BaseballAmerica.com: Prospects: Prospect Hot Sheet: Prospect Hot Sheet: June 18

Staff Report
June 18, 2010

We've said good-bye to a lot of friends of the Hot Sheet in the past couple of weeks. Stephen Strasburg, Pedro Alvarez, Carloz Santana, Mike Stanton and Buster Posey are just some of the former prospects who have moved on and left the Hot Sheet behind.

So what do we have to do? We have to find new prospects to fill their spots. No prospect is doing a better job of that than righthander Julio Teheran, who ranks No. 1 on this week's Sheet, but we've also spotlighted some lesser known prospects on this week's list.

You may have noticed that the Prospect Hot Sheet looks a little different this year. The content is the same, but we've partnered with Bowman Baseball to present Hot Sheet. So in addition to getting the skinny on which prospects are doing the most to help their stock, you can also get a glimpse at the baseball cards of some of baseball's best prospects.

As we have warned for years now, remember that this is not a re-ranking of the Top 100 Prospects. This is a snapshot of which top prospects are excelling and which ones are struggling right now. Stats cover from June 11 through last night, June 17.

Contributing: Ben Badler, Bubba Brown, J.J. Cooper, Tyler Jett, Mike Lemaire, Josh Leventhal and Jim Shonerd.

No. 1

JULIO TEHERAN, RHP

BRAVES

Team: high Class A Myrtle Beach (Carolina)
Age: 19.
Why He's Here: 1-0, 0.00, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 12 Ks
The Skinny: The only question seemingly surrounding Teheran is how high will he go this season.

The Braves promoted the Colombia native on May 19 after going 2-2, 1.14 in his return to the low Class A South Atlantic League (Teheran made seven starts with Rome at the end of the 2009 season). He hasn't gone any easier on Carolina League hitters, posting a 3-1, 1.38 mark over seven starts. The righthander has 49 strikeouts and just seven walks in 39 innings—and he gave those numbers a significant boost in his most recent start on Wednesday. Working with a 92-97 mph fastball and an above-average changeup and curveball, Teheran struck out 12 Potomac batters, including seven of the last nine he faced, over seven innings during an 8-0 Myrtle Beach victory.

"To do what he's doing at 19 is insane," a Braves official said, adding that a promotion to Double-A is not out of the question if Teheran continues at this pace.

It's quite a pace to maintain. Teheran has yielded just six earned runs with Myrtle Beach (including one home run) and has held an opponent scoreless three times. His performance against Potomac marked the third time he's reached double-digit strikeouts with Myrtle Beach—he registered a season-high 14 over eight shutout innings against Frederick on May 31.

2010 Stats

No. 2

JORDAN LYLES, RHP

ASTROS

Team: Double-A Corpus Christi (Texas)
Age: 19
Why He's Here: 0-0, 0.00, 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 11 Ks
The Scoop: Lyles put an exclamation point on his spot in the Texas League all-star game with seven scoreless innings on Tuesday, which lowered his ERA to 2.46, third best in the Texas League. But what's amazing is how he's doing this as a teenager. Lyles is the second-youngest pitcher in Double-A behind only Rangers lefty Martin Perez. Considering how well he's doing this year, it's not unreasonable to think he'll head to spring training next year with an outside shot at a spot in the Astros' rotation.

2010 Stats

No. 3	AARON HICKS, CF	TWINS
Team: low Class A Beloit (Midwest) Age: 20 Why He's Here: .478/.567/.783 (11-for-23), 7 2B, 7 RBIs, 6 BB, 4 SO, 0-for-1 SB The Scoop: The Twins' sending Hicks back to Beloit, where he played 67 games last year, to start the season was a little bit of a surprise. A bigger surprise was Hicks' dreadful month of May, when he hit just .214 and struck out 36 times in 112 at-bats. Hicks never came off his discipline though—his 45 walks rank fourth in the Midwest League—and Hicks' bat has warmed up in June. He kick-started his week with a 3-for-4 effort last Friday and turned in three more multi-hit games this week. The home runs and stolen bases haven't been there yet for the toolsy Hicks, but just getting his hitting back on track is a promising step.
2010 Stats

