SBNation.com User Blog: Jason Hunt

Minor League Level Review (Low-A):Bombs Away from Gallo, Brinson, Alfaro and Walker

Jason Hunt — Wed, 22 May 2013 03:58:00 -0000

Every other Wednedsay, I will be taking a quick look at some of the top prospects at the Low-A level, including their stats for for the season, and if anything stands out about the performance. The season stats may not always tell us the whole story, but there are usually also some updates on how they are doing these things as opposed to just the numbers themselves. All statistics are courtesy of Fangraphs.com, and are through the games of Monday, 5/20/13.

Player	AB	R	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
Adalberto Mondesi (SS-KCR)	154	13	1	22	11	44	8	4	0.221	0.269	0.325
Adam Walker (OF-MIN)	155	27	10	45	10	41	3	0	0.284	0.333	0.594
Brandon Nimmo (OF-NYM)	90	22	1	11	12	24	2	1	0.322	0.421	0.433
Bubba Starling (OF-KCR)	131	18	4	18	10	42	5	0	0.221	0.292	0.366
Byron Buxton (OF-MIN)	161	46	7	34	29	37	19	7	0.317	0.420	0.559
Carlos Correa (SS-HOU)	114	23	3	21	21	30	3	2	0.272	0.399	0.386
Carlos Tocci (OF-PHI)	143	14	0	9	9	22	3	1	0.217	0.268	0.266
Clint Coulter (C-MIL)	98	12	2	10	9	27	1	0	0.184	0.280	0.306
Corey Seager (SS-LAD)	106	16	3	14	10	27	5	2	0.264	0.331	0.406
Dan Vogelbach (1B-CHC)	161	16	5	25	18	28	3	0	0.286	0.352	0.422
David Dahl (OF-COL)	40	9	0	7	2	8	2	0	0.275	0.310	0.425
Dilson Herrera (2B-PIT)	146	27	4	20	15	40	6	2	0.295	0.360	0.452
Dorssys Paulino (SS-CLE)	131	17	0	11	12	26	6	3	0.206	0.278	0.229
Jesse Winker (OF-CIN)	143	27	6	30	24	28	1	0	0.308	0.414	0.517
Joey Gallo (3B-TEX)	150	28	12	23	21	61	3	0	0.220	0.326	0.527
Jorge Alfaro (C-TEX)	145	25	9	25	10	45	6	2	0.241	0.327	0.497
Jose Peraza (SS-ATL)	131	21	1	9	8	22	12	4	0.260	0.310	0.321
Josh Bell (OF-PIT)	166	32	6	37	21	40	1	1	0.283	0.360	0.470
Kevin Plawecki (C-NYM)	147	25	5	30	14	20	0	0	0.361	0.439	0.605
Lewis Brinson (OF-TEX)	173	22	10	19	12	75	6	2	0.231	0.289	0.451
Nick Williams (OF-TEX)	76	15	7	17	3	23	2	1	0.289	0.321	0.579
Renato Nunez (3B-OAK)	142	25	9	27	12	44	0	0	0.268	0.333	0.514
Rio Ruiz (3B-HOU)	102	9	2	14	18	27	2	0	0.206	0.320	0.324
Rock Shoulders (OF-CHC)	152	29	10	30	22	46	0	0	0.296	0.385	0.559
Roman Quinn (SS-PHI)	152	19	4	14	13	40	19	5	0.243	0.320	0.362
Rosell Herrera (SS-COL)	153	31	7	27	25	31	11	4	0.359	0.451	0.595
Stetson Allie (1B-PIT)	160	27	10	35	21	55	5	1	0.325	0.405	0.588
Tom Murphy (C-COL)	89	24	8	30	16	27	2	2	0.337	0.455	0.730

Corey Seager has been on the disabled list since the 10^th due to a hamstring injury, and has not returned yet.
The Crawfish Boxes took an in-depth look at the likelihood of top draft pick Carlos Correa sticking at shortstop in the long term.
The Rangers' low-A affiliate is on pace to have some rather ridiculous numbers, as they have hit twice as many home runs as all but one team, and are averaging over 10 strikeouts from their batters a game as well. Going to be interesting to watch as they develop, but Alfaro, Brinson, Williams, and Gallo have all shown excellent power so far.
Royals' top prospect Bubba Starling underwent LASIK eye surgery last week, The recovery time is quick, as he has already returned to the field, going 2-4 on Monday night. Hopefully this is the answer to some of his question marks.
I took a look last week at Twins' top prospect Byron Buxton, and agree with Seth Stohs of Twins Daily that the Twins will promote him at the Low-A all-star break.
It's really turning into a lost season for Rockies' OF David Dahl, as he was placed on the disabled list and now appears that he has a torn hamstring.
Mets' prospect Brandon Nimmo has been on the disabled list since May 7^th.

Player	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
Blake Snell (TAM)	31.1	29	15	11	3	19	38	3.16	1.53
C.J. Edwards (TEX)	48.1	30	13	11	0	17	54	2.05	0.97
Chris Stratton (SF)	42.2	34	16	16	3	13	47	3.38	1.10
Eddie Butler (COL)	54.1	25	16	10	2	25	51	1.66	0.92
Ismael Guillon (CIN)	33.1	35	38	33	7	42	50	8.91	2.31
Joe Ross (SD)	41.2	36	17	14	0	14	33	3.02	1.20
Jose Berrios (MIN)	28.1	30	10	9	0	5	32	2.86	1.24
Lance McCullers (HOU)	36.2	31	15	7	0	16	40	1.72	1.28
Martin Agosta (SF)	40.2	32	15	13	3	20	57	2.88	1.28
Max Fried (SD)	30.2	21	8	8	0	15	34	2.35	1.17
Mauricio Cabrera (ATL)	42.1	28	20	14	1	30	30	2.98	1.37
Miguel Almonte (KCR)	43.1	35	19	15	3	17	39	3.12	1.20
Rafael De Paula (NYY)	39.1	24	12	12	2	17	69	2.75	1.04
Rainy Lara (NYM)	46	32	9	6	1	5	47	1.17	0.80
Robert Stephenson (CIN)	47	42	24	21	4	13	60	4.02	1.17
Roberto Osuna (TOR)	22.1	15	10	9	4	4	31	3.63	0.85
Taylor Guerrieri (TAM)	33	22	7	6	2	7	28	1.64	0.88
Tyler Glasnow (PIT)	34	14	11	8	1	21	50	2.12	1.03
Tyrell Jenkins (STL)	35.1	36	18	17	2	16	23	4.33	1.47
Victor Sanchez (SEA)	26.2	28	12	9	1	6	16	3.04	1.28
Vince Velasquez (HOU)	41	35	20	19	3	13	49	4.17	1.17
Walker Weickel (SD)	29.2	40	22	18	2	14	20	5.46	1.82

Rafael De Paula is leading the minor leagues with 69 strikeouts, one ahead of Diamondbacks' prospect Archie Bradley. Honestly, I'm wondering how much longer the Yankees will keep him at Low-A given his age and success so far. Jason Parks of Baseball Prospectus provided this scouting report in his chat this week:

Powerful build; arm speed is near elite; fastball can work 91-95l touch even higher; huge life; misses barrels; shows plus potential with both hard, power curve and changeup; command profile could push him to the 'pen down the line, as could secondary development. He's a big time arm. He's also too good for his level and putting up video game strikeout numbers. I really like him, though. Glad BP put him in the Yankees Top Ten coming into the season despite no stateside experience.

Craig profiled Pirates' pitching prospect Tyler Glasnow, who is having a great season so far with West Virginia.
Baseball Prospectus posted the first in their series of Eyewitness Accounts last week, with a detailed profile of Robert Stephenson amongst the rest of the pitchers.

Coming Soon to A Stadium Near You: Sonny Gray, RHP, Oakland Athletics

Jason Hunt — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:39:08 -0000

Throughout the minor league season, I will be writing about a prospect every Monday who has reached the AA level or higher that could be on your fantasy roster by season's end, and what you should know about them. I was able to see today's prospect last week in his start against Oklahoma City, and I definitely think he will be in Oakland before the end of the season. Let's take a look at what he could be for your fantasy team in the long term.

The Basics

Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 200 lbs.
On 40-man Roster: No
Age as of 5/20/13: 23

His History

Gray was drafted out of a Tennessee high school by the Cubs with a 27th round pick in 2008, as he fell due to signability concerns coupled with an ankle injury his senior year. He attended Vanderbilt university, where he went 27-10 with a 3.18 ERA, 294 IP, 317 strikeouts and 119 walks over his three seasons on campus. The A's took him with the 18th overall pick in the 2011 draft, and signed him with a bonus of just over $1.5 million.

Gray signed early enough to get six starts as a professional in 2011, split between rookie ball (1) and AA (5). In 22 innings pitched that year, he struck out 18, walked six, and allowed 15 hits. He returned to AA for the 2012 season, making 26 starts in Midland before receiving a promotion to AAA Sacramento to end his year. Combined he threw 152 innings, but struck out just 98, walked 58 and posted an excellent GO/AO rate of 1.62. So far in 2013, Gray has 38 strikeouts against 19 walks in 43.2 innings pitched, but with a 1.53 GO/AO rate again.

The Scouting Report - Scouting reports are gathered from other internet sources and written reports, unless otherwise noted.

Gray features a fastball which sits in the mid-90s with the potential to touch 97 at times. The pitch can have a lot of movement at times, but it sounds like his height (and the resulting difficulties getting a good angle to the plate) can work against him at times. He also features a curveball which is considered plus right now, along with a changeup which still needs some work. There are concerns about his size, both in terms of his ability to get good downward plane and holding up over a 200+ inning workload. He is considered to have a #2/#3 starter ceiling, but if he doesn't reach that it is more likely he ends up as a power reliever in the bullpen as his floor.

I saw Gray last Thursday, as he got hit around a bit by Oklahoma City. You can find the video I shot of Gray below. He seemed very hittable at times, although his control was a bit better as he walked just two in his 6 2/3 innings in that start. That control looks like it will be the key to his success, as he has not shown the ability in the minors to consistently keep his walk totals down enough.

What's Keeping Him From Contributing Now?

Gray isn't on the 40-man roster, but as of Sunday morning there was an open roster spot on the 40. However, there isn't really an opening likely in the Majors for Gray to take unless someone else gets hurt or Dan Straily struggles badly in his next few starts. Add in the concerns about his control, and you can see the A's leaving Gray in AAA for most of the season.

When Could He Arrive?

Gray seems likely to be up at some point in the season, most likely as a September call up. There will be a rotation spot up for grabs in 2014 with Bartolo Colon's contract expiring after this season, but that seems more likely to be up for competition with Dan Straily IF Brett Anderson and the rest of the existing starting pitchers are healthy to start the year.

What Could He Do For Fantasy Owners Once He Gets There?

It's really hard to judge what Gray will be in the Majors. He could be a strikeout per inning pitcher with solid but not spectacular ratios. He could end up working in the back end of the bullpen as a shutdown reliever, which will still have value but substantially less if he doesn't end up as the closer in the long-term. Realistically, I think you're looking at a pitcher who will be ownable in all leagues in part due to his home park, but serve as a back end of the fantasy rotation starting pitcher due to the WHIP risk related to the walks. I could see a line of 3.85-4.00 ERA, 1.25-1.30 WHIP, and around 120 strikeouts in a 150 inning span.

Sources
Baseball America ($)
Baseball Prospectus
Baseball Reference
Eyewitness Accounts
MILB.com

Minor League Level Review (AAA): Wheeler Scare, Could Odorizzi Be Next to the Bigs?

Jason Hunt — Sat, 18 May 2013 14:37:37 -0000

Every other Sunday, I will be taking a quick look at some of the top prospects at the AAA level, including their stats for for the season, and if anything stands out about the performance. The season stats may not always tell us the whole story, but there are usually also some updates on how they are doing these things as opposed to just the numbers themselves. All statistics are courtesy of Fangraphs.com and are through the games of Friday, 5/17/13.

Player	AB	R	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
Anthony Gose (OF-TOR)	147	31	2	12	21	39	5	4	0.224	0.333	0.327
Billy Hamilton (OF-CIN)	158	21	2	12	12	29	21	3	0.222	0.276	0.316
Bryce Brentz (OF-BOS)	143	19	7	29	11	31	0	0	0.280	0.335	0.510
Chris Owings (SS-ARI)	182	37	2	27	5	33	7	2	0.346	0.367	0.462
Gary Brown (OF-SF)	166	30	1	15	12	44	4	5	0.205	0.275	0.307
Grant Green (2B-OAK)	159	27	4	21	12	30	3	0	0.289	0.352	0.440
Hunter Morris (1B-MIL)	118	12	4	13	12	30	1	0	0.220	0.303	0.390
Jackie Bradley Jr (OF-BOS)	46	8	0	4	8	14	1	1	0.304	0.418	0.391
Jonathan Schoop (2B-BAL)	127	12	3	18	9	25	1	2	0.268	0.331	0.386
Jonathan Villar (SS-HOU)	155	20	3	21	11	39	14	4	0.303	0.353	0.471
Jurickson Profar (SS-TEX)	140	24	2	16	21	24	6	1	0.264	0.360	0.386
Kolten Wong (2B-STL)	154	24	2	14	8	23	6	0	0.312	0.341	0.455
Matt Davidson (3B-ARI)	146	17	4	26	13	47	0	0	0.288	0.342	0.473
Michael Choice (OF-OAK)	147	31	8	33	25	34	1	1	0.293	0.402	0.497
Mike Olt (3B-TEX)	72	5	1	6	9	32	0	0	0.139	0.235	0.236
Mike Zunino (C-SEA)	117	20	6	31	10	41	0	0	0.222	0.299	0.487
Nick Castellanos (OF-DET)	170	21	4	20	16	37	1	0	0.259	0.319	0.418
Nick Franklin (SS-SEA)	116	26	4	17	26	18	5	0	0.328	0.451	0.509
Oscar Taveras (OF-STL)	118	17	4	19	6	17	4	1	0.322	0.357	0.492
Stefen Romero (OF-SEA)	85	12	3	14	6	22	1	1	0.271	0.323	0.459
Tony Sanchez (C-PIT)	91	13	3	16	11	21	0	0	0.308	0.411	0.527
Wil Myers (OF-TAM)	148	22	4	24	21	51	2	1	0.250	0.345	0.385
Wilmer Flores (2B-NYM)	151	22	3	26	12	16	0	2	0.272	0.321	0.430

I'm honestly curious at what point in the season the Mariners decide to go with Nick Franklin instead of Brendan Ryan, Robert Andino, or even Dustin Ackley. He's been hitting well and it's become abundantly clear that the Mariners are struggling for offense.
Tony Sanchez was traveling with the Pirates briefly last weekend in case the Pirates needed a catcher to replace Russell Martin. Sanchez has been hitting better, although he still remains blocked by Martin through the 2014 season as well.
Mike Olt was placed on the disabled list with vision problems, and hasn't played in two weeks.
Mike Ferrin and Jason Parks discussed Gary Brown on the Fringe Average podcast this week, and the big takeaway seemed to be that Brown simply isn't making the adjustments needed to succeed at the higher levels of the minors.

Player	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
Alex Colome (TAM)	44.1	34	18	14	2	20	51	2.84	1.22
Allen Webster (BOS)	25	15	7	7	2	10	31	2.52	1.00
Andy Oliver (PIT)	48.1	31	16	14	2	35	54	2.61	1.37
Chris Archer (TAM)	39	42	21	19	5	19	40	4.38	1.56
Danny Hultzen (SEA)	22.2	17	9	7	1	6	25	2.78	1.01
Drew Pomeranz (COL)	44.2	38	16	16	3	15	51	3.22	1.19
Gerrit Cole (PIT)	42.1	30	13	12	4	20	31	2.55	1.18
Jake Odorizzi (TAM)	44.2	34	19	19	7	15	47	3.83	1.10
James Paxton (SEA)	36.2	38	19	16	2	17	44	3.93	1.50
Jarred Cosart (HOU)	39	27	10	9	1	17	43	2.08	1.13
Jose Alvarez (DET)	48	39	13	9	2	9	48	1.69	1.00
Kyle Gibson (MIN)	43.2	43	19	19	2	12	38	3.92	1.26
Mark Montgomery (NYY)	20	14	3	3	2	10	27	1.35	1.20
Michael Wacha (STL)	47.2	29	11	10	5	14	32	1.89	0.90
Sean Gilmartin (ATL)	40.2	39	16	14	2	17	25	3.10	1.38
Sonny Gray (OAK)	43.2	39	16	12	0	19	38	2.47	1.33
Trevor Bauer (CLE)	24.2	15	7	7	2	10	31	2.55	1.01
Tyler Skaggs (ARI)	44	49	33	29	2	17	44	5.93	1.50
Tyler Thornburg (MIL)	41	53	34	31	4	19	44	6.80	1.76
Zack Wheeler (NYM)	43.1	40	21	18	4	18	47	3.74	1.34

Zack Wheeler was skipped on his turn and sent back to New York for medical tests due to a clavicle injury. The report was inflammation, and should return to the rotation on his next turn.
I saw Sonny Gray pitch on Thursday night here in Sacramento, and I'll be providing a report on what I saw on Monday.
Tony Cingrani is returning to AAA Louisville after being optioned to the minors on Saturday. He's not likely to stay down for long in my opinion, as Mike Leake will be on a short leash with Cingrani available. I would still hold onto him if you can spare the roster spot in redraft leagues.
With David Price going on the disabled list, it's still not clear who is going to take his spot in the rotation, but it sounds like Jake Odorizzi could be the call.

