MLB Prospect Watch

Position Battles - Iglesias, Hultzen, Braves

• Jose Iglesias could play short stop in the big leagues right now, but he's not going to make the Red Sox roster this spring, predicts Alex Speier of Baseball America.  The Red Sox may have traded away incumbent short stop Marco Scutaro, but based on what we saw from Iglesias' bat last season, he's not ready to face major league pitching.
• It's a long shot for certain, but that's not stopping Mariners officials from raving about Danny Hultzen so far in camp, notes Greg Johns of MLB.com.  Hultzen hasn't appeared in a minor league game yet, so his odds of making the Mariners out of spring training are limited, but the Reds did make a similar move with Mike Leake a few years back, so it's not completely unheard of.
• Bill Ballew of Baseball America discusses the major league readiness of the Braves big three pitching prospects, Julio Teheran, Arodys Vizcaino and Randall Delgado.  Despite being the most talented of the three, Teheran probably has the least chance of making the team out of spring training because the Braves won't want to use him in a relief role and don't have any available starting rotation spots.  Delgado has already proven his merit in the bullpen last year in the majors, and Vizcaino could grab a bullpen spot as well this March.

Prospect Action - Harper, Turner, Delgado

• Bryce Harper knocked two more base hits, as the Nationals prospect extended his hit streak to 13 games, notes Danny Wild of MiLB.com.
• Mike Trout homered again, says Andrew Pentis of MiLB.com.
• Red Sox OF prospect Bryce Brentz homered, extending his hitting streak to 21 games, reports Ashley Marshall of MiLB.com.
• Casey Kelly gave up just one run over six innings of work, notes Josh Jackson of MiLB.com, as the Padres prospect lowered his ERA to 3.43 on the season
• Jacob Turner finally got his first Double-A win on Monday, as the Tigers top prospect surrendered just an unearned run in 6 2/3 innings of work, reports Robert Emrich of MiLB.com.
• In other prospect action...
  • Paul Goldschmidt hit his 12th home run of the season and A.J. Pollock went 3-for-5 with a double for the Diamondbacks Double-A affiliate in Mobile.
  • Tigers 3B prospect Nick Castellanos went 3-for-4 with a triple.
  • Phillies C prospect Sebastian Valle homered and doubled in a three-hit day at the plate.
  • Braves P prospect Randall Delgado gave up three earned runs over seven innings, including a home run by Mariners prospect Johermyn Chavez, but struck out ten batters in the process.

 

Braves, Mets Make First Cuts

Both the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets have made their first rounds of Spring Training cuts, and both sets of transactions are prospect-laden.

 

BRAVES

Erik Cordier and Lee Hyde were optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett County while Randall Delgado was optioned to Double-A Mississippi.  Those three prospects were the only players among those cut from major league camp who were on the 40-man roster, notes Mark Bowman of MLB.com.  Others not on the 40-man roster who were re-assigned to minor league camp include top pitching prospects Julio Teheran and Arodys Vizcaino, catching prospects Braeden Schlehuber and Christian Bethancourt, and short stop Tyler Pastornicky.

 

METS

Headlining the Mets transactions is Fernando Martinez, who is heading back to Triple-A along with Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Zach Lutz, says Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.

 

Prospect Performances - Pineda, Harper, Teheran, Britton

• It was a good day to hit for White Sox and Indians prospects, as Stefan Gartrell homered and had an RBI single and Jared Mitchell had an RBI single of his own in the game, reports Jordan Bastain of MLB.com.  For the Indians, second base prospect Cord Phelps drove in a run, and Nick Weglarz hit a two-run bomb.
• Michael Pineda gave up just a hit and a walk in two scoreless of innings of work, reports Robert Emrich of MiLB.com.  Josh Lueke also threw two shutout innings for the Mariners and third base prospect Alex Liddi went 1-for-2 in the contest.
• Bryce Harper went 2-for-2 with two RBI's in his best game yet this spring for the Nationals, despite some heckling from one loud fan, says Bill Ladson of MLB.com.  Jiovanni Mier went 2-for-2 for the Astros in the game, says Danny Wild of MiLB.com.
• Jerry Sands homered on Monday and continues to make his case for a promotion to Los Angeles sooner rather than later, notes Robert Emrich of MiLB.com.
• Julio Teheran threw a scoreless inning in his first appearance for the Braves this spring, notes Mark Bowman of MLB.com.  Also appearing for the Braves was fellow prospect Randall Delgado, who threw a perfect ninth, notes Josh Jackson of MiLB.com, while the Marlins saw prospect Tom Koehler blow a save in the ninth but earn the win in extras.  
• Mark Trumbo continued his quest for an Angles roster spot on Monday with a 4-for-4 performance that included his third home run of the spring, says Robert Emrich of MiLB.com.
• Zach Britton threw three scoreless innings for the Orioles on Monday, says Emrich.

Prospects scheduled to make pitching appearances today are Rubby de la Rosa (LAD), Garrett Richards (LAA), and Alex White (CLE).

 

Winter League Recap - 11/4

Arizona Fall League

• Ivan DeJesus, Jr. had five hits, but it wasn't enough offense for the Desert Dogs who fell to the Saguaros 11-4 on Thursday.  Chris Parmelee cranked out four hits in the win, three of which went for extra bases.  Alex Cobb recorded his fourth win of the AFL season, striking out six batters in four innings of work.
• Justin De Fratus pitched a scoreless inning of relief to pick up his first AFL save of the season and keep his fall ERA at 0.00.
• It was a rough outing for Danny Duffy as the Royals lefty surrendered six earned runs in just one inning of work and didn't get much better for Braves prospect Randall Delgado, who relieved Duffy and gave up two earned runs in as many innings.  The Scorpion offense was led by Charlie Culberson who had three more hits and is now batting .424 on the AFL season, reports Danny Wild of MLB.com.

Venezuelan Winter League

• Henderson Alvarez had his second rough start in a row after three solid outings to begin the VWL season.
• Alexander Torres made the most of his first VWL start, as the Rays prospect tossed five innings of shutout ball, striking out five and picking up the win.
• Wilson Ramos had a perfect day at the plate, recording two hits and drawing two walks in the Tigres 6-0 win.
• Dan Cortes recorded his fifth save, which ties him for the VWL lead, nailing down the Cardinales 3-1 victory.

Puerto Rican Winter League

• Kasey Kiker was inconsistent in his start, giving up just one run in 3 2/3 innings, but walking three and giving up three hits as well.