Posted on by Michael Halpern

2016 Fantasy Baseball Minor League Prospect Rundown: Week 9

Every Monday, I will be running down some of the notable performances from around the Minor Leagues, or anything that might have caught my eye in general. Here is the 2016 Fantasy Baseball Minor League Prospect Rundown: Week 9:

Byron Buxton MIN, OF – I said back in week 5, “If I were a betting man (I am), I would bet a lot of money that Buxton will not hit like a little leaguer when he gets called back up,” and I was right, as he is hitting .425 in the 6 games since being called back up. Now I just have to figure out how to collect on that imaginary bet I made.

Trea Turner WASH, SS – Washington is expected to send Turner back down to Triple-A after a short, successful stint in the majors, and said they wanted Turner’s defense to improve before calling him up permanently. You can expect that “defensive improvement” to come right around the time Washington can push Turner’s first year of arbitration back, which is around mid-July.

2016 MLB Draft Thursday, June 9, 2016 – I never thought I would say this, but I am actually looking forward to the MLB Draft more than the NBA Draft or last April’s NFL Draft. I think it’s fair to say that the MLB Draft is a sleeper when it comes to sports drafts, or maybe a breakout candidate. Either way, tons of fantasy relevant players are about to join the professional ranks, and as usual, some will rise to the occasion and others will fall. I took a stab at trying to find those sleepers before they even hit the minors in my Updated 2016 Top 30 MLB Draft Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings, where I ranked a bunch of players much higher than they are ranked on traditional lists (Craig, Collins, Grier, Quinn, Dawson etc …). Also of note, the Colorado Rockies pick at #4, and they are either going to ruin a pitcher’s career, or turn an above average hitter into a hall of famer. Fun stuff.

Christin Stewart DET, OF – The 34th overall pick of the 2015 draft (see what I mean about finding draft sleepers), Stewart is leaving no doubt that he can absolutely destroy High-A, slashing .255/.395/.561 with 16 homers in 56 games. It will be fun to see what he can do once he gets to Double-A.

Andrew Benintendi BOS, OF – It hasn’t been much fun seeing what Benintendi can do at Double-A, as he is slashing .220/.266/.271 in 64 PA. He also has only one homer on the season. He is due for a hot streak, but Double-A sure does have a way of cutting down on those video game numbers.

Willson Contreras CHC, C – Drilled 3 homers again this week, giving him 9 on the season with a triple-slash of .335/.428/.585 in 47 games at Triple-A. He is already 24 years old and doing this in the PCL, so I wouldn’t be expecting the next coming of Pudge Rodriguez here. I gave him a prime projection of 64/16/81/.293/3 in my off-season top 100, already assuming the power would come around, and I would probably stick with something close to that.

Austin Meadows PIT, OF – Well, that really escalated quickly. Meadows hot steak continued, and is now slashing .296/.359/.536, with 2 homers, and 8 steals in 35 games at Double-A. He hit both homers this week, and if the power keeps coming, there will not be many prospects more exciting than Meadows.

Bobby Bradley CLE, 1B – 2 more homers (13) and 11 more strikeouts (72).

Lucas Giolito WASH, RHP – He’s back. Put up a pitching line of 12 IP, 2 ER, 10 Hits, 5 BB, 14 K in his two starts this week. The Giolito hype train should be reaching peak velocity right about now.

Blake Snell TB, LHP – Snell threw two shutouts this week, going a combined 11 IP, 0 ER, 8 Hits, 5 BB, 14 K. He is walking too many batters and throwing too many pitches, but the drool worthy K numbers are still doing just fine.

Jack Flaherty STL, RHP – Flaherty built off last week’s shutout, throwing another shutout this week, going 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BB, 7 K. Did you actually think a St. Louis prospect was going to disappoint all year? Unheard of.

Tyler Jay MIN, LHP – Jay has been impressive all year, and he turned it up another notch this week, going 8 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BB, 11 K in High-A. I think it’s time we see what the 22-year-old Jay can do at Double-A … whaddaya say? … how ’bout some hay? … I’m done with this, okay?

Jake Junis KC, RHP – Junis was a 29th round pick in the 2011 draft who received a large signing bonus after being a two sport start coming out of high school, dominating in both baseball and basketball. He has slowly but surely refined his skills and improved over the course of his professional career, and is putting together a breakout season Double-A this year, with a pitching line of 2.59/0.96/66 in 62.2 IP. He has plus control and command (2.0 BB/9) and flashes three above average pitches (low 90’s fastball, curveball, changeup). At 6’2’’, 225 pounds, Junis is an excellent athlete with a repeatable delivery, and he is an intriguing deep league sleeper with a likely mid-rotation ceiling.

