MLB Prospect Watch

Prospect Hot Sheet - 7/8

After a one-week hiatus, Baseball America returned to producing its weekly hot sheet on Friday with prospect-laden edition to take us into the major league all-star break.

• Yonder Alonso
• J.P. Arencibia
• Engel Beltre
• Dellin Betances
• Peter Bourjos
• Kyle Drabek
• Christian Friedrich
• Paul Goldschmidt
• Greg Halman
• J.J. Hoover
• Eric Hosmer
• John Lamb
• Will Middlebrooks
• Shelby Miller
• Mike Moustakas
• Kirk Nieuwenhuis
• Michael Pineda
• Dennis Raben
• Cody Scarpetta
• Blake Smith

Bringing up the rear on the not-so-positive end of the list are Jordan Lyles, Jay Austin, Josh Vitters and Casey Crosby.

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.

Prospect Potent Potables - 5/18

• Madison Bumgarner appears to be back on the prospect track, thanks to a slight mechanical fix and the addition of a cutter, reports Alex Raskin for MiLB.com.  Bumgarner's latest outing was a 7 IP complete game shutout, helping to put him back on the Giants' horizon.
• Sometimes we forget that some of these pitching prospects have only been pitching full-time for a year or two now.  That's the case with the Dodgers' Ethan Martin, as Jared Massey of DodgerTalk.com explains his transition from prep star hitter to potential mound ace.
• Tanner Scheppers is still working on his off-speed pitches in order to become a starter down the road, notes Chris Jackson of MiLB.com, but there's no doubting that the Rangers' plans for him 2010 include the Bullpen at Arlington.
• Think the Phillies left the cupboard bare (despite GM Ruben Amaro's best efforts to restock it)?  Think again says Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News.  And Hagen is talking about prospects other than Domonic Brown who is growing up before our eyes.
• Braves' prospect Mike Minor is impressing in Double-A with his 94-95 MPH fastball and high strikeout totals, but it's his change-up that has been his best weapon, says Guy Curtright of MiLB.com.  Curtright also mentions Josh Vitters and his hot bat but inconsistent glove since the Cubs promoted him to Double-A.
• The Reds claim to have no timetable set for when Aroldis Chapman will head to the major leagues, reports John Fay for Baseball America.  The organization has been somewhat secretive with their plans for Chapman from the start, but the Cuban's recent struggles have likely put a halt to any immediate plans they had for a promotion.
• In addition to Minor, the Braves also have an impressive collection of young, talented, Latin American arms, and the Capital Avenue Club compares 4 of them:  Julio Teheran, Arodys Vizcaino, Randall Delgado, and Robinson Lopez.

Cubs Promote Castro

In a surprising move, the Chicago Cubs have reportedly promoted 20-year-old SS prospect Starlin Castro, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com (article in Spanish).  Rojas also tweeted about the promotion in English, and NBC Sports has a breakdown in English as well.

Castro has been red-hot this season to the tune of .376/.421./569, but is only 20-years-old and has played only 57 games in Double-A.  Presumably, Castro will take over at shortstop for the Cubs and current shortstop Ryan Theriot will slide over to second base.

The Cubs also promoted 3B prospect Josh Vitters to Double-A and SP prospect Andrew Cashner to Triple-A, reports ESPN.com.

Baseball America Hot Sheet

Baseball America has released their weekly Hot Sheet (which they do every Friday) and there are some of the same names as there were last week.  This week's prospects recognized for their efforts include:

• Lars Anderson
• Simon Castro
• Starlin Castro
• Jarred Cosart
• Wilmer Flores
• Grant Green
• Jay Jackson
• Andrew Lambo
• Jordan Lyles
• Eduardo Nunez
• Jake Odorizzi
• Dennis Raben
• Wilking Rodriguez
• Tony Sanchez
• Jerry Sands
• Justin Smoak
• Stephen Strasburg
• Trayce Thompson
• Josh Vitters

Unfortunately, there has to be a bad part of the list each week, and this week's members are Hector Rondon, Corey Brown, Matt Sweeney and Eric Arnett.