April 18, 2016

Minor League Update

Games of April 15-17

by Christopher Crawford

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Prospect of the Weekend:

Tyler Glasnow, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates (Triple-A Indianapolis): 5 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 9 K.
After a shaky spring training, Glasnow has given up just two earned runs in his first 10 innings while striking out 15 and—most importantly—walking just three. No, the command will never be elite, but it doesn’t have to be; when you’re pumping plus-plus fastballs at a downhill plane and a wipeout curveball, it only has to be average. His upside rivals that of any pitcher in baseball not named Lucas Giolito, and he’s going to miss a lot of bats at the big-league level. Soon.

Others of Note

Friday:

Trea Turner, SS, Washington Nationals (Triple-A Syracuse): 3-for-5, R, 2B. It’s time for this guy to be playing in big-league games.

Hunter Renfroe, OF San Diego Padres (Triple-A El Paso): 3-for-5, 2B, R. He’s the “other” outfielder in the El Paso outfield, but he’s still got a chance to hit for power and play a solid right field.

Alex Meyer, RHP, Minnesota Twins (Triple-A Rochester): 6.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K. We’ve seen plenty of starts with these kinds of strikeout totals. The start with no walks is a new, fun revelation, though.

Dustin Peterson, OF, Atlanta Braves (Double-A Mississippi): 3-for-4, 3 R, HR, K. With four average tools and improving defense in the outfield, he’s turned his brother (D.J.) into the “other” Peterson prospect.

Daniel Mengden, RHP, Oakland Athletics (Double-A Midland): 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 K. The former Texas A&M starter has so-so command, but he also has two 55 pitches in his fastball and change.

Tyler Eppler, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates (Double-A Altoona): 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K. This unheralded right-hander has a mid-90s heater, two workable offspeed pitches, and what could be plus command.

Forrest Wall, 2B, Colorado Rockies (High-A Tennessee): 5-for-8, R, 2B, 3B, BB, K, SB. In a system loaded with high-upside hitters, Wall might have the best potential hit tool of any of them.

Max Povse, RHP, Braves (High-A Carolina): 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. This system is loaded. Povse has two plus pitches in his fastball and change, and the breaking ball is on its way.

Ryan O’Hearn, 1B, Kansas City Royals (High-A Wilmington): 2-for-4, 2 HR, K. He’s gonna strike out— a lot—but he also has plus power from the left side, which helps justify putting him in a lineup.

Pedro Payano, RHP, Texas Rangers (Low-A Hickory): 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. There’s no out pitch here, but all three of his pitches (FB, SL, CH) and his command could/should be average in time.

Braden Bishop, OF, Seattle Mariners (Low-A Clinton) 4-for-6,R 2B, K. The 2015 third-rounder has shown more feel for hitting than anticipated, and if he’s not a plus defender in center, he’s pretty darn close.

Thairo Estrada, SS, New York Yankees (Low-A Charleston): 3-for-5, 2 R, 2 SB. Plus speed, plus arm strength, solid defense at shortstop… if the bat comes, this guy will shoot up rankings.

Saturday:

Sean Manaea, LHP, Athletics (Triple-A Nashville): 6.2 IP,6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 11 K. Nashville is an awesome city, and if Manaea isn’t careful, he might just see himself relocated from there to Oakland.

Jesse Winker, OF, Cincinnati Reds (Triple-A Louisville): 3-for-4, BB, K. Last year he hit .224 in April. This year: .346. That’s better.

Trea Turner, SS, Nationals (Triple-A Syracuse): 3-for-4, 3 R, 2B, HR, SB. No, seriously. He’s ready. This is just wasteful.

Brett Phillips, OF, Milwaukee Brewers (Double-A Biloxi): 4-for-7, R, 3B, BB, 3 K. Some contact issues early on, but when he is making contact, it is loud and hard.

Joan Gregorio, RHP, San Francisco Giants (Double-A Richmond): 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, BB, 7 K. Since returning to the rotation last July, he’s shown the same intriguing stuff and a much better idea of how to attack hitters.