Hunter Renfroe SD, OF/Manuel Margot SD, OF – Renfroe has the power, jacking 12 homers this year with a .934 OPS, and Margot has the speed, stealing 16 bases with a .305 average. If San Diego could put these two guys together, they would have one of the best power/speed prospects in baseball. Unfortunately, we are at least a decade away from being able to combine humans at our ridiculous current rate of exponential technological growth. Or, if you believe renowned futurist Ray Kurzweil, we will all be cyborgs by then, anyway. 80 grades for everyone!

Victor Robles WASH, OF/Brendan Rodgers COL, SS – Two uber-prospects who have fallen down to earth a bit recently. Their prospect stock is still through the roof, but it is a reminder that they are a long way off.

Austin Byler ARI, 1B – The third guy from my Finding the Next A.J. Reed article is back in action after serving a 50 game suspension, and he is off to a slow start at Single-A, slashing .143/.250/.143 in 6 games. After hitting a bullseye with Harrison Bader and Willie Calhoun (both hit another homer this week), and seeing how I was least confident on Byler to begin with, I can’t help but feel he will be a miss. Hope I’m wrong (or right).

Jacob Nottingham MIL, C – Has come alive this week, slashing .412/.444/.1000 with 3 homers. His season line still sits at a mediocre .256/.313/.399 with 7 homers in 45 games at Double-A, but one extended hot streak would make the 21-year-old Nottingham’s numbers look a lot better. Plus, he’s Josh Hader’s catcher, which just makes me want to like him more for some reason.

Matt Olson OAK, 1B – Olson is starting to bring his numbers back up to respectability, as well, slashing .313/.560/.625 with 2 homers this week. The 6 total homers in 52 games in the PCL is still not that encouraging for a power hitting prospect who will play at the Oakland Coliseum.

Renato Nunez OAK, 3B – Hit 3 more homers this week, and is now slashing .264/.319/.510, with 11 homers in 52 games at Triple-A. He isn’t exactly having the breakout it looked like he was about to have earlier in the year, but the numbers are still more than solid.

Nick Williams PHI, OF – Jacked 3 homers this week, bringing his season slash up to .284/.322/.474, with 7 homers, and 4 steals in 49 games. I wasn’t his biggest fan this off-season, ranking him 59th, and giving him a prime projection of 85/18/78/.276/10. I think I will stick with that.

Josh Ockimey BOS, 1B – You seriously gotta love Ockimey. He killed it again this week, and is slashing .298/.437/.538 with 9 homers in 49 games at High-A. Even he knows his days of being underrated are coming to an end, as he tweeted, “Underrated temporally for the moment” last Friday. Ockimey’s prophetic tweets are just the best.

Roman Quinn PHI, OF – Quinn has been on fire this week, and is now slashing .289/.360/.422, with 3 homers, and 25 steals in 49 games at Double-A. He is one of the better pure speed prospects out there right now.

Anthony Alford TOR, OF – Alford has been absolutely horrendous since returning from a knee injury he suffered on opening day. He is triple-slashing .209/.273/.261, with 1 homer, 4 steals, and a 48/10 K/BB in 30 games at High-A. Last year, he OPS’d .825, with a 49/28 K/BB, and 15 steals in 57 games at the same level. I don’t think you need to be a doctor to think something isn’t right here.

Javier Guerro SD, SS – Unfortunately for Guerro, there is no injury to point to for his terrible offensive performance this season. He is slashing .194/.252/.316, with 5 homers, and 2 steals in 51 games at Single-A. I was very low on him this off-season, ranking him #97 on my top 100, and these numbers surely aren’t going to make me change my mind. He did homer last night, so maybe a hot streak is coming.

Yusniel Diaz LAD, OF – I was really hoping to be able to get excited about Diaz when I wrote about him in week 3, but he hasn’t done much of anything since then, and is now slashing .247/.320/.373, with 3 homers, and 4 steals in 41 games at High-A. That $31 million investment on him is starting to look a little pricey.

David Washington STL, 1B/OF – St. Louis is constantly pulling prospects out of their hat, and there is chance they did it again with David Washington. He is already 25 and he strikes out a lot, but he has destroyed Double-A and Triple-A this year, slashing .278/.374/.602 with 15 homers in 50 games. He is a big dude at 6’5’’, 260-pounds, and he has power to all fields. I would put him in the same category as Peter O’Brien. Neither have a position and both are old for prospects, but the power is enough that they can’t be ignored by the fantasy community. Keep an eye on him.

