We start things off with the Atlanta Braves, an organization that is top-heavy in pitching with seven of their ten best prospects hailing from the mound. The Braves system current ranks in the bottom third among the 30 organizations and lacks upper echelon talent (beyond the enigma wrapped in a mystery that is their top prospect). However given the state of the major league roster it’s certainly something fans can live with.

The talent is there but will Teheran ever live up to the expectations? (Photo Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports)

#1: RHP – Julio Teheran (22)

Atlanta: 5.08 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, 39 H, 8 BB and 2o SO in 28.1 IP (5 GS)

Teheran stood out during spring training with a 1.04 ERA, 0.62 WHIP and fantastic 35-9 SO-to-BB in 26.0 innings. His first five starts in the regular season have been a much different story and anyone who has been on the Teheran roller-coaster shouldn’t be surprised.

He’s getting knocked around more now than he has at any point in his career carrying a bloated 12.4 H/9 and 1.6 HR/9 in the early going. Opponents currently have a 0.904 OPS when facing Teheran and each of the four offerings in his arsenal (fastball, slider, curveball, changeup) have been below average.

In his last two starts combined he’s gone 12.1 innings with 8 strikeouts, 1 walk and 3 runs allowed and while those are encouraging numbers they are offset by the 18 hits he allowed in that same span. Despite the rocky start it’s easy to give Teheran a pass. He’s still just 22 with only 54.1 innings on his major league resume after all.

#2: RHP – J.R. Graham (23)

Mississippi (AA): 3.45 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 30 H, 8 BB and 25 SO in 28.2 IP (6 GS)

Graham reached Double-A last season and made 9 starts in the Southern League that resulted in a 3.18 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 42-17 SO-to-BB over 45.1 IP. There was some expectation that the Braves would bump him up to Triple-A to start things off in 2013 but giving him more time in Mississippi’s rotation was probably the prudent thing to do. In each of his last two starts he’s thrown 5.1 innings with 3 ER while allowing a combined 19 baserunners (15 H, 4 BB). To be fair his third and fourth starts resulted in a stat line of 13.1 IP, 10 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, and 9 SO.

#3: C – Christian Bethancourt (21)

Mississippi (AA): 0.341/.356/.500, 4 2B, 1 HR, 3 SB, 1 BB and 6 SO in 46 PA

Entering the 2012 season, Bethancourt had cracked Baseball America’s Top-100 at #91 but then struggled to make the jump to Double-A. In 71 games with Mississippi last year he hit a meager 0.243/.275/.291 in 288 PA. It was a season marred not only by his lack of production at the plate but by injuries (strained hamstring and a broken hand) as well. Back in the Southern League to kick off 2013, Bethancourt came out of the gates quickly and managed at least one hit in all but one of his first 11 starts. Unfortunately he hasn’t played since April 20th thanks to another hamstring injury. On Wednesday he was placed on the 7-day disabled list retroactive to April 25th.

#4: LHP – Sean Gilmartin (22 – turns 23 in 4 days)

Gwinnett (AAA): 2.70 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 34 H, 15 BB and 20 SO in 36.2 IP (6 GS)

The Braves 1st round pick (28th overall) in 2011, Gilmartin needed just 26 professional starts before he found himself pitching in Triple-A. Once there he made seven starts that led to a 4.78 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 1.92 SO/BB in 2012. There’s no question the International League batters have slowed his ascension and that’s not surprising given that he fits the mold of a finesse lefty. Gilmartin has been rather effective in four of his six starts to start off 2013 but his walk rate is elevated and his strikeout rate, which wasn’t strong to begin with, has slipped. The 2.70 ERA is great and all but a 1.33 SO/BB in Triple-A does not suggest a pitcher that is ready to pitch in the majors just yet.

#5: RHP – Lucas Sims (18 – turns 19 in 6 days)

Rome (A): 5.02 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 8 H, 12 BB and 10 SO in 14.1 IP (7 relief appearances)

Setting the results aside, the Braves are doing right by their 2012 1st round pick thus far. After he signed last summer, Atlanta protected his arm and limited his innings (34 IP in 11 GS). This year they aggressively started him out in full season ball but did so by slotting him in the bullpen where he can more readily acclimate to A ball and continue to control his workload with less pressure placed on his shoulders. It’s the perfect sink or swim situation. If he swims, the organization can let him keep pitching in the SAL for the remainder of the season and slide him into the rotation when they feel he’s ready. If he sinks, they can bide their time with him until the Appalachian League starts up in June and then send him down to work as a starter with Danville. While the overall numbers may not suggest as much, the young man appears to be swimming thus far in 2013. In his first appearance of the season he allowed 4 runs on 2 hits and 4 walks in 1.2 innings of work. Take away that first outing and his stat line is a more attention grabbing with a 2.84 ERA and 1.10 WHIP. Sims has also continued to improve allowing just 2 hits and no earned runs in his last 5.0 innings pitched.

Texas is viewed as a logical fit for Upton for a number of reasons and the team has a likely need in their outfield considering they’ll probably see Josh Hamilton sign elsewhere via free agency. Upton has four years remaining on a contract extension that he signed before the 2010 season and is slated to earn $45.25 Million over that stretch – a figure which, by comparison, might not cover the first two years of Hamilton’s expected contract on the open market. The 25 year old hit .280/.355/.430 this past season in 628 plate appearances, adding 17 HR and 67 RBI. Upton’s also a capable outfielder who would likely remain in right field for the Rangers, pushing Nelson Cruz back over to left and leaving center to be played by Daniel Murphy, Leonys Martin, and Craig Gentry – presuming none of them end up included in the package of players that will need to head to Arizona.

Defensive standout Andrelton Simmons is suddenly a hot commodity this offseason, but one Atlanta doesn’t appear inclined to deal. (Image Credit: Daniel Shirey-US PRESSWIRE)

While the fit seems logical, Texas would still, of course, need to make a deal that satisfies what D’backs GM Kevin Towers is looking for if he is to agree on a deal and by most accounts he’s looking for a near-MLB ready shortstop as his top priority. Once again, with Elvis Andrus and Jurickson Profar available, the Rangers would appear to be a logical choice. However, it would seem the Rangers are reluctant to deal either player – in a deal for Upton or otherwise – which has left them to seek options elsewhere. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported over the weekend that Texas had reached out to the Atlanta Braves about Andrelton Simmons, but their trade efforts had been rebuffed.

Late Monday night, MLBTR passed along a report from Danny Knobler of CBS Sports, indicating that Texas had offered third baseman Mike Olt to the Braves for Simmons, a surprising offer to say the least. Olt is coming off a fantastic season in Double-A this past year, batting .288/.398/.579 over 421 plate appearances with 28 HR before earning a brief stint with the Rangers at season’s end. Widely viewed as one of the organization’s top prospects, Olt’s place in the Texas lineup seems blocked only by a lack of position to play him at, perhaps explaining why the team is so willing to move him under the right circumstances. They could then use Simmons as the centerpiece for a deal with Arizona for Upton.

Perhaps more telling, however, is the fact that Atlanta turned Olt down in exchange for Simmons. A young, cost-controlled, defensively sound, power-hitting third baseman is exactly the kind of acquisition the Braves should be jumping at given the hole that needs to be filled by Chipper Jones’ retirement. There’s belief that Martin Prado can move back to third and fill that void, letting the team acquire a bat for the outfield instead, but one can only speculate how much stronger their lineup could be with Prado remaining in left and Olt taking over at the hot corner. Atlanta’s preference to retain Simmons, however, shows how highly the organization thinks of him as their shortstop moving forward. Simmons made the jump from Double-A to the Major Leagues this past season, largely as a result of need after Tyler Pastornicky was unable to do anything at the plate early on, and the 22 year old made the most of his opportunity. Over 182 plate appearances on the year – he missed most of July and all of August thanks to a broken finger – Simmons hit .289/.335/.416 with 3 HR but was even more impressive in the field.

Olt would have been a great pickup for the Braves under most circumstances, but the team’s unwillingness to give up Simmons for him speaks volumes toward how highly he’s viewed within the organization’s plans moving forward. If Texas is insistent on acquiring another talented shortstop to flip to the D’backs in a larger move for Upton, they may have to look elsewhere.

All of these players, whether from the States or the Caribbean, are taking advantage of these Winter League games to continue their development. Over the next several weeks I plan to track some of the top prospects in the Winter Leagues. Below is an extended look at Evan Gattis who continues his rise in Venezuela.

The comeback story of this twenty-six year old slugger is well known.  Listed as 6’4” and 230 pounds, Evan Gattis is from Forney, Texas but is adding another chapter to his career with Aguilas del Zulia.  On October 23^rd, Gattis hit a go ahead homerun to complete a ninth inning comeback against the league rival Leones del Caracas, in Caracas.  The Lions have 20 championships in their storied history dating back to the early fifties, while Gattis’ Aguilas have five titles, all since the 1980s.

Aguilas was down 5-1 with two outs in the ninth before storming back to win 8-5.  The lively crowd was standing as Gattis came up with the Aguilas down 5-4, two runners on, and two outs.  One pitch after fouling a ball off his back leg, He crunched an inside fastball for a long homerun to left that sent the Aguilas fans into a frenzy.  As Gattis approached home plate and his awaiting teammates he was authentically pumped and excited.  As the inning continued on he could be seen in the Zulia dugout with a big grin.

In 13 games for Aguilas, Gattis has a slash line of 0.327/.397/.694 with four homeruns and six doubles over 49 at bats.  This of course comes on the heals of an abbreviated 2012 season spent mostly in the Southern and Carolina leagues where he hit 18 homeruns over 74 games while batting .305 with a .389 on base percentage and a .607 slugging.  Gattis played one game in left field and has otherwise served as a designated hitter for Aguilas.  In the minors he more or less split his time in 2012 between catcher and left field.

Evan Gattis, with his barehanded hitting, size, and mug, conjures up images of what one would imagine as the original, raw, old school power hitter.  He looks like the kind of man that would thrive in a hunter-gatherer society.  According to some accounts, in Venezuela Gattis has earned the nickname White Bear.  Come spring, International League pitching will be hard pressed to take him down.

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For more on the Atlanta Braves, check out Tomahawk Take!

Historically, the Atlanta Braves are one of the model franchises that incorporate excellent scouting, drafting, and player development tactics to turn out some of the best pitchers and hitters of any generation. The Braves are almost always contending for playoff spots and effectively develop both hitting and pitching prospects who contribute on the MLB level regularly. To put it simply you don’t win 11 straight division titles (1995-2005) by not being a good team. If you are still not convinced that the Braves are one of the best teams developing minor league talent just take a look at their current roster. Players like Freddie Freeman, Jason Heyward, Andrelton Simmons, Brian McCann, Martin Prado, and future Hall of Famer Chipper Jones highlight a list of offensive players that the Braves have either drafted or signed as international free agents but it doesn’t stop there. The Braves are not limited to developing only hitters as they are equally as good at drafting and developing pitchers. On their 2012 team alone they have homegrown talent like Craig Kimbrel, Tommy Hanson, Kris Medlen, Mike Minor, and Jonny Venters. Some other players they have drafted that have found success on other MLB teams include Adam Wainwright, Jeff Francoeur, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

So knowing how effective the Braves are in developing talent let’s take a look at two players currently down on the farm who I think have gotten little fan fair and could very well add their names to lengthy list of Braves draft and development successes.

Pitching: J.R. Graham

The right-handed J.R. Graham was drafted in the fourth round of the 2011 MLB June Amateur Draft from Santa Clara University. He has the ability to dial his power fastball up to 100 mph and sits comfortably in the upper 90′s mph. He is still continuing to refine his secondary offerings, which include a slider and change-up, to make sure his live fastball plays up even more and while many believe he is going to move to the bullpen the Braves have been richly rewarded for keeping him in the rotation as he develops. Standing at only 6’0, Graham is often praised for his electric fastball and criticized for his lack of ideal pitching size. One thing that can’t be criticized are his results. In 2011 he was assigned to the Appalachian Rookie League and proceeded to post a very strong 1.72 ERA with a 52:13 K/BB ratio over 57 2/3 innings. He moved up to Class-A Advanced Lynchburg of the Carolina League to start the 2012 season a posted an outstanding 9-1 record with 2.63 ERA and 68:17 K/BB rate over 102 2/3 innings earning himself a All-Star selection and a promotion to Double-A Mississippi of the Southern League. While a member of the Mississippi Braves rotation Graham continued to have success posting a 3.18 ERA and 42:17 K/BB rate over 45 1/3 innings. When all was said and done Graham posted a 2.80 ERA with a 110:34 K/BB rate over 148 innings in his second professional season and is poised to continue that success in 2013 and beyond. I believe that he will likely return to Double-A in 2013 and look to log some more innings, and work on his secondary offerings, with a chance to move up to Triple-A by mid-season and could appear in Atlanta as early as 2014 in a bullpen capacity (similar to Cardinals prospect Trevor Rosenthal) with a shot to join the rotation by 2015.

Hitting: Tommy La Stella

Second baseman Tommy La Stella was drafted in the eighth round of the 2011 MLB June Amateur Draft from Coastal Carolina University. Evaluators often praise the left-handed hitting La Stella for his hard-nosed play and internal motor which allow his tools to play up. Already 23 years old, La Stella has to move at a good pace through each level to still garner the ever important prospect buzz and so far he has done just that. He signed quickly enough in 2011 to play in 63 games for Class-A Rome of the South Atlantic League and posted a very strong .328/.401/.543 slash line along with nine home runs and a very impressive 26:28 BB/K rate. His defense was a little shaky as he posted a .957 Fld% but it was serviceable enough to merit him sticking at the keystone position as he progressed. Critics will sight his advanced age as a factor in his success and I would agree to an extent as he was a polished college bat however, it is worth noting that he because he initially started his college career at St. John’s University and transferred to Coastal Carolina he had to forgo playing in any games his sophomore year of college so he is not as far ahead of his competition as it would seem on the surface. He followed up his strong debut in 2011 with an even more impressive 2012. As part of Class-A Advanced Lynchburg’s roster he posted a .302/.386/.460 slash line with five home runs, 13 stolen bases, and a very impressive 36:24 BB/K rate over 85 games. Overall he finished his 2012 season with a .299/.389/.466 with six home runs, 13 stolen bases and a 40:25 BB/K rate between Lynchburg and the GCL. His 2012 was a bit injury plagued as he missed time with various injuries, the biggest being a broken fibula in July, but continued to improve upon his draft stock and turned in another outstanding season. La Stella was initially regarded as a bat-first prospect when he was drafted and while his bat has remained a big part of his game he has shown the unique ability to hit for both average and a little power while maintaining excellent plate discipline and on-base percentages. La Stella also improved in the field as he turned in a decent .975 Fld% playing only second base and contributed on the base paths with 13 stolen bases despite most scouts grading him as a below average runner. I would expect the Braves to move La Stella up to Double-A in 2013 and see how he develops before considering moving him off of second base as I am not 100% sold that he will enough power to hold down a corner outfield spot. The biggest thing for La Stella will be to work on his defense and to stay healthy. He has the potential to be the long term answer for Atlanta at second base as early as 2015- just in time to replace the declining Dan Uggla.

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For more on the Atlanta Braves check out Tomahawk Take!

The. Total. Package. (Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE)

• #11-20
• #21-30
• #31-40
• #41-50
• #51-60
• #61-70
• #71-80
• #81-90
• #91-100

Eight of this group reached the majors with three of them spending the majority of the season there. Harper and Trout are near locks to win the NL and AL Rookie of the Year Awards and if they stay in their respective leagues both figure to take home a couple MVPs in their careers. Trout of course, might (and should) take home his first MVP this season as he was the best player in all of baseball whether you use basic stats, advanced stats or the good old eye test with a dose of common sense mixed in.

Aside from that talented duo, Moore will be fronting the Rays rotation for many years to come and Turner and Miller should be in the 2013 Opening Day rotations for their respective major league clubs. Taillon is a bit behind those guys but is well on his way to joining that group in a couple years. Profar looks like he will make good on developing into one of the most dynamic shortstops in the game and Rendon showed flashes that he can be a force if he can stay healthy. Only Skaggs and Teheran saw their stock slip, but both remain premium talents.

#1:  Mike Trout – OF – Los Angeles Angels

Profile Published – 1/6/2012
2012 – Salt Lake (AAA): 0.403/.467/.623, 4 2B, 5 3B, 1 HR, 6 SB, 11 BB and 16 SO in 93 PA
2012 – Los Angeles (MLB): 0.326/.399/.564, 27 2B, 8 3B, 30 HR, 49 SB, 67 BB and 139 SO in 639 PA
Best Month – July: 0.392/.455/.804 in 112 PA with Los Angeles
Worst Month – August: 0.284/.366/500 in 134 PA with Los Angeles

Stock Up/Down – Up. He’s going to easily win the AL Rookie of the Year and is the AL MVP in my book as well. Not only that, his Baseball Reference page lists his nickname as the Millville Meteor. He’s a true five-tool talent, turned in one of the best major league seasons ever and he has an awesomely unique nickname.

#2:  Jurickson Profar – SS – Texas Rangers

Profile Published – 1/5/2012
2012 – Frisco (AA): 0.281/.368/.452, 26 2B, 7 3B, 14 HR, 16 SB, 66 BB and 79 SO in 562 PA
2012 – Texas (MLB): 0.176/.176/.471, 2 2B, 1 HR, 4 SO in 17 PA
Best Month – May: 0.322/385/.513 in 127 PA with Frisco
Worst Month – April: 0.253/.323/.483 in 96 PA with Frisco

Stock Up/Down – Up. He was everything I expected him to be and more in 2012. He won’t turn 20 until February and may break camp on the Rangers Opening Day roster. SS like this don’t come around very often.

#3:  Bryce Harper – OF – Washington Nationals

Profile Published – 1/4/2012
2012 – Syracuse (AAA): 0.243/.325/.365, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 1 SB, 9 BB and 14 SO in 84 PA
2012 – Washington (MLB): 0.270/.340/.477, 26 2B, 9 3B, 22 HR, 18 SB, 56 BB and 120 SO in 597 PA
Best Month – September/October: 0.330/.400/.643 in 126 PA with Washington
Worst Month – July: 0.222/.306/.313 in 111 PA with Washington

Stock Up/Down – Up. He won’t turn 20 until next week and led all NL rookies in WAR 4.9. Expanding beyond just rookies he was 7th among NL outfielders in terms of WAR and will likely run away with the NL Rookie of the Year Award. Harper’s been subject to absurd expectations and hype since high school and amazingly he’s lived up to it all every step of the way.

