Ever since he was drafted in the third round out of Notre Dame, Kyle Weiland has faced one question about his future: Will he wind up a starter or a reliever?

Weiland was a great closer at Notre Dame, but like many college pitchers, he moved to the rotation in pro ball, in part to get more innings, but also because unlike many relievers he had three solid pitches and had good command. With outings like last night, Weiland is making a pretty strong case that he's a starter.

Pitching for Triple-A Pawtucket, Weiland has been a picture of consistency. He's allowed more than two earned runs in only three of his 16 starts this year. But on Wednesday night, he added a touch of dominance.

Weiland struck out 12 Rochester batters while allowing only one hit and one walk. He did hit three batters, showing a sign of his tendency to pitch inside. He has led his league in hit batters in each of the past two seasons, though he came into Wednesday's game with just two hit batters this year. [...] Continue Reading »

Players listed with an asterisk (*) signed minor league contracts, replacing major league pacts with the same organization. That's a fancy way of saying the player has been optioned or outrighted to the minors.

Numbers in parentheses indicate draft round.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Signed: RHP Jason Postill (NDFA—West Florida), RHP Drew Zizinia (NDFA—Tulane)
Optioned to Triple-A: RHP Bryan Shaw, RHP Esmerling Vasquez
Reinstated from DL: 1B Andy Tracy

Atlanta Braves
Draft pick signed: RHP Adam Holland (16)
Released: SS Kyle Davis
Elected free agency: OF Joe Mather
Removed from 40-man: OF Joe Mather (outrighted to Triple-A)
Optioned to Triple-A: LHP Mike Minor, LHP Dustin Richardson
Placed on 7-day DL: RHP Evan Danieli, RHP Reidy Escobar, RHP Daniel Lopez, LHP Ronan Pacheco, C Ramon de los Santos, OF Todd Cunningham, OF Will Skinner
Reinstated from DL: 1B Chris Garcia, 2B Matt Weaver

The Braves claimed Dustin Richardson on waivers from the Marlins, who in turn had acquired Richardson from the Red Sox last November for Andrew Miller. Florida cut Richardson to make room for Dewayne Wise on the 40-man, so apparently they weren't too keen on his work against lefthanded batters for Triple-A New Orleans. They went 15-for-44 (.341) with 10 walks and a homer. [...] Continue Reading »

If righthander Luis Vizcaino returns to affiliated ball, the game won't exactly welcome him back with open arms. Before suiting up for a minor league club, the 36-year-old free agent would first have to serve a 50-game suspension. The office of the commissioner announced today that Vizcaino tested positive for metabolites of Stanozolol, a performance-enhancing substance.

The Yankees signed Vizcaino to a minor league deal in early January, but they changed course in February and voided the deal. He did not pitch professionally in 2010, and his time with the ’09 Indians ended on a sour note. He appeared in 11 games for Cleveland and gave up seven runs on eight hits (plus 12 walks) in 11 2/3 innings. [...] Continue Reading »

It's almost getting cliché at this point to write about another fine outing by a Diamondbacks pitching prospect, but then David Holmberg is making a run at some serious history. The 19-year-old lefthander threw seven shutout innings for low Class A South Bend last night, striking out seven West Michigan hitters and allowing just two baserunners on a single in the third inning and an error in the fourth. He retired the final 10 hitters he faced.

"(Holmberg) got a lot of early outs," West Michigan manager Ernie Young told The Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press. "A bunch of one-pitch outs, a bunch of two-pitch outs. When you don't go up there and battle on a day like this, that's what's going to happen, you're going to make a lot of early outs.

"In back-to-back innings, we probably only saw maybe a total of 15 pitches or less. That right there makes it tough."

However, Holmberg's performance in this one outing only scratches the surface how dominant he's been. His seven shutout innings last night extended a shutout streak he's been carrying since May 29 to 34 innings, spanning five starts. The 34-inning streak is eight away from the Midwest League record of 42, which has been held by Mark Grant since 1982.

[...] Continue Reading »

Padres outfielder Donavan Tate, the No. 3 overall pick of the 2009 draft, was suspended for 50 games Tuesday for violating Major League Baseball's drug prevention and treatment program. Tate tested positive a second time for a drug of abuse, though the MLB press release did not divulge the drug.

