BaseballAmerica.com: Prospects: Prospect Hot Sheet: Prospect Hot Sheet: May 14

Staff Report
May 14, 2010

We won't get many chances to honor Stephen Strasburg on the Prospect Hot Sheet. Last year's No. 1 overall pick is expected to be pitching in Washington by June, but thankfully his Triple-A stay with Syracuse gives us one last glimpse of him as a minor leaguer.

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 the dates May 7 through last night, May 13.

Contributing: Ben Badler, J.J. Cooper, Matt Eddy and Jim Shonerd.

No. 1

STEPHEN STRASBURG, RHP

NATIONALS

Stephen Strasburg

Team: Triple-A Syracuse (International)
Age: 21
Why He's Here: 2-0, 0.00, 12 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 13 SO
The Scoop: What else needs to be said, really? Triple-A hitters clearly are no match for Strasburg, and when the Nationals finally do call him up to Washington, major league hitters probably won't be able to figure him out either. No, we're not saying he's going to go to the National League and immediately throw up a sub-2.00 ERA, but he will be one of the most talented pitchers in the majors when the Nationals do bring him up. If our forecast is accurate, the Nationals—yes, the Nationals—could be the center of the baseball universe in a few weeks if Strasburg makes his big league debut in early June, as expected, and the club grabs Bryce Harper with the No. 1 overall pick on June 7.

2010 Stats

No. 2	WILMER FLORES, SS	METS
Team: low Class A Savannah (South Atlantic) Age: 18 Why He's Here: .500/.583/.818 (11-for-22), 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 4 RBIs, 4 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 2-for-2 SB The Scoop: As more money gets thrown in to the international market (and with the possibility of an international draft coming in the next few years), more and more international players are going to be on the prospect map for years before they legally become adults. Flores was a top international sign for the Mets in 2007, dominated the Rookie-level Appalachian League as a 16-year-old in 2008 and ranked as the Mets No. 2 prospect after the 2009 season. Yet he's still just 18, still in the lowest level of full-season ball and still likely three-plus years from being able to make an impact at the major league level, so it's important to be patient. But you can certainly be excited, since Flores looks like a prodigious hitting machine, and even the power is starting to come around with five home runs on the year. He's still learning to work himself into good hitter's counts (he has 10 walks, but three were intentional), but he's such a talented hitter that it's not an issue right now. Flores also made two throwing errors and a fielding error this week to bring his error total to eight, but nobody thinks he's a future shortstop anyway; it's the bat that makes him special.
2010 Stats

No. 3	MIKE TROUT, CF	ANGELS
Team: low Class A Cedar Rapids (Midwest) Age: 18 Why He's Here: .500/.611/1.000 (8-for-16), 2 HR, 2 2B, 3 RBIs, 8 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 3-for-3 SB The Scoop: Trout has a 16-game hitting streak. Before that, he had a 12-game hitting streak, which means he's recorded at least one hit in 29 of his 32 games. Oh, and he's also working the count to get on base via the walk, with 15 on the year. When he gets on first base, there's a good chance he's going to grab second, with 19 steals in 22 attempts. And as the weather warms up in the Midwest League, Trout is also hitting for some power, with all four of his home runs on the year coming in May. Trout has scary tools, but even scarier is his ability to apply those tools to game situations at such a young age, which is why he might be the biggest riser on Top 100 Prospects ranking for 2011.
2010 Stats

No. 4	BUSTER POSEY, C	GIANTS
Team: Triple-A Fresno (Pacific Coast) Age: 23 Why He's Here: .391/.565/.783 (9-for-23), 2 HR, 3 2B, 8 RBIs, 7 R, 4 BB, 4 SO, 0-for-1 SB The Scoop: The Giants nearly got no-hit by Padres young gun Mat Latos yesterday. Backup catcher Eli Whiteside registered San Francisco's only hit, but that's not going to stop us from wondering what Posey could have done had he been in the lineup. He's hit in eight straight games and in 10 of his last 11. He shares a piece of the PCL lead with his 44 hits, and Posey's 1.009 OPS ranks eighth among all Triple-A players. Of course, the seven players ahead of him all play corner infield or outfield, and the only other catchers in the discussion are Carlos Santana (.987) and Tyler Flowers (.953). It's dangerous to read too much into Posey's defensive statistics, but he has been charged with only one passed ball in 24 games, while throwing out 11-of-23 basestealers (48 percent) to rank third in the PCL. Certainly, those aren't bad signs.
2010 Stats

