Deciding when to bring up top prospects has many intricacies involved and varies from team to team. Some teams like the Rays for example, will keep prospects down for the long haul in order to maximize team control. Teams ready to win now will likely promote without regard for service time like the Yankees and Nationals. While prospects from every team can have a major impact on fantasy teams, we the people want them to play now. Unfortunately we don’t always get what we want and here’s why.

There are two major factors for teams making this decision. There is the “Super Two” status which is what teams try to avoid by delaying promotions to the big leagues and keeping service times below 2.12-2.15 in order to save them millions of dollars on a given player because of reduced arbitration opportunities. Service time is another integral part of the decision for many of the low payroll franchises looking to gain an extra year of control by keeping their young stars in the minors for an extra few weeks. Once a player reaches six full years of service time they become free agents. If they are sitting at 5.135 at the end of a season, the team controls them for an extra full season.

There are many factors along these lines that affect rising prospects and it can be infuriating for us fantasy owners as patience isn’t something that sits well in the industry. Rather than dwell on why the hell Vlad Guerrero Jr. is still sitting in Double-A New Hampshire with more extra base hits than strikeouts, an ISO of .282 and an OPS of 1.193, we’ll take the high road. We’ll discuss some recent call-ups from teams that allow their managers to put their young stars in the lineup right now and the manner in which they are being used. This week is all about the hitters. You may have heard the names Juan Soto , Austin Meadows and Tyler O’Neill. These are all players that recently received promotions and are making the most of their opportunities. We’ll dive into their respective situations including lineup placement, playing time and the initial reaction in terms of production.

Juan Soto (Manager:Dave Martinez), Washington Nationals-

The 19 year old phenom ripped through the minor leagues with at least a .410 OBP at every stop. The production has been eye popping even in a small sample size. Soto played fifty games of A-ball and only eight games in Double-A before receiving his promotion to the big leagues. That type of minimal exposure to professional pitching is extremely rare and in most circumstances would be considered a huge mistake. What Soto has going for him is a veteran like approach to at bats and a team situation affording him the opportunity for every day at bats.

The Nationals have suffered several injuries to their outfielders and lack depth at the position throughout their system. Soto forced the Nationals’ hand with his ability to get on base and major league ready power. Immediately after his promotion, Soto was put into the six spot for the first two games. After hitting a monster opposite field home run off of a lefty in his first game he followed that up with a three walk game, leading Manager Dave Martinez to move him up to the two-hole. After a game there he was dropped to number five for games four and five of his career.

Soto has walked 58 times in his professional career and only has 66 strikeouts. His four walks and four strikeouts early on in his big league career match up with his minor league history, although a very small sample size. There’s a lot to love with Soto and his future with Washington. A prospect of this pedigree landing in prime lineup spots with the likes of Bryce Harper , Anthony Rendón and Trea Turner doesn’t happen often. If you were lucky enough to land him in your leagues you’re likely to reap the rewards for a long time.

Austin Meadows (Manager:Clint Hurdle), Pittsburgh Pirates-

Meadows is making it impossible for Clint Hurdle to keep him out of the lineup. There was talk that he’d only be in the big leagues until Starling Marte came off the DL. His .433 average and .867 slugging percentage is just too productive to ignore and with Grégory Polanco batting .209 on the year with a 23.4% K-rate, Meadows should be able to steal plenty of opportunities from him. Meadows has been a top prospect for Pittsburgh for a couple of years now and with the departure of Andrew McCutchen in the off-season, Meadows was expected to get playing time early in the season.

Austin Meadows is exceeding expectations early on and it could continue to be a problem for Polanco and his outlook this season. Meadows has three home runs and two steals in only thirty plate appearances and has a 3.6% soft contact rate. He’s hitting the ball hard consistently, certainly a reason for his early success, but he hasn’t walked once. This is a minor concern in an otherwise incredible start to his Pirates career. His 31 walks to 71 strikeouts in Triple-A this season and last season combined in 104 games should give you reason for optimism that his eventual regression in batting average won’t fall off of a cliff.

Meadows has now hit safely in six of his seven starts and has five multi-hit games this season. Clint Hurdle continues to put his top prospect in the lineup and it wouldn’t make any sense if Hurdle changes that anytime soon. If the Pirates decide to go with a true rotation in the outfield it will undoubtedly reduce his value going forward. Having batted seventh in every start but one isn’t ideal however with the type of success he’s had so far, Hurdle may eventually be forced to move him up in the lineup sooner rather than later.

Tyler O’Neill (Manager: Mike Matheny), St.Louis Cardinals-

This dude can flat out rake. His prospect report gives him a 70 power “tool” grade and he hasn’t let us down in that department. Since his second call up on May 18th, O’Neill has three home runs and six RBI’s. After hitting 13 home runs in just 29 games for Triple-A this season the Cardinals couldn’t leave him there. Since the start of the 2015 season where O’Neill played in high A ball, he has hit 103 home runs. The power is legit, there’s absolutely zero question about that. The lineup placement from Manager Mike Matheny is juicy as well as he’s hit cleanup twice and fifth twice in his last four starts with the Cardinals. Matheny has a small history of questionable decisions dealing with his lineup and bullpen, a rookie hitter could suffer from that early on.

Playing time could be an issue like Meadows as St.Louis has several outfielders all vying for at bats. The other concern and it’s a big one, is his approach. O’Neill has a consistently high strikeout rate and low walk rate. His highest walk rate was 11.1% in Triple-A last season and his lowest K-rate was 26.1% in Double-A in 2015. His worrisome approach is evidenced by his .09 BB/K rate so far in the big leagues this season. He’s only 22 and there’s always a possibility of increased plate discipline as he gets more reps against major league pitching. Healthy amounts of optimism aside, O’Neill has some adjustments to make in order to maintain a decent average. The home runs are nice and they sure do go far so he’ll be an exciting case to keep an eye on over the next couple of seasons.