MLB Prospect Watch

Prospect Action: 4/21/12

Triple-A

• Jurickson Profar hit a grand slam on Sunday, says Jake Seiner of MiLB.com, just the second of the season for the Rangers top prospect.  Profar has, however, continued to control the strike zone at the Triple-A level, drawing 10 walks in 13 games against 13 strike outs.
• Kyle Gibson continues to alternate strong starts with poor ones.  This time out, he struggled, allowing three runs in five innings while walking four.
• Despite his struggles this spring, Bruce Rondon is pitching well in Triple-A, recording his third save of the season on Sunday.  The Tigers reliever has yet to allow an earned run on the season and has walked just two batters in 7 2/3 innings.
• Gerrit Cole managed to throw four scoreless innings despite walking five and striking out just two in the outing.  It's the second time this season that the Pirates top prospect has had to leave a start early because of a high pitch count.

Double-A

• Braves lefty Alex Wood threw seven scoreless innings on Sunday, writes Danny Wild of MiLB.com.  Wood now has a 1.12 ERA over his first three starts, with 17 strike outs in 16 innings and just a pair of walks.
• Kevin Gausman wasn't great again, allowing three runs (just one earned) in five innings in his latest start.  The Orioles' 2012 first-rounder has allowed at least three runs in three of his four starts, including six each in two of them, but has struck out 21 batters in as many innings.
• Dodgers lefty Chris Reed tossed seven scoreless innings on Sunday, lowering his ERA to 3.13 on the season.  Reed's strike out rate has dropped to just 5.48 K/9 this season, but he's also lowered his BB/9 rate to a career low 2.74 in the early going this season.

High-A

• Miguel Sano hit a home run on Sunday, his sixth of the season, but was ejected while rounding the bases for taunting the opposing team, notes Ashley Marshall of MiLB.com.  The Twins top prospect his hitting .375/.438/.734 on the season and likely won't be in the Florida State League for long.
• Robbie Ray struck out 10 batters in six innings of work, but the Nationals lefty also walked four batters in the outing, says Luke Erickson of NationalsProspects.com.
• Perci Garner continues to pitch well, but the Phillies right-hander had to navigate around four walks in six scoreless innings.
• After a slow start, Alen Hanson broke out with a 4-for-5 game on Sunday to bring his batting average up to .242 on the season.

Low-A

• Bubba Starling blasted his second home run of the season as part of a 2-for-5 day that saw the Royals prospect raise his batting average to .156 on the season.  Starling has struggled to make contact in his first taste of full-season ball, striking out 26 times in his first 18 games.
• Josh Bell also hit his second home run of the season as part of a 4-hit day and is now hitting .288/.325/.493 on the season.
• Carlos Correa, last year's top overall draft pick by the Houston Astros, hit a pair of home runs on Sunday as part of a three-hit day and his first multi-homer game of his professional career.

Prospect Action - 4/16/13

Triple-A

• White Sox right-hander Andre Rienzo finally put together a solid outing, allowing just one run over six innings to earn his first victory of the season on Tuesday.  The Brazil native allowed five and seven earned runs, respectively, in his first two starts, and now lowers his ERA to 7.16 on the season.
• Gerrit Cole was strong, allowing just one run in 6 1/3 innings while striking out five, but walking four in the outing.  It's the best start of the season for the Pirates top prospect, who allowed three runs in his first outing and had his second start shortened by pitch count limitations.
• After a rough start his last time out, Kyle Gibson put together his best outing of the year, allowing just one run over six innings while striking out five.  The Twins prospect has two one-run outings on the season, sandwiching a poor start in which he gave up five runs.
• Jurickson Profar hit his first home run of the season, a three-run blast off of Astros pitching prospect Brett Oberholtzer as part of a three-hit day that also included a triple.  The Rangers still have Profar playing short stop, despite their extension with Elvis Andrus.
• Nolan Arenado put together a two-hit night, but the Rockies third base prospect was outdone by his hot corner counterpart Matt Davidson, who had a double and a homer in support of fellow Diamondbacks prospect Chase Anderson, who struck out seven over six innings.

Double-A

• J.R. Graham took a no-decision despite seven strikeouts in six innings of one-run ball from the Braves right-hander.
• Jesse Biddle wasn't sharp, but he was still effective, as the Phillies top prospect battled through four walks in six innings to allow just one run while striking out eight.
• For the second time in three starts, Kevin Gausman got hit around hard.  This time the Orioles prospect allowed 10 hits over six innings while allowing six runs (five earned).

