June 28, 2016

Minor League Update

Games of Monday, June 27th

by Christopher Crawford

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Prospect of the Day: Raimel Tapia, OF, Colorado Rockies (Double-A Hartford): 4-for-5, 2 R, 2B, SB, CS.
After what would best be described as a forgettable April, in which he hit .214, Tapia has been white-hot with the bat, hitting .348./400/.485 since May 2^nd. He’s not immune to the occasional poor at-bat, but this young man can really hit, and assuming his future is in the hitter’s utopia that is Coors Field, he’s capable of putting up gaudy numbers while playing a quality corner outfield.

Others of Note:

Josh Hader, LHP, Milwaukee Brewers (Triple-A Colorado Springs): 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. There’s the Hader we saw... pretty much every time in Double-A.

Kyle McGowin, RHP, Los Angeles Angels (Triple-A Salt Lake): 6 IP, 4, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. McGowin has three average pitches that he throws for strikes, and sadly, that’s enough to be one of the best pitching prospects in this system.

Austin Meadows, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates (Triple-A Indianapolis): 3-for-4, 2 R, 2B, 3B. Not quite the seamless transition that some other prospects have had to the higher level (more on that later), but Meadows certainly isn’t struggling.

Aaron Judge, OF, New York Yankees (Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre): 1-for-4, HR, BB, K. He’s homered in four of five games, and in seven of his last nine. He’s stronger than you.

Ian Happ, 2B/OF, Chicago Cubs (Double-A Tennessee): 3-for-3, 2 R, HR. Before this game, Happ was hitting .733/.706/1.293 in Double-A. That, my friends, is a seamless transition.

Sean Newcomb, LHP, Atlanta Braves (Double-A Mississippi): 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. The ERA was 4.57, which isn’t great, but what I/you should care about most is that he’s throwing more strikes and still striking out over a batter an inning.

Courtney Hawkins, OF, Chicago White Sox (Double-A Birmingham): 3-for-3, 2 2B, BB. He’s seven for his last eight with three extra-base hits. No, I’m not digging for positives on a player I once loved, why do you ask?

Brad Markey, RHP, Cubs (Double-A Tennessee): 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. He may not be a “Markey” name (sorry), but Brad throws strikes with three solid-average pitches. Just don’t expect him to ever miss many bats.

Wuilmer Becerra, OF, Mets (High-A St. Lucie): 3-for-5, 2 R, HR, BB, K. I still don’t understand why a team like Atlanta didn’t take this guy in the Rule 5 draft and at least gave him a shot, but it’s good for the Mets that no one tried.

Phil Bickford, RHP, San Francisco Giants (High-A San Jose): 5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K. That’s two starts as a member of the San Jose rotation, and in those two starts he’s allowed zero runs and struck out 20. He’s adjusting okay.

Cole Tucker, SS, Pittsburgh Pirates (High-A Bradenton): 4-for-5, 2 R. What’s amazing about Tucker is that he’s one of the best shortstop prospects in baseball, and he was not even the best shortstop prospect on his own team (Kevin Newman).

Domingo Acevedo, RHP, New York Yankees (High-A Tampa): 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K. You just don’t see many guys who throw this hard who also throw strikes, and if that slider gets to even average, he’s a frontline starter.

Victor Robles, OF, Washington Nationals (High-A Potomac): 2-for-4. The athleticism is obviously impressive, but it’s his feel for the game at such a young age with so little experience that impresses me the most. You could argue that he’s the best outfield prospect in baseball. I wouldn’t, but you could if you want.

Angel Perdomo, LHP, Toronto Blue Jays (Low-A Lansing): 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 12 K. He’s a year or two old for the level, but it’s tough to ignore Perdomo’s 87 strikeouts in 65 innings, even if they are accompanied by 30 walks.

Amalani Fukofuka, OF, Kansas City Royals (Low-A Lexington): 3-for-4, 2 R, 2 2B, BB. Saying Fukofuka was due is an understatement, as he had a .339 OPS for the month of June coming into the day. Great name, though.

Albert Abreu, RHP, Houston Astros (Low-A Quad Cities): 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Houston is loaded with talented lower-level pitchers, and Abreu is one of the best with a plus-plus fastball and a slider that flashes 60 grade.

Daz Cameron, OF, Houston Astros (Short-season Tri-City): 4-for-5, 3B, HR, K, SB. We shouldn’t be surprised Cameron has been so much better since the demotion, but assuming you don’t hate him for some reason, we should be happy/optimistic about it.

Jhailyn Ortiz, OF, Phillies (Short-season GCL): 2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, BB, K. Ortiz is massive, with a chance for plus-plus power from the right side and enough feel for hitting to possibly project an average hit tool.

Antonio Santillan, RHP, Reds (Short-season Billings): 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 12 K. He had struck out 15 in just under nine innings coming into this start. I’m no sabermatrician, but I’m guessing that strikeout-per-nine went up today. His stuff competes with that of any pitcher that’s in the Pioneer League right now.

Adonis Media, RHP, Phillies (Short-season Williamsport): 8.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. Medina came just two outs away from throwing a no-hitter, and has yet to allow an earned run in his 21 innings in Williamsport. He isn’t missing a ton of bats, but he does have a walk-to-strikeout ratio of 6-to-9, which some might find nice.

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