MLB Prospect Watch

Prospect Performances - Banuelos, Trout, Teheran, Harvey

• Manny Banuelos made his 2011 debut on Monday, tossing four scoreless innings in Trenton after a breakthrough spring with the Yankees, says Josh Norris of The Trentonian.
• The slow start to Mike Trout's season didn't last long, as the Angels top prospect homered twice on Tuesday, including a grand slam, reports Benjamin Hill of MiLB.com.
• Julio Teheran got his Triple-A career started on the right foot, but the Braves don't anticipate their top prospect being in the minors very long, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com.
• Alex Wilson used a new grip on his fastball to induce 11 ground balls on Tuesday night en route to six shutout innings, reports Danny Wild of MiLB.com.  The Red Sox prospect is back in Double-A to start the season.
• Matt Harvey had his second dominant start in as many tries, as the Mets prospect has still yet to give up a run as a professional, notes Robert Emrich of MiLB.com.
• Other notable performances...
  • Royals P prospect Mike Montgomery threw four shutout innings to bounce back from a poor initial start of the season.
  • A's C prospect Max Stassi had a perfect night at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a double and walking twice, to raise his batting average on the season to .368.
  • Rangers 2010 supplemental first-rounder Michael Olt went 2-for-4 with a home run and is batting .583 thus far in the Carolina League.

 

Prospect Potent Potables - 3/9

Today's links are brought to you by Stephen Strasburg's first appearance...

• Max Stassi is drawing positive reviews from everyone in Oakland A's camp who knows anything about catching, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.
• The Chicago White Sox still aren't sure how they're going to use Dan Hudson this year, reports Toni Ginnetti of the Chicago Sun Times.
• Jack Etkin of Inside the Rockies discusses the change in batting stance made by Rockies' prospect Hector Gomez, and raves about the progress he's made.
• The Red Sox had a day full of impressive performances by some of their top prospects.  Cuban short stop Jose Iglesias hit his first home run, reports Ron Borges of the Boston Herald. The Sox went on to win that game, and at one point displayed an outfield of Josh Reddick, Ryan Kalish, and Che-Hsuan Lin, which could be their outfield of the future, suggests Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald.

Prospect Potent Potables - 3/5

Some prospect links for your weekend enjoyment...

• Noel Arguelles threw off of a mound for the first time in Royals' camp, and everyone of importance made the trip to see it, reports Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
• The Oakland A's went above slot to sign Max Stassi in last-year's draft, but his combination of talent and bloodlines should make him worth the investment, notes Jane Lee for MLB.com.
• Sandy Alomar, Jr., who is in Indians' camp as an instructor, praises the defensive work being done by Lou Marson behind the plate, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
• Add Cubs' bench coach Alan Trammell to the Starlin Castro fan club, notes Carrie Muskat of MLB.com.  Castro, in his first camp, is taking some of the heat off of Andrew Cashner, Muskat says.
• Thank you Pat Andriola of The Hardball Times for finally having some perspective on Jenrry Mejia.
• Bryan Augenstein is in competition for the 5th spot in the Diamondbacks rotation, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.

Link: Stassi Bandwagon Picking Up Steam

First, Max Stassi was ranked as the 4th best prospect in the Oakland A's system by Baseball America despite only 49 career minor league at-bats, and now Casey Tefertiller raves about the young catcher's excellent makeup and acumen behind the plate in another Baseball America article. 

Stassi is a highly touted young player, projected as a first round pick out of high school in 2009, dropping only because of his college commitment and high contract demands.  The A's ponied up the money for Stassi in the 4th round and their investment looks thus far like it will be paying off.