MLB Prospect Watch

Prospect Action - Taillon, Castellanos, Cron

• Jameson Taillon gave up six earned runs in 2 1/3 innings of work on Saturday, which is by far the worst outing of the short professional career for the Pirates top prospect, notes Josh Jackson of MiLB.com.
• Mariners power-hitting OF prospect Johermyn Chavez blasted a grand slam, reports Daniel Paulling of The Birmingham News.
• Diamondbacks OF prospect A.J. Pollock had a big day at the plate, slugging a homer and adding two doubles on top for good measure, says Andrew Pentis of MiLB.com.
• Nick Castellanos hit a pair of home runs, reports Dean Holzwarth of The Grand Rapids Press, as the Tigers prospect continues to show off a hot bat.
• Yankees prospect D.J. Mitchell threw his second straight shutout on Saturday, says David Heck of MiLB.com.
• Trevor May threw a seven-inning shutout, and the Phillies pitching prospect gave up just one hit in the outing, notes Andrew Pentis of MiLB.com.
• C.J. Cron is having no trouble adjusting to professional baseball, as the Angels top pick from this past year's draft added to his already impressive numbers on Saturday by falling just a triple short of the cycle, says Ashley Marshall of MiLB.com.

 

Prospect Action - Harper, Turner, Delgado

• Bryce Harper knocked two more base hits, as the Nationals prospect extended his hit streak to 13 games, notes Danny Wild of MiLB.com.
• Mike Trout homered again, says Andrew Pentis of MiLB.com.
• Red Sox OF prospect Bryce Brentz homered, extending his hitting streak to 21 games, reports Ashley Marshall of MiLB.com.
• Casey Kelly gave up just one run over six innings of work, notes Josh Jackson of MiLB.com, as the Padres prospect lowered his ERA to 3.43 on the season
• Jacob Turner finally got his first Double-A win on Monday, as the Tigers top prospect surrendered just an unearned run in 6 2/3 innings of work, reports Robert Emrich of MiLB.com.
• In other prospect action...
  • Paul Goldschmidt hit his 12th home run of the season and A.J. Pollock went 3-for-5 with a double for the Diamondbacks Double-A affiliate in Mobile.
  • Tigers 3B prospect Nick Castellanos went 3-for-4 with a triple.
  • Phillies C prospect Sebastian Valle homered and doubled in a three-hit day at the plate.
  • Braves P prospect Randall Delgado gave up three earned runs over seven innings, including a home run by Mariners prospect Johermyn Chavez, but struck out ten batters in the process.

 

Prospect Potent Potables - Pollack, Rizzo, Braves

Baseball America has another batch of organizational updates out again, discussing the Diamondbacks, Red Sox and Braves.

Jack Magruder discusses the long road back to the field for A.J. Pollock, who missed the entire regular season with injury, but did have a strong fall season in the Arizona Fall League.  Alex Speier explains the emergence of Anthony Rizzo's power, and considers whether the first base prospect could see time in Boston this season.  Finally, Bill Ballew looks at how injuries affected Dimasther Delgado and Adam Milligan this season.

 

 

AFL Recap - 10/13

• Casey Kelly threw 4 innings and struck out three, as the Red Sox prospect picked up his first AFL win on Wednesday.  He gave up 2 unearned runs and made two of the Javelinas 6 errors himself.
• Josh Collmenter picked up right where he left off in his AFL debut, notes Danny Wild of MLB.com, as the Diamondbacks pitching prospect tossed three shutout innings in his debut for the Scottsdale Scorpions.  Stephen Lombardozzi, Charlie Culberson, and A.J. Pollock provided much of the run support with two hits apiece, but Orioles prospect Ryan Adams led the way with three hits, including a home run.
• Michael Taylor hit his second home run in as many AFL games, reports Robert Emrich of MLB.com, as part of a 3-for-4 day for the A's outfield prospect, which also included a stolen base.  Taylor's Desert Dogs were aided by fellow A's prospect Carlos Hernandez, who threw three scoreless innings in relief to help preserve the win after Yankees prospect Manny Banuelos got touched up for two runs in the first two innings.

 

Making Moves - 8/21

• Originally thought to be out for the season, Pirates' catching prospect Tony Sanchez has been cleared to resume baseball activities and could play again this season, reports Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com.  The team has also remained busy in the Latin American market, signing Colombian shortstop Dilson Herrera for $220,000, reports Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  The signing comes just days after the Pirates signed 16-year-old Mexican pitcher Luis Heredia to a $2.6 million deal.  Kovacevic also notes that Heredia will head to the team's spring training facility in Bradenton for the remainder of the year, not to pitch, but to get acclimated to the Pirates' facility and throwing program.
• The Cleveland Indians have acquired Zach McAllister from the New York Yankees as the player to be named later in exchange for Austin Kerans, reports Alex DiFillipo of MLB.com.
• A starter in the minors, Michael Kirkman will serve as a left-handed specialist in the Texas Rangers bullpen now that he has joined the team in the majors, says Jeff WIlson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
• After taking a loss in his latest start, the Rays have optioned Jeremy Hellickson down to Single-A, reports Bill Chastain of MLB.com.  The move was made not in response to Hellickson's performance, but because Wade Davis and Jef Neimann are set to return to the big league rotation, and because rather than send Hellickson on the road with Triple-A Durham, the team decided to keep him nearby at Charlotte in case they need him on short notice.  Hellickson will use his time in Charlotte to make some relief appearances, which will be his likely role with the Rays upon his return in September.
• Arizona Diamondbacks' 2009 first-round pick A.J. Pollock is almost set to return from rehabbing the elbow injury that has kept him out of action all season, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, who also notes that fellow 2009 draft pick Matt Davidson has been promoted to High-A Vasalia.