2014 Regular Season Divisional Prospect News

[TheCrew07]

Are you signed up for this? It has always been free, they've been pimping it on the main page for the last 2 days. It's an easy quick hitter of all the top prospect performances from the previous day, yes other sites have "borrowed" the idea.

 

Baseball America Prospect Report (April 25)

HITTER OF THE DAY: Gregory Polanco, of — Triple-A Indianapolis (Pirates)

 

Polanco is neck and neck with Houston’s Jon Singleton for the title of prospect most trying to force his team’s hand. The 22-year-old outfielder finished a triple shy of the cycle Thursday and is hitting well better than .400 for the season, and on-basing better than .450.

[TheCrew07]

The Reds had a heck of week even with Holmberg showing up in the Not Hot section.

 

Prospect Hot Sheet (April 25)

 

5. Ben Lively, rhp, Reds

Team: high Class A Bakersfield (California)

Age: 22

Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.00, 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 Ks.

 

The Scoop: The Reds have done an excellent job of scouting and drafting college pitchers with unconventional but deceptive deliveries. Tony Cingrani has quickly jumped to the big leagues as a 2011 third-round pick and now Lively, a 2013 fourth-round pick out of Central Florida, is working on a 18-inning scoreless streak. For the year, he has a 33-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Normally, you could say that he’s looking ready to jump to Double-A before long, but the Reds already a five-prospect rotation in Double-A Pensacola, so for now, there’s no room.

6. Gregory Polanco, of, Pirates

Team: Triple-A Indianapolis (International)

Age: 22

Why He’s Here: .414/.452/.724 (12-for-29), 8 R, 3 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBIs, 2 BB, 7 SO, 3 SB, C

 

The Scoop: Pittsburgh’s bats are scuffling a little bit right now, and Polanco is itching to help them. He finished a triple shy of the cycle on Thursday night, and is getting on base in nearly half of his plate appearances. He’s adding the final touches to his game, presumably on defense, where Eastern League evaluators last season uniformly agreed he could use work, before joining Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte in the big leagues.

9. Ismael Guillon, lhp, Reds

Team: low Class A Dayton

Age: 22

Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.00, 1 GS, 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 Ks.

 

The Scoop: Guillon has tantalized the Reds with flashes of greatness sandwiched by bouts of bang-your-head-against-a-wall wildness—his nine-walk outing against Lake County early last year is only suitable viewing for masochists. It’s early, but in his first four starts this year, Guillon has shown the dominance without the drawbacks and his velocity has picked up, as he’s now sitting 91-93 mph. Guillon has struggled to maintain his delivery for longer than a few starts at a time in the past, so there’s still plenty of reason to be cautious, but this start is very encouraging.

12. Stetson Allie, 1b, Pirates

Team: Double-A Altona (Eastern League)

Age: 23

Why He’s Here: .500/.652/.1.375 (8-for-16) 2 2B, 4 HRs, 11 RBIs, 5 BB, 5 SO

 

The Scoop: The failed pitcher is off to a terrific start as he moves up to Altoona. He has power, as he’s shown in the past, but more promising is the plate discipline he’s flashing through 16 games, with 10 walks to 14 strikeouts thus far. He had a superb week, but as Josh Norris noted in his majestic minor league roundup, Allie has a long way to go to convince evaluators he’s more a one-trick pony.

13. Yorman Rodriguez, of, Reds

Team: Double-A Pensacola (Southern League)

Age: 21

Why He’s Here: .500/.515./688 (16-for-32) 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 RBIs, 5 SO, 1 BB 1-of-1 SB

 

The Scoop: The Reds’ No. 5 prospect, Rodriguez just missed being ranked in our Top 100 Prospects and sat 15th in our preseason rankings on corner outfield prospects. Still just 21, he impressed the Reds in spring training despite hitting just .118. He’s picked it up in his return to Pensacola, hitting .325 through 77 at-bats, largely due to a scorching past week. His pitch recognition still needs polish (5-19 BB-SO), but he profiles as at least a useful fourth outfielder.

