MLB Prospect Watch

Prospect Potent Potables - 7/26

• The Cubs farm system may be taking a hit as prospects like Andrew Cashner and Jay Jackson join the big league team, but Chris Archer is doing his best to take their place among the top pitching prospects in the Cubs system by continuing to impress in Double-A.
• Brad Lincoln's minor league success didn't translate into productivity at the major league level, and the Pirates right-hander has been optioned back to Triple-A, reports Tim Williams of PiratesProspects.com.
• J.J. Cooper of Baseball America takes a look back at some of the more impressive performances from the weekend, including Eric Hosmer, Michael Pineda, Peter Bourjos, Adrian Salcedo, and Jeremy Hellickson.
• Speaking of Hellickson, Rays' manager Joe Maddon said over the weekend that the team may use the team's top pitching prospect in a relief role similar to the way they used David Price in the 2008 playoffs, according to Joe Smith of the St. Petersburg Times.
• J.P. Arencibia is heating up again, and is showing off the power that has put him on the prospect map in the first place, says Chris Jackson of MiLB.com.  Arencibia may never be an all-star catcher due to his free-swinging ways and fluctuating batting average, but there is a place for a solid defensive catcher with plus power in the major leagues, and that place may soon be Toronto.
• Michael Kirkman has re-established himself as a prospect thanks to refined control that was at one point bad enough to threaten his career, says Jeff Wilson for Baseball America.  While Kirkman may never be a control artist, he has refined his command enough to be effective, and could see time in the Rangers' bullpen later this year.
• Orioles' pitching prospect Nathan Moreau tossed a no-hitter in his first start after a promotion to High-A Frederick, reports Roch Kubatko for Baseball America.  The 11th round pick in 2008 has has success against younger competition to this point, but has had success in 3 starts in the Carolina League, his highest level of competition yet.

Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet

Baseball America has once again released their weekly hot sheet, with this week's edition featuring some new names to take the place of the list's regulars who have graduated to the majors.

• J.P. Arencibia
• Brandon Belt
• Dellin Betances
• Tyler Chatwood
• Mark Cohoon
• Tim Collins
• Collin Cowgill
• Jeremy Hellickson
• Aaron Hicks
• Brett Jackson
• Desmond Jennings
• Kila Ka'aihue
• Jordan Lyles
• Trey McNutt
• Matt Moore
• Angel Morales
• Xavier Paul
• Derrick Robinson
• J.B. Shuck
• Julio Teheran

This week's bottom four include Lars Anderson, Che-Hsuan Lin, Travis D'Arnaud, Chris Dominguez.

Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet

Baseball America has released their weekly prospect hot sheet, breaking down the best prospect performances of the past week.  This week's list includes:

• Chris Archer
• Domonic Brown
• Drew Cumberland
• Nick Franklin
• Grant Green
• Reese Havens
• Jeremy Hellickson
• J.J. Hoover
• Corban Joseph
• Ryan Kalish
• Brad Lincoln
• Jake McGee
• Mike Minor
• Ty Morrison
• Elisaul Pimentel
• Robbie Ross
• Julio Teheran
• Mike Trout
• Arodys Vizcaino
• Alex White

Appearing on this week's not-hot list are Carlos Carrasco, Derrick Robinson, Trevor May, and Alex Colome.

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 - 5/25

The news flash that Stephen Strasburg gave up his first earned run in Triple-A isn't nearly as interesting as why he was taken out after only 52 pitches.  It could be that the Nationals wanted to limit his pitch count and chose a start where he was merely good but not dominant to do it.  It could be that he'll be in Washington sooner than expected.  Or perhaps they're just babying him.  Only time will tell...

• Speaking of guys who probably shouldn't be in Triple-A, Jeremy Hellickson retired the first 18 batters he faced en route to 8 scoreless innings of one-hit ball, reports Robert Emrich of MLB.com.  Hellickson would probably be in the majors for 29 other teams, but not the Rays.
• Someone needs to get Kyle Russell out of the California League before he hurts someone and into a more hitter-neutral league so we can properly gauge his abilities.  The Dodgers' OF prospect hit two more home runs on Monday to bring his 2010 Cal League totals to .341/12/41.  Dee Gordon, the team's top prospect, collected 4 hits in his Double-A game on Monday night to get his batting average back up to .291.  After a red-hot April in which he hit .345, Gordon is still hitting just .239 in May.
• Buster Posey put together a 4-hit game bring his average to .344 on the season, continuing to prompt speculation like this and rebuttals like this.
• Tyler Skaggs turned in a nice performance, striking out 6 over 5 innings while giving up just one earned run as part of an Angels' system that is becoming increasingly deep in the low minors.
• Tim Alderson (PIT) responded with a solid outing, tossing 7 strong innings while striking out 5 and walking none, lowering his ERA to 5.17 on the season.