A tradition like no other

The Baseball America Prospect book has arrived and that means that baseball season will soon be here.

Prospects Plus: The Top 10

The Minor League Baseball season is almost over. It's been a fun year for us at OTWT. We went to a bunch of Lakewood Blueclaws game as well as a Trenton Thunder. Here is a break down of the 10 best players I've seen this summer.

1. Nick Williams, OF, Reading:  A key piece of the Hammels deal..He looks the part of the an offensive force. Saw him two years ago in the South Atlantic League and he looks like a different player now and I mean that in a good way. I'm a huge Nick Williams fan boy. 
2. JP Crawford, SS Reading: I've seen a bunch of him the last couple of years and he looks the next Phillies SS for the next decade. 
3. Josh Morgan, SS, Hickory: The Texas Rangers prospect looks the part. 
4. Cole Tucker,  SS, West Virginia: I really think him and Morgan where the best Single A players I saw all year. 
5. Spencer Adams, P, Kannapolis: Sat between 92-94 with his fastball. Bad electric stuff when I saw him. 
6. Carlos Tocci, OF, Lakewood: Tocci didn't spend much time in Lakewood this season but  he showed that his bat is starting to develop.
7. Jake Thompson, P, Reading: Good fastball. Good Change up. Could develop into a good 3rd starter. 
8.  Jairo Beras, OF, Hickory: He looks the part of an outfielder. 
9. Cord Sandberg, OF, Lakewood: The former Mississippi State football recruit looks like a player for the future. 
10. Tyler Wade, SS, Trenton: Athletic defender.

Prospects Plus: Reading's Jake Thompson

Name: Jake Thompson
Team: Reading Fightins
Organization: Phillies
Position: SP
Organizational Rank: Third ranked prospect in the Phillies system by MLB.com
Saturday vs. Trenton Thunder: 6 innings,  2 earned  runs, 2 hits, 5 walks, 5 Ks.

Positives: Showed some good stuff during this 89 pitch performance Saturday night. Thompson topped out at 93 and  showed a good slider. He seemed to hold base runners well. Thompson has a classic starter's build that should give him durability and allows him to pitch on a tough downhill plane.

Negatives: Walking five batters in six innings is not what people want to see in prospect who was a key part of the Cole Hammels deal. His machanics looked to be all over the place. He is pitcher that I would not rush to the big leagues. Thompson should start the season in AAA next season.    

Prospects Plus: Reading's Nick Williams

Name: Nick Williams
Team: Reading Fightins
Organization: Phillies
Position: CF
Organizational Rank: Fifth ranked prospect in the Phillies system by  MLB.com
Saturday vs. Trenton Thunder: 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and stolen base

POSITIVES: This was my second time seeing Williams. I saw him two years ago vs. Lakewood when he was with the Rangers organization. When I saw on Saturday night, he looked more like a baseball player then an athlete playing baseball. Really did a nice job in center field. Williams was a key player in the Cole Hammels trade.

NEGATIVES: There has been some talk in the local media that Williams might get a September call up,  which is something that I don't understand. He still needs time to develop, I would be be against him playing winter ball to improve his skills.

Prospects Plus: Cole Tucker

Name: Cole Tucker

Position: Shortstop 

Team: West Virginia Power

Organization: Pittsburgh Pirates

Organizational Rank: eighth ranked prospect in the Pirates system, according to Baseball America 

Last Friday vs the Blueclaws: 2 for 4 with a double. 

Positives: Tucker looks the part of a middle infielder. He showed many of the skills that made him a first rounder back in 2014. He has great baseball IQ, including saving a run by gunning a guy at home. Sure he is going to take time but it may be worth it in the end. He looked like the best player on the field on Friday night. 

Negatives: Tucker is never going to be a big time offensive player. His baseball IQ is going to play at any position if he has to be moved off shortstop. 

