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Good morning prospect watchers. Let's get down to business.
***My main goal right now is reviewing each of the Top 20 Pre-season prospect lists. So far I've done the Twins, Rangers, and Pirates. Right now I'm focusing on teams most likely to be involved in trades, but I should have all teams done by early August. Remember, these are reviews of the pre-season list with some discussion regarding how the organization in question has done so far in '13.
***Yesterday's Minor League Ball Gameday thread.
***New York Mets prospect Cesar Puello went 1-for-3 with a double for Double-A Binghamton yesterday, giving him a season line of .332/.401/.571 with 16 homers and 23 stolen bases. He's been particularly hot lately, hitting .361 in his last 10 games with five doubles, a homer, four steals, and a 6/7 BB/K ratio.
Tools have never been the problem with the 22-year-old Puello, but he's been slowed by injuries and poor plate discipline. He's healthy this year, has tripled his 2012 walk rate, and is now hitting the hell out of the ball. He's flashed this before but didn't sustain it, but this season he got hot in late April and has stayed that way. I didn't have him in my recent Top 75 Prospects update, but he'd definitely be in the 80-100 range and if he keeps playing like this he'll certainly be in the Top 50 for next year.
***Strong start for Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Archie Bradley yesterday for Double-A Mobile: six shutout innings, four hits, two walks, eight strikeouts. He now has a 2.20 ERA with an 80/36 K/BB in 82 innings with just 65 hits allowed. If Taijuan Walker of the Mariners isn't the top pitching prospect in baseball, Bradley is.
I just noticed that they were born within three days of each other: Bradley on August 10, 1992, Walker on August 13, 1992. Yet they were drafted a year apart, Walker in '10 and Bradley in '11, thanks to the vagaries of the draft system and high school class eligibility.
***Interesting early numbers from 2013 Kansas City Royals first round pick Hunter Dozier. The Stephen F. Austin State University product is hitting .279/.373/.467 for Idaho Falls in the Pioneer League. He's collected 34 hits, 14 of them being doubles, while drawing 18 walks against just 16 strikeouts in 122 at-bats. He has split his playing time between third base and shortstop.
***Seattle Mariners '13 first-rounder D.J. Peterson left yesterday's game with a wrist injury. We will monitor the situation. He was hitting .314/.387/.543 for Everett in the Northwest League.
***Cubs outfield prospect Shawon Dunston is off to a good start in the Northwest League, hitting .328/.411/.422 for the Boise Hawks. Not much distance power yet, bu he's stolen six bases in eight attempts and is showing a better grasp of the strike zone this year, with an 18/16 BB/K ratio in 128 at-bats.
***Andrew Ball wonders if sabermetrics has reached a point of diminishing returns.
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