Presented here are the top 10 runs created tallies for position players from weekend series, May 18-20. Players must appear in the 2012 Baseball America Prospect Handbook.

• With Lance Berkman and Allen Craig on the disabled list, the Cardinals looked to Triple-A Memphis first baseman Matt Adams to fill the void. The 23-year-old had mashed nine homers and slugged .603 in 37 games for the Redbirds, one year after winning Double-A Texas League MVP honors and setting a Springfield franchise record with 32 home runs. To give you an idea of how far Adams has come as a pro, consider the fact that he was a 23rd-round pick from Division II Slippery Rock (Pa.) in 2009 who spent all of the ’10 season in low Class A. He went 2-for-4 during his big league debut Sunday night. [...] Continue Reading »

Presented here are the top 10 pitcher game scores from weekend series, May 18-20, by pitchers who appear in the 2012 Baseball America Prospect Handbook.

• By Minor League Baseball's accounting, Padres righty Donn Roach leads all pitchers with a 5.1 groundout-to-airout ratio. (If his name sounds familiar it's because he was the pitcher acquired by San Diego when they dealt Ernesto Frieri to the Angels.) The 22-year-old has been nothing short of sensational in the high Class A California League this season, going 7-0, 1.69 with a 0.90 WHIP and 47-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio for Lake Elsinore. If not for Bakersfield lefty Tony Cingrani, then Roach would lead the Cal League in both ERA and WHIP. [...] Continue Reading »

Each player who makes his major league debut this season had a scout and/or scouting director recommended him to his signing organization. To give credit where credit is due, we'll track those scouts and those directors for each player to make the big leagues for the first time in 2012.

Players are sorted in alphabetical order by debut date. Included with each listing is signing organization, year and draft round in parentheses where applicable. Source indicates the high school, college or country from which each player signed. The BA Executive Database supplies the names of scouting directors.

Players listed with an asterisk (*) were major league Rule 5 draft selections last December, while a cross (†) indicates players who were drafted one year and signed the next as part of baseball's defunct draft-and-follow process.

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Presented here are the top 10 runs created tallies for position players from weekend series, May 11-13. Players must appear in the 2012 Baseball America Prospect Handbook.

• Astros center fielder George Springer homered in four consecutive plate appearances, spanning two games of a Friday doubleheader, and now owns a .350/.389/.700 batting line in 20 home games with high Class A Lancaster. He's the seventh minor league player to homer three times in one game this season. Wouldn't you know that three of those outbursts occurred in the California League? (The other two: High Desert third baseman Steve Proscia on April 19 and Stockton first baseman A.J. Kirby-Jones on April 18.)

• Lost a bit among the organization's plethora of power arms, Diamondbacks third baseman Matt Davidson is gaining serious prospect momentum this season in the Double-A Southern League, which he tops with eight home runs and 19 extra-base hits as part of a .318/.434/.583 batting line through 132 at-bats. The 21-year-old homered twice in a game versus Chattanooga on Sunday (once against Dodgers prospect Chris Withrow) and also went deep on Friday. [...] Continue Reading »

Presented here are the top 10 pitcher game scores from weekend series, May 11-13, by pitchers who appear in the 2012 Baseball America Prospect Handbook.

• Astros righthander Paul Clemens rebounded from a recent rough patch, commemorated with an appearance on the Prospect Not-So-Hot Sheet, to get back on track in Triple-A . . . and back on target for a callup to Houston later this season. He allowed just three singles in his Saturday start and retired the final 15 batters he faced. Nothing to worry about here: Clemens has gone 3-1, 1.57 with a 17-4 K-BB ratio in four home starts in Oklahoma City this year.

• One of the youngest pitchers in the Carolina League, 20-year-old Royals righty Yordano Ventura leads the league with 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings. He's been especially effective in his last two outings, striking out 12 in 13 innings while allowing three runs on 11 baserunners. [...] Continue Reading »

Presented here are the top 10 runs created tallies for position players from weekend series, May 4-6. Players must appear in the 2012 Baseball America Prospect Handbook.

