Prospect Watch, non-Brewers version

[TooLiveBrew]

In the past couple seasons, I've really gotten more into following MiLB and not just the majors. Obviously first & foremost I want to follow Brewers prospects, but it's fun to me to keep tabs on who the other rising stars are around the league. Ideally, this thread would help familiarize BF.netters with prospects that might make good trade targets as well. My idea with this thread is basically in the "Random thoughts that are too pointless to say anywhere else" vein, but for the minors/prospects. Mods, please feel free to lock or merge this thread if it makes sense.

 

I'll start with Jesus Montero (I know, really going with an under-the-radar guy). 20 years old, and just obliterating the ball at AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lately -- .849 OPS this season, but since July he's been over 1.000. Really doesn't sound like he can be a good defensive catcher, but the most recent chatter I can recall from the Yankees is that they still view him as a catcher. Not sure if that has changed from earlier this season.

[Tedaldtada]

Check out Derek Lee clone, and youngest hitter in all of AAA, Freddie Freeman's line: http://www.baseballameric...ayers/cards/?pl_id=32395

 

he is hitting .371 since the AAA all-star break.

 

Needless to say, the braves will not be after Prince this winter. Atl has a very nice future with the uber-prospect pitchers and Freeman coming up.

[TooLiveBrew]

Nitpicking, but Montero is a couple months younger

[Tedaldtada]

Ok, I want to blame that one on Matt Eddy of BA. Long story.

 

Two very impressive prospects to say the least.

[TooLiveBrew]

Yeah, impressive is almost putting it mildly. Think about how excited we've been about Lawrie's success in AA as a 20-yo -- he's not even two full months younger than Montero.

 

The Braves are going to (continue to) be gooooood.

[Tedaldtada]

Eric Hosmer had a down year in 2009 (.241/.334/.361).

 

What a difference a year makes. Hosmer is ripping the ball this year.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hosmer001eri

 

.340/.408/.573 with 18 bombs and a 54:59 BB:K.

 

Nice comeback Eric! I know he had lasik in the offseason and he did struggle through some nagging injuries last year. Still, with Moustakis and Hosmer coming soon, the Royals should have a nice middle of the order.

 

Edit: It's turnarounds like Hosmer's that should give Arnett fans hope. Guys can and do turn it around. Imagine how crappy KCroyalfan.net members felt after they thought they had 'wasted' the #3 overall pick on Hosmer. (I know, HS/College, etc., I didn't say it was a perfect comparison.)

[TooLiveBrew]

Another top pick that struggled out of the gates as a pro, only to rebound just fine, was a guy that turned in a .254/.339/.333/.673 line in the Sally League right out of college... that'd be the #8 overall pick in 1995, Todd Helton.

[TooLiveBrew]

I know everyone was getting worried, but fear not -- the Rays have another studly-looking pitching prospect in their system.

 

LHP Matt Moore, an 8th-rounder from '07, has continued to put up ridiculous strikeout numbers at high-A ball. He's also improved his BB rate significantly this season, and looks well on his way to AA in 2011.

 

Here's the take on Moore from the Baseball America Prospect Blog:

Even though most prospect followers should already be familiar with Matt Moore's work this season, the Rays lefthander just keeps going out there and putting up amazing numbers every five days. Moore's latest gem for high Class A Charlotte came Tuesday in an 11-strikeout, no-walk performance over six innings against Jupiter. He allowed two runs (both unearned) on four hits, dropping his ERA to 3.36 in 144 2/3 innings for the year.

 

Moore already pretty much had his second consecutive minor league strikeout crown sewn up. His 197 strikeouts heading into Tuesday were already 14 ahead of his nearest competition, but his 11 on Tuesday made him the first minor leaguer to surpass 200 since Francisco Liriano in 2005. The last pitcher to strike out more than the 208 hitters Moore has was Clint Nageotte, who fanned 214 in high Class A in 2002, and with five more games left in Charlotte's season, Moore could get a chance to surpass that mark.

 

Moore has just been toying with Florida State League hitters with his 92-94 mph fastball and plus curveball for most of the last two months. He's racked up double-digit strikeouts in nine of his last 13 starts, all while tightening his control. Over those same 13 starts, he's walked more than two hitters in a game only once, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio is a whopping 121-to-23 over 78 innings.