Minor League Ball Gameday, April 16

Good morning prospect watchers.

The terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon is foremost in most of our minds today. There are no Republicans or Democrats at a time like this: there are only Americans.

We could all use a distraction from current events, so let's get to it.

COOL STUFF THAT HAPPENED ON APRIL 15

***Yesterday's Minor League Ball Gameday thread has the daily breakdown of minor league action.

***Kansas City Royals pitching prospect Chris Dwyer went seven strong innings for Triple-A Omaha yesterday, allowing two runs while fanning seven. He's pitched well in all three of his starts this year. The stuff has always been there. Is the command coming along?

***Padres sinkerballer Donn Roach pitched 4.2 innings for Double-A San Antonio, allowing six hits and two runs with two strikeouts. He continues to rack up ground balls at an insane clip and now has a 6.40 GO/AO ratio on the season.

***Dodgers prospect Scott Van Slyke knocked two homers for Triple-A Albuquerque yesterday. He is now hitting .500/.577/1.048 in 12 games.

***Rangers prospect Joey Gallo knocked a home run for Low-A Hickory. He's now hitting .205 with four walks and 19 strikeouts in 44 at-bats. Four of his nine hits have gone over the fences. He is pretty much as advertised so far: enormous power, but problems with contact.

***New York Mets pitching prospect Domingo Tapia fanned eight over six innings last night for High-A St. Lucie, giving up three runs on five hits. Organization-mate and former first round pick Brandon Nimmo hit a home run for Low-A Savannah and is now hitting .429/.510/.571 on the season.

COOL STUFF TO WATCH FOR TODAY

***Today's slate of minor league games.

***Pirates prospect Gerrit Cole goes for Triple-A Indianapolis against Tigers prospect Casey Crosby and the Toledo Mudhens.

***Blue Jays prospect Deck McGuire (remember him?) pitches for Double-A New Hampshire in their contest against hard-throwing Twins prospect Trevor May and New Britain.

***Royals prospect Jason Adam and Rangers prospect Cody Buckel make another attempt to adapt to Double-A competition in the Northwest Arkansas vs. Frisco competition.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

***Chris Crawford of MLB Draft Insider takes a look at 2013 MLB draft prospects Aaron Judge and J.P. Crawford.

***Rob Neyer wonders if the Tampa Bay Rays are making the right decision in keeping outfield prospect Wil Myers down in the minors.

***The Angels promoted third base prospect Luis Jimenez to play third base. Halos Heaven describes his career. He will be Prospect of the Day later today so stay tuned for that. Boston Red Sox knuckleballer Steven Wright will be Prospect of the Day tomorrow.

***MinorLeagueBaseball.com takes a look at Atlanta Braves southpaw pitching prospect Alex Wood and his nasty stuff.

***Cody Buckel has gotten hammered in his first two Double-A starts this month. If he doesn't figure things out, he can fall back on his potential second career as an actor.

***Mike Podhorzer at Fangraphs examines the sabermetrics of Aaron Hicks' suckage for the Minnesota Twins.