MLB Prospect Watch

Odds and Ends - 9/8

• Andrew Brackman's strong 2010 season was a long-awaited award for the patient Yankee brass, says Bailey Stephens of MLB.com.
• Dillon Gee was impressive and may finish out the year as a part of the Mets rotation, says Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog.com.
• Delvi Cid continues to open eyes with his base-stealing prowess, and now that he's given up switch-hitting, the Indians hope he can focus on letting his bat catch up with his legs, says Bill Lubinger of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. 
• The Cubs drew over 1000 fans to watch Korean pitching prospect Jim-Young Kim throw his first bullpen at Wrigley Field, says Carrie Muskat of MLB.com.
• Dayan Viciedo has rejoined the White Sox for the remainder of the season, reports Scott Merkin of MLB.com.
• Michael Bowden is back with the Red Sox for the third time this season, says Ian Browne of MLB.com.
• The Rays have called up Mike Ekstrom, says Bill Chastain of MLB.com.
• Jonathan Singleton is getting some playoff experience as the Phillies Low-A affiliate in Lakewood enters the Sally League playoffs.

Prospect Potent Potables - 7/27

• Don't expect the Tigers to part ways with Jacob Turner, Andy Oliver, or Charlie Furbush in order to get a two-month rental, says Jason Beck of MLB.com.
• Wilmer Flores has been receiving rave reviews for his advanced hitting approach for a teenager, and the latest installment comes from rehabbing Mets' star Carlos Beltran, reports Steve Popper for Baseball America.
• Yet another case for J.P. Arencibia's impending arrival in the majors, this one courtesy of Brad Johnson of The Hardball Times.
• Despite the A's struggles, Billy Beane remains non-committal on placing a timetable on the arrival of Chris Carter and Michael Taylor, reports Alex Espinoza of MLB.com.  He also notes that Chris Sale is very much on the White Sox radar as a potential reliever down the stretch.
• Kyle Weiland is doing his best not to get lost in the impressive mix of Red Sox' prospects.  And don't read too much in to the team's demotion of Michael Bowden, as Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald points out that manager Terry Francona still thinks highly of the young righty and is willing to rely on him in the near future.
• Michael Pineda is doing more than that, as he continues to shoot up the prospect lists and impress even the highest levels of Mariners' officials and scouts, says Mike McCall of MLB.com.
• Don't forget about Aroldis Chapman, the Reds' major off-season free agent signing who is now working in a relief role and just worked back-to-back days for the first time as a professional, according to Mark Sheldon of MLB.com.

Prospect Potent Potables - 7/9

• We're not big into rumors here, but Michael Engel of Kinds of Kaufmann makes quite a case for why he thinks Mike Moustakas could be heading to Triple-A soon.
• Mike Trout isn't just having a great season, he's emerging as one of the game's top prospects, says Jeff Johnson of Baseball America.
• We hear that phrase "top prospect" a lot, but now that we are at the mid-season point, Baseball America has released their updated list of the top-25 prospects in baseball, which does not include any players who have graduated to the majors.
• Despite being a two-time first round pick, Aaron Crow is struggling in Double-A, and Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star tries to figure out why the Royals' prospect can't seem to find his old self.
• The Red Sox have begun to prepare Michael Bowden for life as a reliever, likely signaling a major league call-up sometime in the near future, reports Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald.

Notable Prospect Performances - 5/26

• Neil Walker made his 2010 major league debut on Tuesday at third base of all positions.  The hot corner has been Walker's primary position for the past 3 seasons but he played only one game there this season before his promotion.  But, as Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports, the plan is still to get Walker as many at-bats as possible and the Pirates will likely move him all over the field in order to do so.
• Jake Arrieta threw another gem, allowing one run over 7 IP, reports Dean Jones, Jr. of the Baltimore Sun.  For what it's worth, the Orioles just moved David Hernandez to the bullpen and will need to fill his spot.  Just sayin...
• Kyle Gibson maintained his dominance through another start, racking up another 7 inning complete game.  Gibson hasn't missed a beat since his promotion to Double-A and is now 3-0, continuing to make teams reconsider their stance on drafting pitchers with arm injuries and rewarding the Twins for their faith.
• It's only a matter of time before Carlos Santana is in Cleveland, and he supported his case with another multi-hit game and his 10th homer of the season.  Here's hoping the Indians' announcers somehow work a "Not at the table, Carlos" into their home run calls.
• Kirk Nieuwenhuis continues to quietly put together a nice season, adding to it a 3-hit performance with a home run on Tuesday night.  The only knock on Nieuwenhuis to this point is his lack of plate discipline (46-to-9 K/BB rate), though his walk rate was twice that last year so he's not a lost cause.  He'll still need to improve that rate now that he's at the higher levels of the minors before the Mets can truly consider him in the majors.
• The decision to keep Jonathan Singleton in extended spring training looks like a wise one by the Phillies, as the power-hitting 1B prospect has put on a hitting display since joining Lakewood and continued the show with a 4-hit game and a home run on Tuesday.  Singleton is now hitting .432 with 4 home runs in 13 games.
• Randall Delgado was dominant, putting his K-BB ratio at 5.66-to-1 on the season.
• Michael Bowden was not, taking 91 pitches to get through 4 1/3 IP, but actually managed to lower his ERA to 5.83.
• Jake Odorizzi continues to miss bats, as he struck out 7 in as many innings en route to his 3rd win of the season for the Brewers' Midwest League affiliate, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

Notable Prospect Performances - 5/20

• Michael Bowden's prospect status continues to slip, as he gave up two more home runs last night, reports Jim Hodges of the Providence Journal.  That's 8 surrendered on the season for Bowden and it's looking more and more like his role will ultimately be in the Red Sox bullpen.
• A's pitcher Carlos Hernandez threw 5 perfect innings to out duel Rangers' stud prospect Martin Perez.  It wasn't exactly a duel, however, as Perez was rocked to the tune of 7 earned runs in 3 1/3 IP.
• Aroldis Chapman rebounded nicely from his roughest start as a professional, throwing 5 2/3 scoreless innings while striking out 7, reports Guy Curtright of MLB.com.  Chapman was forced to leave the game with a blister, but John Fay didn't seem to worried and the Reds are "hopeful" he won't have to miss a start.
• Brett Jackson has stayed hot and has displayed the skills more of a leadoff than a run producer, which isn't a bad thing.  In fact, as Matt Swain of Wrigley Bound says, it could get him to Chicago by next summer.
• I'm a little late getting on the Wynn Pelzer bandwagon, but he's making a strong case for me to join.  His latest persuasion included 5 no-hit innings, but I'm still a little skeptical.  It's not exactly a good sign when 46 of 83 pitches for a strike is noteworthy.  Sure is tough to ignore that 0.79 ERA though...
• We certainly have made notice of Julio Teheran's dominance this season, and that's not about to stop now that he's in High-A ball.  Teheran's impressive season continued in his first start after the promotion, notes Ben Badler of Baseball America, who also takes note of fellow Braves' fireballer Randall Delgado.