No. 4	DESMOND JENNINGS, CF	RAYS
Team: Triple-A Durham (International) Age: 23 Why He's Here: .429/.480/.762 (9-for-21), 8 R, 3 2B, 2 3B, 0 HR, 6 RBIs, 3 BB, 4 SO The Scoop: Every week it seems like at least one Rays prospect graces the Hot Sheet, which makes it all the more surprising that so far, none of those prospects has been Jennings, who finally appears to be rounding back into form after a rough start to the season. Jennings missed most of April due to injuries, and he slumped in May as he started to shake off the rust from the nagging injures. Goodbye rust. He still hasn't hit a home run this season but did have five extra-base hits this week and continues to be a terror on the base paths (14-for-15 on stolen base attempts). With the Rays' outfield playing well, Jennings will have to be content with continuing to get healthy and feast on International League pitching. If he is finally completely healthy, this likely won't be Jennings' last appearance on the Hot Sheet.
2010 Stats

No. 5	KILA KA'AIHUE, 1B	ROYALS
Team: Triple-A Omaha (Pacific Coast) Age: 25 Why He's Here: .458/.588/.750 (11-for-24), 4 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBIs, 9 BB, 6 SO The Skinny: Perhaps a larger big league sample size is needed for the Kila Monster. Ka'aihue has shown flashes of brilliance over his 3,210 career minor league at-bats, including a 2008 Double-A Texas League MVP award, but he has netted just 25 big league at-bats over his nine-year career. After struggling last year in his first full season with Omaha, Ka'aihue is up his old tricks in 2010. The lefthanded hitter has utilized a patient approach and a keen awareness of the strike zone to post a .335/.502/.613 average, ranking second in the minors in on-base percentage and walks (59). This week's performance was a snippet of his strong season, and Ka'aihue has reached base in eight straight games—and all but two this month. So far, the Royals aren't biting. Ka'aihue got four at-bats with Kansas City during a brief May callup, but otherwise continues to bide his time with the O-Royals.
2010 Stats

No. 6	XAVIER PAUL, CF	DODGERS
Team: Triple-A Albuquerque (Pacific Coast) Age: 25 Why He's Here: .355/.444/.774 (11-for-31), 7 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBIs, 5 BB, 8 SO, 1-for-2 SB The Scoop: Paul is approaching minor league plate appearances No. 3,000, with 2,949 already under his belt in 696 games. A 2003 fourth-round pick out of high school, Paul is in his seventh full season of pro ball, but he's not exactly ancient quite yet. He's still 25, so while he probably will never be an all-star there's still some room for growth here beyond just a part time big league role for the career .292/.361/.448 minor league hitter.
2010 Stats

No. 7	MATT MOORE, LHP	RAYS
Team: high Class A Port Charlotte (Florida State) Age: 21 Why He's Here: 1-0, 0.00, 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 Ks. The Scoop: Moore, part of the Rays' seemingly-endless cache of pitching talent, is having a bit of an odd season at high Class A Charlotte. The 21-year-old lefty has dominated hitters, as shown by his overwhelming strikeout rate 11.7 per nine innings, and he's kept the ball in the park (three home runs allowed all season). Despite all that, his ERA is 5.54, which is reflected in his 2-7 record. The cause of his unsightly ERA is simple: too many walks. With 38 free passes, Moore has given up 5.1 walks per nine innings. Interestingly, that number is identical to the mark he put up last season at low Class A Bowling Green, where he posted a much-better 3.15 ERA. The difference? In low Class A ball, hitters were simply overmatched and tallied just 6.3 hits per nine innings. While Moore has shown he can still overpower guys, high A hitters have caught up just enough to make Moore's walk rate a problem, as his WHIP has jumped from 1.27 last year to 1.53. As it stands now, that walk rate is the only thing keeping Moore from being one of the elite pitching prospects in the minors, and this week, Moore showed some baby steps towards rectifying that problem, giving him good reason to celebrate on his 21st birthday today.
2010 Stats