#4:  Matt Moore – LHP – Tampa Bay Rays

Profile Published – 1/3/2012
2012 – Tampa Bay (MLB): 3.81 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 158 H, 81 BB and 175 SO in 177.1 IP
Best Month – August: 37.0 IP, 32 H, 9 ER, 12 BB and 40 SO
Worst Month – April: 25.0 IP, 25 H, 13 ER, 14 BB and 17 SO

Stock Up/Down – Up. Needs to improve his walk rate, but he stayed in the Rays rotation the entire season and made 31 starts for the team. He finished the year with an ERA+ of 100 and struck out nearly a batter per inning. Moore also showed significant improvement in the second half of the season.

#5:  Tyler Skaggs – LHP – Arizona Diamondbacks

Profile Published – 1/2/2012
2012 – Mobile (AA): 2.84 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 63 H, 21 BB and 71 SO in 69.2 IP
2012 – Reno (AAA): 2.91 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 49 H, 16 BB and 45 SO in 52.2 IP
2012 – Arizona (MLB): 5.83 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 30 H, 13 BB and 21 SO in 29.1 IP
Best Month – May: 23.0 IP, 18 H, 3 ER, 7 BB and 18 SO with Mobile
Worst Month – September: 17.0 IP, 22 H, 15 ER, 6 BB and 12 SO with Arizona

Stock Up/Down – Down. Got knocked around with the D-Backs in September but of greater concern is the sharp drop off in his strikeout rate from 2011 to 2012. Still a fantastic prospect but didn’t do nearly enough to boost his stock.

#6:  Jacob Turner – RHP – Miami Marlins

Profile Published – 1/1/2012
2012 – Lakeland (A+): 1.66 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 17 H, 7 BB and 17 SO in 21.2 IP
2012 – Toledo (AAA): 3.16 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 52 H, 24 BB and 40 SO in 62.2 IP
2012 – New Orleans (AAA): 1.98 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 27 H, 12 BB and 16 SO in 27.1 IP
2012 – Detroit (MLB): 8.03 ERA, 1.95 WHIP, 17 H, 7 BB, 7 SO in 12.1 IP
2012 – Miami (MLB): 3.38 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 33 H, 9 BB and 29 SO in 42.2 IP
Best Month – June: 30.0 IP, 26 H, 3 ER, 15 BB and 16 SO with Toledo and Detroit
Worst Month – May: 34.2 IP, 27 H, 17 ER, 16 BB and 30 SO with Lakeland and Toledo

Stock Up/Down – Up. Once traded to Miami he made seven starts in the majors and finished with a 118 ERA+. He still has a ton of potential to tap into and at just 21 should be in the Marlins 2013 Opening Day rotation. As a fun side note, he set a record for players in our Top-100 by playing for five different teams in 2012.

#7:  Julio Teheran – RHP – Atlanta Braves

Profile Published – 12/31/2011
2012 – Gwinnett (AAA): 5.08 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 146 H, 43 BB and 97 SO in 131.0 IP
2012 – Atlanta (MLB): 5.68 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 5 H, 1 BB and 5 SO in 6.1 IP
Best Month – May: 28.2 IP, 30 H, 11 ER, 11 BB and 24 SO with Gwinnett
Worst Month – July: 22.2 IP, 27 H, 16 ER, 5 BB and 14 SO with Gwinnett

Stock Up/Down – Down. 2012 was the worst season of Teheran’s career aside from six Appalachian League starts in his first season as a professional (2008).

#8:  Shelby Miller – RHP – St. Louis Cardinals [12/30/2011]

Profile Published -
2012 – Memphis (AAA): 4.74 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 138 H, 50 BB and 160 SO in 136.2 IP
2012 – St. Louis (MLB): 1.32 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 9 H, 4 BB and 16 SO in 13.2 IP
Best Month – June: 18.2 IP, 20 H, 14 ER, 10 BB and 23 SO with Memphis
Worst Month – September/October: 13.2 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 4 BB and 16 SO with St. Louis

Stock Up/Down – Up. For most of the season Miller really scuffled, but he erased several months of lackluster results with a strong August in the PCL and an even better September in St. Louis. His one start in the majors on October 3rd was a 6.0 inning, 1 hit gem.

#9:  Jameson Taillon – RHP – Pittsburgh Pirates

Profile Published – 12/29/2011
2012 – Bradenton (A+): 3.82 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 109 H, 37 BB and 98 SO in 125.0 IP
2012 – Altoona (AA): 1.59 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 11 H, 1 BB and 18 SO in 17.0 IP
Best Month – April: 24.2 IP, 15 H, 4 ER, 4 BB and 28 SO with Bradenton
Worst Month – June: 27.2 IP, 31 H, 18 ER, 7 BB and 23 SO with Bradenton

Stock Up/Down – Up. Was having a decent season in the FSL, but it was his three start stint in Double-A at the end of the year that really boosted his stock.

#10:  Anthony Rendon – 3B – Washington Nationals

Profile Published – 12/28/2011
2012 – GCL Nationals (Rk): 0.364/.500/1.000, 1 2B, 2 HR, 3 BB and 3 SO in 14 PA
2012 – Auburn (A-): 0.259/.375/.444, 2 2B, 1 HR, 4 BB and 6 SO in 32 PA
2012 – Potomac (A+): 0.333/.438/.630, 2 2B, 3 3B, 5 BB and 4 SO in 32 PA
2012 – Harrisburg (AA): 0.162/.305/.368, 3 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 11 BB and 16 SO in 82 PA
Best Month – July: 0.292/.433/.708 in 30 PA with Auburn and the GCL Nationals
Worst Month – August/September: 0.218/.342/.426 in 120 PA with Auburn, Harrisburg and Potomac

Stock Up/Down – Push, primarily due to the fact that the injury bug keeps biting him. Despite missing a large chunk of the season he turned in a solid OBP and SLG in his first action as a professional.

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For links to plenty more content on prospects check out, Fantasy Rundown and to keep tabs on all the happenings in the majors, check out Call to the Pen.

Gose reached Toronto in 2012, he needs to make his presence felt in 2013 (Photo Credit: Debby Wong-US PRESSWIRE)

• #31-40
• #41-50
• #51-60
• #61-70
• #71-80
• #81-90
• #91-100

Half of this group of ten played in the majors this season and three of them (Delgado, Gose and Pomeranz) exhausted their prospect eligibility as a result. All told five of the below saw their stock go up, three had their stock go down and two essentially stayed the same.

#21:  Randall Delgado – RHP – Atlanta Braves

Profile Published – 12/17/2011
2012 – Gwinnett (AAA): 4.06 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 47 H, 21 BB and 51 SO in 44.1 IP
2012 – Atlanta (MLB): 4.37 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 89 H, 42 BB and 76 SO in 92.2 IP
Best Month – June: 24.2 IP, 24 H, 12 ER, 10 BB and 22 SO with Atlanta
Worst Month – April: 20.0 IP, 23 H, 14 ER, 12 BB and 21 SO with Atlanta

Stock Up/Down – Down. He failed to build off how he pitched with Gwinnett, and more notably Atlanta, last season.

#22:  Anthony Gose – OF – Toronto Blue Jays

Profile Published – 12/16/2011
2012 – Las Vegas (AAA): 0.286/.366/.419, 21 2B, 10 3B, 5 HR, 34 SB, 49 BB and 101 SO in 482 PA
2012 – Toronto (MLB): 0.223/.303/.319, 7 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 15 SB, 17 BB and 59 SO in 189 PA
Best Month – May: 0.364/.431/.554 in 134 PA with Las Vegas
Worst Month – April: 0.216/.298/.284 in 113 PA with Las Vegas

Stock Up/Down – Up. He improved his slash stats across the board while moving from New Hampshire to Las Vegas, held his BB% just above 10% and dropped his K% by 5%. Struggled in the majors but the gains in the minors offset that.

#23:  Taijuan Walker – RHP – Seattle Mariners

Profile Published – 12/15/2011
2012 – Jackson (AA): 4.69 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 124 H, 50 BB and 118 SO in 126.2 IP
Best Month – April: 22.0 IP, 16 H, 4 ER, 6 BB and 26 SO
Worst Month – June: 20.2 IP, 25 H, 21 ER, 16 BB and 23 SO

Stock Up/Down – Up given the context. He spent the season pitching in Double-A and didn’t turn 20 until mid-August.

#24:  Joe Wieland – RHP – San Diego Padres

Profile Published – 12/14/2011
2012 – Tuscon (AAA): 3.52 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 10 H, 2 BB and 11 SO in 7.2 IP
2012 – San Diego (MLB): 4.55 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 26 H, 9 BB and 24 SO in 27.2 IP
Best Month – May: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB and 4 SO with San Diego
Worst Month – April: 29.2 IP, 31 H, 15 ER, 10 BB and 31 SO with San Diego and Tuscon

Stock Up/Down – Up, slightly. He showed some flashes with the Padres but was shut down in early May with an elbow strain that necessitated Tommy John surgery in July. Unlike Banuelos (see below) he should return to the mound toward the end of the 2013 season and has shown he’s capable of pitching in the majors

#25:  Martin Perez – LHP – Texas Rangers

Profile Published – 12/13/2011
2012 – Round Rock (AAA): 4.25 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 122 H, 56 BB and 69 SO in 127.0 IP
2012 – Texas (MLB): 5.45 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 47 H, 15 BB and 25 SO in 38.0 IP
Best Month – July: 16.0 IP, 16 H, 4 ER, 7 BB and 5 SO with Texas and Round Rock
Worst Month – Sept/Oct: 18.0 IP, 25 H, 14 ER, 7 BB and 15 SO with Texas

Stock Up/Down – Down. The strikeout rate continues to tumble and his numbers have never matched the hype. He has a career 3.8 BB/9 in the minors and has shown little improvement in that area since his professional debut with Spokane back in 2008.

#26:  Manny Banuelos – LHP – New York Yankees

Profile Published – 12/12/2011
2012 – Scranton/Wilkes-Barre: 4.50 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 29 H, 10 BB and 22 SO in 24.0 IP
Best Month – May: 18.2 IP, 15 H, 6 ER, 3 BB and 20 SO
Worst Month – April: 5.1 IP, 14 H, 6 ER, 7 BB and 2 SO

Stock Up/Down – Down, slightly. Elbow problems limited him to just 6 starts in 2012 and finally had Tommy John Surgery last week. Lost for the entirety of the 2013 season, we will have to wait until 2014 to see if he can overcome this setback.

#27:  Hak-Ju Lee – SS – Tampa Bay Rays

Profile Published – 12/11/2011
2012 – Montgomery (AA): 0.261/.336/.360, 15 2B, 10 3B, 4 HR, 37 SB, 51 BB and 102 SO in 534 PA
Best Month – June: 0.330/.387/.450 in 119 PA
Worst Month – August: 0.118/.211/.265 in 37 PA

Stock Up/Down – Up, even though the offensive numbers don’t jump off the page. Hit much better than he did in a brief stint in Double-A in 2011 and the speed and defense boost his stock.

#28:  Oscar Taveras – OF – St. Louis Cardinals

Profile Published – 12/10/2011
2012 – Springfield (AA): 0.321/.380/.572, 37 2B, 7 3B, 23 HR, 10 SB, 42 BB and 56 SO in 531
Best Month – June: 0.347/.398/.643 in 106 PA
Worst Month – May: 0.287/.364/.489 in 106 PA

Stock Up/Down – Up, and in a big way. When your worst month has you hitting 0.287 with a SLG just shy of 0.500, you know you had a great season.

#29:  Drew Pomeranz – LHP – Colorado Rockies

Profile Published – 12/9/2011
2012 – Tulsa (AA): 0.00 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 4 H, 1 BB and 4 SO in 4.0 IP
2012 – Colorado Springs (AAA): 2.51 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 52 H, 20 BB and 46 SO in 46.2 IP
2012 – Colorado (MLB): 4.93 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 97 H, 46 BB and 83 SO in 96.2 IP
Best Month – June: 29.1 IP, 33 H, 9 ER, 9 BB and 27 SO with Colorado and Colorado Springs
Worst Month – July: 25.2 IP, 24 H, 15 ER, 8 BB and 20 SO with Colorado

Stock Up/Down – Push. You could argue either up or down and have a solid case. For me, the elevated WHIP in both the minors and majors relative to his 2011 numbers gives me pause (and I’ve been a fan of his since his college days). None-the-less he turned in a near league average ERA+ in almost 100 major league innings and that’s a notable accomplishment for a 23 year old starter.

#30:  A.J. Cole – RHP – Oakland Athletics

Profile Published – 12/8/2011
2012 – Burlington (A): 2.07 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 78 H, 19 BB and 102 SO in 95.2 IP
2012 – Stockton (A+): 7.82 ERA, 1.84 WHIP, 60 H, 10 BB and 31 SO in 38.0 IP
Best Month – June: 27.1 IP, 19 H, 5 ER, 3 BB and 30 SO with Burlington
Worst Month – May: 29.1 IP, 51 H, 25 ER, 8 BB and 27 SO with Stockton and Burlington

Stock Up/Down – Push. There’s no question that he crashed and burned with Stockton at the beginning of the season, but I love that he righted the ship after his demotion and went on to dominate the Midwest League.

~~~~~

For links to plenty more content on prospects check out, Fantasy Rundown and to keep tabs on all the happenings in the majors, check out Call to the Pen.

Photo taken by Simon Daillie in September, 2012. Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado chatting it up in the visitors bullpen at Shea Stadium during a rain delay.

Teheran was ranked as the top prospect from the Appalachian and Carolina leagues in 2009 and 2010 respectively. He started his 2010 campaign in the Sally and worked his way through hiA before ending his season with Mississippi in the Southern League. While his stint in AA was a bit rough, by the end of the year he had compiled a 1.03whip, a 2.59era, and more than ten strikeouts per nine innings over three levels. Teheran had become an elite prospect.

In 2011, at the mere age of 20, Teheran had the best season of anyone in the International League and was the youngest player in the NL when he got the call for his debut in Las Grandes Ligas. Pitching for Gwinnett he put together a 2.55era and a 1.18whip over 144+ innings, closely resembling his 2010 stats. The 6’2” righty was not anointed the fourth top prospect in all of the minors entering 2012 without some chinks to belie his hype. Teheran struck out far few batters in 2011 than he did in 2010 and had a difficult debut with Atlanta which included eleven earned runs, eight walks, and ten strikeouts during 19+ innings.

In 2011, an experienced scout quoted by Kevin Goldstein described Teheran as having impeccable mechanics, great mound presence, a fastball that averaged 95mph, a great change, and a good but potentially great curve. As to the mechanics, the scout described the fastball as being “hitter-untrackable, as [Teheran] hides his arm behind his back and it explodes on hitters” giving Teheran a unique “combination of arm velocity and deceptive velocity.” Teheran was forecasted to be a one on an upper echelon team. Then what caused Teheran’s developmental regression in 2012? Jason Parks’ explanation was twofold. First, Teheran lacked a consistent curve. Second, the lack of “movement” and the “visibility of the fastball,” which Parks said was still between 93 and 96 mph. Parks noted that “[b]ecause of his delivery and release, some hitters have been able to pick up the ball early out of Teheran’s hand.”

Teheran’s starts this year on June 10 against Toronto, July 14 against the Louisville Bats, July 19 against the Indianapolis Indians, August 14 against the Norfolk Tides, and August 19 against the Durham Bulls, provided me a fair sample of Teheran’s 2012 season. In terms of his presence, Teheran is kinetic on the mound but exhibits good composure. His delivery, sometimes referred to as robotic, isn’t the smoothest. His motion is closed and compact, and features a high front leg lift. However, the mechanical manner in which he takes the ball out of his glove and puts it behind his body along with his quick collapse makes the motion rigid.

While only some minor league telecasts provide radar readings, I did not see the velocity that Teheran once had. In the two games with readings, I did not observe a single fastball that hit 95, and only one at 94, with the vast majority ranging from 91 to 93. The fastball looks like a laser sometimes angling in against righties or, at others, just shooting high. Regardless of direction or angle, it seems flat. Teheran would benefit from adding a true slider or a two-seamer with arm side tilt.

Teheran does feature multiple kinds of breaking pitches, including the big 12-6 that usually goes 72 to 74. His other breaking ball isn’t nearly as big and has more horizontal movement. Occasionally the curve got crushed, (sometimes foul), at other times it set up the fastball for swing and miss action, or it would freeze the batter. While the curve could stand some improvement, my biggest concern was the great frequency with which he threw it.

What happened to Teheran’s vaunted cambio? It certainly wasn’t working well in his Blue Jays start. The change is between 81 and 83, thus giving it an 8 to 12 mph differential off the fastball. In his summer starts with Gwinnett one saw glimpses of the off-speed pitch tumbling down and arm side. But overall, it seemed his change of pace took a back seat and was somewhat inconsistent.

In the Gwinnett starts, Teheran gave up bombs to the likes of Xavier Paul, Tim Beckham, and Yamaico Navarro – all on fastballs. His best start of the year was against a Tides lineup that poses little threat to decent pitchers. Against better International League offenses, including the Durham Bulls, he got battered. It seems like he was tipping some pitches in these Gwinnett starts. I noticed that when he employed the stretch without a slide-step, he tended to use altered mechanics for his fastball. In these situations, when he threw his fastball he had a reduced front leg lift and he took the ball out of his glove earlier. When he went with the curveball in these situations, his leg lift was maximized and the ball remained in the glove longer. I found myself pausing the action at the leg kick and predicting the pitch he would subsequently throw.

—

In the early 19th Century, Cartagena became a ghost town. It’s now a thriving City on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Teheran, motivated by pride in his nation, needs to make a similar transformation to redeem his game from the eerie 2012 season and onto the heights of his potential.

~~~~~

For more on the Atlanta Braves, check out Tomahawk Take!

