Following standout careers at the University of Connecticut, George Springer and Matt Barnes have met little resistance in the professional ranks thus far. Both 2011 first-round picks—Springer went 11th overall to the Astros; Barnes 19th to the Red Sox—emphasized that point with noteworthy performances this weekend at the high Class A level.

Springer, who plays center field for Lancaster of the California League, smashed three home runs in a game on Friday, May 11, joining six other minor leaguers to accomplish the feat this season. Though the outburst occurred in homer-friendly Lancaster, Springer stressed efficiency by going deep in each of his three plate appearances during doubleheader Game Two's seven-inning contest.

The 22-year-old Springer also homered in his final PA of the first game of Friday's doubleheader, giving him four clouts in a row and fattening up the day's batting line to 5-for-7 with four homers, seven RBIs, five runs scored and a stolen base. Through 147 at-bats for the JetHawks this season he had batted .313/.362/.571 with eight homers, six doubles, four triples, eight steals and a Cal League-leading 32 RBIs. He ranks third in the league in homers and fourth in slugging. [...] Continue Reading »

Paul Hoilman is no stranger to re-writing the record book. On Wednesday night, he broke another one by hitting safely in his 22nd straight game—a franchise record for the low Class A Peoria Chiefs.

Hoilman, a 23-year-old first baseman, went 2-for-4 with a triple in a 2-1 home loss to Beloit and extended his hit streak in his first at-bat by legging out an infield single to Beloit third baseman Miguel Sano—the strong-armed Twins’ top prospect. Hardly a speedster, the righthanded-hitting Hoilman hit a chopper behind the third-base bag and barely beat Sano’s throw to first.

“I knew he had a good arm so I was running as hard as I could,” Hoilman told the Peoria Journal Star.

Hoilman passed the Chiefs' previous mark of 21 shared by outfielder Kerry Robinson and infielder Jack Wilson.

Hoilman made his professional debut for Boise last season after being selected in the 19th round of the draft and set a franchise single-season record with 17 home runs despite playing just 71 games. During a four-year career at Eastern Tennessee State, Hoilman broke two Atlantic Sun Conference career records—home runs (73) and doubles (83).

In 2010, Hoilman won the inaugural TD Ameritrade College Baseball Home Run Derby in the final college baseball event at Rosenblatt Stadium. He hit .421 and tied for fifth in Division I with 25 home runs. The Rays selected him in the 49th round of the 2010 draft, but he elected to return to ETSU and finish his degree in math with a concentration in pre-med. As a senior, Hoilman’s ranked second Division I in both home runs (22) and strikeouts (72) as his average dipped to .313 amid college baseball’s new bat standards.

Also Streaking

• The Rangers have a pair of prospects with hitting streaks. Shortstop phenom Jurickson Profar, the Rangers top prospect entering this season, has hit safely in 19 straight games for Double-A Frisco. The 19-year-old has seen his average increase from .205/.280/.409 when the streak began on April 19 to .261/.318/.462 after going 1-for-4 with two RBIs yesterday against Midland. Second baseman Yangervis Solarte has a 20-game hit streak with Triple-A Round Rock. Solarte is a 24-year-old switch-hitter with a knack for barreling up the ball and was a minor league free agent pick-up by the Rangers this past offseason.

• Royals outfielder Wil Myers has a 15-game hitting streak with Double-A Northwest Arkansas. Myers has hit safely in 28 of 29 games this season. He had a 13-game hit streak snapped with an 0-4 outing against Arkansas on April 22 before starting his current run the next game. The Royals No. 3 prospect entering the season, the 21-year-old Myers is hitting .339/.394/.722 with 11 home runs in 115 at-bats.

• Padres prospect Alexi Amarista has a 17-game streak going with Triple-A Tucson. The 5-foot-8 utility player carries the streak over from Triple-A Salt Lake, as he was a part of the trade on May 4 that brought righthander Ernesto Frieri to the Angels.

Here we present official minor league transactions, conveyed to us by Major League Baseball, for the period May 1-7.