Tate, playing at short-season Eugene, will serve 25 of the 50-game suspension, being given credit for 25 games already served while undergoing substance abuse counseling. He must begin serving the other 25 games of the suspension immediately. [...] Continue Reading »

The Class A all-star games are behind us, and we're about one week past the minor league season's midpoint. In other words, we have a meaningful sample of games with which to check in on the overall leaders from full-season leagues. Presented here are the top 15 players in eight categories—four batting and four pitching—with statistics running through Sunday, June 26. [...] Continue Reading »

Diamondbacks lefty Tyler Skaggs graces the most recent cover of Baseball America, the Futures Game issue. We like to salute a top prospect in the All-Star Game's host city, and even in a strong year for Arizona's minor league system, Skaggs stands out from the crowd for his taming the California League.

In his start for high Class A Visalia yesterday, the 19-year-old Skaggs pitched into the eighth inning for the first time this season. He finished with nine strikeouts and two walks over 7 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits to Inland Empire. Skaggs leads the Cal League with 111 strikeouts and ranks second to Modesto's Dan Houston with a 1.18 WHIP. He's given up just six homers in 15 starts—though he does pitch in the division without High Desert and Lancaster.

Regardless, Skaggs is one of 19 qualified minor league pitchers this season to tally more strikeouts (111) than baserunners (110), if just barely. He's the only pitcher to do so exclusively in the Cal League.

Diamondbacks senior vice president for scouting and player development Jerry DiPoto has said from Day One that Skaggs was a key piece in last July's Dan Haren trade with the Angels—even though the trade could have been especially disruptive for Skaggs, who grew up an Angels fan in Southern California.

"We're happy with the quality of his pitches and the plane on his fastball," DiPoto said in a recent interview. "His arm works the way you want it to work. The quality and consistency of his curveball has really come, and we liked him an awful lot coming out of high school. [...] Continue Reading »

If Donavan Tate has a great game for short-season Eugene, is that good news for the Padres or bad news?

If you're an optimistic Padres fan, you can celebrate the best day of Tate's short career on Sunday. If you're more pessimistic, you could fairly point out that it's a pretty bad sign that the third pick in the 2009 draft is still playing short-season ball.

But Tate's Sunday was one of the best days of a career known more for injuries than extra-base hits. Tate went 5-for-6 with two doubles, a triple and two stolen bases. But you could argue he was overshadowed by his new teammate and fellow first-round pick Cory Spangenberg. The third baseman had only two hits, but they included his first home run and a double as he raised his averages to .394/.563/.606 for Eugene.

Tate missed all of the 2009 season after an all-terrain vehicle crash broke his jaw. He missed time last year with a concussion, a shoulder injury and a virus. Then this year he started the season at low Class A Fort Wayne, but an outfield collision with fellow prospect Everett Williams sidelined Tate for roughly three months. Williams got the worst of it, though, after having season-ending surgery to repair a torn ACL.

Spangenberg is only a half-year younger than Tate because he signed out of junior college. But in terms of pro experience, he's just 121 at-bats behind Tate. [...] Continue Reading »

Players listed with an asterisk (*) signed minor league contracts, replacing major league pacts with the same organization. That's a fancy way of saying the player has been optioned or outrighted to the minors.

Many veterans who sign minor league contracts negotiate opt-out clauses, so that in the event they're not in the big league by a certain date, they can ask for their release in order to sign with another organization. Most of these opt-out dates fall on or around June 15, so keep that in mind as you peruse the ranks of the released here.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Signed: RHP Jeff Bennett (Lancaster (Atlantic)), RHP Mike Lebo (NDFA—Lehigh), LHP Alberto Castillo
Draft picks signed: C Zach Jones (34), 1B John Griffin (21), OF Justin Bianco (3)
Added to 40-man roster: OF Wily Mo Pena
Removed from 40-man: 3B Sean Burroughs (outrighted to Triple-A)
Placed on 7-day DL: RHP Miguel Pena, RHP Casey Upperman, LHP Cody Wheeler, 3B Michael Weber, OF Antonio Sepulveda
[...] Continue Reading »

The commissioner's office announced two drug suspensions late Friday afternoon, only one of them affecting a player currently under contract.

Giants minor league righthander Edward Concepcion received a 25-game suspension for a "violation of the drug-testing program," according to a press release. The 22-year-old native of the Dominican Republic appeared in 28 games for low Class A Augusta this season, his sixth in professional ball. With the Greenjackets, Concepcion went 1-1, 3.51 while collecting 36 strikeouts and 24 walks in 33 1/3.