No. 5	DEVIN MESORACO, C	REDS
Team: high Class A Lynchburg (Carolina) Age: 21 Why He's Here: .440/.560/.800 (11-for-25), 2 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 6 RBIs, 4 R, 3 BB, 4 SO, 0-for-1 SB The Scoop: How can you not like what Mesoraco is doing? A 2007 first-round pick, he was just plain bad for three straight years. He struggled through injuries, didn't hit, had problems behind the plate and heard criticism from the scouting community about his conditioning. Now he's not just holding his own, he's dominating the competition, putting up some of the best numbers in the Carolina League. The seven passed balls are a little dicey, but he's thrown out 38 percent of the 21 runners attempting to steal against him. Sure, he's repeating the level, so he's had more time to adjust to the speed of the game, but he's in a new league with the Reds' move from the Florida State to the Carolina League, and it's not like he's facing the same pitchers he did a year ago. We'll wait to see if he can replicate his numbers in Double-A before getting too excited, but the Reds couldn't have drawn up a better way for Mesoraco to start the year.
2010 Stats

No. 6	RANDALL DELGADO, RHP	BRAVES
Team: high Class A Myrtle Beach (Carolina) Age: 20 Why He's Here: 0-0, 1.50, 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 SO The Scoop: Being the youngest pitcher in the Carolina League hasn't fazed Delgado so far. The Panamanian righthander has gotten off to a 1-2, 2.88 start for Myrtle Beach, leading the league in strikeouts with 45. Delgado already had electric stuff with a low 90s fastball, which he complements with a changeup and a curveball, but his biggest development this year has been his command of the strike zone. Delgado has produced a 1.63 groundout/flyout ratio and is holding opponents to a .211 average, third best in the league. The only thing holding Delgado's record back so far has been a lack of offensive support, as the Pelicans, the CL's lowest scoring team, have averaged just 3.4 runs in his seven starts.
2010 Stats

No. 7	GARRETT RICHARDS, RHP	ANGELS
Team: low Class A Cedar Rapids (Midwest) Age: 21 Why He's Here: 1-0, 1.00, 9 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 HR, 10 SO, 3 BB, 14/2 G/F The Scoop: Richards, an Angels' 2009 supplemental first-round pick, emerged from a bit of a funk to register the complete-game gem you see above. It stands as the finest start of his young pro career. In his previous three starts, covering 18 2/3 innings, Richards had allowed 18 runs on 27 hits, while striking out just 13 batters. But he was in complete control in Appleton, Wis., last Sunday. He held the Timber Rattlers to four hits—two each in the second and eighth innings—but otherwise used his four-pitch arsenal to great effect. Richards ranks fourth in the MWL with 43 strikeouts (fellow Kernel Fabio Martinez ranks first with 47) and third with 44 innings (fellow Kernel Pat Corbin ranks second with 46 1/3).
2010 Stats

No. 8	MARC KRAUSS, LF	DIAMONDBACKS
Team: high Class A Visalia (California) Age: 22 Why He's Here: .407/.481/.630 (11-for-27), 6 R, 4 2B, 1 3B, 3 RBIs, 2 BB, 4 SO. The Scoop: The upper levels of the Diamondbacks' system are almost bereft of talent, but the strong starts of prospects in Visalia and low Class A South Bend have given Arizona fans some encouraging signs for the future. Krauss has been one of the highlights. The 2009 second-rounder got hot during the 2008 Cape Cod League season and he hasn't cooled off since. He's managed to improve on last year's .304/.377/.478 debut in South Bend, and his .358/.423/.602 averages this season aren't really that inflated by playing in the California League—he hasn't played in Lancaster or High Desert yet.
2010 Stats