Low Level Prospect Review: Byron Buxton, OF, Minnesota Twins

Jason Hunt — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:25:52 -0000

While prospect writers are always looking for that next diamond in the rough, there still remains a great appreciation for that player that could be the next great star of the game. With that in mind, let's take a look at one of the few prospects in the minors right now who could fit that profile, Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins.

Buxton was viewed coming into his draft year as the top high school prospect available by Baseball America, and generally expected to be a top-5 overall pick. He did little to dissuade that notion his senior year, hitting .513/.513/.803 with three home runs, 35 runs batted in, and 38 stolen bases in 117 at bats. There were concerns about the level of competition that Buxton faced, given where he played his high school ball in Georgia. However, the possibilities for Buxton's tools were immense: a plus runner with consistent sub-4.0 times to first, excellent bat speed with the potential for power down the line, and a potential plus defender in center field who would have an arm that would also be above-average. In short, a true five-tool talent, who also is expected to provide a high on-base percentage and is considered to have excellent makeup.

The Astros ended up passing on Buxton, which was the Twins' gain instead. The Twins were able to sign Buxton to a $6 million bonus, and sent him to their Gulf Coast Affiliate to start his professional career. In 27 games there, he hit .216/.324/.466 with four home runs, four stolen bases, and 11 walks in 102 plate appearances. They even sent him to their Appy League affiliate in Elizabethton, where he played another 21 games, hit ..286/.368/.429 with a home run and seven stolen bases.

The Twins sent Buxton to full season ball for 2013, with Low-A Cedar Rapids. Through his walk-off grand slam on Thursday night, Buxton is hitting .343/.445/.594 with six home runs, 32 runs batted in, 16 stolen bases, 27 walks and 32 strikeouts in 143 at bats. His quick-and-dirty on pace numbers for the full minor league season? .343, 23 HR, 159 R, 121 RBI, 60 SB. Remember, those are for the minor leagues' 144 game schedule, not the MLB 162 standard. Now clearly, he's not going to keep up at that kind of pace, right? Seems unlikely, but we're still looking at an outfielder who is expected to hit for a high average, provide solid power (probably 15-20 HR) with the potential to provide more down the road, and 30+ stolen bases, which could be on the low end some years. He'll also provide solid value in leagues with OBP as a category, and all in all is expected to be a fantasy monster.

The Twins are known for moving prospects through the system slowly, but at the same time they haven't had a prospect with the kinds of tools that Buxton has since Joe Mauer. He could potentially see a promotion if he keeps this pace up through the All-Star break, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him at AA by the end of 2014. Your opportunity to get Buxton at a discount is likely over, as he will likely be a top-5 prospect on next year's top 100 lists. That said, I would absolutely have him as one of my top targets if you are in the process of rebuilding your dynasty team.

Sources
Baseball America
Baseball Prospectus
Baseball Reference
MaxPreps

For more info on Buxton and the Twins, head over to SBNation's Twinkie Town. For more info on the minors and the amateur draft, be sure to check out SBNation's Minor League Ball.

Minor League Level Review (AA): Bradley, Wisler Debut, Salazar and Turley Promoted

Jason Hunt — Tue, 14 May 2013 23:49:38 -0000

Every other Wednesday, I will be taking a quick look at some of the top prospects at the AA level, including their stats for the season so far. All statistics are courtesy of Fangraphs.com, and are through the games of Monday, 5/13/13. Have a question about a specific prospect or player? Post it in the comments and we'll discuss it.

Player	AB	R	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
Anthony Rendon (3B-WAS)	82	13	4	21	28	28	1	0	0.367	0.470	0.540
Arismendy Alcantara (SS-CHC)	135	16	4	16	13	36	13	0	0.237	0.305	0.363
Brad Miller (SS-SEA)	124	23	5	21	18	27	4	2	0.298	0.392	0.484
Brian Goodwin (OF-WAS)	148	25	2	6	17	47	7	7	0.250	0.335	0.399
C.J. Cron (1B-LAA)	131	11	2	19	5	21	4	0	0.321	0.373	0.458
Cesar Puello (OF-NYM)	96	16	5	19	6	24	8	0	0.281	0.349	0.510
Christian Bethancourt (C-ATL)	64	6	1	11	1	13	3	2	0.313	0.318	0.453
Christian Yelich (OF-MIA)	82	17	3	18	11	23	2	2	0.317	0.389	0.610
Domingo Santana (OF-HOU)	97	17	7	17	16	37	4	0	0.247	0.360	0.546
George Springer (OF-HOU)	134	31	13	31	18	47	10	2	0.291	0.387	0.657
James Ramsey (OF-STL)	25	4	0	0	6	10	0	0	0.320	0.452	0.320
Jared Mitchell (OF-CHW)	14	2	1	3	6	4	1	1	0.214	0.450	0.429
Joc Pederson (OF-LAD)	135	31	8	19	17	24	10	2	0.356	0.425	0.630
Joe Panik (2B-SF)	138	21	0	15	19	13	3	1	0.304	0.386	0.399
Jose Ramirez (2B-CLE)	117	23	1	10	13	13	14	4	0.248	0.321	0.299
Kaleb Cowart (3B-LAA)	135	13	2	11	11	34	5	2	0.207	0.272	0.319
Keenyn Walker (OF-CHC)	133	25	0	13	21	45	15	4	0.195	0.323	0.256
Kyle Parker (OF-COL)	137	20	7	18	10	25	1	3	0.277	0.327	0.482
Mikie Mahtook (OF-TAM)	143	21	3	27	15	26	9	3	0.238	0.323	0.462
Miles Head (3B-OAK)	116	11	2	5	8	33	0	1	0.207	0.268	0.284
Randal Grichuk (OF-LAA)	126	21	6	14	9	23	1	2	0.206	0.270	0.452
Reymond Fuentes (OF-SD)	138	27	3	11	16	31	17	5	0.333	0.408	0.486
Ronald Torreyes (2B-CHC)	84	14	0	6	14	6	2	0	0.274	0.388	0.357
Todd Glaesmann (OF-TAM)	147	20	6	23	7	33	3	0	0.245	0.287	0.429
Tyler Austin (OF-NYY)	131	22	2	19	25	39	1	0	0.260	0.380	0.374
Tyler Collins (OF-DET)	108	23	8	25	15	22	0	4	0.269	0.359	0.565
Xander Bogaerts (SS-BOS)	115	20	2	14	15	33	3	0	0.296	0.382	0.452
Yasiel Puig (OF-LAD)	95	15	5	20	7	20	5	3	0.274	0.337	0.516

George Springer is now leading the minors in home runs with 13 (and tied with Justin Upton for the organized baseball lead), and was the first player to reach double digit steals and home runs in the minors this year.
Tyler Austin has been treading water at AA, which given his age isn't a surprise. Josh Norris of the Trentonian had notes from a scout on Austin as well, and that report on Austin is discouraging:

I don't think he's an everyday guy, for me. I think the swing gets long. I think he comes off the outside. With that said, he's got pop and he's got juice in that bat. He's gonna put some charges into some balls. I think, if I'm projecting him, he's going to be a fourth outfielder, an offensive fourth outfielder that's going to be able to come off the bench and play a couple of times a week in the big leagues. But I think if he plays every day in the big leagues I think his bat gets exposed. I think he's a big leaguer, but I just don't think he's an everyday corner guy.

Christian Yelich could be the next prospect called up by the Marlins, and Michael Jong of Fish Stripes took a look at what his promotion plan could look like. Yelich is slugging .610, and could be a potential replacement if Juan Pierre continues to struggle.
Here's your most recent Yasiel Puig bat flip GIF, in which he now has resulted in flipping bats during batting practice.

More: Profile of Arismendy Alcantara | Profile of Yasiel Puig

Player	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
Alex Meyer (MIN)	37.2	38	17	15	0	18	47	3.58	1.49
Alex Wood (ATL)	38	25	3	2	0	9	43	0.47	0.89
Anthony Ranaudo (BOS)	39	23	7	6	3	10	41	1.38	0.85
Archie Bradley (ARI)	14	7	1	1	0	6	20	0.64	0.93
Brandon Workman (BOS)	40.2	29	19	16	3	10	48	3.54	0.96
Brian Flynn (MIA)	23	18	4	4	2	3	25	1.57	0.91
Burch Smith (SD)	31.1	17	8	4	1	6	37	1.15	0.73
Carlos Pimentel (TEX)	41	31	14	14	5	11	51	3.07	1.02
Chad Bettis (COL)	36	39	18	16	4	5	37	4.00	1.22
Danny Salazar (CLE)	33.2	27	10	10	1	10	51	2.67	1.10
David Holmberg (ARI)	41	34	17	9	4	13	31	1.98	1.15
J.R. Graham (ATL)	35.2	39	16	16	0	10	28	4.04	1.37
Jameson Taillon (PIT)	44.2	39	17	14	1	16	47	2.82	1.23
Jesse Biddle (PHI)	36.2	16	12	11	2	18	45	2.70	0.93
Jimmy Nelson (MIL)	42	38	19	11	2	8	47	2.36	1.10
Kevin Gausman (BAL)	40.1	40	20	15	3	4	39	3.35	1.09
Matt Barnes (BOS)	31	35	16	16	3	12	38	4.65	1.52
Matt Wisler (SD)	5	2	3	3	1	3	6	5.40	1.00
Nick Tropeano (HOU)	37	33	10	7	3	8	36	1.70	1.11
Nik Turley (NYY)	34.1	35	21	19	4	19	37	4.98	1.57
Rafael Montero (NYM)	46.2	40	21	18	2	6	54	3.47	0.99
Sean Nolin (TOR)	9.1	10	3	2	0	3	11	1.93	1.39
Taijuan Walker (SEA)	40.1	25	14	10	3	22	46	2.23	1.17
Trevor May (MIN)	39.1	30	14	14	3	19	37	3.20	1.25
Tyler Matzek (COL)	34.2	36	18	17	2	22	28	4.41	1.67
Yordano Ventura (KC)	34.1	21	7	6	1	14	47	1.57	1.02
Zach Lee (LAD)	41.1	40	16	12	2	14	36	2.61	1.31

Wisler and Bradley were both promoted to AA in the past two weeks, and Bradley just kept right on rolling through AA competition despite having to leave his second start earlier due to an injury suffered sliding into second base.
John Sickels posted in Monday's Minor League Gameday Thread about Anthony Ranaudo, including a quote mentioning that we may want to be a bit cautious in reading just the performance of Anthony Ranaudo.
Carlos Pimentel's numbers jumped off the leaderboard page with 51 strikeouts in 41 innings, especially given that he did not show up on any top prospect lists, including the community-driven top 30 list from Lone Star Ball. I need to do a little more research and see if this is legitimate or not.
Danny Salazar of the Indians is an interesting prospect who was promoted to AAA earlier in the week after striking out 38 and walking just 5 over his last 21 innings (4 starts) at AA. He is already on the 40-man roster, and could potentially be in line for a call up at some point if the Indians need another starting pitcher.

More: Profile of Zach Lee | Profile of Matt Wisler | Profile of Alex Wood

For more on the minor leagues and the draft, check out SBNation's Minor League Ball. You can follow me on Twitter @jasonsbaseball.

Coming Soon to A Stadium Near You: Matt Wisler, RHP, San Diego Padres

Jason Hunt — Sun, 12 May 2013 20:27:15 -0000

Throughout the minor league season, I will be writing about a prospect every Monday who has reached the AA level or higher that could be on your fantasy roster by season's end, and what you should know about them. Today's prospect was recently promoted from High-A to AA after pitching extremely well to start the season in the hitter-friendly California League. Let's take a look at Padres' pitching prospect Matt Wisler.

The Basics
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 195 lbs.
On 40-man Roster: No
Age as of 5/13/13: 20

His History

Wisler was drafted out of an Ohio high school in the 7th round of the 2011 draft, and received a well over slot bonus of $500,000 to forego pitching at Ohio State. Wisler only faced five batters that season in the Arizona Rookie League, but it didn't go well at all. 2 hits, 2 walks, a hit batter, and not a single out recorded. He came into the 2012 season unranked by Baseball America, outside of even the top 30 for the Padres.

However, the Padres sent Wisler to their full season Low-A affiliate, and he rewarded them handsomely with his performance. In 114 innings pitched, Wisler allowed just 95 hits, walked 28, and struck out 113 while posting a 2.53 ERA and an excellent 0.96 GO/AO ratio. He jumped up many prospect lists after that performance, ranked as the #6 prospect in the Padres' system by BA, the #8 by Baseball Prospectus, and #7 by John Sickels of Minor League Ball.

He made six starts for Lake Elsinore (High-A) to start the season, throwing 31 innings, allowing 22 hits, walking 6 and striking out 28. As a result, the Padres promoted Wisler to AA San Antonio, where he debuted yesterday with a fair start (5 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K).

The Scouting Report - Scouting reports are gathered from other internet sources and written reports, unless otherwise noted.

John Sickels provided this scouting report back on April 25th as a part of his prospect note on Wisler:

Wisler has filled out from his listed 6'3", 195, one of the reasons his four-seam fastball is sitting 93-95 this spring, with a two-seamer that is a tick below. He currently uses both a curve and a slider effectively, though he sometimes has trouble staying on top of the curve and can wind up pushing it a bit. Like many young pitchers, he's still developing feel on his changeup, which he hadn't used before signing.

The other thing that really stood out amongst the reports about Wisler was that he is considered to have excellent intangibles (makeup, etc), as also evidenced by the quote Sickels got from the Padres' pitching coordinator Mike Cather (also in the link above).

What's Keeping Him From Contributing Now?

At this point, he needs more work on a general level. He has thrown a total of 5 innings above A-ball, and there is very little reason to push him any more aggressively than the team has so far. With the Major League team currently 6.5 games back, and a number of other starting options on the 40-man roster, the team would be wise to let him continue to gain experience at the upper levels of the minor leagues. It is possible he could tread water if he were called up now, but with as many pitchers ahead of him as the Padres have, they might as well let him continue to work and improve on things. He isn't on the 40-man roster, and does not have to be protected on it until after the 2015 season.

When Could He Arrive?

If he continues to pitch well in his AA assignment, I could see him getting a call up at some point in the 2014 season, as the team currently has just one starting pitcher (Cory Luebke) under contract for the 2014 season, and a number of options available that are under team control (Casey Kelly, Joe Wieland, Robbie Erlin, Clayton Richard, Andrew Cashner, Tyson Ross, amongst others) which have seen varying levels of success. Realistically, there is a good shot that Wisler could get a shot out of Spring Training in 2014, but I feel like it would be more likely sometime around midseason.

What Could He Do For Fantasy Owners Once He Gets There?

Jason Parks of Baseball Prospectus wrote ($) that he can see Wisler as a mid-rotation starting pitcher if everything goes right, which would lead me to see him as a back-end fantasy starting pitcher should he win a full time job. With a large portion of his starts likely to come in the pitching friendly parks of the NL West, I could see an ERA around 4.00 with a 1.20-1.25 WHIP with about 6.5-7 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched. There is the potential for better, but until he throws more innings at AA I would tend to be cautiously optimistic about his potential at the Major League level.

Sources
Baseball America
Baseball Prospectus
Baseball Reference
Gaslamp Ball
Minor League Ball

For more on Wisler and the Padres, check out SBNation's Gaslamp Ball. For more on the minor leagues, the amateur draft, and prospects in general, check out SBNation's Minor League Ball.

You can follow me on Twitter @jasonsbaseball.

Minor League Level Review (High-A): Concerns about Mason Williams, Tons of Players Hit Disabled List

Jason Hunt — Sat, 11 May 2013 18:36:29 -0000

Every other Sunday, I will be taking a quick look at some of the top prospects at the High-A level, including their stats for the season so far All statistics are courtesy of Fangraphs.com, and are through the games of Friday, 5/10/13.

