MLB Prospect Watch

Making Moves - 5/24

• Derek Norris of the Washington Nationals will be about a week with a concussion, tweets Bill Ladson.
• We already told you about Nick Weglarz promotion to Triple-A.  Taking his place on the Akron roster in Double-A will be Alex White, the Indians
• ' first-round draft pick from 2009, reports Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com.
• Donavan Tate is playing every day in Padres' extended spring training and will begin his professional career officially when the Northwest League starts in June, says Corey Brock of MLB.com.
• Zach Braddock was promoted to Milwaukee one day after his minor league teammate Jonathan Lucroy got the call, report Adam McCalvy and Jordan Schelling of MLB.com.
• Arodis Chapman's next start has been pushed back, reports Mark Sheldon of MLB.com, but the Reds have not announced when that start will be.  His next start was originally scheduled for today.
• Marlins' fans want to know when Mike Stanton will be called-up, and Joe Frisaro of MLB.com suggests that it will be at least until June, but could be longer as Stanton is just 20-years old and still has less than a full year of Double-A under his belt.
• Daniel Moskos is having success in his new role as a closer, reports Ron Musselman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  The money quote - "I think the bullpen is a good fit for him" courtesy of Altoona pitching coach Tim Filer.  It's not Filer's fault, but news flash for the Pirates...Clemson thought so too.

Making Moves - 4/23

• Derek Norris, the Washington Nationals top catching prospect, is headed to the disabled list reports Nationals Farm Authority.
• Another catching prospect, Jonathan Lucroy of the Milwaukee Brewers was promoted to Triple-A, notes Bryan Smith of Fan Graphs.com.  Lucroy was only in Double-A because the Brewers have fellow catching prospect Angel Salome in Triple-a and didn't want the two splitting time, but Salome has left the team for a few days and Lucroy was promoted to take his place.
• Kansas City Royals 3B prospect Mike Moustakas, who began the season on the DL with a strained oblique, is back on the field and in Double-A for the first time, and hit two home runs in his first game, reports Dan Tomasino of MLB.com.
• The New York Mets are considering moving 1B Ike Davis up in the lineup, both because of his hot start and because they need his left-handed bat to break up the three righties that currently make up the middle of their lineup, reports Andy Martino of the NY Daily News.

Prospect Potent Potables - 4/20

You'd better clear your schedule before you sit down to read this batch of links...

• Yadier Molina didn't get the night off after catching all 20 innings on Saturday, but he'll get a chance to rest today, as recently call-up catching prospect Bryan Anderson will start for the Cardinals, reports Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• Matt Eddy of Baseball America goes through the next crop of talented arms making its way through the Los Angeles Angels farm system, specifically:
• • Orangel Arenas
  • Pat Corbin
  • Tyler Kehrer
  • Fabio Martinez
  • Garrett Richards
  • Tyler Skaggs
• Nationals' top prospect Stephen Strasburg has lived up to the hype so far, notes Stephanie Storm of MLB.com, who also discusses Luis Perez's hot start.
• Jordan Lyles impressed the Astros so much last season that they jumped him all the way to Double-A as a 19-year-old, a move that has only happened a handful of times in the past decade, says Zachary Levine of Baseball America.
• Ike Davis had more riding on his debut than the outcome of a baseball game, as the entire Mets' fan base has embraced his promotion as the start of a new era, explains Bob Klapisch of the Bergen County Record.
• The Oakland A's have a glut of left-handed pitching stashed away in Double-A, the best of which may be Pedro Figueroa, says Todd Traub of MLB.com, who also discusses Rangers' prospect Blake Beavan's great start on Sunday.
• Fans have questions about the Blue Jays' newest acquisition, Cuban shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, and Jim Callis of Baseball America has answers.  Callis rates Hechavarria as the 6th best prospect in the Blue Jays farm system
• No one wants to pitch to Marlins' prospect Mike Stanton, reports Guy Curtright of MLB.com, and can you blame them?  Curtright also has updates on Brewers' catcher Jonathan Lucroy, Cubs' pitcher Andrew Cashner, and the Mariners' conversion to second base of Dustin Ackley.

Link: Interview with Brewers' Lucroy

Jonathan Lucroy, the Milwaukee Brewers top catching prospect and one of the possible solutions to their catching vacancy, sat down with Jim Breen of the blog Bernie's Crew for an interview.  Lucroy is the best in-house option for the Brewers at catcher, unless they re-sign FA Jason Kendall, but the Brewers may elect to sign a one-year place holder until they decide Lucroy is ready to take over the catching duties full-time.  Lucroy batted .267/.380/.418 at Double-A last season, his highest level reached, and also participated in the Arizona Fall League.

Link: A Look at Catchers in the AFL

Ben Badler of Baseball America discusses some of the scouting reports of the catchers who played in the Arizona Fall League.  Those players include:

• Buster Posey (SF)
• WIlin Rosario (COL)
• Jonathan Lucroy (MIL)
• Luis Exposito (BOS)
• Hank Conger (LAA)