Feature Photo: Brendan Rodgers, SS, Rockies
As we roll into mid-May of the 2017 season, you begin to see a collection of minor leaguers begin to distance themselves from of the pack and as you’d expect. Jared and I continue to move our way around the minors in this week’s edition of Minor League Roulette, touching on for a handful of prospects, as well as a few surprise performers that grabbed our attention. We’ve got the latest on the rehabilitation progress of the Padres’ 21-year old right-handed prospect Jacob Nix, the return of Cubs third base prospect Wladimir Galindo, a teenage righty who registered an eye-opening 14-strikeout performance, the ever-growing offense of Pirates second-base prospect Kevin Kramer, a stealthy outfielder from the Tigers’ farm system who continues to surpass expectations and – good grief – will Cubs prospect Ian Happ (2B/OF) ever stop hitting?
Minor League Roulette
Players Who Stood Out for Emily
Kevin Kramer, 2B, Pirates (Double -A Altoona, Eastern League)
Ht/Wt: 6’1” / 190 lbs B/T: L/R Age (as of April 1st, 2017): 23y, 5m
Season Stats: .360/.452/.579, 41 H, 12 2B, 3 HRs, 15 RBIs
If there’s one thing that Kramer would like to make clear in his first dance with the Eastern League, it’s that he’ll always find a way to get on base. After missing the entirety of his 2014 season with UCLA following surgery for a torn labrum in his right shoulder, Kramer was selected second round of the 2015 MLB Draft by the Pirates, and he hasn’t looked back. The 23-year-old has hit safely in 26 of his opening 29 games with Altoona, hitting and Eastern League-leading .360, with 12 doubles, 3 home runs and a league-leading .452 on-base percentage through 135 plate appearances. Although Kramer’s strikeout percentage has taken a slight spike from a career-low 12.3% in 2016 to 17.7% this season, it’s far from a red flag on his resume. With his ISO ballooning to .220 this season, the Pirates appear to have a prospect to watch on their hands with some pop to go with a solid defensive profile at second base.
Mike Gerber, OF, Tigers (Double-A Erie, Eastern League)
Ht/Wt: 6’0” / 190 lbs B/T: L/R Age (as of April 1st, 2017): 24y, 8m
Season Stats: .317/.368/.504, 44 H, 11 2B, 5 HRs, 17 RBIs
Considered a late bloomer by some, Gerber has always been one to move at his own pace and his recent success is proving he knows exactly what he’s doing. Beginning his first full season with Double-A Erie, Gerber has been working in tandem with fellow outfield standout Christin Stewart to power the SeaWolves offense this season and has appeared to only get stronger as the season continues. Not known for much more than average power at the plate, Gerber flirting with a career-high in ISO at .195 and currently on pace for 45 doubles and 20 home runs for the season, both slight bumps from his 2016 total of 16 home runs and 80 RBIs split between High A and Double-A. With the long-term outfield projection being in flux for the Tigers at the major league level, Gerber continues to build a respectable case for himself as an outfield option for the Tigers in 2018. He’ll be 25 years old in July, and is pushing 1500 minor league plate appearances, so the Tigers may be reaching the point where they’ll want to take a look at what they’ve got in Gerber sooner rather than later. Expect a bump to Triple-A Toledo pretty soon if the numbers keep coming. He could be a candidate for an everyday job in Detroit next season. While he is playing center field every day down in Erie, he profiles better in right field, where he’d be less reliant on his average speed and where he has enough arm and pop to hold down the corner spot.
Harrison Bader, OF, Cardinals (Triple-A Memphis, Pacific Coast League)
Ht/Wt: 6’0” / 195 lbs B/T: R/R Age (as of April 1st, 2017): 22y, 9m
Season Stats: .279/.358/.484, 34 H, 6 2B, 6 HRs, 12 RBIs
After getting a feel for Triple-A following his promotion to Memphis last July, Bader is back this season for his first full season with the Redbirds, and he’s shown he can make the adjustments necessary to succeed at the level. Over roughly the same number of plate appearances as he had with Memphis in 2016, his average has jumped 48 points, his on-base percentage has jumped 60 points, and he’s already doubled his home run output to 6 to-date. The third-round selection of the Cardinals in 2015 is already flashing a bit of added power, including a two-home run game this week, his first since May 10, 2016. Since his last campaign in Memphis, Bader has dropped his strikeout percentage from 23.1% in 2016 to 21.9% this season over the opening 33 games of the season. Leading the Redbirds offense with 22 runs, Bader doesn’t flash plus on any single tool that he brings to the field, but the overall package is coming together.