But before all that happens we have to consider: you can’t know where you are going until you know where you have been.

The exact origins of this long-standing and popular saying/cliche unknown but it can be found in many forms and many variations. You may have come across it in your own life through Buddhist teachings, Greek philosophy or – if you’re a fan of animated cinema – from Mater the Disney-Pixar movie Cars. Regardless of the source, it’s a saying that I hold near and dear and always try to remember the past whenever I’m looking toward the future. I think this practice is a wonderful way to keep things that happen – both bad and good – in perspective.

The Padres Yonder Alonso graduated from prospect to big-league regular in 2012 (Photo Credit: Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE)

It’s also very useful when it comes to putting together prospect rankings. After all, perspective and context are two of the building blocks of evaluation. With that in mind I decided to look back at the 2012 S2S Top-100 list Nathaniel compiled last fall and quickly assess how each of those 100 players performed this season and whether their stock has gone up or down.

Behind the scenes, as I work through these assessments, I will be putting together the rough draft of our 2013 list. I hope to have that list finalized by the end of October with our reveal of 2013 prospect #100 hitting the site on November 1st.

Since Nathaniel started at #100 and counted down to #1, I’m going to follow suit in my review but will do this in groups of ten.

In this group, that covers prospects #91-#100, five players boosted their stock in 2012 while another five saw their stock slip. Of the ten players below, three players lost their prospect eligibility (Green, Alonso and Pastornicky) this season and will not be eligible for our 2013 Top-100.

#91:  Chad Bettis – RHP – Colorado Rockies

Profile Published – 10/8/2011
2012 – Did Not Pitch (Shoulder Injury)
Best Month – N/A
Worst Month – N/A

Stock Up/Down – Down. Losing a year of development is never a good thing and shoulder injuries always heighten my concern about a players future.

#92:  Trevor Rosenthal – RHP – St. Louis Cardinals

Profile Published – 10/7/2011
2012 – Springfield (AA): 2.78 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 67 H, 37 BB and 83 SO in 94.0 IP
2012 – Memphis (AAA): 4.20 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 11 H, 5 BB and 21 SO in 15.0 IP
2012 – St. Louis (MLB): 3.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 14 H, 7 BB and 23 SO in 21.0 IP
Best Month – May: 27.1 IP, 21 H, 5 ER, 11 BB and 21 SO
Worst Month – April: 25.2 IP, 16 H, 11 ER, 17 BB and 24 SO

Stock Up/Down – Up

#93:  Ronald Torreyes – 2B – Chicago Cubs

Profile Published – 10/6/2011
2012 – Daytona (A+): 0.264/.326/.385, 23 2B, 5 3B, 6 HR, 13 SB, 32 BB and 29 SO in 474 PA
Best Month – June: 0.330/.400/.523 in 97 PA
Worst Month – May: 0.137/.190/.192 in 77 PA

Stock Up/Down – Down. Torreyes was at least 55 points off his career averages in each of his slash stats and those averages include his 2012 season.

#94:  Christian Yelich – OF – Miami Marlins

Profile Published – 10/5/2011
2012 – GCL Marlins (Rk): 1-4
2012 – Jupiter (A+): 0.330/.404/.519, 29 2B, 5 3B, 12 HR, 20 SB, 49 BB and 85 SO in 447 PA
Best Month – June: 0.421/.488/.684 in 43 PA
Worst Month – May: 0.263/.336/.525 in 110 PA

Stock Up/Down – Up, up, up.

#95:  Barret Loux – RHP – Texas Rangers

Profile Published – 11/4/2011
2012 – Frisco (AA): 3.47 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 120 H, 41 BB and 100 SO in 127.0 IP
Best Month – April: 27.2 IP, 27 H, 5 ER, 8 BB and 28 SO
Worst Month – June: 18.0 IP, 21 H, 12 ER, 9 BB and 12 SO

Stock Up/Down – Up. Loux dropped his ERA and held serve on most of his rates while pitching against more advanced competition, in a more offensively biased environment.

#96:  Taylor Green – 3B/2B – Milwaukee Brewers

Profile Published – 10/3/2011
2012 – Nashville (AAA): 0.274/.345/.408, 17 2B, 7 HR, 1 SB, 28 BB and 57 SO in 313 PA
2012 – Milwaukee (MLB): 0.192/.268/.354, 7 2B, 3 HR, 9 BB and 24 SO in 112 PA
Best Month – August: 0.292/.344/.460 in 121 PA with Nashville
Worst Month – June: 0.167/.250/.417 in 40 PA with Milwaukee

Stock Up/Down – Down. It was unreasonable expect a repeat of what he did in 2011 between AA and AAA, but he fell well short of that and his minor league career averages.

#97:  Yonder Alonso – OF – San Diego Padres

Profile Published – 10/2/2011
2012 – San Diego (MLB): 0.277/.352/.396, 37 2B, 9 HR, 3 SB, 61 BB and 99 SO in 603 PA
Best Month – July: 0.290/.368/.505 in 106 PA (there were month’s where Alonso had a better BA and/or OBP but his 0.873 OPS put July over the top).
Worst Month – June: 0.218/.277/.264 in 95 PA

Stock Up/Down – Up. Alonso started and finished the season in the majors and was fairly consistent with only one down month. Overall he turned in above average offensive season with an OPS+ of 111.

#98:  Francisco Lindor – SS – Cleveland Indians

Profile Published – 10/1/2011
2012 – Lake County (A-): 0.257/.352/.355, 24 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR, 27 SB, 61 BB and 78 SO in 568 PA
Best Month – April: 0.314/.369/.451 in 111 PA
Worst Month – August: 0.226/.328/.292 in 119 PA

Stock Up/Down – Up, based on his performance in his first full season. Way up based on where Nathaniel had him ranked. Lindor will be much further up the list when we start revealing our 2013 Top-100 rankings.

#99:  Henry Rodriguez – 2B – Cincinnati Reds

Profile Published – 9/30/2011
2012 – AZL Reds (Rk): 0.235/.278/.294, 1 2B, 1 BB and 2 SO in 18 PA
2012 – Pensacola (AA): 0.348/.385/.439, 6 2B, 2 HR, 3 SB, 9 BB and 18 SO in 144 PA
2012 – Louisville (AAA): 0.244/.264/.333, 10 2B, 3 HR, 5 SB, 6 BB and 35 SO in 221 PA
2012 – Cincinnati (MLB): 0.231/.333/.308, 1 2B, 2 BB and 2 SO in 15 PA
Best Month – May: 0.419/.471/.452 in 34 PA with Pensacola
Worst Month – August: 0.198/.212/.252 in 114 PA with Louisville

Stock Up/Down – Down, but just slightly. There’s an argument here that his stock stayed the same given his improvement in his time with Pensacola and may have been pushed too agressively.

#100:  Tyler Pastornicky – SS – Atlanta Braves

Profile Published - 9/29/2011
2012 – Gwinnett (AAA): 0.268/.317/.399, 15 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 SB, 11 BB and 21 SO in 167 PA
2012 – Atlanta (MLB): 0.242/.288/.327, 6 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 2 SB, 10 BB and 32 SO in 184 PA
Best Month – July: 0.394/.488/.757 in 42 PA between Atlanta (8) and Gwinnett (34)
Worst Month – May: 0.238/.253/.274 in 90 PA with Atlanta

Stock Up/Down – Down

~~~~~

For links to plenty more content on prospects check out, Fantasy Rundown and to keep tabs on all the happenings in the majors, check out Call to the Pen.

Obviously since the season is over and some teams have had two updates, some have only had one and the NL West teams have had zero coverage thus far, this project did not work out as I had planned on many levels. Undeterred I’m going to sally forth and finish off this round of updates and call it good. Next season if I attempt this again I’m going to have to make some major changes to the structure, plan and concept of this series.

Feel free to check out the category archive to read previous installments of the series.

Atlanta Braves (S2S 2012 Braves Team Prospect List)

C/LF – Evan Gattis (26) – Braves 2010 23rd Round Pick

2011 – Rome (A): 0.322/.386/.601, 24 2B, 2 3B, 22 HR, 2 SB, 25 BB and 53 SO in 377 PA
2012 – GCL Braves (Rk): 0.500/.538/.500, 1 BB and 2 SO in 13 PA
2012 – Lynchburg (A+): 0.385/.468/.821, 7 2B, 9 HR, 1 SB, 10 BB and 12 SO in 94 PA
2012 – Mississippi (AA): 0.258/.343/.522, 13 2B, 4 3B, 9 HR, 1 SB, 20 BB and 29 SO in 207 PA

Gattis had a busy year in 2012. First he dismantled Carolina League pitching and was promoted to Double-A after just 21 games. He proceeded to hit a solid 0.274/.348/.581 in 16 May contests with Mississippi but then strained tendons in his wrist trying to put a bag into an overhead compartment on the team bus. That mishap sidelined him for just over two months (May 20th-July 24th). Gattis returned to action and sailed through his four game tuneup in the GCL turning in multi-hit games in three of those contests. He continued his hot hitting when he returned to Southern League with a 6-13 stretch that included a 2B, 3B and HR in his first three games back.

He cooled considerably in August putting together a 0.211/.318/.358 line in 26 games for the month but despite the lack of results, he still turned in an excellent 11.2 BB% and 14.0 K%. Gattis then he finished the year off with a flourish hitting three home runs in the last three games of the regular season.

The wrist injury surely played a role in his reduced production during August and in the grand scheme of things it probably cost him a late-season stint with Triple-A Gwinnett. When healthy, he’s performed at a high level at every stop and despite being a bit long in the tooth as a prospect – thanks in part to a fascinating back story – it’s looking more and more like he will be an asset at the major league level sooner rather than later.

3B – Kyle Kubitza (22) – Braves 2011 3rd Round Pick

2011 – Danville (Rk): 0.321/.407/.475, 16 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 9 SB, 24 BB and 38 SO in 190 PA
2012 – Rome: 0.239/.349/.393, 24 2B, 9 3B, 9 HR, 18 SB, 73 BB and 127 SO in 531 PA

After signing, Kubitza was fantastic with Danville in 44 games last season but he didn’t come close to achieving that level of performance against SAL pitching this season. That’s not to say that this season was a loss for the young 3B prospect as there were some positive signs. The first is the 1.1 increase – up from 12.6 to 13.7% – in his already solid BB%. Kubitza’s K% predictably went up from 20.0 to 23.9% but given the increase in level he kept that aspect of his game fairly well on par. Of course patience at the plate and general strike zone awareness were two of his biggest assets coming out of the draft so the fact that he’s performed well in these areas shouldn’t be all that surprising.

In terms of his slash stats, 2012 was a roller coaster as he alternated between good and bad months. If you group the stats together you get the following:

April/June/August: 0.279/.380/.461 in 258 AB
May/July/September: 0.184/.304/.300 in 190 AB

Obviously his season is the sum of its parts, but the above at least shows that he can be successful if he can avoid going into long extended slumps. He has a reputation for tinkering with his stance and his swing mechanics and these traits may be a factor in his inconsistency from month to month. What he did at the plate aside, Kubitza also showed improvement in the field increasing both his fielding percentage and his range factor. Which are both positive signs as he has all the tools and instincts to be an asset defensively at 3B.

A return to Rome or a promotion to Lynchburg to open the 2013 season would both be logical assignments. I’d start him in the Carolina League right off the bat, but keeping him in Rome until he shows some consistency at the plate makes a lot of sense as well.

RHP – J.R. Graham (22) – Braves 2011 4th Round Pick

2011 – Danville: 1.72 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 52 H, 13 BB and 52 SO in 57.2 IP
2012 – Lynchburg: 2.63 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 88 H, 17 BB and 68 SO in 102.2 IP
2012 – Mississippi: 3.18 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 35 H, 17 BB and 42 SO in 45.1 IP

Like Kubitza, Graham was impressive in his time with Danville in 2011. The Braves elected to have him skip Rome all together and instead dropped him into the Hillcats rotation to kick off 2012. Based on the way he performed, it’s hard to argue with the results. He dropped his hit and walk rates from the previous year and while his strikeout rate dropped, he maintained a 4.0 SO/BB.

On July 20th he made the first of his nine starts for Double-A Mississippi and continued his successful run. His BB/9 jumped up to an uncharacteristic 3.4, but he offset that but further cutting his hit rate – from 7.7 at Lynchburg to 6.9 – and pushed his strike out rate up to a career best 8.3 per nine innings.

He’s a bit undersized – 6’0″ 185 lbs – but he throws comfortably in the mid-90s and has a slider that is at least average. That has led many to project a long term future as a late inning reliever, but he’s now carried his success as a starter into Double-A and he’s certainly earned the chance to keep going in that role. How his changeup continues to develop is a critical piece in the long term picture, but there’s little doubt that his 2012 season was a rousing success.

~~~~~

For more on the Atlanta Braves, check out Tomahawk Take!

Today we’re checking out the best performances from the month of July.

Best Hitting Performance of the Month:

COL - Jared Simon, Asheville (A): 5-5, 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 4 R [7/24]

The Rockies 6th round pick in the 2010 draft, Simon’s slash stats have shown steady progress in each of his first three seasons. This year with Asheville saw him hit 0.266/.342/.429 and he also started to show off his above average power with 23 2B and 14 HR. In addition to the increase in his slash stats he turned in the best K% of his young career (24.2%) but still has a way to go in that regard. While his strike outs were down, Simon’s walk rate was also down and dropped from 10.9% in 2011 to 7.3% in 2012.

Overall April was his best month of the season with a 0.274/.376/.479 line in 20 games, but it was in July that he had his single month best SLG (0.500). Simon’s performance on July 24th stood out from his peers for the month, and it also stood out from the rest of his games on the year. His 5-5 day was the only game of the year he had more than 3 hits and was only one of two games where he had multiple extra-base hits (the other was a 2-5 game with a 2B and HR on 7/29).

After two lackluster seasons with Tri-City (A-) his improvement in Asheville can certainly be taken as a positive, but he still has a ways to go before he can be viewed as a legitimate prospect.

Best Pitching Performance of the Month:

ATL – Cody Martin, Lynchburg (A+): 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 14 SO [7/13]

It’s fascinating that Martin spent three of his fours years at Gonzaga pitching out of the bullpen. The one season he was used as a starter – his junior year – he got knocked around with an bloated 6.55 ERA. After being drafted by the Braves in the 7th round last year he was used as a reliever and was absolutely fantastic with Danville and Rome in that role.

Despite an obviously bright future as a reliever – and possibly as a closer at the major league level – the Braves had him open up in Lynchburg’s rotation and from there he started in 19 of his 22 appearances on the season. The move on the surface made perfect sense given his arsenal of four pitches that all rate as at least average and his ability to fill up the zone with each of them.

Martin closed the season on the disabled list and didn’t pitch after August 4th due to a stress fracture in his foot, but otherwise his 2012 season was a unmitigated success. While he was strong for the entire season – up until getting hurt – he was at his best during the month of July finishing with a 2.27 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and 47-7 SO-to-BB in 35.2 innings pitched. Not only did he earn the honor of having the best single start of the month, he also claimed one of the five “honorable mention” spots with his outing on July 29th and his start on July 7th also merited strong consideration.

With his control, stuff and feel for pitching Martin is without question one to watch heading into 2013.

Honorable Mentions at the Plate:

KC – Cameron Gallagher, Burlington (Rk): 4-5, 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, BB [7/4]

LAA – Zachary Borenstein, Cedar Rapids (A): 4-5, 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 4 R [7/6]

PIT – Gregory Polanco, West Virginia (A): 5-5, 3 2B, 3B, 3 RBI, 3 R, BB [7/1]

SEA - Steven Proscia, High Desert (A+): 3-4, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, BB [7/14]

STL – Matt Williams, Quad Cities (A): 4-5, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 3 RBI, 4 R [7/12]

Honorable Mentions on the Mound:

ATL – RHP Cody Martin, Lynchburg (A+): 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO [7/29]

LAA – LHP Nick Maronde, Inland Empire (A+): 7.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 10 SO [7/17]

MIA – LHP Charlie Lowell, Greensboro (A): 7.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO [7/21]

MIA – LHP Charlie Lowell, Greensboro (A): 7.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 14 SO [7/16]

TOR – RHP Jesse Hernandez, Dunedin (A+): 8.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 12 SO [7/20]

