandon Belt (4.3 WAR)
Top acquired player: RHP Johnny Cueto (5.6 WAR)
Top midseason trade addition(s): 3B Eduardo Nunez and LHP Matt Moore (0.8 WAR)
Top in-season prospect additions: RHP Derek Law (1.5 WAR), LHP Ty Blach (0.8 WAR), RHP Albert Suarez (0.5 WAR)
The story: Law (No. 23) got called up in April after three Triple-A appearances and never looked back, posting a 2.13 ERA in 61 games as one of the Giants’ few reliable relievers. Blach (No. 20) made only four September appearances but they were huge, including eight shutout innings against the Dodgers on the second-to-last day of the season to keep San Francisco in the driver’s seat for a wild card berth. Suarez went 3-5, 4.29 to help stabilize the back of the rotation with Jake Peavy and Matt Cain struggling with injuries and poor performance.
WILD-CARD LOSING TEAMS
BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Record: 89-73
Top homegrown players: 3B Manny Machado (6.7 WAR), LHP Zach Britton (4.3 WAR), RHP Kevin Gausman (4.2 WAR)
Top acquired player: RHP Chris Tillman (4.1 WAR)
Top midseason trade addition: OF Michael Bourn (0.1 WAR)
Top midseason prospect additions: LHP Donnie Hart (0.9 WAR), 1B Trey Mancini (0.3 WAR)
The story: Hart, a 2013 27th-round selection, was sensational with a 0.49 ERA in 22 outings after making his MLB debut on July 17. Mancini (No. 8) hit three homers in five games after a late September callup and was included on the Orioles’ wild card-game roster. RHPs Dylan Bundy (No. 1) and Mychal Givens (No. 5), both on the Opening Day roster, were the team’s most impactful rookies this year with WARs of 1.7 and 1.6, respectively. Bundy tired after reaching a career-high in innings, but Givens’ live arm was still going strong up through the Orioles’ wild card game loss.
NEW YORK METS
Record: 87-75
Top homegrown players: RHP Jacob deGrom (3.7 WAR), LHP Steven Matz (2.7 WAR), RHP Jeurys Familia (2.0 WAR)
Top acquired player: RHP Noah Syndergaard (5.3 WAR)
Top midseason trade addition: RHP Fernando Salas (0.6 WAR)
Top midseason prospect additions: RHP Seth Lugo (1.8 WAR), RHP Robert Gsellman (1.5 WAR), 2B/3B T.J. Rivera (0.6 WAR)
The story: Gsellman (No. 14) went 4-2, 2.42 and Lugo (No. 20) went 5-2, 2.67 to help keep the Mets afloat after deGrom, Matt Harvey and Steven Matz went down with injuries. Rivera is one of the feel-good stories of the year, a 27-year old undrafted rookie who won the Triple-A Pacific Coast League batting title and then hit .333 with an .821 OPS for the Mets playing crucial games down the stretch to help them win the wild card.
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