Colorado Rockies, Mets prospects highlight High-A recap
Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
It’s been two weeks since a High-A recap, and there has been some notable players traded and some shifting in the standings. Most minor leagues end their seasons the week of September 6, and playoffs will begin shortly thereafter.
In the Florida State League, the Daytona Tortugas have taken over in first place of the North Division. They lead by 1.5 games over the Clearwater Threshers and seven over third-place Tampa Yankees. Daytona is on a hot streak, winning eight of its last 10 games. In the South Division, the Palm Beach Cardinals are 29-13 and lead by two games over the Bradenton Marauders.
The Carolina League Northern Division has shifted a lot in the past two weeks. The Lynchburg Hillcats went from fourth to first highlighted by an 8-2 stretch and are currently on a five-game win streak. They lead the division by four games over the Frederick Keys. The Wilmington Blue Rocks, who were in first place two weeks ago, have lost 14 straight games and now are last in the division. In the Southern Division, Winston-Salem is holding a 2.5 game lead over Myrtle Beach.
The Modesto Nuts, the San Jose Giants and the Visalia Rawhide all are tied atop the California League North with identical 26-17 records. The Bakersfield Blaze and Stockton Ports have identical 19-24 records and are seven games back. In the South Division, the High Desert Mavericks lead with a 22-18 record and are 1.5 games ahead of Inland Empire and two ahead of Rancho Cucamonga.
For notable performances, we begin in the Florida State League.
Next: Florida State League
Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Florida State League
North
Daytona Tortugas (Reds)—26-15
Clearwater Threshers (Phillies)—26-18
Tampa Yankees (Yankees)—20-23
Brevard County Manatees (Brewers)—18-23
Dunedin Blue Jays (Blue Jays)—18-24
Lakeland Flying Tigers (Tigers)—9-30
South
Palm Beach Cardinals (Cardinals)—29-13
Bradenton Marauders (Pirates)—27-15
St. Lucie Mets (Mets)—23-19
Fort Myers Miracle (Twins)—23-21
Charlotte Stone Crabs (Rays)—16-24
Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins)—17-27
Notable Performances:
In a restocked Reds farm system, shortstop Alex Blandino’s promotion to Double-A likely fell under the radar. Blandino led the Florida State League in slugging (.438) even though he only hit seven home runs and played in only 80 games. He also was second in on-base percentage (.370), which was driven by a solid walk rate (9.1%) and a low strikeout rate (16.4%). In six games in Double-A, Blandino is hitting .273/.385/591.
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Dominic Smith, the St. Lucie Mets’ first baseman and Mets No. 6 prospect according to MLB.com, has six hits in his last three games and 11 in his last six. His .395 average over the past 10 games brings his line to .309/.352/.425. In a league that suppresses offenses like few others in professional baseball, even a modest slugging percentage like Smith’s puts players in the top five in the league (Smith is fourth in the league in slugging). His batting average on balls in play is over 40 points higher than it was in 2014, but even if it leveled out closer to the .321 he last season, Smith would still likely hit for a high average, as he has struck out in less than 17 percent of his plate appearances.
The Twins didn’t make any major trades at the deadline, but they did send two prospects to the Rays for reliever Kevin Jepsen. One of those prospects was Chih-Wei Hu, a 21-year-old Taiwanese pitcher. Hu was 5-3 with a 2.44 ERA and 1.16 WHIP when he was traded, and has since made one start in the Rays system for High-A Charlotte. In that start, which was on Wednesday, he went five innings and allowed one earned run on three hits and four strikeouts.
