Minor League Update: May 28th Edition

Some more familiar names are showing up this time around, plus a special look at some very unfamiliar names to most fans. The third edition of the BPToronto Minor League Update starts now.

Pitchers of the Week

1. Jon Harris – RHP – Lansing (Low A)

Last Week: 1-0, 1 GS, 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R/ER, 1 BB, 11 K
Season: 3-0, 32.2 IP, 12 BB, 34 K, 0.83 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 9.4 K/9, 3.3 BB/9

For the second week in a row I have to recognize the 2015 top draft pick. He hass now run his streak to 32 innings without an earned run allowed and his last two starts were nearly identical seven inning outings, striking out 11 and walking only one in each. I’m frankly surprised that his start today isn’t in a Dunedin uniform. The Midwest League seems beneath him at this point (which is the kind of thing one usually says right before the player in question gets his butt handed to him).

However, since it is, I have  a hunch they intend to leave him here until the FSL All-Star break. The D-Jays are carrying an organizational filler guy in their rotation, and on the same turn as Harris. But that turn in the rotation falls on an off day two of the three times it comes up between now and that break. The Jays could, of course, see the value of replacing the other guy (named Kyle Westwood) with Harris now, and letting everyone have the extra day of rest a couple of turns through in the upcoming weeks. But if they were going to do that, I think Harris would have been promoted off the results of his last outing. So my prediction is they’ve elected to let things stand which would give him five more starts in Lansing.

2. Angel Perdomo – LHP – Lansing

Last Week: 0-0, 2 GS, 9.0 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 12 K
Season: 2-1, 36.1 IP, 17 BB, 51 K 1.73 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 12.6 K/9, 4.2 BB/9

Perdomo got two starts this week, as you can see from the stat line, that combine into a nice nine-inning “complete game” sample size. But this isn’t something new. He hasn’t given up more than two ER in any outing this year. In his last seven appearances (over 28.2 IP) he has a 1.26 ERA and 13.5 K/9. If it weren’t for the more polished Jon Harris, Perdomo might have been the guy who moves up at the (A ball) All-Star break. However, I’m disinclined to think they will move both of them up at once. Plus, there’s Sean Reid-Foley who may well be promoted at some point mid-summer. Wild guess? One or the other will move up when Clint Hollon is (hopefully!) activated in early July.

3. Ryan Borucki – LHP – Lansing

Last Week: 1-0, 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R/ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Season (Lansing): 1-1, 17.0 IP, 5 BB, 15 K, 2.12 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 7.9 K/9, 2.6 BB/9

The oft-injured 6’4″ lefty began the current season in Dunedin in what may have been an effort to keep him close to the organizations medical team, but he was well and thoroughly rocked in the Florida State League to the tune of a 14.40 ERA. The organization understandably dropped him back to Lansing, and now he looks like a prospect again. It’s only three starts, but his ERA at Lansing is 2.12 and the other stats are consistent with that.

Hitters of the Week

1. Dwight Smith, Jr. – LF – New Hampshire (AA)

Last Week: 14/27, 2 2B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 1 SB, 1 CS, 3 BB, .519 AVG, .581 OBP, .926 SLG
Season: 39/141, 11 2B, 4 HR, 28 RBI, 14 BB, 2 SB, 2 CS, .277 AVG, .342 OBP, .440 SLG

On May 9, 2015, Dwight Smith, Jr finished his day with a robust .860 OPS and seemed to be building off a strong 2014 campaign that had gotten him some prospect buzz despite being considered a “tweener” with marginal prospect value. He then proceeded to spend the next 10 weeks wandering in the wilderness offensively, with a .522 OPS over that span and some observers, myself included, began to suspect that the previous production might have been a mirage. After a couple of weeks on the DL he came back and finished the year strong but the season totals didn’t get him any off-season chatter.  Flash forward to 2016 and he looked to be further burying himself, finishing April with a paltry .392 OPS.

But unexpectedly, Smith picked himself up of the ash-heap of failed prospects and turned it around. In 95 PA in the month of May, he has exploded to the tune of a 1.032 OPS (through Thursday). There are no typos there. It’s insane. Admittedly, consistency might be something to work on but there’s definitely ability at the plate.

2. Anthony Alford – CF – Dunedin (High A)

Last Week: 9/22, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 0 SB, 0 CS, 2 BB, .409 AVF, .458 OBP, .590 SLG
Season: 19/87 1 HR, 9 RBI, 3 SB, 0 CS, 9 BB, .218 AVG, .293 OBP, .276 SLG

We knew it was coming, right? It was just a matter of time until Alford found his groove. Somewhere around May 16, something clicked. Since then, in 10 games through Thursday, he has an .870 OPS. He hasn’t stolen a base yet, no doubt respecting the recovering knee. The offensive run coinciding with having been moved from lead-off down to the fifth spot in the order is likely a fluke, but he has his confidence back after a really rough couple of weeks and that’s very important. Big things are likely yet to come.