Here’s a Player to Watch
Bradley Jones, UTIL, Blue Jays (Class A Lansing, Midwest League)
Ht/Wt: 6’1” / 180 lbs B/T: R/R Age (as of April 1st, 2017): 21y, 9m
Season Stats: .331/.394/.576, 39 H, 5 2B, 6 HRs, 26 RBIs
After surfacing as the Blue Jays 18th-round pick in 2016, Jones hasn’t wasted time in showing off his maturity at the plate. Starting the year with Class A Lansing, Jones hasn’t lost any momentum in his shift from the Rookie Bluefield in the Appy League in 2016, to joining Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr in a joint exercise leading the Lansing offense this year. Flashing a .259 ISO, Jones is leading the Lugnuts in four offensive categories, including six home runs, 26 RBIs and a .576 slugging percentage. For Jones, his biggest adjustment will need to come defensively where the infielder has already collected four errors on the year. Although listed as a corner-infielder, the Lugnuts have been testing the soon-to-be 22-year-old year old as a second baseman for some added developmental flexibility within the Blue Jays’ system, and to keep the bat in the lineup everyday. If he’s able to find his footing in the field and demonstrate the athleticism to adapt as a future utility/super-utility-type player, a move up the ladder shouldn’t be that far off. Where his permanent home could be on defense, however, is still too early to project.
Players Who Stood Out to Jared
Brendan Rodgers, SS, Rockies (High A Lancaster, California League)
Ht/Wt: 6’0” / 180 lbs B/T: R/R Age (as of April 1st, 2017): 20 y, 9m
Season Stats: .418/.435/.684, 33 H, 9 2B, 3 HRs, 18 RBIs
Right now, Rodgers is playing baseball like it’s a video game set to “easy” mode, and there has been little that California League pitchers can do to figure him out. He has only been in the lineup three times and not gotten a hit this year, and he has nine multi-hit games, including a 4-for-4 outing last Sunday. Rogers missed the first two weeks of the season with a hand injury, but he has since gone immediately to work on hitting nearly everything he has seen. The 2015 first-rounder is in just his second full season of professional baseball, and though this otherworldly tear that he is on right now is probably bound to level out at some point, but the hit tool is for real, and his floor is still rather high as a potential above-average everyday shortstop in the big leagues. Cal League pitchers will be happy to see him leave at this point, and a bump to Double-A can’t be that far off.
Triston McKenzie, RHP, Indians (High A Lynchburg, Carolina League)
Ht/Wt: 6’5” / 165 lbs B/T: R/R Age (as of April 1st, 2017): 19 y, 9m
Season Stats: 32 1/3 IP, 20 H, 44 SO, 12 BB, 1.95 ERA
McKenzie absolutely dominated in his most recent start, fanning 14 Carolina Mudcats in just six innings of work in a 4-1 win over the Carolina Mudcats. He walked just one, leadoff hitter Corey Ray (OF, Brewers), and allowed only one hit, this against Isan Diaz (SS, Brewers), which came in the fourth inning. McKenzie has already shown a propensity for high-strikeout games, having mowed down 11 against Lake County in the Midwest League last August. There must be something about the Carolina lineup, too, because when McKenzie faced them last, on April 18 of this year, he struck out eight Mudcats in just five innings of work. The 2015 first-rounder was taken out of Royal Palm Beach High School (FL). He pitched in both the Short-Season A NY-Penn League and Class A Lake County in the Midwest League last year, posting a collective 1.62 ERA and 104 strikeouts in 83 1/3 innings, and holding hitters to a .195 batting average against.
Mike Soroka, RHP, Braves (Double-A Mississippi, Southern League)
Ht/Wt: 6’5” / 225 lbs B/T: R/R Age (as of April 1st, 2017): 19 y, 9m
Season Stats: 38 IP, 26 H, 36 SO, 8 BB, 2.84 ERA
The Calgary native took a perfect game into the seventh inning on Friday, sitting down the first 19 Mobile BayBears batters he faced. Soroka ultimately went 6 2/3 innings, giving up just one hit and one walk, while not allowing any runs and striking out five. He left the game in the seventh when David Fletcher (SS, Angels) hit a one-out single, Forrestt Allday (OF, Angels) drew a walk, and then Zach Houchins (3B, Angels) reached on a throwing error by Braves catcher Sal Giardina to load the bases. Soroka threw five scoreless against Jacksonville on April 10 in his season debut, but he had a pair of somewhat ugly starts on April 26 against Montgomery and May 1 against Tennessee in which he gave up a combined 17 hits and seven runs, but he has otherwise pitched respectably against competition that is, on average, more than years years older than he is at the Double-A level.