High-A

• Miguel Sano, still playing third base, hit his fourth home run of the season and is now batting .413 this season.
• Justin Nicolino was strong on Tuesday, as the Marlins prospect allowed just one baserunner in five innings of work.  It was the best outing of the year for Nicolino, who came over to the Marlins in this off-season's blockbuster trade.
• Clayton Blackburn continues to dominate the tough California League, as the Giants pitching prospect struck out nine in six innings, and saw his ERA raise (slightly) to 1.06 on the year.  Blackburn has a 21-to-2 strike out to walk ratio on the season.

Low-A

• Michael Ynoa gave the A's a lot to be optimistic about on Tuesday, putting together his best start as a professional.  The Dominican bonus baby struck out five batters in three innings, allowing only an unearned run.  The fact that he's healthy and making his starts is a good sign for the A's, but his improved command and ability to miss some bats are real signs of progress.
• Parker Bridwell is finally pitching the way the Orioles expected, allowing two runs in five innings for his third straight solid outing.  Bridwell has been highly-touted for years, but has never been able to translate his ability into on-field produciton.  He is repeating the South Atlantic League this season.
• Stetson Allie continued his power surge, as the converted pitcher hit his sixth home run as part of a four-hit day that raised his batting average to .411 on the year.  The Pirates converted him into a first baseman relatively quickly after drafting him as a pitcher, but the move has paid off thus far as Allie dominates the Sally League in the early going.

Prospect Action: 4/11/13

Triple-A

• Chris Archer, who could be in the majors soon with the Rays if they choose to abandon the Roberto Hernandez experiment, didn't help make his case on Wednesday, giving up four runs in five innings.  He did strike out seven batters, however, while walking just one, and it's unlikely that the Rays are making any roster decisions based on his starts this season.  Wil Myers went 2-for-4 in the game and is now hitting .360 on the young season.
• Gerrit Cole allowed one run and struck out five of the six outs he recorded in a two-inning outing that was shortened due to the Pirates pitch count restrictions.  It took Cole 63 pitches to get through the two innings, and most organizations have a limit on how many pitches a pitcher can throw in one inning.
• Jarred Cosart earned his first win of the season as the Astros right-hander allowed just one hit over five shutout innings while striking out seven.

Double-A

• After a dominant opening start, Phillies left-hander Jesse Biddle didn't fare as well in his second outing on Wednesday, allowing five runs (four earned) in six innings without striking out a batter.
• Zach Lee was impressive in his second start of the season, as the Dodgers top pitching prospect struck out seven batters in as many innings and allowing just one run in the outing.
• Brewers pitching prospect Jimmy Nelson advanced to 2-0 after allowing just an unearned run over six innings of work.  Brian Flynn took the loss for the Marlins' Double-A affiliate in Jacksonville despite pitching well, allowing two runs in five innings while striking out eight, but not as well as his dominant first start.  Derek Dietrich had a perfect night at the plate in the loss, reaching base all four times he came to bat.
• Taijuan Walker struggled in his first start, and while he wasn't great on Wednesday, he was better, allowing three runs, all unearned, in five innings, as his teammates made seven errors behind him.  He did strike out five batters in the outing.

High-A

• Archie Bradley showed exactly what he can do when he throws strikes, as the Diamondbacks prospect struck out ten batters in six shutout innings without walking a batter.  Bradley has been good thus far in his professional career, but not as dominant as a pitcher with his stuff should be because of his tendency to put extra runners on base.  Wednesday night was a great indication of what he can do when he forces hitters to hit their way on base.
• Courtney Hawkins, the White Sox 2012 first-round pick, hit his first two home runs of the season on Thursday.  Hawkins entered the game just 1-for-10 on the season.
• Maikel Franco homered and Javier Baez fanned three times in a strange game between the Cubs and Phillies Florida State League affiliates that saw Cubs prospect Jorge Soler ejected for attacking the opposing dugout with a bat, reports Gordon Wittenmyer of The Chicago Sun-Times.

Low-A

• Josh Bell hit his first home run of the 2013 season, as part of a 2-for-4 night that also included a double and raised his batting average to .231.  Bell was a 2nd round pick by the Pirates in 2011 and was signed to a $5 million bonus, a record for the second round.
• After homering on Tuesday, Joey Gallo did on Wednesday the other thing he's going to do a lot - strike out.  The Rangers prospect  went 0-for-4 with three strike outs, showing his feast-or-famine approach on back-to-back days.
• Note: Most of the Midwest League was postponed on Wednesday night due to strong storms in the northern part of the country.