 

In The Team Photo

 

Donald Lutz, lf, Reds: Power got Lutz to the majors last season and it’s playing a strong part in his bid to return. The 25-year-old slugged .828 this week for Double-A Pensacola, including four doubles and two home runs. He also collected the third cycle of his career.

 

Not Hot

 

David Holmberg, lhp, Reds. Arizona’s No. 7 prospect before he was acquired by Cincinnati in the three-team deal that sent Ryan Hanigan to Tampa Bay, the 6-foot-3 lefty is a control specialist and regarded as a polished pitcher, close to being ready for the majors. He has been compared to Mark Buehrle. So far this season, the 22-year-old has been anything but Buehrle-like dependable, compiling an 0-3, 14.46 mark with Triple-A Louisville, allowing 20 hits in 9 1/3 innings.

[TheCrew07]

This should be a neat feature going forward.

 

Scout’s Video View: Reese McGuire

[TheCrew07]

Kind of a lopsided chat regarding 1 prospect, Gregory Polanco

 

Prospect Hot Sheet Chat With J.J. Cooper (April 25)

 

Oscar Taveras (Memphis): Do I beat fellow NL Central top prospect Gregory Polanco to the majors? The Cards really need an impact bat right now.

 

J.J. Cooper: Who does he replace? Polanco has a pretty clear spot waiting for him in right field in Pittsburgh. While the Cardinals outfield has generally struggled at the plate, it’s hard to see the Cards benching Allen Craig unless he flounders for another month and a half or two months. Taveras isn’t really a center fielder, so he’s not likely to replace Borjous/Jay in center field and Matt Holliday is going to be the left fielder unless he’s hurt. So no, I don’t see him moving up anytime soon.

Greg T. (Eagan): Any injury updates on Byron Buxton, Addison Russell, or Austin Meadows? Everything I see is always very vague.

 

J.J. Cooper: If everything goes well, Buxton should be back in a couple of weeks at most.

Gregory Polanco (Close to Pittsburgh): Will I be more like McCutchen batting .310 with 25 hrs and 25 sbs, or more like Marte batting .270 with 12 hrs and 40 sbs?

 

J.J. Cooper: Long term Polanco is going to be more of hit/power than a speed guy. He’s simply too big to stay a burner over the long haul. Look at the best big/tall speedsters of all time, they almost all are average to below average runners by the time they hit their late 20s. Polanco is 6-foot-4, 220 pounds (at least) right now. Looking at major leaguers all-time who were at least that big, only nine players have more than 100 career steals. Dave Winfield leads that group, but his speed was gone by the time he was 29. The same was true with Dave Parker (a good comp for Polanco) and Jose Canseco. Matt Kemp is showing similar tendencies now.

Noel (Portland, Oregon): Is Pittsburgh really going to wait until after the Super 2 deadline to call up Polanco? He can't be knocking on the door much louder than he is.

 

J.J. Cooper: I think it’s pretty likely. They have had some offensive issues at the big league level, but Travis Snider is playing just well enough that right field hasn’t been a major issue. That being said, the club is 5 games under .500, if that gets a little worse, the temptation grows to bring Polanco up to give the team a spark.

Lion Lenny (detroit): see Gregory polanco getting called up before june?projections for him?see him or taveras producing more this season?

 

J.J. Cooper: Say June callup is most likely. Think Polanco will produce more in the big leagues this year than Taveras.

Roger (NJ): Hey JJ thanks for taking my question. With the inevitable call up of Polanco looming, how good will that Pirates outfield be with McCutchen and Marte along side him? That looks to be a scary good outfield for many years. Whats your take?

 

J.J. Cooper: I’m old, so I can’t help but think of some resemblance to the A’s outfield of Rickey Henderson, Dwayne Murphy and Tony Armas which played together from 1979-1982. Those were three outfielders capable of playing CF playing in the same outfield. You got defense from them, plus they were all above-average offensive players.

steve (Middletown OH): Is it too soon to call Reds prospect Jeff Gelich a bust?