Player	AB	R	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
Aaron Altherr (OF-PHI)	125	22	4	24	13	34	8	0	0.336	0.397	0.576
Addison Russell (SS-OAK)	92	14	2	8	19	34	3	0	0.185	0.321	0.348
Alen Hanson (SS-PIT)	131	16	0	15	12	27	10	5	0.252	0.313	0.321
Austin Hedges (C-SD)	70	13	1	8	11	11	1	3	0.229	0.324	0.357
Blake Swihart (C-BOS)	86	9	0	10	12	14	2	0	0.256	0.347	0.407
Cory Spangenberg (2B-SD)	124	21	3	18	11	30	13	1	0.323	0.382	0.548
Courtney Hawkins (OF-CHW)	79	10	7	17	7	45	3	1	0.177	0.247	0.456
Delino DeShields Jr (2B-HOU)	83	16	0	4	11	24	5	6	0.241	0.344	0.386
Deven Marrero (SS-BOS)	51	9	0	2	9	10	5	0	0.294	0.400	0.451
Eddie Rosario (2B-MIN)	129	27	3	22	8	23	3	2	0.349	0.380	0.527
Francisco Lindor (SS-CLE)	127	19	1	13	12	14	8	3	0.346	0.407	0.488
Garin Cecchini (3B-BOS)	111	22	4	20	19	16	9	4	0.369	0.462	0.649
Gary Sanchez (C-NYY)	127	20	6	27	13	29	1	0	0.260	0.340	0.465
Gregory Polanco (OF-PIT)	122	16	4	19	13	19	13	5	0.303	0.379	0.475
Jace Peterson (SS-SD)	120	14	1	17	9	15	9	3	0.250	0.301	0.358
Javier Baez (SS-CHC)	131	20	6	22	5	42	3	0	0.244	0.280	0.489
Jorge Bonifacio (OF-KC)	116	13	1	18	13	20	0	1	0.302	0.376	0.440
Jorge Soler (OF-CHC)	93	19	5	14	12	16	2	1	0.290	0.374	0.559
Luis Sardinas (SS-TEX)	122	18	0	5	12	25	9	2	0.270	0.343	0.320
Maikel Franco (3B-PHI)	139	21	6	29	9	23	0	0	0.288	0.331	0.518
Mason Williams (OF-NYY)	128	18	2	11	20	24	3	3	0.234	0.340	0.344
Max Muncy (1B-OAK)	127	28	9	23	30	28	0	1	0.276	0.420	0.520
Miguel Sano (3B-MIN)	119	29	10	31	16	37	3	2	0.378	0.460	0.723
Nick Delmonico (1B-BAL)	40	7	2	9	11	11	0	0	0.325	0.471	0.600
Nolan Fontana (SS-HOU)	124	33	3	23	33	27	6	3	0.339	0.478	0.516
Rougned Odor (IF-TEX)	116	20	3	20	9	23	9	1	0.284	0.356	0.474
Sean Coyle (2B-BOS)	91	22	9	17	7	25	6	0	0.264	0.313	0.637
Stephen Piscotty (OF-STL)	104	17	7	16	8	12	1	0	0.317	0.377	0.567
Trevor Story (SS-COL)	117	8	1	8	9	43	4	0	0.171	0.242	0.256
Will Swanner (C-COL)	77	5	1	5	7	41	1	1	0.156	0.235	0.247

Josh Norris (@jnorris427) of the Trentonian provided notes from a scout about a number of the Yankees' prospects, with this post specializing in the ones at High-A Tampa. The most interesting to me is the info he received on Yankees' prospect Mason Williams:

I was talking to (another) scout and he was like ‘Mason Williams is hitting like Ichiro.' He's taking a step toward first. I didn't see him drive one ball, not one. He can really play center still. He can run. He throws good, but I'm concerned with the off-field makeup. He didn't run anything out. He trots down the line almost every at-bat. Every groundball, you look (at your stop watch), and you're like ‘I can't get a good time off this because he doesn't run.'

Definitely not what you want to hear about a top prospect, and definitely worth watching to see if it continues throughout the season.

I wrote about Miguel Sano last week, and all he keeps doing is hitting home runs and, really everything else that's thrown his way as well.Twinkie Town recapped what Sano and the rest of their top 25 prospects did this week on the 8th.
A name that is really, really interesting to me is the Astros' Nolan Fontana. The approach is very good, and his strike zone judgment appears to be good so far. Whether his ability to draw all these walks is just him seeing a lot of pitches or not remains to be seen, but I love seeing that kind of slash line so far.
Courtney Hawkins is absolutely amazing to me at this point, having hit 7 home runs and stuck out 45 times already He's currently on the disabled list with an injured shoulder.
We saw a number of top prospects placed on the disabled list, including Austin Hedges, Deven Marrero, Delino DeShields, and Nick Delmonico of the Orioles, who has been on the concussion DL since April 19th.

Player	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
A.J. Cole (WAS)	37	39	17	15	2	9	41	3.65	1.30
Aaron Sanchez (TOR)	34.2	20	12	10	0	10	34	2.60	0.87
Archie Bradley (ARI)	28.2	22	5	4	1	10	43	1.26	1.12
Clayton Blackburn (SF)	33	24	13	11	4	6	42	3.00	0.91
D.J. Baxendale (MIN)	36.1	24	7	6	2	6	35	1.49	0.83
Drew Granier (OAK)	39	30	11	10	2	21	50	2.31	1.31
Eduardo Rodriguez (BAL)	36	34	19	16	2	10	32	4.00	1.22
Edwin Escobar (SF)	26.2	23	9	9	1	6	38	3.04	1.09
Henry Owens (BOS)	32	17	9	8	2	11	40	2.25	0.88
Jesse Hahn (TAM)	20	14	4	3	0	5	21	1.35	0.95
John Lamb (KC)	24	26	14	13	2	7	18	4.88	1.38
Justin Nicolino (MIA)	34.2	40	16	15	1	8	15	3.89	1.38
Kyle Crick (SF)	9.2	10	6	1	0	9	12	0.93	1.97
Kyle Zimmer (KC)	29	21	14	13	3	12	40	4.03	1.14
Matt Wisler (SD)	31	22	7	7	1	6	28	2.03	0.90
Nick Kingham (PIT)	39.2	31	14	13	3	7	47	2.95	0.96
Noah Syndergaard (NYM)	38	35	13	11	1	13	38	2.61	1.26
Tyler Anderson (COL)	39.2	33	15	14	6	10	36	3.18	1.08
Victor Payano (TEX)	35.2	27	18	17	2	15	48	4.29	1.28

We saw two different pitchers in two different organizations get promoted to AA in the past two weeks, as both Archie Bradley of the Diamondbacks and Matt Wisler of the Padres were sent to their respective affiliates. Bradley has since gotten hurt trying to slide into a base, but has not been placed on the disabled list as of Saturday afternoon.

Craig took a look at Orioles' pitching prospect Eduardo Rodriguez this week, and I agree with Craig that he could move up top 100 lists if his season progresses the rest of the way as it has so far.

Nick Kingham is a name that gets lost a bit in the Pittsburgh system with the three potential aces they have in the organization, but could be a mover as well if he can keep his control in check.

Victor Payano has struck out at least 8 batters in four of his seven starts so far this year, including 9 in his last outing against Salem on Friday night.

Kyle Crick and Tyler Anderson are both on the disabled list at this time.

For more on the minor leagues, be sure to check out SBNation's Minor League Ball. You can follow me on Twitter @jasonsbaseball.

Low Level Prospect Review: Martin Agosta, RHP, San Francisco Giants

Jason Hunt — Fri, 10 May 2013 03:10:52 -0000

It seems that every time I turn around, the Giants have found yet another pitching prospect of interest for fantasy owners. Remember, this is the team that traded away Zack Wheeler, developed Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, and Madison Bumgarner, and also have top pitching prospects Kyle Crick and Chris Stratton down on the farm as well. We've already discussed another prospect who has emerged in the past year in Clayton Blackburn, but we could be looking at another solid pitching prospect in their second round pick from 2012, Martin Agosta.

To be honest, when he was mentioned in this week's level review, I hadn't heard anything about Agosta other than his name. Agosta wasn't drafted out of high school, and attended St. Mary's College here in California. He had a bit of a down year as a freshman (5.40 ERA, 52 K, 30 BB, 78 hits allowed in 70 IP), but had substantially better results after that. As a sophomore, Agosta went 7-6 with a 2.81 ERA, 76 K, 19 BB, and a respectable 81 hits allowed in 89 innings pitched. In his draft year he pitched even better, striking out 95, walking 27 and allowing 87 hits in 103 innings pitched.

The Giants made him their second round pick last year, and signed him to a bonus of just over $600K. As a professional, Agosta debuted with the Giants' Arizona League affiliate, striking out 19 but walking 9 in just 10 innings pitched. The Giants sent him to Low-A to start this season, and is currently second in the South Atlantic League with 45 strikeouts. He has walked 13, and allowed just 22 hits in his 31 1/3 innings pitched.

The knock on Agosta to this point has been in part due to his stature, as he is listed at 6'1", 180 lbs. However, the scouting report on his repertoire bodes well for his success, as reported by David Lee of the Augusta Chronicle:

He's an athletic college arm who reportedly sits in the low-90s on his four-seamer. Agosta said he has started to develop a bit of a sinker, while the cutter he used in college has largely been ditched at the instruction of the Giants.

Other reports have pointed to him working on a changeup, which will likely be the key to whether or not he can reach his ceiling as a starting pitcher. His command has been much better this year than it was last, and while slightly high (3.7 BB/9), is still at a fine level given the strikeout rate he is providing with it as well.

Since he was a college pitcher, it would not surprise me if the Giants tried to move him a little bit quicker through the system than a level per year, but he'll need a little help with the starting pitchers at High-A San Jose all pitching very well so far. His ETA to the Majors seems to point toward a 2015 debut, with the potential to provide a solid strikeout total, along with at least average ratios which could play slightly better than expected due to being in the NL West.

Is the ceiling super high for Agosta? No. But can he be a back end of the rotation type in the Majors? Absolutely. He's not likely to be a top 100, or even a top 150 prospect as it stands now, but he is definitely worth keeping an eye on in deeper dynasty formats (14+ teams, NL-only) where there are a significant number of minor leaguers owned each season.

Sources
Baseball America
Baseball Prospectus
Baseball Reference
Minor League Ball
The Baseball Cube
Augusta Chronicle

Minor League Level Review (Low-A): Buxton, Starling, Toles, Allie, De Paula and More

Jason Hunt — Wed, 08 May 2013 03:52:57 -0000

Every other Wednedsay, I will be taking a quick look at some of the top prospects at the Low-A level, including their stats for for the season, and if anything stands out about the performance. The season stats may not always tell us the whole story, but there are usually also some updates on how they are doing these things as opposed to just the numbers themselves. All statistics are courtesy of Baseball Reference.com, and are through the games of Monday, 5/6/13.

Player	AB	R	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
Adam Walker (OF-MIN)	109	21	7	32	8	28	2	0	0.303	0.361	0.596
Andrew Toles (OF-TAM)	119	15	1	23	5	20	13	1	0.328	0.365	0.538
Barrett Barnes (OF-PIT)	41	8	0	3	4	9	3	2	0.220	0.289	0.244
Brandon Nimmo (OF-NYM)	90	22	1	11	12	24	2	1	0.322	0.421	0.433
Bubba Starling (OF-KCR)	112	17	4	15	9	37	4	0	0.205	0.276	0.357
Byron Buxton (OF-MIN)	102	31	5	24	24	21	13	4	0.373	0.488	0.647
Carlos Correa (SS-HOU)	68	15	3	14	15	23	1	1	0.221	0.384	0.397
Carlos Tocci (OF-PHI)	102	8	0	7	4	15	2	1	0.216	0.252	0.245
Clint Coulter (C-MIL)	69	9	2	7	7	19	1	0	0.174	0.272	0.319
Corey Seager (SS-LAD)	101	15	3	15	10	26	5	2	0.267	0.336	0.416
Dan Vogelbach (1B-CHC)	107	14	5	20	14	16	3	0	0.299	0.371	0.467
David Dahl (OF-COL)	38	8	0	4	2	8	2	0	0.237	0.275	0.368
Dilson Herrera (2B-PIT)	101	17	1	14	11	25	4	2	0.267	0.342	0.386
Dorssys Paulino (SS-CLE)	94	11	0	6	9	19	1	3	0.213	0.282	0.223
Jesse Winker (OF-CIN)	95	15	3	15	16	19	0	0	0.284	0.393	0.474
Josh Bell (OF-PIT)	113	21	4	30	10	30	1	0	0.274	0.328	0.487
Kevin Plawecki (C-NYM)	107	17	5	27	8	14	0	0	0.402	0.459	0.701
Lewis Brinson (OF-TEX)	121	16	6	12	9	50	4	1	0.240	0.303	0.430
Nick Williams (OF-TEX)	76	15	7	17	3	23	2	1	0.303	0.333	0.618
Renato Nunez (3B-OAK)	93	15	6	18	7	28	0	0	0.290	0.353	0.548
Rock Shoulders (OF-CHC)	104	22	6	20	15	26	0	0	0.346	0.429	0.606
Roman Quinn (SS-PHI)	112	11	2	7	7	34	14	2	0.196	0.262	0.277
Stetson Allie (1B-PIT)	110	18	8	26	14	36	4	1	0.355	0.425	0.645

As a part of the weekly minor league review over at Athletics Nation, Athletics Farm spoke with A's director of player personnel Billy Owens about a number of the top prospects in the A's system, including low-A players Renato Nunez, Bruce Maxwell and Daniel Robertson.
Carlos Correa was placed on the 7-day DL with a hand injury on the 3^rd, which I will be interested to see how he performs when he returns to the lineup.
Rangers' OF Nick Williams was placed on the 7-day DL as well on April 26^th, and Craig Goldstein profiled Williams last week.
I took a look at Pirates' IF prospect Stetson Allie two weeks ago, and whether the production is real or not.
Lewis Brinson continues to strikeout at a poor rate (nearly half of his at bats in the past two weeks), and I wonder at what point it starts to improve. I would have to imagine that the book starts getting out on Brinson, and it gets worse before it gets better.
Leading candidate for minor league name of the year so far: Rock Shoulders of the Cubs. He's not just a name at this point though, as he's crushing the Midwest League to the tune of a .346 batting average with 6 home runs so far.
After spending a few weeks back at extended spring training, David Dahl has returned to full season ball, although he pulled his hamstring in Tuesday night's game, according to David Lee of the Augusta Chronicle

Player	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
C.J. Edwards (TEX)	28.2	19	10	8	0	9	31	2.51	0.98
Chris Stratton (SF)	28.2	18	9	9	1	11	36	2.83	1.01
Eddie Butler (COL)	35	17	14	8	2	17	33	2.06	0.97
Ismael Guillon (CIN)	19.2	19	25	22	4	30	30	10.07	2.49
Joan Gregorio (SF)	19	15	4	3	0	1	25	1.42	0.84
Joe Ross (SD)	25.1	18	6	5	0	9	23	1.78	1.07
Jose Berrios (MIN)	17.2	17	5	5	0	2	21	2.55	1.08
Lance McCullers (HOU)	26.2	24	12	5	0	9	29	1.69	1.24
Max Fried (SD)	19	17	8	8	0	10	22	3.79	1.42
Miguel Almonte (KCR)	24	24	16	11	2	8	22	4.12	1.33
Rafael De Paula (NYY)	27.1	18	9	9	1	15	46	2.96	1.21
Robert Stephenson (CIN)	28	33	20	18	2	12	35	5.79	1.61
Roberto Osuna (TOR)	22.1	15	10	9	4	4	31	3.63	0.85
Taylor Guerrieri (TAM)	22	20	7	6	2	4	15	2.45	1.09
Tyrell Jenkins (STL)	25.1	25	14	14	1	11	16	4.97	1.42
Victor Sanchez (SEA)	16.1	17	8	5	0	2	9	2.76	1.16
Walker Weickel (SD)	22.1	27	13	10	0	9	12	4.03	1.61

Lance McCullers had his best outing of the season on Sunday, pitching five shutout and striking out 9 while walking just 1 and allowing 2 hits. He did well, throwing just 68 pitches over the span of the game as well.
De Paula is leading the level in strikeouts with 46, and I'm kind of wondering at this point if he is moved to High-A before the end of the month.
Roberto Osuna has posted an excellent 31:5 K/BB ratio this year, but was placed on the disabled list on 5/1/13.
Joan Gregorio threw just 2 innings in his last start before being removed due to a strained oblique muscle, and has since been placed on the disabled list.
Jose Berrios has had back-to-back starts with 8 strikeouts, 6+ innings pitched, and less than 2 earned runs. Definitely a name worth watching, and one that I was surprised at how good he has been so far.

Coming Soon to A Stadium Near You: Stefen Romero, IF/OF, Seattle Mariners

Jason Hunt — Thu, 02 May 2013 21:47:00 -0000

Throughout the minor league season, I will be writing about a prospect every Monday who has reached the AA level or higher that could be on your fantasy roster by season's end, and what you should know about them. Today's prospect was requested by a Twitter follower of mine last week when I asked for prospects to cover. Stefen Romero has skyrocketed through the Mariners' system on the strength of his bat, but has significant questions about what he will be in the Majors due in part to defensive concerns.

The Basics
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 220 lbs.
On 40-Man Roster: No
Age as of 5/6/13: 24

His History

Romero went undrafted out of high school, and attended Pima Community College in Arizona for his freshman season before transferring to Oregon State. Romero hit well his sophomore season in 2009, posting a .291/.361/.466 slash line with five home runs, 51 runs batted in, and a 17:32 walk-to-strikeout ratio. For the 2010 season, Romero hit even better, with a slash line of .326/.431/.603 with 13 home runs and 41 runs batted in for the Beavers. The Mariners drafted Romero in the 12^th round that season, and signed for a bonus of $100,000.

The Mariners sent him to full-season Low-A Clinton for the 2011 season, where he hit .280/.342/.462 with 16 home runs, 65 runs batted in, and 16 stolen bases while splitting time between second base and third base. He was moved up to High-A to start the 2012 season, and after hitting .357/.391/.581 in the California League, was promoted to AA. He spent the rest of the season in Jackson with a number of the top prospects in the Mariners' system, hitting .347/.392/.620, and finishing with a total of 23 home runs, 101 runs batted in, and 12 stolen bases on the year.

He went to big league camp this year, but missed time due to an oblique injury he suffered on March 8^th. He spent five games rehabbing with High Desert in High-A, and has since returned to AAA Tacoma. In seven games so far, he is hitting .367/.406/.600 with a home run, five driven in, and a stolen base. He has been playing left field primarily this year.

The Scouting Report - Scouting reports are gathered from other internet sources and written reports, unless otherwise noted.