Jorge Alfaro, C, Philadelphia Phillies (Double-A Reading): 2-for-4, 2B, HR, K. It’s never been a question of talent, but whether he can put it together. The early results are extremely promising.

Kevin Newman, SS, Pirates (High-A Bradenton): 3-for-4,R, SB,CS. The lack of power puts an awful lot of pressure on his hit tool, but I think it’s up for the challenge.

Mike Papi, OF, Cleveland (High-A Lynchburg): 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 1 BB. Eight walks in his first nine games, and he’s showing that his solid-average raw power can be transferred into games.

James Kaprielian, RHP, Yankees (High-A Tampa): 7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. He took a no-no into the seventh. The advanced stuff people saw at UCLA in 2015 has carried over as a professional.

LaMonte Wade, OF, Twins (Low-A Cedar Rapids): 2-for-2, 2B, 3B, SB. An absolute steal in the ninth round, Wade can do a little bit of everything and he has eight extra-base hits in his first 10 games.

Daz Cameron, OF, Astros (Low-A Quad Cities: 2-for-4, 2B: It’s been a less-than-spectacular start for the talented outfielder, but hopefully this helps build some confidence early on.

Enyel De Los Santos, RHP, Padres (Low-A Fort Wayne): 4 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 K. The right-hander acquired in the Joaquin Benoit trade is years away, but he shows two plus pitches in his fastball and change.

Sunday:

Jack Reinheimer, SS, Arizona Diamondbacks (Triple-A Reno): 3-for-5, R, K. It seems like there’s a ton of defense-first shortstops who have gotten off to hot starts, and Reinheimer qualifies.

Zach Eflin, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies (Triple-A Lehigh Valley): 8 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. The former Padres (and, for like a week, Dodgers) prospect gets plenty of groundballs and throws plenty of strikes.

Josh Bell, 1B, Pirates (Triple-A Indianapolis): 2-for-5, 2B, BB, K. He came into the game hitting .190. If you thought that was going to last, you haven’t seen this guy hit before.

Phil Ervin, OF, Reds (Double-A Pensacola): 4-for-4, R, SB. Ervin drives you crazy with his lack of consistency, but to drive you crazy with a lack of consistency, there have to be good moments, right? Right.

Alex Bregman, SS, Astros (Double-A Corpus Christi): 3-for-4, HR. The only thing that drives you crazy about this guy is that we haven’t figured out how to clone him.

Kyle Freeland, LHP, Rockies (Double-A Hartford): 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. Freeland’s not missing a ton of bats, but he’s getting results by throwing strikes with a solid fastball/slider combination.

Drew Jackson, SS, Seattle Mariners (High-A Bakersfield): 3-for-4, CS. Middle infielders out of Stanford haven’t had a lot of success, but Jackson has plus speed, a cannon for an arm, and some feel for the barrel.

Yoan Moncada, 2B, Boston Red Sox (High-A Salem): 2-for-4, R, 2B, BB, 3 SB, K. Yep, he can run, too. Not fair.

Brent Honeywell, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays (High-A Charlotte): 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. Plus fastball, filthy screwball, and above-average command of all four of his pitches. He’s gonna be a good one.

Beau Burrows, RHP, Detroit Tigers (Low-A West Michigan): 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K. Like all Tigers prospects, he throws hard, but he also has advanced feel for pitching and should have good enough command to start.

Josh Ockimey, 1B, Red Sox (Low-A Greenville): 4-for-5, 2 R, HR. An advanced approach plate along with plus power potential from the left side means this relatively unknown prospect won’t be anonymous for long.

Junior Fernandez, RHP, Cardinals (Low-A Peoria): 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K. The Cardinals seem to grow guys like this on trees. With a 70 fastball and 60 change, he could be a top 100 prospect at this point next year.

Christopher Crawford is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @CVCrawfordBP
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