 

J.J. Cooper: No. He just hasn’t shown the tools or skills the Reds expected when they drafted him. At this point, the chance that those tools/skills are going to appear is very slim.

[TheCrew07]

Glasnow sharp in Marauders' debut

Pirates' No. 3 prospect fans six, allows two hits in five shutout

[HiAndTight]

Polanco does it again for Indianapolis

Top Pirates prospect belts go-ahead double, falls triple shy of cycle

 

 

 

How scary is that Pirates OF going to be? Throw Bell into the mix(though I'm guessing he ends up at 1st since Polanco has speed) and that's as talented a young OF as I can recall seeing.

[TheCrew07]

Alcantara's five hits help Iowa win in 13

Cubs' No. 6 prospect singles home tying run in ninth, adds RBI triple

[TheCrew07]

Candelario drives in six in FSL shootout

No. 9 Chicago prospect belts first career grand slam for Daytona

[TheCrew07]

Corey Black (Cubs), Ismael Guillon (Reds), and Blake Lively (Reds)

 

Pitchers of the Week

For the week ending April 27

 

 

Jonathan Rodriguez (Cards)

 

Offensive Players of the Week

For the week ending April 27

[TheCrew07]

The usual BA chat goodness.. though extremely short, must not have been many questions.

 

Baseball America Wednesday Chat With Matt Eddy

 

Joel (KCK): Is Wong destined to be a bench player or do you see him working things out and reclaiming the second base job in St. Louis?

 

Matt Eddy: I think he’s a starter, though maybe not an impact one, and a rookie struggling during his first regular exposure to big league competition is the norm, not the exception. But as to Wong’s raw ability: he’s a potentially plus hitter with baserunning chops and enough glove to be viable if he’s getting on base.

Brian (Westchester, NY): every few years I ifind myself rooting against a team that in the hunt but refuses to put their best team on the field. The Pirates finally become relevent and leave Polanco in the minors to position themselves for 3 and 6 years down the road? Does MLB need to take another look at this rule?

 

Matt Eddy: From a fan standpoint, I’m in favor of eliminating Super 2 arbitration status if it will put an end to this annual wait-till-June-to-call-up-the-top-prospects dance. (However, waiting two weeks/20 days to call up a player so as to ensure he doesn’t exceed 172 days of service—I think that’s just good business sense.) I wonder if teams are more willing to play with a suboptimal roster in April and May now because of the expanded playoff format? What I mean is, now that one-third of teams in each league qualify for the playoffs, maybe teams view the long game as more important, especially when it affects the financial bottom line.

Jason (Mill Valley, CA): Do you think Yordano Ventura and Sonny Gray's recent success will shift MLB teams' opinions on shorter right-handers the way Russell Wilson has shifted NFL teams' views on shorter quarterbacks?

 

Matt Eddy: Great question. You can throw the Indians’ Danny Salazar into the mix as well, and possibly Kris Medlen. I would say it’s worth considering looking at “short” pitchers in a new light, especially now that conditions in the majors so distinctly favor pitchers, and that even taller and bulkier pitchers are getting hurt at an alarming rate. Yet the cynic in me says, Tim Lincecum won consecutive Cy Young awards in 2008-09 and still Gray lasted until the 18th pick in the 2011 draft, staying on the board longer than Danny Hultzen, Taylor Jungmann, Jed Bradley and Chris Reed.

[TheCrew07]

No Brewer affiliate games yet, but a couple of division games on tap for May, the first game was broadcast yesterday.

 

MiLB, CBS ink 'Game of Week' TV deal

[TheCrew07]

Once again the Hot Sheet chat posted before the actual Hot Sheet. Ask some Clint Coulter defensive questions! Actually anything Brewer related would be a plus, I've never had a question answered, someone else break the jinx!