No. 8	TYLER CHATWOOD, RHP	ANGELS
Team: high Class A Rancho Cucamonga (California) Age: 20 Why He's Here: 1-1, 1.29, 14 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 Ks The Scoop: California League pitchers don't make the Hot Sheet all that often. Chatwood is just the third to do so this season, along with the Dodgers' Ethan Martin (twice) and the Padres' Jorge Reyes. There's a reason for that—the league is a tough, unforgiving place for young hurlers. Chatwood hasn't been cowed by his surroundings though. He hasn't gotten quite as many swings-and-misses as he did last year in low Class A, but his groundout-to-fly out ratio is an astronomical 3.42. That's a recipe for success anywhere. He hasn't given up more than three earned runs in any start all year, and his 1.77 ERA ranks second in the league.
2010 Stats

No. 9	TREY McNUTT, RHP	CUBS
Team: low Class A Peoria (Cubs) Age: 20 Why He's Here: 2-0, 0.00, 10 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 17 Ks The Scoop: Sometimes timing makes the difference between landing a prospect and watching him go unnoticed. As we explained in the 2010 Prospect Handbook, the Cubs got a better look at McNutt than most other teams because they got a later look. Early last season, McNutt was a "nothing to see here" righthander with an 88-89 mph fastball. But at the Junior College World Series, when the Cubs bore down on him, the Shelton State (Ala.) CC freshman was a 90-93 mph fireballer. By the time the Cubs signed him during the summer, he was reaching the mid 90s, and he's maintained his velocity this season. The Cubs weren't the only team to like McNutt—the Twins flirted with drafting him—but the Cubs landed him as a 32nd-round steal, signing him for a very reasonable $115,000. McNutt has allowed more than one earned run only once in 13 starts, which explains why he has a 6-0, 1.51 record.
2010 Stats

No. 10	DELLIN BETANCES, RHP	YANKEES
Team: high Class A Tampa (Florida State) Age: 22 Why He's Here: 0-0, 0.00, 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 Ks The Scoop: Betances looked like he might be ready for a breakout season after going 9-4, 3.67 as a 20-year-old with low Class A Charleston in 2008. But then a 2-5, 5.48 showing through 11 starts last year with Tampa was followed by Tommy John surgery last June. After finally getting back on the mound last week after a year on the shelf, Betances has shown the same power arsenal he had before, but his control has been significantly tighter. After walking 27 hitters in 44 innings before going down last year, he's put up a 13-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in two starts while giving up only one run in 12 innings. So much needing some time to shake off the rust.
2010 Stats

No. 11	BRANDON BELT, 1B	GIANTS
Team: high Class A San Jose (California) Age: 22 Why He's Here: .500/.636/.917 (12-for-24), 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 10 RBIs, 9 BB, 5 SO, 2-for-2 SB The Scoop: Hitting .400 is nearly impossible in the big leagues these days—we're coming up on the 70th anniversary of Ted Williams' .406 season in 1941—but it's not a whole lot easier in the minors. Aaron Pointer's .402 season for the South Atlantic League's Salisbury Braves in 1961 is believed to be the last .400 season in a U.S. full-season league (Gary Redus hit .462 in the short-season Pioneer League in 1978). It's way too early to say that Belt could threaten that mark, but halfway through the season, Belt's .393 average does put him within reach if he stays in San Jose all season, though the way he's hitting the ball that seems unlikely. The first baseman is currently on a nine-game hitting streak, and he hasn't gone hitless in back-to-back games since May 1-2 (he's gone hitless in back-to-back games only twice all season).
2010 Stats

No. 12	COLLIN COWGILL, RF	DIAMONDBACKS
Team: Double-A Mobile (Southern) Age: 24 Why He's Here: .407/.448/.815 (11-for-27), 8 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBIs, 1 BB, 2 SO, 1-for-1 SB The Scoop: Cowgill's career progression has been slowed by injury after missing all of his junior year with Kentucky in 2007 because of a broken hand and injuring his hamstring last season, which shelved him for the second-half of the year. But when he has played, he's been good, showing good power for a little guy. At Double-A Mobile this season, the 5-foot-9 outfielder has a .286/.365/.448 line and has shown a good combination of power and speed with five homers, 21 doubles and 14 stolen bases. He has also continued to prove his valuable ability to take a walk. For his career, he has walked almost once every two games, and has 27 of them this year. Perhaps the most important stat for Cowgill, though, is this one: 65. That's how many games he's played, which also happens to be the number of games on the Bay Bears' schedule. That's a good sign for a guy who is inching ever closer to the bigs, but needed to prove he can stay healthy.
2010 Stats

