The Prospect Pulse: April 7th – 8th, 2012

The Prospect Pulse is a review of prospect performances, good or bad, from the day before. Prospects are sorted by the league in which they play.

Pacific Coast League

• (4/7) Round Rock, 1B, Michael Bianucci 2-4, 3 R, HR, 2 RBI, BB
• (4/7) Round Rock, RHP, Neil Ramirez 4 IP, 2H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
• (4/7) Salt Lake, OF, Mike Trout 2-3, R, RBI, BB, SB
• (4/7) Sacramento, OF, Michael Taylor 3-5, HR, 4 RBI
• (4/8) Iowa, 1B, Anthony Rizzo, 1-4, HR, RBI

Anthony Rizzo (Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE)

• (4/8) Omaha, 2B, Johnny Giavotella 3-4, 4 R, RBI, 2 BB
• (4/8) Memphis, RHP, Shelby Miller 3 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
• (4/8) Oklahoma City, RHP, Jordan Lyles 6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Bianucci already has three home runs on the young season. He is transitioning from third base to first base this year at the request of the parent club Texas Rangers. The question has never been whether or not Bianucci can hit, but where he fits defensively. Ramirez and Lyles both had nice opening outings to start the season. Shelby Miller got knocked around in his first start, but the encouraging news is his 4:0 K to BB  rate.

International League

• (4/7) Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, LHP, Manny Banuelos 3 and 1/3 IP, 11 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• (4/7) Gwinnett, RHP, Julio Teheran 1 and 2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
• (4/7) Syracuse, OF, Bryce Harper 1-3 BB (4/8) 0-4, Error
• (4/8) Durham, RHP, Chris Archer 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K

Banuelos and Teheran had rough debuts to the 2012 campaign. Banuelos allowing 11 hits was discouraging but the silver lining is he only issued one walk. Teheran’s outing was short due to a limited pitch count. Rays’ prospect Chris Archer had a good outing striking out 8 batters. Archer’s 3 walks in six innings is what is concerning, as he has a 5.2 BB/9 rate in his career.

Eastern League

• (4/7) New Hampshire, RHP, Deck McGuire 5 IP, 11 H, 8 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
• (4/7) Richmond, OF, Gary Brown 2-4, RBI, CS
• (4/7) Reading, RHP, David Buchanan 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
• (4/8) Bowie, SS, Manny Machado 2-4, Error

Manny Machado (Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE)

A slow weekend for the Eastern league as they only had 1 game on Sunday. Deck McGuire continued the trend of prospect pitchers having a rough weekend, he allowed 5 home-runs. The only positive from that outing was his strikeout totals. Gary Brown and Manny Machado have both had a nice start to the 2012 campaign.

Southern League

• (4/7) Springfield, RHP, Trevor Rosenthal 4 IP, 1 H, 2 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 4 K
• (4/7) Midland, RHP, Sonny Gray 5 IP, 6 H, 5 R (4 ER), 3 BB, 4 K
• (4/7) Northwest Arkansas, OF, Wil Myers 2-4, HR, RBI
• (4/7) Northwest Arkansas, LHP, Noel Arguelles 3 and 1/3 IP, 7 H, 5 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 0 K
• (4/8) Mobile, 3B, Matt Davidson 2-4, 3 RBI, R, BB
• (4/8) Mobile, LHP, Patrick Corbin 6 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K
• (4/8) Jackson, LHP, Danny Hultzen 4 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 7 K

More prospect pitcher struggles to be found in the Southern League. Hultzen had unusual loss of control, but did strike out seven which suggests  his stuff was still sharp. Arguelles allowed lots of runners to reach base and his defense didn’t help him out once he did. On the brighter side of things Myers hit his first home run this year, while Patrick Corbin and Matt Davidson gave D’Backs fans another reason to be happy aside from their sweep of the rival Giants.

Texas League

• (4/7) Mississippi, C, Christian Bethancourt 2-4, Allowed SB
• (4/7) Montgomery, LHP, Kyle Lobstein 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
• (4/7) Pensacola, RHP, Daniel Corcino 4 and 1/3 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
• (4/8) Frisco, SS, Jurickson Profar 1-4, HR, RBI
• (4/8) Tulsa, 3B, Nolan Arenado 2-3, R, 2B, RBI, BB
• (4/8) Springfield, 2B, Kolten Wong 2-3, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, SB

Kolten Wong (Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-US PRESSWIRE)

• (4/8) Springfield, OF, Oscar Taveras 3-5, 2B, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI

Bethancourt finally got the bat going with a pair of hits, but allowed a stolen base. He has a rocket arm behind the plate though, so it is hard to place a lot, if any, blame on Bethancourt for a stolen base. Nolan Arenado and Kolten Wong both continued their blistering hot starts. Both players could advance quickly as their bats are better than AA level presently.