 

Prospect Hot Sheet Chat With Josh Norris (May 2)

 

Rudy (Garden Grove, CA): Who do you think would get the next shot at the rotation if one of the Brewers' starters got injured - Tyler Thornburg, Jimmy Nelson or Mike Fiers (who's been amazing in PCL!)?

 

Josh Norris: Fiers is the most likely candidate. He’s got MLB experience. Nelson still has polish to add, and Thornburg isn’t stretched out.

Rudy (Garden Grove, CA): Just a hiccup in Robert Stephenson's development or are command issues taking some of the shine off his prospect status?

 

Josh Norris: Command was always the caveat with Stephenson. If he continues with the disaster starts, he’ll surely shed some sheen, but he stuff is still lethal.

Gregory Polanco (Pirates Prison): Why am I here????

 

Josh Norris: Your release date is sometime in June. You know why.

Ghost of Al Martin (PIT): Should Pirate fans bee excited at Elias Diaz' combination of defense and hitting (as he's shown this season)?

 

Josh Norris: Catchers do tend to develop their offense later in their careers, but let’s wait to see on judging whether he’s taken a step forth until he gets more than 60 at-bats under his belt this season. The arm is certainly legit, though.

Ben (Ft Wayne): With the log jam at OF in St Louis.... do you see them making a move that would see Piscotty being moved? Could you see them making a big splash for an MLB 2B like Altuve, Kipnis, Utley, etc.? Seems to me the Phillies should unload Cliff Lee, Chase Utley, Marlon Byrd, Jimmy Rollins, and AJ Burnett and starting to restock the farm system. If they were able to come away with some guys like Pederson, Wong, Piscotty, and Urias, they could be quick to rebuild that team.

 

Josh Norris: Well Kipnis ain’t going anywhere, and I don’t think they’re going to bail for the long term on Wong just yet. And in re: Phillies: There is zero chance they end up with Joc Pederson or Julio Urias in a trade.

Kris Bryant (Tennessee): I am a fairly sexy individual, do you think all the ladies will love me in Chicago and I will be the future face of MLB?

 

Josh Norris: I cannot speculate as to the tastes of the ladies of Chicago. Until Mr. Trout is gone, there will be no other face of the MLB.

bryan (charlotte): Has Lively added a pitch, have Maddux like command, added velocity, changed his approach, something else? The numbers are cartoon-like...is the scouting community thinking he has ace type potential?

 

Josh Norris: He absolutely does not have ace-like potential. There are very few pitchers who do. That said, he’s got excellent command, deception and four average pitches.

[TheCrew07]

Give it up for Tyrone Taylor! Oscar Taveras and Ben Lively again on the positive side, I hadn't noticed Robert Stephenson's command didn't take a step forward yet, wow.

 

Prospect Hot Sheet (May 2): Bet On Betts For Top Spot

 

8. Oscar Taveras, of, Cardinals

Oscar TaverasTeam: Triple-A Memphis (Pacific Coast)

Age: 22

Why He’s Here: .375/.423/.667 (9-for-24), 3 R, 1 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBIs, 2 BB, 2 SO, 1-for-1 SB

 

The Scoop: The Cardinals shuffled the deck of the Memphis outfield this week by promoting Randal Grichuk to St. Louis and demoting Shane Robinson. Some may wonder why Grichuk went up instead of Taveras, but for one, Grichuk plays all three outfield positions at a high level, whereas Taveras is best suited in a corner spot. Plus, the Cardinals wanted to be sure Taveras received regular at-bats at Memphis. So far, so good.

13. Tyrone Taylor, cf, Brewers

Team: high Class A Brevard County (Florida State)

Age: 20

Why He’s Here: .333/.414./.708 (8-for-24), 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 4 RBIs, 0 SO, 4 BB

 

The Scoop: The Brewers’ No. 2 prospect is hitting well of late after a tough start in a park traditionally tough on righthanded hitters. Taylor started to show some gap power last season and did so this week with four extra-base hits. He also showed improved plate discipline, a definite area of need, with five walks against no strikeouts.