No. 9	MAURICIO ROBLES, LHP	MARINERS
Team: Double-A West Tenn (Southern) Age: 21 Why He's Here: 1-0, 1.29, 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 SO The Scoop: Last year's Jarrod Washburn trade is looking pretty good for the Mariners. They picked up lefthander Luke French, who's 4-0, 1.72 in seven starts with Triple-A Tacoma, and Robles, who is showing signs of dominance when he doesn't resort to overthrowing. Last week Robles didn't try to do too much, which meant Huntsville had no chance. Robles doesn't really need to hump up, as his 92-93 mph fastball which touches 96 is devastating enough (then factor in an erratic curveball and an adequate changeup). Robles has done an excellent job this season of avoiding solid contact—opponents are slugging just .298 against him.
2010 Stats

No. 10	JERRY SANDS, 1B	DODGERS
Team: low Class A Great Lakes (Midwest) Age: 22 Why He's Here: .542/.621/.958 (13-for-24), 2 HR, 4 2B, 3 RBIs, 3 R, 5 BB, 2 SO, 3-for-3 SB The Scoop: Having spent the better part of the last month demolishing Midwest League pitching, it's probably safe to say Sands has nothing left to prove at that level, especially given his age. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound slugger has done it all in 34 games at Great Lakes—hit for average, hit for power, draw walks and even steal some bases. He's riding an eight-game hitting streak. He leads the league an almost every major category, including average (.387), homers (12), RBIs (29), hits (48), on-base percentage (.458), slugging (.798) and total bases (99).
2010 Stats

No. 11	JOSE IGLESIAS, SS	RED SOX
Team: Double-A Portland (Eastern) Age: 20 Why He's Here: .476/.455/.619 (10-for-21), 1 2B, 1 3B, 6 RBIs, 3 R, 0 BB, 1 SO The Scoop: Wait, you mean he can hit, too? The Red Sox sent their prized Cuban signing all the way up to Portland, Maine, to start the season, but Iglesias is showing he can hit in any climate. Known more for his defensive wizardry, Iglesias has responded to what looked like an aggressive assignment by hitting .310/.352/.430 in 27 games. He's still refining his approach at the plate (he has just four unintentional walks) and he's never going to be a big power threat, but Iglesias has lightning-quick hands that play both at the plate and in the field. Surprisingly, he has made seven errors (three throwing, four fielding), but that's not the best measure of a shortstop, and nobody seems concerned.
2010 Stats

No. 12	ROGER KIESCHNICK, RF	GIANTS
Team: Double-A Richmond (Eastern) Age: 23 Why He's Here: .444/.700/.944 (8-for-18), 3 HR, 10 RBIs, 3 R, 6 BB, 3 SO, 0-for-1 SB The Scoop: Kieschnick's best tool is his power, but before this week he had yet to take anyone deep through the season's first 30 games. He found his power stroke at Bowie, where he hit three home runs this week. With 29 strikeouts, Kieshnick is going to swing and miss quite often—though he is hitting .306/.365/.421—so he'll have to continue to bring his impressive raw power to the games to have value as a corner outfielder.
2010 Stats

No. 13	NEIL WALKER, 2B/LF	PIRATES
Team: Triple-A Indianapolis (International) Age: 24 Why He's Here: .370/.370/.778 (10-for-27), 1 HR, 6 2B, 1 3B, 3 RBIs, 4 R, 0 BB, 5 SO The Scoop: You can add both infield corners to that position tally above, as Walker has played all over the diamond for Indianapolis in an effort to catch the Pirates' attention. But after a pair of largely unproductive runs through Triple-A in 2008 and '09, his bat finally has shown some life. Walker is hitting .338/.399/.602 on the young season, while leading the IL with 45 hits and 16 doubles. His slugging percentage ranks fifth, just a tick behind teammate Steve Pearce's .605 mark. When the Pirates reached down to Triple-A to recall a position player this week, they opted for Pearce—and not just because of his superior slugging. Correspondent Dejan Kovacevic reported that the organization has taken issue with Walker's lack of hustle and failure to heed instruction. Said Pirates general manager Neal Huntington: "(Pearce and Walker are) both great people, but we're holding our organization to a certain standard. We play the game hard. We play the game the right way." Walker still struggles from the right side of the plate—he's 5-for-34 (.147) in '10 and has hit just .235/.283/.405 in 319 plate appearances going back through '08. He makes less contact from the left side, but his averages have been steadier: .274/.318/.487 over 769 PAs.
2010 Stats