• With four homers on the season, Blue Jays Triple-A first baseman David Cooper is nearly half way to his total of nine that he hit with Las Vegas last year. All four have been hit in hitter's paradise in Vegas, where he's hitting .411 and slugging .740 (minor league splits). A first baseman with Cooper's feel for contact and gap power can play in the big leagues, but it might have to be with a second-division team or as a pinch-hitter for an NL club (the next Ross Gload?) unless he develops more over-the-fence power.

• Red Sox shortstop prospect Jose Iglesias' recent performance looks even better when you realize he hit just 10 extra-base hits in 101 Triple-A games last year. Boston probably will be happy if simply continues drawing walks like he has for Pawtucket this season. He has 11 in 26 games, giving him a .330 on-base percentage. [...] Continue Reading »

Presented here are the top 10 pitcher game scores from weekend series, May 4-6, by pitchers who appear in the 2012 Baseball America Prospect Handbook.

• Twice this season Jake Odorizzi has finished a Double-A start with 11 strikeouts and one walk. Though he gave up a run to Tulsa on Saturday, game score sees that start as a better effort—if only slightly so—than his April 23 one when he shut out Springfield for seven innings but allowed four hits. In his last three starts, Odorizzi has notched 26 strikeouts, four walks and 11 hits allowed while allowing four runs in 20 1/3 innings.

• Perhaps no Double-A pitcher has been as efficient this season as Harrisburg lefty Danny Rosenbaum, who in his last four starts has allowed a mere two runs and 21 baserunners in 32 innings. He leads the Eastern League in ERA (0.81), innings (44 2/3) and WHIP (0.69). [...] Continue Reading »

For those who believe that 140-game seasons offer only arbitrary endpoints, too, we present all-stars at each minor league classification for the month of April. This installment is very by the book. At each level, the player with the most runs created at each position in April—and who also appears in the 2012 Prospect Handbook—gets the nod. (Yes, this makes it easier for players in hitter-friendly leagues to pad their résumés and thus make the list.)

Click through the player links for draft history, minor league splits, game logs, career transactions, prospect rankings, scouting reports and more (BA subscription required in some cases). Doubles and triples folded into one statistic (2B).

IL Runner-Up: Columbus 2B Cord Phelps, Indians, 13.8 RC. PCL Runner-Up: Omaha 1B Clint Robinson, Royals, 17.9 RC. [...] Continue Reading »

Pitchers condense their work into short bursts. A minor league starter will face 20 or more batters in one outing, providing repetitions that it would take a position player five-to-seven games to accumulate. For that reason, one particularly good start by a pitching prospect carries a fair amount of weight. String together three or four such starts and a pitcher may be on to something.

Here we present the top 10 single-start pitching performances, as measured by game score (Wikipedia explanation), at each classification of the minors in April. (In case you're wondering, the top major league game score thus far is a tie (96) between Phil Humber's April 21 perfect game against the Mariners and Matt Cain's April 13 one-hitter—with 11 whiffs—against the Pirates.

• The Yankees recently called up D.J. Mitchell to work in a bullpen role, and Pirates lefty Justin Wilson could receive a similar call from the Pirates this season if he can carry forward the control he showed in his last start, a combined no-hitter against Durham.

• Though he delivered seven strong innings in his lone home start in Colorado Springs, Rockies lefty Christian Friedrich turned in his gem above on the road in Tacoma.

• Major league veteran Jeff Francis is the only pitcher who appears on a chart in this blog post who allowed a home run in his exemplary start. [...] Continue Reading »

We turn our attention now to the top offensive performers from weekend series, April 27-29, this time counting down the top performances in terms of the Bill James runs created metric (the convoluted ’02 version). At the heart of RC are reaching base safely (on-base percentage) and total bases (slugging percentage), two factors that correlate strongly with run scoring, and  for obvious reasons.

