September 6, 2017

Minor League Update

Games of September 5th

by Steve Givarz

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Hitter of the Day:

Estevan Florial, OF, New York Yankees (High-A, Tampa): 2-4, 2 R, 3B, BB

Florial got big time money, and, if the reports around the deadline were true, a player the Yankees were not going to consider trading. Looking over Greg Goldstein’s report, he looks to be a pretty good player.

Pitcher of the Day:

Jake Woodford, RHP, St. Louis Cardinals (High-A, Palm Beach): 6 IP, 4 H, R, ER, BB, 3 K

When I saw Woodford, he looked to be tiring after a long season, and struggled with his off-speed offerings. When Javier Barragan saw him in May, he seemed more bullish on him than me, but still likes him as a possible back-end guy.

Other Notable Performances:

Seth Romero, LHP, Washington Nationals (Short-Season, Auburn): 4 1/3 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 10 K
This is a messy last outing of the year, but he could see time in another league this season in an effort to get more innings.

Matt Seelinger, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates (Short-Season, West Virginia): 4 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
I honestly don’t know much about Matt. He is a 28^th-rounder from this past draft, his college, SUNY Farmingdale is a Division III program in upstate New York. On the mound he has an OTT slot with a fringe fastball, a usable splitter, and moxie.

James Ziemba, LHP, Los Angeles Angels (Rookie, Orem): 2 IP, H, 0 R, BB
Ziemba has two good things going for him. One, he is left-handed, second, he is 6-foot-10. Unfortunately he doesn’t take advantage of his height as he is a 88-90 submariner. It is good to be left-handed.

Tyler Jay, LHP, Minnesota Twins (High-A, Fort Myers): 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 3 K
After missing most of the season recovering from Thoracic Outlet Surgery, Jay was able to get some work in before the season ended. While he might be a reliever at the end of the day, he could still be a good one.

Thomas Jones, OF, Miami Marlins (Short-Season, Batavia): 2-2, R, 2B, RBI, 2 BB, SB
A raw multi-sport athlete out of HS, Jones checks off A LOT of boxes. The things he doesn't check off right now? Polish and an approach.

Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., 3B, Toronto Blue Jays (High-A, Dunedin): 2-5, R
So he finished the season with an OBP of .425, and hit better in High-A than he did in Low-A. He’s also 18. Oh Canada.

Torii Hunter, OF, Los Angeles Angels (Rookie, Orem): 2-4, RBI, BB, 2 SB
Yes, his son plays baseball too. While he played more football as a Wide Receiver at Notre Dame, the Angels still bet on his overall athleticism in the 23^rd round in 2016. A plus-to-better runner, Hunter can get it in the outfield, and has a lot of raw strength that he has yet to tap into.

Jake Scheiner, 3B, Philadelphia Phillies (Short-Season, Williamsport): 3-5, BB, SB
A fourth-rounder from the University of Houston in this past draft, I saw Scheiner from this past draft and had this report on him.

Here is my report on the newest @Phillies 3B Jake Scheiner pic.twitter.com/lvvpGjXPEw

— Steve Givarz (@SteveGivarz) June 13, 2017

Yahir Gurrola, OF, Philadelphia Phillies (Short-Season, Williamsport): 3-7, 2B, 3 RBI, 4 K
A 27^th-rounder from this past draft out of North Florida, Yahir hit his way out of GCL to a promotion to short-season. He doesn’t profile well as he lacks aggression at the plate, doesn’t project for power, and is a below-average runner in the outfield.

Casey Golden, OF, Colorado Rockies (Rookie, Grand Junction): 2-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, K
A 20^th-rounder from this past draft out of UNC Wilmington, Golden has a lot of power. He hit 20 in short-season, as well as 21 in college. While both environments were homer friendly, I am not discounting his overall power.

Fight Another Day:

Jacob Heatherly, LHP, Cincinnati Reds (Rookie, Billings): 2 2/3 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4, ER, 3 BB, K
A third-rounder from this past draft out of an Alabama HS, Heatherly has a big arm, and only fell after a subpar senior season, but still signed for over $1 million. The big fastball doesn’t come with much command, which he will need to refine to help set up his impressive secondary offerings.

Steve Givarz is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @SteveGivarz
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