At this time last year, Tommy Hunter was getting comfortable in the Northwest League. Now, he’s a big leaguer.

The 2007 supplemental first-round pick will start for the Rangers on Friday when they host the Blue Jays, becoming only the second player from the 2007 draft to play in the big leagues. Nationals’ first round pick Ross Detwiler made a one-inning cameo with the Nationals last year.

It’s been an amazingly fast climb for Hunter. He was drafted as a draft-eligible sophomore who opted to sign for $585,000 instead of returning to Alabama for his junior year. Now, instead of pitching for the Tide this spring, he’ll be pitching in Arlington this fall.

Hunter has never had overpowering stuff, but the 6-foot-3, 255-pound righthander does know how to pound the zone. He has a 90-93 mph fastball and a plus curveball.

Hunter started the year in the California League, going 5-4, 3.44 for Bakersfield. He followed that up by going 3-2, 3.78 with Double-A Francisco and 2-2, 3.24 with Triple-A Oklahoma. If there is cause for concern with Hunter, it’s that his peripheral numbers don’t match the solid ERAs. Hunter has given up more than a hit an inning this year (151 hits in 144 innings), has been prone to giving up home runs (14 this year) and has only 95 strikeouts.

Been a late night/morning, so let’s crank out today’s trading deadline Double-A dish.

EASTERN LEAGUE

Prospect Of The Day

Travis Snider is really, really good. The New Hampshire (Blue Jays) right fielder went 3-for-4 yesterday with a home run (his 17th) and a double (his 20th), putting the 20-year-old at .266/.356/.474 in 342 at-bats with the Fisher Cats.

Prospect Nuggets

Matt Wieters (Orioles) is also really, really good. Wieters continues to prove that even Double-A pitching is no match for him, going 2-for-3 with a walk and a pair of doubles to raise his slash stats to .359/.459/.621 in 103 at-bats with Bowie … Danny Murphy (Mets) has been Binghamton’s utility man this year, and scouts believe he will hit enough to big leaguer. Murphy went 3-for-5 with a home run and a double yesterday and played second base.

[...] Continue Reading »

 Prospect of the Day

Red Sox first-round pick Casey Kelly exploded on Wednesday with a 3-for-5 day that included his first professional home run. Kelly has played at shortstop in most games for the Red Sox since making his debut on July 20th. Yesterday Kelly served as the GCL Red Sox DH and came through with the biggest offensive game of his short professional career. Kelly is now on a modest four-game hit streak after going hitless in the first four games of his career. [...] Continue Reading »

Two Cuban teens have left the Cuban team at the Junior World Championships in Edmonton and are apparently defecting. Here’s the scoop on the two players from BA’s scouting contacts.

The pitcher is lefthander Noel Arguellez, who has pro size at 6-foot-3, 195 pounds. Scouts describe him as tall and lanky with a live arm, with a fastball with natural cutting action and sink. One source wrote that Arguellez sits around 90 mph in his Serie Nacional appearances. He’s thrown as hard as 93 mph and works primarily off his fastball, with more rudimentary curveballs and changeups. His curve has shown potential, however. His exact age isn’t known, though the cutoff for Junior events is 18. Arguellez pitched in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, and according to baseballdecuba.com, he went 3-2, 5.82 with 22 strikeouts in 21.2 innings for the Havana Cowboys this past season.

The other player is infielder Jose Iglesias, primarily a second baseman and a righthanded hitter. Scouting details on Iglesias are harder to come by, but he’s regarded as a strong defender, and he also hit .322 in Serie Nacional this winter/spring, with 101 hits in 314 at-bats. However, one source lists Iglesias as around 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds and lacking much power. No word yet on what kind of runner he is.

Neither player is really close to big league ready, but they both sound like intriguing prospects, especially Arguellez as a projectable lefthander with present velocity. Iglesias would be more attractive at his size if he runs average at least; anything less hurts his profile because of his lack of strength and power.

Brandon Waring and Neftali Soto each had monster nights, Jesus Montero went deep and Jarrod Parker earned his 10th victory.