IN THE TEAM PHOTO

Cardinals RHP Lance Lynn put together his best two starts of the year for Triple-A Memphis, allowing one run in a combined 13 innings with 14 strikeouts and four walks. Lynn, 23, has been solid for the Redbirds with a 3.26 ERA in 38 2/3 innings and has done a good job getting ground balls, though with 21 walks his control could use some fine-tuning . . . Even though his hitting streak with high Class A Winston-Salem ended at 26 games, White Sox RF Brandon Short still had one of the best weeks of his pro career. Short, 21, hit .586/.581/.724, going a ridiculous 17-for-29 with four doubles. It's hard to complain about a .406/.425/.581 line in 34 games, though if he's not hitting over .400, he might want to work the count a bit more—he has just three walks on the year . . . So is Koby Clemens for real? We're still not sure. We have to give the Astros' Double-A Corpus Christi 1B credit where it's due. Clemens, 23, brought his numbers up to .271/.360/.568 with nine home runs through 32 games after hitting .421/.524/.737 with three doubles and a homer this week . . . Astros low Class A Lexington RHP Tanner Bushue has been solid in his first full season, as the 19-year-old has a 2.50 ERA and a 36-12 K-BB mark in 39 2/3 innings. Pitching in the high-80s to low-90s, Bushue had the best start of his career on Monday, throwing a two-hit shutout for seven innings with no walks and five strikeouts . . . A frequent candidate for the Not-So Hot section a year ago, it's nice to finally get to put Marlins C Kyle Skipworth on the positive side of the ledger. The 20-year-old's .272/.333/.535 line with low Class A Greensboro might not sound like he's setting the world on fire, but when you consider where he's coming from, a .208/.263/.348 showing at Greensboro last year, it's hard not to be encouraged. Skipworth is on a six-game hitting streak right now, having completed a .421/.400/.895 (8-for-19) week with two homers, a double and a triple . . . Braves LHP Mike Minor has had trouble stringing together multiple good starts in a row, but he's been really good when he's been on. The 22-year-old tossed six shutout innings for Double-A Mississippi on Tuesday and picked up his first professional win. He allowed just one hit and struck out eight. Minor, who leads the Southern League in both strikeouts (54) and walks (22), improved to 1-3, 4.17 with the win . . . The Blue Jays insist they're not going to rush 1B Brett Wallace to take over for the struggling Lyle Overbay, but Wallace is doing his best to make it hard for them to stick to their guns. The 23-year-old with Triple-A Las Vegas hit .370/.393/.593 (10-for-27) with a home run and three doubles this week. Wallace leads the Pacific Coast League with 10 long balls this year, and it hasn't just been the Las Vegas factor in his favor either, as five of those shots have come on the road.

NOT-SO HOT SHEET

• Josh Reddick, cf, Red Sox. Boston turned to Triple-A vets Darnell McDonald and Jonathan Van Every when injuries thinned their outfield ranks. But if the 23-year-old Reddick had started strong this season with Triple-A Pawtucket, there's at least a chance he could have logged some big league time with the Red Sox. Last week, he went just 4-for-25 (.160) with seven strikeouts, one walk and no extra-base hits. It's been a similar story all year. Reddick's .193 average ranks fourth from the bottom among qualifiers for the International League batting title—but at least he's hit for power. More than half of his 22 hits have gone for extra bases, including five home runs.

• Aaron Crow, rhp, Royals. It's way too early to start hitting the panic button with Crow, but the 2009 first-rounder's adjustment to affiliated ball has been less dominating than expected. This week Crow, 23, had the worst start of his very young pro career when he gave up seven earned runs in five innings against Tulsa. Crow's problem this season has largely consisted of failing to keep the ball in the park—he's given up six home runs this season. In the three starts he hasn't given up a home run, Crow is 1-0, 1.37. In the four starts where he has given up home runs, he's 0-2, 4.91.

