2019 Minor Leagues/Prospect Discussion Thread

[phillipmike]

Joey Murray goes 6 innings giving up 4 runs (RBI double and a 3 run shot) in one inning for New Hampshire.

6 innings
4 earner run
6 strikeouts
1 walk
100 pitches
59 strikes

[phillipmike]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/one-last-top-100-prospects-shuffle/

https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board/2019-in-season-prospect-list/summary?sort=-1,1&pagenum=2&team=tor&pos=&filter=&type=0

4. Bichette (9)
37. Pearson (63)
89. Groshans (NR)

Guerrero and Jansen graduate. Groshans moves up in the top 100.

Manoah and SWR move closer to the top 100.

Jays list looks different.

[raptorforlife88]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/one-last-top-100-prospects-shuffle/

https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board/2019-in-season-prospect-list/summary?sort=-1,1&pagenum=2&team=tor&pos=&filter=&type=0

4. Bichette (9)
37. Pearson (63)
89. Groshans (NR)

Guerrero and Jansen graduate. Groshans moves up in the top 100.

Manoah and SWR move closer to the top 100.

Jays list looks different.

It's nice to see that after all the graduations the Jays top ten list still looks super interesting, and thats with Orelvis Martinez and Miguel Hiraldo outside of it.

[phillipmike]

It's nice to see that after all the graduations the Jays top ten list still looks super interesting, and thats with Orelvis Martinez and Miguel Hiraldo outside of it.

Yeah to me its pretty incredible;

Bold = high potential guys with good floors

First Wave - In the Majors: C Danny Jansen, LF Lourdes Gurriel Jr., 3B Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 2B Cavan Biggio, SS Bo Bichette, SP Ryan Borucki, SP Trent Thornton

Second Wave - AA or AAA: SP Nate Pearson, SP Anthony Kay, OF Anthony Alford, SP TJ Zeuch, SS Kevin Smith, and SP Joey Murray

Third Wave - A+: C Alejandro Kirk, SS, Kevin Vicuna, SP Simeon Woods-Richardson, SP Maximo Castillo, SP Josh Winckowski, and CF Chavez Young

Fourth Wave - A or lower: C Gabriel Moreno, 3B Jordan Groshans, OF Griffin Conine, SP Eric Pardinho, SS Lenardo Jimenez, SS Miguel Hiraldo, SS Orelvis Martinez, SP Alek Manoah, SP Adam Kloffenstein, SP Kendall Williams, OF Dasan Brown, OF Will Robertson, C Phil Clarke

Then you have a pool of prospects that might make some impact down the line: SP Hector Perez, SP Patrick Murphy, SP Yennsy Diaz, C Riley Adams, 2B Samad Taylor, SP Thomas Hatch etc.

Then you are sprinkling lower ceiling guys or wildcards already in the majors who can be productive like; OF Billy McKinney, OF Teoscar Hernandez, OF Derek Fisher, C Reese McGuire, 1B Rowdy Tellez, SP Jacob Waguespack, P Sean Reid-Foley etc.

Jays will likely have a top 5 pick in the 2020 draft. They are rumored to already have a deal with a top 10 2020 IFA prospect SS Manuel Beltre and they will likely add more prospects in the off-season and next season via trade.

----------

Infield is set for the next 5-7 years;

C: Jansen and McGuire
1B: Tellez
2B: Biggio
SS: Bichette
3B: Guerrero Jr.

Outfield has Grichuk and Gurriel. Just need one of Fisher or Hernandez to establish themselves to keep them afloat for a few years. I doubt it will be McKinney.

Next year your rotation will likely be Pearson, Thornton, Borucki, and Kay. Shoemaker and perhaps a free agent signing to limit Pearson/Borucki/Kay's innings. Have the depth guys in Zeuch, Waguespack, and Pannone. Murray might have some MLB innings in him.

Pen will be easy to piece together.

Then you add in the different waves a prospects after that. This is the best group of young talent the Jays have had since the Gillick days.

[phillipmike]

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[dagger]

As Andrew Stoeten of The Athletic writes, we don't know yet what we have in Cavan Biggio - the implication is that he has to pull up his socks to stay at 2B or in the majors as more than a utility guy. Fortunately, there are lots of quality infielders in the system, so it's not a situation to fret over long term - unless you are Cavan Biggio. One name I would add to the tertiary prospect pool would be Santiago Espinal, the infielder we got for Steve Pearce last June. He's been a solid hitter with a decent eye at two levels now. He might make a challenger/near-term placeholder for Biggio's job, or could be a useful modest add in a trade package.

Also, Hatch's last couple of starts have been encouraging enough to think of him as a potential reliever a little sooner than later. And Luis Quinones at Vancouver looks like an interesting story to follow: 53 strikeouts in 34 innings at two levels. Although he was a very late round draft choice, the team did see enough in him to give him a $50,000 bonus. He had a tiny innings count at San Jacinto JC, which may have been the reason he was available in the 34th Round; not enough scouts even saw him pitch. He may amount to nothing, but some Jays people seem to think he has a shot.

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

[phillipmike]

As Andrew Stoeten of The Athletic writes, we don't know yet what we have in Cavan Biggio - the implication is that he has to pull up his socks to stay at 2B or in the majors as more than a utility guy. Fortunately, there are lots of quality infielders in the system, so it's not a situation to fret over long term - unless you are Cavan Biggio. One name I would add to the tertiary prospect pool would be Santiago Espinal, the infielder we got for Steve Pearce last June. He's been a solid hitter with a decent eye at two levels now. He might make a challenger/near-term placeholder for Biggio's job, or could be a useful modest add in a trade package.

