September 16, 2016

Minor League Update

Games of Thursday, September 15th

by Mark Anderson

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Prospect of the Day:

Josh Staumont, RHP, Royals (Double-A Northwest Arkansas): 6.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R/ER, BB, 8 K
Following Staumont’s Labor Day start, BP’s Christopher Crawford said folks would like to see more starts like that to “shut [him] the heck up.” Well, Staumont turned in another one last night, offering the type of start that makes you dream of him as a starter. While the consensus—myself included—pegs Staumont as a reliever long term, there’s always the hope that he figure it out enough to whiff 10-plus batters per nine innings as a starting pitcher.

Others of Note:

Brady Lail, RHP, Yankees (Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre): 6.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R/ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Triple-A hasn’t necessarily been easy for Lail, as he tries to get by with a solid-but-unspectacular arsenal and good command. There’s back-end potential here, but he must locate all three pitches and improve the consistency of his secondary stuff if he’s going to help the Yankees in that capacity.

Eloy Jimenez, OF, Cubs (High-A Myrtle Beach): 2-5, 2 K. He hit in the regular season, and he’s hitting in the playoffs. Jimenez is one of the biggest breakout stars in the minor leagues this year and there’s no reason to think he’s not on a trajectory that places him as one of the premier prospects in the game by this time next year.

Leonardo Crawford, LHP, Dodgers (Low-A Great Lakes): 5 IP, H, 0 R/ER, BB, 8 K. A 19-year old Nicaraguan lefty, Crawford came on in relief of Walker Buehler and completely dominated Clinton’s lineup. Crawford signed for less than $50,000 in 2014 and has pitched well at three levels over the last two years, thanks to a fastball that reaches the low-90s from a tough over-the-top slot and two quality secondary pitches.

Kolby Allard, LHP, Braves (Low-A Rome): 6 IP, 6 H, 0 R/ER, BB, 9 K. Our own David Lee provided an excellent writeup of Allard in the Eyewitness Series this week, pegging him as a potential mid-rotation starter with a ceiling higher than that if you want to dream a bit and hope for long-term health. Allard is an intriguing prospect for the Braves, and one to watch closely in 2017.

Alberto Tirado, RHP, Phillies (Low-A Lakewood): 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R/ER, BB, 7 K, HRA. Much has been made of Tirado’s excellent performance since moving back to the rotation in Low-A, and for good reason. He owns truly electric raw stuff and has seemingly begun to harness his natural ability, flashing frontline potential if you want to believe. Watch out, folks.

Alfredo Escalera, OF, Royals (Double-A Northwest Arkansas): 4-5, 2B, 3B. Escalera has some potential to play up the middle in spite of speed that’s tapered off to average, giving him some margin for error with his offensive development. That said, Escalera has plenty of work to do at the plate where he needs to improve his pitch recognition and subsequently his ability to tap into his fringe-average pop. Still just 21 years old and with a half-season of Double-A under his belt, Escalera has time to develop into a player who can help the Royals.

Mark Anderson is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @ProspectMark
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