Romero isn't a toolsy prospect in the standard mold, as none of his tools are likely to project to an elite or even above-average level. However, he can flat out hit, making solid contact and showing power in game. The scouting reports all seem to point to a player who can provide decent production across the board for fantasy owners, as he does have a little bit of speed to go with that power. In addition, the one thing that seems to stand out from the reports I have read is that his makeup and knowledge of the game are considered excellent, to the point where it helps some of his tools to play above their anticipated level. There are concerns about his defensive profile, as he's not likely to stick at third base, and is more suited for a corner outfield slot.

What's Keeping Him From Contributing Now?

The first thing I always check is their 40-man roster status, simply because it can require another player to be moved or released if they aren't on the roster. Romero isn't on the 40-man, so there's that. The biggest problem for Romero seems to be finding him a place to play on the field that doesn't impact another player. He has been playing the outfield in AAA in part because that could be where he is needed in the Majors, and in part because of concerns about his defense on the infield.

What Could He Do For Fantasy Owners Once He Gets There?

It's pretty clear from the performance thus far that the kid can hit, but there are concerns about whether or not he will translate to show above-average production. Based on what we are seeing so far, I can see a player that hits .280/.330/.450 in the Majors, with the potential for 10-15 home runs and 5-10 stolen bases. There is a little potential for more, but it seems that is probably close to his ceiling.

When Could He Arrive?

At this point, he seems pretty likely to be up at some point during the season, as the Mariners continue to struggle to score runs with any consistency at all. What role that translates into remains to be seen, but they could definitely use his bat.

Sources

Baseball America
Baseball Prospectus
Baseball Reference
Lookout Landing
Oregon State University Athletics
The Baseball Cube

For more on Romero and the Mariners, check out SBNation's Lookout Landing.

You can follow me on Twitter @jasonsbaseball.

Minor League Level Review (AAA): Could Olt's Struggles Be Vision-Related?

Jason Hunt — Thu, 02 May 2013 21:45:12 -0000

Player	AB	R	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
Anthony Gose (OF-TOR)	88	22	1	10	14	19	3	4	0.261	0.375	0.352
Billy Hamilton (OF-CIN)	93	9	0	7	9	19	16	1	0.204	0.275	0.301
Chris Owings (SS-ARI)	126	27	2	17	5	28	6	1	0.349	0.379	0.492
Dee Gordon (SS-LAD)	98	17	0	11	14	17	13	2	0.296	0.384	0.408
Gary Brown (OF-SF)	109	21	1	8	7	24	2	3	0.183	0.252	0.284
Grant Green (2B-OAK)	106	22	4	16	11	17	3	0	0.321	0.397	0.500
Jackie Bradley Jr (OF-BOS)	40	6	0	3	7	12	1	1	0.300	0.404	0.350
Jemile Weeks (2B-OAK)	110	24	1	11	16	22	5	0	0.300	0.408	0.364
Jurickson Profar (SS-TEX)	82	12	2	13	15	16	3	0	0.232	0.351	0.402
Kolten Wong (2B-STL)	102	13	0	11	5	13	3	0	0.294	0.321	0.382
Michael Choice (OF-OAK)	98	22	5	24	19	22	0	1	0.276	0.407	0.490
Mike Olt (3B-TEX)	72	5	1	6	9	32	0	0	0.139	0.235	0.236
Mike Zunino (C-SEA)	80	16	5	26	10	28	0	0	0.200	0.305	0.488
Nick Castellanos (OF-DET)	112	10	3	10	9	24	1	0	0.250	0.301	0.429
Nolan Arenado (3B-COL)	66	14	3	21	5	9	0	2	0.364	0.392	0.667
Oscar Taveras (OF-STL)	75	12	3	11	5	8	2	0	0.320	0.370	0.493
Stefen Romero (OF-SEA)	45	7	1	6	2	9	1	0	0.311	0.354	0.511
Wil Myers (OF-TAM)	94	15	3	17	14	31	1	1	0.298	0.387	0.457
Wilmer Flores (2B-NYM)	101	15	1	15	9	9	0	1	0.277	0.333	0.406

Word came down earlier in the week that Mike Olt would be checked out to see if he was having any vision problems, which would definitely help explain the poor start he is off to.
Ray wrote about the possibility of Dee Gordon being moved to second base on Friday, and it would definitely open a much cleaner path to the Majors for him given the current roster construction of the team. It could also lead him to being a trade candidate, which we discussed briefly in the comments.
A follower of mine on Twitter requested a profile of Stefen Romero, which will be up on Monday morning.
Arenado was called up last Sunday to the Majors, while Jackie Bradley was sent down to AAA with the return of David Ortiz to the lineup.
Travis d'Arnaud is out for another 6 weeks or so with a fractured left foot.

Player	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
Alex Colome (TAM)	27.2	20	8	7	0	12	27	2.28	1.16
Allen Webster (BOS)	14	10	5	5	1	6	17	3.21	1.14
Andy Oliver (PIT)	32.1	23	12	12	2	19	39	3.34	1.30
Chris Archer (TAM)	31	33	16	14	3	12	35	4.06	1.45
Danny Hultzen (SEA)	22.2	17	9	7	1	6	25	2.78	1.01
Gerrit Cole (PIT)	23.1	17	6	6	1	15	19	2.31	1.37
Jake Odorizzi (TAM)	27	21	10	10	4	9	36	3.33	1.11
James Paxton (SEA)	21	26	15	14	2	12	22	6.00	1.81
Jarred Cosart (HOU)	27.1	19	9	8	1	11	29	2.63	1.10
Jonathan Pettibone (PHI)	9.1	15	12	10	1	5	8	9.64	2.14
Kyle Gibson (MIN)	27	21	10	10	1	9	26	3.33	1.11
Mark Montgomery (NYY)	12	7	2	2	1	5	17	1.50	1.00
Michael Wacha (STL)	29	19	7	6	3	11	15	1.86	1.03
Sean Gilmartin (ATL)	36.2	34	13	11	2	15	20	2.70	1.34
Sonny Gray (OAK)	31	28	12	9	0	12	25	2.61	1.29
Trevor Bauer (CLE)	18	15	5	5	2	6	24	2.50	1.17
Tyler Skaggs (ARI)	26.1	29	22	18	0	12	24	6.15	1.56
Zack Wheeler (NYM)	30	31	19	16	3	16	36	4.80	1.57

There was news within BA's Prospect Notebook for Wednesday that Mets' top prospect Zack Wheeler had corrected a mechanical glitch, which has led to improved success in his recent starts.
Sonny Gray threw a complete game on Thursday against Fresno, striking out 6 and allowing just 4 hits and 2 walks, easily his best start of the year so far. If they keep losing starting pitchers in Oakland, they could call up Gray possibly.
Mark Montgomery seems likely to get the call to go to New York to work out of the bullpen soon, especially given the performance so far at AAA.
Trevor Bauer started on May 1^st for the Indians, walking 6 and striking out 5 in 5 innings of shutout baseball, after which he was promptly sent back to AAA. It sounded like he was tweaking with his starting spot on the rubber during the start, which could be a part of the reason why he walked as many in 5 innings as he had all season in the minors.

Low Level Prospect Review: Miguel Sano, 3B, Minnesota Twins

Jason Hunt — Thu, 02 May 2013 02:51:35 -0000

Every Friday I will be taking a look at a prospect in the lower levels of the minors who is a strong candidate to move toward the top of prospect lists, if they are not already near the top. It actually surprised me when I started looking through our list of prospects we have reviewed, and determined that we had not looked at one of the top 10 prospects in the minors right now in Miguel Sano.

Signed as a shortstop out of the Dominican Republic in 2009 to a bonus of $3.15 million, the story of Miguel Sano is extremely interesting, and I highly recommend that you check out the movie about his signing process, Pelotero! (available on Netflix Streaming) if you haven't already done so. Due to the prolonged signing process, Sano did not debut even in the Dominican Summer League until the 2010 season. He played in 20 games there, hitting .344/.463/.547 with 3 home runs and 10 runs batted in. Sent to the Twins' rookie affiliate to finish out the year, Sano added 4 more home runs to his season total while hitting .291 in 41 games.

The Twins eased him on during the 2011 season, as he was sent to short-season Elizabethton, where he hit .292/.352/.637 with 20 home runs, 59 runs batted in, and 45 total extra base hits. He spent some time at shortstop that year, but was primarily a third baseman. He was converted completely for the start of the 2012 season, and played third base exclusively that year. At the plate, Sano hit .258/.373/.521 with 28 home runs, 100 runs batted in, had 60 extra base hits in total, and drew 80 walks against 144 strikeouts. Promoted to High-A to start 2013, Sano is hitting .368/.435/.747 and is tied for the minor league lead with 9 home runs so far.

In terms of scouting, you're looking at a prospect who turns 20 in a week, and has already shown elite power potential in game. He is currently playing third base for the Twins' High-A affiliate, but there are questions about whether or not he can stay at the position as he continues to grow. If he can't, his arm and bat profile very well for a right field assignment. There are questions about the amount of strikeouts that he has, and whether or not his hit tool will be even average once he gets to the Majors, which could severely limit the utility of the power.

The Twins have been moving Sano along at a level per year, allowing him to continue his development on both sides of the ball. While his hitting thus far has been outstanding, I would have to believe that he will remain in High-A in the hopes that his defense at third base will continue to improve. There is clearly more positional value for Sano to stay there rather than having to move to a corner outfield spot, but that may still occur. Realistically, Sano seems most likely to debut in the Majors some time after the 2014 season, with late in the 2015 season most likely as of now. Even at that pace, he will still be just 22 years old when he gets there.

He has been known about as a top prospect since he signed, so the odds of him being owned in most dynasty leagues are high. With that, he is a prospect I would absolutely be targeting if you are already rebuilding with a two year plan.

For more on Sano and the Twins, check out SBNation's Twinkie Town. You can follow me on Twitter @jasonsbaseball.

Minor League Level Review (AA): Bogaerts Heating Up, Puig Returns In A Hurry

Jason Hunt — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:07:53 -0000

Player	AB	R	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
Anthony Rendon (3B-WAS)	48	8	2	7	14	9	0	0	0.292	0.462	0.500
Arismendy Alcantara (SS-CHC)	94	13	4	14	11	23	12	0	0.255	0.330	0.404
Brad Miller (SS-SEA)	90	17	4	12	10	21	3	1	0.278	0.356	0.478
Brian Goodwin (OF-WAS)	99	16	2	5	10	30	5	2	0.273	0.345	0.465
C.J. Cron (1B-LAA)	88	5	1	14	2	18	4	0	0.307	0.344	0.432
Christian Yelich (OF-MIA)	45	6	0	8	3	16	1	1	0.267	0.313	0.422
Danny Santana (SS-MIN)	98	9	0	9	2	15	2	1	0.235	0.248	0.296
Domingo Santana (OF-HOU)	55	6	3	9	8	23	3	0	0.255	0.359	0.509
George Springer (OF-HOU)	89	19	8	20	14	30	4	2	0.303	0.410	0.663
Joc Pederson (OF-LAD)	92	22	6	16	12	16	7	1	0.304	0.381	0.620
Jose Ramirez (2B-CLE)	94	19	1	10	11	12	12	3	0.277	0.349	0.340
Kaleb Cowart (3B-LAA)	85	10	1	3	8	25	3	1	0.188	0.266	0.282
Marcell Ozuna (OF-MIA)	42	6	5	15	3	9	1	0	0.333	0.383	0.810
Miles Head (3B-OAK)	86	8	2	4	4	23	0	1	0.174	0.220	0.279
Tyler Austin (OF-NYY)	86	16	1	12	17	28	1	0	0.256	0.379	0.360
Xander Bogaerts (SS-BOS)	83	12	0	8	9	24	2	0	0.301	0.370	0.410
Yasiel Puig (OF-LAD)	54	9	4	11	4	12	2	1	0.333	0.379	0.648

Rendon received the call to the Majors on the 20^th to replace the injured Ryan Zimmermann, and is 4 for 20 with a double in six games so far. It seems unlikely that the Nationals will keep Rendon in the Majors once Zimmermann returns, but it wouldn't surprise me if they sent him to AAA rather than back to AA.
With the injury to Giancarlo Stanton on Monday night, the Marlins wasted no time in calling up prospect Marcell Ozuna from AA. I picked him up in my NL-only league, pretty much because the best hitter on my team was Giancarlo Stanton. If he can provide a couple of home runs while Stanton is out, that will work for me.
Yasiel Puig was in the news this week, as he was arrested for driving 97 in a 50 MPH zone in Chattanooga a day before returning from the disabled list.
Jose Ramirez of the Indians is tied for the level in stolen bases with 12, and looks like he profiles as a better real-life prospect than a fantasy one, but if he can hit well enough to really let him steal bases, he could be interesting.

Player	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
Alex Meyer (MIN)	22	21	4	4	0	8	26	1.64	1.32
Alex Wood (ATL)	27	19	2	2	0	5	31	0.67	0.89
Anthony Ranaudo (BOS)	21.2	11	2	2	0	5	26	0.83	0.74
Brandon Workman (BOS)	23	13	9	8	2	5	28	3.13	0.78
Brian Flynn (MIA)	23	18	4	4	2	3	25	1.57	0.91
Burch Smith (SD)	26	15	6	4	1	4	31	1.38	0.73
Chad Bettis (COL)	26.2	27	9	9	3	2	30	3.04	1.09
J.R. Graham (ATL)	23.1	23	8	8	0	5	19	3.09	1.20
Jameson Taillon (PIT)	29.2	23	10	10	1	11	30	3.03	1.15
Jesse Biddle (PHI)	31	12	7	6	1	12	40	1.74	0.77
Jimmy Nelson (MIL)	27.2	18	9	4	0	5	32	1.30	0.83
Kevin Gausman (BAL)	28.2	31	17	12	2	1	29	3.77	1.12
Nick Tropeano (HOU)	25	25	8	6	2	5	29	2.16	1.20
Rafael Montero (NYM)	27.2	19	6	6	1	3	35	1.95	0.80
Taijuan Walker (SEA)	29	15	9	5	2	18	32	1.55	1.14
Tyler Matzek (COL)	18.1	15	6	6	1	13	20	2.95	1.53
Yordano Ventura (KC)	18.1	16	7	6	1	6	23	2.95	1.20
Zach Lee (LAD)	26	26	11	7	1	7	23	2.42	1.27

I wrote about Alex Wood earlier in the week, and am definitely watching to see if he can keep up this performance level.
Jesse Biddle has been excellent recently, striking out 16 and 10 in his last two starts. So far, the ridiculously low hits allowed seems the most likely to return to normal levels, but his strikeout rates have increased without a matching increase in walk rate.
At the start of the season, I would have likely bet money that Dylan Bundy would reach Baltimore to stay sooner than Kevin Gausman. However, with Bundy now shut down for six weeks after receiving a PRP injection, Gausman looks like the better bet.
It seems increasingly likely to me that the Mets promote Rafael Montero to AAA whenever Zack Wheeler ends up in the Majors, and really looks like he will be a big riser on top prospect lists by midseason.
Anthony Ranaudo had become somewhat of a lost prospect after poor performance since being drafted, but Ben Carsley over at Fire Brand of the AL wonders if he is regaining relevance. He keeps this performance (and the additional velocity associated with it) up, and he has to be in the discussion.
Another week, it seems, another pitching prospect emerging in the Padres' system, with Burch Smith being this week's prospect. He's sporting a 31:4 K/BB ratio, along with a 2.07 GO/AO ratio as well. The groundball rate isn't in line with his numbers from last season, so I'll be interested to see if they are in the same range in two weeks.

For more on the minor leagues and the amateur draft, check out SBNation's Minor League Ball. Have a question about a prospect? Feel free to leave it in the comments, or you can ask me over on Twitter as well.

Wonders of the Deep (Leagues): A Closer Look at Brandon Barnes

Jason Hunt — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:56:36 -0000

We are always looking to answer questions or for requests of specific players to profile. Feel free to post those requests and questions here in the comments or in the comments of any other post really, and we will look into it.

We received a request for a profile of Astros' outfielder Brandon Barnes, who has been tearing the cover off the ball in his 17 games so far this year to the tune of a .405/.488/.568 slash line. Barnes definitely does not fit the mold of a standard prospect, but there is definitely value there. What can we expect from Barnes going forward, and could he have just figured it out at the age of 27?

The Basics
Bats	Throws	Height	Weight	On 40-Man Roster	Age
Right	Right	6'2"	205 lbs.	Yes (3 options remain)	27

His History

Barnes was drafted out of high school by the Astros in the 6^th round of the 2005 draft, signing for a bonus of $130,000. As near as I can tell from my research, Barnes was not ranked in even the top 30 for the Astros by Baseball America his draft year, and actually was never ranked by any of the Major publications as a top prospect. When you look back on the performance in the minors, it appears pretty reasonable that he wasn't ranked. He struggled through his first four seasons in the minors, reaching full-season ball in 2008, and playing in more than 87 games in a season for the first time in 2009.

He showed solid power production in 2010 and 2011, hitting 28 and 15 home runs respectively, although most of the 2010 total came at known offense paradise Lancaster in the California League. He posted more interesting numbers in 2011: a .256/.327/.449 slash line, 21 home runs, 84 runs batted in, and 12 stolen bases between AA, AAA and a stint in the Australian League during the winter.

And apparently 2012 brought on the performance. He started the season back in AA, hitting .317/.377/.567 with 7 home runs, 31 RBI, and 7 stolen bases in 46 games before being promoted to AAA. He spent 62 games there, hitting .323/.383/.477 before having his contract purchased and promoted to the Majors. He finished up the 2012 season with a .204/.250/.265 slash line in the Majors across 43 games, and was rated very highly for his defense (0.6 bWAR just on defense in the Majors last year.)

