Cliff Notes: Adam Morgan Debuts, Mark Appel Shows Poise
By John Parent
The Sunday Morning edition of Cliff Notes on a day after Nolan Arenado racked up three more hits to lower his early-season average to .538…
March 22, 2013; Clearwater, FL, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Adam Morgan (78) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Atlanta Braves at Bright House Networks Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Left hander Adam Morgan made his Triple-A debut for Lehigh Valley and Phuture Phillies was on hand to give us a rundown of Philadelphia’s seventh-best prospect (according to MLB.com). The former third-round pick in 2011, Morgan was third in all the minor leagues in strikeouts in 2012.
Stanford right hander Mark Appel opted not to sign last June, but has done nothing but impress after returning to the college game. Over at Baseball America, Aaron Fitt gives a recap of Appel’s recent start versus USC (free content). By all accounts, Appel is the top prospect heading into the draft again this year and this time he won’t have the leverage of returning to Stanford for another season. Signability will remain a concern, but baseball’s new slotting system should help to curb some of the demands.
One of the best names in all of pro ball, righthander Montreal Robertson, tossed five no-hit innings for Low-A West Michigan on Friday. Robertson is a former 29th-round pick and is a non-prospect at this point, but his name reminds me of the Expos, so I thought I’d include it here.
The Seatte Mariners are loaded with upper-eschelon prospects, but Anthony Davis of Sodo Mojo tells us about three under-the-radar names in the Mariners system.
Right hander Daniel McCutchen was hit with a 50-game suspension for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. McCutchen, 30, was pitching for Triple-A Norfolk after failing to make the Orioles during camp. In parts of four big league seasons, McCutchen posted an 8-11 record and 4.77 ERA while striking out five batters per nine innings. These are the types of suspensions that show me the drug testing programs are working. McCutchen is fighting to keep his Major League career afloat and was obviously willing to do whatever needed to keep going.
And speaking of trying to keep big league dream alive, future Hall of Famer, and former Expo, Vladimir Guerrero‘s career looked over when he was granted his release for a minor league contract with the Blue Jays last summer. Evidently, however, Vlad the Impaler isn’t quite ready to limp away from the game just yet. Following the path used by many an overlooked veteran in the past, Guerrero signed on with the independent Long Island Ducks. When we last saw him in 2011, he proved he could still hit, but his power numbers dropped significantly. At this stage, he would offer little beyond a good batting average. It would be hard to imagine we’ll see him in the Show again. If not, however, it was one heck of a career. What a hitter.