Minor League Daily Update: Monday 6/7/2010

Here is Monday’s group of minor league players.  Their statistics shown are for May 31 through June 6.  The Monday list will soon graduate a Stephen Strasburg who is set to make his debut with the Nationals on Tuesday.  Over the weekend, Mike Stanton was notified he will also make his MLB debut on Tuesday.  Stanton could hit 5 HR in his first week and could combine that with a 50% K-rate.  He will be an impact bat but tempter your expectations on his average.  Brad Lincoln will also get to make his debut this week for the Pirates (Thrusday I believe).  With the graduation of Buster Posey, I added a few more notable prospects that have not been on the lists thus far – Desmond Jennings, Mike Moustakas, Tim Beckham, and Tyler Matzek.

·         Jesus Montero’s struggles continue.  After a 1 for 19 week, his 2010 average sits at .217 with only 3 HR and 21 RBI.  Kid can hit and is only 20 years old in AAA.  No worries yet.

·         Desmond Jennings started the year injured.  Since his return, he has played 35 games and compiled a .227 average with 7 RBI (0HR).  He is showing his excellent speed going 12 for 13 in stole base attempts.

·         Jaff Decker was also injured to start the year and is still trying to find the stroke that put him on MiLB’s top 50 prospect list.  In 19 games so far he is batting a disappointing .159 Ave. / .225 OBP / .258 SLG.

·         Dustin Ackley has turned his early struggle around in a big way.  April saw him hitting in the range of .147 with little of anything else to redeam his performance.  To date his Average has climbed into the .250’s and is showing excellent plate discipline with 40BB in 50 game (167 AB).  His power isn’t here yet (and some think it never will be) but the improvement over the last month makes me a believer again.

·         Chris Carter continues his march toward Oakland.  Three more homers this week gives him 13 for the season.  His average is low at .238 and he strikes out a lot (65K in 210 AB), but with modest improvement in that area he could get a shot to show his stuff by year’s end.

·         Mike Moustakas is currently the minor league leader in slugging – and pretty convincingly – at .735 SLG (Mike Stanton is 2^nd at .726).  He has 13 HR for the season thus far and is batting an excellent .367 average.   He is doing his best to change people’s perception of his ‘underperformance’ last year.  I think the 2010 performance is more like what we all should expect moving forward.

·         Tim Beckham keeps playing with the idea of breaking out of his slow start.  He is batting in the low .200’s with 5 HR on the year but is showing more speed on the basepaths than last year with 10 steals in 14 attempts (13 for 23 in 2009).  His plate discipline still is a work in progress (50K’s in 167 AB) but his new work habits (better training and weight issues) are leading to better results overall.

·         Stephen Strasburg will be up for good starting Tuesday – his last start at AAA was a win (5 IP, 0 ER, 5 K)

·         Jeremy Hellickson continues to wait for his chance to come up to Tampa and show his stuff.  He has a 2.28 ERA on the year and sports a 71K to 17 BB ratio.

·         Madison Bumgarner improved to 5-1 on the year and now has a 2.73 ERA for the season.  His ERA since his disastrous April 14^th start is an impressive 1.29 ERA.  His K-rate isn’t where it was when he was making A-ball batters look silly, but it appears that concerns that he has lost his stuff were overblown.  The Fresno staff tweaked his delivery slightly and he has been lights out since then. 

·         Aroldis Chapman continues to pitch well at AAA – 60K in 52 IP for the season.  Could be an excellent arm out of the bullpen for the Reds down the stretch if they are still in the NL central race.

·         Julio Teheran has put up the best numbers across all levels thus far for a pitcher.  Granted he has feasted on Low-A and A+ hitters.  He will most likely be named Atlanta’s #1 prospect to start next season.  32K to 4 BB in 4 starts since being promoted to A+ and has posted a 1.02 ERA in that span.

·         Just looking at the numbers, one has to wonder if there is something wrong with Phillippe Aumont.  He is now 1-6 at AA with 38K to 38BB.  In his last 7 starts he has allowed fewer than 4ER only once.  His season ERA is well over 7.00.

·         Tyler Matzek has made 3 starts thus far in his professional debut after being in extended spring training to start the year.  He has a 2.40 ERA in 3 starts with 10 hits allowed in 15 IP to go with 18 K’s.  He’s good.

Player stats for the week are just a click away – see below for more info.

Comments and Questions are welcome.