MLB Prospect Watch

Orioles Promote 3B Bell

With an open roster spot to fill and a lineup in need of some new life, the Baltimore Orioles have promoted 3B prospect Josh Bell, reports Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun.  Bell will be in the starting lineup tonight.

Bell was hitting .265/.310/.453 at the time of his promotion despite a career low BABIP of .327, but the big question remains how Bell will be able to produce from the left side, where the switch-hitter has a career batting average of .243.  As a RHH, Bell has a career .875 OPS during his minor league career.

Prospect Potent Potables - 6/30

• Michael Burgess's power is down but his plate discipline has improved, an adjustment the Nationals wanted him to make to help him become a better all-around hitter, reports Pete Kerzel of MLB.com.
• In addition to impressing on the mound, Jordan Lyles has shown the Astros that he is an impressive all-around athlete and no slouch with a bat in his hands either, says Todd Traub of MLB.com.
• With all the success Jonathan Singleton has had this season, it's easy to forget that the Phillies kept him in extended spring training to start the season, J.J. Cooper of Baseball America reminds us.
• Sean Ratliff is making the most of his opportunity since the Mets called him up to Double-A, reports Ryan Isley of MiLB.com.
• Hector Noesi threw a complete game shutout in his latest outing on Tuesday night, making it five straight starts of at least 7 innings for the Yankees' pitching prospects, according to Mike Ashmore of ThunderBaseball.com.  Fellow pinstripe pitching prospect Dellin Betances is re-learning how to pitch after narrowly avoiding Tommy John surgery last season, but the results thus far have been very promising, says Lee Diekemper of MiLB.com.
• Orioles' 3B prospect Josh Bell broke out of a 1-for-15 slump in a grand way Tuesday night.

Making Moves - 6/22

• The Mariners have promoted pitcher Michael Pineda to Triple-A, tweets Ryan Darvish of Mariners Insider.
• Phillies' first-round pick Jesse Biddle will make his professional debut on Friday, pitching in the Gulf Coast League, reports Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
• Royals' pitching prospects Mike Montgomery and Noel Arguelles are both battling arm issues, says Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.  Montgomery is back on the DL with elbow soreness for the second time this month, but GM Dayton Moore insists everything is fine.  At the same time, Arguelles, the team's $7 million Cuban investment, will still miss another two weeks recovering form shoulder tendinitis.
• Thanks to the development of his change-up, Zach Britton could get a look in Baltimore towards the end of the season, says Noah Rosenstein of MLB.com.  Josh Bell could also be in Baltimore by the end of the season, and is certainly closer to the majors than he was in the Dodgers' organization, says John Wagner for MiLB.com.
• Twins' catching prospect Wilson Ramos will miss a few games due to an oblique strain, reports the Minnesota Star-Tribune.
• The Mets have sent reliever Jenrry Mejia back down to Double-A so that he can develop as a starter, report Sean Brennan and Andy Martino of the New York Daily News.
• Hunter Morris, the Brewers' fourth-round pick in this year's draft, has skipped rookie ball and been sent directly to the full season Midwest League, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.
• The White Sox have signed first-rounder Chris Sale, and plan on debuting him in the Carolina League as a reliever, reports Jeff Buchanan of FutureSox.com.  Their plan is to fast-track Sale as a reliever this season with the potential of using him in the major league bullpen this fall, then send him to the Arizona Fall League to transition back to being a starter as he was in college.

Prospect Potent Potables - 6/15

There were some strong prospect performances yesterday, but no one could quite match the show Cubs' prospect Brett Jackson put on last night, capping off a hit-for-the-cycle night with a walk-off home run, reports John Parker of MLB.com.

• Carlos Carrasco put in another reliable start, says Tony of Indians Prospect Insider, but the Indians' pitching prospect took the loss, allowing 4 ER in 7 IP, despite fanning 8 Norfolk batters in the game.  One batter unfazed by Carrasco was O's 3B prospect Josh Bell, who went 2-for-5 with a double and a home run, says Dean Jones, Jr. of the Baltimore Sun.
• Jonathan Singleton is silly-hot right now, and Jarred Cosart is becoming a very reliable arm in the Phillies' system.
• Starts like this from Andrew Brackman keep the Yankees coming back for more.
• This is more like the Jeff Kobernus the Nationals thought they were drafting last year.
• It took Dayan Viciedo a year to get his feet wet in professional ball, but it looks like he's getting the hang of it.

Notable Prospect Performances - 6/9

Thank you, Stephen Strasburg, for reminding us again how much fun baseball can be.  You should probably, however, apologize to Mike Stanton for completely overshadowing his 3-hit debut.

In other action...

• It was a big night for Indians' prospects, as Carlos Santana hit his 12 home run of the season and Lonnie Chisenhall homered for Double-A Akron in support of Alex White, who gave up only one hit over six innings, but walked five.
• Brandon Erbe had another rough outing, reports Dean Jones, Jr. of the Baltimore Sun, but there's some good offensive news for the O's from the game, as Brandon Snyder and Josh Bell each had two hits and an RBI.
• Mike Minor has been racking up major strikeout numbers, but he's also had a couple of clunkers tossed in, like the 7 ER's he gave up Tuesday night.
• Yesterday made back-to-back 3-hit nights for Desmond Jennings.  When he gets hot, look out.
• There were some impressive strikeout totals recorded in places other than Washington on Tuesday night, including those by Dan Hudson, who punched out 10 over 7 IP, Brody Colvin who K'd 8 in 7 IP, and Chad James, who set down 9 batters in 5 innings of work.