What Fringe prospects are you watching and why?

[reillymcshane]

Thanks for the heads up on Woodruff now showing up on AA Biloxi's roster. Surprised we haven't heard anything official yet from the organization (unless if I missed it?). Lane Grindle just posted his latest blog posting, and has some very encouraging comments about Woodruff (and did mention that he's now at AA). Starting to get more excited about this kid!

 

Here's the blog posting: http://minordetails.mlblogs.com/2016/05/17/catching-up/

If he can pitch solid for the next couple of months, I wouldn't be surprised to see Woodruff in the next Top 25. Let's hope he keeps producing at Biloxi.

[Madhawk23]

What are everyone's thoughts on Garrett Cooper? Hit a very respectable .290 at Brevard last year, and has now got his BA at .320 to start the year in Biloxi. Obviously, he doesn't possess the type of power bat that you'd like to see out of a 1B, but is it possible that he might still have some pop that he could grow into? I know he's not young at 25, but he does seem to have a big frame at 6'6" 230. Just curious if anyone has seen that kid play, and if there is any reason why we should be looking at him as more of a legit 1B prospect?

[TheCrew07]

What are everyone's thoughts on Garrett Cooper? Hit a very respectable .290 at Brevard last year, and has now got his BA at .320 to start the year in Biloxi. Obviously, he doesn't possess the type of power bat that you'd like to see out of a 1B, but is it possible that he might still have some pop that he could grow into? I know he's not young at 25, but he does seem to have a big frame at 6'6" 230. Just curious if anyone has seen that kid play, and if there is any reason why we should be looking at him as more of a legit 1B prospect?

 

You answered your own question, he doesn't hit for enough power, or last doesn't project to in MLB. He's not a guy you're going to dream on developing more power since he's 25 and has never hit more than 8 HRs in any season. He'd basically have to double that HR total to maintain his current .870 OPS since he's not going to carry a .400 OBP or AVE north of .300 at MLB.

 

He might have some seasons where he eclipses 15 HRs, but I'd be shocked if he's perennially above that number.

 

I don't recall being taken aback by any horrible flaws in his swing when he was in WI, but he wasn't there very long either, somewhere around 25-30 games at the end of the season. Basically, I only saw him play 1 or 2 times in person before the season was over and he moved up, not anywhere near enough to dissect his swing.

 

Who knows though, all it takes is a little work in the weight room every off season and you go from the Brewer's version of Michael Brantley to Cleveland's version who peaked at 20 HRs. It's very difficult to judge how much work of that type baseball players are going to put in, it's not like the NFL or NBA where there's a culture of maximizing athletic potential, historically baseball hasn't had that approach though more and more teams are heading that direction now.

[JohnBriggs12]

What are everyone's thoughts on Garrett Cooper? Hit a very respectable .290 at Brevard last year, and has now got his BA at .320 to start the year in Biloxi. Obviously, he doesn't possess the type of power bat that you'd like to see out of a 1B, but is it possible that he might still have some pop that he could grow into? I know he's not young at 25, but he does seem to have a big frame at 6'6" 230. Just curious if anyone has seen that kid play, and if there is any reason why we should be looking at him as more of a legit 1B prospect?

 

You answered your own question, he doesn't hit for enough power, or last doesn't project to in MLB. He's not a guy you're going to dream on developing more power since he's 25 and has never hit more than 8 HRs in any season. He'd basically have to double that HR total to maintain his current .870 OPS since he's not going to carry a .400 OBP or AVE north of .300 at MLB.

 

He might have some seasons where he eclipses 15 HRs, but I'd be shocked if he's perennially above that number.

 

I don't recall being taken aback by any horrible flaws in his swing when he was in WI, but he wasn't there very long either, somewhere around 25-30 games at the end of the season. Basically, I only saw him play 1 or 2 times in person before the season was over and he moved up, not anywhere near enough to dissect his swing.

 

Who knows though, all it takes is a little work in the weight room every off season and you go from the Brewer's version of Michael Brantley to Cleveland's version who peaked at 20 HRs. It's very difficult to judge how much work of that type baseball players are going to put in, it's not like the NFL or NBA where there's a culture of maximizing athletic potential, historically baseball hasn't had that approach though more and more teams are heading that direction now.

 

In 49 games at AA between 2015 and 2016, he's hitting a cool .352/.429/.490. That's nothing to sneeze at even with the lack of HR. He does have 14 doubles and a triple this year, so he's not just a singles hitter. Besides, he's 6'6" 230, not exactly a little guy. Love too that he's very hard to strike out. He's certainly now on my radar and methinks, the Brewer brass' as well.

 

I would suspect he'll get a promotion to AAA fairly soon and I wouldn't rule out a September call up especially if Carter is dealt at some point.

[SRB]

Doesn't seem to get a lot of buzz, but Jordan Yamamoto is suddenly looking like a very interesting prospect.

[FVBrewerFan]

Doesn't seem to get a lot of buzz, but Jordan Yamamoto is suddenly looking like a very interesting prospect.