Here’s a Player to Watch
Victor Caratini, C, Cubs (Triple-A Iowa, Pacific Coast League)
Ht/Wt: 6’1” / 215 lbs B/T: S/R Age (as of April 1st, 2017): 23 y, 9m
Season Stats: .347/.394/.521, 42 H, 8 2B, 3 HR, 25 RBIs
Caratini’s entry to the majors might be blocked by Willson Contreras (C, Cubs) right now, but with a .922 OPS, he is offering the Cubs some surprising depth behind the plate in the system. He competes for headlines with Ian Happ (2B/OF) and recently called-up corner-infielder Jeimer Candelario, but Caratini has been absolutely raking. He combined for eight hits and five RBIs between last Monday and Tuesday’s games against the Memphis Redbirds. Caratini, who came to the Cubs in a trade with the Braves in July 2014 that sent James Russell (LHP, MLB, 2007-2016, multiple teams) and Emilio Bonifacio (OF, Braves) to Atlanta, really flashed his hitting prowess in the Double-A Southern League last season, where he slashed .291/.375/.405 in 115 games. He has built on that further this year, not only hitting for a higher average thus far, but also cutting his strikeout rate from 16.7% in 2016 to an impressive 12% this season.
Statistical Highlights From Around the Minor Leagues
- The Rangers’ Double-A pitching prospect Yohander Mendez (LHP, Frisco, Texas League), took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against San Antonio on Friday. It was broken up by consecutive singles from Nick Torres (OF, Padres) and Alberth Martinez (LF, Padres) at the top of the seventh, but Mendez forced a double-play groundout to kill the potential rally on his way to completing seven full scoreless innings.
- The Triple-A Sacramento River Cats flirted with a 94-year-old Pacific Coast League record when they scored 13 runs against Colorado Springs last Thursday in the seventh inning of a 17-7 win, nearing the all-time mark of 16 runs in a inning set way back in 1923. They had lost their 3-2 lead in the frame prior, and then let loose against the Colorado Springs bullpen.
- Last Sunday, Jason Martin (OF, Astros) went up to bat three times through the first five innings against Myrtle Beach in the High A Carolina League and hit a home run each time. He drove in five runs in the 12-6 Buies Creek win over Myrtle Beach.
- The Reno Aces and Sacramento River Cats had a Triple-A Pacific Coast League game interrupted with an unusual delay last Sunday: a snake. Jack Reinheimer (2B, Diamondbacks) caught a ball from his center fielder after a routine popup in the third inning, and then spotted the snake in the infield dirt. Play was briefly interrupted while the grounds crew used a bucket to free the reptile from the field.
Key Minor League Transactions
- After hitting a commanding .298/.362/.615 with Triple-A Iowa, the Cubs called up 2B/OF Ian Happ to assist in filling a void created by a rash of injuries to a number of their regular infielders. Not coming as much of a surprise to Cubs fans, Happ’s first big league hit came by way of a two-run home run, a show of power that’s become a common occurrence for Happ already this season at the minor league level.
- After being crippled by a bone bruise since March, Cubs prospect Eloy Jimenez has been assigned to High A Myrtle Beach out of extended spring training. Jimenez hit .329/.369/.532 over 112 games with Class A South Bend in 2016.
- The Double-A Trenton Thunder of the Eastern League sent Mike Ford (1B, Yankees) up to their Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre affiliate for his first taste of the level after a healthy and productive start to his season. The 24-year old prospect promptly went 2-for-4 in his first start on May 14. Here’s a recent spotlight on Ford by editor Mark Shreve.
Notes of Interest
- The Cardinals’ Daniel Poncedeleon (RHP, Memphis, Pacific Coast League) had to undergo surgery after a line-drive comebacker hit him in the head last Tuesday. As of Friday, he was still in intensive care, though there were encouraging signs about his progress.
- After a stretch of 232 consecutive games without committing an error, Tigers outfielder Mike Gerber (CF, Double-A Erie, Eastern League) saw that streak come to an end this week with his first error since June 11, 2015. The 24 -ear-old has a career total of six errors over 364 games.
- After throwing three innings in extended spring training as a part of his rehab for a groin strain, Padres prospect and right-hander Jacob Nix is reportedly feeling “totally pain free”, with his fastball sitting consistently 95-to-97 mph throughout the outing. He’s scheduled to throw another four innings on Monday, May 15.
What We’re Reading
- 2080’s Melissa Lockard recently wrote about the A’s transition to eight-man rotations in their minor league system. Well, in a new column for com, Lockard notes that the experiment is coming to an end.
- USA Today’s Ray Giler on the business of minor league baseball. Teams across the country are excelling at marketing themselves and getting fans to come out in droves.
- Speaking of a spike in attendance, Baseball America’s Vince Lara-Cinisomo noted that April attendance across the minor leagues is up five percent from April 2016.
