2014 Regular Season Divisional Prospect News

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Polanco gets four hits in shortened game

Rain keeps Pirates' top-ranked prospect a home run from the cycle

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Interesting...

Wong keeps delivering following demotion

Cardinals No. 2 prospect goes 4-for-5 with homer, batting .344 in PCL

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Roomies Bryant, Bruno stay hot for Smokies

No. 2 prospect hits Southern League-leading 11th homer in 10-7 win

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Cubs' Almora amasses career day at plate

Inspired by father, club's No. 3 prospect cracks three doubles in rout

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I wasn't aware of this, extremely interesting article if you have the time.

 

Reds' Garrett remains on two-sport path

Southpaw splitting time between Cincinnati system, college hoops

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Cards' Grichuk, Taveras put on laser show

St. Louis prospects combine for three home runs in loss to Omaha

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Victor Roache makes the list and not in a good way.

 

Prospect Hot Sheet (May 16): Hunter Harvey Continues To Shine

 

4. Randal Grichuk, of, Cardinals

Team: Triple-A Memphis (Pacific Coast)

Age: 22

Why He’s Here: .458/.536/1.042 (11-for-24), 10 R, 2 2B, 4 HR, 7 RBIs, 4 BB, 5 SO, 1-for-1 SB

 

The Scoop: Grichuk got his first taste of the big leagues at the end of April, but when center fielder Peter Bourjos heated up, Grichuk returned to Memphis. He hasn’t sulked at the demotion. In six games since his demotion, he has four multi-hit games. He’s outperformed his more highly regarded fellow Memphis outfielders Oscar Taveras and Stephen Piscotty, but with the Cardinals’ crowded outfield, that doesn’t ensure him a spot back in St. Louis anytime soon.

10. Gregory Polanco, rf, Pirates

Team: Triple-A Indianapolis (International)

Age: 22

Why He’s Here: .286/.375/.607 (8-for-28), 4 R, 2 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 7 RBIs, 4 BB, 6 SO, 2-for-2 SB

 

The Scoop: What’s left to say about the International League’s top prospect? He leads the league in almost every category. He has power, speed, defense and an arm. And he’s getting better all the time. While no one could match his near-1.100 OPS for April month after month, he has found other ways to improve. Polanco started the year 1-for-4 on stolen bases. Since then he’s gone 8-for-9.

13. Kyle Hendricks, rhp, Cubs

Team: Triple-A Iowa (Pacific Coast)

Age: 24

Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.00, 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 11 SO, 0 BB

 

The Scoop: The Cubs’ trade-deadline dealings with the Rangers have yielded big league starting third baseman Mike Olt and top pitching prospect C.J. Edwards. Now Hendricks (part of the haul for Ryan Dempster in 2012) could be next in line. So far in 2014 he’s missing more bats than ever—his 54 strikeouts rank second in the Pacific Coast League—while staying true to his groundball past (2.2 groundout/airout ratio this year). He’ll bring his plus control and modest stuff to Wrigley at some point this season.

 

In The Team Photo

 

James Ramsey, of, Cardinals. In another organization, the 24-year-old Ramsey would probably be in Triple-A, but a glut of outfielders has Ramsey repeating Double-A Springfield. It doesn’t seem there’s much left for him to learn in the Texas League, where he’s hitting .313/.399/.578 with 10 home runs in 39 games.

 

Not-So Hot

 

Javier Baez, ss, Cubs: Well that fell apart quickly. We’re too far into the season to blame Baez’s brutal numbers (.142/.229/.255) on his disappointment at being sent to Triple-A. He’s currently the second-worst hitter in the Pacific Coast League, and his six errors are second-most among league shortstops, topped only by Wilmer Flores, who no scout believes is a shortstop. Baez, 21, is hitting .104 in May. Some day he may be able to look back at this as the adversity that helped shape his big league success. For now, he just needs some hits. With his struggles and Starlin Castro’s bounceback, Baez is farther from Chicago than he was on April 1.

Victor Roache, lf, Brewers. Roache recently had a three-homer game, but in the past week at high Class A Brevard County he went just 2-for-20 and struck out seven times while not walking once. The 2012 first-rounder has six homers but is slashing just .189/.252/.357.

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Prospect Hot Sheet Chat (May 16)

 

Warren (New London): First, thanks for noticing Willians Astudillo. But I really wanted to ask about Gregory Polanco. I love the offense, but while it's clear that he has the tools to be a good defensive player, he isn't one yet. Is this something that he'll grow out of, or could it be a problem for him going forward as it has been for Domonic Brown?

Matt Eddy: Credit for Astudillo goes to our Phillies correspondent Jim Salisbury. (He does fine work in general, so check him out.) We’ll have an org report on the young catcher next week. As to Polanco, I agree with you in that I think we fans need to take a deep breath. Extra reps against Triple-A pitchers can only help his development, and so too will extra defensive reps at a new position for him. Additionally, for any tall hitter with long arms and a huge strike zone, I wonder about an adjustment period to the inside fastball from big leaguers. Hitters will say the elite fastball on the hands is toughest to handle because that’s the toughest pitch on which to generate bat speed (for mortals anyway).