TOR – RHP Roberto Osuna, Vancouver (Rk): 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 13 SO [7/28]

~~~~~

For links to plenty more content on prospects check out, Fantasy Rundown and to keep tabs on all the happenings in the majors, check out Call to the Pen.

This year we decided as a staff to preview each of the team’s preliminary assignments to the 2012 AFL and our goal is to tackle each of the 30 organizations over the next 7-10 days. We hope you will follow along with us, check in several times each day and enjoy reading what we come up with. If you’re not familiar with the eligibility rules or how the rosters are constructed just click here to brush up.

Up first I’m taking a look at the six members of the Atlanta Braves that will be playing for the Phoenix Desert Dogs in October and November.

RHP – Gus Schlosser (23) – Braves 2011 17th Round Pick

2012 – Lynchburg: 3.38 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 156 H, 33 BB and 139 SO in 165.1 IP

Schlosser turned in fantastic results as a reliever for Rome after signing last year and he’s continued to get results for the Hillcats this season as a part of their rotation. It’s hard to know exactly what to make of him given that he was so unheralded, but he’s cobbling together quite a strong resume. His control has been fantastic as a professional regardless of his role and he currently has a 1.7 BB/9 in 200.0 minor league innings. The Carolina League favors pitchers but a 4.21 SO/BB is more about the pitcher than the environment. He was completely off the radar heading into 2012 but after the season he’s had it’s impossible to ignore him any longer. Of the six Braves prospects heading to Arizona this fall, Schlosser is the one I am most intrigued by and I can’t wait to see how he handles himself in an offensive environment pitching against more advanced competition than he’s faces thus far as a pro.

RHP – Cory Rasmus (24) – Braves 2006 1st Round Pick (38th Overall)

2012 – Mississippi: 3.81 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 44 H, 31 BB and 60 SO in 56.2 IP

The younger brother of Toronto Blue Jays CF, Colby Rasmus, Cory was drafted as a promising starter but shoulder problems derailed his career before it ever really got underway. He pitched just 7.1 innings with the GCL Braves after signing in 2006 and then missed all of 2007 before returning in 2008 to throw 5.2 more innings in the GCL. Last season he was again limited by injuries but did strike out an impressive 40 batters in 26.2 innings with Lynchburg when he wasn’t on the disabled list. Of course his ERA was a whopping 7.09 during that stretch but obviously that was as much a case of health than anything else. This year he’s been pitching out of the bullpen full time and has made 48 appearances. That in itself is a bit of a victory given the checkered past of his shoulder. At this point he just needs to stay healthy, log some innings and see what remains of his once impressive stuff.

RHP – Zeke Spruill (22) – Braves 2008 2nd Round Pick

2012 – Mississippi: 3.69 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 153 H, 46 BB and 104 SO in 158.2 IP

Spruill had a forgettable 2010 in the Carolina League but he’s bounced back to turn in two solid, albeit unspectacular, seasons. He reached Double in 2011 and had a respectable 3.20 ERA in 7 starts but his peripherals were all out of whack and his 4.82 FIP and 6.05 SIERA were far more telling about how he pitched after his promotion. The good news is that he’s been able to adjust to the level this season and get his peripherals back in line. Because he relies on a low-90s sinking fastball and pitches to contact, he will never turn in big strikeout numbers and his 5.6, 5.6 and 5.9 K/9 over the last three seasons backs that up. Spruill has excellent control of the fastball and backs it up with a quality changeup and slider that flashes plus from time to time and that mix gives the enough of an arsenal to reach and find some success at the major league level as an innings eater. He’s one of the better pitching prospects assigned to the AFL and is capable of making a big statement this fall.

C – Mathew Kennelly (23) – Signed out of Australia by the Braves on August 18th, 2005

2012 – Mississippi: 0.262/.349/.356, 13 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 SB, 21 BB and 26 SO in 218 PA

This season has been more of the same for Kennelly. He’s spent the year repeating the level and aside from a 0.028 jump in his slugging percentage has eerily similar slash stats to 2011. While the slash stats are similar, he’s drastically cut down on his strikeout rate going from a 21.7% in 2011 to 11.9% this year. He’s behind Christian Bethancourt on the depth chart both in the Braves organization and on Mississippi’s roster and he’s also had to content with the presence of Evan Gattis who has also caught 12 games for the G-Braves since he was promoted to AA earlier in the season. Gattis, of course is spending more of his time roaming the OF these days and Kennelly has performed better than the more-talented and more hyped Bethancourt, but he remains more of an organizational guy than a true prospect.

SS – Nick Ahmed (22) – Braves 2011 2nd Round Pick

2012 – Lynchburg: 0.262/.330/.384, 34 2B, 4 3B, 6 HR, 38 SB, 48 BB and 98 SO in 553 PA

Ahmed has effectively matched the slash stats he put up in 59 games with Danville (Rk) after signing last season. Given that the Braves had him skipped over their South Atlantic affiliate to play with the Hillcats in the Carolina League, just holding serve statistically is an impressive achievement. Especially for a player who spent his amateur career in the Northeast (High School in Massachusetts and College in Connecticut). Ahmed has two plus tools at his disposal in his speed and his arm and he augments those with solid athleticism and excellent instincts. He was recently named the “Fastest Baserunner” as well as the “Best Defensive SS” in the Carolina League. His stock is rising and he is a player to keep an eye on in the AFL.

3B – Edward Salcedo (21) – Signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Braves on April 14th, 2010

2012 – Lynchburg: 0.237/.294/.407, 25 2B, 2 3B, 16 HR, 22 SB, 33 BB and 126 SO in 495 PA

Salcedo’s numbers are down from what he did with Rome (A) last season, but for the second year in a row he is more than two full years younger that the median age in his league. He was considered raw when he signed and seemed to make some progress last season, but it appears that those gains – at least statistically – have vanished. He remains very rough defensively and has made more than 40 errors at the hot corner for the second straight season. Salcedo gets a bit of a break given his age relative to his competition, but at some point he needs to start generating results and needs to improve upon his 25.5 K%. Given that he’s hitting 0.168 (16/95) with 42 SO and just 7 BB in 26 games during August, he’s not closing out the season on a high note. Heading into the season, Salcedo was one of the Braves Top-10 prospects (#6 according to Baseball America)

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For more on the Atlanta Braves, check out Tomahawk Take

To me, there’s a lot to like. A 2004 39th round pick out of St. Petersburg Junior College in Florida, Redmond was a draft-and-follow, which allowed teams to take a longer look at players before signing them (Tommy Hanson would be a more recent example); that process has since been removed from the amateur draft all-together. His 2005 scouting report lauds him for a quality fastball and developing secondary pitches, noting that he had a chance to stay in a rotation if his secondary pitches came along. His 2006 scouting report painted a fairly different picture, noting that he had three solid-average pitches (but no out pitches) and plus command. The latter report very much holds true still today.

(more…)

Appalachian League (Rk)

2B – Levi Hyams, Danville (Atlanta):  3-5, 2 2B, HR, RBI, 2 R

Pioneer League (Rk)

3B – Jake Lamb, Missoula (Arizona): 3-4, HR, 7 RBI, R

New York-Penn League (A-)

CF – Brandon Nimmo, Brooklyn (NY Mets): 4-6, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 3 R

Northwest League (A-)

1B – Taylor Ard, Everett (Seattle): 2-3, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB

Midwest League (A)

RF – Yeison Asencio, Fort Wayne (San Diego): 5-5, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R

The 22-year old, formerly known as Yoan Alcantara, signed out of the Dominican and made his US debut in the AZL last season. While there he hit 0.348/.367/.586 in 50 games. This season, with Fort Wayne, he’s hitting 0.322/.353/.511 in 61 games and is 20-43 in his last 10. While he hasn’t been drawing a ton of walks, he offsets that by only striking out in approximately 10% of his plate appearances.

RHP – Aaron Brooks, Kane County (Kansas City): 9.0 IP, 8 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO

South Atlantic League (A)

LHP – Tyler Anderson, Asheville (Colorado): 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO

LF – Chase Anselment, Rome (Atlanta): 2-3, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, BB

California League (A+)

DH – Taylor Lindsey, Inland Empire (LA Angels): 3-3, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

Carolina League (A+)

LF – Dan Brewer, Lynchburg (Atlanta): 4-5, 2B, 3B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R

RHP – Cody Martin, Lynchburg (Atlanta): 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO

Martin had scuffled in his previous 2 starts before Sunday’s outing. He had allowed 14 hits and 15 runs (7 of them earned) with a 8-5 SO-to-BB in 7.2 IP. Despite that ugly blip on his resume he has a 2.23 ERA and 61-to-10 SO-to-BB in his last 48.1 innings of work. The Braves #19 prospect heading into the season has clearly taken to his role in the Lynchburg rotation and appears to be putting his days as a reliever firmly in the past. Martin’s 118 SO in 101.1 IP this season rank 2nd in the Carolina League and he’s just 3 behind his Hillcats rotation-mate Aaron Northcraft.

Florida State League (A+)

LHP – Adam Morgan, Clearwater (Philadelphia): 8.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 SO

Eastern League (AA)

1B – Darin Ruf, Reading (Philadelphia): 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, R, BB

RHP – Ryan Perry, Harrisburg (Washington): 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

Southern League (AA)

RHP – Andre Rienzo, Birmingham (Chicago White Sox): 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 9 SO

Texas League (AA)

LF – Ryan Strausborger, Frisco (Texas): 2-3, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, BB, SB

RHP – Mike Piazza, Arkansas (LA Angels): 6.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO

International League (AAA)

1B – Carlos Rivero, Syracuse (Washington): 3-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

RHP – Chad Reineke, Louisville (Cincinnati): 7.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO

Pacific Coast League (AAA)

RF – Jerry Sands, Albuquerque (LA Dodgers): 2-4, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 R

LHP – Tyler Skaggs, Reno (Arizona): 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 10 SO

Pitcher and Hitter of the Day

Fort Wayne’s Yeison Asencio and Lynchburg’s Cody Martin

After putting together The Prospect Pulse feature every day for the last two months, I’ve started to ponder ways to make it more useful to our readers. As a result you will start seeing some changes to the format and and information provided in the next several days. If you have enjoyed what I’ve been doing, fear not, the spirit of the series will remain. Fewer players will be included from each league each day, but I plan on adding comments and background on the majority of the guys that do make my cut. I’m also considering giving the series a new name and if I do so will rework the titling to include the names of the players selected for the Hitter and Pitcher of the Day honors.

Today’s edition is the start of the transition so please bear with me as this will be a work in progress. Feedback on anything I am doing with this series is welcomed if you feel like leaving a comment, sending an email or dropping a note on our Facebook page or Twitter accounts.

Appalachian League (Rk)

LHP – Colin Rodgers, Burlington (Kansas City): 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO

1B – Jeremy Schaffer, Johnson City (St. Louis): 4-4, 2 2B, RBI, R, BB

1B – Jean Batista, Greeneville (Houston): 3-5, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 3 R

Pioneer League (Rk)

C – Wagner Gomez, Billings (Cincinnati): 2-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R

RHP – Eddie Butler, Grand Junction (Colorado): 5.1 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO

1B – Jarrod Parks, Orem (LA Angels): 3-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R

New York-Penn League (A-)

SS – Anthony Caronia, Aberdeen (Baltimore): 4-4, 3B, HR, 5 RBI, 2 R

Northwest League (A-)

RHP – James Pugliese, Boise (Chicago Cubs): 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO

DH – Mike Zunino, Everett (Seattle): 3-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

The 3rd overall pick in the 2012 draft, Zunino has hit in each of his first four games and has three home runs in the last two days.

Midwest League (A)

No Scheduled Games

South Atlantic League (A)

RHP – Brett Gerritse, Charleston (NY Yankees): 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO

DH – Matt Smith, Greensboro (Miami): 3-5, 2B, HR, RBI, 3 R

RHP – Nicholas Kingham, West Virginia (Pittsburgh): 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO

C – Jorge Alfaro, Hickory (Texas): 3-4, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, 2 R

California League (A+)

LHP – Nick Maronde, Inland Empire (LA Angels): 7.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 10 SO

RHP – Matt Branham, Lake Elsinore (San Diego): 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 SO

Carolina League (A+)

1B – Aaron Baker, Frederick (Baltimore): 2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R

LF – Kevin Keyes, Potomac (Washington): 3-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 3 R

Keyes is hitting just 0.218/.289/.465 in 74 games this year but is 11-36 with 6 HR and a 0.889 SLG in his last 10.

RHP – Luke Jackson, Myrtle Beach (Texas): 5.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 12 SO

Florida State League (A+)

RHP -Rafael Montero, St. Lucie (NY Mets): 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 SO

Since being bumped up to the FSL, Montero has a 2.30 ERA and 33-8 SO-to-BB in 31.1 IP.

LHP -Austin Wright, Clearwater (Philadelphia): 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO

LHP – Nik Turley, Tampa (NY Yankees): 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO

Eastern League (AA)

LF – Jeremy Hazelbaker, Portland (Boston): 3-3, 2 2B, 3 R, 2 BB, 2 SB

RHP – Mike MacDonald, Portland (Boston): 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO

SS – Niuman Romero, Erie (Detroit): 5-5, 2B, RBI, R

Southern League (AA)

RF – Kentrail Davis, Huntsville (Milwaukee): 3-3, 2 3B, HR, RBI, 2 R

Texas League (AA)

C – Ali Solis, San Antonio (San Diego): 3-5, 2B, HR, RBI, R

LHP – Josh Outman, Tulsa (Colorado): 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

International League (AAA)

CF – Chris Dickerson, Scranton/WB (NY Yankees):3-5, 3B, HR, RBI, R

SS – Ray Olmedo, Charlotte (Chicago White Sox): 5-5, 2B, RBI

SS – Josh Wilson, Gwinnett (Atlanta): 4-4, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R, SB

RHP – Jeremy Hefner, Buffalo (NY Mets): 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO

Pacific Coast League (AAA)

1B – Brett Wallace, Oklahoma City (Houston): 3-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R

CF – A.J. Pollock, Reno (Arizona): 4-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, R

CF – Collin Cowgill, Sacramento (Oakland): 4-6, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 3 R

Pitcher and Hitter of the Day

Lake Elsinore’s Nick Maronde and Gwinnett’s Josh Wilson

Cincinnati Reds CF Denis Phipps (Photo Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-US PRESSWIRE)

Pitcher and Hitter of the Day

Lynchburg’s Cody Martin and Louisville’s Denis Phipps with Billings’ Daniel Pigott getting an honorable mention*.

*Pigott would have won HotD honors outright but his game hadn’t concluded when I was finalizing this article.

Appalachian League (Rk)

LF – Eric Arce, Bluefield (Toronto): 2-5, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R

CF – C.J. McElroy, Johnson City (St. Louis): 2-3, 2B, 3B, 2 R

Pioneer League (Rk)

CF – Adam Heisler, Great Falls (Chicago White Sox): 2-4, 2B, 3B, R, BB

3B – Steven Graeter, Grand Junction (Colorado): 3-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI, R

RHP – Matt Carasiti, Grand Junction (Colorado): 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO

DH – Daniel Pigott, Billings (Cincinnati): 5-6, 2B, HR, 6 RBI, 4 R

New York-Penn League (A-)

LHP – Nicholas Lee, Auburn (Washington): 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO

LF – Joel Caminero, Hudson Valley (Tampa Bay): 2-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, R

DH – Joe Sever, Mahoning Valley (Cleveland): 3-3, 2B, RBI, R, BB

DH – Jacob Stallings, State College (Pittsburgh): 4-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R

RHP – Vincent Velasquez, Tri-City (Houston): 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO

Northwest League (A-)

C – Dan Klein, Vancouver (Toronto): 2-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

Midwest League (A)

RF – Max Walla, Wisconsin (Milwaukee): 4-7, 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R

LF – Taylor Motter, Bowling Green (Tampa Bay): 3-5, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 2 R

SS – Sean Jamieson, Burlington (Oakland): 2-3, 3B, HR, RBI, 2 R, BB, SB

RHP – Angel Baez, Kane County (Kansas City): 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 SO

RHP – Joseph Zeller, Peoria (Chicago Cubs): 6.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO

LF – Jason Krizan, West Michigan (Detroit): 4-5, 2B, HR, RBI, 3 R

South Atlantic League (A)

LHP – Zack Dodson, West Virginia (Pittsburgh): 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO

RHP – Ben Alsup, Asheville (Colorado): 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO

RHP – Kyle Crick, Augusta (San Francisco): 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO

LF – Connor Narron, Delmarva (Baltimore): 3-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, R

California League (A+)

LF – Chris Epps, Lancaster (Houston): 2-3, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R, BB, SB

3B – Travis Mattair, Bakersfield (Cincinnati): 3-5, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R

RHP – Matthew Andriese, Lake Elsinore (San Diego): 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO

Carolina League (A+)

RHP – Jason Adam, Wilmington (Kansas City): 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO

RHP – Cody Martin, Lynchburg (Atlanta): 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 14 SO

RHP – Yeiper Castillo, Salem (Boston): 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO

RHP – Justin Collop, Winston-Salem (Chicago White Sox): 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO

Florida State League (A+)

LF – Ramon Flores, Tampa (NY Yankees): 3-4, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI, R

1B – Kyle Roller, Tampa (NY Yankees): 3-3, HR, RBI, 2 R, BB

C – Luis De La Cruz, Palm Beach (St. Louis): 2-5, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R

RHP – P.J. Francescon, Daytona (Chicago Cubs): 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO

Eastern League (AA)

RHP – Cory Mazzoni, Binghamton (NY Mets): 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO

1B – Reynaldo Rodriguez, Portland (Boston): 3-4, 2 2B, 3B, RBI, R

RHP – Justin Fitzgerald, Richmond (San Francisco): 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO

Southern League (AA)

LHP – Tony Cingrani, Pensacola (Cincinnati): 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO

RF – Alfredo Marte, Mobile (Arizona): 3-3, HR, 2 RBI, R

2B – Logan Watkins, Tennessee (Chicago Cubs): 3-4, 2 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB

Texas League (AA)

LF – Austin Wates, Corpus Christi (Houston): 4-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R

2B – Jose Martinez, Corpus Christi (Houston): 2-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R, BB

CF – Michael Choice, Midland (Oakland): 3-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R

RF – Paulo Orlando, NW Arkansas (Kansas City): 2-3, 2B, HR, RBI, R, 2 BB

RHP – Richard Castillo, Springfield (Springfield): 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO

International League (AAA)

LF – Fred Lewis, Buffalo (NY Mets): 2-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, SB

CF – Denis Phipps, Louisville (Cincinnati): 5-6, HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, BB

1B – Neftali Soto, Louisville (Cincinnati): 2-4, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB

RHP – Jeanmar Gomez, Columbus (Cleveland): 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO

LF – Pete Orr, Lehigh Valley (Philadelphia): 2-4, 2 3B, 3 RBI, R

LHP – Pat Misch, Lehigh Valley (Philadelphia): 7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO

Pacific Coast League (AAA)

DH – Zack Cox, Memphis (St. Louis): 2-4, 2B, HR, RBI, 2 R

LHP – Tyler Lyons, Memphis (St. Louis): 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

RHP – Daniel Straily, Sacramento (Oakland): 7.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 13 SO

RHP – Shawn Hill, Las Vegas (Toronto): 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO

RF – Adam Eaton, Reno (Arizona): 3-3, 2B, HR, RBI, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 SB

LHP – Tyler Skaggs, Reno (Arizona): 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO

Pitcher and Hitter of the Day

It was too hard to pick between their respective starts so today there are two pitchers of the day; Daytona’s Frank Del Valle and Lynchburg’s Aaron Northcraft. Hitter of the day honors are bestowed upon Nashville’s Logan Schafer.

Logan Schafer represents the Brewers organization as the hitter of the day for June 22nd (Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE)

Appalachian League (Rk)

2B – Joey DeMichele, Bristol (Chicago White Sox): 2-4, 2 3B, 2 RBI, R, SB

C – Jose Barraza, Bristol (Chicago White Sox): 3-4, 2B, 3B, 2 R

1B – Jean Batista, Grenneville (Houston): 2-3, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, 2 R

C – Tyler Marlette, Pulaski (Seattle): 2-4, 2 2B, RBI

Pioneer League (Rk)

1B – Robert Maddox, Billings (Cincinnati): 3-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, BB

3B – Alex Santana, Ogden (LA Dodgers): 4-5, 3 2B, 3 RBI

DH – Breland Almadova, Missoula (Arizona): 3-4, 2 2B, RBI, R, SB

New York-Penn League (A-)

3B – Mitch Walding, Williamsport (Philadelphia): 4-5, 2B, HR, 6 RBI, 2 R

RHP – Clay Holmes, State College (Pittsburgh): 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO

CF – Joel Caminero, Hudson Valley (Tampa Bay): 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R

LF – Aneury Tavarez, Lowell (Boston): 3-5, HR, RBI, 2 R, SB

Northwest League (A-)

RHP – Ben White, Vancouver (Toronto): 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO

DH – Rafael Rodriguez, Salem-Keizer (San Francisco): 3-3, 2B

Midwest League (A)

RF – Yorman Rodriguez, Dayton (Cincinnati): 2-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R

CF – Luis Castillo, West Michigan (Detroit): 2-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, R

CF – Luigi Rodriguez, Lake County (Cleveland): 4-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

RHP – Matthew Miller, Wisconsin (Milwaukee): 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO

LHP – David Hurlbut, Beloit (Minnesota): 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO

RHP – Trevor Miller, Clinton (Seattle): 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO

South Atlantic League (A)

DH – Trever Adams, Hickory (Texas): 2-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, R

3B – Grant Buckner, Kannapolis (Chicago White Sox): 4-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, R

RF – Mark Haddow, Kannapolis (Chicago White Sox): 4-5, 2 RBI, 2 R

RHP – Robby Rowland, West Virginia (Pittsburgh): 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO

RHP – Jarrett Miller, Rome (Atlanta): 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO

California League (A+)

3B – Connor Powers, Lake Elsinore (San Diego): 2-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI R

RHP – Burch Smith, Lake Elsinore (San Diego): 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO

RHP – Juan Gonzalez, Modesto (Colorado): 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 SO

1B – Ricky Oropesa, San Jose (San Francisco): 3-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, R

Carolina League (A+)

RF – Shannon Wilkerson, Salem (Boston): 2-5, 2B, 3B, RBI, R

SS – Nick Ahmed, Lynchburg (Atlanta): 4-4, 2 2B, 3B, RBI, R

RHP – Aaron Northcraft, Lynchburg (Atlanta): 7.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 SO

DH – Aaron Baker, Frederick (Baltimore): 2-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

RHP – Kyle Hendricks, Myrtle Beach (Texas): 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO

Florida State League (A+)

1B – Philip Wunderlich, Charlotte (Tampa Bay): 2-4, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI, BB

LF – Cody Rogers, Charlotte (Tampa Bay): 2-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

LHP – Frank Del Valle, Daytona (Chicago Cubs): 6.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 SO

CF – Jake Marisnick, Dunedin (Toronto): 2-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, SB

1B – Cody Hawn, Brevard County (Milwaukee): 2-3, 2 2B, RBI, R, BB

Eastern League (AA)

LF – Evan Bigley, New Britain (Minnesota): 4-5, 2B , HR, 3 RBI, 2 R

DH – Mark Minicozzi, Richmond (San Francisco): 3-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, R

LF – Quincy Latimore, Altoona (Pittsburgh): 2-4, 2B, HR, RBI, R

DH – Wilmer Flores, Binghamton (NY Mets): 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R

Southern League (AA)

LHP – Jose Alvarez, Jacksonville (Miami): 8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO

1B – Yordanys Perez, Pensacola (Cincinnati): 3-4, 2B, R

3B – Greg Sexton, Montgomery (Tampa Bay): 2-5, 2 2B, 4 RBI

RHP – Andre Rienzo, Birmingham (Chicago White Sox): 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO

Texas League (AA)

RHP – John Hellweg, Arkansas (LA Angels): 7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO

LHP – Chris Dwyer, NW Arkansas (Kansas City): 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO

C – Chris Wallace, Corpus Christi (Houston): 3-3, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 4 R

1B – Chris McGuiness, Frisco (Texas): 3-5, 3 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R

SS – Josh Rutledge, Tulsa (Colorado): 4-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, R

2B – Warren Schaeffer, Tulsa (Colorado): 3-4, 2 2B, RBI, 2 R

International League (AAA)

C – Bryan Holaday, Toledo (Detroit): 4-4, 1 R

RHP – Samuel Deduno, Rochester (Minnesota): 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO

RF – Steve Susdorf, Lehigh Valley (Philadelphia): 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R

LHP – Justin Wilson, Indianapolis (Pittsburgh): 6.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 SO

SS – Reid Brignac, Durham (Tampa Bay): 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R

Pacific Coast League (AAA)

1B – Mike Cervenak, New Orleans (Miami): 4-5, 2 2B, 4 RBI

1B – Anthony Rizzo, Iowa (Chicago Cubs): 3-5, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI, 2 R

CF – Logan Schafer, Nashville (Milwaukee): 4-5, 3B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 4 R

LF – Ryan Langerhans, Salt Lake (LA Angels): 3-5, 2 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, R

DH – Andrew Brown, Colorado Springs (Colorado): 3-5, 2B, HR, 6 RBI, 3 R

LF – Matt McBride, Colorado Springs (Colorado): 4-5, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R

RHP – Yusmeiro Petit, Fresno (San Francisco): 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO

The Braves have officially added the 18 year old Sims to their collection of young developing arms as he recently inked his first professional contract and will receive a $1.65 million dollar signing bonus. The bonus is $175,000 below recommended slot value and the surpluse should help the Braves with future signings.

The Stuff:

Athleticism and upside are the two words that describe Sims best. Since converting from shortstop, Sims has taken to the mound quickly and his athleticism is one of the main reasons for his early success. There are varying reports on his fastball but all of them are impressive. He works in the low to mid 90s with the ability to hit 97 mph when he reaches back for more. He has shown advanced feel for a sharp curveball that can be a nasty pitch when he throws it well. Sims also has a power slider which has solid movement that flashes plus. He still has to work on developing and improving upon these secondary offerings, specifically his change-up if he wants to stay in the rotation at the next level

Sims has a fluid motion. He does have a high leg kick but it has not adversely impacted his control or delivery and it adds a dimension of deception for batters. Considering he has just a year of consistent work off the mound, Sims’ ceiling and upside are hard to quantify. He has the makings of a right-handed power pitcher but the development of his secondary pitches is what is going to determine if he has All-Star like upside in a rotation or if he is a key contributor to the back of a bullpen. In his first full season as a pitcher Sims went 8-1 with a 1.19 ERA for Brookwood this spring, so he got results but that was against high school hitters. How he handles the transition to pro ball will be interesting to follow.

Here is what Baseball America had to say about Sims – who was ranked 29th on their draft board:

“Sims has been a factor in this draft class since being invited to USA Baseball’s 16U trials in 2010, and he pitched last summer in the Prospect Classic for the 18U team, tossing a scoreless inning against the Collegiate National Team. Sims has been the most consistent high school pitcher in Georgia this spring, pushing him up toward the back of the first round. He has a fairly clean arm action and no obvious or significant mechanical issues. Sims consistently flashed three plus pitches this spring, including a fastball that has touched 97 mph at times and generally sits in the 90-93 mph range. He struggles at times to finish his pitches out front, causing him to leave his stuff up in the zone. Sims throws his slider with power in the low 80s, and at times it has good depth as well. He has the ability to spin a breaking ball, and he’s shown a solid curveball as well that’s about 10 mph slower than his slider. A Clemson recruit, Sims figures to squeeze into the back of the first round thanks to his present stuff and track record.”

The Future:

There are a lot of different ways Sims can develop as a pitcher but I expect the Braves to try and slowly bring him along. He will need to focus on his secondary offerings – like most HS pitchers – as well as his mental approach to pitching since he has such limited exposure to the role. His innings should be closely monitored because, while talented, he is still very new to the workload that comes with being a starter.

Sims has the upside of a #2 starter in my opinion because he found a home in an organization that has an excellent track record of maximizing its pitcher’s potential. He also has a very advanced arsenal considering his limited experience with three current offerings that can all be plus (fastball, slider, curve) and with the development of a change-up he could maximize his potential. If he fails to develop a change-up or if the Braves decide to shift him to a bullpen role he has the arsenal to work in the late innings and potentially close out games. Obviously the rotation is where he should stay and it looks like the Braves agree since they have already tabbed him for the Gulf Coast League to be a part of their rotation. Braves fans should not expect to see Sims in Atlanta until 2016 at the earliest as he will have to build up his innings and learn the nuances of pitching.

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For more on the Braves check out Tomahawk Take

International League

Kuhn in White Sox spring training (Photo Credit: Rick Scuteri-US PRESSWIRE)

RHP – Pedro Villarreal, Louisville (Cincinnati): 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO

RHP – Jeff Mandel, Syracuse (Washington): 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO

RHP – Wirfin Obispo, Louisville (Cincinnati): 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO

DH – Tyler Kuhn, Charlotte (Chicago White Sox): 3-4, 3B, HR, RBI, 3 R

RHP – Tyler Cloyd, Lehigh Valley (Philadelphia): 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO

RHP – Chris Tillman, Norfolk (Baltimore): 6.2 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO

RHP – Henry Wrigley, Durham (Tampa Bay): 3-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

Pacific Coast League

No Scheduled Games

Eastern League

CF – Matt Den Dekker, Binghamton (NY Mets): 3-4, 2B, 3B, R, BB

SS – Josh Rodriguez, Binghamton (NY Mets): 3-5, 2B, 3B, RBI, R

CF – Eury Perez, Harrisburg (Nationals): 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R

RHP – Jonathan Pettibone, Reading (Philadelphia): 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO

3B – Miguel Abreu, Reading (Philadelphia): 3-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, R

C – Roberto Perez, Akron (Cleveland): 3-4, 2 2B, 4 RBI

LHP – Vidal Nuno, Trenton (NY Yankees): 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

Nuno has allowed just 1 ER in 22.0 Double-A innings this season.

Southern League

CF – Denny Almonte, Jackson (Seattle): 3-4, 2B, HR, RBI, 2 R, BB

RHP – Brandon Maurer, Jackson (Seattle): 8.0 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO

RHP – David Hale, Mississippi (Atlanta): 7.2 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 11 SO

RHP – Hiram Burgos, Huntsville (Milwaukee): 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO

CF – Donnie Webb, Jacksonville (Miami): 3-4, 3B, HR, RBI, 2 R

RHP – Matthew Neil, Jacksonville (Miami): 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO

3B – Corey Smith, Birmingham (Chicago White Sox): 4-6, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R

Texas League

RHP – A.J. Schugel, Arkansas (LA Angels): 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

1B – Nathan Freiman, San Antonio (San Diego): 4-5, 2B, 5 RBI

RHP – Shawn Haviland, Midland (Oakland): 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO

2B – Kolten Wong, Springfield (St. Louis): 2-5, HR, 2 RBI, R

Wong has quietly put together a 0.315/.378/.458 slash line thanks to a steady and consistent showing every day.

California League

1B – Ricky Oropesa, San Jose (San Francisco): 3-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 R

DH – Tommy Medica, Lake Elsinore (San Diego): 3-4, 2B, 3B, RBI, 2 R, BB

RF – Rymer Liriano, Lake Elsinore (San Diego): 4-4, 3 RBI

4-hit game pushes him up to 0.500 (18-36) in his last 10.

1B – Mario Martinez, High Desert (Seattle): 2-4, 2B, HR, RBI, 2 R

RHP – Chad Rogers, Bakersfield (Cincinnati): 7.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO

Carolina League

C – David Freitas, Potomac (Washington): 5-6, RBI, R

1B – Justin Bloxom, Potomac (Washington): 2-6, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R

RHP – Will Roberts, Carolina (Cleveland): 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO

LHP – Dimasther Delgado, Lynchburg (Atlanta): 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO

RHP – Miguel Celestino, Salem (Boston): 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO

Florida State League

LHP – Cole Nelson, Fort Myers (Minnesota): 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 9 SO

RHP – Yohan Almonte, St. Lucie (NY Mets): 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO

3B – Jonathan Rodriguez, Palm Beach (St. Louis): 2-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R

3B – Mike Walker, Brevard County (Milwaukee): 3-5, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R

After a 17-82 (0.207) start, Walker has recovered to push his slash stats to 0.283/.347/.434 on the season.

RHP – Matt Loosen, Daytona (Chicago Cubs): 5.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO

Midwest League

LHP – Kyle Ryan, West Michigan (Detroit): 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO

3B – Josef Terry, Dayton (Cincinnati): 2-3, 2 2B, R, BB

CF – Tom Belza, South Bend (Arizona): 3-4, 3B, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI

LHP – John Pedrotty, South Bend (Arizona): 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO

RHP – Drew Granier, Burlington (Oakland): 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

Now sporting a 1.89 ERA and 65-23 SO-to-BB in 71.1 IP this season.

RHP – David Goforth, Wisconsin (Milwaukee): 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO

South Atlantic League

3B – Kyle Kubitza, Rome (Atlanta): 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI, 3 R, BB

SS – T.J. Rivera, Savannah (NY Mets): 3-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R

RHP – Logan Verrett, Savannah (NY Mets): 6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO

LHP – Eduardo Rodriguez, Delmarva (Baltimore): 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO

RHP – Jose Fernandez, Greensboro (Miami): 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO

19.0 IP, 8 H, 0 ER, 4 BB and 27 SO – that’s the pitching line from his last three starts combined.

RF – Steven Souza Jr., Hagerstown (Washington): 3-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

Pitcher and Hitter of the Day

Birmingham’s Corey Smith and Mississippi’s David Hale

Today we cover the players representing the NL East for the first time. (more…)

Simmons at the plate during a March 19th spring training game (Photo Credit: Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE)

The Braves have indicated that the move was made for defensive purposes but it will be interesting to see how Simmons bat will play at the ML level as he has a reputation as a free swinger. Certainly the Braves are choosing to highlight his defensive acumen as a way to take the pressure off of his young bat and rightfully so as he has limited experience at the higher levels. Simmons has dealt with criticism of his bat at every stop thus far in his professional career and he has exceeded all expectations and will look to do so again in Atlanta. In the end Simmons will have his greatest value as a superior defender however if he is able to maintain his strong plate discipline and line drive approach he has the potential to provide an instant spark to the Brave’s lineup. Additionally, Simmons has plus speed which he will be able to utilize to wreak havoc on the base paths and could be an excellent compliment to Michael Bourn as a bottom of the lineup spark for the Braves who will try and work their way out of 4th place in the NL East.

For more on the Atlanta Braves, check out Tomahawk Take

And he appeared to be well on his way. In his first full season in the Tigers’ farm system with Class “A” West Michigan, he hit .293 with 4 HR, 50 RBI, and 25 doubles. In addition to his offensive skills, his speed on the base paths and range in the outfield helped spur on the Whitecaps to win the 2007 Midwest League Championship. He also enjoyed making an appearance in the Midwest League All Star Game and played on the World Team in the All-Star Futures Game in San Francisco that summer.

Gorkys Hernandez takes part in a spring training exhibition game on February 25, 2011 (Photo Credit: Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE)

However, the thought of Hernandez taking over for Ordonez was snuffed out when he was packaged with pitcher Jair Jurrjens to the Atlanta Braves for shortstop Edgar Renteria (no doubt Detroit would like to have that trade back…) in the fall of 2007.

Hernandez hit for a lower average in his second full season in the minors for Advanced “A” Myrtle Beach (down to .264 from .293), but did have 42 RBI, 23 doubles, and an almost-identical OBP to his first season (up .348 from .344).

Gorkys clipped along at a decent pace in the Minors, eventually being moved to the Pittsburgh system in the trade that sent Nate McLouth to the Braves. His batting averaged hovered around the .280 mark, however, a disturbing trend creeped into Gorkys’ game as his Minor League career wore on—strikeouts—and lots of them.

In fact, in 2009, when he split time between Atlanta and Pittsburgh’s Double “A” squads, he racked up 130 K’s, and in 2010 and 2011, struck out more than 90 times in each season.

Another downside is that Hernandez is also known for being a bit of a hot head.

While being shuffled around through three Major League organizations took a little luster off of Hernandez’s star-prospect stature, his name will be dropped again with prominence if he can keep his head in the game and continue to work hard.

His hustle in the outfield, his ability to steal bases, and the occasional pop in his bat finally warranted a call up to the big leagues, where he’s appeared in six games for the Pirates, appearing in six games thus far, but only having seven official chances at the plate.

Shortly after the call up, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle acknowledged that Mr. Hernandez may only be receiving a “cup of coffee” in the bigs for now, but if Gorkys can cut down on the strikeouts, he’ll stick around Pittsburgh and continue to find his way into the lineup.