Prospects Plus: My MLB Mock Draft

Doing a MLB Mock Draft is probably the hardest thing in sports to do, but over the last couple of years I've given it a shot and I will again this year. So Here we go: 

1. Diamondbacks: Dansby Swanson,SS, Vanderbilt    
2. Astros: Alex Bregman, SS, LSU
3. Rockies: Dillion Tate, RHP, UCSB
4. Rangers: Brandan Rodgers, SS, California HS
5. Astros: Carson Fulmer, RHP, Vanderbilt
6. Twins: Tyler Jay, RHP, Illinois
7. Red Sox: Daz Cameron, OF, Georgia HS
8. White Sox: Kyle Funkhouser, RHP, Louisville
9. Cubs: Garrett Whitley, OF, New York HS
10. Phillies: Kyle Tucker, OF, Florida HS
11. Reds: Walker Buehler, RHP, Vanderbilt
12. Marlins: Trenton Clark, OF, Texas HS          
13. Rays: Andrew Benintendi, OF, Arkansas
14. Braves: Carnelius Randolph, SS, Georgia HS
15. Brewers: Ian Happ, OF, Cincinnati
16. Yankees: Tyler Stephenson, C, Georgia HS
17. Indians: Nick Plummer, OF, Michigan HS
18. Giants: Alex Young, LHP, TCU
19. Pirates: Mike Nikorak, RHP, Pennsylvania HS
20. Athletics: James Kapriellian, RHP, UCLA
21. Royals: Brady Aiken, LHP, IMG
22. Tigers: Ashe Russell, RHP, Indianapolis HS
23. Cardinals: Jon Harris, RHP, Missouri State
24. Dodgers: Kolby Allard, LHP, California HS
25. Orioles: Beau Burrows, RHP, Texas HS
26. Angels: Phil Bickford, RHP, JC of Southern Nevada
27. Rockies: Nathan Kirby, LHP, Virginia      
28. Braves: Dakota Chalmers, RHP, Georgia HS
29. Blue Jays: Michael Matuella, RHP, Duke
30. Yankees: Donny Everett, RHP, Tennessee HS
31. Giants: DJ Stewart, OF, Florida State
32. Pirates: Kevin Newman, SS, Arizona
33. Royals: Cody Ponce, RHP, Cal Poly Pomona
34. Tigers: Jacob Nix, RHP, IMG
35. Dodgers: Chris Shaw, OF/1b, Boston College
36. Orioles: Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3b, Texas HS
37. Astros: Donnie Dewees, OF, North Florida
38. Rockies: Justin Hooper, LHP, De La Salle HS
39. Cardinals: Kyle Holder, SS, San Diego
40. Brewers: David Hill, RHP, San Diego
41. Padres: Juan Hillman, LHP, Canada HS
42. Indians: Scott Kingery, 2B, Arizona

Prospects Plus: UCSB Dillion Tate

Name: Dillon Tate

Position: pitcher

Team: UCSB

Ranking: Fifth overall prospect in the 2015 MLB Draft Class

Friday vs San Diego State: 8 innings, 6 hits, 4 runs, 4 earned runs, and 11 strikeouts. 

Positives: He has really good stuff. The late action on his slider was amazing. He settled down after struggling in the first inning.  Noting Tate's projectable frame and easy arm action when he was working in the upper 80s as a high school senior in 2012, scouts figured he could make a big velocity jump after moving on to UC Santa Barbara. He pitched just three innings as a freshman before taking that huge step forward in 2014, putting him in position to become the first Gaucho ever drafted in the top two rounds. His stock took another leap in 2015 as Santa Barbara's ace, becoming one of the best college arms in the Draft class.

Negatives: Looked rattled during the first inning, had a wild pitch. If I was a MLB executive his delivery would really worry me. He has a reliever delivery for me. 

Prospects Plus: North Carolina's J.B. Bukauskas

 
Name: J.B. Bukauskas

Team: North Carolina 

Position: Pitcher

Rank:  #2 ranked college player for the 2017 draft

Friday vs Clemson: 5 + innings, 5 hits, 2 earned runs, no walks,  7 strikeouts.

Positives: During the 2014 MLB Draft, Bukauskas was one of my favorite players. He had a live arm and was going to be a top round draft pick. But instead of heading to the draft out of high school, JB told teams not to draft him so he could head to North Carolina. During the game on Friday afternoon, Bukauskas showed a great fastball as well as a wipe out change up. During the game he topped out at 95 mph, his change, which showed great movement was around 84 mph. Looked extremely polished for a young college pitcher. 

