Minor League Notes, April 17, 2012

by John Sickels on Apr 17, 2025 4:41 PM EDT

Minor League Notes, April 17, 2025

**It's early, but Chicago White Sox outfield prospect Jared Mitchell may have resurrected his status as a prospect. Drafted in the first round out of Louisiana State in 2009, he missed all of 2010 following a horrific ankle injury. He returned in 2011 but was less than effective for Winston-Salem in the Carolina League, hitting just .222/.304/.377 last year with an obscene strikeout rate, 184 whiffs in 477 at-bats.

2012 looks completely different. Playing for Double-A Birmingham, Mitchell is hitting .333/.490/.564 through 12 games, with three doubles, three triples, 11 walks, and 12 strikeouts. He's still fanning too much for comfort, but is drawing more walks and showing more pop this year. He is also reportedly playing better defense in center field after struggling with his routes last year, probably an after-effect of the injury. Right now, Mitchell looks more like the player the White Sox thought they were getting when they drafted him. Even last year, his work ethic and drive to succeed were never in question.

**Kansas City Royals outfield prospect Wil Myers was hampered by injuries last year for Double-A Northwest Arkansas, hitting .254/.353/.393 with less power than anticipated, although he still impressed scouts with his tools and offensive potential and was only 19 years old. Returning to NW Arkansas this season, he's hitting .333/.366/.641 through nine games, although his BB/K has deteriorated with a 2/14 mark in 39 at-bats. The strikeout rate is much higher than last year, with a lower walk rate. Is he boosting his power output by being more aggressive, and will this backfire at higher levels? Only time will tell.

**Another outfielder with contact issues is Miami Marlins prospect Marcell Ozuna, hitting .227/.292/.409 with two homers, four walks, and 13 strikeouts in 44 at-bats for High-A Jupiter. Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2008, Ozuna hit .266/.330/.482 with 23 homers, 46 walks, and 121 strikeouts in 496 at-bats for Low-A Greensboro last year. Scouts love his tools and he has the raw power to be a 30-homer hitter, but the 20-year-old has to prove he can handle pitchers who can spin a breaking ball or command a changeup. Teammate Christian Yelich, meanwhile, was activated from extended spring training a couple of days ago and is 4-for-7 with a triple and three walks so far. He's a much more polished hitter despite being a full year younger.

**19-year-old St. Louis Cardinals outfield prospect Oscar Taveras went 3-for-5 with a triple yesterday for Double-A Springfield in the Texas League, giving him a season line of .311/.326/.622 with one walk and eight strikeouts. So far he's showing no ill effects despite skipping High-A, although his BB/K is less than ideal. I think that's just a matter of experience and adjustment and he remains a personal favorite.

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Read More: Jared Mitchell (CF - CWS), Marcell Ozuna (OF - FLA), Oscar Taveras (CF - STL), Wil Myers (RF - KAN), Christian Yelich (LF - FLA), Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Miami Marlins

Comments

Taveras

Taveras has been really impressive so far. What I find interesting is that he’s an outfielder who hits lots of doubles and triples, but has only stolen one base since the beginning of last season. I can’t think of a great comparable.

by Randolph314 on Apr 17, 2025 4:57 PM EDT reply actions

SB's

Keep in mind he was having hamstring issues almost all of last year that put him on the DL twice. So I wouldn’t take too much stock into his SB’s from last year as any indication.

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by JDizzidy on Apr 17, 2025 8:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Taveras

How does Taveras compare to Vlad Guerrero as a prospect?

by 301Madison on Apr 17, 2025 5:19 PM EDT reply actions

Taveras still has a long way to go to get to that level

Ignoring the side they hit and throw from, Vlad still had an 80 arm and was a better baserunner. He wasn’t pushed quite as aggressively as Taveras (about a year older at each level), but he also always showed good plate discipline and never struck nearly as often as Taveras did last season. Taveras may have a Vlad type ceiling (and one of the highest ceilings in the minors), but he appears to be pretty far away from reaching it at this point.

by nixa37 on Apr 18, 2025 10:24 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm not so sure about this

I agree that it’s not good to compare prospects to HOF types like Vlad unless they’re Mike Trout level wunderkinds (which Taveras is not, at least not yet). However, while Vlad may have had a couple less red flags (and a larger body of work), he put up pretty similar minor league numbers to Taveras. His slash lines were very similar. You’re right about the strikeouts. Vlad sat around 10% on his K rate, while Taveras has been around 15%. However his walk rate wasn’t much better. Taveras didn’t walk much in his breakout year in the rookie league, but last year in the MWL he walked 9.2%, roughly the same as what Vlad did at age 21, split between high A and AA (like Taveras, Vlad had struggled with walks before then). Also, it’s worth noting that Taveras put up his monster season at age 18/19, while Vlad didn’t even start in the minors until 19. Lastly, in terms of base running, Vlad certainly ran MORE than OT, but he wasn’t terribly successful. In fact, his success rates were pretty ugly. His best season, at age 21, he had a SB/CS of 19/12.

At any rate, the point still stands that it’s way too early to be comparing Taveras’ bat to Vlad’s. However, if you were to have shown me their two minor league stat lines, stripped of any context except their ages and the fact that they were both Dominican outfielders with violent swings, I’d probably have chosen Vlad, but it wouldn’t have been an easy decision.

by jibbers on Apr 18, 2025 12:36 PM EDT via iPhone app up reply actions

I Like the Start Mitchell is having

You’re right, he is still whiffing a lot, but his contact percentage (76 percent) is still a heck of a lot better than what baseball fans saw in High-A last year (62 percent). I think the year off really hurt him because of his two sport background. This is the first time he’s really had to dedicate solely to baseball and missing an entire year of game experience really affected him in a lot of areas, especially at the plate. Now that he has had a full year to get “reacquainted” with the game and professional pitching, I think he’s become a lot more comfortable and confident in his abilities. I thought the decision to move him up to Double-A was rash (but most likely a need due to their lack of system depth), but it seems to have paid off and he could be one of the higher rated prospects in the White Sox system next year (perhaps the top) if he can keep this up this year.

Optioned to Fresno
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by objesguy on Apr 17, 2025 5:36 PM EDT reply actions

Miscalculated the contact percentage

actually 69.2 percent, which is still pretty poor, though a marked improvement from a year ago.

Optioned to Fresno
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by objesguy on Apr 17, 2025 5:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Was looking at him

the other day. Says a lot that he had a .340 BABiP last year and a .222 average. ~34% strikeout rate, so yeah, this constitutes significant improvement in terms of contact.

by charles wallace on Apr 17, 2025 11:59 PM EDT up reply actions

Other redbirds?

John - When you get around to it, I’d love for you to take a look at Matt Adams (my personal favorite) and his hot start. Is he Berkman’s replacement? Thanks!

by Lollardfish on Apr 18, 2025 8:45 AM EDT reply actions

What to make of Henry Owens so far?

Any thoughts on him? His performance has been interesting so far. 22 Ks in 10.2 innings but everything else hasn’t been too great. (16 h, 8 BB, 14 ER)

The walks have been an issue throughout the outings but aside from them a lot of the damage has been done at the end of his start. In two of the three starts he didn’t record an out in his final inning (despite facing 5 and 3 batters). Probably just showing that he has trouble repeating his mechanics and the issue becomes even worse as he fatigues?

How does the performance thus far compare to the thoughts on him pre-draft?

by gnfeezy on Apr 18, 2025 12:46 PM EDT reply actions