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Prospect of the Day: Raimel Tapia, OF, Colorado Rockies (Double-A Hartford): 4-for-5, 2 R, 2B, SB, CS.
After what would best be described as a forgettable April, in which he hit .214, Tapia has been white-hot with the bat, hitting .348./400/.485 since May 2nd. He’s not immune to the occasional poor at-bat, but this young man can really hit, and assuming his future is in the hitter’s utopia that is Coors Field, he’s capable of putting up gaudy numbers while playing a quality corner outfield.

Others of Note:

Josh Hader, LHP, Milwaukee Brewers (Triple-A Colorado Springs): 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. There’s the Hader we saw… pretty much every time in Double-A.

Kyle McGowin, RHP, Los Angeles Angels (Triple-A Salt Lake): 6 IP, 4, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. McGowin has three average pitches that he throws for strikes, and sadly, that’s enough to be one of the best pitching prospects in this system.

Austin Meadows, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates (Triple-A Indianapolis): 3-for-4, 2 R, 2B, 3B. Not quite the seamless transition that some other prospects have had to the higher level (more on that later), but Meadows certainly isn’t struggling.

Aaron Judge, OF, New York Yankees (Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre): 1-for-4, HR, BB, K. He’s homered in four of five games, and in seven of his last nine. He’s stronger than you.

Ian Happ, 2B/OF, Chicago Cubs (Double-A Tennessee): 3-for-3, 2 R, HR. Before this game, Happ was hitting .733/.706/1.293 in Double-A. That, my friends, is a seamless transition.

Sean Newcomb, LHP, Atlanta Braves (Double-A Mississippi): 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. The ERA was 4.57, which isn’t great, but what I/you should care about most is that he’s throwing more strikes and still striking out over a batter an inning.

Courtney Hawkins, OF, Chicago White Sox (Double-A Birmingham): 3-for-3, 2 2B, BB. He’s seven for his last eight with three extra-base hits. No, I’m not digging for positives on a player I once loved, why do you ask?

Brad Markey, RHP, Cubs (Double-A Tennessee): 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. He may not be a “Markey” name (sorry), but Brad throws strikes with three solid-average pitches. Just don’t expect him to ever miss many bats.

Wuilmer Becerra, OF, Mets (High-A St. Lucie): 3-for-5, 2 R, HR, BB, K. I still don’t understand why a team like Atlanta didn’t take this guy in the Rule 5 draft and at least gave him a shot, but it’s good for the Mets that no one tried.

Phil Bickford, RHP, San Francisco Giants (High-A San Jose): 5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K. That’s two starts as a member of the San Jose rotation, and in those two starts he’s allowed zero runs and struck out 20. He’s adjusting okay.

Cole Tucker, SS, Pittsburgh Pirates (High-A Bradenton): 4-for-5, 2 R. What’s amazing about Tucker is that he’s one of the best shortstop prospects in baseball, and he was not even the best shortstop prospect on his own team (Kevin Newman).

Domingo Acevedo, RHP, New York Yankees (High-A Tampa): 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K. You just don’t see many guys who throw this hard who also throw strikes, and if that slider gets to even average, he’s a frontline starter.

Victor Robles, OF, Washington Nationals (High-A Potomac): 2-for-4. The athleticism is obviously impressive, but it’s his feel for the game at such a young age with so little experience that impresses me the most. You could argue that he’s the best outfield prospect in baseball. I wouldn’t, but you could if you want.

Angel Perdomo, LHP, Toronto Blue Jays (Low-A Lansing): 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 12 K. He’s a year or two old for the level, but it’s tough to ignore Perdomo’s 87 strikeouts in 65 innings, even if they are accompanied by 30 walks.

Amalani Fukofuka, OF, Kansas City Royals (Low-A Lexington): 3-for-4, 2 R, 2 2B, BB. Saying Fukofuka was due is an understatement, as he had a .339 OPS for the month of June coming into the day. Great name, though.

Albert Abreu, RHP, Houston Astros (Low-A Quad Cities): 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Houston is loaded with talented lower-level pitchers, and Abreu is one of the best with a plus-plus fastball and a slider that flashes 60 grade.

Daz Cameron, OF, Houston Astros (Short-season Tri-City): 4-for-5, 3B, HR, K, SB. We shouldn’t be surprised Cameron has been so much better since the demotion, but assuming you don’t hate him for some reason, we should be happy/optimistic about it.

Jhailyn Ortiz, OF, Phillies (Short-season GCL): 2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, BB, K. Ortiz is massive, with a chance for plus-plus power from the right side and enough feel for hitting to possibly project an average hit tool.

Antonio Santillan, RHP, Reds (Short-season Billings): 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 12 K. He had struck out 15 in just under nine innings coming into this start. I’m no sabermatrician, but I’m guessing that strikeout-per-nine went up today. His stuff competes with that of any pitcher that’s in the Pioneer League right now.

Adonis Media, RHP, Phillies (Short-season Williamsport): 8.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. Medina came just two outs away from throwing a no-hitter, and has yet to allow an earned run in his 21 innings in Williamsport. He isn’t missing a ton of bats, but he does have a walk-to-strikeout ratio of 6-to-9, which some might find nice.

Thank you for reading

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BPKevin
6/28
Just how deep are the Cubs? Seems like no other team is even close from the majors on down with under 25 high level talent.
stevegoz
6/28
Courtney Hawkins is actually a White Sox farm hand, so don't get too excited! ;)
proteinwisdom
6/28
Pretty sure Happ was the referent there.
aso5018
6/28
Minor thing, Newman is with Altoona now so I guess Tucker is now the best SS prospect on his own team.
proteinwisdom
6/28
For those of you out west, add Hunter Renfroe to this list: 4-6 with a HR and 4 RBI. For the season that puts him at .324 with 18 HR and 67 RBI. He still doesn't walk much but he's shorter to the ball and it hasn't hurt his power, which is legit. I haven't run the numbers but since about July of last season he may be one of the most productive hitters in all the Minor Leagues.

You might add Austin Hedges to this list, too, who's hitting like he's W Contreras rather than, well, Austin Hedges...
proteinwisdom
6/28
I should add that it looks to me like DJ Peterson may have finally clicked and turned the AA corner. His average and power have gone up steadily since a horrible start (and a truly bad year last year, let's be honest), and now he's taking more walks, as well.

I would be surprised if he doesn't find himself promoted to AAA very shortly here as the Mariners try to take advantage of some returning confidence.
proteinwisdom
6/30
And just like that, Peterson goes to the Raineers.
moehk21
6/28
Robles was promoted FYI. Not Low-A
traindoggah
6/28
re Medina: nice
jfranco77
6/28
If you didn't say Robles was the best OF prospect in the minors, who would you say? Benintendi? Margot? Brinson? Dahl? Judge? Meadows? A lot of candidates but no clear front-runner that I can see.
djswinger
6/29
Amalani Fukofuka - that's an 80 grade name there.