What Can He Do For Fantasy Owners?

Barnes is currently in a platoon in right field with Fernando Martinez, and he has been seeing time at the other positions late in games because of his defensive prowess. He is hitting well right now, and if he is still available in AL-only leagues is worth a pickup to be sure. If he were to get a full season's worth of playing time, I could see an outfielder with double digit home runs (10-12 seem reasonable), right around 12-15 stolen bases, and posting a batting average in the .260-.270 range. Adjusted for the platoon, you're probably looking at him getting into somewhere between 30 and 40% of games, and those totals as a result. There are concerns about his ability to avoid strikeouts and also to draw walks, but so far the performance has been good this year.

Sources

Baseball America
Baseball Prospectus
Baseball Reference
The Crawfish Boxes

For more on Barnes and the Astros, check out SBNation's The Crawfish Boxes.
You can follow me on Twitter as well.

Coming Soon To A Stadium Near You: Alex Wood, LHP, Atlanta Braves

Jason Hunt — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 04:49:23 -0000

The Basics

Bats: Left
Throws: Left
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 215 lbs.
On 40-Man Roster: No
Age as of 4/29/13: 22

His History

Wood went undrafted out of high school, and attended the University of Georgia. He appeared in just one game as a freshman, at the end of the season after rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. He was the #1 starter for the Bulldogs in 2011, making 15 starts, striking out 79 and walking 25 in 102 innings pitched. In his sophomore year, Wood went 7-3 with a 2.73 ERA, 100 strikeouts, and 21 walks in 102 innings pitched. He was drafted by the Braves in the 2^nd round, and signed for a bonus of $700,000.

The Braves sent him to Low-A Rome after signing, where he made 13 starts, threw 52 innings, struck out 52, walked 14 and allowed 39 hits. The number that stood out was the ground ball rate, an excellent 2.09 for the season. Coming into the season, Baseball America ranked Wood as the #7 prospect in the Braves system, and he was sent to AA to start this year. He has 31 strikeouts against 5 walks, an ERA of 0.67, and a groundball ratio of 1.72 through 27 innings pitched.

The Scouting Report - Scouting reports are gathered from other internet sources and written reports, unless otherwise noted.

The thing that first stands out about Wood is his unique delivery (You can see an example from Youtube via Chris Blessing), although it appears after watching his start on the 17^th that he is extremely deceptive as a result of it. The initial concern when you see a pitcher with an odd delivery is that he won't be able to repeat it on a consistent basis, but Wood seems to be able to do so on a consistent basis. In terms of repertoire, Wood features a fastball which sits in the low 90s, an above-average changeup, and while he throws a breaking ball, it was not considered good enough to use in the Majors prior to the start of the season. Wood now features a knuckle-curve, which he learned while in Major League camp during Spring Training, and it sounds like it is working pretty well so far.

What's Keeping Him From Contributing Now?

For me, it's only 27 innings at AA so far with the new breaking ball, and I want to see him keep the performance going (you know, with the expected regression of ERA back) over a majority of the season. Add in that he needs to keep throwing innings and building up his endurance as well, and he seems unlikely to be up this season except maybe as a bullpen arm later in the year. The Braves don't have to add him to the 40-man roster for another two seasons, so there isn't a roster incentive to add him unless they believe he can help them down the stretch.

What Could He Do For Fantasy Owners Once He Gets There?

If the gains from adding a good breaking ball hold true, you are now looking at a left handed starting pitcher who would have three pitches which grade out as at least average or better (two plus), who has a tendency to get groundballs at a great rate. He has shown a solid strikeout rate so far, which has carried over from his debut season even before he added the knuckle-cuve. You could be looking at a pitcher who slots in the top 50 of starting pitchers once he arrives.

When Could He Arrive?

Wood seems likely to spend the entirety of 2013 at the AA level, and with more pitching prospects in the system at the higher levels, he seems most likely to get a shot sometime late in the 2014 season or early in the 2015 season. We could possibly see him as a late season call up to give them another option in the bullpen, but as of now even that seems a bit unlikely given the relievers there currently.

Sources

Baseball America
Baseball Prospectus
Baseball Reference
The Baseball Cube
Profile on Georgia Bulldogs Website
Talking Chop
Youtube

For more on Wood and the Braves, check out SBNation's Talking Chop.

You can follow me on Twitter @jasonsbaseball.

Minor League Level Review (High-A): Sano Not (Just) A Player, He Just Crushes A Lot

Jason Hunt — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 04:55:51 -0000

Player	AB	R	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
Addison Russell (SS-OAK)	46	5	0	1	10	21	3	0	0.174	0.321	0.239
Trevor Story (SS-COL)	70	8	1	4	8	32	2	0	0.157	0.263	0.271
Miguel Sano (3B-MIN)	81	19	9	23	8	23	1	0	0.370	0.429	0.765
Francisco Lindor (SS-CLE)	77	10	0	5	9	11	7	1	0.299	0.372	0.429
Blake Swihart (C-BOS)	52	6	0	5	6	10	2	0	0.231	0.310	0.346
Gregory Polanco (OF-PIT)	76	10	1	11	8	6	9	4	0.342	0.402	0.461
Alen Hanson (SS-PIT)	79	11	0	8	6	18	5	2	0.266	0.318	0.367
Jorge Soler (OF-CHC)	54	10	2	7	7	10	1	1	0.296	0.377	0.463
Maikel Franco (3B-PHI)	90	15	4	22	7	14	0	0	0.300	0.351	0.544
Courtney Hawkins (OF-CHW)	62	9	6	14	6	41	3	1	0.177	0.243	0.468
Nolan Fontana (SS-HOU)	75	20	2	18	24	16	4	2	0.387	0.535	0.600
Max Muncy (1B-OAK)	81	19	8	16	18	16	0	1	0.296	0.427	0.617
Sean Coyle (2B-BOS)	50	13	5	9	5	13	5	0	0.320	0.382	0.720
Gary Sanchez (C-NYY)	76	16	4	15	8	15	1	0	0.289	0.368	0.513
Javier Baez (SS-CHC)	88	15	4	13	3	28	2	0	0.250	0.274	0.489
Eddie Rosario (2B-MIN)	89	18	2	17	4	16	1	1	0.360	0.385	0.528
Will Swanner (C-COL)	52	4	1	3	5	30	1	1	0.135	0.211	0.231
Deven Marrero (SS-BOS)	51	9	0	2	9	10	5	0	0.294	0.400	0.451
Delino DeShields Jr (2B-HOU)	61	12	0	3	7	17	5	5	0.279	0.353	0.426

Sanchez is repeating High-A this year, but as John Sickels noted, he is still young for the level and has shown improved defensive statistics there. I'm inclined to agree with him that Sanchez will be in AA before season's end.
Hawkins has gotten off to an amazing three true outcomes start with Winston-Salem, having walked, struck out, or hit a home run in 75% of his plate appearances so far. South Side Sox' Jim Margalus had an interview with him from last week, and sounds like he's got a good head on his shoulders to help with these struggles.
Red Sox' prospects Sean Coyle and Deven Marrero are off to fast starts in Salem, while Blake Swihart continues to struggle at the plate. Marc Normandin of Over the Monster (and Fake Teams) gave us a couple of updates last week about Marrero and Swihart.
Sano is leading the level in home runs through Friday's games, and Jesse over at Twinkie Town reviewed what happened when he was ejected on the 21^st. Gotta say, it's been a long time since I've seen a batter come back from what he believed was a purpose pitch with a home run. The ejection stemmed more from the taunting afterward, as he, another player, and his manager were all ejected as he rounded the bases.

Player	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
Noah Syndergaard (NYM)	18	18	10	9	1	9	19	4.50	1.50
Henry Owens (BOS)	21	12	5	4	1	6	22	1.71	0.86
Archie Bradley (ARI)	28.2	22	5	4	1	10	43	1.26	1.12
Matt Wisler (SD)	20	14	3	3	0	4	19	1.35	0.90
Kyle Crick (SF)	9.2	10	6	1	0	9	12	0.93	1.97
Clayton Blackburn (SF)	22	14	4	4	2	2	25	1.64	0.73
Aaron Sanchez (TOR)	25.2	16	10	9	0	8	22	3.16	0.94
Kyle Zimmer (KC)	18.2	13	8	7	2	7	29	3.38	1.07
Drew Granier (OAK)	25	20	10	9	2	16	35	3.24	1.44
Tyler Anderson (COL)	27.2	26	10	9	3	7	24	2.93	1.19
Edwin Escobar (SF)	19	14	4	4	0	5	29	1.89	1.00
Jesse Hahn (TAM)	12	9	1	1	0	2	12	0.75	0.92
Justin Nicolino (MIA)	20	19	7	6	0	5	7	2.70	1.20
Nick Kingham (PIT)	20.2	18	10	9	2	4	20	3.92	1.06
A.J. Cole (WAS)	20	24	13	11	2	4	18	4.95	1.40
D.J. Baxendale (MIN)	23.1	16	5	4	1	5	20	1.54	0.90
John Lamb (KC)	13	13	5	5	0	4	8	3.46	1.31

Edwin Escobar is striking out over 13 batters an inning, but has kept his walk rate in line with previous years. If he can keep this up, we could be looking at yet another pitching prospect for the Giants.
I wasn't a fan of the A's trading A.J. Cole, and I'm still of the opinion that he can be a very good pitcher in the Majors.The performance so far this year is a bit of a mixed back, but I think he'll be just fine when we look at the whole season.
Archie Bradley has been dominant at High-A, leading the level in strikeouts. Another few starts like this, and it seems like it would almost be a waste of time to keep him at High-A.
John Lamb is on the path back after missing a full season due to Tommy John surgery, and so far the results look good. It wouldn't surprise me to see him in AA by the All-Star break, as he had been higher than that before
Our own Craig Goldstein wrote about Rays' prospect Jesse Hahn earlier this week, and to be honest he was someone who had fallen off my radar as well. Definitely worth watching, and I'll be very interested to see if he can keep this performance up for a major portion of the season.

Low Level Prospect Review: Stetson Allie, IF, Pittsburgh Pirates

Jason Hunt — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 03:22:41 -0000

Every Friday I will be taking a look at a prospect in the lower levels of the minors who is a strong candidate to move toward the top of prospect lists, if they are not already near the top. I had planned on writing about Rangers OF prospect Lewis Brinson, but it turns out that I had apparently forgotten that Craig Goldstein had written about him three weeks ago. As a result, I'll move down to the next player requested, who is a very interesting conversion project in Stetson Allie of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Converting prospects to or from anything can be extremely interesting, but many are borne of a specific set of failures. Whether they are in-game or just anticipated failures, players like Kenley Jansen and Rick Ankiel are where they in largely in part due to the fact that they were tried as something else, and did not have the Majors in their future as they played at the time.

The Pirates drafted Stetson Allie in the 2^nd round of the 2010 draft, as he was another player who fell due to signability concerns. Viewed as a two-way player in high school, the Pirates wanted him to pitch, and was thought very highly of by the industry as a prospect. Baseball Prospectus ranked Allie as the #38 overall prospect coming into the 2011 season, and there were multiple reports that Allie's raw arm strength was even better than #2 overall pick Jameson Taillon. However, Allie had not pitched much in high school, and was extremely raw as a result.

Since Allie was so raw as a pitcher, the Pirates sent him to extended spring training to start the 2011 season, and then sent him to their Short-Season affiliate in State College. He made 15 appearances that year (7 starts), posting a 6.58 ERA, allowing 20 hits, 20 earned runs, 29 walks and posting 28 strikeouts in 26 innings pitched. The Pirates promoted him to full season Low-A in West Virginia to start the 2012 season, and it would be an understatement to say it went badly. After two appearances (one start), Allie was sent back to extended spring training, but not before recording just two outs, allowing a hit, walking 8, and striking out 1 batter. When the short-season Gulf Coast League started up in June, the Pirates sent Allie there, with the sole intent of conversion to a hitter, primarily a third baseman. In 150 at bats, he hit .213/.314/.340 with 3 home runs, 19 runs batted in, and 2 stolen bases. Sent back to full season Low-A to start 2013, Allie has been tearing up the Sally League so far, hitting .356/.435/.658 with 6 home runs, 20 runs batted in, and 4 stolen bases.

Looking at Allie as a hitter, there is a lot of power potential there. He already has 6 home runs, and after watching some of his performance on MILB.tv and on Youtube, the power appears real. As with any statistics at this point in the season, the caveat of a small sample size holds true. That said, he has shown solid plate discipline so far, posting a 12% walk rate, but has also shown the proclivity to strikeout (26%) that you would expect from a power hitter. Both of these numbers are in line with the performance at rookie ball in 2012, so it could be telling us something. There are obviously questions about whether he will be able to hit enough as a prospect, but it's been very promising so far.

The key to his value (for me anyway) is what positional value he can add to his bat. He has played exclusively first base so far this year, but he played third last year, and if he can end up back over there as he moves up toward the Majors, his overall prospect value will jump drastically. He is going to have his ups and downs, simply because he hasn't had nearly as many reps as other players his age. That said, he is worth watching to see whether he can hit enough to show the power on a consistent basis as he moves up, and whether the Pirates will get a good return on the $2.5 million they invested in Allie back in 2010.

Sources
Baseball America
Baseball Prospectus
Baseball Reference
Pirates Prospects
Youtube

Minor League Level Review (Low-A): Nimmo on Fire, De Paula and Winker's Stock Rising

Jason Hunt — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 02:45:09 -0000

Every other Wednedsay, I will be taking a quick look at some of the top prospects at the Low-A level, including their stats for for the season, and if anything stands out about the performance. The season stats may not always tell us the whole story, but there are usually also some updates on how they are doing these things as opposed to just the numbers themselves. All statistics are courtesy of MILB.com, and are through the games of Monday, 4/22/13.

Player	AB	R	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
Byron Buxton (OF-MIN)	57	13	2	10	12	12	7	4	0.404	0.514	0.614
Andrew Toles (OF-TAM)	74	11	1	19	3	10	9	1	0.378	0.410	0.662
Renato Nunez (3B-OAK)	47	7	3	11	4	11	0	0	0.319	0.373	0.596
Dan Vogelbach (1B-CHC)	65	9	2	9	6	11	1	0	0.323	0.365	0.431
Carlos Correa (SS-HOU)	52	10	3	13	11	17	1	0	0.231	0.365	0.462
Clint Coulter (C-MIL)	46	6	2	5	4	13	0	0	0.174	0.245	0.348
Patrick Wisdom (3B-STL)	59	12	4	12	9	17	0	0	0.220	0.324	0.492
Corey Seager (SS-LAD)	55	8	1	4	7	16	2	2	0.236	0.323	0.364
Dorssys Paulino (SS-CLE)	46	3	0	1	5	12	1	2	0.217	0.294	0.217
Jesse Winker (OF-CIN)	58	6	1	7	10	12	0	0	0.276	0.382	0.431
Brandon Nimmo (OF-NYM)	66	18	1	11	10	14	2	1	0.424	0.513	0.576
Kevin Plawecki (C-NYM)	63	11	3	16	5	8	0	0	0.381	0.444	0.667
Stetson Allie (1B-PIT)	71	14	6	20	10	23	2	0	0.380	0.446	0.704
Nick Williams (OF-TEX)	68	14	7	16	3	20	2	1	0.324	0.356	0.676
Josh Bell (OF-PIT)	73	16	2	21	4	19	1	0	0.288	0.325	0.493
Lewis Brinson (OF-TEX)	73	9	2	8	5	27	4	0	0.247	0.313	0.370
Roman Quinn (SS-PHI)	69	8	2	6	4	22	9	1	0.246	0.297	0.377
Bubba Starling (OF-KCR)	64	9	2	4	4	26	1	0	0.156	0.217	0.297
Carlos Tocci (OF-PHI)	61	5	0	4	3	7	0	1	0.197	0.246	0.230
Dilson Herrera (2B-PIT)	57	12	1	9	11	14	2	1	0.263	0.386	0.368

Brandon Nimmo is starting to put it together, showing the tools that made him the 13^th overall pick back in 2011. Mike Newman of Fangraphs and Rotoscouting wrote up a profile on Nimmo last week after seeing him in person against Rome, and he could vault into top 100 lists if he can keep this up.
There were two players requested to be profiled when I asked for names last week, and so this week I will take an in-depth look at Rangers' OF Lewis Brinson. Next week will be the conversion project that has been crushing baseballs in West Virginia, Stetson Allie.
Carlos Tocci is one of the youngest players in the South Atlantic League, and it is showing a bit at this point. John Sickels wrote up a brief profile about Tocci on Monday, which is worth checking out.
Jesse Winker was a bit of a surprise draft pick at the end of the Fake Teams Dynasty League minor league draft this year, but looks more and more like it could be a great late rounder. The league plays walks in addition to the standard five hitting categories, and it's becoming pretty clear that Winker knows how to take a walk. I'm very interested to see if he can keep this up for the full season.
Clint Coulter has the potential to be an interesting prospect for fantasy owners, with the huge caveat about his defense. Nick Faleris of Baseball Prospectus wrote him up as a part of Monday's Ten Pack ($).