~~~~~

For more on the Pirates, check out Rum Bunter

Baseball is full of players – stars and role-players alike – who beat the odds and earned a chance to play at the highest level. One of those individuals is currently roaming center field for the Kansas City Royals and while most fans don’t believe Jarrod Dyson has the chops to make it as an everyday outfielder, everyone wants to see him succeed.

No matter the year, a 50th round pick – or any late round selection – reaching and playing in the majors makes for a wonderful story. In the 2006 class, just over 1,500 players were selected (1,502 to be exact) and Dyson was pick number 1,475.  That alone makes him noteworthy but it doesn’t stop there. He also gets some fan interest bonus points for being the only player drafted out of Southwest Mississippi Community College – and there are only six such players in the draft era – to make it to the major leagues. No matter what he does going forward, Dyson beat the odds.

As you can guess from the title, this article wasn’t inspired by nor is it really about Kansas City’s lightning-quick, reserve outfielder. But his story and background popped into my head (it’s admittedly a loose tie-in) when I read about yesterday’s promotion of Braves C/OF Evan Gattis from Lynchburg (A+) to Mississippi (AA). Gattis, as I’m sure you can surmise, has a interesting background of his own. Fact of the matter is, he’s walked a very atypical path to get to where he is today. While we will have to wait and see if he will ever reach the big leagues, he’s certainly gotten the attention of a lot of people in and around the game of baseball.