Mike (Iowa): Is Kyle Hendricks of the Cubs for real? What is his upside at the next level? Thanks for the chat

 

Matt Eddy: Hendricks won Southern League pitcher of the year honors last year, so he’s got a track record of effectiveness in the minors. As a sinkerball pitcher with 88-92 mph velocity he’s going to be as good as his command each start, but I think it’s safe to say his stuff will play in the majors as a No. 5 starter or reliever. Who’s your favorite sinkerball starter with double-plus control?

Jason (West MI): What is your projection for Grichuk?

 

Matt Eddy: Love the power and am sufficiently intrigued by the improved health, plate discipline and athleticism he’s shown in recent seasons. Too soon to say he’s a first-division type guy, but he’s definitely a big league corner bat of some stripe.

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Hendricks fans 11 in eight shutout frames

Righty matches career high in K's during three-hit outing for I-Cubs

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Skulina, Cougars no-hit River Bandits

Cubs' No. 18 prospect walks two, strikes out five over 7 1/3 innings

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Hanson shows off skill set in Curve's win

Pirates' No. 5 prospect goes 3-for-4 with home run, two stolen bases

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Indians' Polanco comes through in clutch

Bucs top prospect gets three hits, plates tying run, scores winning run

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Fantasy Focus: Is it time to be concerned?

Looking at early-season tribulations for Baez, Davidson, Escobar

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Alcantara caps game with clutch shot

Cubs' No. 6 prospect lofts eventual game-winning long ball for Iowa

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T-Rats on the wrong end of this from yesterday, but won the game regardless!

 

Chiefs' Reyes takes no-no into seventh

Cardinals prospect strikes out eight in longest outing of career

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Lorenzen uses new weapon, silences Suns

Reds' No. 5 prospect breaks out curveball, hurls five hitless innings

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PG article about Rob Kaminsky

 

Daily lessons for Cards' prospect

Jeff Dahn Saturday, May 17, 2014

“He throws three quality pitches and he throws them for strikes,” Simontacchi said when asked what Kaminsky brings to the table as a pitcher. “His tenacity, his competitiveness; he’s got good passion. He’s a pretty young kid and I think he knows that, but it’s not to the point where he uses it as an excuse.

 

“He’s trying to absorb a lot right now at this level, and he’s not overwhelmed, but there is a tendency when you get here maybe you question your stuff a little bit and see if it plays here.”

 

It is cliché to be sure, but Kaminsky has always been the prototypical “student of the game” even during his high school and Perfect Game years. No matter how much information is thrown his way, he is able to take the lessons that he deems most valuable and turn them into positive results on the field.

 

“I’m a big believer in learning every day,” he said. “If you’re not getting better you’re getting worse – it’s like the old quote, ‘There’s no staying the same.’ I’m always picking the older guys’ brains and the coaches have been awesome, the players have been awesome and I’m making a lot of great friends. We’re all the same path, trying to get to the big leagues.

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I'm not sure why his struggles are puzzling given the knocks on him all along? He wasn't being as a scouted in spring training...

 

Stock Watch: Gallo going long at will

 

Trending down

 

Cubs SS Javier Baez, Triple-A Iowa

 

Baez's struggles with the I-Cubs have been well documented, and are something of a puzzle after the 21-year-old's breakout 2013 and promising performance in Spring Training. The shortstop has shown signs of life with hits in his last five games, including Monday, but still entered the week hitting just .165 with four homers in 32 contests. Baez has especially struggled once he's fallen behind Pacific Coast League pitchers, hitting .148 when trailing in the count.

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Taveras collects four hits for Redbirds

Top-ranked Cardinals prospect records 10th multi-hit game of '14

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Chiefs' Katz ends slump with career night

Cardinals prospect goes 4-for-4, homers twice, drives in four runs

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Boo for being on the wrong end...

 

Palm Beach turns 'routine' triple play

Caldwell, Valera, Voit go around-the-horn in win over Manatees

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Baseball America Prospect Report (May 23)

 

HITTER OF THE DAY: Willy Garcia, of — Double-A Altoona (Pirates)

 

Garcia has plenty of tools and is just 21 years old, now it’s just a matter of waiting for those tools to turn into skills. On Thursday, he gave fans a glimpse of what the Pirates hope he can do when he socked a double and two home runs in the Curve’s win over Akron. He’s going to need to cut down on the strikeouts, though, and learn to recognize pitches better if he hopes to succeed at the highest level.

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Baez on fire with four-hit night for Iowa

Top Cubs prospect homers, doubles twice to extend hitting streak

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Taveras posts third straight multi-hit day

Top St. Louis prospect has racked up 10 hits in three Memphis games

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Manatees continue to make headlines in a bad way against Palm Beach, the flu bug isn't helping.

 

Palm Beach's Helisek hurls best outing yet

Left-hander allows only one hit, one walk in seven scoreless frames