Players listed with an asterisk (*) signed a minor league contract with the organization after being removed from the 40-man roster and clearing waivers.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Released: SS Tommy Manzella
Traded: LHP Tom Layne to Padres for future considerations
Placed on 7-day DL: C Mark Reed
Reinstated from DL: 3B Rusty Ryal, RHP Bryan Henry, RHP Chris Jakubauskas

Atlanta Braves
Signed: 2B Alden Carrithers (released by White Sox), RHP Dave Kubiak (released by Rays)
Released: LHP Ben Swaggerty, OF L.V. Ware
Placed on 7-day DL: LHP Chris Jones, RHP Buddy Carlyle
Reinstated from DL: C Shawn McGill, OF Kyle Rose, RHP Brett Cammons, RHP Greg Ross

Baltimore Orioles
Signed: C Dan Pellegrino (NDFA—UC Riverside), C Chase Weems (released by Rockies), OF Roberto Ortiz (released by Diamondbacks)
Released: C Jordan Wolf, LHP Nathan Moreau, LHP Luis Ramirez, RHP Luis Bernardo, RHP Kevin Landry, RHP Luis Lebron
Recalled: C Luis Exposito, RHP Jason Berken
Added to 40-man roster: RHP Stu Pomeranz
Optioned to Triple-A: C Ronny Paulino, RHP Tommy Hunter
Placed on 7-day DL: 1B Tyler Townsend, LHP Jake Pettit, OF Scott Beerer, OF Jeremy Nowak, OF John Ruettiger, RHP Jon Link
Reinstated from DL: C Wynston Sawyer, 2B Chris Tremblay, OF Steve Bumbry, RHP Jesse Beal, RHP Kevin Landry, RHP Luis Lebron

A 24-year-old Luis Lebron appeared poised for big things following his ’09 campaign in which he struck out 91 in 60 1/3 innings, reached Double-A and made Baltimore's 40-man roster in the offseason. Unfortunately, he had Tommy John surgery early in the ’10 season and hasn't been the same since. Lebron made just 12 rehab appearances last season and, prior to his release, had not yet pitched this season. [...] Continue Reading »

Mets righthander Jenrry Mejia reached the major leagues as a 20-year-old in 2010, but it's been a long journey for him to work his way back there.

Mejia made five starts last year for Triple-A Buffalo, but he had Tommy John surgery that year in May and hasn't pitched in a game since then, until today. In his first start back, the 22-year-old Mejia allowed two runs in five innings, struck out one and walked two for high Class A St. Lucie.

In a perfect world, the Mets would probably like to have Mejia develop as a starter, but given his medical history and some mechanical issues he's still trying to sort his way through, his best fit may be in the bullpen. He has a high ceiling in either role, with a mid-90s fastball that has tremendous cutting action and chews up bats, even if he doesn't have the out pitch secondary offerings to miss them at a high clip right now at the major league level. Either way, a player with Mejia's upside shouldn't be forgotten, and it's possible he could be back in the big leagues in the near future.

Adys Portillo is no pop-up guy. The Padres gave the Venezuelan righthander $2 million when he was 16 back in 2008, a year that's produced a disturbing number of expensive flops.

Now 20, Portillo has filled out (6-foot-2, 240 pounds) and his fastball has gone from touching 93 mph to sitting in the mid-90s and flashing triple-digits, but until this year he hasn't shown much in the way of, well, getting hitters out.

That's changing this year. Coming off one of the best starts of his career in his previous start in which he threw seven scoreless innings, Portillo returned today to throw seven more scoreless innings for low Class A Fort Wayne, allowing only one hit and two walks to go with six strikeouts.

Pitchability and the breaking ball were scouts' concerns with Portillo since his amateur days, and he still has plenty of room to improve his control with 17 walks in 38 1/3 innings, but he also has 38 strikeouts and a 1.41 ERA. Even if he can't hone his ability to locate to the degree necessary to remain a starter, Portillo has a power arsenal that would play well in the bullpen.