Negative: He's got a reliever's delivery with a lot of effort and inconsistent command; small frame inhibits ability to drive with the leg, putting more stress on the arm, and lack of finish could cause problems in the future. Big effort in the delivery will always limit the command upside, but there are flashes that he can at least be average placing the ball where he needs to against advanced hitters.

Prospects Plus: Cord Sandberg

NAME: Cord Sandberg 

TEAM: Blueclaws 

POSITION: Outfield

PROSPECT RANKING: 21st ranked player in the Phillies system, according to Baseball America. 

FRIDAY VS. AUGUSTA: 1-5 with an RBI and run scored. 

POSITIVES: the former Mississippi State QB commit is a plus athlete. Right now is best tool is his speed. He has a body that could put on more muscle as he gets older. When developed he could be a 20-25 HR type of player. 

NEGATIVES: Still incredibly raw. Right now he is a athlete playing baseball, not a baseball player. During the game against Augusta he looked bad a couple of change ups. With any two sports star it's going to take time for them to develop just ask the Royals when it comes to Bubba Starling. 

Prospect Plus: White Sox's Spencer Adams

Name: Spencer Adams

Team: Kannapolis Intimidators 

Organization: White Sox

Position: Pitcher 

Organizational Rank: third ranked prospect in White Sox organization by Baseball America. 

Friday vs. Blueclaws: 4 innings, 7 hits, 1 ER, 2 ks. 

Positives: Adams is a real battler and that shower on Friday night. On a couple of different opportunities the Blueclaws put runners on and Adams found a way to get out of it. The lanky right handed has an easy motion and touches 92 mph. Adams slider is one of the best in the system.  I really liked what I saw when he was out there. 

Negative: like most athletes playing baseball it will take Adams time to be ready for the show. He is considered a high risk/high reward type of prospect by Baseball America.

Prospects Plus: Hagen Danner

Name: Hagen  Danner
Team: Huntington Beach HS (California)
Position: Pitcher
Organization Rank: One of the top prospects for the 2017 Draft (UCLA commit)
Thursday vs. Puyallup (Wash.) High School at NHSI: 13 strikeouts, 3 hits  in complete game shutout.

Positives: touched 90/91 with his fastball during his outing but can be has high as 93/94. For only being a sophomore he looked incredibly polished. Danner is no stranger to pitching in big games. Danner played and won the Little League World Series. Hagen's curveball is presently a soft hammer with projection, breaking late vertically at 79-80 mph with shape and depth. Danner even showed some feel throwing a pair of 81-82 mph changeups. His curveball was dominant as he locked up hitter after hitter. If his arm hold up he is going to be a top five pick. Looked the part of an ace despite being so young. 

Negatives: Like any players this young, you worry about his delivery and his arm holding up. 

Prospects Plus: Carlos Rodon

A new baseball season  is here and so is the return of Prospects Plus. During the course of the season ,  I will deliver scouting reports on some baseball's up and  coming stars that I have the pleasure to watch on TV or see in person. I have a tickets package to the  Lakewood BlueClaws, so you will see reports about prospects in the South Atlantic League as well as college games I watch on TV. So here is our first report on White Sox prospect Carlos Rodon, who pitched against the Royals last night on MLB Network. 

Name: Carlos Rodon

Position: pitcher 

Organization: White Sox 

Organizational rank: top ranked player in the White Sox system, according to Baseball America.

Wednesday night vs. Royals: 4 innings, 4 hits, 0 earned runs, 9 strikeouts.

Positives: Rodon struck out the side on 12 pitches in the first inning. Looked so polished even against the regular lineup of the American League Champions. Touched 96 with his fastball at one point. The Sox have not yet announced whether Rodon, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 draft, will start the season with the major-league club or will go to Triple-A Charlotte for more minor-league seasoning.

Negatives:  Rodon is still trying to harness his  fastball and could use some time in the minors to smooth that out. While Rodon does repeat his delivery well, he did have a tendency last year to lose command with his fastball and secondary offerings, putting too many men on base via walk for a frontline starting pitcher.

