2019 Minor Leagues/Prospect Discussion Thread

[vaff87]

New Hampshire lit up Casey Mize.

[phillipmike]

https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/hidden-gems-from-the-2018-draft/

Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP, Blue Jays
Baseball America: 8
MLB Pipeline: 7
Marc Hulet: 6

Part of me really didn’t like the Jays’ return for Marcus Stroman from the Mets. The other part of me was a huge Woods Richardson fan. The young hurler, who’s still just 18, has been nothing short of brilliant in pro ball to date. He was actually on his way to High-A ball when the Jays acquired him so that’s where he landed with his new club, too, after posting a strikeout rate of 11.15 K/9 in 78.1 Low-A ball innings. In his first two games in the Toronto system, he has 13 strikeouts in 8.2 innings but he’s also been a little (uncharacteristically) wild. Woods Richardson has a high ceiling, especially if he can harness a third pitch to go with his outstanding fastball-curveball combo. If the pitchers can stay healthy, the Jays could have a really exciting starting rotation in about three years with Nate Pearson (2018 first rounder), Alex Manoah (2019 first rounder), Woods Richardson (2018 2nd rounder)… and one other guy I’m going to talk about in a minute.

Adam Kloffenstein, RHP, Blue Jays
Baseball America: 13
MLB Pipeline: 11
Marc Hulet: 9

Kloffenstein lasted until the 88th selection of the 2018 draft because everyone — including the young pitcher – thought he was going to Texas Christian University. But the organization worked some magic and got him under contract. The Jays have been cautious with this arm because, like Woods Richardson, he’s still just 18. Kloffenstein opened the year in extended spring training but earned an assignment to the short-season A-ball league, which is normally filled with 21- and 22-year-old college picks. He has not looked out of place and even made the all-star team. He’s shown good control and the ability to strike out batters while also inducing a lot of ground-ball outs. Kloffenstein stands 6-5 but he’s still working on building up his velocity. He sits in the low 90s right now and can touch 95-96 mph. If he continues to develop on this path, he could reach the Majors with a four-pitch repertoire and at least three above-average offerings.

[dagger]

Woods Richardson with another outstanding outing - 5IP, 0R, 1H, 1BB, 5K. 80 pitches

He actually had an 11 pitch at bat in the third inning. Once he got ahead 1-2, the batter fouled off the next seven pitches before flying out. That likely cost SWR a chance at pitching a sixth inning.

[phillipmike]

Woods Richardson with another outstanding outing - 5IP, 0R, 1H, 1BB, 5K. 80 pitches

He actually had an 11 pitch at bat in the third inning. Once he got ahead 1-2, the batter fouled off the next seven pitches before flying out. That likely cost SWR a chance at pitching a sixth inning.

Simeon Woods-Ricahrdson continues to dominate.

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[I_Like_Dirt]

https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/hidden-gems-from-the-2018-draft/

Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP, Blue Jays
Baseball America: 8
MLB Pipeline: 7
Marc Hulet: 6

Part of me really didn’t like the Jays’ return for Marcus Stroman from the Mets. The other part of me was a huge Woods Richardson fan. The young hurler, who’s still just 18, has been nothing short of brilliant in pro ball to date. He was actually on his way to High-A ball when the Jays acquired him so that’s where he landed with his new club, too, after posting a strikeout rate of 11.15 K/9 in 78.1 Low-A ball innings. In his first two games in the Toronto system, he has 13 strikeouts in 8.2 innings but he’s also been a little (uncharacteristically) wild. Woods Richardson has a high ceiling, especially if he can harness a third pitch to go with his outstanding fastball-curveball combo. If the pitchers can stay healthy, the Jays could have a really exciting starting rotation in about three years with Nate Pearson (2018 first rounder), Alex Manoah (2019 first rounder), Woods Richardson (2018 2nd rounder)… and one other guy I’m going to talk about in a minute.

Adam Kloffenstein, RHP, Blue Jays
Baseball America: 13
MLB Pipeline: 11
Marc Hulet: 9

Kloffenstein lasted until the 88th selection of the 2018 draft because everyone — including the young pitcher – thought he was going to Texas Christian University. But the organization worked some magic and got him under contract. The Jays have been cautious with this arm because, like Woods Richardson, he’s still just 18. Kloffenstein opened the year in extended spring training but earned an assignment to the short-season A-ball league, which is normally filled with 21- and 22-year-old college picks. He has not looked out of place and even made the all-star team. He’s shown good control and the ability to strike out batters while also inducing a lot of ground-ball outs. Kloffenstein stands 6-5 but he’s still working on building up his velocity. He sits in the low 90s right now and can touch 95-96 mph. If he continues to develop on this path, he could reach the Majors with a four-pitch repertoire and at least three above-average offerings.

