The Rangers couldn't have asked for a better start to Tanner Scheppers' pro debut. Now Scheppers will try to replicate his success with Double-A Frisco in Oklahoma, as the Rangers promoted him to Triple-A today.

Scheppers, a supplemental first-round pick last year, put up numbers out of the Frisco bullpen that look like they were made up: 11 innings, three hits, one run (on a home run), no walks and 19 strikeouts. Sure, it's just six innings, but it's about as overpowering of a six-inning performance as you'll find, with Scheppers striking out 50 percent of the 38 batters he faced while pounding the zone with strikes.

With Neftali Feliz, the Rangers already have one flamethrower in the back of their bullpen. With Scheppers, there's a chance they could add another by midseason.

Warning: The following post is current up through Wednesday's games only. An issue deadline yesterday interfered with a more timely posting, but if response is favorable, we can revisit the idea in the future.

Seven Up, Seven Down: The Best And Worst Minor League Teams

Mickey Mantle wore it. Stars like J.D. Drew, Matt Holliday, Joe Mauer, Jose Reyes and Ivan Rodriguez wear it today. Even George Costanza had a thing for the number seven.

Seven also happens to be a good cut-off when stacking up the winning percentages of the 120 full-season minor league teams. To this point, the top seven clubs have compiled a winning percentage of .700 or better, while the stragglers all hover near .300.

[...] Continue Reading »

GREENSBORO, N.C.—Patience, patience, patience.

When Mark Parent was a catcher in the major leagues for more than a decade, he knew he had to be patient when working with young pitchers fresh from the minor leagues.

Today, Parent is manager for the the Phillies' low Class A Lakewood, a team filled with high-ceiling, tooled-up athletes, many of whom are about as raw as they come.

Patience, Parent believes, is the key to developing that type of player.

"It's almost like a circus every night, but controlled," he said. "You never know what's going to happen, but you figure out what happened that night and then you go work on it the next day. That's all we can do." [...] Continue Reading »

Two high-profile prospects are heading to Triple-A today, with the Red Sox promoting first baseman Lars Anderson to Pawtucket and the Nationals sending righthander Drew Storen to Syracuse.

Anderson, 22, has bounced back from a rocky 2009 season with a thunderous start to 2010 in his return to Double-A Trenton. Anderson leaves the Eastern League batting .355/.408/.677 in 17 games with a league-best 1.086 OPS.

Storen, the 10th overall pick last year out of Stanford in 2009, has yet to encounter much of a challenge in the minors between his debut last year and his 9 1/3 innings this year with Double-A Harrisburg. Storen leaves the Senators with an ERA of 0.96, one walk and 11 strikeouts.

It shouldn't be long before the Nationals' other 2009 first-round pick, Stephen Strasburg, joins him in Syracuse.

April 19-26

Check out the Transactions Glossary for the key to deciphering the various inactive lists presented here.

An asterisk (*) denotes an instance of a player agreeing to terms on a minor league contract with an organization with which he already had a major league agreement.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Recalled: RHP Esmerling Vasquez, OF Cole Gillespie
Optioned to Triple-A: LHP Jordan Norberto
Placed on 7-day DL: 2B Taylor Harbin, OF Drew Macias, LHP Clay Zavada, 3B Ricardo Sosa
Reinstated from DL: SS Pedro Ciriaco

Atlanta Braves
Signed: OF Gregor Blanco*
Released: OF Jahdiel Santamaria
Placed on 7-day DL: RHP David Francis, RHP Zeke Spruill, LHP Cole Rohrbough, C Braeden Schlehuber
Reinstated from DL: RHP Vladimir Nunez, OF Cole Miles

Spruill has a broken right hand, while Rohrbough is out with a strained left shoulder. [...] Continue Reading »

The Reading Phillies have seen enough of Stephen Strasburg. In two starts over the last week for Double-A Harrisburg, the Nationals phenom has thrown 10 innings against the R-Phils and allowed all of one hit, one walk and struck out 12. Last night was another night at the office for the 21-year-old righthander, throwing his fastball at a steady 97-100 mph over five no-hit innings at Reading and allowing just one baserunner, who reached on a third strike passed ball. He struck out six hitters in all.

