MLB Prospect Watch

Potent Potables - A's, Moore, Pirates, Cubs, Peacock

• A's prospects Josh Donaldson, Grant Green and Adrian Cardenas each drove in three runs en route to a birth in the PCL Championship Series, reports the Sacramento Bee.
• Matt Moore is heading to the majors, where he will join the Rays roster on Monday, says Daren Smith of MiLB.com.
• Kolten Wong's two hits helped lead his Cardinals teammates to a birth in the Midwest League Championship Series, notes FutureRedbirds.net.
• Tim Williams of PiratesProspects.com compares highly regarded prospect Stetson Allie with lesser-known Nick Kingham, and who should rate higher within the Pirates system.
• The Daytona Cubs clinched the Florida State League title behind the pitching of Dae-Eun Rhee and the bat of Matt Szczur, reports David Heck of MiLB.com.
• The Nationals are going to give Brad Peacock a start, likely to come on Wednesday, says Bill Ladson of MLB.com.

 

 

Prospect Action - Profar, Hendriks, Gray

• Jurickson Profar's two-run double helped lead his fellow Rangers prospects to victory in the first game of their double-header on Wednesday, reports The Hickory Daily Record.
• Twins pitching prospect Liam Hendriks threw eight strong innings, out-dueling Red Sox prospect Kyle Weiland, according to WPRI.com.
• A bases-loaded single by Greg Halman provided all the offense his Mariners teammates needed on Wednesday, notes Don Ruiz of The [Tacoma] News Tribune.
• Josh Donaldson broke a tie game open with a solo home run, notes The Sacramento Bee.  In Double-A, fellow A's prospect and the team's first-round pick in this year's draft, Sonny Gray, earned his first professional win, reports Robert Emrich of MiLB.com.
• Pirates OF prospect Andrew Lambo hit a two-run homer, says PiratesProspects.com.

 

 

Position Battles - Montero, Harper, Trout, Montgomery

• Despite the presence of Jorge Posada and Russell Martin, as well as backup Francisco Cervelli, the Yankees insist that Jesus Montero has a good chance to make the Yankees roster, says Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.  The claim does seem plausible when you consider Martin's recent injury history and Posada's advancing age and move to designated hitter.  The team should be able to find at-bats for Montero 2-3 games per week.  Meanwhile, Andrew Brackman has been listed as one of the dark horse candidates to grab a spot at the back of the Yankees rotation, says Hoch, but the team insists it would prefer to send its young pitchers back to the minors for now.
• You have to love the kid's desire.  Despite the announcement that he would likely be spending the entire season in the minors and had no chance of making the Nationals Opening Day roster, Bryce Harper says that that is his goal anyway, according to Bill Ladson.  The comments were not made in defiance or with any negative connotation, but rather demonstrate the high standards to which Harper holds himself.
• Entering his first full season with the Indians, LHP Zach McAllister is likely ticketed for Triple-A, especially after having struggled at Columbus after being traded by the Yankees in August, reports Jordan Bastain of MLB.com.  Also heading to Columbus are top prospect Alex White and Lonnie Chisenhall, regardless of their performances this spring, says Stephanie Storm for Baseball America.
• Despite the absurdity of the speculation, the Angels have had to continually reject the idea of Mike Trout making their major league team this season, insisting instead that he will head to Double-A, at least to start the season, says Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.
• Aaron Crow is likely headed to to Double-A, but given the Royals incredibly inexperienced rotation, he is battling with an outside chance at making it, says Dick Kaegel of MLB.com.  Mike Montgomery is an even longer shot to make the Royals rotation after missing part of last year due to injury, but if he stays healthy this year, he could be in Kansas City before season's end. 
• Josh Donaldson got a taste of the majors last season, and he enters this spring trying to win the A's backup role behind Kurt Suzuki, according to Jane Lee of MLB.com.
• Last year's season-long slump lowered the White Sox confidence in catching prospect Tyler Flowers, causing them to re-sign veteran A.J. Pierzynski, and essentially punched Flowers' ticket back to Triple-A this spring, notes Scott Merkin of MLB.com.

 

 

Prospect Potent Potables - 5/29

• Major League Baseball cleared Yorman Rodriguez's name and any controversy surrounding his correct identity, reports Ben Badler of Baseball America.  Rodriguez is in extended spring training with the Reds.
• Pat Venditte is still in the Florida State League, but Jack Moore of FanGraphs.com makes a case for the Yankees' promoting the switch-pitcher to Double-A.
• Brewers' prospect Cutter Dykstra is attempting to learn how to play second base while also dealing with the off-the-field distractions surrounding his father, notes Tom Haudricourt for Baseball America.
• Ian Krol is trying to make a name for himself in the A's organization with his ability to change speeds and despite an underwhelming arsenal of pitches, reports Matthew Linder of MLB.com.
• Phillippe Valiquette can throw 100-mph with his left arm, reports Dave Cameron of FanGraphs.com, but can't do much else at this point.
• Hector Noesi is one of the few legitimate pitching prospects in the Yankees' organization, and Josh Norris of The Trentonian has a frame-by-frame look at Noesi's mechanics on his blog, which is pretty cool if you scroll down at the right speed.  Noesi is a rare power pitcher with superb control, reports George King for Baseball America.
• Kyle Skipworth still has yet to produce like the Marlins had hoped, but he's improving after a dismal 2009 campaign, and learning how to be a professional hitter and catcher is a difficult task, Bill Ballew reminds us on MLB.com.
• Josh Donaldson is not satisfied with his brief stint in the majors earlier this season and is out to prove he has the defensive chops to be an every day catcher, says Casey Tefertiller for Baseball America.

Notable Prospect Performances - 5/3

A super-sized batch of links after a busy weekend of prospect action...

• Domonic Brown launched a grand slam as part of a huge day for the Phillies' top prospect, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.
• Tim Melville got rocked in his weekend start, and Greg Schaum of RoyalsProspects.com has some insight into why.
• Wilkin Ramirez made his case for a call-up to Detroit over the weekend, reports MiLB.com.
• The Oakland A's promoted Josh Donaldson to the majors over the weekend, and he came up big in his first game, reports Jane Lee of MLB.com.  Donaldson should see the bulk of the A's catching duties with Kurt Suzuki on the shelf, Lee notes.
• Kyle Drabek appears to be getting very comfortable with the Blue Jays' organization, reports Danny Wild of MLB.com.
• Dan Hudson had been off to a terrible start in 2010, and Jeff Buchanan of FutureSox.com was worried, analyzing what exactly was wrong with Hudson.  Perhaps the White Sox' righty was reading, because he bounced back with a great weekend start, reports MiLB.com.
• Alex White is making a lot of teams look stupid for letting him slide in the first round last year, and is making the Indians look very smart, says Alex Raskin of MLB.com.
• Stephen Strasburg hit his first bump in the road on Sunday, and it may have prevented the Nationals from promoting him to Triple-A, reports MiLB.com.
• A couple of rookies successfully made their 2010 major league debuts over the weekend.  Jhoulys Chacin had a dominant start for the Rockies, surrendering only one hit through 7 innings, reports Rick Eymer of MLB.com.  Chacin was with the team briefly last season but was hit hard as a starter.  Wilson Ramos, on the other hand, made his major league debut on Sunday, and had to fill the shoes of Joe Mauer.  All Ramos did was put up a 4-hit game, says Stephen Ellsesser of MLB.com, giving the Twins a reason to let Mauer's heel injury heal properly.
• John Ely will get another shot at the Dodgers' rotation, reports Jim Peltz of the LA Times.  His next start will come on Thursday.