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September 5, 2017 Monday Morning Ten PackSeptember 5, 2017
Jahmai Jones, CF, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (High-A Inland Empire)
The approach at the dish is raw at present. He can be patient to a fault at times, while showing too much aggressiveness with men on. His stance has some inefficiency including a rise up on his feet as he strides, creating a negative angle on some swings. The result is more ground-ball contact, though it is frequently well struck. There’s plus raw power, thanks to his strength and impressive bat speed. He lets the ball travel well, with an opposite-field swing that’s more advanced than his pull stroke. Most impressively, he shows the ability to adjust in-game; multiple times he’s been fooled by a pitch or sequence early, only to come back and put a barrel to a later effort to exploit him similarly. His technique on the bases is raw, with a mechanical crossover that’s going to need some development if he’s to develop anything close to full utility with his speed.
There are a lot of really fun building blocks here. And while it’s going to take a while to put everything together, he shows as a smart, driven player with an aggressive mindset—a good place to start. —Wilson Karaman
Forrest Whitley, RHP, Houston Astros (Double-A Corpus Christi)
Whitley is listed at 6-foot-7, 240 pounds; and while the height appears to be accurate, the kid (and kid he still is) has a ways to go before hitting what imagines is the team’s goal weight. If he’s able to add strength, it will only go towards improving what is already an impressive profile as a pitcher. Mechanically, he’s able to repeat his delivery well, though there is a concerning amount of head-whack and much of his velocity seems to come from the shoulder. As for that velo, Whitley has a fastball he can command well in the zone in the low 90s, which will occasionally display cutting action, dipping towards a true cutter. Additionally, Whitley works with a curveball (75-77), changeup (81-84), and slider (84-85). Somewhat surprisingly for a pitcher of his age, all three secondary offerings were effective, which goes a long way towards explaining his success across all three levels. While none of the pitches were really a “strikeout pitch,” they were all developed enough to work off his fastball/cutter, with the curveball as his best secondary in this outing.
Where Whitley is most impressive, though, is in his maturity as a pitcher—at least twice in his three innings he went backwards on a batter, effectively, suggesting someone confident in his entire arsenal. He entered the game in relief of Lance McCullers, Jr. and definitely held his own in comparison to the major leaguer, though he did tire in his third inning of work. —Kate Morrison
Tito Polo, OF, Chicago White Sox (Double-A Birmingham)
Looking a bit like the mini-me of Yoenis Cespedes at 5-foot-10 and 195 pounds, Polo has a strong, compact build. At the plate, he starts from an open stance and uses a leg kick for timing. He has a slight hitch as he loads and that can cause him to be late on velocity inside. While he has good strike zone awareness, he can struggle with pitch recognition and looks bad at times on quality spin. Overall, he can get to an average hit tool and gap power with some adjustments.
Polo is a solid defender who plays a shallow center field and gets good reads off the bat. He has been working to improve his routes and there is still work to be done in that area. He has an average arm and showed good accuracy and carry on his throws. As a baserunner, Polo shows consistent energy and aggressiveness. He runs hard on every play and earned two infield hits in this series with his hustle. He can be disruptive on the bases and he gets up to speed quickly. The defense and baserunning give Polo a floor of a bench outfielder. If he can make the adjustments in his offensive approach, he could work himself into regular at bats. —Scott Delp
Franklyn Kilome, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies (Double-A Reading)
Jhonleider Salinas, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays (short-season Hudson Valley)
Ryan Borucki, LHP, Toronto Blue Jays (Triple-A Buffalo)