 

In The Team Photo

 

Ben Lively, rhp, Reds: It’s hard to imagine a California League pitcher ever having a stretch where he goes 5-0, 0.33. Throw in Lively’s current 24-inning scoreless streak and his 40/1 SO/BB ratio and the 22-year-old Bakersfield righthander seems more the figment of an awful scriptwriter’s first draft of a baseball movie. But he’s real and these numbers are spectacular.

 

 

Not-So Hot

 

Robert Stephenson, rhp, Reds. The Reds’ top prospect began the season at Double-A Pensacola with a flourish, striking out 11 in five, one-hit innings. But he’s struggled in his past five starts, allowing 16 earned runs in 22 2/3 innings and walking 16 in that time. His command, average at best, has deserted him, especially in a seven-walk debacle on April 16.

[TooLiveBrew]

I know he's not a minor leaguer anymore, but the Reds placed Tony Cingrani on the DL yesterday. "Mild shoulder tendonitis" was the diagnosis.

 

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/24547722/reds-place-tony-cingrani-on-dl-with-shoulder-tendinitis

 

On Thursday, the Reds placed lefty starter Tony Cingrani on the 15-day disabled list because of mild shoulder tendinitis. Reliever Curtis Partch has been recalled to take Cingrani's spot on the active roster.

 

Cingrani also dealt with shoulder soreness in May of last year, but that didn't require a roster move. Of course, to hear Cingrani tell it, he didn't need to go on the DL this time around, either ...

 

Cingrani says he could pitch right now. Doesn't agree with decision. "It's their call. . . They want to [be] cautious."

[TheCrew07]

Red-hot Bryant does it again for Smokies

Cubs' No. 2 prospect slugs sixth homer in first career four-hit game

[TheCrew07]

All-Prospect Team: April Edition

May 4, 2014 by Matt Eddy

 

OF Gregory Polanco • Pirates

Triple-A Indianapolis (International)

 

Pirates right fielders Travis Snider and Jose Tabata have combined to hit .218/.281/.298 through 30 games this season, making them easy to push aside when Pittsburgh deems Polanco ready for prime time. That temptation will be difficult to resist if he continues to pace the International League in hitting, on-base percentage, RBIs, runs and total bases, as he does now.

RHP Ben Lively • Reds

High Class A Bakersfield (California)

 

How does one succeed in a home park in which the center-field wall stands just 354 feet from home plate? Lively has the answer to that question: Strike everyone out, don’t walk anybody and don’t surrender any hits. Easy, right? The 2013 fourth-rounder from Central Florida has the potential (and deception) to mirror Tony Cingrani‘s rapid rise through the Reds system.

[TheCrew07]

Baseball America Prospect Report (May 4)

May 4, 2014 by Staff Report

 

HITTER OF THE DAY: Kris Bryant, 3b — Double-A Tennessee (Cubs)

 

Bryant, the Cubs’ No. 2 prospect and No. 8 overall, which illustrates the depth of the Cubs’ system, had his first four-hit game as a pro and hit his sixth homer in the Smokies’ win Saturday. Bryant raised his average to .304 and ranks third in the Southern League with a .982 OPS.

[TheCrew07]

Cardinals' Gonzales tearing through FSL

Left-hander utilizes ground game in eight-inning gem for Palm Beach

[TheCrew07]

Cubs' Pena nearly flawless in walk-off win

Right-hander allows one hit over six scoreless innings for Daytona

[TheCrew07]

MH already noted the Brewer winners in today's LR but here's the full list. Nick Ramirez and Michael Reed were the only divisional winners on the hitting side.

 

Offensive Players of the Week

For the week ending May 4

 

Pitching wise Mike Fiers was the only divisional winner, quite a week for the Brew Crew on the farm.

