May 6, 2016

Minor League Update

Games of Thursday, May 5th

by Christopher Crawford

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Prospect of the Day:

Anderson Espinoza, RHP, Boston Red Sox (Single-A Greenville): 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K.
There have been a few ups-and-downs over Espinoza’s first month. This counts as an up. You would never guess this is a teenager pitching: His feel for throwing strikes with all of his pitches is as advanced as it gets. That’s not to say that he’s some soft-tosser who gets by with feel; he gets his heater up to 99 mph, and he shows two plus secondary pitches in his changeup and curveball. The Pedro comps aren’t fair, but they don’t come out of nowhere, either, and I would say his upside competes with any pitching prospect in baseball not named Giolito.

Others of Note:

Trea Turner, SS, Washington Nationals (Triple-A Syracuse): 3-for-6, 2 R, 2 2B, SB, K. Maybe Turner just really likes Syracuse. That’s his seventh game with at least three hits.

Aaron Judge, OF, New York Yankees (Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre): 1-for-4, 2 R, HR, BB, 2 K. When you have limbs that are longer than Jose Altuve, you’re gonna strike out a lot, but everything else suggests he’s ready to play in The Bronx.

Zach Lee, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers (Triple-A Oklahoma City): 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K. A few more starts like this and we won’t get people asking when he’s going to play quarterback for LSU.

Seth Lugo, RHP, New York Mets (Triple-A Las Vegas): 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. He came into the game with atrocious stats, but Lugo is better than his numbers suggest, with two above-average pitches in his fastball and change, and solid command.

Albert Almora, OF, Chicago Cubs (Triple-A Iowa): 3-for-4, 2 R, 3B. This is the version of Almora we expected to see in 2014. Better late than never, right?

Jordan Guerrero, LHP, Chicago White Sox (Double-A Birmingham): 6 IP, 0 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 11 K. Guerrero has struggled to throw strikes this year, but he’s also missing more bats with an above-average fastball and plus change.

Raul Alcantara, RHP, Oakland Athletics (Double-A Midland): 6 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. Man, a lot of “no-nos” this year. Alcantara is basically a harder-throwing, right-handed version of Guerrero, so no, they’re actually not that much alike.

Yandy Diaz, 3B, Cleveland (Double-A Akron): 3-for-4, R, BB. Diaz has an outstanding approach at the plate, plays plus defense at third, and the spoonerism of his name is Dandy Yiaz. He’s got a lot of good things going on.

Alex Blandino, 2B, Cincinnati Reds (Double-A Pensacola): 3-for-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, E. The reports I had received on Blandino this year were less than spectacular, but it’s not a case of lack of talent for the former Stanford Cardinal.

Chase De Jong, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers (Double-A Tulsa): 7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. The Blue Jays 2012 second-round selection, De Jong still tantalizes with a plus curveball and the ability to throw strikes with all three of his offerings.

Jorge Mateo, SS, New York Yankees (High-A Tampa): 4-for-5, R, 2 CS. If there’s a complaint here, it’s that as fast as he is, he still needs to work on getting jumps off the bag, as seen in the two caught stealings above.

Tyler Alexander, LHP, Detroit Tigers (High-A Lakeland): 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. There’s no standout pitch here, but Alexander’s ability to hit his spot with all of his arsenal gives him a chance to stick in a rotation.

Forrest Wall, 2B, Colorado Rockies (High-A Modesto: 2-for-5, R, SB. A mediocre start to his season, but Wall still looks like a future leadoff hitter to me, assuming he’ll be able to stay at second base.

Sam Coonrod, RHP, San Francisco Giants (High-A San Jose): 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K. It’s tough to argue with the lack of runs, but with a plus fastball and above-average slider, it’d be nice to see a few more strikeouts. I don’t think I’m asking too much.

Kevin Newman, SS, Pittsburgh Pirates (High-A Bradenton): 2-for-5, K. I told you all that this guy could hit, but you didn’t wanna listen. If the hit tool isn’t potentially plus-plus, it’s awfully close.

Brendan Rodgers, SS, Rockies (Low-A Asheville): 2-for-5, 2B, HR, E. I am running out of superlatives for Rodgers and it’s the first week of May.

Edwin Lora, SS, Washington Nationals (Low-A Hagerstown): 4-for-5, R, 2 2B, K. Lora has every tool you need to be a plus defender at shortstop, and he’s shown he’s not completely bereft of offensive competence.

Cody Reed, LHP, Arizona Diamondbacks (Low-A Kane County): 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K. In just under 18 innings, he’s struck out 31 people and walked none. Sustainable? No. Fun as heck? You betcha.

Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Pirates (Low-A West Virginia): 2-for-4, HR, K. He’s been overshadowed by some of the other players in the class, but Hayes has as much offensive potential as almost any of them, and he’s not terrible with the glove, either.

Ronald Acuna, OF, Atlanta Braves (Low-A Rome): 3-for-4, 2 R, 3B, 2 SB. As good as Dansby Swanson is, along with some of the other Braves prospects, Acuna has the highest ceiling of any player in the system.

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