Player	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
Robert Stephenson (CIN)	17.1	23	14	12	1	6	27	6.23	1.67
Ismael Guillon (CIN)	12.1	10	14	14	1	22	21	10.22	2.59
Max Fried (SD)	13	11	5	5	0	8	18	3.46	1.46
Roberto Osuna (TOR)	13.1	11	5	5	2	2	18	3.38	0.98
Jose Berrios (MIN)	5	7	2	2	0	2	5	3.60	1.80
Lance McCullers (HOU)	13.2	17	9	4	0	6	14	2.63	1.68
Taylor Guerrieri (TAM)	12	7	3	2	0	3	6	1.50	0.83
Tyrell Jenkins (STL)	14	18	9	9	1	5	9	5.79	1.64
Joe Ross (SD)	14.2	5	2	2	0	6	15	1.23	0.75
Tyler Pike (SEA)	14	8	5	3	1	6	16	1.93	1.00
Miguel Almonte (KCR)	13	17	11	7	1	3	9	4.85	1.54
Rafael De Paula (NYY)	17.1	12	7	7	0	9	33	3.63	1.21
Eddie Butler (COL)	21.1	11	9	6	0	12	21	2.53	1.08
Chris Stratton (SF)	16.2	11	2	2	0	5	17	1.08	0.96
Joan Gregorio (SF)	17	12	3	2	0	1	23	1.06	0.77
C.J. Edwards (TEX)	18.1	11	6	5	0	5	22	2.45	0.87

Rafael De Paula has been getting a ton of play on Twitter, and why not when he is approaching nearly 18 K/9. I'll be looking for some video of his outings so far, and see if the numbers tell us the true story.
Gregorio's numbers jumped off the page, with a 23:1 K/BB ratio and just 12 hits allowed. The 0.32 GO/AO ratio isn't exactly what you'd hope to see, but I'll be interested to see if he can keep up the rest of the numbers, and frankly how he is doing it.
I have to imagine that based on the numbers so far, Ismael Guillon could be heading back to extended spring training at some point in the near future. Some of the game lines he has had so far have been unreal: 3.1 IP, 1 H, 4 ER, 9 BB, 5 K against Lake County on the 17^th, 1.2 IP, 2 H, 6 ER, 6 BB, 3 K against Lansing on the 22^nd. Good grief.
Another interesting name to watch this season is C.J. Edwards, who was a 48^th round pick in the 2011 draft, and who has a 1.46 GO/AO ratio to go with his 22:5 K/BB rate.

Minor League Level Review (AAA): Profar and Taveras Miss Time, Zunino Off to Hot Start

Jason Hunt — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 18:39:13 -0000

Every other Sunday, I will be taking a quick look at some of the top prospects at the AAA level, including their stats for for the season, and if anything stands out about the performance. The season stats may not always tell us the whole story, but there are usually also some updates on how they are doing these things as opposed to just the numbers themselves. All statistics are courtesy of MILB.com, and are through the games of Friday, 4/19/13.

Player	AB	R	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
Oscar Taveras (OF-STL)	38	7	1	4	2	4	1	0	0.289	0.325	0.421
Jurickson Profar (SS-TEX)	38	6	1	6	10	10	3	0	0.236	0.396	0.395
Nolan Arenado (3B-COL)	49	13	3	19	4	6	0	2	0.429	0.455	0.837
Chris Owings (SS-ARI)	72	12	1	8	4	20	5	1	0.361	0.403	0.514
Jemile Weeks (2B-OAK)	63	15	0	4	6	13	4	0	0.365	0.444	0.397
Grant Green (2B-OAK)	73	12	2	9	6	13	1	0	0.315	0.378	0.452
Michael Choice (OF-OAK)	62	14	4	17	11	16	0	1	0.274	0.390	0.516
Travis d'Arnaud (C-NYM)	36	12	1	8	12	8	0	0	0.250	0.429	0.472
Kolten Wong (2B-STL)	59	9	0	9	2	5	3	0	0.339	0.349	0.441
Mike Zunino (C-SEA)	46	10	4	18	6	17	0	0	0.217	0.327	0.587
Mike Olt (3B-TEX)	55	3	0	4	7	26	0	0	0.145	0.242	0.200
Dee Gordon (SS-LAD)	53	11	0	7	5	7	9	1	0.321	0.379	0.453
Hak-Ju Lee (SS-TAM)	43	11	1	7	11	9	6	2	0.419	0.537	0.605
Billy Hamilton (OF-CIN)	55	5	0	2	4	8	10	1	0.218	0.271	0.291
Nick Castellanos (OF-DET)	63	4	0	5	5	12	1	0	0.254	0.300	0.349
Wil Myers (OF-TAM)	50	7	0	11	9	15	0	0	0.300	0.393	0.380

Profar has missed a few games so far due to some nagging injuries, but had a great game against Oklahoma City on the 16^th where he was a double shy of the cycle.
Cardinals' top prospect Oscar Taveras had to deal with a personal matter to start the season, but has returned to action already and is off to a good start. I think he debuts for good at some point this season, and isn't going anywhere in a trade.
d'Arnaud just can't seem to catch a good break, as he will miss 6-8 weeks with a broken foot. Keep playing John Buck while he's hot, as he is now looking at even more playing time than was originally expected.
With the Dodgers getting so little production from third and shortstop, could we see Dee Gordon return to the Majors? He is hitting .321 with 9 stolen bases, but the caveat that it is Albuquerque (a known high offense environment) and the PCL.
Wil Myers has been a bit up and down with his performance this year, and Baseball Nation's Rob Neyer speculated about whether he should already be in the Rays' lineup. I would think he should, but that has more to do with me really wanting to see what he can do in the Majors already. Bear in mind that Myers isn't on the 40-man roster as of yet so that would require a move as well.
Myers' teammate in Durham, Hak-Ju Lee, has been hitting out of his mind, ~~and I wonder if we could see him should Yunel Escobar continue to struggle like he has so far at the plate~~. UPDATE: Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times is reporting that Lee has torn ligaments in his knee, and will likely miss the rest of the season.

Player	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
Danny Hultzen (SEA)	22.2	17	9	7	1	6	25	2.78	1.01
James Paxton (SEA)	14.2	13	7	6	0	7	17	3.68	1.36
Zack Wheeler (NYM)	18.1	20	13	10	1	12	21	4.91	1.75
Michael Wacha (STL)	16	11	5	4	2	7	6	2.25	1.13
Tyler Skaggs (ARI)	15.1	18	12	11	0	5	15	6.46	1.50
Jarred Cosart (HOU)	12.2	7	1	1	0	5	15	0.71	0.95
Gerrit Cole (PIT)	12.1	13	5	5	1	6	12	3.65	1.54
Tony Cingrani (CIN)	14.1	3	0	0	0	2	26	0.00	0.35
Jake Odorizzi (TAM)	17	13	6	6	1	5	25	3.18	1.06
Chris Archer (TAM)	15	15	7	7	0	5	18	4.20	1.33
Kyle Gibson (MIN)	15.1	16	7	7	1	3	15	4.11	1.24
Allen Webster (BOS)	10	7	1	1	1	3	12	0.90	1.00
Trevor Bauer (CLE)	13	10	3	3	1	4	16	2.10	1.08

I was able to see Hultzen for his start on April 9^th, and overall he pitched reasonably well. The biggest thing I was hoping to see from him was a return to the control he had shown at AA last year, and it did manifest itself while I was there.
Cingrani has already received the call, and you can read what I thought of him going forward here.
My post about Red Sox prospect Allen Webster was going to run on Monday, but with him getting the call to make the second start of Sunday's doubleheader, we moved that post to Saturday.
Archer started one of the two games of a doubleheader on Saturday, and from the looks of it, struggled later on in the start with his release point, according to Bernie Pleskoff. It remains to be seen when he could be called upon to start for the Rays, especially given that his teammate is pitching even better at the moment.

Coming Soon to A Stadium Near You: Allen Webster, RHP, Boston Red Sox

Jason Hunt — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 01:00:41 -0000

Throughout the minor league season, I will be writing about a prospect (normally) every Monday who has reached the AA level or higher that could be on your fantasy roster by season's end, and what you should know about them. Today's prospect skyrocketed was traded last season as a part of the Adrian Gonzalez deal with the Dodgers, and will make the start on Sunday for the Red Sox. That prospect is right handed pitcher Allen Webster.

The Basics
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 190 lbs.
On 40 man Roster: Yes (1 option used)
Age as of 4/15/13: 23

His History

Webster is that developmental success story that you hope to hear. Taken in the 2008 draft in the 18th round by the Dodgers, Webster signed for a mere pittance of a bonus to the tune of $20,000. The Dodgers sent him to their rookie affiliate for that season, where he posted a 13:17 strikeout-to-walk rate and a 1.86 GO/AO rate in 18 innings pitched. The team kept him back in their rookie league affiliates for the 2009 season, throwing a combined 68 innings, striking out 77 and walking 17 batters while allowing just 58 hits and posting another excellent 1.83 GO/AO rate.

Los Angeles sent him to the Midwest League for his first full season assignment for 2010, where his walk rate spiked a bit up to 3.6 per 9 and his strikeout rate dropped to 7.6. However, the groundball rate was still excellent, and Baseball America ranked him as the Dodgers' fifth best prospect. They sent him to High-A to start 2011, promoting him after just 9 starts there to AA Chattanooga. His numbers weren't great there, as the peripherals were similar to his time in Low-A, but with a drop in his strand rate and an increased BABIP, leading in part to a 5.04 ERA. Despite that, the groundball rate at AA was better than ever, over 2.00 for the second time in his career.

Baseball America ranked him as the #2 prospect in the Dodgers' system coming into the 2012 system, and the Dodgers sent him to AA for a second run through. He made 22 starts with Chattanooga before being traded to the Red Sox, where he made 2 starts to finish up the season. The groundball rate was over 2.00 again between both stops, but the walk rate rose over 4 per 9 with an improved strikeout rate approaching 9 per 9 innings. The Red Sox added him to the 40-man roster during the offseason, and so far he has made two starts at AAA Pawtucket with 12 strikeouts, 3 walks, 7 hits allowed, and a 1.43 GO/AO rate in 10 innings. (One start was suspended due to weather, so the numbers will be available later in the season.)

The Scouting Report - Scouting reports are gathered from other internet sources and written reports, unless otherwise noted.

Webster features a mid 90s fastball that is rated as plus pretty consistently, and has a ton of movement at times. He also throws a changeup which is also considered above-average, along with a breaking ball that showed a ton of downward break. He tends to induce a lot of weak contact, which leads to the high number of ground balls he induces. He has issues with his control at times, but it seems (after watching his start on the 15th) that it stems in part from the massive amounts of movement and sink he gets on his pitches.

What's Keeping Him From Contributing Now?

The Red Sox have decided to bring up Webster to make a spot start on Sunday as a part of the doubleheader, but realistically, he should probably get some more innings at AAA. With there not really being a clear opening in the rotation in the Majors, it's not likely he will be up to stay, barring an injury. He could use a bit more time it appears to work on his command, but I'm not sure if it gets substantially better if he spends the full season in the minors.

What Could He Do For Fantasy Owners Once He Gets There?

For me, it seems like Webster could be a streaming type at his initial call up. You would ideally hope to see the pitcher that strikes out a batter per inning while still limiting the walks and getting a ton of grounders. That said, a more realistic line is probably an ERA around 4.00, a WHIP around 1.25-1.30 (depending on BABIP really), and about 7 strikeouts per 9 innings. Still a good starting pitcher, but with the potential for a brutal start higher than your average starting pitcher.

When Could He Arrive?

~~He will likely see some time in Boston this year~~,He is being called up to make a spot start tomorrow, but his opportunity to cement himself looks brighter for 2014, as John Lackey is on a club option which seems very likely to be declined. By then, he could be competing with the Red Sox' other top pitching prospect, Matt Barnes, for a spot.

Sources

Baseball America
Baseball Prospectus
Baseball Reference
MILB.com

For more on Webster and the Red Sox, check out SBNation's Over the Monster.

You can follow me on Twitter @jasonsbaseball.

Low Level Prospect Review: Josh Bell, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates

Jason Hunt — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 04:13:28 -0000

Every Friday I will be taking a look at a prospect in the lower levels of the minors who is a strong candidate to move toward the top of prospect lists, if they are not already near the top. This week's player missed nearly all of last year due to injury, and has fallen on many top prospect lists as a result. Today's prospect: outfielder Josh Bell of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The 2011 draft was widely expected to be a very deep draft, and with the expectation of some sort of spending cap for the 2012 season, many teams were expected to spend like the money would rot if they didn't. The Pirates had the top pick in the draft that year, and selected UCLA pitcher Gerrit Cole. However, this post isn't about Cole, but rather their second pick in that draft. At pick #61 (the first in the second round), the Pirates took a player that was widely expected to attend college in Josh Bell, so much so that he sent letters to the teams telling them not to draft him due to his commitment to the University of Texas. In a move that would be essentially impossible under the new draft rules, the Pirates were able to get Bell signed for a $5 million bonus, a cost which was more in line with his talent level but not his draft spot.

Bell signed too late to debut in 2011, but was sent to full-season Low-A in West Virginia to start the 2012 season. However, he suffered a knee injury after appearing in 15 games last year, and missed the remainder of the season. The stats are only a little bit helpful due to the sample size, but he did hit .274/.288/.403 with one home run, 11 runs batted in, and a stolen base in 66 plate appearances. He has gotten off to a mixed start this year at the same level, hitting .254/.302/.441 with eight doubles, one home run, and 16 runs batted in over 59 plate appearances.

When you start to look at Bell from a scouting perspective, you see a switch-hitting corner outfield profile with the potential for both plus power and possibly a plus hit tool as well. He is expected to be a middle of the order bat who can also be at least an average defender in a corner outfield spot. It doesn't sound like he is expected to provide stolen bases, but there is still more than enough value from home runs and batting average expected down the road to make him very interesting for fantasy owners.

Taking a look for myself, Bell has appeared in three games for West Virginia that have been on MILB.tv. In addition, Mike Newman of Rotoscouting.com just posted some video (which, as it turns out, was of the same games) over at Youtube of Bell. Overall, I saw a player who would show flashes of what he could be (a double to the right-center alley that was crushed, solid base running, excellent bat speed), but was extremely raw. His swing stood out to me as having excellent potential, but needing improved consistency. He would lay off of good breaking balls in the dirt, but then chase after high fastballs. He is a bit of what you would expect from a player with just over 100 professional plate appearances: high potential, inconsistent in approach, but with signs that it is definitely in there.

Overall, it is clear that there is a ton of upside for Bell long-term, but it could be some slow going of it. We ranked him as our #24 outfield prospect coming into the season, as there is the upside of a 25-30 home run bat in him, but it could be a few years before we see him arrive in Pittsburgh.

Sources:

Baseball America
Baseball Prospectus
Baseball Reference
PiratesProspects.Com
Youtube.com

Minor League Level Review (AA): More Puig and Rendon, Goodwin and Matzek Start Slow

Jason Hunt — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 22:06:31 -0000

Every other Wednesday, I will be taking a quick look at some of the top prospects at the AA level, including their stats for the previous two weeks, and if anything stands out about the performance. Obviously two weeks isn't a particularly large sample size, but there are usually also some updates on how they are doing these things as opposed to just the numbers themselves. All statistics are courtesy of MILB.com, and are through the games of Monday, 4/15/13.

Player	AB	R	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
Tyler Austin (OF-NYY)	47	8	1	10	4	14	1	0	0.255	0.314	0.404
Brian Goodwin (OF-WAS)	51	8	0	1	5	15	1	1	0.255	0.333	0.392
Anthony Rendon (3B-WAS)	42	8	2	7	11	7	0	0	0.333	0.473	0.571
Danny Santana (SS-MIN)	44	3	0	5	2	7	1	1	0.273	0.304	0.318
Xander Bogaerts (SS-BOS)	41	4	0	2	3	14	0	0	0.171	0.171	0.398
Brad Miller (SS-SEA)	39	9	2	4	6	8	2	1	0.359	0.444	0.615
Yasiel Puig (OF-LAD)	36	5	2	7	4	8	2	0	0.389	0.450	0.667
Joc Pederson (OF-LAD)	44	13	3	8	2	5	3	0	0.273	0.298	0.591
George Springer (OF-HOU)	41	7	2	10	7	17	2	1	0.268	0.388	0.512
Miles Head (3B-OAK)	50	6	2	3	1	11	0	1	0.220	0.250	0.380
Kaleb Cowart (3B-LAA)	39	5	0	0	6	12	2	1	0.128	0.261	0.128
C.J. Cron (1B-LAA)	42	2	0	8	2	9	3	0	0.262	0.326	0.381
Domingo Santana (OF-HOU)	39	4	2	5	7	16	3	0	0.231	0.348	0.487

Well, at some point Puig has to stop hitting like this, right? Is it going to be in AAA, or even in the Majors later this year? The Dodgers can wait on him with what they have already in the Majors, but at some point it seems like he will replace Andre Ethier in their outfield.
I'm still not sure where the Nationals find a spot for Anthony Rendon in the near future, but it seems that he's likely to force the issue sooner rather than later.
George Springer continues to do about what he's expected to: provide some power, steal some bases, and strike out a bunch. He may be ready for the Majors by season's end, but with the Astros unlikely to be competitive there isn't really any rush to move him up past AAA.
I find Danny Santana to be an interesting prospect in so much as his path to the Majors isn't blocked by anyone of consequence as he moves up the system. Whether or not he can be of a ton of use to fantasy owners remains to be seen, but there is almost nothing between him and the starting shortstop job in Minnesota other than time.
Three players we haven't seen yet at the AA level are Jake Marisnick, Christian Yelich, and Marcell Ozuna of the Marlins. All three are on the disabled list to start the season, and hopefully will be returning soon.

