Weekly Wrap: June 2, 2017

Thank you Jeffrey Paternosto, Craig Goldstein, Wilson Karaman, and Steve Givarz for your help in this week’s Weekly Wrap!

To the DL

UCL tears seem to occur every other week, and this past week it snatched Minnesota Twins RHP Nick Burdi. Missing most of last season with a bruised bone on his right humerus, Burdi is slated to miss the rest of this season. Off to a really good start in Double-A with a FIP of 2.25 in his third stint at the level, Burdi is looking at a late 2018 return. Burdi’s teammate, LHP Tyler Jay was also placed on the DL with a left shoulder impingement. He is a frequent visitor of the DL, having wrote about him DL transactions just last week here.

The Pirates’ Mitch Keller was placed on the DL with a back. I spoke highly about Keller in a Monday Morning Ten Pack a few weeks ago. It is tough to see exciting pitchers go down with injuries.

The Athletics took a real hit this week, specifically the Double-A Midland RockHounds: starting 2B Max Schrock and SS Richie Martin were both placed on the DL on the same day. Martin was replaced after being hit by a pitch in the face, which will require surgery. Shrock was DL’d for a left foot injury. These are opportunities for guys like Yairo Munoz.

The youngest pitcher in the Carolina League was placed on the DL: Boston Red Sox right-handed pitcher Roniel Raudes. You can read Victor Filoromo’s scouting report here. A 19-year-old from Nicaragua, he has struggled unlike the next youngest pitcher, Cleveland’s Triston McKenzie.

St. Louis Cardinals LHP Austin Gomber has been placed on the DL with an undisclosed injury. A command guy with mild deception, per Thomas Desmidt, who fared well in the Arizona Fall League, Gomber’s control has really worsened this year in Double-A. They do say the strike zone is the last thing players learned. Another player, SS Edmundo Sosa, was placed on the DL yesterday. He is a smooth shortstop, who has a chance to stick there as a reserve, but his bat is well below major-league average.

Toronto Blue Jays RHP Justin Maese was placed on the DL. Drafted in the third round in 2015, per Grant Jones, Maese has a live two-seam fastball that sits 91-94, a cutter sitting 91-93 and a change-up that is a work in progress. He projects to be a middle reliever, per the report. Be sure to watch his video in the Eyewitness Report.

Off the DL

Thumb injuries are annoying, ask Chicago White Sox 2B Prospect Yoan Moncada about it. His nagging left thumb injury placed him on the DL for about 10 days. In Triple-A, he is slashing .324/.395/.493, though with a lot of strikeouts. The fourth piece that came along with Moncada is RHP Victor Diaz who also came off the DL recently for an undisclosed reason. He is easily forgotten when you have flame throwing RHP Michael Kopech, OF Luis Alexander Basabe, and Moncada. It is these throw-in guys who often get overlooked, but sometimes with the hard work and keen eye of the scout, you receive a Francis Martes, a Gulf Coast League throw-in guy. Still, he profiles as a late-inning reliever, and regardless of age, relievers can move quickly.

The Red Sox catching prospect Blake Swihart is off the DL for the Pawtucket Red Sox, Triple-A. Swihart had been the recipient of multiple foul balls that also affected his offensive output. I wrote about his DL’ing in a previous Weekly Wrap.

LHP Joey Wentz, after suffering a line drive off the ankle, is off the DL, and back on the mound. Against the Greenville Drive, his line from his first start back: 4 IP 2 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 3 SO. In a stacked Braves system, Jeffrey Paternosto has him ranked as the 13^th best prospect in the org.

Mets 2016 second-rounder Pete Alonso, who broke his wrist in a game versus Bradenton on April 11th, was activated Friday, May 26. The wrist seems fine, as he lined a fastball up over the left field fence in his first. A potential big thumper in the middle of the lineup, Alonso possesses well-above-average raw power, but needs to improve his plate coverage away and his suspect defense at first before he reaches the big leagues. It is fun watching him tackle ground balls as a means to field them.

San Diego Padres OF Buddy Reed was activated, having been out for more than a month due to a back injury. He is playing in center field for the A-ball Fort Wayne TinCaps. Being born in The Bronx, I am rooting for the guy.

