MLB Prospect Watch

Prospect Hot Sheet

Baseball America once again has released their weekly prospect hot sheet, a breakdown of the past week's hottest prospects.  This week's list includes:

• Pedro Alvarez
• Chris Archer
• Brandon Belt
• Eric Berger
• Carlos Carrasco
• Lonnie Chisenhall
• Allen Craig
• Randall Delgado
• Tyler Flowers
• Todd Frazier
• Brad Hand
• Eric Hosmer
• Dan Hudson
• Brett Jackson
• Michael Kirkman
• Alex Liddi
• Wil Myers
• Jonathan Singleton
• John Tolisano
• Arodys Vizcaino

And of course, the flailing foursome this week, which includes Aroldis Chapman, Beau Mills, Phillippe Aumont, and Jefry Marte.

Notable Prospect Performances - 6/9

Thank you, Stephen Strasburg, for reminding us again how much fun baseball can be.  You should probably, however, apologize to Mike Stanton for completely overshadowing his 3-hit debut.

In other action...

• It was a big night for Indians' prospects, as Carlos Santana hit his 12 home run of the season and Lonnie Chisenhall homered for Double-A Akron in support of Alex White, who gave up only one hit over six innings, but walked five.
• Brandon Erbe had another rough outing, reports Dean Jones, Jr. of the Baltimore Sun, but there's some good offensive news for the O's from the game, as Brandon Snyder and Josh Bell each had two hits and an RBI.
• Mike Minor has been racking up major strikeout numbers, but he's also had a couple of clunkers tossed in, like the 7 ER's he gave up Tuesday night.
• Yesterday made back-to-back 3-hit nights for Desmond Jennings.  When he gets hot, look out.
• There were some impressive strikeout totals recorded in places other than Washington on Tuesday night, including those by Dan Hudson, who punched out 10 over 7 IP, Brody Colvin who K'd 8 in 7 IP, and Chad James, who set down 9 batters in 5 innings of work.

Prospect Hot Sheet

Baseball America has released their weekly prospect hot sheet, and this week's edition includes some names who were ice cold earlier this season.

• J.P. Arencibia
• Tim Beckham
• Andrew Cashner
• Simon Castro
• Hank Conger
• Randall Delgado
• Todd Frazier
• Jeremy Hellickson
• Dan Hudson
• Chris Marrero
• Ethan Martin
• Bryan Morris
• Wil Myers
• Stolmy Pimental
• Ben Revere
• Wilking Rodriguez
• Kyle Russell
• Mike Stanton
• Arodys Vizcaino

On the down side this week were Jaff Decker, Wilson Ramos, Shelby Miller and Josh Vitters.

Notable Prospect Performances - 5/24

There was a lot of action over the weekend.  Some of it was good, some not so much...

• Alex White made his Double-A debut and the Indians have to be pleased with their decision to make him a starter.
• It was a good news/bad news weekend for the Phillies who got a strong start out of Brody Colvin but another bad performance from Phillippe Aumont, complete with a new arm slot and a drop in velocity.
• The D-Backs saw two of their first round picks from last year homer in the same game as both Matt Davidson and Bobby Borchering both went yard for South Bend.  The only problem is that both are third baseman, so one they have to take turns DHing while the other plays the field.
• The Reds have to hope that Todd Frazier's two-home run outburst is a sign of him coming out of his season-long funk.
• Dan Hudson was lights out, striking out 11 batters over 8 scoreless innings, which is a positive sign for a pitcher surprisingly struggling despite almost making the White Sox pitching staff out of Spring Training.
• Jordan Lyles managed to settle down despite giving up a four spot in the first inning and still was able to give his team six innings of work.  This was his first real speed bump in Double-A and the Astros will be interested to see how the 19-year-old responds in his next start.
• Madison Bumgarner's up-and-down season continued on Sunday, and this time it was all in one start.  The Giants' prospect managed to give up just one unearned run over 6 2/3 innings, despite allowing 12 hits.

Notable Prospect Performances - 5/19

• The adjustment period may have been a little longer than the White Sox would have hoped, but it appears that Dayan Viciedo is beginning to figure out how to hit advanced pitching.  His 33-to-4 K/BB rate is still atrocious, but 4-hit games like he had last night are certainly a good sign.  Dan Hudson had a rough outing in the game though, giving up 5 ER in 5 IP, raising his ERA on the season to 5.36.
• Yonder Alonso hit his first Triple-A home run while also playing left field, a good start towards working his way into position for a call-up later in the season.  Entering the season, if the Reds had needed another bat, especially one for a corner outfield position, they probably would have considered Todd Frazier long before Alonso, but the super-utility prospect's struggles at the plate have continued, including an 0-for-5 showing yesterday.
• Braves' prospect Arodys Vizcaino was dominant in his latest outing, tossing 8 scoreless inning without walking a batter and surrendering only 3 hits.
• Astros' prospect Jordan Lyles continues to make Double-A look much easier than any teenager should be able to do, going the distance for a complete game 4-hitter.  It's difficult to believe that Lyles won't be 20 until after the 2010 season.
• A number of 2009 draftees were in action yesterday, with mixed results:
• • Matt Hobgood isn't adjusting to full-season ball the way the Orioles would have hoped after taking him 5th overall.  He's missing the strike zone too often and bats not often enough. 
  • All Zack Wheeler needs is some consistency.  Yesterday's 7 K's in 6 scoreless innings show why the Giants made him the 6th overall pick last year, and two starts before that, he struck out 9 over 5 scoreless.  But sandwiched in between was a six-run shelling where he couldn't get out of the 3rd inning.
  • Alex White is showing everyone what a steal the Indians got when they took him 15th overall with quality starts like he had yesterday. Carolina League batters are hitting just .204 against White and he's striking out almost a batter per inning.
  • Repeat story for Mike Trout (LAA) who had another multi-hit game.  Not much else to say for now - the dude does everything right offensively.
  • The Tigers were thrilled to grab Andy Oliver in the 2nd round, and he's repaying them every fifth day with 1-run performances like he put up yesterday.  A few more missed bats would be nice, but the Tigers have to be pleased so far.