Minor League Ball Gameday, Friday, March 24th

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the Minor League Ball Gameday discussion thread for Friday, March 24th. There are some baseball and prospect items worthy of your attention.

****2017 MLB Spring Training Scoreboard

****The Tampa Bay Rays sent first base/outfield prospect Jake Bauers down to Triple-A Durham yesterday, but his excellent spring (.371/.465/.857) has earned plaudits and sets him up for a strong opening in the International League and (perhaps) a quick promotion to the majors. JTMorgan at DRaysBay takes a closer look.

****In a battle of National League Eastern Division pitching prospects yesterday, Erick Fedde of the Washington Nationals was victorious over Robert Gsellman of the New York Mets in a 1-0 win, Fedde going five scoreless innings while Gsellman was touched for an unearned run in 5.2 innings.

****San Diego Padres prospect Hunter Renfroe went 2-for-4 yesterday with a pair of RBI in a 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels. He is now hitting .298 in 57 at-bats on the spring.

****Texas Rangers prospect Drew Robinson hit a two-run homer for the Rangers in the ninth inning of a 10-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He’s hitting just .224 this spring but with four homers in 48 at-bats.

****Devan Fink at Beyond the Boxscore explains why the Kansas City Royals selected Nathan Karns as their number five starter.

****Who should the Minnesota Twins use as their DH in 2017? TwinkieTown’s Andrew Bryzgornia suggests Byungho Park over Kennys Vargas. I agree with him that Park could make a big impact this year now that he is over his 2016 wrist injury.

****Jeff Sullivan at Fangraphs looks at the top five players on each MLB team, working to find the balance between top impact talent and depth.