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Every other Sunday I will be taking a look at some of the top prospects in the AA leagues, and many of the prospects there could be headed up to the bigs over the next few months. No up-to-date stats really this time around, as I will be traveling over the weekend and unable to update prior to this posting.
Eastern League
Drew Hutchison (TOR)
Hutchison was called up late last week by the Blue Jays after 3 starts with AA New Hampshire. He's made two starts for the Blue Jays thus far, with his last start on Thursday being solid. He threw 5 innings, gave up 6 hits and 2 earned runs, but struck out just 2 batters.
Manny Machado (BAL)
Machado is hitting just .236 (through Thursday's game), but has been showing decent plate discipline with 5 walks and 8 strikeouts in his last 10 games.
Sebastian Valle (PHI)
Craig wrote about Valle last week, and for me the concerns are very similar. He has just 4 walks against 20 strikeouts thus far in the season in just 53 at bats.
Southern League
Trevor Bauer (ARI)
Bauer has made 5 starts in the minors now, thrown 27 1/3 innings, and has allowed just 3 earned runs in that time (good for an 0.40 ERA). The 34 strikeouts are wonderful to see, but 17 walks aren't a great sign to this point.
Danny Hultzen (SEA)
Hultzen was viewed as extremely close to being ready for the Majors when he was drafted last season, and he's done nothing to this point to discredit that point of view. In 21 2/3 innings, he has a 2.08 ERA and 26 strikeouts to go with 11 walks. Since he's already on the 40-man roster, I could see him being in Seattle by the end of the season.
Jared Mitchell (CHW)
The White Sox' center field prospect has been hitting extremely well of late, and now has an OPS over 1.000 on the season. It's a bit interesting that he's hitting this well, especially given that he hit just .222 last season and struck out 183 times. He's already struck out 21 times in just 75 at bats, but has managed to draw 17 walks already.
Texas League
Jonathan Singleton (HOU)
The power is really starting to show itself for Singleton, as he has hit 3 home runs, 3 doubles, and a triple in the last 10 games. Oh, and he's hitting .375 on the season as well. The average is unlikely to continue, but he could very well finish with 20+ home runs I believe.
Wil Myers (KC)
Myers now has 5 home runs on the season, and 4 in his last 10 games. I think he could be in Omaha at the latest by midseason, and potentially could see a September call up.
Oscar Taveras (STL)
Despite being 19 years old, Taveras has been hitting the cover off the ball at AA. He's hitting .321 with 5 home runs and 19 RBI on the year, but has drawn just 1 walk. That's right - 1 walk. I'm planning a profile of Taveras on Monday, but he's an extremely exciting prospect.