"They've got some really good hitters in this league and he's faced some really good hitters," Harrisburg manager Randy Knorr said. "He just mixes well. He has confidence in all his pitches. For a guy who throws that hard, he does keep them off balance. I think that's big for what he does. He doesn't just rear back and throw it as hard as he can. He will throw breaking balls in fastball counts and throw them for strikes. He's done a good job with that."

Strasburg leads the Eastern League with a 0.52 ERA in 17 1/3 innings. Somehow it seems unlikely he'll be around long enough to claim the EL ERA title though.

Strasburg's march to the majors has been scrutinized unlike any prospect before him. After all, you don't see minor league games making the national networks unless there's a rehabbing big leaguer present—which there actually was last night, the Phillies' Brad Lidge who threw two scoreless innings, but even he was overshadowed by Strasburg. ("Strasburg must be pitching tonight," Lidge quipped to the Reading Eagle after seeing the hordes of media present.)

[...] Continue Reading »

Life for a manager at the low Class A level can be both challenging and rewarding.

For Cedar Rapids skipper Bill Mosiello, the challenge comes from keeping egos in check at an age where promise exceeds production. The reward comes when a player meets expectations and graduates to the next rung of the minors.

But the hitters entrusted to Mosiello and his coaching staff arrive in Cedar Rapids often having spent time at one of the Angels' hitter-friendly, Rookie-level affiliates in Orem, Utah, or Tempe, Ariz.

"For some players, they may have a false feeling of accomplishment from playing in Orem," Mosiello said. "But in the Midwest League, you can get humbled very quickly. How will they handle going 1-for-20 when they've always hit in pro ball?

"That's where we come in. We have to make them believe in their ability, to trust their approaches. That's the neat part of being manager at this level." [...] Continue Reading »

High Class A St. Lucie lefty Angel Calero tested positive for metabolites of Nandrolone, a performance-enhancing substance, and was suspended for 50 games. The news came late Monday afternoon via a press release by Major League Baseball.

The Mets shifted the 23-year-old Calero to the bullpen this season after an uneven campaign in 2009, in which he made 22 starts for St. Lucie. This year, he appeared in four games, going 1-1, 5.68 with 10 strikeouts and seven walks in 6 1/3 innings.

MLB also suspended Socrates Brito, a Dominican outfielder who agreed to a deal with the Diamondbacks in February. He tested positive for metabolites of Stanozolol, a performance-enhancing substance, which prompted Arizona to void his contract. They did not entirely rule out re-signing Brito, who is now a free agent.

Fresh off hitting two home runs against the Carolina Mudcats on Sunday afternoon, Mike Stanton one-upped himself on Monday.

The Jacksonville (Double-A Southern) right fielder hit three more home runs to nearly single-handedly beat Carolina. His nine home runs now lead the minors and he also is among the minor league's leaders with 17 walks. Stanton now has six home runs and eight extra-base hits in the past four games and he's 7-for-8 over the past two games.

Stanton's patience at the plate is the one aspect of his game that has wavered through his ascent through the minors. He posted a .390 on-base percentage during his 50 games in high Class A Jupiter last season, but struggled with strikeouts after being promoted to Double-A Jacksonville. A return to Jacksonville seems to be alleviating any concerns about his strike zone awareness.

Last year the Carolina League taught Eric Hosmer a lesson. This year, he's exacting some revenge.

Hosmer's 27-game stretch with high Class A Wilmington last year wasn't without it's highlights—he called the Blue Rocks dogpile after clinching a playoff spot one of the greatest moments of his baseball career. But the Royals' 20-year-old first baseman was wise to focus on team accomplishments—his .206/.290/.299 numbers in Wilmington left many wondering what had happened to a hitter who was acclaimed as the best high school bat in the 2008 draft. [...] Continue Reading »

Major League Baseball has suspended veteran minor league lefthander Adam Bostick II, now with the Royals organization, for 50 games for his second violation of the minor league drug prevention and treatment program.

Bostick opened the season on the disabled list at Triple-A Omaha and had yet to pitch in 2010. For his career, the 27-year-old is 35-45, 4.35 in 694 minor league innings, with 340 walks but also 723 strikeouts. He has pitched in the Mets and Marlins organizations and led the South Atlantic League in strikeouts in 2004.

Travis d’Arnaud hasn’t been able to find the spotlight. Not yet, anyway.

