MLB Prospect Watch

Prospect Hot Sheet - 4/30

Baseball America released their weekly hot sheet again today with some new names appearing, and some back where they've been all season.  This week's list includes:

• Jake Arrieta
• Phillippe Aumont
• Alex Colome
• Josh Donaldson
• Kyle Drabek
• Kyle Gibson
• Aaron Hicks
• Eric Hosmer
• Matt Moore
• Wil Myers
• Carlos Peguero
• Derrick Robinson
• Mike Stanton
• Zach Stewart
• Stephen Strasburg
• Julio Teheran
• Alex Torres
• Mike Trout
• Neil Walker
• Alex Wilson

Dan Hudson, Chris Withrow, Tim Beckham and Edinson Rincon were also mentioned in the article, but probably wish they weren't.

Making Moves - 4/15

MLB Prospect Watch would like to introduce a new segment that will be featuring periodically (whenever necessary) featuring prospects who are making a noteworthy change.  This could be a promotion or demotion between levels, coming off of or going on the disabled list, or changing positions, but regardless of the change, you'll read about it here!

• Tim Beckham is off the 7-day DL and will be making his 2010 debut for the Rays' Florida State League affiliate the Charlotte Stone Crabs, reports Jim Donten of Rays Prospects.com.
• Both of the Colorado Rockies' injury-plagued shortstops continue to live up (or down) to their reputation, as both Hector Gomez and Chris Nelson are once again out with injuries, reports Jack Etkin of Inside the Rockies.  Gomez has been playing in Double-A and is only expected to miss a couple of games with back spasms.  Nelson, on the other hand, has yet to play this year because of a strained oblique, and now must head to extended spring training to play catch up.
• Marc Hulet of Fan Graphs.com suggests that the Orioles could soon make a move to bring Jake Arrieta to the majors to replace one of their struggling starts (Hulet suggests Brad Bergesen).  If you've been paying attention today, you already know that I agree.
• There's a unique trend that's beginning to form in the minor leagues whereby teams are taking players from other positions and converting them to second basemen, says Matt Eddy of Baseball America.  Most notable in this situation is Dustin Ackley of the Seattle Mariners, but the Mets are also trying this switch with Reese Havens and the Padres are converting Logan Forsythe.  Ackley has the biggest conversion to make (since he was a college 1B and was drafted as a CF), while Havens is only moving from the other side of the second base bag and Forsythe is shifting over from third.
• Wil Myers made his switch last year, immediately after being drafted, but the Royals' third-round pick from last year is taking to catching exactly the way the organization would have hoped, Matthew Lindner explains for MiLB.com.

Notable Prospect Performances - 4/15

Here are some note-worthy prospect recaps to enjoy to get your mind off those last-minute tax-preparations...

• Jake Arrieta has now gone two starts in Triple-A without giving up a run, notes Danny Wild of MLB.com.  Given the Orioles' struggles at the big league level, it may not be too long until Arrieta gets his call to Baltimore to join Brian Matusz in their starting rotation.  Matusz has been the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal start to the Orioles' season, and R.J. Anderson of Fan Graphs.com has a breakdown of just how good he's been thus far.
• Andrew Cashner reached double-digits in strikeouts for the second straight game, reports MiLB.com.  This time, the Cubs' top pitching prospect took a no-hitter into the 7th inning.
• The Mets' are still debating how they should be using Jenrry Mejia, reports Andy Martino of the New York Daily News, despite the fact that they already have him in the majors.  Apparently not everyone in their front office thinks it's a good idea.  Of course, we could have told them that a month ago.
• The St. Louis Cardinals have promoted C prospect Bryan Anderson to the majors to fill in for the injured Jason LaRue as the backup to Yadier Molina, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  The move indicates a shift in the team's catching depth chart from Spring Training when Anderson was thought to be behind Matt Pagnozzi.
• Don't read anything into Austin Jackson's day off yesterday, as Tigers' manager Jim Leyland says Jackson will be back in the lineup tomorrow against Felix Hernandez, reports John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press.  So instead of facing Kyle Davies, the rookie Jackson gets to face King Felix.  Welcome to the bigs, Austin.  At least he still has his defense, which is also turning some heads, according to Jason Beck of MLB.com.

Orioles Pitching Updates

With as much young pitching as any organization in baseball, the Baltimore Orioles are still in the process of sorting out exactly where everybody should pitch.

• The team was impressed with how Brian Matusz handled his roughest outing of the spring, notes Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun.  It was clear that Matusz didn't have his best stuff in his latest outing, but he showed that he can be effective without it, a real sign of maturity.
• Jake Arrieta was the latest prospect re-assigned to minor league camp, reports the Baltimore Sun.  Arrieta was not expected to make the team this spring and will most likely begin the season in Triple-A.
• Zach Britton was the odd man out of major league camp this spring, but that doesn't mean he's not still a large part of the Orioles' future, says Dan Connolly of the Sun.

Orioles News

The Baltimore Orioles have as much pitching depth as any organization in baseball, but when that pitching will make its way to Camden Yards is still in question.  Jake Arrieta has been mentioned along with already promoted pitchers Chris Tillman and Brian Matusz, but his time has yet to come, notes Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun.  The young righty is still highly touted and considered a major part of the Orioles future, but he has not progressed as quickly as some expected.

Predicting when a prospect will be ready is often a tricky business.  The Orioles know this as well as any organization, having dealt with this uncertainty with other prospects, such as Brandon Erbe.  It was just a few years ago that Erbe appeared to be on the fast track to the majors, a few disappointing seasons in a row cooled the team's expectations for the local pitcher.  But Erbe appears to be back on track, and is still very much in the team's sights, reports Brittany Ghiroli for MLB.com.  Erbe has a new delivery that is helping him with his control.  He made it as high as Double-A last season, and could start there again in 2010.