MLB Prospect Watch

Teheran, Delgado, Promoted to Double-A

The Atlanta Braves have promoted two of their young flame-throwers to Double-A, reports TalkingChop.com.  Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado, two of the team's top pitching prospects are heading to Mississippi after dominating the Carolina League during the first half of the season.  Also heading to Mississippi is fellow pitching prospect Brandon Beachy.

Teheran, 19, began the season in Low-A ball, but has rocketed through the Braves' farm system, striking out over 10 batters per 9 innings at both stops.  Delgado, 20, has spent the entire season in High-A ball and has been equally impressive, demonstrating good control and posting a 3.75 K/BB ratio while leading the Carolina League in strikeouts.

Notable Prospect Performances - 7/20

• The Royals may not have much power in their big league lineup, but they have a ton down on the farm as evidenced by Kila Ka'aihue's two homer night and Eric Hosmer's third in three Double-A games, reports RoyalsProspects.com.
• Yohan Flande threw seven strong innings, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.
• Danny Espinosa had a monster night on Monday, going 5-for-5 with 2 home runs.  The Nationals' SS prospect is hitting .316 in July and has displayed good power for an up-the-middle bat, but needs to improve his plate discipline.
• Alex White struck out 7 batters in as many innings, and continues to reward the Indians for having faith in his ability to perform like a first round pick.
• A prospect-laden game between the Scranton/Wilkes-Berre Yankees and the Gwinnett Braves showed why the Yankees are reluctant to trade Jesus Montero, why the Braves were comfortable pushing Freddie Freeman to Triple-A this year, and why Mike Minor was more than just a "safe" pick last year.
• Yonder Alonso stayed red-hot with a 4-for-5 night and has hit safely in 9 of his last 10 games.  Unfortunately, the Reds still have no where to put him.
• Oh, and in case we hadn't said it in a while, Mike Trout is still really, really good, and his recent promotion to the California League is only reaffirming that.

Braves Acquire Prospect Collins in Deal for Escobar

The Braves have traded shortstop Yunel Escobar and minor leaguer Jo-Jo Reyes to the Toronto Blue Jays for shortstop Alex Gonzalez, and prospects Tim Collins and Alex Pastornicky, reports David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  Baseball America has their scouting reports on the players involved.

Collins is a 5'7" LHP with remarkable minor league numbers who gets overlooked because of his diminutive size.  Exclusively a reliever, Collins has posted a career 2.40 ERA in 130 appearances spread over 4 seasons and 4 different levels, and an FIP that has never been higher than been higher than 2.62 at any level in which he has thrown more than 15 innings.  While his astonishing strikeout numbers - 13.6 K/9 in his professional career - are the first thing you will notice about Collins, the most impressive has to be that he has actually been equally dominant against right-handed hitters as he is against lefties.  Collins has struck out 36.8% of the left-handed batters he has faced in his career and 37.9% of the righties.  His FIP against RHH is 2.25 while against LHH it is 2.75.  Collins has been successful in Double-A this season and could make the jump to Triple-A if the Braves want to test him as a possible bullpen addition for the stretch run.

Pastornicky was a 5th round draft pick in 2008 and is an above-average defensive player who could develop into a good enough hitter to play every day.  At the moment, Pastornicky is a line drive hitter who doesn't hit quite enough line drives to make up for his lack of power, although his LD rates have risen as he has progressed.

Prospect Potent Potables - 7/13

• Chris Nelson has gone from highly touted prospect within the Rockies' organization to a player labeled as injury-prone on the verge of being a bust, but the 2004 first-round pick.  Finally healthy again, Nelson is back on the Rockies' radar and is having a bounce back season that has seen him improve his patience at the plate, reports Chris Jackson of MLB.com.
• Justin Smoak was undoubtedly the key piece received by the Mariners in return for Cliff Lee.  But given the reports that the Yankees had offered top prospect Jesus Montero, Bryan Smith of FanGraphs.com explains why the Mariners chose Smoak instead.
• Also mentioned among the Lee rumors was Brett Lawrie, who was drafted by Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik when he ran the Brewers' drafts.  The Brewers managed to hold on to their future second baseman who is elevating his prospect status despite being among the youngest players in the Southern League, says Guy Curtright for MLB.com.
• Despite the small sample sizes from the Futures Game, Harry Pavlidis of The Hardball Times couldn't help but take advantage of a rare chance to see prospects through the Pitch f/x microscope.  Pavlidis begins his analysis with the left-handed pitchers who participated in the game, including Christian Friedrich, Zach Britton, Mike Minor, Alexander Torres, and Phillippe Valiquette.
• Trevor Reckling is back in Double-A after a horrid start in Salt Lake City this season, and the Angels' hope is that being back in a pitchers' park will help the young lefty get back to pitching rather than throwing, reports Todd Traub of MLB.com.
• There are prospects galore on display at minor league all-star games, but Marlins' 3B prospect Matt Dominguez shined the brightest at the Southern League All-Star Game, says Matt Eddy of Baseball America.

Prospect Potent Potables - 7/6

• Jeremy Jeffress is determined to stay clean, reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, and is on the comeback trail as a reliever, a role that ultimately suits his arsenal of pitches better than starting ever did.  He's also been added to the Brewers' 40-man roster, which means he no longer receive a lifetime ban if he's caught with marijuana again.
• Blake Beavan has transformed from a fire-balling Texan into a strike-throwing innings-eater the Rangers may be able to rely on in their rotation very soon, reports Drew Davison of the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram.
• Michael Pineda has made the transition to Triple-A without issues thus far, and according to Mike McCall of MLB.com, could be in Seattle before too long.  Speculating further, it does seem that Pineda has little left to prove in the minors and is at the very least a realistic candidate to assume the open rotation spot that will eventually be vacated when Cliff Lee moves on.
• If the Yankees' farm system suddenly seems to be rich with pitching prospects, it's due in large part to the resurgence of prospects Andrew Brackman and Dellin Betances, says Bubba Brown for Baseball America.
• Freddie Freeman has rebounded from a horrible month of April that left many questioning the Braves' decision to have their future 1B make the jump to Triple-A despite just 41 games at the previous level, notes John Wagner for MLB.com.
• Kyle Drabek feels like he's ready to move up from Double-A, reports Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star, and cites his recent no-hitter as verification.  He's probably right, and despite the Blue Jays' logjam of arms at the higher levels, he's logged plenty of innings in Double-A and needs to be pushed further.
• Mike Moustakas is making his case for minor league player of the year, but it's nights like he had on Monday that make the argument for him, to which Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star and John Parker of MLB.com can both attest.