 

Pitchers of the Week

For the week ending May 4

[TheCrew07]

Indy's Polanco rebounds with four hits

Pittsburgh's top prospect shakes 0-for-4 outing with 4-for-5 outburst

[TheCrew07]

Taveras plays big role in Memphis onslaught

Top Cardinals prospect goes 3-for-6 with two doubles and three RBIs

[TheCrew07]

Minor League Roundup: Many Happy Returns

May 6, 2014 by Josh Norris

International League

 

Gregory Polanco, of, Indianapolis (Pirates): After a couple of relatively quiet days, Pittsburgh’s top prospect exploded on Monday night. The powerful outfielder clubbed four hits, including two doubles, drove in a run and scored. He also made a fantastic catch in the outfield. At this point, Pirates fans are just wondering how many days until June comes and he can be cemented into the mix at PNC Field.

Texas League

 

James Ramsey, of, Springfield (Cardinals): Not only did Ramsey pop two longballs on Monday, he did it in the first three innings. Yet another piece in the Cardinals’ cadre of talented outfielders, Ramsey finished 3-for-4 with the two longballs, three runs scored and four more driven in. He gets plus grades for his makeup (Rhodes scholar status and captaincy at Florida State will do that for you), but scouts grade his tools as average across the board. In a return to the Texas League thanks to the presence of Stephen Piscotty, Oscar Taveras and, in the beginning, Randal Grichuk, at Memphis, Ramsey has put forth a .316/.409/.570 line with eight homers over the first month and change.

Midwest League

 

Alex Reyes, rhp, Peoria (Cardinals): Reyes started his season by walking seven hitters in five innings. In the 18 1/3 innings since then, he’s walked nine. That’s still not great, but it’s a marked improvement over the disaster opener. On Monday, Reyes whiffed eight in six innings of five-hit, one-run ball and walked just two. The talented righthander offers two plus offerings in his hard fastball and devastating curve, and also mixes in a changeup. He’s used that combination to fan 32 in his first 23 1/3 innings, good for a 12.3 strikeouts-per-nine ratio.

[Fear The Chorizo]

I know it's early and Javier Baez of the Cubs is very young to be playing in AAA, but he's gotten off to a horrible start this year - he hit a ton of HR in spring training but also showed those red flags of poor pitch recognition and being too aggressive.

 

Is he being rushed a bit too much? Is this a product of him being ticked he didn't make the opening day MLB roster? He's hitting 0.150 and has 3 times more strikeouts than hits...

 

He's got great ability offensively, if he swings at strikes - if he'd be in the majors right now teams could get him out without coming within a foot of the strike zone. For a top 5 prospect MLB-wide, it seems like the plate discipline aspect of his game hasn't been given enough scrutiny. I recall many of the Cubs' other prized hitting prospects of years gone by having very similar problems.

[TheCrew07]

As I posted in the LR the other day his lack of plate discipline had always been noted but how do they really fault a guy when he puts up a .900+ OPS every where he goes even though you keep noting he needs to make serious improvement? Where is his incentive to change?

 

The only other Cubs' prospect with a similar knock that I remember was Brett Jackson, but it took AAA pitchers longer to expose him. I was really concerned coming out of Spring Training about Baez' potential impact for 2015, but now not so much. Selfishly I would prefer he never adjusts and follows a similar career path to Jackson but from a Cubs' perspective it's not a big deal because you still have Kris Bryant. Alcantara can still play 2B unless they move Castro, Bryant plays 3rd, Rizzo is at 1st, Almora is still looking like a very good CF prospect (he's had a similar season to Taylor so far), and finally Soler still projects nicely for them in RF.

 

Baez hitting would have allowed them to move Bryant to LF and field a pretty awesome homegrown (with the exception of Rizzo) line-up 1-8. I'm not saying he won't ever make the necessary adjustments but it is shocking how bad he's been exposed. Normally hitters catch on fairly quickly to slightly worse stuff but greater pitchability of the guys in AAA vs AA. Bryant could still end up in LF if any one of Baez, Olt, or Villanueva become anything as well.

 

This got me thinking about Soler who still hasn't returned to action from that hamstring strain, he still only has that 1 AB in which he doubled on the season.