California League

• (4/7) High Desert, C, Jack Marder 5-6, 2 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI
• (4/7) High Desert, SS, Brad Miller 3-4, HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, Error (4/8) 3-4 2 HR, 2 RBI, 3 R, BB
• (4/7) Bakersfield, SS, Billy Hamilton 1-3, RBI, BB, SB, Error
• (4/8) San Jose, RHP, Justin Schumer 6 IP, 0 H, 0R, 0 BB, 3 K
• (4/8) Bakersfield, LHP, Tony Cingrami 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K
• (4/8) Lake Elsinore, OF, Rymer Liriano 3-4, 2B
• (4/8) Lancaster, 1B, Telvin Nash 2-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI
• (4/8) Lancaster, OF, George Springer 3-5, RBI, R, SB

The weekend was dominated by Mariners prospect Brad Miller who went a combined 6-8 with 3 HR, 6 RBI, and 3 walks. Schumer and Cingrami turned in a rare pair of gems in a very hitter-friendly California League. Speedster Billy Hamilton made his second error of the young season and scouts question whether he will stay at shortstop or if he would be better served to play in center field.

Carolina League

• (4/7) Potomac, 3B, Anthony Rendon 1-1, BB
• (4/8) Lynchburg, 2B, Tommy La Stella 2-3, 2B, HR, 3 RBI

A very slow weekend in the small and prospect low Carolina League. The biggest news came with Anthony Rendon needed assistance getting off the field after injuring his ankle. Rendon has suffered numerous injuries in his career from college to the professional ranks. Early reports say that Rendon’s ankle is only sprained and that is the best case scenario for the Nationals.

Florida St. League

• (4/7) Jupiter, RHP, Zach Noel 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K
• (4/7) Palm Beach, RHP, Carlos Martinez 4 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
• (4/7) Lakeland, OF, Tyler Collins 3-4, R
• (4/7) Lakeland, 3B, Nick Castellanos 2-4, RBI, R
• (4/7) Bradenton, RHP, Jameson Taillon 3 and 2/3 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
• (4/7) Dunedin, OF, Jake Marisnick 2-4, R, 2 2B, 2 RBI, BB
• (4/7) Clearwater, RHP, Jesse Biddle 4 IP, 4 H, 3 R (1 ER), 3 BB, 5 K
• (4/7) Dunedin, RHP, Asher Wojciechowski 4 IP, 9 H, 7 R (6 ER), 1 BB, 2 K
• (4/7) Brevard County, LHP, Jed Bradley 6 and 1/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K

The Florida St. League took an off day Sunday, but Saturday’s docket more than made up for the lack of games. Jameson Taillon showed off his electric stuff in his Hi-A debut. Jed Bradley had an excellent professional debut and was only pulled due to a pitch count. Tigers’ prospect Tyler Collins has three hits in each of the games in the early season.

South Atlantic League

• (4/7) Greensboro, RHP, Jose Fernandez 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K
• (4/7) Greenville, C, Blake Swihart 3-4, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, SB
• (4/7) Charleston, 3B, Dante Bichette Jr. 2-4, R
• (4/7) Charleston, C, Gary Sanchez 2-3, R, 2B, SB
• (4/7) Hagerstown, RHP, Alex Meyer 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K
• (4/8) Hagerstown, OF, Brian Goodwin 2-5, HR, 3 RBI
• (4/8) Augusta, 2B, Carlos Willoughby 2-5, 2 RBI, R, SB
• (4/8) Asheville, SS, Samuel Mende 2-4, HR, RBI
• (4/8) Hickory, SS, Hanser Alberto 3-5, 2B, RBI, R, BB, SB
• (4/8) Lexington, OF, Jordan Scott 3-4, RBI, BB, 2 R, 3 SB
• (4/8) Greenville, RHP, Matt Barnes 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K
• (4/8) Charleston, RHP, Bryan Mitchell 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6K

Jose Fernandez and his power arm made their debut in the 2012 campaign by stirking out 10 hitters. The Marlins prospect has hit triple digits in the past. Matt Barnes made his professional debut in an impressive manner, getting 60% of outs from strikeouts. Fellow 2011 draftee Alex Meyer made an equally impressive professional debut where he showed his good control.

Midwest League

• (4/7) Lake County, SS, Francisco Lindor 3-4, 2 R, BB, SB, 2 CS
• (4/7) Kane County, 2B, Justin Trapp 3-4, HR, 2 RBI, SB, BB

Much like the FSL, the Midwest League took Easter off. Francisco Lindor, the Indians top draft pick in 2011, is off to a hot start that was highlighted by his effort Saturday. Lindor has good speed but will need to learn how to steal bases as he continues his journey up the minor league ranks.

Prospect of the Weekend: SS Brad Miller, High Desert

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