August 10, 2016

Minor League Update

Games of Tuesday, August 9th

by Christopher Crawford

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Prospect of the Day:

Jharel Cotton, RHP, Oakland Athletics (Triple-A Nashville): 9 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 12 K
Well, this is an easy one. Cotton took a perfect game into the ninth inning, and a scout at the game told me he had hitters completely off balance with that plus change and excellent command of his fastball. There have been consistency issues and he really struggled when moved to the bullpen, so it sounds like he’s going to “have to” start to make an impact, but he was an excellent pickup for the Athletics, and he should get a chance to pitch in that rotation soon.

Others of Note

Amir Garrett, LHP, Cincinnati Reds (Triple-A Louisville): 7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K. Garrett hasn’t missed bats in Triple-A like many anticipated, so here’s hoping this starts a nice little run. He’s too talented to not pile up the strikeouts.

Erik Gonzalez, SS, Cleveland (Triple-A Columbus): 2-for-4, 2 HR, BB, CS. Gonzalez is crushing the ball right now, and if it weren’t for that one guy already playing shortstop in Cleveland, he’d likely be changing area codes in Ohio.

Clint Frazier, OF, New York Yankees (Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre): 2-for-4, 3B, K. I cannot imagine there’s a future corner outfield combo of Frazier and Aaron Judge. Yes, that means I think Frazier is going to be a corner outfielder.

Thomas Eshelman, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies (Double-A Reading): 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K. The control is still impressive (though not other-worldly like it was in college) and Eshelman is missing more bats than anticipated, too. Now if I could just stop calling him Vaughn.

Dinelson Lamet, RHP, San Diego Padres (Double-A El Paso): 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K. When Lamet is throwing strikes, he’s really good. The fastball is close to plus-plus, and the slider is an out pitch. He just hasn’t thrown enough quality strikes since the promotion to Double-A, but there’s time for the command to develop.

Victor Caratini, C/1B, Chicago Cubs (Double-A Tennessee): There’s not much power here, but the approach is excellent, and the hit tool might be above average. No idea where the Cubs play him, but he might be best as a bench option, anyway.

Tito Polo, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates (High-A Bradenton): 1-for-3, R, 2 BB, K, 2 SB. I could tell you that Polo has plus speed and every other tool has a chance to be average if you dream hard enough, but instead I’m gonna tell you that Tito Polo is a ridiculously good name.

Francisco Mejia, C, Cleveland (High-A Lynchburg): 3-for-4, R, 2B. The hit streak has reached 48. That’s nearly seven weeks in a row of getting a hit, if you were to play everyday. They pay me to educate.

Jomar Reyes, 3B, Baltimore Orioles (High-A Frederick): 3-for-6, 3 R. It’s not great that Reyes is the best hitting prospect in the system, but this is where we are, and Reyes does have some offensive chops. He just has to fix the approach. Post haste.

Franklyn Kilome, RHP, Phillies (Low-A Lakewood): 6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K. If the Phillies wanted to, they could fast-track Kilome to the bullpen and see if he’s the next Edwin Diaz. They shouldn’t do that, though. Not yet, anyway.

Patrick Weigel, RHP, Atlanta Braves (Low-A Rome): 6 IP 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it... more than once: The Braves crushed last year’s draft, and Weigel is one of the more pleasant surprises from it.

Sam Hilliard, OF, Colorado Rockies (Low-A Asheville): 2-for-3, 3 R, 2 BB. If he’s going to play every day Hilliard is going to have to cut the swing-and-miss down a whole heck of a lot, but there are three plus tools here in his speed, arm, and glove, and there’s a chance for solid-average power, too.

Taylor Trammell, OF, Reds (Short-Season Billings): 3-for-3, 2B, SB. The Reds gave Trammell nearly double slot, and while the sample size is small, he’s shown the upside in the Pioneer League to suggest he’ll be worth every penny.

Kyle Muller, LHP, Braves (Short-Season GCL): 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K. The Braves did pretty well in this draft, too.

Brandon Miller, RHP, Seattle Mariners (Short-Season Everett): 5 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. The Mariners sixth-round pick out of Millersville, Miller has shown four average pitches since signing with Seattle, and he throws all of them for strikes. This is a potential steal, is what this is.

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