Nick Delmonico CHW, 1B/3B – The 23-year-old Delmonico is a little young to be considered a reclamation project, but that is what he is after Milwaukee straight cut him in 2015. Chicago swooped in, and they are now reaping the benefits. He crushed at Double-A, slashing .338/.397/.676 with 10 homers in 38 games, and is hitting well since being promoted to Triple-A, slashing .283/.353/.413 with 1 homer in 12 games. He is definitely a very deep league sleeper, but with his solid start in Triple-A, he is worthy of being on the fantasy radar.

By Michael Halpern
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@ImaginaryBrickW)

Posted on by Michael Halpern

2016 Fantasy Baseball Minor League Prospect Rundown: Week 6

Every Monday, I will be running down some of the notable performances from around the Minor Leagues, or anything that might have caught my eye in general. Here is the 2016 Fantasy Baseball Minor League Prospect Rundown: Week 6:

Blake Snell TB, LHP – I predicted in last week’s rundown that Snell was going to be fine, and he was fine, going 10.1 IP, 4 ER, 13 Hits, 2 BB, 16 K in his two starts this week. Correctly predicting that one of the best pitching prospects in the game would be fine is the kind of hard hitting analysis that you can expect to get around here at Imaginary Brick Wall.

Chase Vallot KC, C – Bat speed, power, and strikeouts make for some of my favorite prospect sleepers (remember Trevor Story?), and the 19-year-old Vallot checks all of those boxes. The 40th overall pick of the 2014 draft, Vallot crushed 13 homers in 80 games at Single-A last season, and he is off to a strong start this season, slashing .279/.391/.529, with 6 homers, and a 43/16 K/BB in 31 games. Here is a scouting video of him in high school displaying that super quick bat speed, and here is a video of him absolutely crushing a homer earlier this year. He is built like a brick shit house, and even if he doesn’t stick at catcher, I feel pretty confident in saying Vallot is going to continue to hit the ball very hard when he isn’t striking out. He is a great deep league sleeper.

Ronald Guzman TEX, 1B – The Rangers paid the 6’5’’, 205 pound Guzman $3.5 million back in 2011, and it is just now starting to pay off in a big way. Guzman is slashing .319/.382/.529, with 5 homers, and a 29/10 K/BB in 32 games at Double-A this season. He has a sweet lefty swing and has always had a reputation for being a pure hitter. He doesn’t have huge power right now, but I don’t think it is a stretch to assume it will come as he continues to age and get stronger. You don’t have to squint all that hard to see Nomar Mazara-lite here, and Guzman is another excellent deep league sleeper.

Tyler Glasnow PIT, RHP – Looks like Greg Maddux in one start, and then Rick Ankiel the next. His BB line in 7 starts this season reads 3,0,3,1,5,1, 5. Because I consistently score above 140 on those free online IQ tests, I know that the next number in the sequence will probably be a low one.

Jameson Taillon PIT, RHP – Got those K’s going again this week, striking out 11 batters in 6 IP, and if you haven’t heard already, word on the internet street is that Taillon is first in line to get the call.

Derek Fisher HOU, OF – I told you to buy low on Fisher two weeks ago in my Top 3 Buy Low Dynasty Prospects article, and I hoped you listened, because Fisher crushed 5 homers since then, and it brings his season line to .248/.354/.504, with 8 homers, and 4 steals in 34 games at Double-A. I ranked him 20th overall in my preseason top 100 , and considering there is still not much hype around him, you might be able to buy him at a reasonable price.

Tim Anderson CHW, SS – Anderson was another player who I touted in that Buy Low column, and he has been scorching hot since then as well. He hit .438/.471/.750 this week with homers in back-to-back-to-back games, and he is now hitting .276 on the season, with 3 homers, and 8 steals in 33 games at Triple-A. By the way, the third guy I wrote about in that buy low column was Lewis Brinson, and he is still struggling. You know what to do. Unless you believe in the law of averages and think I’m due to get one wrong, then maybe you don’t know what to do.

Alex Bregman HOU, SS/3B – Meet Houston’s new 3B of the future. Here is an excellent article by Brian McTaggart at MLB.com on how the transition is going so far, and what Houston’s thinking and strategy with Bregman has been from the beginning of the year.

Andrew Benintendi BOS, OF – Benintendi knocked out High-A pitching worse than Rougned Odor just knocked the hell out of Jose Bautista. Only difference is that Benintendi is getting a promotion and Odor is getting a suspension. He’ll be in Double-A starting today.