No. 13	TIM COLLINS, LHP	BLUE JAYS
Team: Double-A New Hampshire (Eastern) Age: 20 Why He's Here: 0-0, 0.00, 5 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks The Scoop: Collins is 5-foot-7. There—now get over it, because he's going to be a quality big league reliever for the Blue Jays very soon. His plus fastball and swing-and-miss curveball have made one of the most prolific strikeout pitchers in the minors on a rate basis over the last few seasons. This year he's already punched out 57 in 34 innings, a rate of 15.1 per nine. When he does finally get called up to the big leagues, expect a lot of short jokes, bad puns, maybe some giggling—and a lot of batters shaking their heads on the walk back to the dugout after going down on strikes.
2010 Stats

IN THE TEAM PHOTO

Few hitters could've had a hotter four-game stretch than Blue Jays C J.P. Arencibia did for Triple-A Las Vegas from June 8-12. Arencibia homered in four straight games and went 8-for-17 overall (only the last two of those homers counted towards this week's Hot Sheet, however), and he's currently riding an eight-game hitting streak. The 24-year-old slugger finished his week with a .440/.481/.880 (11-for-25) line with two doubles and three homers … Coming off a rare tough outing (by his standards) in which he allowed seven hits and three runs in 4 2/3 innings, Rays RHP Jeremy Hellickson responded in fine fashion. The 23-year-old with Triple-A Durham tossed six innings of one-run ball against Gwinnett on Monday, fanning five and allowing just two hits to lower his ERA to 2.42 … Cubs CF Brett Jackson had his week truncated by the Florida State League's all-star break, but he still provided one of the minors' highlights of the year, hitting for the cycle Monday against Brevard County. He completed the feat with a walk-off home run to boot. The 21-year-old finished his shortened week at .421/.476/.842 (8-for-19), with a homer, three doubles and a triple . . . Northwest Arkansas (Royals) CF Derrick Robinson has tailed off since an out-of-his-gourd start to the season, but it's a sign of how much he's developed that even a drop-off can leave him flirting with a .300 batting average and a .375 on-base percentage. This week Robinson, 22, hit .452/.455/.654 for his best week of the season since his excellent April . . . Savannah (Mets) LHP Mark Cohoon is more experienced than the average pitcher in the South Atlantic League, but as long as the Mets keep him in Savannah, all he can do is to keep dominating, and it's hard to do much more to excel than what Cohoon, 23, is doing. The lefty threw his third consecutive complete-game shutout this week, lowering his ERA for the season to 1.30 . . . J.B. Shuck doesn't hit the long ball, but the Double-A Corpus Christi (Astros) LF has a short, quick swing and an excellent approach at the plate. He had only one extra-base hit this week but went 14-for-28 with three walks, one strikeout and two steals in two attempts, bringing the 22-year-old's numbers up to .320/.392/.389 through 63 games . . . CF Angel Morales (Twins) has been promoted to high-A Fort Myers after being named the Midwest League's Offensive Player of the Week. Morales hit 11 for 20 with six extra-base hits, raising his slugging percentage 60 points. Morales is considered a great athlete, which was reflected in his team-high 18 stolen bases while with low-A Beloit. His eye at the plate has been the knock on him since getting drafted in 2007, but his strikeout rate has improved in the last few years. Morales struck out in 28 percent of his at-bats in 2009 — an 11-percent decrease from the prior year — and that rate has settled in around 30 percent so far this season.