The journey aside, hitting 0.385/.468/.821 with 7 2B, 9 HR and 29 RBI in 21 games in the Carolina League will have that effect.

While he wasn’t a 50th round selection, Gattis had to wait until the 23rd round before the Atlanta Braves grabbed him with the 702nd pick in the 2010 draft. Like Dyson, Gattis signed for just $1,000 and came from a school – University of Texas of the Permian Basin in Odessa – that was very much off the beaten path. The similarities between Jarrod and Evan pretty much end there however. In fact, for Gattis, his eventual college belied his talent as he was a Texas A&M recruit coming out of high school.

Of course he never played for the Aggies.

Evan’s story from his high school graduation to the 2010 draft is one with many peaks, valleys, twists and turns. I’m guessing all of us can relate to at least one – if not a few of the things he’s experienced along the way; injury, self-doubt, drug rehab for a marijuana addiction, depression and wanderlust – but how many of us would return to the thing we left after not doing it for four years?

I’m guessing the percentage is rather small but return to baseball is exactly what Evan Gattis did. He still needs to make up for lost time but there’s no doubt that he’s shown he has the talent to succeed. Now 169 games into his minor league career he has a 0.318/.381/.553 line and 78 extra-base hits combined between his stops at Danville, Rome and Lynchburg. At 25 years of age he’s a bit long in the tooth for a prospect but he’s making up ground quickly. He’s successfully knocked off the rust and has shown great improvement in his patience and approach at the plate. Of course you don’t need to take my word for it since it’s plainly visible in the numbers:

2010 – Danville (Rk): 44 SO and 6 BB in 60 G
2011 – Rome (A): 53 SO and 25 BB in 88 G
2012 – Lynchburg (A+): 12 SO and 10 in 21 G

Given that his plate discipline – outside of his age – was the big concern surrounding his standing as a prospect, it looks more and more like the Atlanta Braves have one of the biggest steals of the 2010 MLB draft on their hands. He has the defensive skills to remain behind the plate if the Braves want to keep him there but he recently started logging some time in LF and the move figures to accelerate his developmental timetable. With his 6′ 4″ and 230 pound frame he might hold up better at another position but at the same time he doesn’t have the same “wear on his tires” thanks to his 4 year hiatus from baseball. Personally I’d like to see him continue his development as a catcher, but regardless of where he plays, he has the plus power and compact swing to be a offensive weapon in the major leagues.

If the progress he’s made with his approach at the plate holds up against Double-A pitching over the summer, we just might see Gattis make his major league debut in September. I root for all minor league players to at least achieve their dream of playing in the big leagues, but I’m pulling just a little bit harder for a guy like Evan Gattis.

It’s awfully hard not to.

~~~~~

For more on the Braves, check out Tomahawk Take

You can follow us on Twitter @Seedlings2Stars and yours truly @thebaseballfish. You can also keep up to date with all things S2S by liking our Facebook page.

1. Jorge Bonifacio, OF, Kansas City Royals

   Born: June 4th, 1993
   Height/Weight: 6’1”/192
   Bats/Throws: R/R
   2012 Stats: Low-A Kane County: 10 G, .410/.511/.590, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 7 BB, 6 K, 1 SB

   Scouting Report: Bonifacio is the younger brother of Miami outfielder Emilio Bonifacio. Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2009, Jorge is a different player than his brother. Jorge’s best skill would be his hit tool. He makes solid contact and hits the ball to all fields. Not only does he make good contact, but has shown a refined understanding of the strike zone in 2012. He has average power presently that comes naturally through his swing, but that should grow to above average as he matures physically. He currently has average speed as well, but this will decrease as he grows up and his body fills out. Bonifacio is an above average defender and makes good reads on balls. He projects to play RF due to his speed projection and above average arm. He has the potential to hit .290 with 18-22 home runs and 10-15 stolen bases annually.

2. Ronald Guzman, OF/1B, Texas Rangers
   

   Ronald Guzman (checkoutmycards.com)

   Born: October 20th, 1994
   Height/Weight: 6’4”/190
   Bats/Throws: L/L
   2012 Stats: Extended Spring Training

   Scouting Report: Guzman is an extremely raw, young, talent out of the Dominic Republic. He signed with the Rangers in July of last year for $3.45 million. Guzman’s main quality is his hit tool. Although he has yet to take an official at bat in professional baseball, Guzman’s hitting ability has been raved about. He is said to have a polished, smooth, swing with an excellent approach at the plate to go with it. Guzman doesn’t show tons of power presently, but being just 17 he has time to add muscle to his thin frame. Once he does, he may be a forced to be reckoned with. Some scouts have gone as far as to compare his swing and approach with Eric Hosmer. This would mean he has a controlled swing, that hits for average, and still finds above average power without sacrificing plate discipline. Guzman’s main issue is where he fits defensively. He currently plays in the outfield, but is slow and his arm is below average. It’s hard to think it will be his longtime home. The most likely fit for Guzman is at first base, but during his time at the Rangers instructional camp, he didn’t look very pretty there. Guzman’s bat will be what gets him to the major leagues and if everything goes perfect, he could hit .300 or better with 25+ home runs annually. He is a long term project and we aren’t likely to see him in a big league uniform until 2016 at the absolute earliest.

3. Trevor Rosenthal, RHP, St. Louis Cardinals

   Born: May 29th, 1990
   Height/Weight: 6’2”/190
   Bats/Throws: R/R
   2012 Stats: Double-A Springfield: (0-2), 2 GS, 8 2/3 IP, 5 H, 5 BB, 8 R/7 ER, 8 K, 2 HR Allowed

   Scouting Report: Rosenthal came out of no where to take the 2011 season by storm. The soon to be 22 year old righty has a low to mid-90s fastball that features good sink to it. His slider has good two-plane break and is already looking like a plus pitch. He is working on improving his change-up, but over time he will get improved feel for the offering. Rosenthal is being tested by the Cardinals organization out of spring training; he is being pushed to Double-A, skipping High-A Palm Beach, to start the 2012 campaign. Rosenthal shows good command and has an outstanding 3.23 K/BB ratio so far in his career. Rosenthal has a smooth delivery that he repeats easily. He could become a #2 starter with further development of his change-up. He has struggled in his first two starts at Double-A, but that was expected making such a big jump in the minor league ladder. How he responds to the early struggles will be something to watch throughout the season.

4. Brad Miller, SS, Seattle Mariners

   Born: October 18th, 1989
   Height/Weight: 6’2”/185
   Bats/Throws: L/R
   2012 Stats: High-A High Desert: 11 G, .347/.448/.776, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 14 K, 9 BB, 2 SB, 9 Errors (.833 Fld%)

   Scouting Report: Miller was the 2011 ACC Player of the Year and Seattle took him 62nd overall in the 2011 draft because of his hitting ability. First thing you must know about Brad Miller, he isn’t a shortstop. I know listed above I put ‘SS’ next to his name, but the simple fact is Brad Miller won’t play shortstop much longer in his career. He was moved to DH at Clemson in 2010 because he made so many errors in the field at shortstop. This year alone Miller has made 9 errors. He is sloppy with his throws, he doesn’t have good footwork, and he isn’t consistent in the field. Now to the positives, Miller can flat out hit. From a National League Scout, “He might hit enough to play left or third. He won’t be here long. This guy squares up everything and while it’s not pretty from load to contact, the swings works very well.” Miller has his hands very high in his pre-swing stance and it leads to his strikeout problems. He finds a way to make it work for him though, and he barrels balls to all fields. Miller has average power, and he is likely to put up 14 to 18 home runs in a season. He has slightly above average speed and that will help decide where his new defensive home is. I see him in left field most likely; second base would be preferable, but the same problems he struggles with at short may show there as well.

5. Jack Marder, C, Seattle Mariniers

   Born: February 21st, 1990
   Height/Weight: 5’11”/185
   Bats/Throws: R/R
   2012 Stats:  High-A High Desert: 11 G, .358/.414/.528, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 8 K, 4 BB, 5 SB (3 CS)

   Scouting Report: Marder was selected in the 16th round of the 2011 draft. Marder is new to the catcher position, transitioning from playing a variety of positions at Oregon. Marder’s frame is small for the position, and questions remain whether or not he can stick there in the long run. Marder has an above average hit tool led by his quick hands and swing. Marder is a 60 runner according to a source within the industry. The same person said, ” He gets to top speed like a top-of-the-order, middle defender type”. Marder has a good arm and can manage the running game from behind the plate. Marder doesn’t have a lot of power and projects to hit 8-10 home runs annually. A national league scout said of Marder, “He can do a lot of things. Run, throw, hit. Good player, will play in majors.” If Marder can stick at the catcher position he would be an incredibly valuable player. If he can’t, he could still find a spot on a mjor league roster as a super utility player who could play almost any position.

6. Tyler Austin, OF, New York Yankees

   Born: September 6th, 1991
   Height/Weight: 6’2”/200
   Bats/Throws: R/R
   2012 Stats: Low-A Charleston: .444/.487/1.028, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 7 K, 3 BB, 1 SB

   Scouting Report: Tyler Austin is another bat first player. Austin played catcher in high school and experimented at both third and first in 2011 before staring the transition to right field this season. He should be successful in right field as he has average to slightly above average speed and an above average arm. He will need to do serious work on his reads on fly balls, and improve on his routes to said fly balls. Austin is a polished hitter with above average power potential. He can hit the ball to all fields, but his power is fairly pull heavy. If he can stick in RF he has a chance to be a first-division starter. He could hit .280 with 22-26 home runs and 15-20 SB. Learning how to play the outfield at the professional level may prove to be a difficult task for Austin

7. Drew Gagnon, RHP, Milwaukee Brewers

   Born: June, 26th, 1990
   Height/Weight: 6’4”/195
   Bats/Throws: R/R
   2012 Stats: Low-A Wisconsin: (0-0), 2 GS, 9 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 2 R/2 ER, 13 K, 0 HR Allowed

   Scouting Report: Gagnon was a third round pick, #100 overall, out of Long Beach State. The big righty works on a downhill plane and currently thrives off of his low 90s fastball that features some movement. His best off-speed offering at the moment is a curveball that comes to the plate in the upper 70s. Like most young pitchers Gagnon is working on developing a change-up, which the Brewers hope will become a swing and mass pitch. Gagnon’s height will help him throughout his career and he already uses it to his advantage to pitch aggressively with his fastball. Gagnon will need to develop the secondary offerings to be considered more than an innings eater, but he has shown promise through instructional leagues and the start of the season that he is developing.

8. Nicholas Tropeano, RHP Houston Astros
   

   Nick Tropeano (checkoutmycards.com)

   Born: August 27th, 1990
   Height/Weight: 6’4”/205
   Bats/Throws: R/R
   2012 Stats: Low-A Lexington: (0-0) 2 G, 1 GS, 11 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 1 R/1 ER, 18 K, 0 HR Allowed

   Scouting Report: Tropeano was the Astros fifth round pick in the 2011 draft. He is a product of Stony Brook  University and has two advanced pitches early in his professional career. Tropeano’s fastball sits in the low 90s and he has shown good control and command of the pitch. His best off-speed pitch is his change-up which has a good amount of arm-side fade. It is an excellent pitch that generates swings and misses frequently. His arm speed is the same on the fastball and change-up, which is crucial to success with the pitch. His third pitch is a slider that is below average presently. If Tropeano can develop the slider he could have three plus offerings. Tropeano uses his size to help pitch downhill. The development of a breaking pitch will be crucial to his career path. His fastball/change-up combo is good enough to earn him a spot as a 7th/8th inning reliever, but three plus pitches would make him a candidate to be one of the better pitching prospects in 2013.

9. Chris Bostick, SS/2B, Oakland Athletics

   Born: March 24th, 1993
   Height/Weight: 5’11”/185
   Bats/Throws: R/R
   2012 Stats: Extended Spring Training

   Scouting Report: Bostick was the one and only, out of a possible fifteen,  high school player signed by the Athletics from their 2011 draft class. Bostick is a young player from New York and has showed maturity beyond his years. Bostick’s best tool is his hitting ability. He barrels everything that comes to the plate and hits it to all fields. He has below average power, but could hit for average power just from his compact, solid swing. He has above-average speed and a slightly above average arm, but questions remain whether or not he can play at shortstop. He could transition to second base fairly easily, but at either position his bat/speed combo will be a premium. Hitting .300 with a fair number of extra base hits is not out of the question for Bostick, and he could add 20 stolen bases as well.

10. Luke Jackson, RHP, Texas Rangers  

    Born: August 24th, 1991
    Height/Weight: 6’2”/185
    Bats/Throws: R/R
    2012 Stats: Low-A Hickory: (1-0), 3 GS, 14 2/3 IP, 10 H, 6 BB, 5 R/3 ER, 22 K, 0 HR Allowed

    Scouting Report: Jackson is a classic high risk/high reward draft pick. A 2010 sandwich (supplemental) round pick for Marlon Byrd, Jackson has all of the raw ability to be a future star. His fastball sits in the low to mid-90s and can register as high as 97 MPH. He has a curveball that at times looks like a true plus pitch when the rotation is tight. His change-up has good movement but lacks consistency. He also can tip his pitches at times, as he slows down his arm at times to throw his off-speed pitches. Control and consistency have been Jackson’s downfall in the past, but he has showed a promising start to the 2012 campaign. If he can be consistent and reach his potential, it is not out of line to think Jackson can be a #2/3 starter.

___________

Follow us on Twitter @Seedlings2Stars and myself @ScottKeltnerS2S . You can also keep up to date with all things S2S by liking our Facebook page.

At this late point in the spring, the roster pictures for the 30 MLB teams are starting to take some semblance of shape. Many top prospects have already been sent down, even those that have impressed, like Pittsburgh’s Starling Marte. One prospect who notably hasn’t been sent down yet is Atlanta’s Andrelton Simmons, who has dazzled observers with his highly-touted defensive chops this spring.

Atlanta’s shortstop situation is in flux at the moment. Like any team, they’d rather not give 500 ABs to Jack Wilson, and prospect Tyler Pastornicky, who most assumed would be the starter, has just five singles and a walk in 37 plate appearances this spring, adding fuel to the idea that the 22-year-old with just 27 Triple-A games isn’t ready.

But is Simmons the answer on Opening Day? I believe the answer is a resounding no.

(more…)

Successful minor league organizations encourage their marketing and sales departments to shy away from focusing marketing campaigns and sales pitches around prospects in their affiliation’s organization. This is why you will see minor league teams focusing on their team’s manager, mascot, or the family friendly atmosphere of the stadium. In general it is just smart business. However, the main reason for this is the stability of the manager, mascot, or family friendly atmosphere. In minor league baseball, the players you have today could be gone tomorrow. Wait 5 minutes and minor league front offices may be running around crazily. Could you imagine what that would do to a marketing campaign?

But here at Seedlings to Stars, we can focus on the minor league prospects because we don’t have to worry about selling tickets and, hey in the International League, a promotion for a prospect means a trip to the show. Such news would be terrific as we could get to see the beginnings of a new major league career.

For my first article and series at Seedlings to Stars, I will be taking a look at the “all projected team” of each league in full season minor league baseball. It should be noted that with four weeks left before the minor league season begins, it is not easy to predict what players will end up where. This is mainly done by my gut feeling and an educated guess as to where the players will begin based on research and logic.

For the Rankings, the sources that I will use are:

• Seedlings to Stars
• Scout.com
• ESPN
• Baseball America
• Baseball Prospectus
• MLB.com
• John Sickels

Position Players

C Ryan Lavarnway, Pawtucket Red Sox (Boston Red Sox)

2011 Statistics (Boston Red Sox/AAA Pawtucket/AA Portland): 546 Plate Appearances .285/.370/.553/.923 59 XBH 61 BB-117 K

Seedlings to Stars Top 100 Rank: 53

Other 2012 Top 100 Prospect Rankings: Baseball Prospectus (#98), MLB.com (#93), John Sickels (#97)

Finding a better looking offensive catcher in the minor leagues might be difficult to accomplish. Since entering full season baseball in 2009, Lavarnway has put up three consecutive 20+ homerun seasons with at least an .880 OPS. Lavarnway’s 2011 season was great by even his measures though. Despite spending all year at the three top levels of minor league baseball, he produced career bests in batting average, OPS, homeruns, and tied for his career high in extra base hits. While the bat projects well, Lavarnway’s defense is what holds him back at this point. While it’s improved since he entered pro ball, Lavarnway still projects as an all bat type player. If Lavarnway begins 2012 in AAA, he will hit in the middle of a lineup that looks like it has the chance to be very potent in Pawtucket.

1B Neftali Soto, Louisville Bats (Cincinnati Reds)

2011 Statistics (AAA Louisville/AA Carolina): 432 Plate Appearances .278/.333/.576/.909 53 XBH 26 BB-98 K

Seedlings to Stars Top 100 Rank: N/A

Other 2012 Top 100 Prospects Rankings: N/A

Neftali Soto showed signs of a breakthrough when he put up a .461 slugging percentage in 2010 in the Carolina League, which was almost 80 points above the league average and the 7^th best in the league. In 2011 Soto took those to new levels when he put up the 3^rd best slugging% in the Southern League and finished tied for first in the league in homeruns with current Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. While Soto definitely has displayed power, he is pretty much all power at this point. Even though his discipline has improved somewhat from unbearable to below average, Soto’s strikeout rate continues to climb at a much faster rate since he entered full season baseball in 2008. He will begin the 2012 season in AAA, but may be road blocked in the major leagues by Joey Votto for now.

2B Henry Rodriguez, Louisville Bats (Cincinnati Reds)

2011 Statistics (AA Carolina/A+ Bakersfield): 566 Plate Appearances .320/.372/.469/.841 50 XBH 39 BB-78 K

Seedlings to Stars Top 100 Rank: 99

Other 2012 Top 100 Prospect Rankings: N/A

A potential teammate of Neftali Soto’s in AAA in 2012, Henry Rodriguez split the 2011 season between high-A and AA and showed the same offensive ability he displayed in 2010 in low-A ball Dayton. If there is one weakness in Rodriguez’s game offensively it is his discipline, but even then he showed considerable improvement from 2010 to 2011. What the 22 year old switch hitter does though offensively is mostly everything else. He’s shown surprising power for a middle infielder of his size (listed at 5’10” 150 pounds) and combines that with great contact ability (.312 batting average over the last 2 years) and solid speed coupled with good instincts (63 steals the last 2 years). While the offense is good all-around, Henry Rodriguez’s defense leaves something to be desired.

3B Will Middlebrooks, Pawtucket Red Sox (Boston Red Sox)

2011 Statistics (AAA Pawtucket/AA Portland/A-Lowell): 472 Plate Appearances .285/.328/.506/.834 50 XBH 26 BB-114 K

Seedlings to Stars Top 100 Rank: N/A

Other 2012 Top 100 Prospect Rankings: Scout.com (#68), Baseball America (#51), Baseball Prospectus (#55), MLB.com (#56), John Sickels (#78)

Expected to start at the hot corner for the Paw Sox in 2012, Will Middlebrooks has the toolset to be a big league starting third baseman. Middlebrooks features a quick bat with raw power and defensive skills that could make him a great all-around third baseman. What he hasn’t fully put together yet is the production. A former two way player in high school, Middlebrooks has shown improvement in power and has cut back on strikeouts, but has regressed in plate discipline overall since entering full season baseball. Still with the kind of tools that Middlebrooks has, it’s possible that a breakout could be only a matter of time away and the potential in such a breakout is scary.

SS Tim Beckham, Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay Rays)

2011 Statistics (AAA Durham/AA Montgomery): 579 Plate Appearances .271/.328/.408/.736 44 XBH 42 BB-120 K

Seedlings to Stars Top 100 Rank: N/A

Other 2012 Top 100 Prospect Rankings: MLB.com (#92)

It’s been some kind of a ride for Tim Beckham, hasn’t it? A former first overall pick in the draft in 2008, Beckham seemed to have fallen off the prospect radar a bit until a solid year in 2011. Beckham put himself back on the radar screen after displaying power that hadn’t been seen since he entered pro ball. Beckham doubled his minor league homerun total with 12 in 2011 and set a career high in extra base hits with 44. If Beckham could combine his power from 2011 with plate discipline in 2010 (11.4% walk rate in 2010), then Beckham would boost his future outlook more. In a world where you’re always looking for improvement, Beckham also cut back on his errors for a second consecutive season and has seen his fielding% go from .919 in 2009 to .960 in 2011. Given that Beckham is still just 21 years old, he definitely has time on his side and all players develop at different speeds.

LF L.J. Hoes, Norfolk Tides (Baltimore Orioles)

2011 Statistics (AA Bowie/A+ Frederick): 566 Plate Appearances .285/.354/.390/.745 34 XBH 53 BB-81 K

Seedlings to Stars Top 100 Rank: N/A

Other 2012 Top 100 Prospect Rankings: N/A

A former 3^rd round pick by the Baltimore Orioles, L.J. Hoes had a second consecutive solid season to his belt.  While Hoes regressed some in discipline from 2010 to 2011, he showed improved power, albeit Bowie’s home park is homer friendly. L.J. especially broke out in the second half of 2011 when he batted .306 with a .398 on base percentage and .462 slugging percentage.  A former infield prospect, Hoes moved to left field in 2011. The move puts a damper on his prospect value though given his bat would profile nicely as a second baseman, but not nearly as well in left field.

CF Starling Marte, Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh Pirates)

2011 Statistics (AA Altoona/A+ Bradenton/Rookie): 281 Plate Appearances .319/.387/.460/.847 26 XBH 13 BB-65 K

Seedlings to Stars Top 100 Rank: N/A

Other 2012 Top 100 Prospect Rankings: Scout.com (#87), ESPN (#72), Baseball America (#73), Baseball Prospectus (#56), MLB.com (#40), John Sickels (#64)

An interesting prospect, Starling Marte’s tools are very good, but his plate discipline is astonishingly bad. It doesn’t help that it has gotten worse as he’s gone by each full season level. Marte obviously has been able to handle pitching thus far and generally the jump to AA is one that makes or breaks prospects as it’s seen as the hardest jump in minor league baseball. Still, it’s hard to imagine that a player that walked in just 3.8% of his plate appearances in 2011 and 3.3% if you don’t include intentional walks, can be successful at the big league level. He’ll begin in AAA and could reach the major leagues at some point in 2012.

RF Bryce Harper, Syracuse Chiefs (Washington Nationals)

2011 Statistics (AA Harrisburg/A Hagerstown): 452 Plate Appearances .297/.392/.501/.893 43 XBH 59 BB-87 K

Seedlings to Stars Top 100: #3

Other 2012 Top 100 Prospect Rankings: Scout.com (#3), ESPN (#2), Baseball America (#1), Baseball Prospectus (#2), MLB.com (#2), John Sickels (#1)

What more do you say about the most well-known prospect in baseball? Well all Bryce Harper did in his first season, at an age that most kids are graduating from high school, was put up a near 1.000 OPS in A ball and get promoted to AA by early July. Harper did struggle in AA, but that’s to be expected. There’s also a lot of talk now that Harper could skip AAA completely and start 2012 in the majors. The smart money would be on the Nationals to have him begin the year in AAA though. Harper has incredible bat speed that produces some of the best power in minor league baseball. His bat has been obviously talked about since people watched youtube videos of him hitting 500 foot homeruns as a high school kid.  He has plus-plus power and great bat speed with hand-eye coordination that gives him the potential to hit for average as well. Even in his first season, Harper displayed patience as he walked at a 13% clip, including a non-intentional walk percentage of 11.5%. Beyond the bat though, Harper is a very good all-around player. He has a plus-plus arm in right field and good speed, which allowed him to steal 26 bases in his first full season. Ultimately the Nationals will have an interesting decision and if they are smart, in my humble opinion, Bryce Harper will begin the year in the minor leagues.

DH Tyler Moore, Syracuse Chiefs (Washington Nationals)

2011 Statistics (AA Harrisburg): 561 Plate Appearances .270/.314/.532/.846

Seedlings to Stars Top 100 Rank: N/A

Other 2012 Top 100 Prospect Rankings: N/A

While his teammate Bryce Harper has been placed on the fast track, the Washington Nationals have taken a level by level approach with Tyler Moore. Few players have displayed the power that Moore has shown over the last two seasons. In 2010, Moore hit 77 extra base hits and drove in 111 runs over 129 games for the Potomac Nationals. Moore, who  was 3^rd in slugging percentage in the Eastern League after leading the Carolina League in the same stat in 2010, will likely need to cut down on strikeouts to carry his value as a hitter to the next level. Moore has gone up in strikeouts each season and his walks have decreased over the same time. Moore could be a type of hitter that Washington could use though, a pure power hitter. Moore is a typical bat first, first baseman as he is not great defensively. He doesn’t hurt himself particularly though either. A combination of Harper and Moore could be interesting to watch if you like the long ball early in the year in the International League. It is hard to think of a bigger duo of power hitters than that pair.

Starting Pitchers

RHP Julio Teheran, Gwinnett Braves (Atlanta Braves)

2011 Statistics (MLB Atlanta/AAA Gwinnett): 16-4, 2.85 ERA, 164 1/3 IP, 144 H, 56 BB, 132 K, 1.22 WHIP

Seedlings to Stars Top 100 Rank: #7

Other 2012 Top 100 Prospect Rankings: Scout.com (#4), ESPN (#18), Baseball America (#5), Baseball Prospectus (#5), MLB.com (#4), John Sickels (#10)

After entering the 2011 season as one of the top prospects in the game, Julio Teheran didn’t do a whole lot to disappoint. He put up dominant numbers in AAA and then struggled a bit in his first taste of the major leagues. In a pitching rich organization like the Atlanta Braves, Teheran will likely return to AAA to open the 2012 season while he waits for his next callup to the big leagues. He has a great arm and a good changeup to back it up. The difference for him will be the progression of his curveball. He has at least two weapons to work with though and that’s the difference in dominating in AAA and dominating in the major leagues.

LHP Manny Banuelos, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (New York Yankees)

2011 Statistics (AAA SWB/AA Trenton): 6-7, 3.75 ERA, 129 2/3 IP, 130 H, 71 BB, 125 K,  1.55 WHIP

Seedlings to Stars Top 100 Rank: #26

Other 2012 Top 100 Prospect Rankings: Scout.com (#9), ESPN (#23), Baseball America (#29), Baseball Prospectus (#29), MLB.com (#13), John Sickels (#45)

Arguably, if not unanimously, the best southpaw set to begin in the International League, Banuelos sits in the low 90s with a good changeup and a decent curveball. He struggled with command in 2011 and struggled to get right handed hitters out (.285/.391/.398/.789 vs. RHB’s in 2011). Banuelos faced 408 right handed hitters in 2011 and walked 14% of them. Compare that to the 8.3% of left handed hitters (169 hitters) that he faced. After making 7 starts in AAA, Banuelos is probably going to be back in AAA to open the 2012 season.

RHP Randall Delgado, Gwinnett Braves (Atlanta Braves)

2011 Statistics (MLB Atlanta/AAA Gwinnett/AA Mississippi): 8-8, 3.67 ERA, 174 IP, 164 H, 71 BB, 153 K, 1.35 WHIP

Seedlings to Stars Top 100 Rank: #21

Other 2012 Top 100 Prospect Rankings: Scout.com (#55), ESPN (#98), Baseball America (#46), Baseball Prospectus (#41), MLB.com (#42), John Sickels (#41)

Randall Delgado made his major league debut last season at 21 years old after just 4 starts in AAA. Delgado, who entered 2011 as Baseball America’s 35^th best prospect, made 7 starts for the Atlanta Braves and posted a 2.83 ERA in those 7 starts with a 1.23 WHIP. It’s questionable whether Delgado will begin the 2012 season in Gwinnett or Atlanta, but at this point it’s highly likely that he’ll spend quite a bit of time in Atlanta in 2012 regardless of where he begins the season. When Delgado is going well, he’ll be low to mid 90s with his fastball and throw a good curveball and solid changeup. At 6’3” and 200 pounds, Delgado has a good pitching frame. He does struggle with command at times and has consistently been over 3 walks per 9 in his minor league career. Still at just 22 years old, Delgado and Teheran give something for Braves fans to look forward to in the near future.

RHP Dellin Betances, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (New York Yankees)

2011 Statistics (MLB NYY/AAA SWB/AA Trenton): 4-9, 3.77 ERA, 129 IP, 103 H, 76 BB, 144 K, 1.39 WHIP

Seedlings to Stars Top 100 Rank: #88

Other 2012 Top 100 Prospect Rankings: Scout.com (#28), ESPN (#83), Baseball America (#63), Baseball Prospectus (#63), MLB.com (#41)

In what looks like a rotation that is just for Braves and Yankees fans, Dellin Betances gives the Yankees a second pitcher in the top four. Possessing an arm to dream on, Betances uses two plus pitches with his fastball and curveball and mixes in a changeup that will likely make the difference between whether he becomes a frontline starter or a dominant reliever. Dellin is listed at 6 foot 8 and 245 pounds giving him an enormous advantage with the downhill plane, which makes his fastball even tougher. Command is not Betances strength as witnessed by his 76 walks in 129 innings in 2011. Still, his career .212 opponents average in full season baseball, including .216 in 2011, has allowed Betances to keep a manageable 1.28 career minor league WHIP. After making 4 starts in AAA, Dellin Betances will likely begin 2012 in AAA.

RHP Chris Archer, Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay Rays)

2011 Statistics (AAA Durham/AA Montgomery): 9-7, 4.09 ERA, 147 1/3 IP, 147 H, 86 BB, 130 K, 1.58 WHIP

Seedlings to Stars Top 100 Rank: N/A

Other 2012 Top 100 Prospect Rankings: ESPN (#63), Baseball America (#89), MLB.com (#74)

One of the prospects traded by the Chicago Cubs to Tampa Bay for Matt Garzalast offseason, Chris Archer went from breakout prospect in 2010 to regression in 2011. Archer has never commanded the ball well in his career in the minor leagues, but his strikeout percentage regressed from over 9 to under 8 per nine innings and his opponents average went from .207 from 2008-2010 to .263 in 2011. His strikeout percentage over those three years was 9.17 per nine innings and dropped to 7.9 per innings in 2011. Archer works mid 90s on his fastball and features a plus slider to go with it. If his command issues continue, which they likely will, then Archer could wind up in the bullpen. For now though, he’s likely to stay a starter, at least until he reaches the major leagues. After finishing the 2011 season in AAA, Chris is likely to begin 2012 in Durham.