Diamondbacks Triple-A Reno first baseman Ryan Wheeler connected for a first-inning grand slam as part of a 2-for-3 day yesterday at Salt Lake. Like Arizona prospect Matt Davidson in Double-A, Wheeler is splitting his time between first and third base . . . White Sox shortstop prospect Tyler Saladino already has accumulated 18 walks in 23 Double-A games, and now he appears to have found his power stroke with a homer and a triple over the weekend . . . High Class A St. Lucie right fielder Cory Vaughn homered once on Friday, once on Saturday and once on Sunday, and he's now tied for the Florida State League with five longballs . . . The Reds' Billy Hamilton leads the California League with 29 steals, four triples and 24 runs scored, giving him the "speed" triple crown. Oh, and the high Class A Bakersfield shortstop also leads the circuit in average (.398) and on-base percentage (.481) . . . Angels right fielder Randal Grichuk mashed a pair of homers versus High Desert on Saturday. The 2009 first-rounder is batting .253/.293/.473 through 91 at-bats for high Class A Inland Empire as he attempts to turn in his first healthy season since his debut summer . . . Speaking of first-rounders, Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor, taken eighth overall last June, now shares the Midwest League lead with 32 hits. He's batting .314/.369/.451 through 102 at-bats for low Class A Lake County. [...] Continue Reading »

Bill James' game score calculation rewards pitchers who work deep into games without allowing many runs or hits while providing extra credit for dominance (strikeouts) and control (few walks). It may not be perfect, but tallying game scores for a number of pitchers can winnow a crowded field in a hurry. Presented here are the top 10 game scores from weekend series, April 27-29, by pitchers who appear in the 2012 Baseball America Prospect Handbook.

Lefty Justin Wilson and Indianapolis relievers Jose Diaz and Doug Slaten combined to no-hit Durham and send the Bulls reeling to their 13th consecutive loss. Wilson features premium heat from the left side but needs to continue finding the strike zone (16 walks in 30 innings so far) as he did yesterday to one day make an impact in the Pittsburgh rotation . . . Rockies lefty Edwar Cabrera has not only survived the jump to Double-A, but so far his changeup has wreaked havoc on Texas League opponents . . . Angels lefty Nick Maronde, a third-rounder from Florida last June, is gaining speed in the California League. He delivered seven shutout innings and 12 strikeouts against High Desert on Friday, and over his past three starts for high Class A Inland Empire he's allowed just four runs in 21 innings while fanning 23 and walking three. Forgive him his two homers allowed—they came in High Desert . . . Maronde isn't the only lefty who bears watching in the Cal League this season. Bakersfield's Tony Cingrani (Reds) and Visalia's David Holmberg (Diamondbacks) also have been stellar, but perhaps no southpaw has outperformed Visalia's Andrew Chafin, the 43rd pick in last year's draft from Kent State. With 12 strikeouts versus San Jose on Saturday, Chafin assumed the minor league lead with 45 whiffs in 27 2/3 innings . . . Give Astros righty R.J. Alaniz credit: He's already made two starts at home in Lancaster and one other in High Desert this season, and he's lived to tell about it (his 31 innings ranks third in the Cal League). The line you see above (seven strikeouts, two walks in seven shutout innings) was compiled at home versus Stockton. [...] Continue Reading »

So how old is the average minor leaguer? You often see us refer to a player as young for his league or old for the circuit. But to be more precise, here is a look at the median age of every full season minor league. We used median instead of average to better reflect what is the true midpoint of the league's players, as a few 35 year-olds could start to skew an average age.

The rosters were as of the first week of the season. And the median age of a league logically can be expected to skew older than the average significant prospect in a league as role players and other less-heralded prospects are more likely to be repeating a league or otherwise pushed slowly up the ladder.