He's onto the right guys, as far as I can tell. If those 4 guys can stay healthy and develop, that's a potential dynamite rotation on the way. And I'd suggest Pardinho should probably be on that list, too, and maybe Kendall Williams though he's just getting going. And there are still a few other guys lying around like Kay, Borucki, SRF, Zeuch, Murphy, etc. that there are some potential middle or back end starters to cover in case the dream of several star SPs doesn't materialize. The pitching is definitely on the way.

[dagger]

Pardhino has moved to Lansing's IL to skip at least one start, but this seems to be more about managing his innings after his s[ring elbow scare rather than anything new.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-prospect-eric-pardinho-salvaging-season-elbow-scare/

[Schad]

His command has been a bit more wobbly, but Joey Murray is still racking up Ks at his third level of the year. The further up the ladder he gets while picking up whiffs, the more likely it becomes that he'll have a chance to be a reliever at the major league level, with a chance to be more.

[vaff87]

Both Orelvis Martinez and Miguel Hiraldo are on fire lately.

Last 10 for Martinez: .308/.349/.615

12 game hitting streak for Hiraldo: .351/.377/.596

[vaff87]

His command has been a bit more wobbly, but Joey Murray is still racking up Ks at his third level of the year. The further up the ladder he gets while picking up whiffs, the more likely it becomes that he'll have a chance to be a reliever at the major league level, with a chance to be more.

I don’t know who this guy is, except that we drafted him in the 34th round this year. But his stats sure are impressive. Tonight he pitched 4 innings in relief, of all 0s and 8 strike outs.

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?player_id=687879#/career/R/pitching/2019/ALL

[dagger]

His command has been a bit more wobbly, but Joey Murray is still racking up Ks at his third level of the year. The further up the ladder he gets while picking up whiffs, the more likely it becomes that he'll have a chance to be a reliever at the major league level, with a chance to be more.

I don’t know who this guy is, except that we drafted him in the 34th round this year. But his stats sure are impressive. Tonight he pitched 4 innings in relief, of all 0s and 8 strike outs.

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?player_id=687879#/career/R/pitching/2019/ALL

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[phillipmike]

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Vladdy, Jansen, Biggio, Thornton, Tellez, Gurriel and others graduate and the Jays are still 6th in org ranking. Thats the sign of a great system and a front office that knows how to draft and develop.

EDIT: Based on this it looks like they have the Jays top 5 ranked as follows;

https://www.baseballamerica.com/teams/1022/toronto-blue-jays/

1. Bo Bichette
2. Nate Pearson
3. Jordan Groshans
4. Eric Pardinho
5. Alek Manoah

[phillipmike]

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/top-mlb-prospects-hot-sheet-81219/

15. Miguel Hiraldo, SS/2B, Blue Jays
Team: Rookie-level Bluefield (Appalachian)
Age: 18
Why He's Here: .333/.367/.741 (9-for-27), 6 R, 5 2B, 2 HRs, 13 RBIs, 2 BB, 7 SO, 1-for-1 SB
The Scoop: Several international scouts considered Hiraldo to be one of the best hitters available when he signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2017. He has lived up to his reputation in his first two years of professional baseball, with a direct swing and the ability to drive the ball with impact from the right side. He's hitting .302/.350/.500 in 43 games in the Appy League. (BB)

HELIUM
Otto Lopez, 2B, Blue Jays

Lopez gets lost in a strong Blue Jays system, but his performance at low Class A Lansing this season has scouts’ attention. The 20-year-old Dominican keeps putting the bat on the ball and hit .343/.395/.400 in his latest strong week, including three consecutive multi-hit games. Overall, Lopez is batting .310, fourth in the Midwest League, and scouts still see room for improvement in the quality of his at-bats. He is an excellent athlete who moves well and has the strength to grow into some power despite his size, making him yet another intriguing low-level prospect in the Blue Jays' system. (KG)

[phillipmike]

https://bluejaysnation.com/2019/08/14/here-are-a-bunch-of-pitchers-in-the-blue-jays-system-to-get-hyped-about/

[Schad]

Reviews of Lopez's defense generally aren't positive...ie., he doesn't have infield skills, rather than he's a 2B not a SS or what have you. But he might have a chance to stick in CF down the road, and if he adds at least doubles pop he's got bat-to-ball skills.