NOT-SO HOT SHEET

• Lars Anderson, 1b, Red Sox: It looked like Anderson was back. Boston's former No. 1 prospect hit .355/.408/.677 in 17 April games with Double-A Portland before getting a promotion to Triple-A Pawtucket. After a dozen games with the PawSox, Anderson was still hitting well, but his numbers have tumbled since then. Anderson couldn't even muster a hit this week, going 0-for-21 with two walks and seven strikeouts. With Kevin Youkilis in Boston, the Red Sox can afford to be patient with Anderson, which is definitely a good thing with a player hitting .204/.316/.354 through 43 games.

• Che-Hsuan Lin, of, Red Sox: Lin has speed, but he can't utilize that speed if he doesn't get on-base. After a solid season in the Carolina League with Salem last season, Lin, 21, has really struggled in his promotion to Portland. He is hitting just .254/.361/.301 on the season and a week in which he got just one hit—a single—in 19 at-bats is not going to help. Lin has never had a lot of power, but his above-average speed gives him the ability to create extra-base hits with his legs. Unfortunately, of his 53 hits this season, only six of them have been for extra-bases and he still doesn't have a single triple yet this season. He still controls the strike zone very well and his K/BB ratio is nearly 1:1. But to snap out of his funk, he's going to have to start driving the ball with authority more often.

• Travis d'Arnaud, C, Blue Jays: d'Arnaud's recent struggles continued this week, as the former first-round pick is just 2-for-his-last-18. In April, d'Arnaud was slugging .547, showing the power that made him the No. 4 prospect in the Phillies organization and attractive trade bait for Roy Halladay. But the catcher has seriously tailed off since, hitting just two home runs since April 16. What's worse, his batting average has plunged. D'Arnaud hit .328 in April, .250 in May and is on pace for a dreadful .217 inJune.

• Chris Dominguez, 3b, Giants: Scouts knew all about Domiguez' power when he came out of Louisville last season. The question was whether Dominguez' all-or-nothing swing would work in pro ball. Halfway through his first full pro season, there are still plenty of reasons to be concerned. As a 23-year-old ex-Division I star playing in the South Atlantic League, Dominguez is hitting .264/.306/.431 this season with just 12 walks and 63 strikeouts in 276 at-bats. Over the past week, things have gone exceedingly poorly for Dominguez—he's 3-for-23 with eight strikeouts and no extra-base hits.

MAN AMONG BOYS

• Adrian Cardenas, 2b, Athletics: We've all heard of 4-A players, but up to now Cardenas has been the rare 2.5-A player. He's proven all he can prove at Double-A as he held his own at Double-A Midland in 2008, had an excellent season there in 2009 and is hitting .417/500/.542 in one week there this year. But the former Phillies' supplemental first-round pick has hit a wall at Triple-A. Last year he showed little average or power in a 51-game stint at Sacramento and he's been worse this year—.228/.285/.281—which necessitated the demotion to Double-A.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

• Shawn Bowman, 3b, Blue Jays: Bowman has been around a while—you can find him in our 2004 Prospect Handbook, the one with Joe Mauer on the cover—but his status as a prospect dimmed long ago. Bowman's glovework at third base wasn't enough to make up for his struggles at the plate, so the Canadian spent four seasons at high Class A St. Lucie before finally being promoted to Double-A in 2008. It's hard to say that the Mets didn't give him enough chances—they kept him around for seven seasons—but they finally gave up on him this spring, dropping him from the 40-man roster. The Blue Jays picked him up as a veteran organizational player and have been rewarded by Bowman turning in the best season his his career. The 25-year-old has still not played a game above Double-A, but he's hitting .315/.395/.586 this season and has hit three home runs in the past week.

HELIUM WATCH

• Adron Chambers, of, Cardinals: Long considered a raw athlete with good speed, Chambers is starting to turn the corner and refine his skills. At 23, Chambers is learning to work the count better to get a good pitch to hit, which is why his OBP is up to .385 this year in 226 plate appearances. At 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, power isn't a big part of Chambers' game, but he did hit two of his four home runs on the season this week against Arkansas. With Colby Rasmus in St. Louis, the Cardinals already have their center fielder of the future, but Chambers should be a useful component of the Cardinals' future plans in some capacity.

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