Friday, May 11, 2018

May Minor League System Update!

As we near mid-May, I promised an occasional update on my minor leaguers that I drafted.
I'll also add the players that I drafted before this past draft after my picks as well.

2018-# 1
Luis Robert OF Chicago White Sox- missed time with a wrist injury, playing in Arizona, expected to start at High A Winston-Salem soon.

2018 #2
Heliot Ramos OF San Francisco-  .212 3 HR 10 RBI at Low A Augusta.
Has struggled overall, but has had two really strong weeks.
The problem is what he has done otherwise.

2018 #3
Jesus Luzardo P Oakland 2-1 in 3 starts 1.23 ERA 25 K's in 14.2 innings at High A Stockton
                                          1-0 in 3 starts 3.00 ERA 19 K's in 15 innings at AA Midland.
Looking like the pitching steal of the draft in the first month in a half.
Luzardo looked to moved aggressively starting at High A after never being above short season.
Was so dominant that he was quickly promoted to AA Midland.
Hitters hit just .120 against him in High A and only .218 at AA.

2018 #4
Adrian Morejon P San Diego 1-3 in 6 starts 3.68 ERA 30 K's in 29.1 innings at High A Lake Elsinore
Morejon at 19 was aggressively moved and is holding his own if not excelling.
Hitters are only hitting .231 against him, so the numbers aren't bad, just pales next to Luzardo...

2018 #5
Jhailyn Ortiz OF Philadelphia .158 1 HR 5 RBI in 57 at bats at Low A Lakewood-
Ortiz was striking out as I expected (25 whiffs in 57 at-bats) before being injured and placed on the DL after diving for a ball here at the beautiful Muni and its lovely outfield surface.
Not sure how much time he'll miss, but should he miss another month, it'll be interesting to see if he's returned to short-season Williamsport (Where he tore up the NY-Penn League in 2017) to gain some confidence or back to Lakewood.

2018 #5A
William Contreras C Atlanta .232 2 HR 4 RBI in 56 at bats at Low A Rome
Contreras just arrived in Rome two weeks ago after a spring training injury.
Small sample, but have to like the two homers early.

The rest of my system as follows- If a draft pick number appears to be out of order, I either released that player, traded him or lost him in the expansion draft

2017 #1
Eloy Jimenez OF Chicago White Sox .341 7 HR 24 RBI in 85 at bats at AA Birmingham.
Jimenez won't be in Birmingham much longer, the question is this-is he headed for AAA Charlotte or the big club in Chicago.
Jimenez has posted an OPS of 1.064 and looks to be the massive bat among many on a White Sox team that could be a contender for a while in a few years.

2017 #2
Juan Soto OF Washington  .373 5 HR 24 RBI in 59 at bats at Low A Hagerstown
                                            .371 7 HR 18 RBI in 62 at bats at High A Potomac
                                            .400 1 HR   4 RBI in 5 at bats at AA Harrisburg
As terrific as Jimenez has been and he has done it at a higher level, Juan Soto is just crushing the ball.
Was likely started softly in Low A Hagerstown, but at only 19, looked like a major leaguer in the SAL- the old line of a man among boys applies and the Carolina League looked to be a better challenge.
Soto only jacked things up there to far exceed those expectations to the point of having to be moved to AA, where he only homered on his first night there.
Soto notched a combined OPS of 1,275 between Hagerstown and Potomac.
The parent club may very well consider letting Bryce Harper walk if his asking price is too high in the off-season or decide to give him what he wants and combine Harper with Soto for the next few years.
If that happens-Watch out...

2017 #4
Tristan McKenzie P Cleveland
McKenzie is still in Arizona with forearm soreness.
They supposedly aren't serious and he is expected to debut soon.
His 2017 numbers would have made him a lock to start at AA Akron, he might make a start or two back at High A Lynchburg before moving up.

2016 # 3
Brady Aiken P Cleveland
Aiken is also in Arizona, but after a bad 2018 might be running out of chances.
Haven't heard anything about an assignment soon

2016 #4
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 3B Toronto .396 5 HR 36 RBI at AA New Hampshire
Yep, 396 for a 19-year-old in AA and only 12 strikeouts? Unreal and an OPS over 1,100!
The question here again as with Eloy Jimenez, does Vlad Jr go to AAA Buffalo or straight to Toronto?
I drafted Guerrero before he had ever played a pro game, so high reward here!
Yes, I could have a lineup of draftees of Jimenez, Soto, and Guerrero- And that's before we see how Luis Robert plays.

2016 #5
Phil Bickford P Milwaukee
Bickford missed time last year with a drug suspension (Marijuana) and a broken hand and hasn't pitched this season despite not being listed on anyone's DL.
It's too bad that he might be tossing a career away because when he sees the mound, he gets batters out- Like Aiken, I'm running out of patience.

2016 #6
Justus Sheffield P New York Yankees 1-2 in 5 starts 2.25 ERA 39 K's in 28 innings at AA Trenton
                                                              0-1 in 4.2 innings in only start at AAA Scranton
Sheffield was solid, but unspectacular in 2017 in Trenton, but it still was a surprise when he was returned there.
Sheffield didn't pout, pitched very well and earned his AAA promotion.

Pre-2016 Draftees

Christian Arroyo 3B Tampa Bay .212 1 HR 8 RBI in 53 at bats at AAA Durham.
Arroyo has struggled in his 1st season in the Rays organization, Still just 22 (23 later in the month), but his struggles might make him a cut for me at season's end.

Austin Meadows OF Pittsburgh .276 1 HR 10 RBI in 98 at bats at AAA Indianapolis.
Meadows bat has been pretty average in his AAA tenure (parts of three seasons) and has had trouble staying healthy.
I would like to see what he would do with an injury-free year, but that hasn't happened yet- Starting to get a little concerned.

Tyler Beede P San Francisco 1-3 in 5 starts 5.63 ERA 26 K's in 24 innings at AAA Sacramento
                                                0-1 in 2 starts 8.22 ERA in 7.2 innings for San Francisco
Beede looks to have had his chance and didn't take advantage of it-Barring a strong turnaround, Beede could be finished with me and maybe even the Giants.

Grant Holmes P Oakland
Holmes suffered a rotator cuff injury in spring training and may miss the season.
Holmes will likely be released by me before the next draft.


                                           


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