~~~~~

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Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon (Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-US PRESSWIRE 3/7/12)

Putting together a Top-100 prospect list is a massive undertaking and any site that takes on the challenge deserves to be recognized for their efforts. Just about a month ago I did a 7-part series comparing the lists of six sources - Baseball Instinct, MLB.com, MLB Prospect Portal, Project Prospect, Scout.com, and S2S.

Now that I’m done with my portion of our team prospect lists, I can revisit this comparative series by looking at another grouping of Top-100 lists from seven new sources. Just as I did the first time around I will tackle one division at a time and then cap it off with a conclusion piece with some final thoughts and system rankings. The sources I have selected for the showdown “redux” series are:

• Baseball America (BA)
• Baseball Prospectus (BP)
• Bullpen Banter (Bant)
• Minor League Ball (JS)
• Full Spectrum Baseball (Spec)
• MLB Dirt (MD)
• Top Prospect Alert (TPA)

The NL East had 24 players make at least one of the seven Top-100 lists while 9 of the 24 were consensus selections. (more…)

Julio Teheran (Photo Credit: Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE)

Putting together a Top-100 prospect list is a massive undertaking and any site that takes on the challenge deserves to be recognized for their efforts. Since I had just over a week between S2S Team Prospect Lists, I wanted to do something a little different while I have this small window at my disposal. The team prospect lists are a grind and require a ton of research and writing time to put together and I thought that comparing various Top-100s would be a good way to change gears and provide a (hopefully) useful services to our readers

I’m not looking to be overly insightful with these six articles – one for each division – or draw any groundbreaking conclusions. Just looking for a way to compare the rankings and give some of the sites that took on the task of producing a Top-100 – like Nathaniel did for S2S – a little extra love.

The sources I have selected for this 6-part miniseries are:

• Baseball Instinct (BI)
• MLB.com (MLB)
• MLB Prospect Portal (Port)
• Project Prospect (Proj)
• Scout.com (SC)
• And of course the S2S rankings (S2S) are included.

So let’s turn to the NL East – which had 23 players make a Top-100 – and see how each list stacks up next to the others on a team-by-team basis. (more…)

Team

Prior to the 1994 season the Niagara Falls Rapids (Niagara Falls, New York) relocated to Jamestown and became the Jammers. Jamestown’s own team the team the Jamestown Expos relocated to Burlington, Vermont following the 1993 season and are currently the Vermont Lake Monsters. The Jammers have been affiliated with the Detroit Tigers (1994-1998), the Atlanta Braves (1999-2001) and the Florida/Miami Marlins (2002-present).

Some notable alumni that played for the Jammers before making it to the major leagues include:

Bubba Trammell (OF): In 1994, Trammel hit .298 with 5 HR and 41 RBI in 65 games with Jamestown in his first professional season. Trammel was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 11^th round of the 1994 MLB amateur draft out of Tennessee (Knoxville, Tennessee). Trammel played in 584 career regular season MLB games over seven seasons, as a member of the Detroit Tigers, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, New York Mets, San Diego Padres, and New York Yankees. He retired from professional baseball in 2007.

Dave Roberts (OF): In 1994, Roberts batted .292 with 12 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 54 games with Jamestown in his first professional season. Roberts was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 24^th round of the 1994 MLB amateur draft out of UCLA (Los Angeles, California). Roberts played in 832 career regular season MLB games over ten seasons, as a member of the Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres, and San Francisco Giants. He was a member of the 2004 World Champion Red Sox. He is remembered most for his stolen base against the New York Yankees in game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. He retired for professional baseball in 2009 and is currently the 1^st base coach for the San Diego Padres.

Gabe Kapler (OF): In 1995, Kapler hit .288 with 4 HR and 34 RBI in 63 games with Jamestonw in his first professional season. Kapler was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 57^th round of the 1995 MLB amateur draft out of Moorpark College (Moorpark, California). Kapler played in 1104 career regular season MLB games over twelve seasons, as a member of the Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies, Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and Tampa Bay Rays. He was a member of the 2004 World Champion Red Sox.  In 2007, he was the Manager at Lo-A Greenville Drive (South Atlantic League) in the Red Sox organization, posting a record of 58-81, before returning as a player. He last played in the majors in 2010.

Francisco Cordero (RHP): In 1995 & 1996, Cordero posted a combined record of 4-7 with a 4.73 ERA in 17 games with Jamestown during his first and second professional seasons. Cordero was signed by the Detroit Tigers in 1994 as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic. The three-time All-Star (2004, 2007 & 2009) has appeared in 753 career regular season MLB games over thirteen seasons, as a member of the Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, and Cincinnati Reds. He is currently a member of the Toronto Blue Jays after signing as a free agent with the team on January 24, 2012.

Robert Fick (1B): In 1996, Fick hit .248 with 1 HR and 14 RBI in 43 games with Jamestown in his first professional season. Fick was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 5^th round of the 1996 MLB amateur draft out of California State Northridge (Los Angeles, California). Fick has played in 846 career regular season MLB games over ten seasons, as a member of the Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, San Diego Padres, and Washington Nationals. He was a member of the 2002 American League All-Star team. Fick last played in 2009 in Independent Ball with the Orange County Flyers (Golden League). He is currently an agent for Paragon Sports International.

Brandon Inge (3B): In 1998, Inge batted .230 with 8 HR and 29 RBI in 51 games with Jamestown during his first professional season. Inge was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 2^nd round of the 1998 MLB amateur draft out of Virginia Commonwealth (Richmond, Virginia). Inge has played in 1399 career regular season MLB games over eleven seasons, as a member of the Detroit Tigers. Inge was a member of the 2009 American League All-Star team.