Josh Hader MIL, LHP – Threw another gem this week. Reports have been positive about his secondary offerings, and he has maintained the increased velocity that he found in the Arizona Fall League, consistently sitting in the mid 90’s. Hader is one of the best pitching prospects in the game.

Kyle Zimmer KC, RHP – Got back in action last week and is slowly building his pitch count up. In his two brief appearances, he has stuck out nine and walked four in 4.2 IP. If he can remain healthy, the Royals are sure to find a role for the 24-year-old Zimmer on the big league club this year, preferably as a starter, but he can be elite out of the bullpen, as well.

Willie Calhoun LAD, 2B – Willie is on fire this week, slashing .400/.455/.600, and he is finally showing flashes of that special hitting ability that he displayed in 2015. Maybe including him in my Top 100 Fantasy Prospect Fallers post that I wrote last week has lit a fire under his ass. And yes, me and Willie are on a first name basis now after how many times I have written about him since February.

Carson Fulmer CHW, RHP – Just when it looked like he was getting it together, Fulmer threw up an absolute dud this week (4 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 8 BB, 3 K). I covered him in my Top 100 Fallers post, as well.

Josh Ockimey BOS, 1B – Ockimey made this prophetic tweet on February 4, and now the rest of the prospect watching world knows too, that this is the year of the Ockimey. He triple-slashed .333/.412/.733 this week, bringing his season line to .300/.442/.600, with 7 homers, and a 32/28 K/BB in 31 games at Single-A. He is turning himself into the type of power hitting prospect you have to love for fantasy.

Christin Stewart DET, OF – Stewart has kept raking since I wrote about him in week 4, smashing 4 more homers this week, and it brings his season total up to 13 homers with a .979 OPS in 37 games at High-A. The time is definitely now to start making moves on him, if you haven’t already.

Tom Murphy COL, C – Hit another bomb this week, and is now slashing .300/.323/.733 with 2 homers in 8 games at Triple-A. There is a reason I ranked him the 31st overall prospect in my top 100.

Max Kepler MIN, OF – Was off to a bit of a slow start this year, but he turned it on this week, slashing .444/.565/.611. His excellent plate approach and K/BB have translated just fine to Triple-A.

Kyle Tucker HOU, OF – I probably should have included Tucker in my Top 100 Fantasy Prospect Risers post last week, as he has looked solid all year at Single-A, and is now slashing .328/.403/.438 with a 28/16 K/BB in 34 games. The power hasn’t been great with only 1 homer, but he has stolen 16 bags, and the hit tool is more important for his development right now anyway. I ranked him 89th in my preseason top 100, and the arrow is certainly pointing up.

Luis Ortiz TEX, RHP – Things are also looking up for Texas’ big right hander. The 30th overall pick of the 2014 draft, Ortiz spun a 1-hit gem this week, and has a 2.60/1.05/28 in 27.2 IP pitching line at High-A this year. I would have ranked him higher in the preseason if he hadn’t suffered a forearm injury last year limiting him to only 50 IP, but if he stays healthy this year, he will be firing up prospect lists everywhere.

Gleyber Torres CHC, SS – Torres has been red hot these past few weeks, bringing his triple-slash up to .252/.340/.425, with 4 homers, and 5 steals in 33 games at High-A. The slow start is no more.

Franklin Barreto OAK, SS – The 20-year-old Barreto started on the slow start watch list, then I took him off after a hot week, and now he is back on again. He has gone ice cold of late, and is now slashing .235/.288/.331, with 3 homers, and 9 steals at Double-A. He is still very young for the level, and is playing in an extreme pitcher’s park, so things aren’t as bad as his hitting line suggests.

Forrest Wall COL, 2B – Since I wrote about Wall’s hot start in week 2, he has been anything but, and his season line at High-A has now dropped to .231/.321/.325, with 1 homer, and 7 steals. He was also placed on the 7-day DL on May 11. When it rains it pours.

Edwin Diaz SEA, RHP – Will be permanently moved to the bullpen, because whenever you can give up on your upper 90’s throwing, 9.4 K/9 stud 22-year-old starting pitching prospect, that is move you just have to make.

Dylan Cozens PHI, OF – Mashed 3 dingers this week, and the 6’,6’’, 235 pound Cozens is now slashing .287/.368/.581, with 10 homers, and 9 steals in 36 games at Double-A. He has a bit of a long swing, and struggles with hard stuff on the inner third of the plate, but he has still been long overdue to make the Rundown. Better late than never.