Next: Carolina League
Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports
Carolina League
Northern
Lynchburg Hillcats (Indians)—26-18
Frederick Keys (Orioles)—22-22
Potomac Nationals (Nationals)—18-24
Wilmington Blue Rocks (Royals)—14-29
Southern
Winston-Salem Dash (White Sox)—28-15
Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs)—26-18
Carolina Mudcats (Braves)—24-20
Salem Red Sox (Red Sox)—16-28
Notable Performances:
The Carolina League is mimicking the Florida State League’s stingy offensive environment. There is only one qualified hitter in the Carolina League who is hitting above .300, and that is Myrtle Beach second baseman Chesny Young—Lynchburg’s Bradley Zimmer also is above .300 but has been playing in Double-A for three weeks now. Young has very little power with only a .401 slugging percentage and one home run, but his .389 OBP is third in the league and he is 11th in runs (49) even though he’s only played 77 games in High-A—Adam Engel leads the league with 77 runs in 111 games. Young is 13-for-44 (.295) over the past 10 games.
Clint Frazier may be promoted very soon. He’s hitting .389 over his past 10 games and has raised his line to .286/.381/.465 on the season. Even though he started the year slowly, Frazier is now sixth in average, fourth in OBP, fifth in slugging, second in home runs (13) and fourth in RBIs (60). He homered Sunday, which was exactly a week since his last home run. Strikeouts are a slight concern—he has 107 in 109 games—but he has also drawn 58 walks this season.
Like Hu mentioned earlier, Rob Kaminsky was traded but is still pitching in High-A. He went to the Indians from the Cardinals in the Brandon Moss deal and made his first Carolina League start on Thursday. In that start, he went 5 1/3 shutout innings and allowed only five hits. Interestingly, he walked three batters and only struck out one, which is nearly the inverted ratio he posted in 17 starts in the Florida State League—he struck out 79 and walked 28 in those starts for a 2.82 K/BB. It appears as though the Indians added a great pitcher to their system, as the 2013 First Round pick was 6-5 with a 2.09 ERA and 1.16 WHIP before the trade and now has a career 2.10 ERA.
Next: California League
Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
California League
North
Modesto Nuts (Rockies)—26-17
San Jose Giants (Giants)—26-17
Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks)—26-17
Bakersfield Blaze (Mariners)—19-24
Stockton Ports (Athletics)—19-24
South
High Desert Mavericks (Rangers)—22-18
Inland Empire 66ers (Angels)—21-20
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers)—21-21
Lancaster JetHawks (Astros)—20-23
Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres)—12-31
Notable Performances:
Another team with a loaded farm system after the trade deadline is the Colorado Rockies, but Ryan McMahon is still one of the top 100 prospects in the game. In his second full professional season, McMahon has been an extremely streaky hitter. From opening day to May 1, he limped to a .232/.398/.406/1 HR line. From May 1 to June 9, he lashed out a .360/.417/.581/4HR line; next he went on another cold streak that lasted until July 9 when he slashed .211/.286/.347 with 2 home runs. Now, he’s back on a hot streak, swing at a .376/.422/.644/6 HR clip. After a 1-for-4 day Sunday, he’s hitting .307/.384/.511 with 13 home runs on the season.
Tyler O’Neill, a Seattle Mariners outfield prospect, recently took over as the home run leader in the California League. He homered again Sunday and now has 26 on the season. In his most impressive stretch, he homered in four consecutive games from July 31 to August 1. That closed out another stretch where he homered in eight of 12 games. His blasts have come at a 12.46 at bats per home run clip, which is faster than the 17.77 he had in 2014. As a 2013 draftee, O’Neill is another power prospect the Mariners have drafted highly in the past few drafts, joining Alex Jackson, D.J. Peterson and Patrick Kivlehan atop the Mariners prospect rankings.
Antonio Senzatela is pitching quite impressively in the offensive-prone California League. In his most recent start Saturday, he went 5 1/3 innings, allowed two unearned runs, struck out five and allowed five hits. His season line stands at 7-6 with a 2.43 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 4.19 K/BB. That last number is the key to his success, as a tiny 1.92 BB/9 innings pitched keeps unnecessary base runners of the base paths and eliminates a lot of big innings. He also keeps the ball in the yard, which is impressive considering the league in which he pitches—he’s only allowed seven home runs this season in 122 innings.