Righthander Andy Moss, whom the Cardinals released in May, received a 50-game suspension after testing positive for a metabolite of Drostanolone, according to the release. A St. Louis 35th-round pick in 2009, Moss went 1-2, 1.32 in 13 appearances for Rookie-level Johnson City that summer to win the Appalachian League's ERA title. Pitching for low Class A Quad Cities this season, the 24-year-old went 2-0, 5.79 in six relief appearances.

Indians third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall has endured a difficult month of June. On a slide into third base on June 9, Chisenhall suffered from whiplash and missed nine games after experiencing symptoms of a concussion. When he went on the disabled list, Chisenhall was hitting just 8-for-43 (.186) in 11 games in June.

Chisenhall, 22, returned to the lineup for Triple-A Columbus yesterday and looked none the worse for wear. He went 4-for-6 with six RBI and finished a double short of the cycle. The game was Chisenhall’s best of the year, raising his season batting line to .261/.349/.420.

Chisenhall told the Columbus Dispatch he used the time on the DL to work on his swing. "I wasn’t hitting well when I went on the DL," he said. "I've been doing some tinkering in the (batting) cage. So to come off the DL and to have my swing feel that good and to feel good defensively is a definite plus."

With Cleveland's offense scuffling, Chisenhall’s return couldn’t come at a better time. But before he worries about a promotion, Chisenhall just wants to find some consistency. "You know, it feels like one week I figure it out," he said. "And the next two weeks, I can’t figure it out." [...] Continue Reading »

A quartet of minor league all-star games took place last night. A quick look at each.

Double-A Southern League
Northern Division 6, Southern Division 3

Rays lefthander Matt Moore threw a no-hitter in his last start for Montgomery and got the ball to start the SL all-star game for the South. Things didn't go quite so well this time. Moore was touched for four runs on three hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning. Moore's allowed four earned runs just once in 14 stars for the Biscuits, but he was tagged for the loss yesterday after the North never relinquished its lead.

"I saw a guy get a hit and I looked in our dugout, I was wondering what was happening," South first baseman Paul Goldschmidt told the Huntsville Times. "I almost didn't bring my glove out there (with Moore pitching)."

Goldschmidt's Mobile squad was the one victimized by Moore's no-hitter. Goldschmidt, the minors' home run leader with 22 at the break, did have his moment though, slugging a two-run homer in the first inning off North starter Jarrett Grube (Mariners). Goldschmidt finished the night 1-for-4. Among other performers, Diamondbacks outfielder A.J. Pollock went 2-for-3 for the South, and Dodgers first baseman Scott Van Slyke led the North's offense by going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. He won the game's MVP award.

Pat Corbin (Diamondbacks) and Randall Delgado (Braves) both threw scoreless innings in relief of Moore, but Chris Archer, Moore's Montgomery teammate, gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits in his inning of work. [...] Continue Reading »

Triple-A Gwinnett manager Dave Brundage faced a tough decision in yesterday's game against visiting Syracuse. Braves starter Julio Teheran had delivered seven quality innings, but the club trailed 2-1 when the righthander's spot in the batting order came up with two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the seventh inning. Working against Teheran was the fact that he had allowed the go-ahead run in the top half of the frame.

A two-out rally seemed unlikely, but visions of a game-tying pinch-hit home run must have crossed Brundage's mind. On the other hand, Teheran had stifled International League competition in June (0.93 ERA in four starts), so the skipper decided to stick with his ace, letting him face Chiefs starter Ross Detwiler.

"The first thing (Brundage) said was, 'Get on base somehow.' Something could happen," Teheran told the Gwinnett Daily Post through an interpreter. The 20-year-old Colombian obliged, drawing a two-out walk against Detwiler and eventually coming around to score the tying run on a single by center fielder Matt Young. (In case you're curious, Teheran now has one single, one walk and no sacrifices in 11 Triple-A plate appearances this season.)

"When we tied the game, I realized I was going back out (for the eighth), and I got more excited," said Teheran, who promptly retired Syracuse in order in the eighth. Gwinnett put the game away with six runs in their half of the eighth.

Teheran threw 67 of 98 pitches for strikes, finishing with eight whiffs, no walks (for the third straight start) and just five hits allowed in eight innings. He allowed two runs but gave up hits only in the fourth and seventh innings. [...] Continue Reading »

By Greg Auman

CLEARWATER, Fla.—The Northern Division has been the high Class A Florida State League’s better half this season. St. Lucie paces the Southern Division, but at just three games over .500 they would be tied for fourth in the six-team North.

