Spring Training MLB Prospect Report—March 29, 2021
Oneil Cruz, SS, Pirates — Cruz went 1-for-3 with a single on Sunday. It’s not a flashy day, but it does provide a chance to check in on the Pirates’ prospect. The Pirates started to dabble with Cruz playing center field this spring, although he still is primarily a shortstop. There’s very few examples of 6-foot-7 center fielders, but it has happened before in the majors (Aaron Judge for example) while Cruz would be MLB’s first 6-foot-7 shortstop. Cruz is hitting .111/.200/.148 this spring, so it’s not been a good month at the plate for the 22-year-old.
Matthew Liberatore, LHP, Cardinals — Liberatore made his first start of the spring on Sunday, working 2.1 innings. He allowed three hits, walked two and gave up two earned runs. He struck out four. Liberatore is known for impressive control and command, but that has yet to translate to spring training games. This spring he has walked eight in 8.1 innings after walking three in 1.2 innings last spring.
Jarren Duran, CF, Red Sox — Duran went 1-for-2 with his fourth double of the spring. It was yet another solid day in an excellent spring for Boston’s fifth-ranked prospect. Duran is hitting .302/.333/.581 this spring. His newfound power is worth watching, as it could make him an even more well-rounded center field prospect, but it has come with some additional strikeouts. Duran has struck out in 40 percent of his plate appearances this spring.
Tarik Skubal, LHP, Tigers — Skubal’s final out of the spring was yet another excellent performance. Skubal allowed three hits, three walks and one earned run in five innings. Skubal has yet to allow more than two runs in any of his five appearances this March and he now has a 1.59 ERA.
MacKenzie Gore, LHP, Padres — In what is likely Gore’s final appearance of the spring, he scuffled. Gore gave up four hits and a walk in just 1.1 innings. Josh Naylor hit a three-run home run off of him, accounting for all three runs Gore gave up, two which were earned. Gore has a 4.91 ERA this spring. He has allowed 12 hits in 11 innings while also walking eight. He has 10 strikeouts.
Kyle Isbel, OF, Royals — Isbel hit a double on Sunday to raise his slash line to .341/.417/.561 this spring. While the Royals haven’t officially announced that Isbel has made the Opening Day roster, the news that Nicky Lopez is being sent to the minors and Whit Merrifield will play second base open a spot for Isbel to play in the outfield.
BATTERS
| TEAM | CLASS | RANK | PLAYER, POS | AB | R | H | BI | AVG | NOTES |
| ARI | MAJ | #9 | Pavin Smith RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .286 | |
| ARI | MAJ | #5 | Alek Thomas CF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |
| ATL | MAJ | #18 | Bryce Ball 1B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | |
| ATL | MAJ | #6 | William Contreras C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | BB (5) |
| ATL | MAJ | #11 | Michael Harris CF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .235 | |
| ATL | MAJ | #17 | Alex Jackson C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .192 | HR (2) |
| ATL | MAJ | #1 | Cristian Pache CF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .182 | |
| ATL | MAJ | #8 | Braden Shewmake SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .111 | |
| BAL | MAJ | #7 | Yusniel Diaz RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .257 | 2B (2) |
| BAL | MAJ | #23 | Ryan McKenna PR-CF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .269 | |
| BAL | MAJ | #5 | Ryan Mountcastle LF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .214 | |
| BOS | MAJ | #2 | Jeter Downs PH-SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | |
| BOS | MAJ | #5 | Jarren Duran CF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .250 | 2B (3) |
| BOS | MAJ | #7 | Gilberto Jimenez PR-DH | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .182 | |
| CHC | MAJ | #3 | Miguel Amaya PH-DH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .267 | |
| CHC | MAJ | #2 | Brennen Davis PR-CF | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .158 | BB (1), SB (2) |
| CHC | MAJ | #8 | Christopher Morel LF | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .083 | BB (2) |
| CHC | MAJ | #9 | Chase Strumpf 2B | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .200 | BB (4) |
| CIN | MAJ | #3 | Jonathan India 2B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .325 | |
| CIN | MAJ | #4 | Tyler Stephenson C | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .286 | |
| CLE | MAJ | #4 | Tyler Freeman SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .450 | |
| CLE | MAJ | #3 | Andres Gimenez SS | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .286 | |
| CLE | MAJ | #19 | Owen Miller PH-2B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .324 | |
| COL | MAJ | #10 | Ryan Vilade LF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .276 | |