Mike Soroka ATL, RHP – Bounced back nicely this week (5.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hit, 2 BB, 5 K) after a rough outing the week before (4 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BB, 3 K). His season line now sits at 1.96/1.01/37 in 36.2 IP. If you want to read a more in depth scouting report on Soroka, Benjamin Chase over at Tomahawk Take had a great up to date report on him last week.

Drew Ward WASH, 3B –A 3rd round pick in the 2013 draft, Ward is finally putting his plus raw power to good use this year, slashing .305/.399/.547, with 7 homers, and a 37/17 K/BB in 34 games at High-A. Scouts have doubts that he can stick at 3B, but he is a bat first prospect who should be on your radar in deeper prospect leagues.

Tyler Viza PHI, RHP – We are going super deep now. The 21-year-old Viza always had good stuff, and it is starting to translate into good results this season, as he is dominating High-A in the early going (35.2 IP, 7 ER, 35 Hits, 6 BB, 36 K). He throws a strong 5-pitch mix with a fastball that sits between 91-94 MPH. Viza likely tops out as a mid-rotation starter, but he is an interesting pitcher prospect in super deep leagues. At the very least, remember the name.

By Michael Halpern
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@ImaginaryBrickW)

Posted on by Michael Halpern

2016 Fantasy Baseball Minor League Prospect Rundown: Week 4

Every Monday, I will be running down some of the notable performances from around the Minor Leagues, or anything that might have caught my eye in general. Here is the 2016 Fantasy Baseball Minor League Prospect Rundown: Week 4:

Byron Buxton MIN, OF – Turned it on since getting demoted to Triple-A, seeing his OPS jump .111 points … from .497 to .608. Oof. I oddly see this as a positive, though. He wasn’t simply overmatched by MLB pitching. There is something fundamentally wrong with his swing right now, and it should be correctable.

Ozzie Albies/Dansby Swanson ATL, SS – Both of Atlanta’s shortstops of the future are moving on up, Albies to Triple-A and Swanson to Double-A. Because I’m good at pattern recognition, it looks like Albies will get the first shot to win the SS job at the Major League level.

Harrison Bader STL, OF – Went deep in back-to-back-to-back games this week. It inspired me to write a Harrison Bader, 2016 Fantasy Baseball Prospect Breakout post last Friday after the first 2 homers, and Bader and his former coach both liked the article on Twitter! He is now slashing .345/.402/.560, with 5 homers, and 3 steals in 21 games at Double-A. He might want to think about changing his name to Harrison Gooder, because you know, branding and everything.

Bobby Bradley CLE, 1B – Starting to really heat up, and after launching 3 dingers this week, his season line stands at .253/.340/.529, with 6 homers, and a 36/11 K/BB. Expect more homers, strikeouts, and walks for about the next, say, 15 years or so.

Tyler Glasnow PIT, RHP – Struck out 18 batters and gave up no earned runs over 11 IP in his two starts this week. He walked only 1 in his first start, and then 5 in his second start, so the control is still spotty.

Josh Hader MIL, LHP – Somebody get this man some more hype! I tried to all off season, but it seems like it has barely taken. He has only thrown up a pitching line of 0.78/1.09/32 in 23 IP at Double-A so far, and he hasn’t given up more than a single earned run in any of his 5 starts. I’m not sure if Milwaukee will want to call him up this season, but in Dynasty Leagues, he is a must own.

Phil Bickford SF, RHP – The 18th overall pick of the 2015 draft, Bickford has been nothing short of a strikeout machine these last two years. He had an insane 17.24 K/9 in 86.2 IP in JuCo in 2015, and has now struck out 33 batters in 20.2 IP this year at Single-A. He has excellent control, is still only 20 years old, and has prototypical starter size at 6’4’’, 200 pounds. He doesn’t have the huge fastball, but color me intrigued.

Lucas Sims ATL, RHP – 7 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BB and 11 K in his start this week at Triple-A. He leads all of MiLB with 42 K’s, and is starting to regain some of that prospect shine. He is an underrated stash option in redraft leagues too.

Cody Reed CIN, LHP – 12 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BB and 11 K at Triple-A in his first two starts since returning from a cut finger. With Cincinnati’s shaky rotation, he is another underrated stash option in redraft leagues.

Orlando Arcia MIL, SS – Got his legs going this week, stealing his first 4 bags of the season, and also tacked on his 2nd and 3rd homer. He is triple-slashing .308/.341/.462 at Triple-A, and his 2015 breakout was clearly for real.

