MLB Prospect Watch

Prospect Action - 5/24/12

Triple-A

• Chris Archer earned his fifth loss of the season despite 12 strikeouts from the Rays top prospect, writes Danny Wild of MiLB.com.
• Mets top prospect Matt Harvey picked up his fifth win of the season, allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings while striking out just two.
• A.J. Griffin didn't get much help from his fellow A's prospects behind him, as he allowed five runs in six innings, only two of which were earned.

Double-A

• Jenrry Mejia gave up home runs to Twins prospects Matt Rizzotti and Deibinson Romero, reports the Hartford Courant.
• Jonathan Singleton went 4-for-5 with a home run, says David Heck of MiLB.com.
• Jared Mitchell got the best of Tyler Thornburg, homering off the Brewers pitching prospect, but it wasn't enough run support for his fellow White Sox prospect Nestor Molina, who earned his fourth loss of the season after giving up four runs in six innings.  Thornburg moved to 6-0 on the season, allowing just two runs over 6 1/3 innings and lowering his ERA to 2.28 for the season.

High-A

• Matt Barnes allowed just one run in six innings, but the Red Sox prospect earned his first Carolina League loss.

Low-A

• Mike Foltynewicz had a start that was not indicative of his ERA on Thursday, as the Astros prospect allowed seven runs in six innings, says Paul Fogleman of The Hickory Daily Record.
• Tyler Austin went 4-for-7 in the Charleston Yankees 13-inning game on Thursday, notes David Heck of MiLB.com.

 

Prospect Action - 4/16/12

Triple-A

• Marlins 3B prospect Matt Dominguez slugged three doubles en route to his squad's 11-5 victory on Monday, says Tim Grubbs of NOLA.com.
• Dellin Betances allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings, says Mike Vander Woude of Above the Plate, as Twins prospects Matt Rizzotti and Joe Benson did some damage offensively.
• Jarrod Parker is showing that he's ready for Oakland, as he allowed just one run in seven innings while striking out seven, notes David Heck of MiLB.com.

Double-A

• The Yankees Double-A affiliate in Trenton got all the offensive support they needed from home runs by Cody Johnson and Melky Mesa, reports Mike Ashmore of Thunder Thoughts.
• Brewers pitching prospect Tyler Thornburg retired 22 straight batters on Monday night, en route to 7 1/3 scoreless innings, in which he fanned 11 batters, notes Jim Shonerd of Baseball America.
• Jake Lemmerman's two-run triple in the eight inning was the difference on Monday, as it provided enough run support for Ethan Martin and his Dodgers teammates to pick up a win, despite giving up three runs in the first inning.
• Charles Brewer couldn't keep his Diamondbacks teammates in the game, despite Matt Davidson's first homer of the season, as the right-handed pitching prospect allowed six runs (five earned) while failing to get out of the sixth inning.
• Mariners prospect James Paxton was erratic on Monday, walking eight batters in 4 2/3 inning, but giving up just one run in the outing.

High-A

• Wilmer Font and his Rangers teammates were able to sneak away with a win, despite Font lasting just three innings in the game, reports The Winston-Salem Journal.
• White Sox outfielder Jordan Danks went 2-for-3 with three RBI's, reports The Charlotte Observer.
• Jimmy Nelson gave up just two hits in seven innings of shutout baseball, as the Brewers prospect lowered his ERA on the season to 1.06, notes The Lakeland Ledger.

Low-A

• Archie Bradley had his best start as a professional, as the Diamondbacks 2011 first-rounder tossed five no-hit innings while striking out eight, reports Ashley Marshall of MiLB.com.
• Luke Jackson allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings, but struck out seven, reports Mark Parker of The Hickory Daily Record.
• Jose Campos gave up his first run of the season, notes David Heck of MiLB.com, but the Yankees prospect only gave up one over five innings of work, striking out seven en route to his third win in as many starts this season.  Campos got run support from catcher Gary Sanchez, who went 4-for-5 with two doubles.

Other

• Cubs prospect Javier Baez hit for the cycle in an extended spring training game on Monday, says The Cub Reporter.  Baez is now 9-for-15 with three home runs in four extended spring training games, which may force the Cubs to place him in full-season Low-A ball before the start of the short-season leagues.

