MLB Prospect Watch

Marlins Promote Morrison to Replace Injured Coghlan

This isn't the way the Marlins would have liked to announce that their top prospect still in the minors would be making his debut, but nonetheless Logan Morrison will be joining the major league club to take the roster spot vacated by Chris Coghlan, who injured his knee while celebrating on Monday, reports Janie McCauley of the Miami Herald.

Morrison, a natural first baseman, has played some left field this year as the team attempts to get both him and rookie of the year candidate Gaby Sanchez into the lineup at the same time.  Morrison has not displayed the traditional home run power this year that is normally attributed to a first baseman or corner outfielder (although he did hit 24 home runs in 2007 in A-ball), but his .914 OPS in Triple-A is the highest of his career at any level where he has spent significant time.  Morrison's best tools are his defense at first base, which will go to waste for the time being as he will split time in left field with Emilio Bonifacio, says Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald, and his outstanding eye at the plate - Morrison has walked more times than he has struck out in both Double and Triple-A.

Just how much playing time Morrison loses to Bonifacio should depend on how is defensive abilities play out in left field, as that is the only area where Bonifacio has an advantage.  Given Bonifacio's career .302 OBP and complete lack of power, he would have to be significantly better in the field than Morrison in order to make up for what should be a large difference in offensive production.  Ultimately, Morrison should hit his way into the Marlins' lineup on a regular basis, and only a devastatingly slow start could prevent this from happening.

Organizational Update - Florida Marlins

The Marlins' organization is more than Mike Stanton...but not that much more.

Matt Dominguez - Stats

Dominguez is a prime example that the jump from A to AA is the most difficult of all, and has a line of .231/.316/.401 to prove it.  In his defense, his .717 OPS is actually the exact average of the league, but it has been an unimpressive showing for the former first-rounder this season.  His line drive rates are significantly lower in Double-A than they have been throughout his professional career, indicating that he just can't seem to square up the more advanced pitching.

Isaac Galloway - Stats

Each year and each promotion to a new level for Galloway leads to less contact and less production.  After a 12/89 BB/K ratio last season in Low-A ball, the Marlins decided to send Galloway to the Florida State League anyway.  Should we be surprised then by his .549 OPS?

Brad Hand - Stats

As Hand has advanced to the higher levels of the minors, he hasn't induced nearly as many ground balls.  Those ground balls have turned in to line drives, this he is giving up significantly more hits.  Sometimes it's just that simple.  He misses enough bats (more than one per innings this year) and has enough control that he could be effective, but he needs to force more ground balls to get his ERA back below 4.00.

Chad James - Stats

We have only a small sample size for last year's first round pick, but James is off to a decent enough start.  He's striking out a batter an inning, but 15 BB's in 26 innings is too many.  If he can limit the free passes, however, he should progress nicely but will also need to continue to induce ground balls at a high rate.

Logan Morrison - Stats

Morrison has continued to prove his merit as a top prospect despite losing the 1B battle to Gaby Sanchez in Spring Training.  He continues to improve his control of the strike zone, as evidenced by his 13/11 BB/K ratio, and his .291/.394/.519 line in Triple-A should merit him a promotion this fall.  He's the Marlins' best prospect not named Stanton.

Kyle Skipworth - Stats

The Marlins' first round pick in 2008 is rebounding nicely from a brutal 2009 season, and is at least showing off the power that made him sigh a high pick.  The Marlins would certainly like to see some more plate control, but .256/.318/.494 is at least a signal that Skipworth does have the talent to continue to progress.

Mike Stanton - Stats

Words and numbers don't really begin to describe the legend that is becoming Mike Stanton, but we'll try anyway.  .300/.429/.706 shows you the kind of power Stanton has, but it's his plate discipline this year that has been most impressive (40/51 BB/K ratio).  The only knock on Stanton is the strikeout rates, which have always been incredibly high.  Typically that much swinging and missing doesn't translate well to major league success, but Stanton may be the exception to the rule.

Ryan Tucker - Stats

The Marlins are desperately trying to get something out of their 2005 1st round pick, but Tucker's Triple-A numbers don't give them much hope.  His 19/17 K/BB ratio is an indication of a complete lack of command.  

Making Moves - 4/30

• You probably thought that the first Nationals' pitching prospect to be promoted would be Stephen Strasburg, but Drew Stroen has beat him to the bunch, according to MiLB.com.  Storen may not have the overall potential of Strasburg, but he's just as ready for the majors.  He'll head to Triple-A and wait for an opening in Washington.
• Lars Anderson is also heading to Triple-A after a hot month to start the 2010 season, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America.
• Mike Montgomery will make his first Double-A start tomorrow after dominating the Carolina League, reports MiLB.com.
• Logan Forsythe is headed to the DL, notes Bill Center of the San Diego Union Tribune.  Forsythe broke his hand while playing in Double-A.
• Baseball America has their weekly transaction post, which has some significant injury updates, including the latest on Marlins' 1B prospect Logan Morrison.

Baseball America Hot Sheet

Baseball America releases its Prospect Hot Sheet every Friday featuring the prospects who had the best week (and some of those who had the worst), and frankly, it's the best synopsis you'll find anywhere of the week that was around minor league baseball.  So naturally, we need to tell you about it.  MLB Prospect Watch will have a permanent link to these Hot Sheets located in the right hand column, along with an announcement each week when the new list is released.

The first Hot Sheet of the season was released on Friday, covering the start of the minor league season (4/8) to the 15th, and featuring many of the biggest names in the prospect world.  Among those getting good marks  are (in alphabetical order):

• Christian Bethancourt
• Andrew Cashner
• Aroldis Chapman
• Travis D'Arnaud
• Nick Franklin
• Caleb Gindl
• Jeremy Hellickson
• Anthony Hewitt
• Eric Hosmer
• Ethan Martin
• Fabio Martinez
• Brad Mills
• Mike Montgomery
• Logan Morrison
• Luis Perez
• Justin Smoak
• Carlos Santana
• Mike Stanton
• Jacob Turner
• Nick Weglarz

Not all of the news is good, however, as some big name prospects are not off to such good starts to their 2010 seasons.  Madison Bumgarner, Aaron Hicks, Zach Wheeler, and Phillippe Aumont were all mentioned on the unfortunate part of the list.

Position Battles Won/Lost by Prospects

As Spring Training winds down (Opening Day is one week away!), we are starting to see the conclusions to many of the position battles that have taken place this spring.

• Despite being a favorite of his manager, Justin Maxwell was unable to make the Nationals' 25-man roster, large in part to his .102 batting average this spring, notes Bill Ladson in his MLB.com blog.
• Gaby Sanchez beat out Logan Morrison for the Marlins' first base spot, reports Joe Frisaro in his MLB.com blog.  Morrison will open the season in Triple-A.
• In Braves' camp, Craig Kimbrel is still in a battle for the remaining spot in the team's bullpen, according to Mark Bowman in his blog on MLB.com.
• Matt Antonelli wasn't exactly battling for a roster spot this spring, but a strong March performance has at least put him back on the prospect radar, notes Corey Brock of MLB.com, and perhaps also back in the Padres' future plans.