That North exerted its dominance once more on Saturday night in defeating the South 5-3 in the FSL all-star game before a crowd of 5,134 at Bright House Field, home of the Phillies' Clearwater affiliate.

Bradenton first baseman Aaron Baker hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning and walked twice to take home game MVP honors in a losing effort. The former Oklahoma Sooner said he was much more relaxed this year than a year ago as a South Atlantic League all-star.

"This was a lot of fun. Last year I was pretty nervous and didn’t play like I would like," said, a Pirates 11th-round pick in 2009. "I think having gone through that, it was more enjoyable and was able to get a nice little hit."

Daytona owns the FSL's best record at 46-21 as well as a seven-game lead in the North, and Cubs batters had three straight hits to bring home the deciding runs in the fifth. Third baseman Matt Cerda put the North ahead with an RBI double, then scored on catcher Mike Brenly’s single. DH Justin Bour, who won the league’s home run derby exhibition before the game, followed with a single. [...] Continue Reading »

Reds farmhand Jose Raga received a 50-game suspension from MLB's commissioner's office for violating the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

Raga, a catcher in the Reds' Rookie-level Venezuelan Summer League team, tested positive for Stanizolol. The 17-year-old was off to a 3-for-13 start in the VSL this season.

Players listed with an asterisk (*) signed minor league contracts, replacing major league pacts with the same organization. That's a fancy way of saying the player has been optioned or outrighted to the minors.

Number in parentheses indicate draft round. Here we present 374 signings for your perusal.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Signed: RHP Conrad Flynn (NDFA—Tulane), RHP Sean Johnson (NDFA—Oral Roberts), LHP Keith Hessler (NDFA—Coastal Carolina), 1B Joe Weik (NDFA—Texas Christian), 3B Tyler Williams (NDFA—Pima (Ariz.) CC), SS Patrick Donahue (NDFA—Tampa), OF Marc Bourgeois (NDFA—Southern Mississippi)
Draft picks signed: RHP Alex Capaul (43), RHP Jesse Darrah (8), RHP Ross Gerdeman (35), RHP Raymond Hernandez (48), RHP Evan Marshall (4), RHP Dexter Price (30), RHP Truman Sample (28), RHP Seth Simmons (40), LHP Michael Blake (16), LHP John Pedrotty (13), LHP Taylor Siemens (18), LHP Elroy Urbina (37), C Brian Henry (36), C Steven Rodriguez (15), 2B Derek Luciano (44), 2B Danny Pulfer (19), 3B Ryan Court (23), SS John Leonard (9), SS Josh Parr (12), SS Garrett Weber (22), OF Chris Ellison (39), OF Kerry Jenkins (38)
Acquired: RHP Gaby Hernandez from White Sox for cash considerations
Added to 40-man roster: RHP Bryan Shaw
Optioned to Triple-A: LHP Zach Kroenke
Placed on 7-day DL: RHP Armando Galarraga, RHP Kevin Mulvey, RHP Daniel Stange, 1B Andy Tracy
Reinstated from DL: RHP Josh Ellis

Atlanta Braves
Signed: RHP Gary Moran (River City (Frontier))
Draft picks signed: RHP Ryne Harper (37), RHP Cody Martin (7), RHP Charlie Robertson (27), RHP Greg Ross (18), LHP Matt Chaffee (12), LHP Mike Hashem (35), C Troy Snitker (19), 2B Tommy La Stella (8), 3B Kyle Kubitza (3), SS Kirk Walker (26), OF Chase Larsson (9), OF Sam Munson (23), OF Will Skinner (25)
Released: RHP Yoshinori Yamarin, LHP Steven Kent, LHP Shohei Sekiguchi, C Brendan Rowland, 2B Jim Linger, 2B Michael Noboa, 2B C.J. Retherford, OF Victor Cadette, OF Bobby Rauh
Recalled: LHP Mike Minor, SS Brandon Hicks
Optioned to Triple-A: RHP Cory Gearrin
Placed on 7-day DL: RHP Ryan Weber, C Braeden Schlehuber, 1B Chris Garcia, 3B Shawn Bowman
Reinstated from DL: RHP Kenshin Kawakami, LHP Dimasther Delgado, LHP Ronan Pacheco, SS Mike Brownsten [...] Continue Reading »

The Diamondbacks are about to be loaded with young pitching.