| COL | MAJ | #7 | Colton Welker 3B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .366 | HR (2) |
| CWS | MAJ | #27 | Zack Collins C | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .300 | |
| CWS | MAJ | #3 | Nick Madrigal 2B | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .273 | |
| CWS | MAJ | #1 | Andrew Vaughn LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .259 | 2B (3), BB (7) |
| DET | MAJ | #17 | Akil Baddoo LF-RF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .333 | CS (2) |
| DET | MAJ | #8 | Daz Cameron CF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .125 | |
| DET | MAJ | #18 | Kody Clemens 2B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .333 | |
| DET | MAJ | #5 | Riley Greene RF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .286 | |
| DET | MAJ | #6 | Isaac Paredes 2B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .156 | |
| DET | MAJ | #30 | Zack Short 3B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .294 | 2B (3) |
| KC | MAJ | #6 | Kyle Isbel RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .342 | 2B (2) |
| LAD | MAJ | #3 | Michael Busch 2B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .182 | |
| LAD | MAJ | #4 | Kody Hoese PH-DH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | |
| LAD | MAJ | #11 | Zach McKinstry SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | |
| LAD | MAJ | #14 | DJ Peters LF-CF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .258 | BB (6) |
| LAD | MAJ | #26 | Luke Raley RF-CF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .067 | |
| LAD | MAJ | #30 | Zach Reks LF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | |
| LAD | MAJ | #7 | Edwin Rios 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .136 | BB (3) |
| LAD | MAJ | #1 | Keibert Ruiz C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .800 | |
| LAD | MAJ | #9 | Miguel Vargas 1B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |
| MIA | MAJ | #2 | JJ Bleday LF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | BB (6) |
| MIA | MAJ | #16 | Peyton Burdick RF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .100 | |
| MIA | MAJ | #4 | Jazz Chisholm 2B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .263 | CS (2) |
| MIA | MAJ | #30 | Victor Victor Mesa CF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .167 | |
| MIA | MAJ | #13 | Kameron Misner PH-DH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .222 | |
| MIA | MAJ | #20 | Nasim Nunez SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |
| MIL | MAJ | #7 | Mario Feliciano C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .429 | |
| MIL | MAJ | #25 | Corey Ray CF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .158 | |
| MIL | MAJ | #1 | Brice Turang PR-SS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .179 | |
| MIN | MAJ | #4 | Ryan Jeffers C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .259 | |
| MIN | MAJ | #3 | Trevor Larnach RF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .308 | |
| NYM | MAJ | #5 | Brett Baty 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 | |
| NYM | MAJ | #2 | Ronny Mauricio PH | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .357 | |
| NYY | MAJ | #10 | Estevan Florial RF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .286 | |
| NYY | MAJ | #5 | Austin Wells DH | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .333 | |
| OAK | MAJ | #6 | Nick Allen SS | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .280 | |
| OAK | MAJ | #30 | Seth Brown PR-RF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .207 | |
| OAK | MAJ | #5 | Logan Davidson PR-DH | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | |
| OAK | MAJ | #9 | Greg Deichmann RF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .063 | |
| PHI | MAJ | #6 | Luis Garcia SS | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .200 | 2B (2) |
| PHI | MAJ | #5 | Rafael Marchan C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |
| PHI | MAJ | #10 | Nick Maton PR-3B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .308 | 2B (4) |
| PHI | MAJ | #9 | Johan Rojas CF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | |
| PHI | MAJ | #3 | Bryson Stott 2B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .160 | |
| PIT | MAJ | #2 | Oneil Cruz SS | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .120 | BB (3) |
| PIT | MAJ | #5 | Liover Peguero SS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .375 | |
| PIT | MAJ | #27 | Canaan Smith PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |
| SD | MAJ | #2 | CJ Abrams PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .227 | |
| SD | MAJ | #3 | Luis Campusano PH-C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .324 | BB (6) |
| SD | MAJ | #8 | Tucupita Marcano 2B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .405 | |
| SD | MAJ | #15 | Jorge Mateo LF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .367 | BB (10), SB (3) |
