MLB Prospect Watch

Moving On Up - July 2-8

Hello Baseball fanatics, once again it is Jeffrey Snedden here to update you on the call-ups and rookie status changes of the week in Major League Baseball.  Welcome to “Moving On Up” for July 2 – July 8. 

A quick note: as pointed out by a few readers, I have been incorrectly using 130 plate appearances as the cut off for rookie qualification.  As per the MLB rulebook, the correct cut off is 130 AT BATS.  Thank you to those who pointed out the error.

The Chicago White Sox called up RP Brian Omogrosso from AAA-Charlotte of the IL on July 3.  The right hander made his ML debut on July 3 in a 19-2 win over the Rangers, giving up one earned run in 1.2 IP.  On a personal note, Omogrosso hails from my home area of Beaver County, PA and played his high school ball for Blackhawk High School in Chippewa, PA.  Blackhawk has produced many great athletes over the years, and I am thrilled to see another local product in the big leagues.

The Detroit Tigers called up P Darin Downs from AAA-Toledo of the IL on July 3.  The 27-year old has had a long road to the big leagues, having suffered a fractured skull when hit by a line drive in 2009.  He made his major league debut on July 3, and thus far has compiled 4.1 IP of scoreless ball for the Tigers.  The left hander could be a potent situational reliever for Detroit moving forward.

The Toronto Blue Jays called up P Sam Dyson from AA-New Hampshire of the Eastern League on July 5.  The 24-year old righty made his major league debut against Kansas City on July 5, recording one K and one walk in 0.1 IP.  The Blue Jays have been dealing with an injury-riddled pitching staff, so Dyson could see a good amount of work in his first ML stint.

The Baltimore Orioles called up 1B Joe Mahoney from AAA-Norfolk of the IL on July 7.  The 25-year old made his debut that night in a 3-0 loss to the Angels.  He was 0 for 3 in his first ML appearance.  Mahoney has minor league experience at both corner outfield positions as well as first base, so he could see time at all three positions while the Orioles wait to get some players back from the DL.

 

No Longer Prospects, Welcome to Your Rookie Season

These players have reached the MLB thresholds to be considered a rookie, and thus are no longer prospects.  This is your Rookie of the Year pool for 2012:

 

NYM OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis has 254 at-bats on the season.

PHL 2B Freddy Galvis has 190 at-bats on the season.

WAS OF Bryce Harper has 244 at-bats on the season.

OAK OF Yoenis Cespedes has 196 at-bats on the season.

MIL OF Norichika Aoki has 226 at-bats on the season.

MIN SS Brian Dozier has 208 at-bats on the season.

BOS 3B Will Middlebrooks has 171 at-bats on the season.

LAD UTIL Elian Herrera has 167 at-bats on the season.

DET OF Quintin Berry has 140 at-bats on the season.

 

TEX SP Yu Darvish has 102.2 IP on the season.

BAL SP Wei-Yin Chen has 99.0 IP on the season.

DET SP Drew Smyly has 79.1 IP on the season. 

COL SP Christian Friedrich has 64.2 IP on the season.

TOR SP Drew Hutchison has 58.2 IP on the season.

CWS SP Jose Quintana has 57.1 IP on the season.

 

These players are anywhere from a few days to a few weeks away from crossing over into rookie status, but appear to be en route. 

*A player needs 130 At-bats to be considered a rookie and a pitcher must accrue 50 IP.

 

ATL SS Andrelton Simmons has 113 at-bats on the season.

BAL UTIL Ryan Flaherty has 94 at-bats on the season.

STL 1B Matt Adams has 86 at-bats on the season.

BAL OF Xavier Avery has 89 at-bats on the season.

HOU SS Marwin Gonzalez has 69 at-bats on the season.

WAS OF Tyler Moore has 70 at-bats on the season.

 

TEX RP Robbie Ross has 46.2 IP on the season.

NYY P David Phelps has 41.1 IP on the season.

CWS RP Nate Jones has 38.0 IP on the season.

SEA RP Hisashi Iwakuma has 35.1 IP on the season.

ARI P Patrick Corbin has 35.0 IP on the season.

LAA P David Carpenter has 31.0 IP on the season.

NYM RP Jeremy Hefner has 30.1 IP on the season.

SEA SP Erasmo Ramirez has 30.2 IP on the season.

SDP SP Joe Wieland has 27.2 IP on the season.

HOU RP Rhiner Cruz has 28.1 IP on the season.

 

That’s it for the Week of July 1 – July 8.  Enjoy the All Star festivities, folks.  Andrew McCutchen for NL MVP.

 

Get all of your prospect information right here at www.mlbprospectwatch.com. 

