Cliff Notes: Miguel Sano and Bubba Starling Among the Best and Worst of April
By John Parent
A Saturday morning edition of Cliff Notes on a day after Dixon Anderson walked five but didn’t allow a hit in six innings of work for Class-A Hagerstown. The former ninth-round selection by the Washington Nationals had the sinker working. He faced 24 batters and did not allow a single fly ball.
Meyer worked in the Futures Games in 2012 and features a fastball as big as his 6’9″ frame. Image: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Over the Winter, the Minnesota Twins traded away a pair of big league centerfielders in an attempt to re-stock their farm system with pitchers. The prize of the deals was undoubtedly imposing right hander Alex Meyer, obtained in the Denard Span deal with Washington. Meyer has gotten off to a fast start in his first taste of Double-A and Twins Daily has a first-hand recount of Meyer’s last outing.
Not all heralded prospects have been as successful as Meyer has. To find an example, you need look no further than Kansas City’s Bubba Starling. The former fifth overall pick struck out in 30 percent of his plate appearances in 2012 and he’s actually gotten worse with the whiffs at Class-A Lexington so far this year. Michael Engel at Kings of Kauffman has the skinny.
The Colorado Rockies are off to a surprisingly strong start to the Major League season, but that hasn’t stopped them from tinkering with their lineup. Nolan Arenado has already been rewarded for an outstanding first month at Triple-A and Hayden Kane of Rox Pile notes that Colorado Springs has a hitter lighting it up even more than Arenado was. Charlie Blackmon is sporting .354/.465/.598 line in 101 plate appearances. It won’t be long before he forces his way back to the big leagues.
The end of a calendar month is always a good time to take stock of where we are in the season and Mike Rosenbaum, lead prospect analyst for Bleacher Report gives us an all-star team of players with strong starts to the minor league season. Highlighting the list, Francisco Lindor, Archie Bradley, and a pair of Twins in Byron Buxton and GotC favorite, Miguel Sano.
Not surprisingly, Sano headlined a similar list, this one authored by Ashley Marshall at MiLB Prospective.