Minor League Ball Gameday, April 12

Good afternoon prospect watchers. Let's hit it.

NOT COOL STUFF THAT HAPPENED APRIL 11

***Yesterday's Minor League Ball Gameday discussion thread went off the rails while discussing Jorge Soler's outburst and suspension. Somehow we ended up talking about rape and drunk driving, which has nothing to do with Soler and was not exactly "cool stuff" but did make for a lot of extra page views.

Just to be clear, I am NOT saying that what Soler did was "no big deal" or was justified in any way. I'm saying that it does not, by itself, prove that he has a serious makeup issue, given that there were no hints of this sort of behavior before, his makeup was considered quite positive before, and that he seems genuinely remorseful. It does mean that we have to keep an eye on the situation and that a question, a negative data point, exists now that did not exist previously. I think we can all agree on that.

The Cubs are saying the right things:

"He has to find a way to better manage his emotions on the field. We condemn the act and what took place, but we support the player. We believe in Jorge as a person as well as a player. It's our responsibility to work with him and make sure he has a better way to channel his emotions on the field and make sure something like this doesn't happen again."---Theo Epstein

COOL STUFF THAT HAPPENED ON APRIL 11

***There is still lots of good regular baseball stuff in the yesterday's thread.

***I think that Tampa Bay Rays pitching prospect Alex Colome doesn't get enough attention. That will change if he continues pitching like he did yesterday for Triple-A Durham, striking out seven over six shutout innings against Norfolk.

***San Diego Padres pitching prospect Joe Ross is rolling along at Low-A Fort Wayne, fanning eight in five shutout innings against Lake County. The shoulder problems that hampered him last summer seem fully resolved, his command has been sharp, and his stuff has never been questioned.

***San Francisco Giants pitching prospect Joan Gregorio threw six shutout innings for Low-A Augusta, fanning eight with no walks and just three hits allowed. He struggled some in the Northwest League last summer but seems like he's putting things together this year at age 21.

COOL STUFF TO TRACK FOR APRIL 12

***Today's schedule of minor league games. There have already been four rainouts.

***Detroit Tigers sleeper pitching prospect Montreal Robertson (great name) takes the mound for Low-A West Michigan against Dylan Floro and Bowling Green.

***Ex-Stanford lefty Brett Mooneyham gets the call for Low-A Hagerstown against Orioles prospect Matt Taylor and Delmarva.

***Augusta sends 2012 Giants first round pick Chris Stratton up against Gabe Encinas and Charleston. High-A San Jose sends another top San Francisco pitching prospect, Kyle Crick, to the mound versus Visalia and Kyle Winkler.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

***Jon Roegele looks at how the combination of velocity and location impacts pitch quality and success.

***What options will the Dodgers turn to in order to replace Zack Greinke and his broken collarbone? Ted Lilly? Chris Capuano? Might the Dodgers go with a prospect option like Matt Magill? Probably not but it would be cool if they did something besides run a boring veteran out there.

***As you likely know, the Houston Astros are using a "tandem" pitching concept in the minors to open the season. Crawfish Boxes looks at the early results.

***Brendon Booth previews the weekend in college baseball.

HOUSEKEEPING

***Minor League Notes will return this weekend and Prospect of the Day will resume Monday. I have two more Prospect Retros in the work queue: Cesar Cedeno and Andres Galarraga, both by request. Historical players take longer to research but I will get those turned out within a reasonable time frame. I'm moving on to draft stuff after those are finished.