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Minor League Level Review (AA): Bogaerts Heating Up, Puig Returns In A Hurry

Jason Hunt takes a look at some of the top prospects in the three AA leagues, including Yasiel Puig, Kevin Gausman, Marcell Ozuna, Anthony Ranaudo and many more in this week's installment of Minor League Level Review.

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Every other Wednesday, I will be taking a quick look at some of the top prospects at the AA level, including their stats for the season so far. All statistics are courtesy of Fangraphs.com, and are through the games of Monday, 4/29/13.

Player

AB

R

HR

RBI

BB

K

SB

CS

AVG

OBP

SLG

Anthony Rendon (3B-WAS)

48

8

2

7

14

9

0

0

0.292

0.462

0.500

Arismendy Alcantara (SS-CHC)

94

13

4

14

11

23

12

0

0.255

0.330

0.404

Brad Miller (SS-SEA)

90

17

4

12

10

21

3

1

0.278

0.356

0.478

Brian Goodwin (OF-WAS)

99

16

2

5

10

30

5

2

0.273

0.345

0.465

C.J. Cron (1B-LAA)

88

5

1

14

2

18

4

0

0.307

0.344

0.432

Christian Yelich (OF-MIA)

45

6

0

8

3

16

1

1

0.267

0.313

0.422

Danny Santana (SS-MIN)

98

9

0

9

2

15

2

1

0.235

0.248

0.296

Domingo Santana (OF-HOU)

55

6

3

9

8

23

3

0

0.255

0.359

0.509

George Springer (OF-HOU)

89

19

8

20

14

30

4

2

0.303

0.410

0.663

Joc Pederson (OF-LAD)

92

22

6

16

12

16

7

1

0.304

0.381

0.620

Jose Ramirez (2B-CLE)

94

19

1

10

11

12

12

3

0.277

0.349

0.340

Kaleb Cowart (3B-LAA)

85

10

1

3

8

25

3

1

0.188

0.266

0.282

Marcell Ozuna (OF-MIA)

42

6

5

15

3

9

1

0

0.333

0.383

0.810

Miles Head (3B-OAK)

86

8

2

4

4

23

0

1

0.174

0.220

0.279

Tyler Austin (OF-NYY)

86

16

1

12

17

28

1

0

0.256

0.379

0.360

Xander Bogaerts (SS-BOS)

83

12

0

8

9

24

2

0

0.301

0.370

0.410

Yasiel Puig (OF-LAD)

54

9

4

11

4

12

2

1

0.333

0.379

0.648

  • Rendon received the call to the Majors on the 20th to replace the injured Ryan Zimmermann, and is 4 for 20 with a double in six games so far. It seems unlikely that the Nationals will keep Rendon in the Majors once Zimmermann returns, but it wouldn't surprise me if they sent him to AAA rather than back to AA.
  • With the injury to Giancarlo Stanton on Monday night, the Marlins wasted no time in calling up prospect Marcell Ozuna from AA. I picked him up in my NL-only league, pretty much because the best hitter on my team was Giancarlo Stanton. If he can provide a couple of home runs while Stanton is out, that will work for me.
  • Yasiel Puig was in the news this week, as he was arrested for driving 97 in a 50 MPH zone in Chattanooga a day before returning from the disabled list.
  • Jose Ramirez of the Indians is tied for the level in stolen bases with 12, and looks like he profiles as a better real-life prospect than a fantasy one, but if he can hit well enough to really let him steal bases, he could be interesting.

Player

IP

H

R

ER

HR

BB

K

ERA

WHIP

Alex Meyer (MIN)

22

21

4

4

0

8

26

1.64

1.32

Alex Wood (ATL)

27

19

2

2

0

5

31

0.67

0.89

Anthony Ranaudo (BOS)

21.2

11

2

2

0

5

26

0.83

0.74

Brandon Workman (BOS)

23

13

9

8

2

5

28

3.13

0.78

Brian Flynn (MIA)

23

18

4

4

2

3

25

1.57

0.91

Burch Smith (SD)

26

15

6

4

1

4

31

1.38

0.73

Chad Bettis (COL)

26.2

27

9

9

3

2

30

3.04

1.09

J.R. Graham (ATL)

23.1

23

8

8

0

5

19

3.09

1.20

Jameson Taillon (PIT)

29.2

23

10

10

1

11

30

3.03

1.15

Jesse Biddle (PHI)

31

12

7

6

1

12

40

1.74

0.77

Jimmy Nelson (MIL)

27.2

18

9

4

0

5

32

1.30

0.83

Kevin Gausman (BAL)

28.2

31

17

12

2

1

29

3.77

1.12

Nick Tropeano (HOU)

25

25

8

6

2

5

29

2.16

1.20

Rafael Montero (NYM)

27.2

19

6

6

1

3

35

1.95

0.80

Taijuan Walker (SEA)

29

15

9

5

2

18

32

1.55

1.14

Tyler Matzek (COL)

18.1

15

6

6

1

13

20

2.95

1.53

Yordano Ventura (KC)

18.1

16

7

6

1

6

23

2.95

1.20

Zach Lee (LAD)

26

26

11

7

1

7

23

2.42

1.27

  • I wrote about Alex Wood earlier in the week, and am definitely watching to see if he can keep up this performance level.
  • Jesse Biddle has been excellent recently, striking out 16 and 10 in his last two starts. So far, the ridiculously low hits allowed seems the most likely to return to normal levels, but his strikeout rates have increased without a matching increase in walk rate.
  • At the start of the season, I would have likely bet money that Dylan Bundy would reach Baltimore to stay sooner than Kevin Gausman. However, with Bundy now shut down for six weeks after receiving a PRP injection, Gausman looks like the better bet.
  • It seems increasingly likely to me that the Mets promote Rafael Montero to AAA whenever Zack Wheeler ends up in the Majors, and really looks like he will be a big riser on top prospect lists by midseason.
  • Anthony Ranaudo had become somewhat of a lost prospect after poor performance since being drafted, but Ben Carsley over at Fire Brand of the AL wonders if he is regaining relevance. He keeps this performance (and the additional velocity associated with it) up, and he has to be in the discussion.
  • Another week, it seems, another pitching prospect emerging in the Padres' system, with Burch Smith being this week's prospect. He's sporting a 31:4 K/BB ratio, along with a 2.07 GO/AO ratio as well. The groundball rate isn't in line with his numbers from last season, so I'll be interested to see if they are in the same range in two weeks.

For more on the minor leagues and the amateur draft, check out SBNation's Minor League Ball. Have a question about a prospect? Feel free to leave it in the comments, or you can ask me over on Twitter as well.