Minor League Ball Gameday, Thursday, March 30th

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the Minor League Ball Gameday discussion thread for Thursday, March 30th, 2017. Here are some baseball reading items worthy of your interest on this cold and rainy (at least in Kansas) afternoon.

****MLB Spring Training Scoreboard

****Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Trevor Williams is in a battle with Tyler Glasnow for the Pirates fifth rotation spot. Williams threw four shutout innings yesterday with six strikeouts in an 8-2 Pirates loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. Williams has out-pitched Glasnow this spring and while Trevor doesn’t have Tyler’s physical upside, he is a respectable prospect in his own right.

****Albert Almora hit another home run for the Chicago Cubs yesterday, his second Grand Slam of the spring, in a 15-11 Baby Bruins victory over the Oakland Athletics.

****New York Yankees prospect Jordan Montgomery threw five strong innings in a 3-1 Yankees win over the Toronto Blue Jays. Stay tuned for more on Montgomery.

****Joe Clarkin at Beyond the Boxscore examines the upside of the Oakland Athletics starting rotation with special emphasis on young arms Sean Manaea and Jharel Cotton.

****Right-hander Austin Pruitt has made the Tampa Bay Rays 25-man roster. We’ll profile him tomorrow.

****At Viva El Birdos, Joe Schwarz explains why St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Matt Bowman is so difficult to hit.

****At Baseball Prospectus, Steve Givarz and former Minor League Ball contributor Wilson Karaman offer some notes on the upcoming 2017 MLB draft.