After the 2009 season, d’Arnaud ranked as the No. 4 prospect in the Phillies system, behind the high-ceiling troika of Domonic Brown, Kyle Drabek and Michael Taylor. When the Phillies traded the 21-year-old d’Arnaud to the Blue Jays this offseason, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee were the big league aces getting most of the ink, while the focus on the prospect side of the deal was on Drabek and Taylor.

Even among catching prospects, d’Arnaud has had trouble distinguishing himself in a time when Carlos Santana, Buster Posey and Jesus Montero are among the top 10 prospects in the game.

Heck, even in his own family, Travis has had to share the spotlight with older brother Chase, a quality middle infield prospect with the Pirates.

Regardless of how many people are noticing, what d’Arnaud is doing in the high Class A Florida State League with Dunedin is hard to ignore.

[...] Continue Reading »

This time: April 15-18
Previous installment: April 6-14

Check out the Transactions Glossary for the key to deciphering the various inactive lists presented here.

An asterisk (*) denotes an instance of a player agreeing to terms on a minor league contract with an organization with which he already had a major league agreement. In most cases, these players began the season on the 40-man roster but lost their place and were outrighted to the minors.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Signed: RHP Esmerling Vasquez*, 2B Ryan Roberts*
Optioned to Triple-A: RHP Esmerling Vasquez
Added to 40-man roster: RHP Kris Benson
Reinstated from DL: OF Pete Clifford [...] Continue Reading »

The Braves were aggressive with Mike Minor's first full-season assignment, sending their 2009 first-round pick straight to Double-A Mississippi despite having just four official pro appearances under his belt. With his pitching smarts and four-pitch repertoire, the club felt Minor would be ready for Southern League competition.

Minor's first two starts didn't exactly validate the assignment. The M-Braves' Opening Day starter, Minor gave up four runs on six hits over five innings against Tennessee in his first outing. He was back on the mound six days later to face West Tenn and the results were about the same. He surrendered five runs on five hits in four innings, though he did strike out seven. Mississippi pitching coach Marty Reed observed that Minor seemed to be trying to do a bit too much on the mound.

"What he was trying to do in the first couple of games was trying to make every pitch exactly where he wants to make it" Reed said. "And when he wasn't, he was getting frustrated."

[...] Continue Reading »

America's heartland conjures an image of agricultural expanse and bounty, which seems entirely fitting in the context of one of the Midwest League's youngest pitching staffs.

But they're not growing crops exclusively in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. With the prospects the Angels have stationed there, in their low Class A outpost, the city stands to produce its share of pitching prospects, too. According to calculations by Baseball-Reference, the Kernels pitching staff averages 21.2 years in age, the third youngest staff in the MWL, just a hair behind Lake County (Indians) and Burlington (Royals) at 21.1.

Cedar Rapids boasts six capable starters who in the aggregate have compiled an ERA of 2.30 over 66 2/3 innings, while striking out 64 batters and allowing two home runs. The staff does not lack for diversity, either. Of the six, three are righthanded and three are lefties. Two attended four-year universities; one a junior college; one a Southern California high school; and of the international hurlers, one is Dominican and one hails from Venezuela.

Angels roving pitching instructor Kernan Ronan was gracious enough to provide his thoughts on the promising sextet in a recent interview. To find a group of Halos hopefuls so talented as this crew, Ronan referenced the 2006 edition of the Kernels, which featured the late Nick Adenhart as well as Stephen Marek, Tommy Mendoza and Bobby Mosebach. [...] Continue Reading »

A further examination of players in unforeseen places, a check-in on notable Opening Day assignments. We touched on the Padres and Mariners in yesterday's blog post.

Mets

The Mets identified several useful players a bit further down their 2007 draft board—most notably, third baseman Zach Lutz (fifth round), outfielder Lucas Duda (seventh), lefty Robert Carson (14th) and righty Dillon Gee (21st)—but after three years, the organization can't be sure exactly what they got from the top of that draft.

Erstwhile Oregon State closer Eddie Kunz, their top pick at 42nd overall, is trying to get his career back on track as a starter in Double-A. Prep lefty Nathan Vineyard (47th) suffered a shoulder injury and subsequently went AWOL; he's technically on the restricted list. Towering, 6-foot-11 second-rounder Scott Moviel has shown promise, but he's off to a rough start this season.