South Atlantic League

Prospect Of The Day

Jesus Montero wins today’s POTD honors after going 2-for-4 with his 11th home run and two RBIs as Charleston’s (Yankees) DH in a 6-5 win over Asheville (Rockies). The homer was a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh inning off Asheville righthander Edgmer Escalona that put Charleston ahead 5-4 at the time. Asheville would later tie it in the ninth, only to lose on a walk-off home run by Austin Krum. [...] Continue Reading »

California League

Prospect Of The Day

The Mariners could probably get used to this. High Desert shortstop Carlos Triunfel had another big night, going 2-for-6 with a double and a home run in an extra-inning loss to Lake Elsinore (Padres).

Prospect Nuggets

Several other players made good cases for POTD. Stockton (Athletics) second baseman Adrian Cardenas went 4-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Catcher Josh Donaldson was 3-for-5 with a double, four RBIs and a run scored…Bakersfield (Rangers) left fielder Chad Tracy was 3-for-4 with two solo home runs. The best was that they came off of Visalia (Diamondbacks) righthander Barry Enright. The two were teammates at Pepperdine. The home runs were just two of four hits that Enright allowed. He went 6 1/3, allowing just the two runs and struck out seven, improving to 9-6, 4.65. [...] Continue Reading »

Team Canada’s Olympic roster keeps taking hits. A key one came over the weekend when infielder Pete Orr, a 2004 Olympian and big league veteran, decided to stay in the U.S. for big league duty with the Nationals rather than go to Beijing. The Nats could have sent Orr to the minors to allow him to play in the Olympics but he decided against it. Mets minor leaguer Emmanuel Garcia, also becoming a Canadian international stalwart, replaced him on the roster, but Garcia’s struggling with Double-A pitching, while Orr is a big leaguer (albeit a pretty fringy one). It’s a huge drop for Canada and likely means we’ll see more Stubby Clapp, which actually is never a bad thing. [...] Continue Reading »

ZEBULON, N.C.–It all starts with rumors. Ryan Tucker’s going to Boston. Now he’s going to Pittsburgh. Now he’s going to Boston again. Now it’s official. Now it’s just rumor.

That was the scene in the home clubhouse after tonight’s game at Carolina, the Marlins’ Double-A affiliate. Tucker, a 21-year-old righthander, has been involved all evening in trade rumors, most of which have involved the Red Sox and the Pirates.

Tucker, who moved from the bullpen to the clubhouse and then to the dugout during the game, said he didn’t know what was going on. He had heard the rumors during the game. Said his agent didn’t know what was up either. He was just in Trade Limbo.

"Have you heard anything?" Tucker asked me.

Trade Limbo didn’t involve anything extraordinary; there is mostly just confusion. And, of course, jokes.

"Dude, did you hear? The Red Sox just traded you for Manny Ramirez," joked one player to a veteran minor leaguer.

"Don’t take Ryan!" screamed another.

That’s Trade Limbo.

Major League Baseball suspended Angels righthander Tommy Mendoza 50 games after he tested positive for an amphetamine.

Mendoza, 20, was with high Class A Rancho Cucamonga in the California League, where he had a 4.73 ERA in 110 1/3 innings, 50 strikeouts and 39 walks. Mendoza signed with the Angels out of Monsignor Pace (Opa Locka, Fla.) High in 2005 as a fifth-round pick.

Last night’s low Class A game at Wrigley Field between Peoria and Kane County was historic for a couple of reasons. The game set a Midwest League single-game attendance record as over 32,000 fans entered the Friendly Confines to take in the first minor league game in the park’s history. The game would be suspended in the ninth inning due to rain with the score tied 6-6, but the most important on-field news was an injury suffered by Athletics first-round pick Jemile Weeks in the first inning.