Jorge Mateo NYY, SS – Has been quietly putting up a very strong season at High-A, slashing .326/.392/.500, with 2 homers, and 7 steals in 22 games. His K% is up, and he has been caught stealing 5 times, so there are a few things to keep an eye on, as well.

Jesse Winker CIN, OF – Triple-A hasn’t slowed Winker down at all, and he continues to have one of the most advanced plate approaches of anyone in the minors. He smacked his first 2 homers of the season this week, and is now slashing .316/.404/.434 with a 11/12 K/BB in 20 games.

Jose Peraza CIN, 2B/SS/OF – Feet don’t fail me now. Peraza has only 2 steals and has been caught 4 times in his first 21 games at Triple-A this season. Considering basically all of his value comes from his speed, this is not exactly a great sign.

David Dahl COL, OF – Just keeps smoking the ball, hitting 2 more homers this week. He now has 8 homers, 8 steals, and a 1.026 OPS on the season. If he keeps hitting bombs, we might have to start calling him Double D.

Ryan McMahon COL, 3B – Has gone ice cold this week, and is now slashing .192/.271/.274, with no homers, and a 28/8 K/BB in 21 games at Double-A. Sorry Colorado, you can’t have all the breakouts.

Brett Phillips MIL, OF – I think it is time to slap Phillips with the slow starter label. He seemed like a hot starter early on, but his K’s were way up and there wasn’t much power, so I held off on tooting his horn. The singles have started to dry up now, and his season line now stands at .257/.360/.365, with only 1 homer, and 1 steal. He is still walking, but I’m starting to think the power/speed combo may be more of the moderate variety.

Dominic Smith NYM, 1B/Franklin Barreto OAK, SS/Nick Williams PHI, OF – Three really slow starters who have picked it up this week. None of their season lines are anything to write home about, but we can take them off the slow start watch list.

Matt Chapman OAK, 3B – The power is real. Crushed 3 more dingers this week (7 total), which brings his OPS up to .987 in a pitcher’s park at Double-A.

Tyler O’Neill SEA, OF – Another Cal League slugger whose power is translating to Double-A, as O’Neill hit 2 more homers in back-to-back games this week. That brings his total up to 6, and he has a .961 OPS on the season. I’ve been hyping him to death for months now, so you know the deal.

Travis Demeritte TEX, 2B – .294/.378/.718, with 8 homers, and 4 steals in 21 games at High-A. Since I hyped him in my week 1 rundown, he has just kept hitting.

Mike Soroka ATL, RHP – The 18-year-old Soroka has been brilliant in his full season pro debut at Single-A, dominating hitters to the tune of 1.33/0.89/29 in 27 IP. He has a first round pedigree and is very young for his level. There is not a negative to be found here.

Tyler Jay MIN, LHP – Was looking good to start the year until he ran into the Jupiter Hammerheads this week, and the Jupiter Hammerheads lived up to their awesome team name by touching Jay up for 10 hits, 5 earned runs, and no strikeouts in 4.1 IP. Looks like he still has some kinks to work out with his conversion from reliever to starter. Jupiter Hammerheads … I just wanted to say it one more time.

Domingo Acevedo NYY, RHP – The 22-year-old Acevedo has just been destroying Single-A, with a line of 1.91/0.81/32 in 28.1 IP. He relies heavily on his big fastball, so it is tough to get too excited until we see him against tougher competition, as much as I would like to as a Yankees fan.

Hunter Dozier KC, 3B/OF – Put another 2 homers on the board for the hot hitting, former 8th overall pick in the draft. He is slashing .307/.409/.640, with 6 homers, and 4 steals in 21 games at Double-A. At 24, he is old for the level, but the talent is still there and maybe he is just a late bloomer.

Christin Stewart DET, OF – The 34th overall pick of the 2015 draft, Stewart is powering up at High-A this year, hitting 8 homers in 24 games. He jacked 15 homers in the SEC last year, and then 10 more once reaching pro ball. He is striking out too much, and the batting average is low, but the power is too much to ignore at this point.

Ryan Cordell TEX, OF/Jordan Patterson COL, OF/Peter O’Brien ARI, 1B/OF – Three older prospects that I liked very early on in the off season, but convinced myself they were destined to be bench players. They are killing it in the early going, though, and who the fuck am I to say they are destined to the bench? If you like rooting for the underdog, pick these guys up and give em a shot.

By Michael Halpern
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@ImaginaryBrickW)