RHS Benton Moss, Tampa Bay Rays sixth round pick in 2015, was activated from the DL for the Port Charlotte Stone Crabs, High-A. No word on the injury, but Moss would have started in Double-A if it was not for this injury, having pitched decently for the High-A team last year.

Texas Rangers Cuban 2B prospect Andy Ibanez was activated off the DL, and had a monster day Wednesday, his second game back, for Double-A Frisco RoughRiders earning him Minor League Hitter of the Day. He hit two home runs, a double and drove in six. He is a stocky, pudgy bat first 2B/3B.

Up the Ladder

Milwaukee Brewers promoted RHP Corbin Burnes from High-A to Double-A, and RHP Trey Supak from A-ball to High-A as a corresponding move. Burnes is a fourth-round draft pick in last year’s draft out of St. Mary’s in Moraga, California. Supak, a 2014 Competitive Balance pick by the Pirates, was drafted out of high school. Supak’s numbers were mixed early on in his career, but in the last two years has improved his ability to strike out guys. His first start for the Carolina Mudcats was not pretty, lasting only four innings and allowing five runs, four earned, though he did strike out seven.

Miami Marlins RHP Tayron Guerrero has also been promoted from High-A Jupiter to Double-A. Guerrero is a very tall, lanky reliever with a rigid delivery. He possesses a high-90s fastball with little movement and a hard, 11-5 slider that sits in the low-90s. He has had some time in the Major Leagues for the Four-A Padres last year.

Houston Astros OF prospects Kyle Tucker and Jason Martin were promoted from High-A to Double-A. Tucker went fifth overall in 2015 out of H.B. Plant HS (Tampa, FL), and has hit, slugged and stolen bases so far in his short minor-league career. Martin, another high school draftee but from the 2013 Draft, has slugged and struck out a lot. Over two games—at the time of this writing—Tucker is off to a good start, hitting one homer, one double and one single, whereas Martin is still is seeking his first hit.

Another ‘Stros prospect, RHP Dean Deetz, was promoted to Triple-A. Having under gone TJS while in high school and recently activated from the DL, Deetz still throws hard. You can read Wilson’s Karaman’s summary on him in our 2017 review of the Astros Top 10 prospects.

Some Colorado Rockies news, corner infielder Ryan McMahon was promoted from Double-A to Triple-A. Drafted out of powerhouse Mater Dei HS in Santa Ana, CA, McMahon has done well in his second go in Double-A slashing .326/.390/.536 with six home runs, 20 walks and 39 strikeouts over 205 plate appearances. He has to check off the Triple-A box before he gets moved to the Major Leagues.

Mets RHP Chris Flexen, having started the season on the DL for the Port St. Lucie Mets, went from off the DL and promoted to Double-A Binghamton in two weeks. The right-handed starter looks to continue his success, having struck out 13 in 12 2/3 innings, allowing three earned runs and three walks.

SS Luis Valdes, a Detroit Tigers Cuban international signee from this past March, was promoted from High-A to Double-A. A glove first shortstop, you can read his scouting report here.

Philadelphia Phillies RHR Jesen Therrien was promoted from Double-A to Triple-A. He has pitched well in Double-A. Over 45 2/3 innings, he has struck out 61, walked eight and saved seven games. Additionally, per a reliable source, OF Zach Coppola will be promoted from High-A to Double-A. A speedy left-handed hitter with better than average barrel control and the plate discipline to take walks, Coppola has the chance to be a table setter at the top lineup. It is little guys like him and Miami Marlins Kyle Barrett, we pull for since the cards seem stacked against them.

Down the Chutes

Dakota Chalmers, Athletics 2015 third rounder, was demoted from A-ball to Short Season, Low-A. Chalmers is a tall, lanky right-handed pitcher with really good stuff, but really, really poor control; he has yet to tame it. In 29 innings, he has accumulated 29 walks, five HBP and 8 wild pitches. Unsurprisingly, he has allowed the most walks in all of A-ball, walking 22.1 percent of batters faced.

LHP Braxton Garrett, Marlins 2016 first-rounder, was also demoted from A-Ball to Short Season, Low-A. Unlike Chalmers, his numbers are significantly better, limiting his free passes and striking out at least one batter an inning. This could be a paper move or…after getting shelled in his last appearance an indicator of something else.