Adam Pettyjohn (LHP): In 1998, Pettyjohn posted a 2-2 record with a 2.86 ERA in 4 starts with Jamestown during his first professional season. Pettyjohn was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 2^nd round of the 1998 MLB amateur draft out of Fresno State (Fresno, California). Pettyjohn has pitched in 19 career MLB games as a member of the Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds. He lasted pitched in 2010 with Triple-A Buffalo Bison (International League) in the New York Mets organization.

Jeff Weaver (RHP): In 1998, Weaver posted a 1-0 record with a 1.50 ERA in 3 starts with Jamestown during his first professional season. Weaver was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 1^st round (14^th overall) of the 1998 MLB amateur draft out of Fresno State (Fresno, California). Weaver has pitched in 355 career regular season MLB games over eleven seasons, as a member of the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels, St. Louis Cardinals, and Seattle Mariners. He last played in 2010.

Andres Torres (OF): In 1998, Torres hit .234 with 1 HR and 21 RBI in 48 games with Jamestown in his first professional season. Torres was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 4^th round of the 1998 MLB amateur draft out of Miami Dade College (Miami, Florida). Torres has played in 415 career regular season games over seven seasons, as a member of the Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, and San Francisco Giants. He is currently a member of the New York Mets after being traded by the Giants in December 2011.

Nick Green (2B): In 1999, Green hit .297 with 11 HR and 41 RBI in 73 games with Jamestown during his first professional season. Green was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 32^nd round of the 1998 MLB amateur draft out of Georgia Perimeter College (Covington, GA). Green has played in 393 career regular season MLB games over six seasons, as a member of the Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Toronto Blue Jays. He is currently a member of the Miami Marlins after signing a minor league contract in December, 2011.

Roman Colon (RHP): In 1999, Colon posted a 7-5 record with a 4.54 ERA in 15 starts with Jamestown during his third professional season. Colon was signed by the Atlanta Braves in 1995 as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic. Colon has pitched in 121 career regular season MLB games over five seasons, as a member the Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers, and Kansas City Royals. He is currently a member of the Royals after signing a minor league contract with the team in January, 2012.

Wilson Betemit (3B): In 2000, Betemit batted .331 with 5 HR and 37 RBI in 69 games with Jamestown in his fourth professional season. Betemit was signed by the Atlanta Braves in 1996 as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic. Betemit has played in 697 career regular season MLB games over nine seasons, as a member of the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, and Detroit Tigers. He is currently a member of the Baltimore Orioles after signing as a free agent with the team last week.

Pete Orr (2B): In 2000, Orr hit .242 with 2 HR and 15 RBI in 69 games with Jamestown in his first professional season. Orr was signed by the Atlanta Braves in 1999 as an amateur free agent. Orr has played in 393 career regular season MLB games over six seasons, as a member of the Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, and Philadelphia Phillies.

Zach Miner (RHP): In 2001, Miner posted a 3-4 record with a 1.89 ERA in 15 starts with Jamestown in his first professional season. Miner was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 4^th round of the 2000 MLB amateur draft out of Palm Beach Gardens High School (Palm Beach Gardens, Florida). Miner has pitched in 157 career regular season games over four seasons, as a member of the Detroit Tigers. He is currently a member of the Kansas City Royals after signing a minor league contract in December, 2011.

Jeremy Hermida (OF): In 2002, Hermida batted .319 with 7 RBI in 13 games with Jamestown during his first professional season. Hermida was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 1^st round (11^th overall) in the 2002 MLB amateur draft out of Wheeler High School (Marietta, Georgia). Hermida has played in 619 career regular season MLB games over seven seasons, as a member of the Florida Marlins, Boston Red Sox, Oakland Athletics, Cincinnati Reds, and San Diego Padres.

Robert Andino (SS): In 2002, Andino batted .167 with 3 RBI in 9 games with Jamestown during his first professional season. Andino was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 2^nd round of the 2002 MLB amateur draft out of Miami Southridge Senior High School (Miami, Florida). Andino has played in 312 career regular season MLB games over seven seasons, as a member of the Florida Marlins and Baltimore Orioles.

Eric Reed (OF): In 2002, Reed hit .308 with 17 RBI and 19 stolen bases in 60 games with Jamestown during his first professional season. Reed was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 9^th round of the 2002 MLB amateur draft out of Texas A&M (College Station, Texas). Reed played in 60 games with Florida over parts of two seasons.

Yorman Bazardo (RHP): In 2002, Bazardo posted a 5-0 record with a 2.72 ERA in 25 games with Jamestown in his first professional season. Bazardo was signed by the Florida Marlins in 2000 as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela. Bazardo has pitched in 25 career regular season MLB games over four seasons, as a member of the Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers, and Houston Astros.

Jai Miller (OF): In 2003, Miller hit .233 with 6 RBI in 11 games with Jamestown during his first professional season. Miller was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 4^th round of the 2003 MLB amateur draft out of Selma High School (Selma, Alabama). Miller has played in 28 career regular season MLB games over three seasons, as a member of the Florida Marlins, Kansas City Royals, and Oakland Athletics. He is currently a member of the Baltimore Orioles.

Taylor Tankersley (LHP): In 2004, Tankersley posted a 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA in 6 starts with Jamestown in his first professional season. Tankersley was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 1^st round (27^th overall) of the 2004 MLB amateur draft out of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL). Tankersley pitched in 168 career regular season MLB games over four seasons, as a member of the Florida Marlins. He spent the 2011 seasons with Triple-A Buffalo Bison (International League) in the New York Mets organization.

Jason Vargas (LHP): In 2004, Vargas posted a 3-1 record with a 1.96 ERA in 8 starts with Jamestown during his first professional season. Vargas was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 2^nd round of the 2004 MLB amateur draft out of Cal State Long Beach (Long Beach, California). Vargas has pitched in 117 career regular season MLB games over six seasons, as a member of the Florida Marlins, New York Mets, and Seattle Mariners.

Brad Davis (C): In 2004, Davis hit .289 with 14 RBI in 42 games with Jamestown during his first professional season. Davis was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 5^th round of the 2004 MLB amateur draft out of Cal State San Bernardino (San Bernardino, California). Davis played in 33 career MLB games with Florida in 2010. He is currently a member of the San Diego Padres.

Brett Carroll (OF): In 2004, Carroll hit .251 with 6 HR and 28 RBI in 60 games with Jamestown in his first professional season. Carroll was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 10^th round of the 2004 MLB amateur draft out of Middle Tennessee State (Murfreesboro, Tennessee). Carroll has played in 175 career regular season MLB games over five seasons, as a member of the Florida Marlins and Milwaukee Brewers. He is currently a member of the Washington Nationals.

Aaron Thompson (LHP): In 2005, Thompson posted a 1-2 record with a 3.10 ERA in 5 starts with Jamestown during his first professional season. Thompson was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 1^st round (22^nd overall) of the 2005 MLB amateur draft out of Second Baptist High School (Houston, Texas). Thompson pitched in 4 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2011. He is currently a member of the Minnesota Twins.

Brett Hayes (C): In 2005, Hayes hit .239 with 1 HR and 12 RBI in 36 games with Jamestown during his first professional season. Hayes was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 2^nd round of the 2005 MLB amateur draft out of Nevada (Reno, Nevada). Hayes played in 104 games with the Marlins over the past three seasons.

Chris Volstad (RHP): In 2005, Volstad posted a 3-2 record with a 2.13 ERA in 7 starts with Jamestown during his first professional season. Volstad was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 1^st round (16^th overall) of the 2005 MLB amateur draft out of Palm Beach Gardens High School (Palm Beach Gardens, Florida). Volstad has pitched in 103 career regular season MLB games as a member of the Marlins over the last four seasons. He was traded to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Carlos Zambrano on January 5, 2010.

Sean West (LHP): In 2005, West posted a 0-2 record with a 5.73 ERA in 3 starts with Jamestown during his first professional season. West was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the supplemental 1^st round (44^th overall) of the 2005 MLB amateur draft out of Captain Shreve High School (Shreveport, Louisiana). West has pitched in 22 career games with the Marlins over two seasons. He spent 2011 at Triple-A New Orleans (Pacific Coast League) in the Marlins organization.

Gaby Sanchez (1B): In 2005, Sanchez hit .355 with 5 HR and 42 RBI in 62 games with Jamestown in his first professional season. Sanchez was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 4^th round of the 2005 MLB amateur draft out of Miami (Coral Gables, Florida). Sanchez has played in 336 career regular season MLB games over the four seasons, as a member of the Marlins. Sanchez was a member of the 2011 National League All-Star team.

Chris Coghlan (OF): In 2006, Coghlan hit .298 with 12 RBI in 28 games with Jamestown during his first professional season. Coghlan was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the supplemental 1^st round (36^th overall) of the 2006 MLB amateur draft out of Mississippi (Oxford, Mississippi). Coghlan was the 2009 National League Rookie of the Year. Coghlan has played in 284 career regular season MLB games with the Marlins, over the past three seasons.

Logan Morrison (OF): In 2006, Morrison batted .203 with 1 HR and 11 RBI in 23 games with Jamestown in during his first professional season. Morrison was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 22^nd round of the 2005 MLB amateur draft out of Northshore High School (Slidell, Louisiana). Morrison has played in 185 career regular season MLB games with the Marlins, over the past two seasons.

Scott Cousins (OF): In 2006, Cousins hit .211 with 1 HR and 6 RBI in 21 games with Jamestown in his first professional season. Cousins was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 3^rd round of the 2006 MLB amateur draft out of San Francisco (San Francisco, California). Cousins has played in 75 games with the Marlins, over the past two seasons.

John Raynor (OF): In 2006, Raynor hit .286 with 4 HR, 21 RBI, and 21 stolen bases in 54 games with Jamestown in his first professional season. Raynor was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 9^th round of the 2006 MLB amateur draft out of UNC Wilmington (Wilmington, North Carolina). Raynor played in 11 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2010.

Brett Sinkbeil (RHP): In 2006, Sinkbeil posted a 2-0 record with a 1.23 ERA in 5 starts with Jamestown during his first professional season. Sinkbeil was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 1^st round (19^th overall) of the 2006 MLB amateur draft out of Missouri State (Springfield, Missouri). Sinkbeil has played in 3 games with the Marlins in 2010.

Matt Dominguez (3B): In 2007, Dominguez hit .189 with 1 HR and 4 RBI in 10 games with Jamestown during his first professional season. Dominguez was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 1^st round (12^th overall) of the 2007 MLB amateur draft out of Chatsworth High School (Chatsworth, California). Dominguez played in 17 career regular season games with the Marlin in 2011.

Osvaldo Martinez (SS): In 2007, Martinez hit .184 with 6 RBI in 38 games with Jamestown in his second professional season. Martinez was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 11^th round of the 2006 MLB amateur draft out of Porterville Junior College (Porterville, California). Martinez has played in 34 career MLB games with the Marlins, over the past two seasons.

Bryan Petersen (OF): In 2007, Petersen hit .250 with 5 HR and 24 RBI in 57 games with Jamestown in his first professional season. Petersen was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 4^th round of the 2007 MLB amateur draft out of California Irvine (Irvine, California). Petersen has played in 97 career regular season MLB games with the Marlins, over the past two seasons.

Mike Stanton (OF): In 2007, Stanton batted .067 with 1 HR and 2 RBI in 9 games with Jamestown during his first professional season. Stanton was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 2^nd round of the 2007 MLB amateur draft out of Notre Dame High School (Sherman Oaks, California). Stanton has played in 250 career regular season MLB games with the Marlins, over the past two seasons.

Brad Hand (LHP): In 2008, Hand posted a 1-2 record with a 3.00 ERA in 3 starts with Jamestown during his first professional season. Hand was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 2^nd round of the 2008 MLB amateur draft out of Chaska High School (Carver, Minnesota). Hand started 12 games for the Marlins in 2011, his first season in the majors.

Elih Villanueva (RHP): In 2008, Villanueva posted a 2-1 record with a 1.89 ERA in 5 games with Jamestown during his first professional season. Villanueva was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 27^th round of the 2008 MLB amateur draft out of Florida State (Tallahassee, Florida). Villanueva made one start with the Marlins in 2011, his only appearance in the majors to date.

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For more on the Marlins, check out Marlin Maniac.

You can follow us on Twitter @Seedlings2Stars and yours truly @drewbalen. You can also keep up to date with all things S2S by liking our Facebook page.

Most minor league sites will do top-10s, top-15s, top-20s, or some other ranking. Last year, to be a bit different, the FanSided team prospect lists (which were done at Call to the Pen, since S2S didn’t exist), instead listed a team’s top prospect at each position (C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 3 OFs, 5 SPs, and 2 RPs). This year, we’re keeping that format, but also adding a “Best of the Rest” section that lists the top ten players beyond the positional rankings. That’s 25 players per system, if you’re counting.

Atlanta Braves

Like the Diamondbacks, the Braves have a minor league system that unquestionably slants toward pitching, led by three arms that got MLB looks last year: Julio Teheran, Randall Delgado, and Arodys Vizcaino. They don’t quite have Arizona’s incredible pitching depth, but players like Christian Bethancourt, Joe Terdoslavich, Tyler Pastornicky, Andrelton Simmons, and Edward Salcedo give them some players that could turn into solid everyday guys, so they have a better crop of position players. There’s a notable hole in the outfield in the system, where the dubious Matt Lipka is the organization’s top prospect and it gets worse from there.

Position Player Upside: B-
Position Player Depth: B
Pitching Upside: A-
Pitching Depth: B
System Grade: B

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But before I get to those articles, many weeks ago I promised to start providing a quote to lead into the links every week. This time around I make good on that promise with a selection from the great Rogers Hornsby:

I don’t want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I want someone else to go chase it.

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But since this is a minor league site, my focus here is to look at the lesser-known component of the deal, which is Chris Jones.

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When a pitcher come up to the majors, we can finally get a foolproof reading on what exactly his arsenal is comprised of, thanks to the great Pitch F/X system. In this series, I analyze just that–the “stuff” of recently-promoted MLB pitchers. Now that they’ve achieved their big league dreams and thus factor directly into the MLB picture, it’s high time that we know exactly what these guys are providing.

This time, I’m taking a look at Braves starter Julio Teheran.

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Kimbrel’s selection was a bit of a slam dunk and absolutely the right choice in my mind. He lead all MLB relievers in WAR (3.2), was second to Kenley Jansen in K/9 (14.84), and his FIP (1.52) just edged out Jonathan Papelbon. Not only was he dominant in the more advanced stats, he also tied with John Axford for the NL lead in saves (46) which garnered him plenty of support from folks who put more stock in the “basic” counting stats. (more…)

Last year Kimbrel was dominating International League batters and got a 20.2 inning taste of the show. Meanwhile, Hosmer was tearing through the Carolina and Texas League. Prior to this season both players made Baseball America’s Top-100 prospect rankings, Kimbrel at #86 and Hosmer at #8. Both were also in their organizations Top-5 with Hosmer holding down the #1 spot among Kansas City’s loaded farm system. Based on their performances in 2010 and 2011, neither player winning the award in their respective leagues should come as much of a shock.

Now both have some virtual hardware for their mantels.

The articles, and full voting results for both awards can be found on our flagship and general baseball site, Call to the Pen (click here for the AL and here for the NL).

Seedlings to Stars was responsible for voting on the AL half of the awards. This is how we each voted:

• My ballot had Hosmer first followed by Tampa Bay’s Desmond Jennings and Seattle’s Michael Pineda.
• Nathaniel’s ballot had Pineda 1st and Hosmer 3rd with the A’s Jemile Weeks in between.
• James followed an entirely different path with Jeremy Hellickson, Ivan Nova and Mark Trumbo making up his ballot in that order.

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Follow us on Twitter: Nathaniel (@stoltz_baseball), Wally (@thebaseballfish) and James (@JAYRC_MCB). You can also keep up to date with all things S2S by liking our Facebook page.

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When a pitcher come up to the majors, we can finally get a foolproof reading on what exactly his arsenal is comprised of, thanks to the great Pitch F/X system. In this series, I analyze just that–the “stuff” of recently-promoted MLB pitchers. Now that they’ve achieved their big league dreams and thus factor directly into the MLB picture, it’s high time that we know exactly what these guys are providing.

This time, I’m taking a look at Braves starter Randall Delgado.

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When a pitcher come up to the majors, we can finally get a foolproof reading on what exactly his arsenal is comprised of, thanks to the great Pitch F/X system. In this series, I analyze just that–the “stuff” of recently-promoted MLB pitchers. Now that they’ve achieved their big league dreams and thus factor directly into the MLB picture, it’s high time that we know exactly what these guys are providing.

This time, I’m taking a look at Braves reliever Arodys Vizcaino.

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Please note that any statistics used may be a day or two out of date, as we prepare our answers over the course of a week.

In this edition, we tackle a question sent to us from our Atlanta Braves site Tomahawk Take:

What’s the real scoop on Mauro Gomez, the first baseman for the Braves AAA affiliate? He put up numbers in 2011 that rivaled what current Braves first baseman and ROY candidate Freddie Freeman put up as AAA MVPlast year, yet he has garnered little buzz. I’ve heard things like “no glove” and “beats up on cupcakes” (but really, everyone beats up on cupcakes, so what?), but have not seen him play myself.

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Thanks to a wicked storm last night and some other things I had to handle on Wednesday this column is published far later than I had hoped. Regardless, from August 10th to the 16th, 6 players (4 P, 1 C and 1 SS) made their major league debuts. While none of the six were upper echelon (top-5) prospects, several of them figure prominently in the future plans of their respective teams. (more…)

One player who caught my eye in that regard is Chris Garcia. Fast forward to today, and Garcia is no longer an obscure independent leaguer; he’s a bona fide prospect, even if nobody else has realized that yet.

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This week (July 27th-August 1st) seven players made their debuts with 5 of them coming on either the 30th or 1st.  Four of the players covered below were pre-season top-10 prospects in their respective organizations. For those of you who don’t get the title, head here to learn a little something about one of the greatest movies ever made. (more…)

When the Braves dealt shortstop Yunel Escobar to Toronto last year, they received two shortstops in return: Alex Gonzalez and Tyler Pastornicky. The hope in Atlanta was that Gonzalez would be the starter for the team through 2011 and that Pastornicky would take over in 2012. That timetable seemed ambitious at the time, but Gonzalez and Pastornicky may be forcing a change even sooner than expected.

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