3. Jon Berti – 2B – New Hampshire

Last Week: 10/30, 2 2B, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 4 SB, 1 CS, 3 BB, .333 AVG, .394 OBP, .467 SLG
Season: 42/145 5 2B, 4 3B, 1 HR, 14 RBI, 19 SB, 8 CS, .290 AVG, .401 OBP, .400 SLG

Berti is 26. He’s too old, really, to be considered a prospect as a AA player. He’s one of those guys, like I mentioned with Dustin Antolin last week, who suffers from the organization’s tendency to stack the Buffalo roster with “Quad A” players that serve to provide emergency depth to the major league team. That said, he has never been an impressive hitter. He gets on base pretty well, runs really well, and provides a lot of defensive versatility.  Having played parts of the two previous seasons at AA, he’s enjoying the best offensive run of his career at the moment. It’s likely a mirage but if he could sustain a decent bat, he could be a useful shuttle-rider for a few years at some point.

 

Other Minor Notes – Unsung Heroes Edition

I’m taking a moment this week to give you a look at the guys that basically never get considered prospects because they almost never are. They also aren’t the sort of players you can get an update on every week or two because of sample size considerations. Still, for the teams for which they play, they can be critical factors in the pursuit of wins (and teams do want their prospects to experience winning). I’m talking about the guys in the bullpen. Few of them will reach the majors, so I’m giving them their due here.

The biggest factor in the lack of respect these guys get is age. Being “too old for the level” is a legitimate factor in evaluating performance, but in a crowded organization guys with respectable ability can sometimes get blocked and suppressed at an organizational level below their talent level. For example, with Dustin Antolin’s brief promotion last week, every reliever in Buffalo has major league experience, which is good depth for the major league team but blocks younger players who need to be tested at AAA, who in turn block others. So here’s a look at 10 relievers worth a mention, only two of whom have ever really enjoyed any prospect cachet:

Pitcher	Age	Lvl	G	IP	ERA	K/9	BB/9	WHIP
Murphy Smith	28	AA	14	21.1	1.16	12.2	2.8	0.95
Danny Barnes	26	AA	15	23.1	1.16	9.6	1.2	0.72
Wil Browning	27	AA	17	17.1	1.56	8.8	3.1	0.98
John Stilson	25	AA	12	14.2	3.07	7.4	5.5	1.09
Matt Dermody	25	AA/A+	18	21.2	1.66	9.6	0.4	1.15
Tim Mayza	25	A+	15	26.1	2.39	10.3	2.4	0.87
Adonys Cardona	22	A+	15	14.2	2.45	8.0	8.0	1.84
Colton Turner	25	A+/A	16	21.2	0.00	11.6	2.5	0.83
Dusty Isaacs	24	A	17	22.0	1.23	11.5	1.2	0.77
Starlyn Suriel	22	A	14	30.2	2.05	8.2	2.3	0.82

The two names that are well known – Stilson and Cardona – are both one-time prospects who have been plagued by injury. Turner has yet to give up a run in over 20 IP across two levels, Issacs surrendered an earned run for the first time Wednesday night.  Their collective performance? Over 212 IP, 1.29 ERA, 3.8 K/BB

That’s worth appreciating, even if it’s as far as they ever get.

Other Stat Lines of Interest

HITTERS

Last Week

Hitter	Age	Pos.	Lvl	G	PA	AVG	OBP	SLG	HR	SB	BB	K	TB
Dalton Pompey	23	OF	AAA	6	28	.273	.407	.364	0	1	5	4	8
Roemon Fields	25	CF	AA	6	28	.125	.250	.125	0	2	3	9	3
Rowdy Tellez	21	1B	AA	6	27	.240	.296	.440	1	0	2	4	11
Richard Urena	20	SS	A+	5	22	.250	.318	.500	1	1	1	3	10
Max Pentecost	23	DH	A	8	32	.269	.343	.269	0	1	4	4	7

Season

Hitter	Age	Pos.	Lvl	G	PA	AVG	OBP	SLG	HR	SB	BB	K	TB
Dalton Pompey	23	OF	AAA	28	120	.271	.345	.355	1	4	12	21	38
Roemon Fields	25	CF	AA	42	192	.236	.298	.270	0	15	15	43	47
Rowdy Tellez	21	1B	AA	42	180	.216	.333	.412	7	0	28	36	61
Richard Urena	20	SS	A+	32	126	.191	.273	.287	1	9	11	39	33
Max Pentecost	23	DH	A	14	57	.327	.386	.388	1	1	5	6	19

PITCHERS

Last Week

Pitcher	Age	Pos.	Lvl	G	IP	ERA	K/9	BB/9	WHIP
Drew Hutchison	25	SP	AAA	2	12.2	3.55	5.7	5.0	0.95
Shane Dawson	22	SP	AA	1	1.2	32.40	10.8	16.2	3.60
Conner Greene	21	SP	A+	2	8.0	1.13	9.0	5.6	1.75
Francisco Rios	21	SP	A+	1	7.0	3.86	9.0	1.3	1.43
Sean Reid-Foley	20	SP	A	2	11.2	4.63	10.0	3.9	1.48

Season

Pitcher	Age	Pos.	Lvl	G	IP	ERA	K/9	BB/9	WHIP
Drew Hutchison	25	SP	AAA	9	51.0	3.18	9.2	3.7	1.14
Shane Dawson	22	SP	AA	7	32.2	4.13	8.0	5.2	1.65
Conner Greene	21	SP	A+	10	51.0	2.82	5.1	4.2	1.45
Francisco Rios	21	SP	A/A+	9	49.1	2.01	11.3	2.0	1.05
Sean Reid-Foley	20	SP	A	8	37.0	3.65	9.7	4.9	1.46

Lead Photo: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports