2010 Minor Leagues/Prospect Discussion Thread

[-MetA4-]

Wow...I'd thought that Alvarez might pick up a little velocity given his age, but didn't expect him to be throwing 92-93 and touching 96. Ever.

Alvarez was throwing 92/93mph last year so its not out of nowhere. BA absolutely loved his changeup last year BTW. If he develops an above-average curveball he will be a monster.

[Schad]

Wow...I'd thought that Alvarez might pick up a little velocity given his age, but didn't expect him to be throwing 92-93 and touching 96. Ever.

Alvarez was throwing 92/93mph last year so its not out of nowhere. BA absolutely loved his changeup last year BTW. If he develops an above-average curveball he will be a monster.

I'd read that he 'could hit' 92-93, but had no idea that he was throwing it consistently. Yeah, if he can build a good breaking pitch, he's going to be damned good.

[Avenger]

Alvarez had another pretty good start today, 5 innings(don't know why he was pulled early, hope its not an injury), 3K's, 1BB, 5Hits, 1 run but unearned and 5/6 GB:FB. For the year he is 19IP, 12 hits, 3BB, 9 K's, 1.44GB/FB and an ERA of .64.

d'Arnaud finally had a bad game, 0-4 with 2 K's. Pastornicky went 2-4 with a double and 2 walks, his OPS on the year is 771, very promising.

[LittleOzzy]

Jays to see hot Cuban shortstop prospect in action

Adeiny Hechavarria is known for his glove, but the Cuban expatriate and high-profile Blue Jays prospect will begin his pro career with his bat.

When the Dunedin Blue Jays – one of the Jays’ minor league teams – face the Phillies-affiliated Clearwater Threshers in an extended spring training game in Dunedin Saturday morning

http://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/ ... -in-action

[Hendrix]

Was talking to someone from the Jays org, and this is what he had to say about Hechavarria

"Hes still in extended spring with all the scrubs.My locker is right next to his and I **** you not, hes smaller than Eckstein lololol.
From what i hear hes taking a ton of english classes as he's fresh off the boat...literally. "

Not much info, but that's pretty damn small no?

[Schad]

Was talking to someone from the Jays org, and this is what he had to say about Hechavarria

"Hes still in extended spring with all the scrubs.My locker is right next to his and I **** you not, hes smaller than Eckstein lololol.
From what i hear hes taking a ton of english classes as he's fresh off the boat...literally.

Not much info, but that's pretty damn small no?

Smaller than Eckstein? Everything I've read says that he's about 6'0"...your build doesn't get compared to Soriano at 5'7"/5'8"

[Hendrix]

I'm guessing it's a bit of hyperbole. I asked him to expand on that, and this was his response.

i mean hes 5'9" 160. srs. ill take a pic tmrw.

But the Soriano comparison does seem a bit odd being 35lbs less. Hopefully he just needs some time in the weight room.

[-MetA4-]

Hard to gauge, but he looks like how 90% of shortstops look.

[Hendrix]

I dunno, I'm just repeating what I'm told from a guy that plays with him. I think it's pretty much impossible to tell from that pic though 1 way or the other.


Good nights from Arancibia, and Wallace with 2 hits each and 1 HR each.

Tim collins pitched 1.1 innings with 2k's, and 2walks, 0 hits, 0 runs.

[Schad]

Yet again, Wallace homers oppo. He's a madman. And Arencibia is off to a decent start: .306/.359/.500 thus far.

Ray got hammered, Luis Perez handed out walks like candy, D'Arnaud had an ofer, and David Cooper still sucks.

[Randle McMurphy]

And Arencibia is off to a decent start: .306/.359/.500 thus far.

Unfortunately, you're only looking at his last 10 games.

But his real line (.275/.326/.450) isn't bad for him either.

[Avenger]

Drabek finally had a good outing today, 5.2 IP,2 hits,3BB, 7K's and 6-3GB:FB. He did load up the bases though in the 6th inning but the reliever got him out of that jam.

[Schad]

Drabek finally had a good outing today, 5.2 IP,2 hits,3BB, 7K's and 6-3GB:FB. He did load up the bases though in the 6th inning but the reliever got him out of that jam.

His seasonal numbers are pretty respectable now...21.1 IP, 18 hits, 9 ER, 12 BB, 20 Ks, GB:FB approaching 2:1, ERA of 3.80 and a WHIP of 1.41. Too many walks, and he has 5 unearned runs to his name (tough to say whether Drabek or the defense deserves more blame for those), but the jump in his GB rate is promising.

[-MetA4-]

Wallace had a game typing HR robbed last night in the 9th inning BTW.

[Michael Bradley]

The return for Halladay as of April 25.....

Wallace: 60 AB, .283/.377/.667 (1.043 OPS), 7 HR, 2 2B, 9 BB, 16 K
Taylor: 64 AB, .234/.310/.391 (.700 OPS), 1 HR, 3 2B, 7 BB, 14 K, 3 SB

Drabek: 4 GS, 3-1, 3.80 ERA, 21.1 IP, 18 H, 12 BB, 20 K, 2 HR, 1.75 GO/AO

d'Arnaud: 64 AB, .328/.362/.547 (.909 OPS), 3 HR, 5 2B, 4 BB, 7 K, 1 SB

Not bad so far. Hope they can keep it up/improve. Wallace looks like he'll be called up sooner rather than later (Overbay is probably not going to last past the trade deadline even if they have to release him). Drabek is still a year or more away, and I would go very slow with d'Arnaud since catching prospects generally take time. Taylor is struggling so far, but it is still very early.

[Hoopstarr]

Blurb on Ah-THEY-nee from MLBTR today

"One AL international scout's assessment of Cuban shortstops Jose Iglesias and Adeiny Hechavarria: "Iglesias is certainly the more polished player at this stage, but Hechavarria has more upside.... I’d say Iglesias could play defensively in the big leagues right now, where Hechavarria would need a year or two to refine his game a bit." While the Sox would like to give Iglesias more minor league experience, they could bring him up if something were to happen to Marco Scutaro or Dustin Pedroia."

[Schad]

Wallace is having another excellent game: 2 for 2 with a double and a walk thus far. Despite his .300+ average, he's also hitting just .260 on balls in play...he's getting quite a bit of loft (his GB% sat at 34.1% entering tonight) which normally lowers BA/bip, but that's still somewhat unlucky.

In the bad facial hair department, Eric Thames and Tiny Tim had good days. Thames hit his second HR; don't know that he has or will have the power to be a starting corner OF in the bigs, but he looks like a good enough pure hitter to make it as a fourth outfielder if he stays healthy. Collins struck out two, giving up a hit, and now sits at 8 IP without a run allowed, with 14 Ks, 4 walks, and only two hits. He was shaky to say the least in his few AA outings last year, but he's back to his confounding self.

AJ Jiminez is also showing something in Lansing right now; he was drafted as a very young catcher with offensive upside who fell owing to a shoulder injury, and is repeating the level after posting a 10:1 K/BB ratio and not much power as a 19 year old. He's raking after coming off the DL, though: 10 for 25 with 5 extra-base hits, only three strikeouts, and five stolen bases or six attempts in six games. He was billed as a pretty athletic guy, but I didn't expect the steals.

Aaron Loup, a LHP who was our 9th rounder last year and split time between starting and relieving in the minors, is also doing work at the moment: in 13.2 innings, he has 18 Ks, 6 walks, 9 hits, and a solid GB:FB. Loup was a launching pad in college (solid in other aspects), but that might have something to do with the parks in which he played...I just looked up his college stats, and the HR/9 rate for Tulane and its opponents that year was 1.26, which is quite high.

At any rate, he hasn't given up a longball in 30 pro innings, and while he isn't destined for glory you can never have too many young lefty relievers with the ability to strike people out.


In the time it took me to write this, Reidier Gonzalez imploded.

[-MetA4-]

AJ Jimenez was a rare 5-tool catcher when we drafted him. I dont have any stats, but so far on the season he has also thrown out and picked off several baserunners.

[Schad]

AJ Jimenez was a rare 5-tool catcher when we drafted him. I dont have any stats, but so far on the season he has also thrown out and picked off several baserunners.

He's nailed 34% of runners as a pro, 2 of 6 entering today. I was really high on him coming out of the draft, but soured on him a bit last year owing to his total lack of plate discipline.

With Arencibia, D'Arnaud, Perez, potentially Jimenez, and a couple fringy guys like Gomes and Ochinko, we're really loaded at catcher in a way few teams can match.


In other news, Jarrett Hoffpauir has hit for the cycle...by the sixth inning. Bless you, PCL.

[Avenger]

Do we have any reports on Wallace's defence at First Base? He's only committed one error in 105 chances but that obviously doesn't tell us a whole lot, what's his range like and is he projected to be atleast an average defensive first baseman?