July 21, 2016

Minor League Update

Games of Wednesday, July 20th

by Christopher Crawford

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Prospect of the Day: Yadier Alvarez, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers (Single-A Great Lakes): 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K.
Alvarez showed he was way too advanced to be facing AZL pitching and earned a promotion to the Midwest League. He’s probably too advanced to be here, too. Alvarez has an easy 80 fastball that will touch triple-digits with life, and he’s showing a plus slider at times to give hitters from both sides of the plate fits. The command still has a long way to go and there’s some effort here that may make him a reliever long term, but outside of Julio Urias, he has the highest upside of any arm in the Dodgers system.

Others of Note:

Jake Thompson, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies (Triple-A Lehigh Valley): 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 5 K. He’s starting to miss more bats, and the four walks are an aberration. Thompson throws strikes with all four of his pitches.

Jake Peter, IF, Chicago White Sox (Triple-A Charlotte): 1-for-2, 2 BB, K. Peter has been one of the most pleasant surprises in the White Sox system. The swing gives him a chance for an average hit tool, and though he’s not fleet of foot, his strong throwing arm gives him a chance to play all over the diamond.

Alex Bregman, SS, Houston Astros (Triple-A Fresno): 3-for-5, R, CS. What are you still doing here?

Bradley Zimmer, OF, Cleveland (Double-A Akron): 4-for-5, R. There are serious concerns from some teams about whether or not Zimmer will be able to hit left-handed pitching, and also about the strikeouts. More games like this one will help alleviate those concerns.

Dominic Smith, 1B, New York Mets (Double-A Binghamton): 1-for-4, HR, K. Dom Smith cares not for your concerns about his power. He’s crushing the ball right now, and it makes me giddy.

Engelb Vielma, SS, Minnesota Twins (Double-A Chattanooga): 2-for-2, 2 R, 3 BB. The glove was the selling point coming into the year—and it’s still what makes him one of the more underrated middle infielders in minor-league baseball—but he’s shown more feel for the barrel than anticipated, and as you can see from the numbers above, he’s also shown more patience at the plate.

Trey Nielsen, RHP, St. Louis Cardinals (Double-A Springfield): 9 IP, 11 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K. What a weird line. It’s equally weird that he needed only 106 pitches to accomplish it. Nielsen’s not going to miss many bats, but he throws three pitches for strikes, and the change will flash above average.

Austin Gomber, LHP, St. Louis Cardinals (High-A Palm Beach): 9 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K. You don’t see very many complete games in minor-league baseball, but he Cardinals had two on the same night. Rather than complain about their devil magic, I’ll tell you that Gomber is an interesting left-hander with above-average control and two above-average pitches in his fastball and change.

Christin Stewart, OF, Detroit Tigers (High-A Lakeland): 3-for-3, 3 R, HR, BB. Even the biggest of fans of Stewart couldn’t have seen what he’s done this season coming. He’s quickly established himself as not only the best hitting prospect in the Detroit system, but maybe their best prospect period.

Anthony Alford, OF, Toronto Blue Jays (High-A Dunedin): 1-for-4, HR, BB, K. The walks are great. The homers are great. The strikeouts are problematic.

Franklyn Kilome, RHP, Phillies (Low-A Lakewood): 6.2 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K. In his last three starts, Kilome has given up just three runs in just under 17 innings, and he’s struck out 21 guys in the process.

Nick Neidert, RHP, Seattle Mariners (Low-A Clinton): 5 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. With Neidert pitching well and Luiz Gohara now pitching well in Low-A, too, Clinton has gone from being one of the worst rosters in minor-league baseball to pretty darn interesting two days a week.

Eddy Martinez, OF, Chicago Cubs (Low-A South Bend): 3-for-4, 2 R, 2B, 3B, HR. He came just a single away from the cycle. Singles are boring, so let’s just say he hit for the cycle.

Bryce Denton, 3B, St. Louis Cardinals (Short-Season Johnson City): 4-for-6, 2 R, 2B. The Cardinals second-round pick last year, Denton has a chance for plus power, and the hit tool isn’t far behind. The defensive profile needs considerable work, however.

Alex Robinson, LHP, Minnesota Twins (Short-Season Elizabethton): 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K. Robinson has a fastball that is close to double-plus thanks to its velocity and life, an above-average slider, and no clue where those pitches are going.

Desmond Lindsay, OF, New York Mets (Short-Season GCL): 2-for-3, 3 R, 2B, 2 BB, 1 K. The Mets took Lindsay in the second round last summer, and he’s shown average tools across the board, with the speed potentially plus.

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