When we talk to scouts about Dellin Betances, there's a reason we get such a range of opinions.

Coming into tonight's start, the Yankees 24-year-old righthander had been getting battered in Triple-A, walking six batters in three of his first six starts en route to a 6.35 ERA. Betances is neither smooth nor particularly athletic at 6-foot-8, 260 pounds, and when he overthrows, his mechanics get tangled and his location suffers.

Then he has days like today that remind scouts why there's still promise. Betances threw 97 pitches in an eight-inning, one-run performance, holding Columbus (Indians) to two hits and two walks while striking out seven.

There's still a ways to go for Betances to show he can string together more starts resembling this one, but when he's repeating his delivery and putting the ball in the strike zone, Betances reminds scouts of his upside, even if it comes with maddening inconsistency.

There aren't many lefty bats in the minors with a smoother stroke than Marlins center fielder Christian Yelich.

Yelich, 20, has continued to show why he's one of the most promising hitters in the minors this year for high Class A Jupiter, including today when he hit two home runs in a 2-for-3 game with one walk. Yelich is now hitting .310/.406/.586 in 101 plate appearances in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League.

After spending much of last year in left field, Yelich is handling center field on a full-time basis for Jupiter. He's a playable defender there for now, and he's flashing his speed on the bases as well with eight steals in nine tries. He may slide back to a corner once he fills out his 6-foot-4, 190-pound body, but that strength should only make him a more valuable offensive weapon.

Yelich is still probably at least a couple of years away from being able to contribute in Miami, but he's the best bet in the farm system to become an above-average everyday player.

It wasn't on the same national stage as Chris Davis, but Triple-A New Orleans third baseman Chase Lambin got a chance to show that he also knows a little something about pitching, too.

Lambin picked up the win with a scoreless inning of work as New Orleans beat Tucson 11-8 in 16 innings. The Zephyrs had little choice but to look for a volunteer to pitch after Robert Ray, the team's seventh pitcher of the night finished off his third inning of work. Lambin went out and showed he could find the strike zone–seven of his 11 pitchers were strikes as he got through the top of the 16th allowing only one hit.

Davis, a corner infielder as a pro who last pitched in junior college, had picked up the win for the Orioles on Sunday when both the O's and the Red Sox ran out of pitchers in an 18-inning game. Davis picked up the win while Red Sox outfielder Darnell McDonald was charged with the loss.

Lambin's Zephyrs teammates then ensured he wouldn't have to go back out for the 17th as Luke Montz hit a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 16th. The games took 5:19 to play.

Miguel Pena, Hunter Cervenka and Tyler Lockwood combined for a piece of history on Tuesday. The three Greenville pitchers worked the first nine-inning no-hitter in Drive history in a 1-0 win against the Rome Braves.

Pena did most of the work as he worked six perfect innings before handing the ball to the bullpen. From there, Cervneka pitched two hitless innings, although he did give up a walk to Rome first baseman Jakob Dalfonso that ruined the perfect game. Lockwood pitched a perfect ninth to finish off the no-hitter.

It was the best start of what has been an excellent beginning for Pena. A sixth-round pick of the Red Sox last year out of San Jacinto (Texas) JC, Pena's fastball usually sits at 90 mph, touching 92. He gets many of his outs off of his plus cureball and he can also throw his slider and changeup for strikes. He's not an overpowering pitcher, but as a lefty with four useful pitches and an understanding of how to setup hitters, he's proving too good for the South Atlantic League, as his 29-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio attests.

The Drive's only run came on a home run by left fielder Keury de la Cruz. It was de la Cruz's fifth home run of the season, which is only one short of his career high. A 5-foot-11, 170-pounder when he signed, de la Cruz has bulked up to 200 pounds nowadays and now shows average power to go with an all-fields approach that helps him hit for average.

Deolis Guerra's career didn't just stall after his trade to the Twins, it entered a total hibernation. Now it's back on track.