[...] Continue Reading »

Prospect Of The Day

The young Marlins catcher we’re supposed to be ga-ga over is Kyle Skipworth, but Miguel Fermin (Marlins) is the one producing results at the plate. Fermin went 2-for-3 with a solo home run on Tuesday and the catcher from the Dominican Republic leads the NYP League in home runs and average (.367). At 23 years old, he is too old for the league, but his results can’t be ignored. Fermin hit .336/.386/.474 in 116 at-bats in the Dominican Summer League in 2007. [...] Continue Reading »

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

Prospect Of The Day

The redemption of Buffalo left fielder Trevor Crowe (Indians) continued last night in Durham, as the Bisons’ leadoff batter went 3-for-5 with a home run (two), a triple (one), a stolen base (one), a walk, two strikeouts and three runs scored. He missed hitting for the cycle by a double. The Indians selected the switch-hitting Crowe 14th overall in 2005 out of Arizona, but after struggling at Double-A in 2006 and 2007, his future seemed in doubt. The 24-year-old batted .323/.404/.485 for Akron this year, in his third crack at the Eastern League, to earn a promotion to Triple-A.

Prospect Nuggets

Charlotte 3B Chris Getz (White Sox) played his second game of the season at the hot corner—adding it to a list that includes second base, shortstop and left field—and went 2-for-4 with two doubles (24) and a walk . . . Durham SS Reid Brignac (Rays) snapped back to life, going 2-for-5 with a home run (eight), a double (25), two runs and three RBIs [...] Continue Reading »

Orioles catcher Matt Wieters continued his assault on all types of minor league pitching, Rays righthander Jeremy Hellickson had an excellent outing and Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus continued to flash his outstanding potential in yesterday’s Double-A games.

EASTERN LEAGUE

Prospect Of The Day

Minor League Player of the Year? Matt Wieters (Orioles) is looking like a pretty good candidate right now. After proving that the high Class A Carolina League was no challenge for him, Wieters is showing that Double-A pitchers don’t have a clue how to stop him either. Yesterday Wieters went 4-for-5 with a double and a home run, his sixth in 100 at-bats with Bowie. With more walks (18) than strikeouts (16), Wieters is now batting .350/.449/.600 in Double-A.

Prospect Nuggets

Wieters’ teammate, 24-year-old right fielder Nolan Reimold, went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk to get to .289/.362/.498 in 402 at-bats … New Hampshire left fielder Travis Snider (Blue Jays) and catcher J.P. Arencibia each went 2-for-5 with a double … Akron shortstop Josh Rodriguez (Indians) went a clean 3-for-3 with a double and a walk … Portland center fielder Josh Reddick (Red Sox) hit his first Double-A home run since his promotion from high Class A Lancaster, finishing 2-for-5 with a walk.

What To Watch For Today

One of the few Nationals prospects enjoying a successful season is Harrisburg righthander Jordan Zimmermann, who pitches at home tonight against Reading.

[...] Continue Reading »

South Atlantic League

Prospect Of The Day

Although we try to spread the wealth with these POTD awards, we can’t look past low Class A home run leader Mike Stanton, who slugged two more long balls last night in Greensboro’s (Marlins) 6-1 win over Lake County (Indians). That gives him 26 for the year. He went 2-for-4 on the night, raising his line for the year to .275/.351/.569 in 360 at-bats. [...] Continue Reading »

Prospect of the Day

Capser (Rockies) righthander Ethan Hollingsworth delivered his best outing of the year in a victory over Idaho Falls Tuesday. The former Western Michigan Bronco threw five shutout innings, allowing just four hits as Casper cruised to a 5-0 victory. Hollingsworth struck out eight without issuing a walk. The strong outing comes on the heels of several poor outings from the highly regarded righthander. Hollingsworth had given up four or more runs in each of his past three outings, none of which lasted more than six innings, entering Tuesday’s start. [...] Continue Reading »

California League

Prospect Of The Day

San Jose (Giants) righthander Tim Alderson pitched a gem last night, allowing only four hits over seven innings. He walked none and struck out seven. However, some late-blooming offense (or lack there of) denied him a win and the game was decided in the 13th inning, with San Jose taking down Rancho Cucamonga (Angels) 2-1.