 

Twins Notes - Rizzotti, Wimmers, Hendriks

• The Phillies sent first base prospect Matt Rizzotti to the Twins for cash considerations, reports Matt Gelb of The Philadelphia Inquirer.  Rizzotti, at age 26, offers just power as a prospect, but given the twins uncertainty at first base, he could fill a need this year.
• Rizzotti will join Alex Wimmers in the Twins organization, where the former first round pick turned his season around in 2011 after a bout with wildness that almost derailed his pitching career, notes Phil Miller for Baseball America.
• Pitching prospect Liam Hendriks threw five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit on Friday, says Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com.

Prospect Action - Pimentel, Koehler, Rizzotti

• Red Sox prospect Stolmy Pimentel threw five scoreless innings on Friday, bouncing back from a rough first outing, says Josh Jackson of MiLB.com.
• Tom Koehler surrendered just one run over six innings of work, notes Andrew Pentis of MiLB.com.  The Marlins prospect is off to a good start in Triple-A after a strong season last year in Double-A.
• Matt Rizzotti went 3-for-4 with a home run and a double to raise his batting average to .485 on the season.  The Phillies first base prospect is in Double-A to begin the season.
• Brad Holt threw seven shutout innings as the Mets prospect continued his hot start to the season, notes Robert Emrich of MiLB.com.

 

Big Day of Cuts - Harper, Rizzo, Pomeranz

Saturday saw a number of teams make significant roster cut downs as all teams approach the March 15th roster cut-down deadline (the last date a team has to assign an injured player to a minor league club - meaning that if a player is still in camp after that date and gets injured, the team can't send him to the minors, which is a risk teams are rarely willing to take for a few extra spring at-bats).  

Among the most notable moves was the Nationals re-assignment of Bryce Harper to Class-A Hagerstown, tweets Bill Ladson of MLB.com.  The move itself is not surprising, as it had already been reported that Harper was slated to begin his first full season in the South Atlantic League, but it does bring an end to an impressive two-week stretch from the 18-year-old Harper, who this time next year, could be legitimately competing for a roster spot.

As always, you can keep up-to-date on all the prospects who were in big league camp, and who still remain, on our spring training prospect page, Below is a list of the other prospects who were sent away from big league camp on Saturday:

• The Kansas City Royals re-assigned LHP's Chris Dwyer, John Lamb, and Will Smith to minor league camp, reports Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.  None of the three were on the 40-man roster.
• The Pittsburgh Pirates optioned RHP Bryan Morris to Triple-A and re-assigned LHP Rudy Owens to minor league camp, reports Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com.
• The Philadelphia Phillies optioned RHP Justin De Fratus, 2B Harold Garcia, 1B Matt Rizzotti and RHP J.C. Ramirez to Double-A and re-assigned Michael Schwimer to minor league camp, reports David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News.  Surviving the cuts for now, however, was reliever Mike Stutes.
• The San Diego Padres optioned RHP Simon Castro to Triple-A and re-assigned 1B Anthony Rizzo and 3B James Darnell to minor league camp, reports Corey Brock of MLB.com.
• The Baltimore Orioles optioned RHP's Brandon Erbe and Chorye Spoone to Triple-A and re-assigned catcher Caleb Joseph to minor league camp, reports Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com.
• The Cleveland Indians have optioned RHP Corey Kluber to Triple-A and have re-assigned RHP Nick Hagadone, LHP Drew Pomeranz, RHP Hector Rondon, LHP Kelvin de la Cruz, and RHP Bryce Stowell to minor league camp, reports Jordan Bastain of MLB.com.
• The Tampa Bay Rays optioned LHP Alex Torres to Triple-A, says RaysProspects.com.
• The Seattle Mariners have optioned 3B Alex Liddi and OF Carlos Peguero to Triple-A and OF Johermyn Chavez to Double-A, reports Larry Stone of The Seattle Times.
• The Boston Red Sox optioned RHP Stolmy Pimentel and SS Oscar Tejada to Double-A, and have re-assigned RHP Alex Wilson, C's Ryan Lavarnway and Tim Federowicz, and OF Che-Hsuan Lin to minor league camp, reports Ian Browne of MLB.com.