MLB Prospect Watch

Prospect Action - Royals, Harper, Teheran

• J.D. Martinez continues to drive in runs, as the Astros prospect recorded an RBI in his 8th straight game, reports David Heck of MiLB.com.
• Yankees catching prospect Austin Romine hit two home runs on Wednesday night, says Josh Norris of The Trentonian.
• Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas both homered to help lead the Royals Triple-A affiliate in Omaha to victory, notes Danny Wild of MiLB.com.
• Carlos Peguero made his major league debut with the Mariners, going 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts while filling in with the major league team while Justin Smoak is temporarily away from the team, says Jerry Brewer of The Seattle Times.
• Bryce Harper recorded just his second multi-hit day of the season, going 2-for-5 with a double, reports Danny Wild of MiLB.com.  The Nationals top prospect is batting .250 on the season, with 13 strikeouts in as many games.
• Julio Teheran finally got his first Triple-A win, despite the fact that the Braves top prospect had been pitching well all season, notes Robert Emrich of MiLB.com.

 

Trout, Chisenhall, Turner Among Victims on Roster Cutdown Day

• The Pirates sent ten players away from major league camp on Monday, including prospects Daniel Moskos and Gorkys Hernandez who were optioned to Triple-A, prospect Jeff Locke who was optioned to Double-A, and Andrew Lambo and Chase D'Arnaud who were not on the 40-man roster and were re-assigned to minor league camp, but both of whom will also begin the season in Triple-A, according to Tim Williams of PiratesProspects.com.
• The Angels made a round of cuts on Monday that included top prospect Mike Trout and pitchers Trevor Reckling and Loek Van Mil, reports Owen Perkins of MLB.com.
• Greg Halman was optioned to Triple-A by the Mariners on Monday, notes Greg Johns of MLB.com.
• The Royals optioned both second base prospect Jeff Bianchi and outfield prospect Derrick Robinson to Double-A, says Dick Kaegel of MLB.com.
• The Indians re-assigned Lonnie Chisenhall, Alex White, and Jason Kipnis to minor league camp, as well as optioned Nick Weglarz and Zach McAllister to Triple-A, reports Jordan Bastain of MLB.com.
• The Astros re-assigned Koby Clemens, Jiovanni Mier, Doug Arguello, Jon Gaston and J.D. Martinez, to minor league camp on Monday, says Farmstros.com.
• The Tigers have re-assigned catchers Patrick Leyland and Bryan Holaday to minor league camp, and have optioned Cale Iorg, Andy Oliver and Jacob Turner to Double-A, says DetroitTigerTales.com.
• The Orioles optioned first base prospect Joe Mahoney to Triple-A, says Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com.

 

Spring Training Battles - Belt, Arencibia, Brown, Astros, Indians

• Yesterday, we discussed the buzz surrounding top prospect Brandon Belt in Giants camp, but today we have some more details of Belt's chances of making the team this spring.  According to GM Brian Sabean, Belt will head back to the minors unless he wins a starting job, reports Chris Haft of MLB.com.  Essentially, the Giants don't want to stunt Belt's development by trapping him in a part-time role, so if he can't crack the starting lineup, he'll head back to Triple-A until he can.  Considering the team's handling of Buster Posey last season, it's reasonable to think that Belt will be heading back to Triple-A until June unless he has an incredible spring.
• J.P. Arencibia enters Spring Training with the Toronto Blue Jays as the favorite to take over the starting catcher duties, according to Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com.
• The more we hear from Phillies GM Ruben Amaro, the further it sounds like Domonic Brown is from being the team's starting right fielder on Opening Day, notes Jim Salisbury for Baseball America.
• Joining Jordan Lyles in Houston Astros Spring Training will be J.D. Martinez, Koby Clemens, Jiovanni Mier, and others, reports Brian Mctaggart of MLB.com.
• The Cleveland Indians announced their non-roster invitees today as well, with big prospect names such as Alex White, Jason Kipnis, Lonnie Chisenhall, and Drew Pomeranz among the notables, reports Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

 

 

Baseball America Hot Sheet - 8/13

Baseball America has released their weekly Hot Sheet.  This week's list includes:

• Chris Archer
• Manny Banuelos
• Brody Colvin
• James Darnell
• Matt Dominguez
• Kyle Drabek
• Danny Duffy
• Jeurys Familia
• Todd Frazier
• Freddie Freeman
• Mat Gamel
• Johnny Giavotella
• Andrew Lambo
• J.D. Martinez
• Tyler Matzek
• Matt Moore
• Jesus Montero
• Thomas Neal
• Rubby de la Rosa
• Julio Teheran

This week's struggling performers include John Ely, Jemile Weeks, Henderson Alvarez, and Edward Salcedo.

Prospect Potent Potables - 8/11

• Jordan Lyles is slated to make his Triple-A debut tonight, but as Bryan Smith of FanGraphs.com argues, this should be his last promotion for the season.  Meanwhile, J.D. Martinez has been a nice surprise for the Astros after they selected the OF in the 20th round in 2009, and he continues to succeed in his first test against advanced pitching, batting .326/.404/.489 in 92 AB's in Double-A, reports Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle.
• The Braves have demoted OF prospect Cody Johnson back to High-A after 233 AB's and a .613 OPS in Double-A, reports TalkingChop.com.
• The Mariners are having a disappointing season at the major league level, but they have seen some positive performances at the lower levels of the minors from Latin American players like George Mieses, Richard Vargas, and Ramon Morla, says Conor Glassey of Baseball America (subscription required).
• Tim Alderson still has a long road ahead of him in trying to work out his mechanical flaws before the Pirates can even consider him as a part of their future, says Dejan Kovacevic for Baseball America.  Meanwhile, Tim WIlliams of PiratesProspects.com asks whether or not Chase D'Arnaud is the team's shortstop of the future.
• Vance Worley may have been sent down by the Phillies, but he was only sent to Triple-A rather than back to Double-A where he was promoted from, so the final result felt like a promotion, says Jim Salisbury for Baseball America.
• Ray Parrillo of the Philadelphia Inquirer breaks down the long journey of Angels' prospect Mike Trout, from South Jersey high school star to top prospect in all of baseball.