Prospect Action: 4/8/13

Triple-A

• Billy Hamilton was dominant on Monday, as the Reds top prospect went 4-for-5 and stole three bases.
• Jake Odorizzi did a good job of impressing his new organization as the Rays newest pitching prospect threw 6 2/3 shutout innings in his debut with his new team, notes Danny Wild of MiLB.com.
• Melky Mesa hit his first home run of the 2013 season after a spring training in which he was considered to take Curtis Granderson's place on the Yankees big league roster.
• Jeff Kobernus collected three more hits and is now batting .579 on the spring.  His offensive production was in support of fellow Nationals Rule V returnee Danny Rosenbaum, who threw five scoreless innings.
• Phillies prospects Cody Asche and Darin Ruf recorded a pair of hits each with Asche's being a double and a home run, both of which came off of Red Sox starter Rubby de la Rosa.
• Chris McGuiness, who had a strong Arizona Fall League season and was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the Rule V draft this winter but was returned to the Texas Rangers, hit a pair of home runs on Monday night as part of a three-hit, six-RBI day.
• Mike Zunino went 3-for-4 and hit his third home run of the young season on Monday, showing the Mariners once again that he is ready for any assignment they throw at him.

Double-A

• Matt Barnes lasted just one inning in his Double-A debut, striking out three in the frame, but also allowing a pair of runs and throwing 33 pitches, which was enough to end his night early, notes Glenn Jordan of The Portland Press Herald.
• Yasiel Puig has carried his red-hot spring over to the regular season, as the Dodgers outfield prospect went 2-for-3 with a double on Monday to raise his batting average to .538 on the young season.
• George Springer reached base four times, as the Astros center fielder of the future drew a pair of walks to go along with two hits.  Much of the offense came off of Rockies pitcher Tyler Matzek, who walked five batters in four innings to carry his extreme control issues over from last season.

High-A

• Prospects Deven Marrero and Garin Cecchini led the offensive attack in Salem on Monday night, as the left side of the infield combined to reach base seven times with four doubles.
• Taylor Naquin collected two more hits to raise his batting average to .375 on the year while fellow Indians prospect Francisco Lindor reached base three more times as well.

Low-A

• Light-hitting Tigers shortstop prospect Danry Vasquez went 3-for-4 with a double and a pair of runs scored in his team's 11-run outburst on Monday.
• Power-hitting prospect Joey Gallo did what he does best on Monday, hitting his first home run of the season as part of a three-hit night.
• Converted Pirates pitcher Stetson Allie hit his second home run of the season.

 

Prospect Action - 4/6/13

Triple-A

• Johnny Hellweg was dominant on Saturday night, as the Brewers pitching prospect threw five scoreless innings in his season debut, reports Tim Grubbs of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.  Despite almost making the Brewers bullpen this spring and having a fastball that can reach 100-mph, Hellweg is still working as a starter in the minors.  Jacob Turner, who was expected to make the Marlins big league rotation this spring, got hit hard in the loss, allowing six runs (five earned) in four innings of work.
• Phillies left-hander Adam Morgan was solid in his Triple-A debut, giving up two runs in six innings allowing just a home run off the bat of Nationals prospect Jeff Kobernus, notes PhuturePhillies.com.
• Mike Zunino had a big day at the plate on Saturday, as the Mariners top prospect hit his second home run of the short season and added a double in a 5-RBI day.

Double-A

• Jameson Taillon was sharp in his season debut, as the Pirates right-hander struck out four batters over five innings of shutout baseball.
• Kevin Gausman's 2013 season didn't get off to the start most Orioles' fans had hoped for as the 2012 first-rounder allowed six runs (four earned) in four innings of work.  He did strike out eight in the outing, but also threw a pair of wild pitches.
• Yasiel Puig showed why the Dodgers are so high on him on Saturday by hitting his first home run of the season, but also why he had to be sent to the minors by striking out twice.

High-A

• Cubs outfielder Jorge Soler hit his first home run of the season, a line drive that cut through winds of almost 30-mph, reports Sean Kernan of The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
• Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario combined for five hits to help lead the Twins' Florida State League affiliate in Fort Myers to victory.
• Delino Deshields, Jr. collected three hits and stole three bases on Saturday, the first swipes of the year for the Astros prospect who recorded 101 last season.

Low-A

• 2012 first-overall pick Carlos Correa had a huge day at the plate, going 4-for-7 with a home run and five RBI's.  On the other side, Cubs' prospects Rock Shoulders, Jeimer Candelario and Dan Vogelbach all recorded multi-hit games.
• Roderick Bernadina had a perfect day at the plate, as the Orioles outfielder went 2-for-2 with a a home run and a walk.