Prospect Plus: Red Sox's Trey Ball

Name: Trey Ball
Organization: Red Sox
Team: Greenville Curve
Position: Left handed starting pitcher
Organizational rank: 10th ranked prospect in Red Sox system.
Friday night's stats vs Lakewood: 6 innings, 6 hits, 4 runs, 2 earned, 5 walks, 5 strikeouts




Positives: Projectable left-hander with great athleticism. Thin frame with lots of room to fill out. Efficient, low-effort delivery. Repeats delivery well for his age. Not a lot of miles on his arm. Fastball sits around 90-93 mph and tops out around 95 mph.When thing I noticed when I was watching him Friday night was that he looks the part, has the body of the starting pitcher. 

Negative: So raw. Coming from Indiana, he did not faced the toughest competition when he was in high school. When a couple of infielders made errors, Ball didn't seem to deal with it well, the mistakes seem to bother him. 

I love Minor League Baseball

My love affair with Minor League Baseball and this is my hat collection. 

Prospects Plus: My Summer of Baseball

Over the last couple of months, I've seen my fair share of baseball from major to minors. From New Jersey to Florida. Here are my three favorite players that I've seen in person. 

1. Adam Brett Walker II, OF, Fort Myers Miracle: Looks like a man among boys in the Florida State League. I know scouts differ on his long term development. He has all of the physical skills you could ask for in a player.
2. JP Crawford, SS, Lakewood BlueClaws: Looked over matched last year in the South Atlantic League, this year it was a different story. He looks the part of a middle infielder at the major league level. 
3. Nick Petree, RHP, Palm Beach Cardinals: During his five innings against Fort Myers, Petree looked solid. While his fastball is nothing special, his change up already looks like a plus pitch, and he shows great command in deploying a decent slider and curve when necessary to further confuse hitters.

Prospect Plus: Met's Gavin Cecchini

Name: Gavin Cecchini
Organization: New York Mets
Team: Savannah Sand Gnats
Position: Shortstop
Stats Friday against the BlueClaws: 0-5 with two strikeouts

Positives: The younger brother to Boston's Garin, shortstop Gavin Cecchini is a contact hitter with solid tools. Cecchini will make contact. Will make the solid play, never will be a superstar.

Negative: One thing that will make it hard for Mets fans to get excite for is that they passed on Cards stud pitcher Michael Wacha to take Cecchini. I know that its only one game but Cecchini looked terrible and didn't show me anything that warrants him being a top 10 prospect in the Mets organization.

Prospects Plus: Shooting themselves in the foot

After Mark Appel turned down the Pirates in 2012, they could have run to the NCAA and accused the Stanford pitcher of using an agent. But like any well run Major League Baseball team they took its medicine and moved on.

But last week, the Phillies decided to take the law into their own hands. Ben Wetzler, an Oregon State University senior pitcher and former Phillies draft pick, was suspended 11 games by the NCAA on Friday, three months after the Phillies reported him to college's governing body for violations. Wetzler, the NCAA said, used an agent who attended meetings with the Phillies and negotiated potential contract terms. The Phillies did not sign Wetzler, their fifth-round pick last June, and took the unusual step of reporting him.

So wait the Phillies reported a fifth rounder that didn't sign, while the Pirates kept their mouth shut about a top 10 pick deciding not to sign and return to Stanford.  A couple of years ago, the Phillies where considered a model orgainzation, now it just looks like they are the laughing stock.

Ben Wetzler, an Oregon State University senior pitcher and former Phillies draft pick, was suspended 11 games by the NCAA on Friday, three months after the Phillies reported him to college's governing body for violations.
Wetzler, the NCAA said, used an agent who attended meetings with the Phillies and negotiated potential contract terms. The Phillies did not sign Wetzler, their fifth-round pick last June, and took the unusual step of reporting him.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sports/phillies/Ben-Wetzler-suspended-11-games-Oregon-State-disappointed-in-Phillies.html#Bjwy5LBl86F5qpkb.99

Prospects Plus: Phillies JP Crawford

Name: JP Crawford

Position: Shortstop 

Team: Lakewood Blueclaws

Prospect Status: 1st round draft pick in 2013

Friday vs. Delmarva: 1-4 with a double, a run scored, and a run batted in.