Prospect Nuggets

Lake Elsinore (Padres) right fielder Kellen Kulbacki was 3-for-5 with a three-run home run in an 8-5 win over High Desert (Mariners). Center fielder Cedric Hunter was also 3-for-5, but he had a double and run scored… [...] Continue Reading »

There were plenty of fireworks in Double-A yesterday, including a game-winning homer from Wes Hodges, a gem by David Price and Mark Trumbo making his Double-A debut in style.

EASTERN LEAGUE

Prospect Of The Day

Yesterday was quite the day for Akron third baseman Wes Hodges (Indians), who had a great game at the plate and came through in a clutch situation. Hodges went 3-for-5 with two doubles, giving him 21 double on the season. Hodges also hit a walk-off home run over the left field fence in the bottom of the ninth to give the Aeros an 8-7 win against Erie. On the season, Hodges is now batting .301/.373/.464 through 103 games.

Prospect Nuggets

Harrisburg (Nationals) roughed up Reading righthander Carlos Carrasco (Phillies) for six runs in 5 2/3 innings. Carrasco did strike out seven batters, but he also walked four and allowed five hits, two of which were home runs … Bowie righthander Brad Bergesen won’t blow hitters away with strikeout stuff, but the 22-year-old throws a two-seamer with good sink that has helped keep his ERA down at 2.68 in 117 1/3 innings with a groundball-friendly 1.55-to-1 groundout-to-air out ratio with Bowie. Yesterday was Bergesen’s best game of the year: a complete-game shutout with three strikeouts, no walks, one hit by pitch and six hits.

[...] Continue Reading »

Three Dominican Summer League Cardinals players received 50-game suspensions for testing positive for performance-enhancing substances. The suspensions come less than a week after the commissioner’s office handed down identical penalties to a pair of Venezuelan Summer League Pirates.

Lefthander Braulin Beltre, 16, and outfielder Andres Beras, 17, both tested positive for a metabolite of Boldenone, while lefthander Yedilson Pena, 17, tested positive for metabolites of Stanozolol. Beras signed July 2, 2007, the first day of the international signing period, while Beltre and Pena both signed this May. All three hail from the Dominican Republic.

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

Prospect Of The Day

A ray of light in an otherwise trying season, Rochester righthander Philip Humber (Twins) struck out a season-high 10 Scranton/Wikes-Barre batters, while walking just two, in the Red Wings’ 7-4 win yesterday. Rochester manager Stan Cliburn told the Democrat and Chronicle that the 25-year-old Humber, who allowed three runs on five hits in 7 2/3 innings, succeeded by pitching inside, establishing his fastball and setting up his plus curveball.

Prospect Nuggets

Scranton RHP Alan Horne (Yankees), Humber’s opponent yesterday, walked the first two batters of the first and then the second innings, leading to an early exit after 43 pitches, just 16 of which were strikes. His final tally: one inning, 10 batters faced, two hits, five runs, five walks and no strikeouts. Horne, who has twice spent time on the DL this season, told the Democrat and Chronicle: "I’m very concerned. My arm feels really uncomfortable, like it doesn’t want to work. But I feel no pain. It’s frustrating. It’s got to be a mental thing.’ [...] Continue Reading »

Prospect Of The Day

Vermont catcher Derek Norris (Nationals) had a huge game in the Lake Monsters’ 18 inning win over Lowell. (More on the game below.) Norris made nine plate appearances and reached in eight of them, going 3-for-4 with a home run and five walks. The 2007 fourth-rounder out of high school now leads the New York-Penn League in walks (30) and OBP (.456) at just 19 years old.

Prospect Nuggets

After Vermont tied the game at 4-4 with a run in the seventh, the teams played 10 scoreless innings until the Lake Monsters scored the winning run in the bottom of the 18th. After James Keithley and Blake Stouffer (Nationals) walked to start the inning, Norris singled to left, but Luis Sumoza (Red Sox) threw out Keithley at the plate and Stouffer moved to third. The next hitter was Michael Guerrero (Nationals), who hit a walk-off single to left to score Stouffer. The game lasted five hours, 31 minutes. [...] Continue Reading »