As a Met, Guerra had reached the high Class A Florida State League late in the 2006 season as a 17-year-old. He  spent the entire 2007 season in the FSL as well then was traded to the Twins during the offseason in the Johan Santana trade.

The Twins move their players slower than the Mets do, so Guerra returned to the Florida State League for a third year, and a second full season. And that's where things got tricky. Guerra's once plus 92-94 mph fastball lost some velocity and he continued to struggle to develop a breaking ball. When he went 11-9, 5.47 in his first year in Fort Myers, the Twins didn't have much choice but to send him back to Fort Myers again in 2009, meaning Guerra spent parts of four seasons in the Florida State League. [...] Continue Reading »

When 2010 began, Mike Moustakas was coming off of a disappointing season in high Class A. He quickly erased that memory by destroying the Texas League with 21 home runs in just 66 games. By midseason he was promoted to Triple-A Omaha and by the middle of the next season he was playing in Kansas City.

Wil Myers entered this season coming off of a disappointing 2011 season at Double-A Northwest Arkansas. He's quickly erasing that memory by destroying the Texas League in his return visit. Myers hit his 11th home run of the season on Tuesday. It was also his fourth home run in the past four games and his fifth in the past six. In the only game of the six that he didn't homer, Myers tripled. Myers also has a 15-game hitting streak. An 0-for-4 day on April 22 is all that's keeping Myers from having a hit in all 29 games this season. [...] Continue Reading »

While the most important thing for a minor league manager is preparing his players for the next level, Bradenton Marauders manager Oscar Garcia believes winning and player development come hand in hand—even if it takes 18 innings to get the victory.

Three days after suffering a 16-inning loss to the Charlotte Stone Crabs, the Marauders were victorious in an 18-inning game against the Tampa Yankees on Sunday night—the longest game in franchise history. The loss to Charlotte lasted 4 hours and 40 minutes, while the win over Tampa took 5 hours and 23 minutes.

“When we take the field, we’re trying to win,” Garcia said. “We aren’t trying to break a pitcher’s arm by doing so, but we’re going to play the game the right way.  So much of developing individually is by focusing on doing the little things well to win a ballgame.”

Unlike most major league clubs that employ pitchers for specific roles, Bradenton relies on their bullpen to pitch multiple innings, especially when the game goes deep into extra innings.

Last night, Tampa brought in second basemen Hector Rabago to pitch the 18th inning. The Marauders took full advantage as 2010 third-round pick Mel Rojas Jr. delivered a two-out, go-ahead RBI triple to give Bradenton the lead for good.

After getting six shutout innings of relief from lefthander Josh Poytress, Garcia countered by going with righthander Jeff Inman to close the game out. Poytress has yet to give up a run in 16 2/3 innings in the Florida State League and has given up only one in 25 innings including the low Class A South Atlantic League.

Just five Marauder pitchers took the hill in the victory, compared to nine for Tampa.

“You can’t afford to have one-inning guys in the minor leagues. Our pitchers know they have to prepare for anything and everything because this game is just so unpredictable,” Garcia said.

Gerrit Cole, the 2011 No. 1 overall pick, pitched five strong innings last night and has been a force for the Marauders alongside 2010 No. 2 overall pick Jameson Taillon.  Garcia said their presence has forced the whole team to elevate their game.

“We’ve got two potential aces that have given us great consistency so far. They’ve been tremendous for our staff and players. Right now, they’re both in a position where they can focus on winning and developing pitches at the same time,” Garcia said.

Cole is 1-1, 3.54 with 34 strikeouts and 10 walks in 28 innings and Taillon is 1-2, 1.76 with 33 strikeouts and six walks in 31 innings.

It’s taken some time for the results to match up with the stuff since Martin Perez came to Triple-A Round Rock last July. What’s easy to forget is that Perez, who turned 21 in April, is still the youngest pitcher in the Pacific Coast League, and he’s once again the league’s youngest player overall now that Mike Trout, who’s four months younger, has moved up to the majors.

