Minor League Daily Update: Wednesday 6/9/2010

Here is Wednesday’s group of minor league players.  Their statistics shown are for June 2 through June 8.  A couple of notes of interest on the minor league players as well as feature Brad Lincoln today as he makes his major league debut for Pittsburgh against the Nationals – Jose Tabata will also make his MLB debut today for Pittsburgh.  Really nice weeks from Chris Marrero and Wil Myers.  I also would think that Dan Hudson would get a chance for the White Sox sometime soon with his performance at AAA thus far.

Click below for player stats and information.

Some Quick thoughts on the players this week:

• Chris Marrero had an excellent week at the plate and has been relatively hot lately with the bat.  After seeing his average fall to the low .200 range he has improved it in the last few weeks up to around .282.  He still isn’t showing the big power that many were predicting for him, but he is only 21 and that will come as he puts more, and better, contact on the ball.
• Wil Myers has a power burst this week as he clobbered two and stole a base.  He now is 8 for 10 in SB attempts this year.  With some decent power and showing some speed from the catcher position, the Royals have to be pleased with this prospect at A-ball.  Second half promotion to A+ could be in the cards.
• Derek Norris is back from being hit in the lead a week and a half ago by a fastball which left him unconscious on the field for 45 seconds and a trip to the hospital.  He has played every day since being checked out ok and there hasn’t been a drop-off in his performance.  He missed a lot of time at the start of the year so he is still getting into form I suspect but he should start to show some power that made him a big mover on the prospect boards last year.  Imagine if he keeps developing – Norris, Strasburg, Harper, R. Zimmerman, J. Zimmermann – some darn good young players to build around if the stars align just right.
• Josh Vitters has struggled since his promotion to AA ball (1HR and .215 average).  He will adjust but probably needs another 1+ years before he is viable in Chicago.
• Dan Hudson is now 8-2 on the year and 4-0 in his last 4 starts (4ER in 25 IP in that span).  For the season he sports a nifty 77K to 18BB ratio in 68 IP.  When does he get a chance with the White Sox?  I say he gets a chance by August at the latest – especially if the Chicago offense doesn’t get it in gear and they find themselves hopelessly out of the running earlier than expected (the AL central should be tightly contested for most of the season though).

Brad Lincoln Profile:  Lincoln is a 6’ righty who just turned 25 years old.  He has a 210 lb build that lets him get a good number of innings and he should project to remain a starting pitcher.  He was drafted in 4^th overall by the Pirates in 2006.  He pitched in 6 games that year totaling 23.2 IP.  He had Tommy John surgery and missed all of 2007.  In 2008 he came back to successfully pitch 103 innings with a 6-10 record across 2 levels with a combined ERA of 4.69 for the year (75K’s vs. 17 BB).  In 2009 he saw some nice gains in his overall game going 7-7 (25 starts) spanning 136 innings where he struck out 107 batters and walked 28.  He was a 2009 Futures Game selection.  So far in 2010 at AAA, he has a 6-2 record with 55 K’s vs. 14 BB in 68.1 Innings of work.  Today he will make his MLB debut.  Lincoln features a low to mid 90’s fastball, a low 80’s curve, and a mid-80’s slider.  He will have success if he can command all of his pitches – which with his K:BB ratio he has done at each stop of his career thus far.  If his elbow holds up, he can be a #4 or #3 type starter for the Pirates.

Please post your comments and questions.