Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Minor League Roundup

By now you will have heard about a certain top prospect that moved up from Hagerstown to Harrisburg, so I'm going to ignore that one for now (if you want to read more about Bryce Harper's debut check Nats News Network). Today's focus is going to be on those other performances of the year that might have been overshadowed by a certain phenom - both on the pitching side and the hitting side. Here are the top performers of this year's Nationals Minor Leaguers through the first half.

Hitting Prospects (min 100 ABs)
Bryce Harper - OF - Low-A/AA - 18 Years-old
84 Hits in 261 ABs. .321 AVG. .977 OPS. 14 HR. 46 RBI. 19 SB.

Stephen Lombardozzi - 2B - AA/AAA - 22 Years-old
102 Hits in 324 ABs. .327 AVG. .837 OPS. 18 2B. 27 RBI. 18 SB.

Matt Antonelli - UTIL - AA/AAA - 26 Years-old
52 Hits in 163 ABs. .319 AVG. .839 OPS. 2 HR. 11 RBI.

David Freitas - 1B - Low-A - 22 Years-old
81 Hits in 261 ABs. .310 AVG. .914 OPS. 21 2B. 9 HR. 53 RBI.

Blake Kelso - UTIL - Low-A - 22 Years-old
94 Hits in 307 ABs. .306 AVG. 12 2B. 47 Runs.

Chris Marrero - 1B - AAA - 22 Years-old
93 Hits in 310 ABs. .300 AVG. .796 OPS. 8 HR. 42 RBI. 15 2B.

Pitching Prospects
Tom Milone - LHP - AAA - 24 Years-old
96 IP. 3.38 ERA. 0.99 WHIP. 101 K. 5 BB (!).

Brad Meyers - RHP - AA/AAA - 25 Years-old
95.1 IP. 3.68 ERA. 1.20 WHIP. 83 K. 6 BB.

Brad Peacock - RHP - AA - 23 Years-old
92.2 IP. 2.14 ERA. 0.84 WHIP. 120 K. 21 BB.

Daniel Rosenbaum - LHP - High-A - 23 Years-old
91 IP. 2.57 ERA. 1.31 WHIP. 63 K. 1 CG Shutout.

Robbie Ray - LHP - Low-A - 19 Years-old
50.2 IP. 1.95 ERA. 0.987 WHIP. 49 K. 16 BB.

AJ Cole - RHP - Low-A - 19 Years-old
41 IP. 3.29 ERA. 1.17 WHIP. 50 K. 10 BB.

Christopher Manno - LHP - Low-A - 22 Years-old
28 Games. 36 IP. 1.00 ERA. 0.861 WHIP. 56 K. 13 BB. 10 Saves.

Patrick Lehman - RHP - High-A/AA - 24 Years-old
21 Games. 24.2 IP. 1.46 ERA. 0.527 WHIP (!). 18 K. 1 BB. 9 Saves.

One of the things to make sure you are aware of is the players ages as compared to their level. If they are, say 24 years-old they probably shouldn't be playing in A ball anymore. A few other notes...

- Freitas is quietly having a fantastic year in Hagerstown.
- Lombardozzi is showing some pop at the 2B position.
- Marrero needs to hit with more power.
- Antonelli was a good depth pickup.
- Milone's 101K/5BB ratio is absolutely nasty.
- Peacock has a chance at cracking the rotation if some trades happen.
- Robbie Ray is a future star.
- Lehman's WHIP is out of this world.
- There are some Auburn players not listed that bear watching - Jimenez, Ortega, Nieto, Bates, and Grisz.

What other observations do you have, CapBallers? Any other Minor Leaguers stick out to you?

7 comments:

  1. Saw Destin Hood last night( Potomac) - don't know his stats but he has wicked bat speed and runs well. The ball rockets off his bat. He seemed to stand out among the other high-A players. He had more presence - you took notice when he made a play. He is Bernie- like, physically - very athletic. Again, don't know his stats - just an impression.

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  2. Bernie is a very good comp for Hood - has a little bit of pop (7 homers this year) and some speed (9 steals this year) but strikes out too much (more than 25% of the time). He is 22, so he should mature some more but he won't make it unless he can use his speed more and develop a batting eye.

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  3. Lombadozzi is absolutely RAKING at Syracuse, plus he could be the leadoff hitter the Nats so desperately need. The fact that he was bumped up to AAA before the Eastern League AS Game is telling. He's a year younger than Espinosa was last year and he got the AAA assignment even earlier in the season than Danny did.

    Ian Desmond ought to be hearing some pretty loud foootsteps right about now.

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  4. So, bdrube, what do you do? Move Espinosa back to SS when Lombardozzi comes up in September? The organization still seems to be high on Desi as the future SS - I personally think that he projects as a future super-utility player. I'm not sure I'm ready to move Espi mid-season...

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  5. from jim bowden at espn:

    Brad Peacock RHP, Washington Nationals

    Peacock was a 41st round selection in the June 2006 draft. His fastball is 92-96 with a hard-downer curve. He has great command and control in and out of the zone. Former Nationals scouting director Dana Brown was really high on his projectability, signing him out of the Palm Beach (FLA) CC. His free and easy delivery were impressive and his improvement in velocity and secondary pitches came fast. He should in the Nationals' starting rotation, but they are probably waiting until they can move a veteran starter at the trade deadline. Has the potential to be a No. 2 starter like teammate Jordan Zimmermann.

    he loves talkin nats!

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  6. Absolutly. move Espinosa to SS in September (assuming they are out of the race by then). Desmond has "needs a change of scenery" written all over him. If he's still on the team next year, I'll be surprised.

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  7. Interesting... I'm not sure this is going to be a "give Lombardozzi the job in Sept" situation that Espinosa had over Kennedy (who had no future here). Truth is a lot of people in the org. still see Desmond as the SS for years to come. Now, I'm not saying that I agree with that, but thats how I read it.

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