You can follow Jeff Snedden on Twitter @jeffsnedden 

 

 

Making Moves - Mahoney, Yankees, Tropeano, Wacha, Skole

• The Orioles have called up prospect Joe Mahoney, reports Eduarco Encina of The Baltimore Sun.  The move is likely a temporary one for Mahoney, who replaced Chris Tillman on the roster, who the team sent back down after his stellar start on Wednesday so that he won't be idle during the major league all-star break.  Tillman is expected to rejoin the major league team after the break, meaning Mahoney's time with the big league club could be just a week or so.  Mahoney is primarily a first baseman, but has also seen some time in left field, and was hitting just .256/.312/.355 at Triple-A this season, but has posted an OPS over .860 each of the past two seasons.
• The Yankees made a number of internal promotions this week, bumping three of their top hitting prospects, outfielders Tyler Austin and Mason Williams and catcher Gary Sanchez, up from Charleston to Tampa, according to Josh Norris of Minor Matters.
• Having seen him dominate inferior competition for long enough, the Astros promoted Nick Tropeano to High-A Lancaster earlier this week, says FarmStros.com.  Tropeano used his plus-changeup to tear up the South Atlantic League, going 6-4 with a 2.78 ERA and 97 strikeouts in 87 1/3 innings.  In his first start in the hitter-dominated California League, Tropeano didn't miss a beat, throwing eight strong innings and allowing just one unearned run while striking out nine.
• Michael Wacha, the Cardinals first-round pick (19th overall) in this year's draft, has been working out with the organization's Gulf Coast League team since signing, but once the Cardinals decide he's back in game shape, he should jump directly up to the Florida State League, writes Derrick Gould of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  The Cardinals are simply monitoring his innings this season after he threw 113 1/3 innings during his college season.
• Jake Skole has been suspended for 50 games due to amphetamine use, reports T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com.  The Rangers former 2010 draftee has struggled this season, hitting just .185 this season, and has yet to live up to his first-round billing during his professional career.

 

Prospect Action - 6/3/12

Triple-A

• Orioles 1B prospect Joe Mahoney hit a go-ahead homer in the 11th inning of a resumed game on Sunday afternoon, reports Rich Radford of The Virginia-Pilot.
• Julio Teheran threw the first complete game of his career, as the Braves top prospect allowed just one run and struck out six, writes Jonathan Raymond of MiLB.com.  The only run Teheran gave up was a solo homer to White Sox outfielder Jordan Danks, adds The Charlotte Observer.
• Red Sox catching prospect Ryan Lavarnway had a big day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double, according to WPRI.com.

Double-A

• Nick Franklin turned in a monster day at the plate, as the Mariners shortstop prospect went 4-for-4 with a home run, says Ashley Marshall of MiLB.com.  Franklin is now batting .345 in Double-A and is leading the Southern League in wOBA (.443) and OPS (.969). 
• Jurickson Profar had his 50-game on-base streak snapped, says Daren Smith of MiLB.com, but he was picked up offensively by Rangers teammate Mike Olt, who had his third-straight two-homer game.  Olt is now pacing the Texas League in home runs with 17 but is also third in strikeouts.
• A promotion to Double-A didn't slow Tony CIngrani down much, as the Reds lefty allowed two runs over 6 2/3 innings in his first start at the new level, reports Ashley Marshall of MiLB.com.
• Brandon Crumpton pitched well, as the Pirates pitching prospect got 17 ground ball outs over eight innings of work, in which he gave up just four hits, according to Bill Albright of The Portland Press Herald.  Crumpton has always induced a ton of ground balls, and he will have to continue to do so as he is stiriking out a career low 5.14 batters per nine innings in Double-A.

High-A

• Jesse Biddle struck out a career-high 12 batters, and the Phillies left-hander credited the use of his changeup for the success, writes Andrew Pentis of MiLB.com.
• Another NL East left-handed pitching prospect set a career-high in strike outs, as Nationals prospect Robbie Ray fanned nine over eight innings of work, says Luke Erickson of NationalsProspects.com.  It was the best prospect start of the day, tweeted Matt Eddy of Baseball America.
• Alex Burgos threw six no-hit innings and struck out six, with his control continuing to be his only blemish, as the lefty-pitching prospect walked four during the outing, reports The Lakeland Ledger. 

Low-A

• Astros prospect Mike Foltynewicz gave up just one hit over eight innings, including getting 13 outs on ground balls, according to the Lexington Herald-Ledger.
• Aaron Westlake drove in seven runs on Sunday, as the Tigers first base prospect went 3-for-4 with a three-run homer, reports MLive.com.
• Madison Boer entered the day with a 11.22 in the Florida State League, but the Twins prospect figured something out on Sunday, throwing five innings of one-hit baseball, says Sam Dykstra of MiLB.com.