Player	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
Jameson Taillon (PIT)	11	9	2	2	1	4	14	1.64	1.18
Rafael Montero (NYM)	16.2	11	4	4	1	1	21	2.16	0.72
Alex Meyer (MIN)	10	12	3	3	0	3	14	2.70	1.50
Kevin Gausman (BAL)	10	10	7	5	1	0	13	4.50	1.00
Zach Lee (LAD)	17	14	4	2	1	4	15	1.06	1.06
Jimmy Nelson (MIL)	16	11	7	3	0	3	20	1.69	0.88
Taijuan Walker (SEA)	16	12	7	4	2	10	19	2.25	1.38
Brian Flynn (MIA)	17	11	2	2	2	3	19	1.06	0.82
Nick Tropeano (HOU)	14	13	4	4	2	2	15	2.57	1.07
Yordano Ventura (KC)	10	8	2	2	0	2	12	1.80	1.00
Tyler Matzek (COL)	8.2	5	2	2	0	9	11	2.08	1.61

Kevin wrote about Montero a few weeks ago, and he is sure looking like a top prospect. I'll be looking to check out some of his starts as they become available on MILB.tv, as he could end up with AAA Las Vegas (and potentially visiting Sacramento) before the end of the season.
The Rockies have pushed Tyler Matzek to AA this year after he led the California League in both strikeouts AND walks. He's shown high-ceiling potential, but his lack of control is going to keep him from reaching that potential at this point. Easily one of the more frustrating prospects to follow at this point.
I included Marlins' prospect Brian Flynn as a potential extremely deep-sleeper at this point. It's extremely early, and the performance so far this year is out of his norm, but I'm always interested when a pitcher is striking out a batter per inning and getting groundballs at a good rate (1.07 GO/AO so far). Is he likely to be much of anything? Probably not. But I want to see if this performance sticks or goes away soon.
Nelson is an interesting prospect in a system that is in need of a pitching prospect that can come in and really establish themselves. Whether Nelson can be that is still a work in progress, as he needed to work on his control coming into the season. So far so good, and I wonder if at some point this year he moves up to AAA as well.

Coming Soon to A Stadium Near You: Tony Cingrani, LHP, Cincinnati Reds

Jason Hunt — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 14:41:42 -0000

Throughout the minor league season, I will be writing about a prospect every Monday who has reached the AA level or higher that could be on your fantasy roster by season's end, and what you should know about them. Today's prospect skyrocketed through the minor league system last year, starting at High-A but finishing up in the bullpen for the Major League team. With starting pitcher Johnny Cueto forced from his start on Saturday with a strained triceps muscle, the Reds could need a starting pitcher for his next turn in the rotation. Enter Tony Cingrani.

The Basics
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 215 lbs.
On 40 man Roster: Yes (1 option used)
Age as of 4/15/13: 23

His History

Cingrani had struggled pretty mightily as a junior at Rice in 2010, posting an 8.59 ERA in 22 innings with 13 strikeouts and 16 walks in 6 starts. From the 2013 Baseball America Prospect Handbook:

Cingrani was so bad as a Rice junior that he asked his coaches if they wanted him to come back for his senior season. The Owls simplified his delivery and fixed a timing issue in which his arm lagged behind his lower half, and the results were immediate.

Rice used him almost exclusively as a reliever for his senior year, with substantially better results. In 2 starts and 32 relief appearances, he recorded 12 saves, struck out 66 and walked 10 in 57 innings pitched. As a result, he ended up taken in the third round by the Reds, and was given a signing bonus of $210,000.

The Reds converted him back to the rotation upon signing, and sent him to their short season affiliate in the Pioneer League. In 13 starts with Billings, Cingrani posted a 1.75 ERA, allowed just 35 hits, and struck out 80 with 6 walks in 51 innings pitched. The Reds challenged him with a High-A assignment in the California League to start 2012, and after just 10 starts (71 K, 13 BB in 56 IP), promoted him to AA Pensacola. While his walk total spiked there, he still maintained his high strikeout rate (101 in 89 IP), and was called upon to finish his season as a lefty out of the Reds' bullpen.

The organization sent him back to AAA to start the 2013 season, and in three starts so far for Louisville he has a 26/2 K/BB ratio in 17 innings pitched, with a ridiculously low 3 hits allowed.

The Scouting Report - Scouting reports are gathered from other internet sources and written reports, unless otherwise noted.

Cingrani features an above-average fastball and above-average changeup, while also throwing a slider which is considered a work in progress. The scouting reports I have read point to a pitcher who is extremely deceptive with his delivery, which helps with his current repertoire. There are questions about the slider enough so that it's not 100% clear yet whether he will end up in the rotation or bullpen. From Baseball America's Prospect Hot Sheet on Friday (h/t to Reds Minor Leagues):

Cingrani has improved his slider a bit this year, and more and more it's looking like he could be a big league starter, although his fallback position as a power reliever is an even safer bet.

There seems to be some question as to whether or not he is throwing a slider or a curveball, as noted by Doug Gray of RedsMinorLeagues.com and J.J. Cooper of Baseball America in the post at Reds Minor Leagues above. After watching his starts on MILB.tv this year, it sure looks like a curveball, with break appearing from 11-5 and fooling a couple of hitters in yesterday's start.

I watched most of Cingrani's three starts on MILB.tv, and the thing that stands out to me is that it seems like his command is very good, especially with his fastball, and that overall his throwing motion is very easy and deceptive. He relied heavily on his fastball in the first start, and the broadcasters mentioned that he was in the 92-94 range with it during the game. (This was the game where he struck out 14 over 6 no-hit innings). The Mud Hen hitters seemed to be completely overmatched at times, despite velocity which was good but not at a level of being overpowering. They did better in limited appearances in his third start, also against Toledo, but they still struck out five times in just two innings. Over his next two starts he started to do a better job of mixing in his pitches better, especially the breaking ball.

What's Keeping Him From Contributing Now?

Cingrani is already on the 40-man roster, so getting him onto the 25-man roster isn't likely to be an issue if Cueto does miss extended time. The team wanted him to keep working on starting, and with a full rotation at the Majors there wasn't a lot of reason to keep him in Cincinnati. That said, the team only had him throw two innings on his turn yesterday.

What Could He Do For Fantasy Owners Once He Gets There?

The potential for a high strikeout total from Cingrani is there, along with excellent ratios. Keep in mind that he did show a control blip when he moved to AA last year, but seems to have been fine so far this year. If you are looking for a lottery ticket in a starting pitcher in shallow leagues, I would absolutely take a shot with him. He is absolutely worth a look in almost all leagues 12 teams or deeper.

When Could He Arrive?

Well, we should know more about the Cueto injury by today. If Cueto can't make his next start, Cingrani seems most likely to be called up for his turn in the rotation. If he isn't called up at this point, he's still likely to debut some point in the season, especially if the Reds believe he will pitch better than Mike Leake.

Sources

Baseball America
Baseball America Prospect Handbook 2013
The Baseball Cube
Baseball Prospectus
Baseball Reference
RedsMinorLeagues.com
Rice University Athletics Website

Minor League Level Review (High-A): Archie Bradley Dominates, Addison Russell Hurt

Jason Hunt — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 21:09:56 -0000

Every other Sunday, I will be taking a quick look at some of the top prospects at the High-A level, including their stats for the previous two weeks, and if anything stands out about the performance. Obviously two weeks isn't a particularly large sample size, but there are usually also some updates on how they are doing these things as opposed to just the numbers themselves. All statistics are courtesy of MILB.com, and are through the games of Friday, 4/12/13.

Player	AB	R	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
Addison Russell (SS-OAK)	8	0	0	0	2	4	0	0	0.250	0.400	0.250
Trevor Story (SS-COL)	30	2	1	2	4	15	1	0	0.133	0.278	0.267
Miguel Sano (3B-MIN)	33	6	2	4	3	9	0	0	0.364	0.417	0.636
Francisco Lindor (SS-CLE)	28	6	0	3	3	1	5	0	0.429	0.484	0.607
Blake Swihart (C-BOS)	18	1	0	2	1	3	0	0	0.111	0.158	0.222
Gregory Polanco (OF-PIT)	32	5	1	4	2	4	5	0	0.281	0.333	0.438
Alen Hanson (SS-PIT)	39	5	0	2	1	9	3	0	0.205	0.225	0.282
Jorge Soler (OF-CHC)	23	6	2	4	4	4	0	1	0.435	0.519	0.739
Maikel Franco (3B-PHI)	35	6	2	10	3	7	0	0	0.286	0.342	0.629
Courtney Hawkins (OF-CHW)	23	3	3	6	0	15	1	1	0.174	0.174	0.539

Russell has only played in two games so far, as he tweaked his ankle running out a base hit and is also dealing with a back strain. The team put him on the disabled list as a result of this, and it's not clear when he could return to the lineup.
Hawkins is leading the Carolina League in home runs, but is also striking out at a 65% clip, and neither of those are sustainable. It's early still, but it's a bit concerning that he doesn't even have one walk yet.
Given that Polanco is leading the Florida State League in stolen bases, I would think it a fair assumption that he has recovered completely from his ankle injury at the end of last season.
Sano and teammate Eddie Rosario have lead Fort Myers to start off the season with 8 straight wins, and it seems like a possibility that one or both of them could be promoted before the end of the minor league season.

Player	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
Noah Syndergaard (NYM)	4	3	0	0	0	1	5	0.00	1.00
Henry Owens (BOS)	10	6	2	2	1	3	9	1.80	0.90
Archie Bradley (ARI)	11.2	7	0	0	0	3	19	0.00	0.63
Matt Wisler (SD)	10	6	0	0	0	2	11	0.00	0.80
Kyle Crick (SF)	7.2	9	6	1	0	7	9	1.17	2.09
Clayton Blackburn (SF)	11	5	1	1	1	1	12	0.82	0.55
Aaron Sanchez (TOR)	10	3	3	3	0	3	7	2.70	0.60
Kyle Zimmer (KC)	11	4	3	2	2	2	16	1.64	0.55

Bradley was dominant in his second start of the season, striking out 10 and walking none over 6 innings pitched. I'll be very interested to see if he can keep this type of performance up in the California League, but it wouldn't surprise me if he did.
Zimmer seems like a candidate for a midseason promotion given his college pedigree and his performance out of the gate so far. He is expected to move quickly by many in the industry, and it seems that it is a very real possibility.
Lost a bit in amongst the other numerous pitching prospects in the Padres' system is Matt Wisler, who has been lights out so far this year. He seems primed to make a jump onto top 100 lists and toward the top of the Padres' system if he can continue the performance from last year and so far this year.
Henry Owens is a pitcher I am watching very intently this year, as he posted video game strike out totals (130 in 100 innings) last year. The main knock on Owens' has been his ability to repeat his delivery and release point consistently, and I'm hoping to catch him on MILB.tv in one of his upcoming starts.

For more coverage of the draft and the minor leagues, be sure to check out SBNation's Minor League Ball with John Sickels. You can follow me on Twitter @jasonsbaseball.

Low Level Prospect Review: Jorge Soler, OF, Chicago Cubs

Jason Hunt — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 23:23:56 -0000

Every Friday I will be taking a look at a prospect in the lower levels of the minors who is a strong candidate to move toward the top of prospect lists, if they are not already near the top. This week's player is in the news for all the wrong reasons this week, but is still considered one of the top prospects in the minors. He was playing at High-A Daytona, but will miss the next five games due to suspension.

The Cubs made a splash last season with the signing of Cuban defector Jorge Soler to a 9 year, $30 million contract just before the new international signing rules took effect. He signed at the age of 20, and was sent to the Cubs' Arizona League affiliate to start his professional career. After 14 games there, he was promoted to the Cubs' Low-A Midwest League affiliate in Peoria, and finished his season with a .299/.369/.463 slash line, 5 home runs, 25 runs batted in, 12 stolen bases, 12 walks and 19 strikeouts in 34 games played.

The reports coming into the season all pointed toward a potential five-tool athlete with a right-field profile. We had Soler as our #8 fantasy outfield prospect during the offseason, behind yesterday's discussed prospect, Oswaldo Arcia. He is known specifically for his plus power potential, which could rate amongst the best in the minors. In addition, he is expected to potentially be a five-category contributor with middle-of-the-order upside. There were some questions about his hit tool, which remain based on the sample size we have so far.

He is hitting .435/.519/.739 with 2 home runs in 6 games so far in High-A, but after last night we don't really know when he will be back in a game for Daytona. You can read all of the details of last night's incident from the post at Bleed Cubbie Blue, but needless to say it's not what you wanted to see from a top prospect. Grabbing a bat and charging into the opponent's dugout will unfortunately open up questions about makeup which may not be able to be ignored for a while. Soler was suspended for five games, and it sounds like the Cubs expect the incident to stay in the past at this point.

Realistically, I'm not sure how much this really affects his standing as a top prospect. It sounds like the whole thing might have started as a misunderstanding, which escalated to a point it never should have. That doesn't excuse the behavior by any means, but I wonder if this becomes a single point in his history rather than a potential pattern in the future. Soler still has the potential to be a top-tier fantasy outfielder, with the potential to provide 25+ home runs along with double digit stolen bases and a solid batting average. He even has the potential to have more value in OBP leagues, as he has shown an excellent eye to this point as well. It could potentially be a buying opportunity if you believe this is an isolated incident, and I would definitely reach out to any owners who are feeling skittish about Soler now.

Sources
Baseball Reference
Baseball America
Baseball Prospectus
MILB.COM

For more on Soler and the Chicago Cubs, be sure to check out SBNation's Bleed Cubbie Blue.

Jason Hunt is a contributor to Fake Teams. You can follow him on Twitter @jasonsbaseball.

Minor League Level Review (Low-A): Brinson and Buxton Start the Season Hot

Jason Hunt — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 23:31:07 -0000

Every other Wednesday, I will be taking a quick look at some of the top prospects at the Low-A level, including their stats for the previous two weeks, and if anything stands out about the performance. Obviously two weeks isn't a particularly large sample size, but there are usually also some updates on how they are doing these things as opposed to just the numbers themselves. All statistics are courtesy of MILB.com, and are through the games of Monday, 4/8/13.

South Atlantic League

David Dahl (OF) - Asheville (COL)
Date	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS
4/4/2013	4	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
Total	4	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0

Dahl was a bit of a story over the weekend, as it was announced that he had been removed from the Low-A roster and sent back to Extended Spring Training. After a little while, he noted on Twitter that he had missed his flight to Asheville, and would be working on improving his attitude. It sounds to me like the Rockies were not happy with whatever decision he made that caused him to miss that flight, and it remains to be seen how long he will remain in XST until being sent to play again. Reports on his makeup have been excellent to this point, so hopefully whatever the issue is will turn out to be a one-time occurrence only.

Lewis Brinson (OF) - Hickory (TEX)
Date	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS
4/5/2013	5	0	3	0	1	0	1	1	0
4/6/13 (2)	7	1	2	1	2	1	4	1	0
4/7/2013	5	1	2	1	2	0	0	1	0
4/8/2013	5	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
Total	22	2	7	2	5	1	8	3	0

Brinson has been tearing it up so far, showing off both his power and speed to go with a .318 batting average. Craig wrote about him last week, and the thing that still sticks out is just how high his ceiling can potentially be. Brinson is likely to get help with his prospect value due to his potential to stay in center field long term, and could be a huge riser on prospect lists for next year.

Bubba Starling (OF) - Lexington (KC)
Date	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS
4/5/2013	4	0	1	0	0	0	3	0	0
4/6/13 (2)	5	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0
4/7/2013	3	2	0	0	0	1	2	0	0
4/8/2013	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Total	16	2	1	0	0	2	8	0	0

Starling is finally making his full-season debut at the age of 20 (he'll be 21 in August), and it's not exactly what anyone wanted to see from him, even with the massive small sample size caveat. The reports on Starling have always pointed to a player who could strike out a lot, and early on it is showing.

Midwest League

Dorssys Paulino (SS) - Lake County (CLE)
Date	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS
4/4/2013	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0
4/5/2013	4	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0
4/6/2013	4	0	2	0	0	0	1	1	0
4/7/2013	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
4/8/2013	4	1	2	0	0	0	2	0	1
Total	20	1	5	0	0	1	8	1	1

Paulino has a .250/.286/.250 slash line so far in the Midwest League, as well as three errors in 11 chances so far. It's early, and Paulino is young for the level still (18 years old). The defensive numbers should come back into a more reasonably range, although reports point to him ending up at second base in the long-term.

Byron Buxton (OF) - Cedar Rapids (MIN)
Date	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS
4/4/2013	5	2	2	0	2	0	1	1	0
4/5/2013	3	1	2	1	1	1	0	1	0
4/6/2013	3	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0
4/7/2013	5	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
4/8/2013	4	2	1	1	3	1	3	0	0
Total	20	6	10	2	6	3	5	2	0

The small sample size reminders go in both negative and positive directions, as Buxton has been absolutely destroying the Midwest League so far with a .500/.565/.950 slash line and a pair of steals to go with it. I have probably been a bit lower than most on Buxton, but he's showing all the tools that made him the #2 pick, and is making consistent contact as well.

Carlos Correa (SS) - Quad Cities (HOU)
Date	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS
4/4/2013	5	0	2	0	3	0	2	0	0
4/5/2013	3	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	0
4/6/2013	7	1	4	1	5	0	1	1	0
4/7/2013	5	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
4/8/2013	3	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0
Total	23	3	6	1	8	4	6	1	0

The top pick in last year's draft had a great game on Friday night, filling up all five fantasy categories in the game. In contrast to Paulino, he has made all 14 chances without an error.