 

Yea, I mentioned that in one of the daily links recently. Ive seen him pitch about 6 times now in person or on TV, and his off speed stuff is pretty nasty. Everything he throws has movement.

[CheezWizHed]

I perused through our pitching depth charts and picked out some interesting performances by fringe pitchers so far this year:

 

[pre]Name Age Level ERA IP HR WHIP ▴ BA OPS BAbip H9 BB9 SO9 SO/W Comments

Burkhalter, David 20 A 1.99 45.1 1 0.926 0.212 0.585 0.257 7.1 1.2 6.75 5.67 Nothing overly flashy, but keeps producing and limits his walks

Perrin, Jon 23 A+ 2.59 59 1 0.966 0.228 0.531 0.305 7.8 0.9 9.46 10.33 College pitcher that quickly skipped past A ball. Very stingy on walks, but nice K rate also

Woodruff, Brandon 23 AA 2.69 60.1 2 1.061 0.216 0.565 0.294 7 2.5 9.55 3.76 Almost certainly finding his way on the top 25 this year. Size, stuff and performance coming together nicely.

Peralta, Freddy 20 A 3.31 35.1 1 1.16 0.206 0.584 0.3 7.1 3.3 11.72 3.54 Crazy K rate for a starter. Proven very hard to hit in his first stint at A ball

Ortega, Jorge 23 AA 3.88 48.2 6 1.253 0.278 0.747 0.295 10.2 1.1 4.99 4.5 Doing Ok in his bump to AA. Lack of walkds keeps his WHIP manageable, but lack of Ks limit his ability to move up.

Salas, Javier 24 AA 3.79 35.2 1 1.262 0.187 0.616 0.234 5.8 5.6 7.32 1.32 Up and down this year at AA, but a someone to keep an eye on

Ventura, Angel 23 A+ 3.43 39.1 1 1.271 0.234 0.632 0.327 7.8 3.7 10.07 2.75 Angel is hittable, but has a nice K rate to go with it.

Owenby, Drake 22 A 3.05 41.1 4 1.234 0.248 0.667 0.295 8.7 2.4 7.84 3.27 Nothing overly great, but nothing overly bad either.

Suter, Brent 26 AAA 4.89 42.1 1 1.346 0.313 0.807 0.389 11.1 1.1 7.44 7 Got to give props to Brent at AAA. He is getting hit in Colorado (no surprise), but BB rate is great and K rate is ok.

Wang, Wei-Chung* 24 AA 3.62 49.2 3 1.389 0.28 0.715 0.329 9.2 3.3 6.34 1.94 Similar to Drake: Nothing overly great, but nothing overly bad either. WHIP is pretty high, but limits the damage

Yamamoto, Jordan 20 A 2.51 43 1 1.093 0.242 0.612 0.325 8.2 1.7 9 5.38

Diplan, Marcos 19 A 1.69 42.2 1 1.148 0.174 0.552 0.272 5.5 4.9 11.81 2.43

For relievers, I pay close attention to the K and BB rates and less to the ERAs (since they are very volatile due to small sample size)

Harber, Conor 22 A 4.24 17 1 1.412 0.25 0.695 0.385 8.5 4.2 12.71 3 Getting hit around and walks are up, but K rate makes me pay attention.

Olczak, Jon 22 A+ 4.87 20.1 1 1.279 0.24 0.656 0.354 8 3.5 11.95 3.38 Same as Conor

Chapman, Jaye 29 AAA 3.38 24 3 0.917 0.174 0.539 0.226 5.6 2.6 11.25 4.29 Older pitcher, but he came around late. Nice BB and K rates.

Villegas, Kender 23 A+ 4.6 29.1 2 1.193 0.274 0.677 0.367 9.5 1.2 10.43 8.5 8.5 K/BB makes me pay attention

Gagnon, Drew 26 AAA 2.73 29.2 0 0.978 0.175 0.484 0.261 5.5 3.3 10.31 3.09 Move to the BP was beneficial and showing decent results in Colorado

Magnifico, Damien 25 AAA 1.93 23.1 0 1.2 0.217 0.539 0.305 6.9 3.9 9.64 2.5 Magnifico keeps getting better the last couple years. His K rater is nice to see, as it was always low for a pitcher that throws as hard has he does. BB rater is still concerning for a closer.

Barnes, Jacob 26 MLB 1.21 22.1 1 0.94 0.184 0.503 0.25 5.6 2.8 9.27 3.29 Barnes was just called up and he has been pitching well the last few years.

Archer, Tristan 25 AA 3.74 33.2 2 1.04 0.237 0.621 0.287 8.3 1.1 7.49 7 Low BB rate, low WHIP makes him interesting even with lower K rate

Smith, Gage 25 A+ 2.7 23.1 1 1.071 0.231 0.622 0.282 8.1 1.5 7.33 4.75 Ditto for Archer.[/pre]

[clancyphile]

For some of them, April and part of May was horrid. Suter's bounced back lately (he did VERY well with a CG shutout this past week).

