August 16, 2016

Minor League Update

Games of Monday, August 15th

by Christopher Crawford

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Prospect of the Day:

Amir Garrett, LHP, Cincinnati Reds (Triple-A Louisville): 7 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Cody Reed was terrible upon his call-up, and I’ve heard from some Reds fans that they’re concerned that Garrett shouldn’t get a call-up based on what Reed did. That, my friends, is nonsense. The command isn’t great, but the stuff is legit, and he can get big-league hitters out right now. If they keep him down for various reasons, so be it, but because of how Cody Reed pitched? That’s not a legit reason to keep a guy from pitching on the big-kid team.

Others of Note:

Bradley Zimmer, OF, Cleveland (Triple-A Columbus): 2-for-3, BB, K. He’s not hitting for much power at Triple-A, but he sure is getting on base, and that’s a decent tradeoff. The power should come, too.

Alen Hanson, IF, Pittsburgh Pirates (Triple-A Indianapolis): 3-for-5, R, 2B, HR, CS. Hanson still has a chance to be a regular in someone’s infield. It’s just probably not Pittsburgh’s in the long term.

Adam Plutko, RHP, Cleveland (Triple-A Columbus): 5.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. Plutko is Scandinavian for “ready to be a fifth starter.”

Felix Jorge, RHP, Minnesota Twins (Double-A Chattanooga): 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Jorge has struggled to miss bats since the promotion, but he’s throwing strikes with three pitches, and the stuff still suggests he can pitch in a rotation someday.

Dillon Peters, LHP, Miami Marlins (Double-A Jacksonville): 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Peters has carried right over from where he was in the Florida State League. With all due respect to Jarlin Garcia, this is probably the best southpaw pitching prospect in the Marlins system.

Dawel Lugo, SS, Arizona Diamondbacks (Double-A Mobile): 3-for-5, 4 R, 2B, HR. What a difference a year makes. Lugo has gone from fringy prospect to one of the best infield prospects employed by the Diamondbacks, if not the best.

Anthony Alford, OF, Toronto Blue Jays (High-A Dunedin): 2-for-4, R, 2B, K. Since July 9th, Alford is hitting .325/.421/.590 with eight stolen bases. Small sample size? Sure. Indicative of the talent? You betcha.

Jake Cosart, RHP, Boston Red Sox (HIgh-A Salem): 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Don’t be surprised if Cosart is pitching in high-leverage situations for someone soon. The fastball is plus-plus and touches the high 90s, and the curveball flashes plus. The control isn’t there yet, but if it comes, look out.

Roberto Baldoquin, SS, Los Angeles Angels (High-A Inland Empire): 3-for-4, 2 R, 2B. I’m gonna be real honest with you all, and I hope you can keep it between us. I forgot Roberto Baldoquin existed before seeing this statline. That’s probably not a great sign.

Jacob Gatewood, IF, Milwaukee Brewers (Low-A Wisconsin): 1-for-3, 2 R, HR, BB. Yeah yeah, a homer is great. Jacob Gatewood has now walked 14 times. Move over, Boggs. Slide on over, Edgar.

Jaime Barria, RHP, Angels (Low-A Burlington): 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Barria’s control could be plus when all is said and done, and both the fastball and change flash plus. If the breaking ball comes, he could be a mid-rotation guy, maybe even more.

Imani Abdullah, RHP, Dodgers (Low-A Great Lakes): 5 IP 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. The Dodgers traded away a ton of their pitching depth, but guys like Abdullah could help make up for the loss of Grant Holmes and company.

Corey Zangari, 1B, Chicago White Sox (Short-season Great Falls): 2-for-3, 2 HR, K. It would have been great if Zangari could have stayed behind the plate, but it’s tough to blame the White Sox for not pursuing a fool’s errand and seeing if the double-plus power can move quickly, or rather, not be stunted by trying to get him to catch.

Cal Quantrill, RHP, San Diego Padres (Short-season Tri-City): 3.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 5 BB. Let’s not forget that if Quantrill had been healthy all season, he would have been a surefire top-five pick, maybe even first overall.

Luis Carpio, SS, New York Mets (Short-season Kingsport): 3-for-4 2B, 3B, K. Carpio missed most of the season with a shoulder injury, but he’s shaken off the rust and shown an above-average hit tool and a chance to be an above-average defender at shortstop.

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