 

Prospect Action - 5/13/12

Triple-A

• Eight innings of two-run baseball from Rudy Owens wasn't good enough, as the Pirates lefty got saddled with the loss, writes Nancy Zinni of PiratesProspects.com.  Owens did walk two batters in the game, which doubled his season total.  The two runs Owens allowed came courtesy of a Joe Mahoney blast, says the Virginian-Pilot, which was the third of the season for the Orioles first base prospect, who hasn't displayed the same power in Triple-A that he did the past few years in High-A and Double-A.
• Rays righty Chris Archer and Yankees lefty Manny Banuelos engaged in a pitcher's duel on Sunday, with each giving up just an unearned run in six innings of work, but Banuelos' bullpen setting up Archer to get the victory, according to Sam Dykstra of MiLB.com.  Archer fanned nine while Banuelos struck out seven.

Double-A

• Julio Rodriguez took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, despite the Phillies pitching prospect battling his control throughout the game, reports The Hartford Courant.  After a breakout year in Clearwater last year, Double-A was slated to be the big test in Rodriguez's development, but so far, the righty out of Puerto Rico has handled it with aplomb, as Sunday's victory improved his record to 3-0 and lowered his ERA to 2.25.  The only blemish this season has been his 20 walks in 36 innings, a rate that he will not be able to sustain, but also a rate that is significantly higher than his career rate.
• Despite entering the game batting a paltry .248, Bryce Brentz went 5-for-5 on Sunday with a double, says Ashley Marshall of MiLB.com.  The Red Sox outfielder has struggled in his first taste of Double-A up until Sunday, with his power yet to join him in Portland, and his aggressive approach at the plate being exploited more often than it was in the low minors.  Yankees outfielder Cody Johnson hit two home runs in the game, notes Mike Ashmore of ThunderBaseball.com, who now has eight on the season and a strikeout rate of 30 percent, which is actually down from previous years.
• Kyle Lotzkar threw 6 1/3 innings in relief in Sunday in the first game of a double header, allowing just two hits, writes Doug Segrest of The Birmingham News, as the Reds prospect lowered his ERA to 1.46 in his second appearance at his new level.

High-A

• Cory Spangenberg turned in a 2-for-4 day to extend his hitting streak to 10 games, reports Jonathan Raymond of MiLB.com.  The Padres 2011 first-rounder was among the first draftees to sign and begin playing last season, but despite his batting average now being above .300, he is not controlling the strike zone the way he did last season and continues to display little power.
• Jacob Petricka wasn't great on Sunday, but the White Sox pitching prospect was good enough to get a victory, as he threw six innings and gave up three runs, according to The Winston-Salem Journal.

Low-A

• Tyrell Jenkins gave up two runs in the first inning, and that proved to be too much for the Cardinals righty, who threw five scoreless innings after that, but still got stuck with the loss, according to Jacob Misener of the Quad Cities River Bandits.  Jenkins faced off against Angels 2011 draftee Austin Wood, who has been good this season, but on Sunday had to survive seven walks in 4 2/3 innings, in which he managed to give up just one run.
• Twins 3B prospect Miguel Sano hit a three-run homer, his 11th of the season, as the recently turned 19-year-old is now slugging .646 in the Midwest League.

 

Prospect Action - 5/9/12

Triple-A

• Orioles prospects Joe Mahoney and Xavier Avery each doubled in their victory Wednesday evening, reports The Virginian-Pilot.
• Yankees pitching prospect Dellin Betances threw a career high eight innings, allowing just one run and striking out seven, according to Danny Wild of MiLB.com.
• Mariners relief prospect Chance Ruffin blew another save and watched his ERA balloon to 9.00, costing his team a game despite a home run from Carlos Triunfel reports Meg Wochnick of The [Tacoma] News Tribune.
• Derek Norris hit a walk-off two-run homer, giving the A's catching prospect four on the season, notes The Sacramento Bee.

Double-A

• Jonathan Pettibone went 8 2/3 strong innings until the Phillies catching prospect four on the pitcher gave up a solo homer to Yankees outfielder Melky Mesa, says Andrew Pentis of MiLB.com.
• Simon Castro put together another strong start, as the White Sox off-season acquisition improved to 3-1 on the season with seven solid innings, according to Doug Segrest of The Birmingham News.

High-A

• Jenrry Mejia threw five innings on Wednesday, marking the first regular season appearance for the Mets pitching prospect since having Tommy John surgery last year, says MetsBlog.com.
• Christian Yelich blasted two home runs, as the Marlins top prospect continued his torrid start to the season, now giving him five homers on the season notes David Heck of MiLB.com.

Low-A

• 2010 first-rounder Kaleb Cowart went 3-for-5 with a double and a homer, notes Ashley Marshall of MiLB.com, giving the Angels infielder five bombs on the season.
• Adys Portillo took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, as the Padres pitching prospect earned his second win of the season says Danny Wild of MiLB.com.