Minor League Monitor: D-Train Back On Track, Chris Davis Mashing, PCL Review

by Jeremy Miedzinski on Apr 12, 2011 9:00 AM EDT in Baseball

Dontrelle Willis pitched well for the Reds AAA affiliate, going 6 scoreless innings walking one. He gave up only three hits while striking out five.

Chris Davis may have a major league future after all. He is batting .429 with 4 HR, 2 doubles and 11 RBI. He was hapless in the majors last year but after the demotion to AAA he showed improved plate discipline. He is teetering on the edge of Quad-A. Will the Rangers give him another chance or is he trade bait?

more after the jump...

Charlie Blackmon raised his profile in spring training this year and has transferred that success into the regular season. He is hitting .267 with 6 runs, 2 HR, 4 RBI and 5 walks in 5 games.

Cole Garner is red hot for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox batting 9-18 with 8 RBI.

Clay Mortenson got beat up in his first start lasting only 3 innings giving up 9 runs and 3 walks.

Anthony Rizzo has looked very good for his new organization. He is batting .333 with a HR and 10 RBI.

Tyson Auer has looked good with 1.042 OPS.

Power/speed threat Terry Evans is off to a solid start batting .294 with 5 SB.

Lou Montanez looks to get his career back on track. He is leading the PCL with 10 hits and also has 8 RBI.

Alexi Amarista continues to hit for a high average with a .385 so far to go along with 2 HR and 5 RBI.

Simon Castro gave up 9 runs, 8 earned in 4 innings.

Eric Hurley had a strong start to his season, striking out 7 and walking one in 5 innings.

Jerry Sands could emerge as a top prospect this year if his hot start continues. He is batting .421 with 3 HR and 9 RBI.

Eric Hosmer is batting .364 on 8 hits but has yet to show much power with a lone double being his only extra base hit.

Mike Moustakas is off to a 4-23 start with a HR and 3 RBI.

Last year's Texas League triple crown winner Clint Robinson is hitting .316 with 3 HR on the year.

Emmanuel Burris has 10 SB despite only 3 hits and 2 walks.

Cole Gillespie is doing his best to make his way back to the majors by hitting .500 with a double and two triples.

David Cooper's hot spring has carried over into the regular season. He has 9 hits in 22 at bats.

Eric Thames is batting .500 with 9 hits, 3 doubles, a home run and 7 RBI.

Brett Lawrie is hitting .381 with 2 doubles, a triple and a home run.

Mark Rogers managed to allow only a single run despite 4 hits and 5 walks in 4.2 innings.

Jemile Weeks is hitting well so far going 7-18

Adrian Cardenas is looking strong going 7-15 on the young season.

Everth Cabrera is hitting .318 with 5 stolen bases.

Logan Forsythe is hitting .400 with 2 HR and 9 RBI while leading the PCL with 7 walks.

Wily Mo Pena still knows how to hit a baseball, launching 3 home runs in the first 4 games and is hitting .462.

Dustin Ackley is off to an uninspiring 3-19 start. He has walked 5 times.

Luke French did little to inspire the Mariners to recall him by allowing 10 hits, 6 runs a walk in 4 innings.

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Comments

Davis vs Hosmer

for fantasy purposes in a keeper league, which player should I stash away?

by rmarx on Apr 12, 2011 11:28 AM EDT reply actions

or Robinson?

by rmarx on Apr 12, 2011 11:31 AM EDT up reply actions

Hosmer

by a LOT

by PrincetonCubs on Apr 12, 2011 1:44 PM EDT up reply actions

hosmer

Without a doubt hosmer. Davis could still be a 30 hr guy but he could just as easily be a bust. He needs to prove he can strike out less than 30% of the time in the majors before he is keeper worthy.

Jeremy Miedzinski
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@jrmiedzinski

by Jeremy Miedzinski on Apr 12, 2011 2:53 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Is Chris Davis == Ryan Howard?

How different is Chris Davis from Ryan Howard? I see both as huge HR guys who K WAYYY too much. Is this asking too much of Davis?

by rmarx on Apr 12, 2011 2:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Howard has more power. Davis is not a 50 hr guy. Davis also struggles to make contact more than Howard does. Mike Stanton is a better comp for Howard. Davis is more like Rob Deer.

Jeremy Miedzinski
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@jrmiedzinski

by Jeremy Miedzinski on Apr 12, 2011 3:33 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

The contact is a great point and should not be ignored

Davis will likely never hit 50 homers, but he does possess an 80 power tool according to multiple scouts.

Coming Home Newcastle

by Robert L. Bishop on Apr 14, 2011 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions

Ryan Howard is miles better than Chris Davis.

Ryan Howard strikes out a lot, but that comes with a lot of homers and a lot of walks. It would be foolish to project Chris Davis to hit more than 40 home runs, just as it would be foolish to project 99% of prospects to hit 40 or more home runs on a consistent basis. But between 2006 and 2009 Howard averaged 50 home runs per season. This, along with finishing 4th in the NL in walks in 2006 and 2007, is what propelled Howard to 4 straight top 5 MVP finishes, including winning the award in 2006. Go beyond the surface numbers however and you see that Ryan Howard needed 58 home runs (and a .313 average, thanks to a career high .356 BABIP) just to get to FIFTH in the NL in WAR that year, behind even his own teammate Chase Utley. Last season, when he hit only 31 home runs, he was worth 2.0 WAR, which would be a league average player.

Chris Davis is probably a closer comp to the only player that season who struck out at a higher rate than Ryan Howard in 2006 and that would be Adam Dunn (if Davis is lucky enough to hit 40 HR a year) who was a 1.9 WAR player who hit .234/.365/.490.

Ryan Howard has been vastly overrated for most of his career and he’s still much better than what Chris Davis could become.

by Kenneth Arthur on Apr 12, 2011 4:48 PM EDT up reply actions

thanks for the info

I always thought Davis was projected to hit 40 HRs, much like a Mike Stanton. I’ve been wrong before, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be wrong again :-)

by rmarx on Apr 12, 2011 5:13 PM EDT up reply actions

Red Flag on Davis

He may be mashing in Triple-A, but even so he has an 8/1 K/BB in less than 30 ABs. That is not a good sign that the plate discipline is carrying over, although I know it’s a limited sample size

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by The Congo Hammer on Apr 13, 2011 1:25 PM EDT reply actions