We turn our attention now to the top offensive performers from weekend series, April 20-22, this time counting down the top performances in terms of the Bill James runs created metric (the convoluted ’02 version).

Chris Carter hit all three of his home runs in a game yesterday (game log), while Christian Yelich has been on fire since returning from the disabled list, batting 12-for-24 with a pair of homers . . . Now playing second base instead of right field, Alex Castellanos could surface in Los Angeles if he can keep up the torrid pace . . . Few players have been more productive than reigning Minor League Player of the Year Mike Trout, but he left Sunday's game after being hit by a pitch. [...] Continue Reading »

Bill James' game score calculation rewards pitchers who work deep into games without allowing many runs or hits while providing extra credit for dominance (strikeouts) and control (few walks). It may not be perfect, but tallying game scores for a number of pitchers can winnow a crowded field in a hurry. Presented here are the top 10 game scores from weekend series, April 20-22, by pitchers who appear in the 2012 Baseball America Prospect Handbook.

It's always good to see California League pitchers make the list, and this time we have three representatives, including a pair of Reds prospects with Bakersfield. Lefty Tony Cingrani, last year's third-rounder from Rice, has been so effective that he leads the Cal League in ERA (0.53), WHIP (0.71) and opponent average (.140). He was similarly effective in last year's Pioneer League . . . With his seven strikeouts, Rangers righty Luke Jackson now has 29 on the season, and he pulled to within one of the minor league lead (Athletics righty A.J. Griffin) . . . With 28 whiffs, D-back righty Trevor Bauer is just two off the minor league lead. He's allowed only one earned run this season and leads the field with four wins . . . Astros lefty Brett Oberholtzer righted the ship after allowing 11 runs in his first two starts for Double-A Corpus Christi. [...] Continue Reading »

We turn our attention now to the top offensive performers from weekend series, April 13-15, this time counting down the top performances in terms of the Bill James runs created metric (the convoluted ’02 version).

The Yankees shifted Tyler Austin from the corner infield to right field this season, and he's gotten off to just about the best start possible with low Class A Charleston. The 20-year-old leads the South Atlantic League in average (.438), slugging (1.031) and extra-base hits (10) after a weekend showing that included three doubles, a triple and a home run . . . Braves high Class A catcher Evan Gattis used a similarly-robust showing to vault into the top spot in the Carolina League batting race (.469). He also leads or shares the lead with three homers and 14 RBIs . . . Mike Trout used his speed not only to leg out two triples over the weekend, but also to race home from first base on a single. He's batting .435/.491/.652 through 46 at-bats for Triple-A Salt Lake . . . White Sox 2009 first-rounder Jared Mitchell missed the entire 2010 season with an ankle injury and followed that up with poor performance in the Carolina League last year (he hit .222 with 183 strikeouts in 129 games), but he's gotten out of the blocks quickly this season with Double-A Birmingham. The 22-year-old center fielder is batting .343/.511/.543 in 35 at-bats with five extra-base hits, 11 walks and two steals in three attempts for the Barons. [...] Continue Reading »

Bill James' game score calculation rewards pitchers who work deep into games without allowing many runs or hits while providing extra credit for dominance (strikeouts) and control (few walks). It may not be perfect, but tallying game scores for a scrum of pitchers can winnow a crowded field in a hurry. We can further shrink the list by sorting pitchers by prospect status. Presented here are the top 10 game scores from weekend series, April 13-15, by pitchers who appear in the 2012 Baseball America Prospect Handbook.