The Rangers lefthander had his best outing of the season on Monday, throwing seven innings against Memphis and giving up just one run on four hits. The seven innings made for his deepest outing in 17 Triple-A starts, going back to last year. He needed just 86 pitches to get there, throwing 60 for strikes and picking up his third win to improve to 3-2, 3.98.

Perez has held opposing hitters to a .208 average, allowing 30 hits in 40 2/3 innings, a vast improvement over the .343 average Triple-A hitters posted against him last year. He’s also been tough on both lefties (batting .190 against him) and righties (.221). The missing component so far? Strikeouts. Perez had just four in seven innings yesterday and has just 25 on the season to go with 16 walks, though he issued just one Monday.
 

Telvin Nash’s power has been a perfect match for the high Class A California League. Nash homered for the 10th time in 26 games on Monday, taking over the Cal League lead and moving into a tie for fourth in the minors.

When he hasn’t been hitting home runs though, Nash, 21, has shown the rest of his offensive game still needs some work. Nash broke out of a 3-for-33 slump by going 3-for-4 with a homer and a double in Lancaster’s game against Bakersfield on Monday, raising his slash line to .238/.322/.574 in 101 at-bats.

[...] Continue Reading »

Tyrell Jenkins’ outing on Monday for low Class A Quad Cities provided some of the good, the bad and the ugly. Sometimes, that’s what you’ll get from a 19-year-old pitching prospect. Fortunately, the good outweighed everything else on this day.

Jenkins has worked to smooth out the raw delivery he came out of high school with when he was a Cardinals sandwich-round pick in 2010. One of the goals of those efforts was to give him better control, and the results were there last year, as Jenkins walked just 13 hitters in 56 innings for Rookie-level Johnson City. His last two starts have seen some wildness creep in though. He walked four in 5 2/3 innings on May 1. Last night, he issued another four walks in six innings, bringing his total to 11 in 23 innings on the year, nearly matching his total from last season. That was the bad from yesterday.

The ugly came in the third inning, when Jenkins committed a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, threw two wild pitches and gave up three hits, leading to two Peoria runs. In between all those miscues, the three outs Jenkins recorded in that inning were all on strikeouts, and that was more like what the rest of his night was like.

[...] 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 »

The Royals organization can remain hopeful even on a day in which they received a stinker from starter Luke Hochever, who allowed seven runs to the Yankees while retiring just seven batters, and started (and led off) Jarrod Dyson, a 50th-round overachiever who has seized on Kansas City's center-field job because no one else seems all that interested in doing so.

That's because two of Royals' top upper-level prospects with Double-A Northwest Arkansas have performed admirably this season, particularly of late.

Righthander Jake Odorizzi, whose development could ultimately make or break the 2010 Zack Greinke trade, stymied Tulsa on Saturday, limiting the Drillers to one run on two hits over 7 1/3 innings. The 22-year-old finished with 11 strikeouts and one walk, matching the same ratio he posted two starts ago on April 23 versus Springfield. (That start was the seventh most effective by any Double-A hurler in the month of April, as measured by game score, but his effort Saturday actually resulted in a slightly higher game score, 80-79.)  [...] Continue Reading »

Following a 1-for-5 performance today for Double-A Frisco, teenage shortstop Jurickson Profar extended his hitting streak to 17 games. The Texas League record stands at 37 games, a feat last accomplished in 1969.

The youngest player in the TL, Profar's production during the streak has been somewhat muted. He's batted .292/.321/.486 (21-for-72) with six doubles, three triples and a 4-to-14 walk-to-strikeout ratio. Because the 19-year-old bats first or second in the RoughRiders order he's averaged 4.6 plate appearances per game during the streak, turning in eight 1-for-4 days and three 1-for-5's.

Profar skipped over high Class A on his way to Frisco, where he continues to make rapid adjustments to Double-A competition. Consider the fact that he went 8-for-40 (.200) in his first 11 games this season, but his hit streak has boosted his season line to .259/.315/.464 through 112 at-bats.

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 »