Joe Ross (P) - Fort Wayne (SD)
Date	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K
4/4/2013	5	1	0	0	0	1	4
Total	5	1	0	0	0	1	4

I was able to watch part of Ross' start on MILB.tv on Thursday, and real quickly I noticed that he was commanding his pitches well, although with some exceptions where he looked almost like he was overthrowing a bit. The delivery looks like it requires a bit of effort, but not so much that I'm very concerned just yet. Craig wrote up Ross last month, which you can find here.

Max Fried (P) - Fort Wayne (SD)
Date	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K
4/5/2013	4	1	1	1	0	4	5
Total	4	1	1	1	0	4	5

Fried's start on Friday was also available on MILB.tv, and at the start of the game he was having issues with his release point, allowing three walks and a hit in the first five batters. It was, however, the only hit he would allow in his four innings of work, and the run came in on a fielders' choice from the fourth batter. He did use his 12-to-6 curveball a fair amount during the game, but was having a hard time throwing it for a strike.

Game Report: Las Vegas' Zack Wheeler's Start vs. Sacramento

Jason Hunt — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 00:12:10 -0000

Every Monday I'll be taking a look at a prospect at the AA level or higher who could make an impact for fantasy owners this season. I wrote about Wheeler in early January, but can add some in-person insights after seeing him here in Sacramento on Thursday.

I attended opening night here in Sacramento on Thursday with the specific intent of scouting a number of the top prospects playing that day. The Las Vegas 51's were in town for the game, which meant that Mets' top prospects Zack Wheeler and Travis d'Arnaud were expected to play. In addition, Sacramento had top outfield prospect Michael Choice playing center field and Grant Green at second base. I wrote about d'Arnaud, Choice, Green, and Wilmer Flores yesterday, but promised a more in-depth review of Wheeler's start itself.

Scouting Report - All radar gun readings are from the stadium gun here in Sacramento. For a point of reference, the River Cats' starting pitcher, Andrew Werner, was sitting 87-89 with his fastball, which is in line with his career numbers according to Brooks Baseball.

Fastball - Wheeler threw primarily fastballs in his start, sitting 95-98 in the first inning but working 93-95 as the evening progressed. It was easy heat, although he was having difficulty at times commanding the pitch. By my count (which I readily admit appears to have missed at least four total pitches), I had 41 strikes and 23 balls for Wheeler with his fastball.

Curveball - Wheeler didn't break out his curve until the second inning, making Michael Taylor look silly with his first one at 77 MPH. However, he hung the next one to him, which (luckily for him) died around the warning track in center field. Overall, he threw his curve nine times, four for strikes and five for balls. From my angle, it appeared to have an 11-5 break to it.

Slider - Wheeler only threw his slide four times, hitting 85-86 with it each time. It broke out of the zone on him three of the four times he threw it, and looked like it broke across, but also slightly down as well.

Changeup - He threw his changeup five times, sitting between 85-87 with it each time. He was only able to throw it for a strike once of the five times.

Other Notes

Wheeler's throwing motion is extremely simple and clean. It made that heat look extremely easy, and held up as the evening progressed. He threw from a 3/4 arm slot.
His velocity and throwing motion stayed pretty consistent regardless of whether there were runners on base or not, which was good since he had runners on quite a bit.
At the start of the game, Wheeler seemed a bit amped up, as he was reaching 98 on his fastball. He settled in a bit more as the game progressed.
He struggled at times it seemed with his release point, overthrowing both his fastball and curveball at times.
The home plate umpire was not doing him any favors either way, as he seemed to be subject to a very tight strike zone. That said, the umpire behind the plate was a bit off his game as well, including trying to punch out a batter on the River Cats on the second strike.
The fans behind home plate were complaining about the strike zone, which isn't an unexpected thing. What was unexpected from them was the fact that the River Cats fans were complaining that Wheeler wasn't getting a good strike zone.
He seemed at times to be struggling with efficiency, almost like he was hoping to strike out everyone, even when weak contact would have been better.

Conclusions

Overall, Wheeler showed a lot of the reason why he is one of the top prospects in the game. He also showed some of the things that he needs to work on in AAA before debuting in the Majors, and specifically dealing with his release point. The numbers don't tell the whole story, but hopefully he will pitch better in his next start. His final line: 3 1/3 innings pitched, 86 pitches, 3 hits, 2 earned runs, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts

Game Report: Las Vegas - Sacramento Part 1

Jason Hunt — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 13:56:33 -0000

Every Sunday and Wednesday during the season we will be taking a look at a specific level of the minor leagues, and how some of the top prospects at that level have been performing. However, with just three games in the books for many affiliates (and only two for some), that feature will wait to start until later this week.

I attended opening night here in Sacramento on Thursday with the specific intent of scouting a number of the top prospects playing that day. The Las Vegas 51's were in town for the game, which meant that Mets' top prospects Zack Wheeler and Travis d'Arnaud were expected to play. In addition, Sacramento had top outfield prospect Michael Choice playing center field and Grant Green at second base. I will have an in-depth report about Wheeler's start for tomorrow, instead looking at the other prospects in the game today.

Travis d'Arnaud - C - NYM - #1 catcher prospect in the offseason

d'Arnaud batted third in the Las Vegas lineup, so it was very quick that I was able to take a look at him. He was equally as quick, lacing a double to left center on the first pitch he saw from Andrew Werner. d'Arnaud isn't expected to be a great (or even above-average) runner, and it showed a little bit when the third base coach didn't send him from second on a single to left field that he probably had a better than average chance of scoring on. It was moot a batter later when the #5 hitter drove a pitch to deep center for a sacrifice fly.

d'Arnaud walked in the third inning on five pitches, although to be honest Werner was a bit all over the place at that point in the game. He scored from second base on a double by Andrew Brown with the bases loaded, and came up one more time before I had to leave that night. In the 5th inning, d'Arnaud came up with two runners on and hit a screaming liner down the third base line for a double which I didn't see (as I was walking up to the concourse), but I definitely heard it off the bat.

Overall, his offense appears as expected: He should be a well above-average contributor for fantasy offenses, providing power and a decent batting average with the potential for more. He did not have any runners attempt to steal a base that day, but he did have to make a difficult play on a cue shot out in front of home plate with Michael Choice at the plate. His defense seemed fine behind the plate, but it did appear on the couple occasions it was needed that his footwork was still a bit lacking. Nothing that should force a move at this point, but something that might be worth watching if you are playing in a format that includes defense like Scoresheet.

Wilmer Flores - 2B - NYM - #7 third base prospect

We ranked Flores at third base during the offseason, but also noted specifically that he might be in line for a position change due to the presence of David Wright in the long-term. That position change appears to have been finalized, as Flores was the starter at second base on Thursday night. He batted directly behind d'Arnaud that night, and had himself a good night at the plate as well. He hit a ringing single through the 5.5 hole with d'Arnaud on second in the first inning, was then walked on four straight pitches in the 3rd inning, and then had an RBI sac fly to center field in the 5th inning.

His offense also was as expected: Solid to above-average hitter who appears to have some decent power. The thing I was more interested in was his defense, as he could end up at first base long-term if he can't stick at second. I had seen Flores back in 2010 when he was in Savannah at Low-A, still a shortstop, and even though I was barely informed at that point on anything involving scouting, it was pretty clear that he wasn't likely to stay at shortstop.

The main play that stood out to me for Flores on Thursday night was a slow chopper over the mound by Grant Green. He moved quickly toward it, and threw him out barely, but overall the actions and motion looked awkward. I'm sure at least a part of this awkwardness stemmed from a new position for Flores, but it will be interesting to see if that improves with time and reps.

Michael Choice - OF - OAK - #20 outfield prospect

Choice is coming off of a hand fracture that ended his 2012 campaign at AA. Despite this, the A's decided to send Choice up to AAA Sacramento to start the season, and you can start to see why in this game. Choice worked a walk in his first at bat against Zack Wheeler, seeing the full repertoire from him in that at bat and laying off of both a good slider and a good changeup to get there. He struck out against Wheeler in the third, but not before making him work way more than he wanted to. Wheeler had to throw 9 pitches, as Choice kept fouling off pitch after pitch against him. In the end, this became costly to Wheeler as he lasted just 3 1/3 innings due to an elevated pitch count.

On defense, Choice played center field between Shane Peterson and Michael Taylor, and while he is passable there, it does not appear that he could play there long term. He had a couple of flyballs hit directly toward him in center field that seemed to turn him around out there. In addition, he had an opportunity to line up a throw on a sacrifice fly in the first, and the throw came back into the infield, short of the cut-off for the plate. His arm has been reported as average in some scouting reports, so I am left to wonder if he might end up in left field rather than right field long-term.

Grant Green - 2B - OAK - #16 second base prospect

I thought it was an interesting sign of what the organization wants to see as Green started at second base on Thursday, with Jemile Weeks serving as the designated hitter. Green worked a walk against Wheeler on seven pitches in which he saw nothing but fastballs in the 94-97 MPH range in his first at bat, and then was called out on the chopper to Flores mentioned above. Both he and the manager argued that call, to no avail. On defense, I only saw Green get one opportunity, a grounder to his right side which he made the play on. The throw seemed a bit rushed, and ended up a bit low for the first baseman to dig out. I'll be interested to see what he does there as he gets more chances at the position.

Stay tuned tomorrow for my report on Wheeler's start.

Jason Hunt is a contributor to Fake Teams, and you can follow him on Twitter @jasonsbaseball.

Low Level Prospect Review: Adalberto Mondesi, SS, Kansas City Royals

Jason Hunt — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 04:00:55 -0000

Every Friday I will be taking a look at a prospect in the lower levels of the minors who is a strong candidate to move toward the top of prospect lists. This week's player emerged after a strong season in Idaho Falls last year as a 16 year old, and will start the season with the Royals Low-A affiliate in Lexington.

The Royals signed Adalberto Mondesi out of the Dominican Republic in July 2011 to one of the larger bonuses that year, $2 million. The son of former major leaguer Raul Mondesi, Adalberto was expected to spend the 2012 season in the Dominican Summer League. However, instead of doing that, the Royals sent him to their short-season affiliate in the Pioneer League as a 16 year old. Which is of course when things get even more interesting.

Mondesi appeared in 50 games for Idaho Falls, where he hit .290/.346/.386 with 3 home runs, 30 runs batted in, and 11 stolen bases in 13 attempts. He also walked 19 times (8.2% BB rate), and struck out 65 times (28% K rate). The performance itself was solid for a new signee in his first assignment, but it stands out even more when you are reminded that the Pioneer League tends to be where teams send their college draft picks for the year. The average age last year in the Pioneer League was 20.9, meaning that Mondesi was over 4 years younger than the average player in the league. We ranked Mondesi as our #13 shortstop prospect during the offseason, but it seems that we may have been light on the ranking.

Mondesi profiles as a potential five-category contributor, providing solid production across the categories. It doesn't sound like he is likely to provide elite-level production in any one category, but could be an excellent source of batting average long-term. Obviously, anytime you are dealing with a player who is this far away, there are a lot of possible outcomes still.

The key here is Mondesi’s defense at shortstop. He played the position exclusively last year, and the reports point to a player who will stay at the position long term:

Defensively, Mondesi has outstanding range, a strong arm and good hands. He needs consistency, which should come with time, and there are no questions about his ability to stick at shortstop. - Marc Hulet

For me, Mondesi is a prototypical high-risk, high-reward type of prospect. He has already shown the tools to potentially be a superstar, and even inspired a magical post over at Baseball Prospectus from resident prospect expert Jason Parks. He is that prospect that could be unbelievable if everything comes together.

Mondesi starts his season in Low-A as the starting shortstop, despite being just 17 years old. If he posts even a reasonably decent slash line there, the hype machine could explode even further into the stratosphere.

Our own Craig Goldstein was able to see Mondesi during Spring Training this year, and shared this video of Mondesi as well:

Sources
Baseball Reference
Baseball Prospectus
ESPN.com
Fangraphs

Coming Soon to A Stadium Near You: Kevin Gausman, RHP, Baltimore Orioles

Jason Hunt — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 20:41:34 -0000

With the start of the minor league season on Thursday, we will be going full force into our in-season minor league coverage. Every Wednesday I will be writing about a prospect who has reached the AA level or higher that could be on your fantasy roster by season's end, and what you should know about them. Today's prospect was the #4 overall pick in last year's amateur draft, and had a great spring this year.

The Basics

Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 190 lbs.
On 40-man roster: No
Age as of 4/2/13: 22

His History

Gausman was a 6^th round draft pick out of high school by the Dodgers back in 2010, but did not sign and opted to attend LSU instead. In his freshman season, Gausman went 5-6 with a 3.51 ERA and 86 strikeouts against 23 walks in 89 innings pitched. He rocketed up draft boards with his sophomore campaign, going 12-2 with a 2.77 ERA and 135 strikeouts against 28 walks in 123 innings pitched.

Gausman had a lot of leverage as a draft-eligible sophomore, but was viewed as one of the top ten players available on draft day. He was taken at #4 overall by the Orioles, and ended up signing for a $4.3 million bonus. He made five starts across short-season A and High-A, striking out 13 and walking just 1 batter in 15 innings pitched.

The Scouting Report - Scouting reports are gathered from other internet sources and written reports, unless otherwise noted.

Gausman features a plus fastball (sitting 91-95 during spring training, but expected to play as high up as 98), an excellent slider, and a plus changeup. I watched one of his outings during spring training, and he showed an easy, smooth delivery, and excellent control thus far as a professional. His frame points to being able to carry a heavy workload as a professional, although that will need to be built up this season.

What's Keeping Him From Contributing Now?

Realistically Gausman just needs to build up his endurance for the length of the season. There are minor things for him to work on, but it sounds like he could survive in the short-term in the Majors right now. He is not on the 40-man roster, which likely means that the team will not promote him to the Majors until they are sure he is ready to stay. He'll start his season at AA along with Dylan Bundy, and both could see a promotion to AAA by midseason if they pitch well.

What Could He Do For Fantasy Owners Once He Gets There?

Gausman profiles as at least a top 50 starting pitcher in the long term, providing excellent rate stats and an above-average strikeout total. There is potential for even more if everything works out perfectly, and seems most likely to settle in as a top 25 starting pitcher. We had Gausman as our #18 starting pitching prospect during the offseason, and that number seems a bit low at this point.

When Could He Arrive?

There has been discussion before that Gausman would not need much time in the minors, and he could see a promotion to the Majors at some point during this season. More likely, he will break camp with the Orioles to start the 2014 season.

Sources

Baseball Reference
The Baseball Cube
Baseball America
Baseball Prospectus

SBNation.com User Blog: Jason Hunt

Minor League Level Review (Low-A):Bombs Away from Gallo, Brinson, Alfaro and Walker

Coming Soon to A Stadium Near You: Sonny Gray, RHP, Oakland Athletics

Minor League Level Review (AAA): Wheeler Scare, Could Odorizzi Be Next to the Bigs?

Low Level Prospect Review: Byron Buxton, OF, Minnesota Twins

Prospect Report: Byron Buxton

Minor League Level Review (AA): Bradley, Wisler Debut, Salazar and Turley Promoted

Coming Soon to A Stadium Near You: Matt Wisler, RHP, San Diego Padres

Matt Wisler Promoted to AA San Antonio

Minor League Level Review (High-A): Concerns about Mason Williams, Tons of Players Hit Disabled List

Low Level Prospect Review: Martin Agosta, RHP, San Francisco Giants

Minor League Level Review (Low-A): Buxton, Starling, Toles, Allie, De Paula and More

Coming Soon to A Stadium Near You: Stefen Romero, IF/OF, Seattle Mariners

Romero Heating Up in Tacoma

Minor League Level Review (AAA): Could Olt's Struggles Be Vision-Related?

Low Level Prospect Review: Miguel Sano, 3B, Minnesota Twins

Minor League Level Review (AA): Bogaerts Heating Up, Puig Returns In A Hurry

Wonders of the Deep (Leagues): A Closer Look at Brandon Barnes

Coming Soon To A Stadium Near You: Alex Wood, LHP, Atlanta Braves

Minor League Level Review (High-A): Sano Not (Just) A Player, He Just Crushes A Lot

Low Level Prospect Review: Stetson Allie, IF, Pittsburgh Pirates

Minor League Level Review (Low-A): Nimmo on Fire, De Paula and Winker's Stock Rising

Minor League Level Review (AAA): Profar and Taveras Miss Time, Zunino Off to Hot Start

Coming Soon to A Stadium Near You: Allen Webster, RHP, Boston Red Sox

Low Level Prospect Review: Josh Bell, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates

Minor League Level Review (AA): More Puig and Rendon, Goodwin and Matzek Start Slow

Coming Soon to A Stadium Near You: Tony Cingrani, LHP, Cincinnati Reds

Minor League Level Review (High-A): Archie Bradley Dominates, Addison Russell Hurt

Low Level Prospect Review: Jorge Soler, OF, Chicago Cubs

Minor League Level Review (Low-A): Brinson and Buxton Start the Season Hot

Game Report: Las Vegas' Zack Wheeler's Start vs. Sacramento

Game Report: Las Vegas - Sacramento Part 1

Low Level Prospect Review: Adalberto Mondesi, SS, Kansas City Royals

Coming Soon to A Stadium Near You: Kevin Gausman, RHP, Baltimore Orioles