Positives: JP Crawford was the 2013 draft’s best shortstop prospect. He is the only player in the entire draft scouts confidently project to stay at the position. He has the athleticism, reactions, and range, to play in the middle of the diamond and arm strength and throwing accuracy to play on the left side of the infield. He has all the raw athleticism, including plus speed and superior fast-twitch muscles, to succeed almost anywhere on the diamond.

During the game on Friday night Crawford showed all of the tools to be a solid player. Crawford made a couple of really good defensive plays including a great diving catch on a line drive in the eighth inning. On his second at bat of the game, Crawford pulled a fastball into the right center field for a double. Despite being a player that just drafted three months ago, Crawford looks like he belongs at this level. He has the swagger of an older player. Through eight games with the Claws, Crawford is hitting .321.

Negatives: His bat is not projected to be any sort of earth-shattering, middle of the order weapon but there are things to like about it. His hands are zippy and quick and the same natural athleticism and coordination that makes him a good shortstop should help him take to mechanical instruction and make necessary adjustments. That instruction is almost inevitable, as Crawford’s swing is a bit of a mess. His hands drift too far (both up and away) from his body, his lower half is quite noisy and his weight transfer can get out of whack, leaving too much weight on his front foot too early in his swing.

Prospects Plus: Lewis Brinson

NAME: Lewis Brinson
POSITION: Outfielder
TEAM: Hickory Crawdads
PROSPECT STATUS: 12th ranked prospect in Rangers system.
FRIDAY VS. LAKEWOOD: 0-3

POSITIVES: The Rangers picked Brinson in the first round of 2012 MLB Draft and talked him out of a scholarship to the University of Florida by giving him a $1.625 million bonus. A scouting report from ESPN.com Keith Law on the improvements that Brinson made during the Arizona Fall League: "I was blown away by the changes Lewis Brinson made to his swing over the summer, setting up his hands a little lower and further back while shortening his stride, significantly improving his bat speed through the zone without any loss of power." These comments show that Brinson is able to make changes to make himself a better player." 

Brinson is a long, lean player with excellent range and a strong arm in the outfield. At this point, defense is undoubtedly his strength, and he could reasonably project to play all three outfield positions at an above-average level down the road. Offensively, Brinson has solid power that could develop into a plus tool as he gets stronger. During the game on Friday night, he made an outstanding diving catch showing his ability to cover large amounts of ground. He also showed off a good arm on a couple of throws.

NEGATIVES: The big question is and always has been his ability to make consistent contact. Improving his contact rates and strike zone judgment are going to be the keys to getting him to the major leagues. On Friday he strike out a couple of times and showed why he is still considered a long term prospect. There’s no doubt that Brinson’s a boom-or-bust prospect. He’s got an ultra-high ceiling, but there’s also a very real possibility that he fizzles in double-A if he can’t corral his strikeouts.

Prospects Plus: Did the Nationals get first round value in Ward

The Nationals theory of drafting high upside players was shown again in the third round of this years draft. In the third round, the Nationals drafted Oklahoma high school third baseman Drew Ward. So what, you say.

Up until a month ago, many thought that Ward would be a member of the 2014 draft. But that all changed after Drew, who is committed to Oklahoma, graduated early from high school and petitioned to be part of this years draft. After MLB ruled in favor of the Drew, many scouts scurried to see what he was about. 

According to Baseball America,  Ward has a big, strong frame and has a sweet swing from the left side. He plays shortstop for his high school, but fits best at a corner position because of his below-average speed.

Many in the scouting community, had Ward pegged as a 2014 first rounder. The Bleacher Report pegged him as the 13th overall pick to the Padres in a really early mock 2014 draft. 

While the season may not be going as planned, Nationals GM Mike Rizzo always takes the player with the best upside and it looks like he may have gotten a future first rounder for the prices of the third rounder. Now that is good business.