Another of Kiley McDaniel's top 100 prospects appears set to make his major league debut on Tuesday, another prime day for fantasy baseball pickups. Here are three players you should be adding to all of your teams:
Jo Adell, OF, Los Angeles Angels
In addition to Mike Trout, who is due back with the team after being away for the birth of his son, the Angels' outfield will enjoy a welcome boost on Tuesday with the anticipated promotion of Adell, their top prospect. With Shohei Ohtani (flexor pronator strain) day-to-day as a designated hitter, the Angels have the option -- at least in the short term -- of shifting Justin Upton to DH and running an Adell-Trout-Brian Goodwin outfield. At the very least, Adell should play nearly every inning as an outfield corner.
The range of potential outcomes on Adell is wide, but he's well worth an add in all fantasy leagues based on his power/speed combination. Though he has homered in only 3.5% of his career minor league plate appearances, he's still just 21 years old and expected to develop into a 30-plus-homer annual hitter, plus he brings solid speed to the table, evidenced by his going 30-of-35 attempting steals in the minors. The concern, however, is his strikeout rate, which soared to 32.8% in his 27 game taste of Triple-A ball in 2019. Adell might be a streaky type, as he adapts to the game's highest competitive level, but he's a potential five-category contributor right away.
James Karinchak, RP, Cleveland Indians
Consider this one a preemptive add, as among current big league closers in waiting, Karinchak's skills rank among the best. He's capable of hitting 97 mph with his four-seam fastball and has a curveball that through his first nine career big league appearances has limited opponents to a .200 batting average and accounted for nine of his 16 total strikeouts. The latter helps balance his splits; lefties have batted only .167 against him in 21 trips to the plate, without a single extra-base hit.
The Indians have already shown their comfort turning to Karinchak in the ninth inning, granting him a save chance on incumbent closer Brad Hand's off day on July 30. Hand has had a pair of shaky outings in 2020, his ERA is 15.43 overall this year, and, dating back to the 2019 All-Star break, he has a 6.64 ERA in 22 appearances. That his mediocre second-half performance last season was attributed in part to a "tired" elbow doesn't bode well for his future ability to hold the job, so Karinchak is one of the more important understudies in the game in 2020.
Dominic Smith, 1B/OF, New York Mets
The bad news for the Mets that Yoenis Cespedes has opted out of the remainder of the 2020 season is good news nevertheless for Smith, who should've been the beneficiary of a boost in playing time when it was announced that the DH was coming to the National League. Smith should now take over that job full time, though he has made three consecutive starts in left field and could remain there with J.D. Davis handling DH duties. Either way, Smith immediately becomes a regular.
After disappointing in the power department early in his professional career, Smith showed signs of growth with the Mets in 2019, as he posted a pro-high .243 isolated power, boosted his walk rate to 9.6%, and batted .303/.361/.515 against left-handed pitchers, the latter supporting his candidacy for everyday play. He'll need to boost his launch angle to become a true 25-homer (in a 162-game schedule) performer, but he could provide .280-20 rates over a full year with his expanded role.