Minor League Ball Gameday: Monday, November 9

Good afternoon everyone. I had planned on finishing the Braves prospect list today and getting it posted tomorrow, however my son just came home sick from school so I am on dad duty at the moment. I don't know how this will impact the work flow just yet but if there will be a significant delay I will let you know.

Some items for discussion:

***Jim Callis had a good summary of impression from Saturday night's Arizona Fall League Fall Stars game, noting strong performance from Yankees catching prospect Gary Sanchez, Reds outfielder Phil Ervin, and Pirates outfielder Austin Meadows. Hard-throwing right-handers Damian Magnifico of the Brewers and Ray Black of the Giants also drew plaudits. Rangers infielder Jurickson Profar is still confined to a DH role while he recovers from shoulder trouble but his bat looks very good right now despite two years of rust.

In the game live blogging discussion thread Saturday, I mentioned Ervin as a breakout candidate for 2016. A reader brought up Matt Lawton as a possible comp for Ervin, as a player with speed, power, and walks on the resume but not a high batting average. Other similarities include size: Lawton is listed historically at 5-11, 186 but was heavier than that later in his career. Ervin is 5-10, 205. Lawton hit left and Ervin hits right so that's a key difference. Ervin also strikes out a lot more than Lawton did in the minors, but if Ervin does make it, a Lawton-style high secondary average career seems plausible to me.