The RotoCop

Following in the footsteps on Justin Smoak and Ike Davis, a couple rookies of note have been called up in the last couple days.  It’s always tough to predict what a young hitter is going to do their first (or second or third) time in the big leagues, but that doesn’t prevent fantasy writers from fielding their best guesses.  Here’s what a variety of fantasy experts are saying about the latest call-ups:

Kila Ka’aihue, 1B/DH, Royals

Yahoo’s Andy Behrens points out that Royals manager Trey Hillman said “Right now, you can view [Ka'aihue] as an extra bat off the bench.”  But Behrens concludes: “In a mixed league of respectable depth, I’d still add him, depending on my category and position needs. He’s an obvious pick-up in formats that use OBP. Ka’aihue seems to have mastered the minor leagues; there’s power upside here, if Hillman decides he’s interested.”

Rotoworld says that Ka’aihue is “worth watching for now, but might not get a real chance to profile his skills until the Royals can find a taker for Jose Guillen.”

FanGraphs’ Mike Axisa argues that Ka’aihue compares favorably with Ike Davis because he doesn’t have a “massive platoon split,” and that while Ka’aihue “might not have the defensive value and long-term outlook of Justin Smoak … he’s a bit older and his power is more present than projected.”  Axisa “guess[es]” that Ku-aihue will be the primary DH while Rick Ankiel is out (with Jose Guillen playing in the outfield), and concludes, “if you’re looking for a little boost from the 1B or UTIL spots, here’s your guy. That goes double if you’re in a deep mixed or AL-only league.”

Razzball’s Grey Albright says that “If given the chance at full playing time, the Royals could have a 25 homer, .400 OBP first baseman/DH.”  Grey adds, “Grab [him] in deep mixed and AL-Only leagues.  Everyone else, hold your junk until we see how his playing time shakes out and to make sure this Kila is shooting something besides BBs.”  Grey definitely gets a free pass on that pun, too, ‘cus it’s a good one.

KFFL’s Tim Heaney thinks that Ka’aihue will only “start once or twice a week, at first,” but still thinks that “Managers should be proactive in chugging some Hawaiian Punch in leagues that favor tucking away top offensive prospects. You’ll have to be patient, but the potential payoff shouldn’t be ignored.”

What does the Rotocop think about Ka’aihue, you ask?  First, I think I have no idea how to pronounce this dude’s name.  But more importantly, the playing time issue is key.  Not just because he needs to play regularly to be of use in fantasy leagues, but also because there’s no way to know how good he is if he doesn’t get on the field enough.  Most rookies struggle at first, and the Royals lineup isn’t going to make it any easier on Kila.  If I see that he’s playing regularly and hitting well, I may pounce, but someone else could very well jump on him before then, and I can live with that.  Except in the rare case of a Ryan Braun or Jason Heyward, where the upside is so high that you have to go out and get the guy immediately, I tend to be more tentative about rookies.  There’s simply no way to know whether Davis, Smoak, or Ka’aihue will be the better hitter in the major leagues.  It will probably take quite a while to know for sure, and in the meantime they’ll all probably give you worse stats than a boring veteran like, say, the guy Ka’aihue might be displacing at DH: Jose Guillen.

Steven Pearce, 1B, Pirates

The Royals aren’t the only small market team that is calling up a minor leaguer to try to jump start their weak offense.  Pearce, 27, is only a year older than Ka’aihue, but he’s already had some growing pains in the Major Leagues the last couple years, so he comes with a lot less hype.  Those are the type of guys that can make nice post-hype sleepers, although you need only look at the guy Pearce will be replacing in the lineup — Jeff Clement — to realize that a lot of guys just never live up to their initial prospect status.

A clear sign of Pearce’s fall from grace is that he’s not getting much written about his call-up in the fantasy community.  The Roto Times says that Pearce is “worth a look in most NL-only leagues” because he should get a fair amount of playing time, while Rotoworld says Pearce “is moving dangerously close to being labeled as a Quad-A bat,” but “could hold value in deeper NL-only leagues.” Most writers are more concerned with what Pearce’s presence will mean for Clement’s playing time.  Of course, Clement would be long forgotten too if he didn’t have catcher eligibility in a lot of leagues.

Bonus: Buster Posey, C, Giants

Speaking of catcher eligibility, the Roto Times notes that, according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury-News, the Giants may be about to call up Buster Posey.  San Francisco badly wants to add another potent bat to their lineup, but given the way Bengie Molina is hitting so far this year, you probably could have won a lot of money in Vegas if you placed a bet on Posey getting called up before the Indians’s prized catcher, Carlos Santana.  Of course, Posey may end up playing more at 1B than catcher if he does get called up.  Regardless, he and Santana are the kind of rookie hitters I like to take a chance on, because they are eligible at a position where they don’t need to work miracles to have big-time value.  It’s a lot like why I targeted sophmore catcher Matt Wieters in drafts this year.  You don’t know exactly what you’ll get from him, but even if he doesn’t bust out this year, he should still be a top five catcher.