by Jason Martinez
'Knocking Down the Door' picks Ike Davis and Justin Smoak have gotten the call to the big leagues in back-to-back weeks (April 12 and April 19) and while there doesn't seem to be an obvious choices this week, plenty of minor leaguers are performing at a high level and the following three could get a big league call-up in the near future.
John Lindsey, 1B - Triple-A Albuquerque (LAD): The 33 year-old, drafted by the Rockies way back in 1995, had a career .279 BA with 194 HR's and 938 RBI's coming into what is his 15th minor league season without one day spent in the big leagues. There aren't many AB's available with the Dodgers, even with Manny Ramirez on the DL, but if there has ever been a time that the right-handed slugger has deserved a shot, it's now. Thru 15 games, Lindsey is hitting .475 (28-for-59) with 3 HR's, 9 2B's, and 16 RBI's. It would be a great story if he gets the call.
Jonathan Lucroy, C - Triple-A Nashville (MIL): Drafted in the 3rd round of the '07 draft, the 23 year-old Lucroy has hit at every level and has six hits in his first 19 AB's since a promotion to AAA last week. While there is no question that having a solid veteran like Gregg Zaun behind the plate is a good thing for the Milwaukee pitching staff, this is a Brewers team that will likely have to score a lot of runs if they are to stay in the NL Central race. With a pitching staff that has allowed at least seven runs in eight of 18 games this season, having a talented hitter like Lucroy (.410/.455/.496 between AA and AAA) in the lineup 3-4 games each week certainly can't hurt. Especially when the current catching tandem of Zaun and George Kottaras have combined for a .164 batting average.
Mike Stanton, OF - Double-A Jacksonville (FLA): They say that players like Jason Heyward come around once every decade or so. But is there a chance that we have two 20 year-old right fielders with five-tool talent break into the big leagues within a month of each other? Stanton (pictured, courtesy of Icon Sports Media, Inc.) is still in Double-A but the hype is similar to Heyward, who has already had some big moments during his first three weeks as a big leaguer. The 6'5", 235 lb Stanton is hitting .338 with 9 HR's, 20 RBI's, and 17 BB's thru his team's first 17 games, including 5 HR's in his last two games, and is the premier power-hitting prospect in all of baseball. He hits the ball so hard, there have been scouts who half-jokingly talk of needing to get him out of AA before he hurts somebody. With players like Stanton, it doesn't matter who is ahead of him on the depth chart. When he is ready, he will be in the Marlins lineup. But just to strengthen the case for an early-season call-up, the corner outfield tandem of Chris Coghlan and Cody Ross have combined to hit .200 with 1 HR, 6 BB's, and 32 K's.
Knocking Down the Door (Pitchers) - April 26, 2010
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