[polo007]

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[dagger]

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Manoah had a rougher start yesterday. he actually had the worst day of any Jays system starter, bur that was because it was a particularly good day for the other starters.

TJ Zeuch is inching closer to the majors - 6IP, 0R, 4H, 2BB, 7-2 GB/AO. 101 pitches. He's had a couple of strong starts in a row and given that he has to be added to the 40-man roster before the Rule 5 draft, and presumably will, we may see him sooner than later. He can't possibly be worse than a half dozen of the pitchers on the major league roster right now.

Yennsy Diaz threw five innings of 3H shutout ball with two walks and 4K for NH, and Maximo Castillo threw 5.2 scoreless innings of one-hit ball with a BB and 4K.

Fitz Stadler threw six innings for Lansing, giving up a pair of runs with four hits, two walks and 7K. Man he's huge- 6'9"

Manoah threw his now customary three innings, giving up two runs on three hits, no walks a 2K. Both runs in on a two run homer.

[polo007]

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[bturn2210]

Pearson with a solid outing..5.2 innings, 4 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, 6 K's. Kloffenstein with 5 innings of 2 hit, 0 runs (8 K's) baseball so far with the Canadians

[dagger]

His command has been a bit more wobbly, but Joey Murray is still racking up Ks at his third level of the year. The further up the ladder he gets while picking up whiffs, the more likely it becomes that he'll have a chance to be a reliever at the major league level, with a chance to be more.

Murray's game is FB spin, not FB velocity. Lott has a nice piece on him in The Athletic. Since it's behind a paywall, I can only give you this snippet. My take is that he is either a relief candidate where he might be able to jack up his velocity slightly, or become a Marco Estrada type starter - if he has the complete pitch repertoire and good command location.

“Murray’s fastball sits 87-90 mph,” Baseball America wrote in its draft report, “but he blows away hitters like he’s throwing 97 mph.”
He was simply blessed with the backspin gene. He doesn’t do anything special to spin the ball. Nobody coached him to do it. Horsman says you can’t teach it.
But at three levels this season, Murray has struck out 149 in 118 2/3 innings. His ERA is 2.73.


In Murray’s case, that likelihood will increase if he refines his command and polishes his curveball, slider and changeup.
Because no matter how illusory his fastball might be, it’s still coming in at 90 miles an hour. These days, everybody’s throwing high fastballs. That often works, but batters are getting better at hitting high heat. Murray needs his other pitches to keep hitters off the fastball.

Murray is finding that his fastball is a little more visible to Double-A hitters.

“In the lower levels I was able to more consistently throw high fastballs and they would swing at them,” Murray said. “Now they understand my game plan more and they’re able to lay off of it more often, so I have to utilize my offspeed and breaking pitches a lot more in order to set up that high fastball.”

That back-spinning invisiball gives him a noteworthy edge. But a word of caution: Most big-league pitchers with high fastball spin rates throw 94 or harder. The only Blue Jay among the top 25 in that group is Jason Adam. His heater averages 95. And at the moment, he’s in Triple A.

[phillipmike]

System is just oozing of talent;

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4. The Toronto Blue Jays

The Toronto organization is quickly building up an impressive stable of arms and I could have listed another four or five pitchers. The majority of the pitchers with the higher ceilings are in the lower levels of the system while most of the upper-level arms are more No. 4 starter types. As it stands right now, none of the pitchers in the Jays starting rotation look like locks to be there in two or three years. But by the end of 2021, the front of the rotation could include two hurlers already touching 100 miles per hour in Pearson and Manoah.

Nate Pearson, RHP, AA, ETA: 2020
Alek Manoah, RHP, A-, ETA: 2021
Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP, A+, ETA: 2021
Eric Pardinho, RHP, A, ETA: 2022
Adam Kloffenstein, RHP, A-, ETA: 2022
Anthony Kay, LHP, AAA, ETA: 2020
Patrick Murphy, RHP, AA, ETA: 2020
Josh Winckowski, RHP. A+, ETA: 2021
Kendall Williams, RHP, R, ETA: 2023

Projected 2021 Rotation: Nate Pearson, Alek Manoah, Patrick Murphy, Simeon Wood Richardson, Anthony Kay