• Gustavo Nunez, ss, Tigers. Nunez, 22, spent 45 games in high Class A Lakeland in 2008, but he was sent back to low Class A West Michigan last season, which seemed to do wonders for his bat, as he hit for average and some power for the first time in his career. But the warmer, more humid air of the Florida State League seems to have sapped his bat again. Nunez went just 1-for-18 (.056/.056/.056) last week, and he's hitting just .230/.279/.302 this season. Even more disturbingly, he's 5-for-10 on stolen bases this year after stealing 45 last year. Nunez is a good enough defender that the Tigers will be patient with his bat, but he needs to show that he's more than a glove-only guy.

• Rymer Liriano, rf, Padres. Just two years ago, Liriano struck out 106 times in 67 Dominican Summer League games. Clearing triple digits in the DSL really is not as common as one might think, given the gargantuan number of teams (33) in the circuit, not to mentioned the unrefined skills of its participants. But despite his contact issues, Liriano's talent was obvious. He hit nine home runs in 2008, then broke out last season as an 18-year-old in the Arizona League, where he nearly went double-double, hitting eight home runs and stealing 14 bases in 50 games. Liriano ranked as the AZL's No. 2 position prospect, behind only Mike Trout. But an encore performance, this time with low Class A Fort Wayne, is becoming less and less likely. Liriano, 19, went 1-for-25 this week (his lone hit a double), while striking out nine times, to drag his season line down to .173/.221/.307 through 127 at-bats.

MAN AMONG BOYS

• Terry Doyle, rhp, White Sox. Your minor league strikeouts leader isn't Stephen Strasburg, Mike Minor or Julio Teheran. It's a 2008 37th-round pick out of Boston College. This season, Doyle, 24, is 4-2, 0.96 with 58 strikeouts in 47 innings. Last week he was sensational (14 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 24 Ks), but that's not that surprising. He has pitched well ever since he became a pro—he was second in the Pioneer League in strikeouts last year—but he's been treated as an organizational fill-in, spending two seasons in rookie ball despite his age and college experience. Doyle may just be an older pitcher beating up on younger prospects, but he's pitched well enough to earn the right to prove he can handle competition more his own age.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

• Luis Terrero, rf, Reds. Terrero ranked as the Diamondbacks' No. 11 prospect heading into the 2004 season, but came with the following caveats: "(He's) been a tease for most of his career" and "some fear he could turn into another Ruben Rivera." Terrero, then 24, would see his most extensive big league action in '04, batting 229 times for an 111-loss Arizona club. He hit just .245/.319/.358 with 78 strikeouts in those 62 games, and the D'backs released him unceremoniously at the end of '06 spring training. Terrero proceeded to land one-year gigs with the Orioles, White Sox and Orioles again, totaling a mere 157 big league at-bats. Last season, he latched on with Laguna in the Mexican League, where he batted a robust .345/.440/.603 with 21 homers and 90 RBIs in 388 at-bats. He ranked third in the ML with 54 extra-base hits and continued to hit in the Dominican League. The Reds signed him in January and he's been a welcome addition to their Triple-A Louisville club (after beginning the year with Double-A Carolina). The soon-to-be 30-year-old Terrero went 9-for-18 and belted three home runs this week, bringing his line with the Bats to .406/.406/.750 through 32 at-bats.

HELIUM WATCH

• Liam Hendriks, rhp, Twins: Hendriks bulldozed his way through the low Class A Midwest League, leaving Beloit after six starts with a 1.32 ERA, 39 strikeouts and four walks in 34 innings. The 21-year-old gets the job done with feel for pitching rather than electric stuff, so he'll still have to answer questions about how that skill set will play at higher levels. He started to answer that question in his first start in the high Class A Florida State League on Wednesday, when he struck out eight and didn't walk anyone through seven innings. He departed after allowing only one run and three hits.

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