Special mention for a pair of Pacific Coast League hurlers who we'll be seeing plenty of in American League West play this season. Athletics righty Brad Peacock stymied Reno at home on Friday, running his season strikeout-to-walk ratio to 14-to-4 (with six hits allowed) in 12 innings. The River Cats play in a pitcher-friendly yard, a luxury that Angels righthander Garrett Richards did not enjoy when he delivered 7 2/3 strong innings against Tucson in Salt Lake City. He needed just 82 pitches to notch 7 2/3 innings, showcasing the pitch efficiency he developed in Double-A last season . . . Double-A Jackson lefties Danny Hultzen (14.9) and James Paxton (14.8) rank 1-2 in the Southern League in strikeouts per nine innings, and this weekend Hultzen had his turn on the game score honor roll . . . Savannah righthander Domingo Tapia's stock could go through the roof if the 20-year-old Mets farmhand continues pitching the way he has in the early going. [...] Continue Reading »

Just as we highlighted the weekend's top pitching performances, let's turn our attention now to the top offensive performers from April 6-8, this time counting down the top performances in terms of the Bill James runs created metric (the convoluted ’02 version).

Mariners shortstop Brad Miller (second round, 2011, Clemson) appeared in 14 games in the low Class A Midwest League last year, and he hit the ground running in the Cal League this year . . . Fellow 2011 draft pick Kolten Wong (first round, Cardinals, from Hawaii) continued to swing a hot bat after hitting .335 in low Class A a year ago, a performance that earned the second baseman a promotion over the high Class A Florida State League . . . Mets third baseman Aderlin Rodriguez mashed 17 homers for Savannah last year, so the power's not in question. The feel to hit is, however, after he batted .221/.265/.372 in 516 at-bats last season. [...] Continue Reading »

Bill James' game score calculation may not be perfect—it rewards pitchers who work deep into games without allowing many runs or hits, while providing extra credit for dominance (strikeouts) and control (few walks)—but applying it to a scrum of pitchers can winnow a crowded field in a hurry. We can further shrink the list by sorting pitchers by prospect status. Presented here are the top 10 game scores from weekend series, April 6-8, by pitchers who appear in the 2012 Baseball America Prospect Handbook.

A number of lefties already appear to be in midseason form. Seven of the 10 top game scores during opening weekend belong to southpaws, including 2011 draft picks Tony Cingrani (third round, Reds, from Rice) and Jed Bradley (first round, Brewers, from Georgia Tech) . . . Among the two righthanders to make the list are a pair of Yankees farmhands who are teammates in the Charleston rotation. Bryan Mitchell walked 4.5 batters per nine innings last year in the short-season New York-Penn League (and also missed time with an abdominal strain), but he has two plus pitches and is off to a great start this season. Jose Campos was part of the bounty New York received when it shipped Jesus Montero to the Mariners, and he's no stranger to success. He led the short-season Northwest League in strikeouts and ERA last season . . .  Ben Badler blogged about Roman Mendez on Saturday, so check that out to learn more about a Rangers prospect with helium. [...] Continue Reading »

The opening of baseball season is anticipated for many reasons, not the least of which is, you know, the games. But almost as much fun as watching them is sifting through the numbers that all those games produce. And we've worked hard throughout the offseason to make our statistical offerings better than ever this season. Here are a few highlights:

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Just two minor league teams repeated as league champions in 2011, one at the Triple-A level and one at the Rookie-level classification. As a point of comparison, four teams repeated as champions in 2010 after winning their leagues in ’09. 

Columbus repeated as champion of the International League, winning six of seven playoff games while dispatching Durham and Lehigh Valley to win the Governors' Cup. During the regular season, the Clippers led the IL in runs per game (4.97), home runs (152), walks (570), on-base percentage (.347) and OPS (.770). To top it off, Columbus won its second consecutive Triple-A National Championship game, this time knocking off Omaha by an 8-3 score.

Johnson City averaged more than six runs per game in Appalachian League regular season on its way to a league-best 45 wins. They rolled through Danville and Bluefield in the playoffs, winning four of five games.

The standings table below ranks all 30 organizations by the cumulative winning percentage of their domestic farm clubs. The +/- category indicates the difference between wins and losses—games above or below .500, if you will. We also have 2010 and 2009 organizational standings with league champions. [...] Continue Reading »