June 2, 2017

Minor League Update

Games of June 1

by Wilson Karaman

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Hitter of the Day:

Scott Kingery, 2B, Philadelphia Phillies (Double-A Reading): 4-4, BB, 2 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, SB
There were eight homers hit in the Reading bandbox yesterday, including Kingery’s Eastern League-leading 17^th. He’s hitting .462 over his last 10 now, and looks like someone pretty desperately in need of a promotion to Triple A. There’s average regular potential here regardless of the home-field inflation.

Pitcher of the Day:

Steven Brault, LHP, Pittsburgh Pirates (Triple-A Indianapolis): 7 IP, 5 H, 8 K
That’s a half-dozen straight starts allowing either one earned run or none at all for the crafty lefty. He’s a pretty cookie-cutter two-pitch lefty, and the command is flimsy enough to make you wonder just what exactly you’re going to get from start to start. So far in 2017 you’ve gotten a healthy dose of alright, and he’s very likely to log more big-league innings before all’s said and done this summer.

Other Prospects of Note:

C.J. Cron, DH, Anaheim Angels (Quad-A Purgatorios): 2-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 7 RBI
Not a prospect, obviously, but the poor guy hasn’t had a lot to hang his hat on this season, and I know that gives Ben Carsley a sad, so let’s everyone hip, hip, hooray for ol’ C.J., eh?

Lewis Brinson, CF, Milwaukee Brewers (Triple-A Colorado Springs): 3-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI
The coolest part with Brinson is that for all the persistent concern about the swing-and-miss in his game, he continues to post wholly reasonable whiff rates at every stop, while eventually figuring out how to bring his physical tools to bear on game action. His PCL BABIP numbers are a little nuts, and he’s unlikely to hit .300 in the majors, but he remains on pace to contribute in a lot of different ways to his big-league ball club succeeding.

Jacob Faria, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays (Triple-A Durham): 7 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 K
Faria’s been missing an absurd number of bats in the International League this season, which may be inflating expectations a bit for his impending big-league debut. His changeup is a separator though, and he profiles well filling out rotations with quality work for many years to come.

Jaycob Brugman, OF, Oakland Athletics (Triple-A Nashville): 2-4, BB, R, 2 SB, 2 K
A former 17^th-rounder, Brugman struggled last year to make his patience-and-contact offensive game play at Triple A, but he’s looked much better in the box thus far in 2017. He does a lot of things decently, and while there isn’t a ton of pop in his profile there is enough of everything else to suggest big-league reps as a reserve outfielder may just be in his near future.

Jake Junis, RHP, Kansas City Royals (Triple-A Omaha): 6 IP, ER, 3 H, 9 K, HRA
Junis lays claim to just a delightful assortment of junk that plays well together, and the sum of parts has been far too much for Triple-A hitters to handle this season. Big-league hitters weren’t quite as impressed during his brief trial last month, but he should get another crack before the year’s out.

Edwin Rios, CI, Los Angeles Dodgers (Double-A Tulsa): 1-4, R, HR, RBI
Second straight day with a dinger for Rios. Three hundred and fifty-eighth straight day with a heart emoji on the ol’ scouting notebook for me.

Will Craig, 3B, Pittsburgh Pirates (High-A Bradenton): 3-4, R, HR, 2 RBI
The Florida State League is juuuuust about the worst possible assignment for a guy like Craig, who faces lingering questions about just how much of his video-game metal-bat power should realistically be expected to translate to the pro game. He’s managed to hold his own, if not dominate thus far, but a patience-and-pop pedigree is his ticket to the majors, and only a half of that equation has been present thus far.

Trey Michalczewski, 3B, Chicago White Sox (High-A Winston-Salem): 2-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI
The Eye Chart heir-apparent struggled again at Double A to start the season after struggling there pretty much all of last season too, and the club demoted him down to the Carolina League a couple weeks ago as a result. So far he’s responded the way you’d hope, with yesterday’s blast his fourth in 11 games to back up a .279/.333/.628 line.

Eddy Martinez, RF, Chicago Cubs (High-A Myrtle Beach): 3-4, R, HR, RBI, CS
Martinez’s stateside debut last year was a tale of two seasons, with a significant adjustment period early followed by an “okay…okay…” adjustment in the second half, and he appears on pace for an encore in the Carolina League. He flashes cross-the-board tools, though they remain raw and inconsistent to where patience will need to be a virtue.

Michael Gettys, CF, San Diego Padres (High-A Lake Elsinore): 2-3, R, 2 2B, RBI, K
You watch Gettys play a couple innings in the field and you want so badly to believe, and yet…I…I just haven’t seen anything yet to make me believe.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 3B, Toronto Blue Jays (Low-A Lansing): 3-6, 2 R, K
If you missed it, you should go back and read Emmett whisper sweet nothings about Jr. in our Ten Pack a couple weeks back.

Garrett Williams, LHP, San Francisco Giants (Low-A Augusta): 6.1 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 9 K
I liked what I saw out of Williams on Cape Cod way back in 2014, and I’m not sure he could’ve landed in a better organization for his development than San Francisco. Last year’s seventh-rounder commands a solid top-two in his arsenal, and will go as far as his changeup takes him.

Conner Capel, CF, Cleveland Indians (Low-A Lake County): 3-4, BB, 2 R, 3B, HR, 5 RBI, K, SB
Cleveland’s surprise fifth-rounder last summer, Capel has a bunch of intriguing tools to go along with an advanced understanding of the strike zone. The swing is a mechanical work in progress, the foundation of an interesting on-base threat with wheels and an up-the-middle defensive profile is there.

Alex Wells, LHP, Baltimore Orioles (Low-A Delmarva): 7 IP, 3 H, 5 K
A begoggled soft-tossing lefty with a potential plus change and solid command? Be still mine heart. The 20-year-old Aussie’s been about as good as you could hope in the Sally, but it remains to be seen if his deception plays well enough against better hitters to hide his underwhelming raw stuff.

Jesus Sanchez, LF, Tampa Bay Rays (Low-A Bowling Green): 2-4, BB, 3 R, HR, 2 RBI, SB
There is arguably no tool in Sanchez’s box that projects to less than a 55, and he’s been slowly but steadily turning those tools into applicable talent in the Midwest League this spring.

Wilson Karaman is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @vocaljavelins
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