The Blue Jays’ decision to protect Borucki from the Rule 5 Draft this past offseason has paid off thus far. He finished with a 1.94 ERA (1.41 DRA) along with 42 strikeouts and just eight walks in 46 1/3 innings for New Hampshire before a promotion to Buffalo. The 23-year-old then proceeded to pitch six scoreless innings in his Triple-A debut. The main issue for Borucki has simply been staying healthy. Since the Jays selected him in the 12th round in 2012, he has endured numerous elbow and shoulder problems, including a Tommy John surgery that cost him all of 2013. Durability concerns aside, he succeeds by consistently attacking the zone with his above-average repertoire. His fastball sat 89-92 (t94) when I saw him last week, yet it looks faster to the hitter due to his deceptive delivery. His plant leg conceals his left (pitching) hand before he quickly releases the ball from a three-quarters arm slot. The offering also features some nice arm-side run, which helped generate several swings and misses and weak grounders. His plus changeup serves as an ideal complement to his fastball because he throws it with similar arm speed and commands it well. Opposing batters struggle with the impressive late fade too. A strong case can be made that it is the best changeup in the entire farm system. His final offering is a slider that flashes average. It displays decent tilt, but he possesses much better feel for his other two pitches. Overall, if Borucki continues to stay healthy, he will realistically become a back-end starter and compete for a spot in the Jays’ rotation as soon as next season. —Erich Rothmann
Aramis Ademan, SS, Chicago Cubs (Low-A South Bend)
Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2015, Aramis Ademan has the combination of youth and tools that will move him towards the top of the depleted Cubs’ prospect list. Described as a glove-first shortstop when signed, the bat has made significant progress as he’s split time this year between Eugene and South Bend. He has a thin but athletic build with room for added growth as the body matures. The stance is slightly open, and he displays a mild load and moderate leg kick along with above-average bat speed that features a bit of leverage. There is some pre-pitch noise and the swing can get long, but he displays a uncommon feel for barreling up the ball for someone so young. Currently the bat speed and swing path allow for raw, pull power but it could play close to average as he grows. He’s got average speed from the left side, but he is aggressive on the bases often looking to steal or take an extra bag. In the field Ademan has the tools to stick at shortstop. He has very quick hands and showed good range in my looks with an arm that is average for the position. With his youth, a future plus hit tool, and the ability to stay up the middle defensively, Ademan is a name that will be on our top prospect list soon. —Nathan Graham
Chris DeVito, 1B, Kansas City Royals (High-A Wilmington)
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound first baseman really is what he is at this point. He’s a rounder body, who has enough strength in his frame to drive pitches without putting much effort behind his swing. He flashes above-average barrel control and has good plate coverage. DeVito’s hands are loose and the bat gets through the zone easily, which should yield a fringe-average hit tool vs. major-league quality pitching given some of his other deficiencies. While the contact skills are good, DeVito lacks the torque and above-average bat speed to barrel plus velo with consistency. DeVito has a contact-first approach, despite his size, as he struggles using his entire body to turn on balls, resulting in doubles power more than over-the-fence pop.
In addition to the doubt about how well his swing translates, is the fact that DeVito profiles as a subpar first baseman due to his lack of flexibility and below-average glove skills for the position. As it is, if a first baseman can’t hit for consistent power and struggles defensively, that doesn’t bode well for finding a starting spot, even on a non-contending club. I do think that he has enough natural hitting ability to stick as a major-league bench bat, but he’s more realistically going to stall in Triple-A a bit after he figures out Single and Double-A pitching. —Greg Goldstein
Matt Givin, RHP, Miami Marlins (complex-level GCL)
Despite the recent transition to the mound, Givin shows impressive poise and body control. His delivery is athletic and repeatable, and he’s comfortable enough to vary his tempo. His athleticism and delivery make him a consistent strike-thrower from a three-quarters slot, and he loves to compete on the mound. Here’s a fun story about him too: Givin has always gotten the, “You look like Zack Greinke-comment.” One day, a scout asked to take a picture of him. The scout then forwarded the picture to a D-Backs staff member who showed it to Greinke. Greinke responded, “Wow, he is even as good-looking as I am.” —Javier Barragan
Vidal Brujan, INF, Tampa Bay Rays (short-season Hudson Valley) 2 comments have been left for this article.
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Kate Morrison- Does Whitley's lack of an 'out pitch' raise any question marks about his impact at the major league level or do you think he will be able to improve one of the offerings as he gets older?
I won't speak for Kate, but I know in other outings the curveball has flashed better than it did for Kate, and many think that could be his out-pitch. It obviously didn't show that way in this outing, but I think that probably answers your question.