Fantasy Baseball Outlooks for Luke Keaschall and Caleb Durbin

On a day full of notable MLB roster moves, I have two more for you.

We'll discuss the Twins calling up Luke Keaschall and the Brewers bringing up Caleb Durbin.

Explore the best in-season tool to manage lineup/start decisions including waiver pickups, projections, trade suggestions, trade value charts, rest of season rankings, power rankings, and tons more with Fantasy Assistant.

Transaction News

The Twins are dealing with several injuries to hitters, so they decided to call up one of their top prospects.

Keaschall is the No. 57 prospect in all of baseball. The 22-year-old prospect, who can play the right side of the infield and the outfield, was selected 49th overall in the 2023 MLB Draft.

Matt Wallner hit the injured list for the Twins, while Willi Castro and Carlos Correa are also dealing with injuries.

In Milwaukee, the Brewers called up Durbin because of struggles at third base.

Durbin is the Brewers No. 21 prospect and will be making his MLB debut. He was drafted 427th overall in the 2021 draft.

Oliver Dunn was sent down to Triple-A in a corresponding move. 

Minor League Stats and Tool Grades

We'll start with Keaschall, as he has higher expectations.

In parts of three minor league seasons, Keaschall owns a .297 average and .415 on-base percentage. He has 159 total hits over 147 games and 536 at-bats. Keaschall has 32 doubles, two triples and 19 home runs to his name, along with 68 RBIs, 90 walks, 38 stolen bases, 117 runs scored and 116 strikeouts.

Keaschall has a 60-grade for his hitting. He's also an above-average runner, graded at a 55. He's got a 50-grade in fielding, and 45 marks in power and arm. Keaschall's overall rating is 55.

Durbin has played in parts of five minor league seasons. He has a career .269 average and .371 OBP, along with 156 RBIs, 137 walks, 113 stolen bases, 199 runs scored and 116 strikeouts. Across 294 games and 1,080 at-bats, Durbin has 291 hits, including 69 doubles, six triples and 24 home runs.

His top grade is his speed, with a 60-grade. Durbin is also above average for hitting (55). He has a 50 mark in fielding, a 45 mark for his arm and a 30-grade for power.

Fantasy Outlooks

In the case of Keaschall, a big league team isn't going to bring up a top-end prospect to not play him.

Expect Keaschall in the lineup nearly everyday, and to stick in the big leagues as long as he's performing somewhat well at the plate. Because he can play at several positions, Keaschall should be able to stick in the starting lineup, even as the Twins get healthier again.

I'd expect Keaschall to bat in the bottom half of the order, which isn't ideal for his fantasy outlook. The Twins have some talent in their lineup, but aren't that good of a lineup for a fantasy hitter to be in. Keaschall can still be a good fantasy asset if he's hitting and playing regularly.

Durbin being brought up to help a struggling third base position means he too should get into the lineup often.

He and Vinny Capra are the two options at third base, but because Durbin can play all over the field, a hot bat means the team can find ways to get him into the lineup regularly.

Durbin is also likely to hit near the bottom of the order. That should allow him to use his speed and steal bases if he can get on base somewhat often.

Who Should Add These Prospects?

Keaschall is a top-end prospect, so he's definitely worth talking about a good bit.

He was already a good dynasty and keeper option in fantasy leagues, and now can be utilized in those leagues, depending on who else you have available where he's eligible to start.

He's a good pickup in deeper redraft leagues, and probably will see his own percentage shoot way up between now and his first game on Friday. For those of you that want to track it, he's owned in 3% of fantasy leagues synced through FantasySP at the time of publication.

Keaschall is a player to keep tabs on early on, as if he's hitting well early, or shows off some power or speed, he could become a standard league option in a hurry. 

Durbin is owned in 4% of fantasy leagues at this point, and that number should rise in time.

He's not as good a dynasty/keeper option as Keaschall, but he is just 25, so he's got some value in those leagues as well. 

Durbin is another deep-league option in redraft leagues. Most fantasy owners are going to want to see where he's batting and how often he's playing before adding him in deeper leagues, and that's a fair way to approach him.

Durbin would need to provide big fantasy production for a couple weeks to get real attention in standard redraft leagues.

We'll keep tabs on both players and throw their names in waiver articles when necessary, so keep checking back to FantasySP.