Weekly Wrap: September... (09/09)
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May 5, 2017 Weekly WrapMay 5, 2017
Started the season on the DL 2016 Cubs Minor League Player of the Year and ninth prospect on our 2017 Prospect List, RF Eloy Jimenez has started the season on the DL with a bone bruise. This should be no major flag, as rest is all the doctor ordered. Twins left handed pitching prospect Stephen Gonsalves luckily is without any structural damage. He was slated to pitch for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic when he experienced soreness in his upper back left shoulder. Meanwhile, let us all learn that not everything we read on the Internet is true. #FakeNews. On a more seriousness note, while rehabbing in Peoria, RHP Anderson Espinoza has been shut down due to recurring soreness in his throwing elbow for the second time this premature season. Espinoza is the 24th ranked prospect in our 2017 prospect list. After placing 58th on our prospect list and impressing Joe Girardi this spring, RHP James Kaprielian suffered a huge setback. After missing most of last season with forearm issues, Kaprielian will miss this season with a UCL injury that required TJS—it was performed on April 18th As a former coworker and eternal fan, I am pulling for him. To the DL Houston Astros RHP Francis Martes starts are being skipped as he is battling a vague “mild abdominal discomfort”. He last pitched April 22nd. Our 28th ranked prospect is penciled in for next week. Red Sox 2016 first-round draft pick, 12th overall, LHS Jason Groome left the game on April 10th with a lat injury. He was pitching for the Mid-A Greenville Drive, and only recorded 1.1 IP. He is prospect no. 29 on our 2017 Prospect List. Nationals 18-year old and our 57th ranked prospect, RF Juan Soto has suffered a right ankle injury Thursday, May 4th while sliding into home. He is expected to hit the DL, no timeline yet. Yankees newly acquired arm RHP Albert Abreu was placed on the DL this week with a right arm elbow inflation. He was recently promoted to High-A Tampa. Abreu es el ochenta y dos prospecto de nuestra lista. Oakland A’s 2016 second-round pick Daulton Jefferies requires TJS, and will consequently miss the 2017 season. He had appeared in two games for High-A Stockton throwing seven innings, allowing six runs, two earned, one walk and six strikeouts. During his second professional at-bat for the Dunedin Blue Jays, Toronto’s High-A affiliate, SS Lourdes Gurriel exited the game with a hamstring injury. He signed a seven-year, $22 million contract this offseason. Notably, he is the younger brother of Houston Astros first baseman Yulieski Gurriel. In more Blue Jays news, C Reese McGuire was placed on the 7-day disabled list May 3rd with an undisclosed injury. Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2013 in the first-round, McGuire, along with LHS Francisco Liriano and CF Harold Ramirez, was traded to Toronto last August in exchange for RHS Drew Hutchison. Off the DL Washington Nationals CF Victor Robles, no. 7 on our list, has been activated from the DL after his hamstring tightened up on April 14th. He had been playing in Extended Spring Training. In three games since returning, he has registered three hits, one single, one double and one home run. Perhaps he hits the needed triple to “cycle” in his fourth game? After opening the season on the DL with a hand injury, Colorado Rockies SS Brendan Rodgers came off the DL on April 24th. At the production of the post, over 37 AB he has hit .270/.282/.351 in his first go for High-A Lancaster JetHawks. He is no. 11 on our 2017 prospect list. Yankees prized prospect and 15th ranked prospect, SS Gleyber Torres homered in his second game off the DL. A knack for finding barrel and plus instincts, Torres shows no lingering effects of his right shoulder tendonitis going perfect in fielding opportunities and hitting .305/.406/.458 with 11 R 18 H, 6 XBH, 9 BB and 6 SO in the last week. After suffering a left wrist sprain early, Oakland A’s 24-year old slugger Matt Chapman has returned to the lineup. The bigger news bit is this is not the first time he has suffered an injury on that same wrist. In 2015, it cost him most of August. First-round draft pick in 2014, he plays for the Triple-A affiliate Nashville Sounds. Up the Ladder To patch the void while CF Joc Pederson is on the DL, the LA Dodgers called up 21-year old 1B/OF Cody Bellinger. An athletic player that generates a lot of torque in his swings, Bellinger has produced towering home runs, walks, and strikeouts. He is on top of the plate, allowing him to have better plate coverage and to pull the ball for power. His actions are very loose and instinctive, and plays with a lot of confidence. To the Dodgers surprise, he has impressed major league baseball, even leading Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts to concede a possible change of plans. Does Cody Bellinger stick a little longer in Las Grandes Ligas? Another Dodger prospect RHS Walker Buehler was promoted to Double-A Tulsa Drillers. Requiring TJS in August of his draft year in 2015 and knowing how the Dodgers have managed Julios Urias, if that is any indication, Walker comes with the tag, “handle with care”. So far, this year Buehler has been used similarly, having pitched no more than 4 innings a game and topping a career-high 65 pitches on Monday, May 1. Even with the constricted appearances, Buelher has performed very well, registering 3 R, 8 H, 27 SO, 5 BB, in 16 1/3 IP. Also, on May Day, Boston Red Sox promoted LF Aneury Tavares and 2B Josh Tobias to Triple-A and Double-A respectively. For their first month, they both have started off well, hitting north of .345/.412/.475. Let’s hope they continue their development in a more challenging level. After toiling in High-A for the past two seasons, Jairo Labourt has finally earned a promotion to Double-A. For April, Labourt posted an absurd 22/3 K/B ratio allowing eight hits and two runs, one earned, in 13 2/3 innings. I recently wrote a Monday Morning Ten Pack on Labourt for this week of April 24th, which you can revisit here. As I like to provide a visual to you, here is that same video. Nationals CF Andrew Stevenson was promoted to Triple-A Syracuse, after hitting .350/.429/.438 in 80 AB in Double-A. The lefty hitter is a 2015 first-round draft pick. Down the Chutes C Julian Leon - When you are sent to Extended Spring Training in the Angels system, that is the Chutes of Chutes. C’mon kid, figure it out.
Javier Barragan is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @JaviiGunz
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Free Agent Watch: Week 5
Thanks for this! It's really helpful. Still surprisingly difficult to get injury info etc. for the minors.