Also, Hatch's last couple of starts have been encouraging enough to think of him as a potential reliever a little sooner than later. And Luis Quinones at Vancouver looks like an interesting story to follow: 53 strikeouts in 34 innings at two levels. Although he was a very late round draft choice, the team did see enough in him to give him a $50,000 bonus. He had a tiny innings count at San Jacinto JC, which may have been the reason he was available in the 34th Round; not enough scouts even saw him pitch. He may amount to nothing, but some Jays people seem to think he has a shot.

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

I wouldnt count Biggio out at all; his defense needs to get better for sure, especially at 2B. Personally he should play 2B and 2B only for me - let him learn the one position and potentially become average defensively. His bat might or rather should explode soon.

https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/reviewing-cavan-biggio-future-offensive-star/

What has driven that impressive walk rate? An absolute hatred for swinging at pitches outside the strike zone. His 14.9% O-Swing% ranks second lowest in baseball before a big gap to third place. Again, as a rookie. That’s quite the foundation to start a career, as knowing which pitches to swing at and not swing at is a skill some players take an entire career to learn. What’s funny is that his O-Contact% is also well below the league average, so what that means is he rarely swings at balls, and when he actually does, he whiffs more often than makes contact. Both of those things have driven his walk rate as high as it is.

His 16% walk rate is 8th best in the majors and puts him ahead of guys like Soto, Harper, Bellinger, and Yelich.

In the last 30 years only Judge and Soto have a higher walk rate as rookies.

In the history of baseball (or at least as far as FG goes - 1800s) - Biggio is ranked 23rd in walk rate of all rookies in the game;

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=250&type=8&season=2019&month=0&season1=1871&ind=3&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=1871-01-01&enddate=2019-12-31&sort=10,d

Once this lineup matures, pitchers wont be able to pitch around him or Vladdy or Bichette. I think our young guys will to a big step next season.

[vaff87]

Also, eventually he'll start to get the respect he deserves from umpires. I've seen him called out on so many balls...

[TheDunc]

I like what I see from Biggio so far, the results havent been there but I like his approach and he has power. Its only a matter of time before he gets some respect by the umps and calls start going his way.

[vaff87]

Orelvis showing a lot of power for a 17 year old. He has 5 HR in his last 8 games. ISO is up to .274; OPS is .901.

[Schad]

5 HRs and only 4 Ks versus 5 BBs in that span. He's making a compelling case to open in full season next year.

Edit: that moves him into a tie for the GCL HR lead, with Canadian-born Francisco Hernandez of the Cards.

[polo007]

Through struggles, swing fixes and injuries, Alford’s confidence solid - TSN.ca

BUFFALO — Danny Jansen, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Rowdy Tellez, Cavan Biggio, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette are all in the big leagues.

Not so long ago, just about everyone expected Anthony Alford to be right there with them.

But on Monday night in Buffalo, Alford was sitting in the Triple-A Bisons dugout ahead of yet another return from the injured list, this time sitting out for 10 days due to a strained right groin.

The 25-year-old outfielder is all-too-familiar with the injured list and it’s not where he ever wants to be.

Neither is Buffalo.

Despite all the stops and starts, he's got the majors on his mind.

“I know I can play up there,” Alford said in his typical, soft-spoken way, shortly before doubling and stealing his 21st base of the season in his return to the Buffalo lineup. “I’ve never really had consistent at-bats up there. It was always spot starts or I would come in and pinch hit, so I never really got a chance to showcase my ability. I’ve always understood. I’ve always had older guys in front of me, so you kind of have to wait your turn. KP was there, (Curtis) Granderson was there, (Steve) Pearce was there. Those guys get paid a lot of money, I know they’re about to be out there.”

Once again, he’s trying to reboot, and continue with a significant swing adjustment he made after batting just .132 over his first 20 games with the Bisons in April.

“We had him make some changes,” Bisons manager Bobby Meacham said. “His swing path is a little different so we made some changes to help that along and what I was really proud of was he was able to compete at this level while making pretty major changes in his swing. His approach is a little bit better and it’s a little bit different and it’s getting better every time. The progress he’s made this season has really impressed me.”

[vaff87]

Alek Manoah pitched 4 innings tonight:

4.0 IP 3 H 0 R 1 BB 8 SO 63 pitches

[phillipmike]

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[bluerap23]

Of our current crop of pitching prospects which 5-6 with the highest ceiling will be ready in 3 years to start for the big club?

[phillipmike]

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[vaff87]

Anybody know why Maximo Castillo isn’t even in our top 30 prospects? He’s 20 years old, and having a really good season in Dunedin.

[phillipmike]

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[phillipmike]

Anybody know why Maximo Castillo isn’t even in our top 30 prospects? He’s 20 years old, and having a really good season in Dunedin.

I said this in another forum a few days ago;

Other than throw more strikeouts and increase his GB%, i dont know what more Maximo Castillo has to do to be considered a legit prospect (not on MLB.com or BA's top 30 Jays prospects).

Back to back 10-5 season with 125+ innings. More impressively he started the year 19 in A+ ball. Turned 20 years old 3 months ago, is healthy and has only produced. He is a year younger than Winckowski with better numbers.

He was throwing 90-92 last year. Anyone know what he is throwing this year?

From the 2015 IFA class, is 6'2" and 250 pounds. Projectable, extremely young for his level, durability, health and gets results. He is often overlooked.

https://bluejaysnation.com/2018/08/17/maximo-castillo-is-a-jays-pitching-prospect-you-should-get-to-know/

[Schad]

He's another one of those guys who lack physical projection/high-end stuff, and thus won't get a tonne of credit unless they start doing it at a higher level. I'm expecting Murray to get bumped into the top 30 having demonstrated that he can get the ball past AA hitters, and Castillo will probably get the same treatment if he keeps producing in NH.