MLB Prospect Watch

Julio Teheran to Start for Braves on Saturday

The Atlanta Braves will promote top prospect Julio Teheran and will have the 20-year-old right-hander start on Saturday against the Philadelphia Phillies, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com.  Teheran will likely be sent back down to the minors after the start.

The Braves need an additional starter for Saturday in order to keep from having to use one of their starters on short rest, and the most obvious choice, Mike Minor, pitched in Triple-A too frequently to be used.

 

Prospect Action - Royals, Belt, Chisenhall, Harvey

• Thursday night played out the way that many expected this season would for the Royals top farm team, as Mike Moustakas homered twice, Eric Hosmer had four hits, and Danny Duffy threw six scoreless innings, reports John Parker of MiLB.com.
• Brandon Belt is back to his old hot-hitting ways in Triple-A, as he homered and doubled on Thursday, says Parker.  Belt is, however, seeing time in left field rather than at first base, possibly preparing him for his return to the Giants later this season.
• Indians 3B prospect Lonnie Chisenhall hit a two-run homer off of Braves prospect Mike Minor, notes Ashley Marshall of MiLB.com.
• Cardinals pitching prospect Jordan Swagerty threw six scoreless innings en route to a victory, says Andrew Pentis of MiLB.com.
• In other prospect action:
  • Diamondbacks OF prospect Collin Cowgill blasted two home runs.
  • A number of Red Sox prospects left the yard for Portland on Thrusday, as Ryan Lavarnway and Tim Federowicz both hit one and Will Middlebrooks hit two.
  • Mets pitching prospect Matt Harvey had the first rough start of his career, giving up 6 runs (4 earned) and failing to get out of the 5th inning.

 

Blogs Track Teams - 4/13/11

• Tim Williams of PiratesProspects.com reports on the strong pitching performances throughout the Pirates organization, including those by Bryan Morris, Kyle McPherson, and Zack Von Rosenberg.
• Jack Dempsey of PineTarPress.com has info on how the Royals prospects did on Tuesday, including Wil Myers' three-hit day.
• Josh Norris of Minor Matters updates us on Jesus Montero's multi-hit day, Slade Heathcott knocking two more extra base hits, and other Yankee prospect news.
• Manny Machado finally had a bad day at the plate, notes Jordan Tuwiner of Orioles-Nation.com, who has more results on the rest of the Orioles farm system.
• Mike Minor didn't seem to bring his control problems back to Triple-A with him, according to TalkingChop.com, who checks in with all the Braves prospect happenings.
• FutureRedbirds.com has updates on Tony Cruz, Zack Cox, and the rest of the Cardinals prospects that were in action on Tuesday.
• Doug Gray of RedsMinorLeagues.com chimes in on Devin Mesoraco's walk-off home run and Billy Hamilton's rising stolen base total.
• Jared Massey of LAdodgertalk.com had lots of good news to report, between Dee Gordon's 4-hit day Jerry Sands' fourth homer in as many games, and other Dodger prospects in action.

 

Prospect Action in the Majors

As the first week of major league action winds down, we're starting to see many of the prospects who made big league rosters take their turns on the field.

• Michael Pineda made his first major league start on Tuesday, and the Mariners were pleased with the results, says Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times.  Pineda was one of a number of surprise prospects to stay in the majors after the spring, notes Keith Law of ESPN.com, who questioned the M's decision to keep the young right-hander.
• The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have elevated hard-throwing rookie Jordan Walden into the closer's role at the back of the bullpen after incumbent Fernando Rodney's early season struggles, reports Kevin Baxter of The Los Angeles Times, who also notes the successful relationship rookie catcher Hank Conger has molded with team ace Jared Weaver.  Conger caught Weaver in two late-season starts in 2010 and Weaver praised the prospect's work behind the plate.  Conger made his first start on Tuesday, receiving another Weaver gem, and perhaps adding to the confidence manager Mike Scioscia has in him behind the plate.
• Brandon Belt has struggled at the plate to start the season, and Aubrey Huff has been an adventure in right field, where he's playing to accommodate Belt's arrival in the lineup, but despite these struggles, Giants manager Bruce Bochy says he has no intention of sitting Belt down anytime soon, says Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.
• Mike Minor will make his first start of the season for the Braves on Wednesday, taking the rotation spot of the injured Jair Jurrjens, says Doug Miller of MLB.com.  Minor will try to get the ball to Craig Kimbrel, the Braves closer who has continued his string of dominance from last season, notes Mark Bowman of MLB.com.
• Jeremy Hellickson will make his 2011 debut for the Rays, getting the start opposite Dan Haren against the Angels on Wednesday, says Spencer Fordin of MLB.com.
• The Washington Nationals plan to move rookie second baseman Danny Espinosa up to the leadoff spot in their batting order, reports Bill Ladson of MLB.com.

 

Position Battles - Royals, DeJesus, Francisco, Craig, Minor

• It appears that Tim Collins and Aaron Crow have secured spots in the Royals bullpen, according to Michael Engel of KingsofKauffman.com.  Engel also suggests that Nathan Adcock has an above-average chance of claiming a spot on the staff as well.
• Ivan DeJesus, Jr. is in the lead to be the Los Angeles Dodgers Opening Day second baseman, reports Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.
• Juan Francisco is battling with Fred Lewis for the last spot in the Cincinnati Reds bench, says John Fay of the Cincinnati Enqurier.
• The only thing keeping Allen Craig off the Cardinals Opening Day roster would be the team's ability to give him enough at-bats, says Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• Mike Minor lost his spring training battle with Brandon Beachy for the final spot in the Braves starting rotation, but if Jair Jurrjens can't make his first scheduled start, it will be Minor that takes his place, says David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.