 

Dunno what happened with that first part of the season. Even top prospects like Reed and Arcia have struggled a bit.

[reillymcshane]

Cooper goes yard twice yesterday. He's 25 years old, hitting .313 at AA. Time to move him to AAA and see what happens.

[CheezWizHed]

Anyone have any feedback on Cooper's defense? Certainly seems like a Lyle Overbay type player at this point. And we have a few years before any Prince Fielder comes along.

 

I'd guess the influx of draftees will have Cooper riding the promotion wave to AAA.

 

And I refuse to call him "Coop". Just doesn't seem right.

[reillymcshane]

Anyone have any feedback on Cooper's defense? Certainly seems like a Lyle Overbay type player at this point. And we have a few years before any Prince Fielder comes along.

 

I'd guess the influx of draftees will have Cooper riding the promotion wave to AAA.

 

And I refuse to call him "Coop". Just doesn't seem right.

I thought the same thing, then I looked up Overbay. That guy just crushed minor league pitching. He hit .340 in his minor league career - and showed more pop than Cooper.

 

Cooper has a .296 BA in his minor league career. Solid, but nothing great. If only he had a little more power.

[CheezWizHed]

True. I suppose I was comparing the MLB version of Overbay (more of a doubles hitter), lefty, decent average, late bloomer.

[reillymcshane]

True. I suppose I was comparing the MLB version of Overbay (more of a doubles hitter), lefty, decent average, late bloomer.

No, totally get it. Like I said, I thought the same thing. I was just amazed how good of a hitter Overbay was in the minors. Obviously, that translated to the big leagues.

 

It would be interesting if Cooper could somehow improve his strength a little - just add a modicum of pop to his repertoire.

[Madhawk23]

What do we know about Jon Perrin? Does he have good stuff and a big fastball, or is he more of a command guy? He continues to put up good numbers at both of his stops this year, so I'm just curious if this is really a guy that will start moving up the prospect rankings?

 

Also, what is the status of Carlos Leal? Assuming he is injured, but do we know what the injury was and when he's expected to get back into action this year?

[ZBTMP]

What do we know about Jon Perrin? Does he have good stuff and a big fastball, or is he more of a command guy? He continues to put up good numbers at both of his stops this year, so I'm just curious if this is really a guy that will start moving up the prospect rankings?

 

He admits to being “kind of your standard college right-hander, 88 to 92; I’m not going to blow guys’ doors off.” He will, however, fill up the strike zone with an artist’s touch.

Interesting article on Perrin

[Mass Haas]

Also, what is the status of Carlos Leal? Assuming he is injured, but do we know what the injury was and when he's expected to get back into action this year?

 

From Tuesday's Link Report, we should know more next week.

[FVBrewerFan]

Demuth back on the radar. Starting to hit, and with some power. Still not real high on him, but at least he's showing there's a chance he can develop.

[rwa12]

Gentry Fortuno. I have high hopes. No fantastic reason, liked his interviews when we signed him.

[gregmag]

Malik Collymore. Because I want to beat the Cardinals at something.

[gregmag]

What do we know about Jon Perrin? Does he have good stuff and a big fastball, or is he more of a command guy? He continues to put up good numbers at both of his stops this year, so I'm just curious if this is really a guy that will start moving up the prospect rankings?

 

He admits to being “kind of your standard college right-hander, 88 to 92; I’m not going to blow guys’ doors off.” He will, however, fill up the strike zone with an artist’s touch.

Interesting article on Perrin

Excellent read -- thanks. Here's a follow-up piece from yesterday:

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/instagraphs/a-brewers-prospect-and-his-law-school-application/

 

Perrin shouldn't be so fixated on Harvard, in my humble and professional opinion, but I'm glad he is, because I want him to stick around.

[brewmann04]

When can we expect to see promotions through the minors.

[FVBrewerFan]

Nobody worthy of promoting. Not like there will be a wave of them, guys deserving of it have already been promoted.

[TheCrew07]

When can we expect to see promotions through the minors.

 

Who would you suggest?

 

On the hitting side who do you promote from WI to BC beside Allemand if Neuhaus ever returns? It's not like there's anyone in BC from a position player perspective who's AA worthy at this time, and I have hard time sending players back a level they've already succeeded at. The hitters in AA all belong there for the entire year, and Nashville is filled with veteran depth like usual.

 

Which pitchers do you move and where? I wouldn't want any of the young pitchers in WI promoted, let them work on command at a level where they can have success. Who in BC is promotion worthy other than Ventura, and I'd rather he spend all season in A+. Perrin and Ponce should pitch there the rest of the year. Now that Hader was bumped I don't see anyone in AA who's promotion worthy either.

[1992casey]

…Nashville is filled with veteran depth like usual.

 

I've done that too.

[Mr Southpaw]

Brent Sutor to Milwaukee when we need another starter. He is 26 and he deserves a shot. Maybe we get a Fiers type of performance from him.