| SF | MAJ | #7 | Patrick Bailey C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .077 | |
| SF | MAJ | #3 | Heliot Ramos PH-RF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .438 | 2B (3) |
| SF | MAJ | #16 | LaMonte Wade LF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .211 | BB (6) |
| SF | MAJ | #10 | Will Wilson PH-2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .150 | |
| SF | MAJ | #15 | Logan Wyatt 1B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 | |
| STL | MAJ | #8 | Andrew Knizner C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .308 | |
| STL | MAJ | #30 | John Nogowski 1B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 | |
| STL | MAJ | #27 | Edmundo Sosa 2B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .105 | |
| STL | MAJ | #9 | Lane Thomas CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .242 | |
| TB | MAJ | #8 | Xavier Edwards 2B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .286 | |
| TB | MAJ | #1 | Wander Franco SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .276 | CS (2) |
| TB | MAJ | #22 | Moises Gomez PH-CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | .348 | 2B (1), HR (3) |
| TEX | MAJ | #8 | Jonah Heim C | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .190 | 2B (2) |
| TEX | MAJ | #3 | Leody Taveras CF | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .242 | BB (4) |
| TEX | MAJ | #10 | Anderson Tejeda 2B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .421 | BB (3) |
| TEX | MAJ | #27 | Bubba Thompson PR-RF | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .083 | |
| TEX | MAJ | #16 | Steele Walker CF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .217 | |
| TEX | MAJ | #15 | Davis Wendzel PR-3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .077 | BB (6), SB (1) |
| TOR | MAJ | #2 | Austin Martin CF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .100 |
PITCHERS
| TEAM | CLASS | RANK | PLAYER | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | ERA | NOTES |
| ARI | MAJ | #25 | J.B. Bukauskas | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | |
| ATL | MAJ | #15 | Daysbel Hernandez | 0.1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10.80 | |
| ATL | MAJ | #7 | Kyle Muller | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |
| ATL | MAJ | #12 | Huascar Ynoa | 3.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 7.53 | |
| BOS | MAJ | #20 | Josh Winckowski | 3.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.68 | |
| CHC | MAJ | #30 | Manuel Rodriguez | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.00 | |
| CLE | MAJ | #1 | Triston McKenzie | 5.0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7.16 | |
| CWS | MAJ | #4 | Garrett Crochet | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2.25 | |
| CWS | MAJ | #11 | Codi Heuer | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.17 | W (2-0) |
| CWS | MAJ | #2 | Michael Kopech | 1.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6.75 | |
| DET | MAJ | #19 | Beau Burrows | 0.2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11.57 | |
| DET | MAJ | #2 | Tarik Skubal | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1.93 | |
| LAD | MAJ | #22 | Gus Varland | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6.75 | |
| MIA | MAJ | #26 | Daniel Castano | 4.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4.20 | W (2-0) |
| MIN | MAJ | #14 | Jorge Alcala | 1.0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1.13 | |
| NYM | MAJ | #22 | Ryley Gilliam | 0.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | |
| NYY | MAJ | #27 | Brooks Kriske | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.38 | |
| NYY | MAJ | #9 | Luis Medina | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10.80 | |
| NYY | MAJ | #26 | Nick Nelson | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.90 | |
| OAK | MAJ | #3 | Daulton Jefferies | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0.60 | W (3-0) |
| PHI | MAJ | #23 | Connor Brogdon | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 | |
| PIT | MAJ | #4 | Quinn Priester | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6.75 | |
| SD | MAJ | #1 | MacKenzie Gore | 1.1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4.91 | |
| SF | MAJ | #12 | Tristan Beck | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | |
| SF | MAJ | #22 | Kervin Castro | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6.75 | |
| SF | MAJ | #29 | Kai-Wei Teng | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.75 | |
| STL | MAJ | #2 | Matthew Liberatore | 2.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4.05 | |
| STL | MAJ | #24 | Jake Woodford | 2.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.00 | |
| TEX | MAJ | #25 | A.J. Alexy | 1.0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9.00 | |
| TEX | MAJ | #9 | Hans Crouse | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6.00 |
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