Richard Lucas, New York's fourth-round selection, is poised to do his part to redeem the ’07 draft. If the name doesn't sound familiar, it's probably for lack of exposure—the 21-year-old third baseman played in just 137 games during his first three pro seasons. The Jacksonville native contended with a knee injury in 2008 and personal issues that also resulted in missed time. [...] Continue Reading »

It takes an expert set of hands to juggle an organization's players around the four full-season minor league rosters. While farm directors and their assistants have a good idea of which players will populate which rosters before spring training even begins, they have to be ready for the unexpected.

Players get hurt; they have poor springs; others exceed expectations. So an organizational depth chart seldom looks the same in April as it did at the end of February.

Only one player can start at any one position on any given team. As such, a handful of players will earn higher-than-expected Opening Day assignments. Let's take a look at a few of those players in the Mariners and Padres organizations.

Padres

Righthander Simon Castro tossed five shutout innings, striking out five, in his Double-A debut for San Antonio. He toyed with low Class A batters last season, leading the Midwest League in strikeouts and making 27 starts for a 94-win Fort Wayne club that rolled to the league title. But the Padres resisted promoting him to high Class A Lake Elsinore so that he could "be part of the special season the Tin Caps enjoyed last year," according to director of player development Randy Smith. [...] Continue Reading »

Today's Daily Dish has a definite bias towards pitching. We'll cover plenty of hitters over the rest of the week, but here's a look at four pitchers who stood out last week.

Quick Comeback

Kyle Gibson had to wait a long time to make his first pro start. Thankfully his second start came just five days later.

The Twins' 2009 first-round pick missed all of last season with a stress fracture in his forearm, so his Opening Day start against Brevard County (Florida State) was also his pro debut. He allowed five runs, three of them earned, on six hits as he lasted just 3 2/3 innings.

Fort Myers pitching coach Steve Mintz said that Gibson's first start wasn't as bad as it appeared–he gave up a pair of home runs on balls that carried in a stiff wind. But naysayers who had concerns about Gibson's heavy reliance on his slider and last year's forearm injury had reasons to worry. [...] Continue Reading »

This time: April 6-14
Previous installment: March 29-April 5

Check out the Transactions Glossary for the key to deciphering the various inactive lists presented here.

For an honor roll of performance-enhancing substance busts, check out our archive of suspensions, where you'll find details on Alan Ahmady, Tyler Bighames, Ron Bourquin, Gookie Dawkins, Mitch Einertson, Stephen Englund, Danny Gutierrez, Stephen King, Brian Parker and Miguel Negron. All begin the year on the restricted list.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Placed on restricted list: LHP Bayron Zepeda
Recalled: C John Hester
Option transferred: RHP Daniel Stange (Double-A to Triple-A)
Placed on 7-day DL: RHP Jarrod Parker, LHP Clay Zavada, 3B Andrew Fie, 3B Ricardo Sosa, SS Pedro Ciriaco, OF Pete Clifford, OF A.J. Pollock

According to D-backs correspondent Jack Magruder, Pollock has a fractured growth plate in right elbow. Arizona selected the Notre Dame outfielder with the 17th overall pick last year. [...] Continue Reading »

Followers of minor league baseball should be accustomed to seeing the Sacramento River Cats among the best squads in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. The Athletics' affiliate has captured eight division titles and four PCL championships in the last 10 seasons, an amazing run of success considering the constant turnover they endure at the Triple-A level. Each group to come through Sacramento has had its own blend, but the 2010 edition looks as talented as any in the minors.

"It's a different kind of talent," A's farm director Keith Lieppman said, comparing this year's River Cats to previous editions. "Each year's had its own particular interesting group of guys. Some have been guys who can go up to the big leagues and help out, others are the younger prospects. This is a youthful group, and it's exciting with guys like (Chris) Carter and (Michael) Taylor."

Carter and Taylor, the top two prospects in the organization, are certainly the headliners, as we selected the River Cats as the minors' best lineup before the season. Neither of them put up spectacular numbers against big league competition in spring training. Carter homered in his first spring at-bat but went on to hit just .160/.250/.360 in 25 at-bats, while Taylor fared little better, hitting .189/.250/.270 in 37 at-bats. Nevertheless, both impressed with their confidence and work ethic.

[...] Continue Reading »