MLB Prospect Watch

Prospect Hot Sheet - 4/22

Baseball America released their weekly Prospect Hot Sheet yesterday, with a number of new names not featured in week one.  Making an appearance on this week's list are:

• Mark Cohoon
• Jaff Decker
• Danny Duffy
• Jedd Gyorko
• Yasmani Grandal
• Billy Hamilton
• Brad Holt
• Jae-Hoon Ha
• Eric Hosmer
• Brett Jackson
• Tom Koehler
• Jefry Marte
• Marcell Ozuna
• Jacob Petricka
• Anthony Rizzo
• Jonathan Schoop
• Eric Thames
• Alex Torres
• Kolbrin Vitek
• Alex White

Appearing on the bad part of the list this week are Zack Cosart, Yorman Rodriguez, Joe Cruz, and Trevor May.  Decker and Jackson are the only players to appear on both lists thus far this season.

 

Prospect Action - Pimentel, Koehler, Rizzotti

• Red Sox prospect Stolmy Pimentel threw five scoreless innings on Friday, bouncing back from a rough first outing, says Josh Jackson of MiLB.com.
• Tom Koehler surrendered just one run over six innings of work, notes Andrew Pentis of MiLB.com.  The Marlins prospect is off to a good start in Triple-A after a strong season last year in Double-A.
• Matt Rizzotti went 3-for-4 with a home run and a double to raise his batting average to .485 on the season.  The Phillies first base prospect is in Double-A to begin the season.
• Brad Holt threw seven shutout innings as the Mets prospect continued his hot start to the season, notes Robert Emrich of MiLB.com.

 

Prospect Action - Trout, Ranaudo, Vizcaino, Jennings

• Mike Trout ended his season-opening hitless streak with two hits, including an inside-the-park home run, says Robert Emrich of MiLB.com.  The Angels top prospect is beginning the season in Double-A for the first time.
• After a disasterous 2010 season, Brad Holt is back in Double-A to try again, and the Mets prospect got off to a good start on Saturday, tossing five shutout innings in his season debut, reports Josh Jackson of MiLB.com.
• Red Sox prospect Anthony Ranaudo got his professional debut started on the right foot, tossing five scoreless innings, striking out four batters and reaching 95-mph on the radar gun, according to David Heck of MiLB.com.
• Joe Savery had another perfect day at the plate, and the Phillies attempt to salvage their former first-round pick as a hitter is going quite well, notes Ashley Marshall of MiLB.com.
• Arodys Vizcaino had a rough first inning, but settled down and didn't allow another hit in his final four innings of work on Saturday, says David Heck of MiLB.com.  The Braves prospect is beginning the year in High-A ball.
• Other notables from around the minors:
  • Charlie Furbush was a hard luck loser, striking out six in five innings of work, giving up two runs but getting little run support from his fellow Tigers prospects.
  • Desmond Jennings hit his first home run of the season, making his case for a call up to Tampa.
  • Dodgers prospect Jerry Sands got his first home run of the season out of the way, connecting off of one of the Royals talented stable of pitchers, Danny Duffy.

   

Prospect Potent Potables - Holt, Phillies, Castillo

• After a disappointing 2010 season, Brad Holt is looking to bounce back and re-establish himself on the Mets' radar, says Dan Martin of the New York Post.
• The Phillies have a number of intriguing young arms, and John Sickles compares two very similar righties, Brody Colvin and Jarred Cosart.
• Those arms aren't among the group competing for a spot on the Phillies pitching staff, but Vance Worley has a chance to stick as a long reliever after a brief stint in the majors last season, says David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News, and Justin De Fratus, Michael Schwimer, and Mike Stutes will all be in camp with an outside shot at grabbing a roster spot.
• The signing of Darwin Castillo was completed by the Royals over the weekend, and Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star has a little more on the right-hander out of the Dominican.

 

 

Winter League Recap - Oct. 29-30

Friday, October 29th

 

Arizona Fall League

• Dustin Ackley continues to be an on-base machine out of the 3-hole for the Javelinas, reaching base three more times and helping propel his team to an 11-4 victory.
• Brad Holt hit his first speed bump in what had been a thus far successful attempt to redeem himself after what many, including Steve Popper of Baseball America, are calling a lost season for the Mets right-hander.  Giants prospects Brandon Belt and Charlie Culberson each had two hits in the game and Diamondbacks prospect Marc Krauss hit his second AFL home run.
• Mike Montgomery put together five strong innings and got enough run support to earn the win, despite fellow Royals pitching prospect Danny Duffy giving three of those runs back in 1 2/3 innings of relief work.  Alex Cobb, the Rays righty who had been among the best pitchers thus far in the AFL, got tagged for six earned runs in just three innings of work to take the loss.

 

Venezuelan Winter League

• Mark Trumbo continues to secure his place in the heart of the Navegantes order, although his 1-for-3 day at the plate wasn't nearly enough to overcome the 18 runs surrendered by his team's pitching.

 

Dominican Winter League

• Josh Reddick and Francisco Peguero combined to go 0-for-7 as their Gigantes fell 4-3.

 

Puerto Rican Winter League

• Dee Gordon flashed his all-around game, going 4-for-5 at the plate with a triple, while also scoring three runs and stealing two bases, leading his Gigantes de Carolina team to an 11-10 victory.

 

Saturday, October 30th

 

Arizona Fall League

• Kyle Skipworth hit a pair of home runs to lead his Desert Dogs team to a 12-6 victory, reports Ashley Marshall of MLB.com.  Opposing catcher Tony Sanchez of the Pirates also homered in the game.
• Chance Ruffin, drafted by the Tigers just this year, recorded his third save for the Rafters, who took advantage of another rough outing by Casey Kelly, whose fall league ERA now sits at 6.75.
• In a game that featured 35 combined hits and 22 combined runs, the star was undoubtedly Bryce Harper, who homered in the second inning en route to a 3-for-5 day that saw him come up just a triple short of the cycle.  Once again, the ultra-aggressive Harper did his damage on the first pitch of the at-bat, says Robert Emrich of MLB.com.

 

Venezuelan Winter League

• Alex Liddi wasn't spared from a rough offensive day all around for the Cardenales, as the Mariners prospect went 0-for-4 with two strike outs in his team's 3-0 loss.
• Freddy Galvis is doing little to shed his all-glove, no-hit reputation, as another 0-fer day dropped his VWL batting average to .139.

 

Dominican Winter League

• Phillies prospect Yohan Flande took the loss for the Toros del Este as he surrendered four earned runs in three innings of work.  Peguero hit a home run for the Tigres in the victory.

 

Sunday, October 31st

 

Venezuelan Winter League

• Wilson Ramos picked a good day to hit for his first VWL game, as the Nationals catching prospect went 4-for-5 at the plate with two doubles, as his Tigres de Arague bashed their way to a 20-15 victory.