The organization already has Ian Kennedy (26) and Daniel Hudson (24) pitching like above-average starters in Arizona. Jarrod Parker is making his way back from Tommy John surgery, lefthander Tyler Skaggs may have already passed him with his stellar showing for high Class A Visalia and lefty Pat Corbin has been solid for Double-A Mobile. Add 2011 first-rounders Trevor Bauer and Archie Bradley to the mix and the Diamondbacks will have a collection of young arms that will stack up favorably against any organization.

While Hudson was the key piece the Diamondbacks received in the 2010 deal that sent Edwin Jackson to the White Sox, Arizona also got lefty David Holmberg, a second-round pick in 2009 who has been terrific in his last four starts.

Holmberg, 19, struck out 10, didn't walk anyone and allowed just two hits in seven shutout innings yesterday, the fourth straight start in which he hasn't allowed a run. He's working on a scoreless inning streak that stretches 27 innings, which has lowered his ERA to 2.61 in 76 innings with 74 strikeouts and 13 walks.

[...] Continue Reading »

Despite a healthy strikeout rate, 22-year-old righthander Matt Suschak has not had the type of results in pro ball that scouts had envisioned last spring. A Braves seventh-round pick from Toledo a year ago, he has run up a 6.34 ERA and 1.83 WHIP through 49 2/3 career innings, all in relief.

Now Suschak's shot at redemption must wait 50 games, while he serves a suspension for testing positive for an amphetamine, a performance-enhancing substance in the eyes of the minor league drug program. He appeared in 12 games for low Class A Rome this season, going 2-0, 6.75 with a 16-to-15 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 20 innings.

Suschak sat at 92-95 mph while pitching out of the Toledo bullpen in 2010, and he backed it up with a hard breaking ball. But his pro struggles began instantly in pro ball when he walked 19 batters in 29 2/3 innings for Rookie-level Danville last summer. His career rates for strikeouts and walks per nine innings now register at 8.3 and 6.2, respectively. [...] Continue Reading »

More than one player selected on day three of this year's draft is bound to forge a big league career. That's because for as long as there's been a draft, players have been defying the odds by honing raw tools into skills that benefit big league clubs. In this blog post, we'll highlight low draft picks who have made good.

In the 20 drafts from 1987 to 2006, teams could make use of the draft-and-follow process to select a talented but raw high school prospect and then evaluate him for a year at junior college before making a final signing bonus determination. That's how players as diverse as Mark Buehrle (38th round, 1998 draft), Travis Hafner (31st, 1996), Orlando Hudson (43rd, 1997), Kyle Farnsworth (47th, 1994), Jason Isringhausen (44th, 1991), Kyle Lohse (29th, 1996), Marcus Thames (30th, 1996) and Jonny Venters (30th, 2003) got their starts.

Emerging young players like Tommy Hanson, Derek Holland, Mat Latos, Logan Morrison and Jordan Walden continue to make a good name for the draft-and-follow process, but all five pulled down in excess of $200,000 to sign (in the cases of Latos and Walden, more than $1 million), making them anything but draft afterthoughts. For that reason, players signed as draft-and-follows are excluded from our low draft position all-star team. We're looking for only the most unlikely success stories, which I'm defining as active big leaguers taken in the back half of the draft (26th round and later) and signed that same summer. [...] Continue Reading »

The Angels' Luis Jimenez has shown power before, when he led the Rookie-level Pioneer League in homers with 15 in 2008. He hadn't enjoyed that kind of power production since, but he put on a display last night, homering twice for Double-A Arkansas.

After his promising U.S. debut in '08, Jimenez's career was slowed by a torn labrum, which caused him to miss the entire 2009 season. He returned to action at two Class A levels last year and made the jump to the Texas League this spring. Jimenez hadn't been getting overwhelmed by the TL, with his average hovering in the .260s and .270s, but he's turned it up in a hurry. The 23-year-old third baseman went 3-for-4 last night, adding a double to go with the two long balls, his fourth straight multi-hit game. He's upped his line for the year to .285/.325/.481 with seven homers, and his 21 doubles rank 2md in the TL.

One thing that hadn't changed for Jimenez is he's always been a free-swinger. He's drawn just 12 walks all season in 236 plate appearances—only one of those walks has come since May 19—though his pitch-recognition skills have helped him keep his strikeouts to a minimum (28) as well. [...] Continue Reading »