A look at how prospects performed over the past week at various levels
Due to traveling commitments, I was unable to post very many recaps this past week. So here is a general summary of where teams are, how prospects of interest are doing, and so forth. I didn’t get to watch much baseball this week, so I’m not going to give out any awards or stars, because I don’t know how much of the stats comes down to luck and how much to dominance.
Reno Aces
The Aces traveled to Texas this past week to take on the Round Rock Express, affiliate of the Rangers. They won the first and last games of the series, but lost the four intervening games.
Tommy Henry: Made one start and gave up four runs, including two home runs, as part of a 14-0 loss. After he left, Francisco Morales and Ian Clarkin combined to give up 10 runs, so very little of the loss was Henry’s fault. He did strike out five and walk three, so it was far from his best outing.
Cristian Mena: Made one start and worked five innings, giving up two runs (both on solo home runs) and striking out four. He continues to not get as many swings and misses as he has in the past. He left the game trailing 2-1, and the Aces later tied things up, but a bullpen meltdown by Scott McGough and Christian Montes De Oca made it an 8-2 final.
Blake Walston: Walston was in line to start twice, after working five innings, striking out seven, and picking up the win on Tuesday. However, he did not pitch on Sunday. A possible move back to the big club might be in store for him, or it just might be workload management.
Andrew Saalfrank: My trip was to Andrew Saalfrank’s home town (ish, as I think he’s actually from a small town a few miles away) of Fort Wayne, IN. While there, I passed by a dental practice operated by a Saalfrank, who is most likely somehow related. Andrew’s week was like pulling teeth in some ways; he got the save on Tuesday despite loading the bases with a hit and two walks, and took the loss in one of Saturday’s games as he walked in the tying run in the sixth and gave up a walk-off home run on his only pitch of the seventh.
Andrés Chaparro: Chaparro started every game at third base and had a decent week in terms of getting on base, but not with the power that he’s shown in other recent weeks. He went 6-for-23 with five singles and a double.
Adrian Del Castillo: Del Castillo started every game in Round Rock, three behind the dish and three as DH. It was a week to forget, as he picked up just three hits and slashed .136/.208/.364. His hits were a triple and a home run. He did only strike out five times in 24 plate appearances, so he was putting the ball in play, but had a .125 BABIP on the week. It’ll get better.
Tristin English: English started every game at first base and had a terrible week. He went 2-for-21 and struck out at least once in every game, while only drawing one walk. Both hits were singles.
Jorge Barrosa: Barrosa did not play this past week, but I am happy to report that he is now listed as “Active” on the Aces roster. Hopefully he will be back on the field on Tuesday.
Amarillo Sod Poodles
The Soddies split another series this week, winning on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday. They were blown out 10-2 in both halves of a doubleheader on Thursday, and dropped a close one on Sunday that would have given them their first series win of the year.
Billy Corcoran: Corcoran isn’t a prospect, but he’s been surprisingly good this year in Hillsboro and earned a call-up to Amarillo. He was scheduled to start on Wednesday but it was pushed back a day due to rain, and it did not go well. He lasted 2.1 innings and gave up seven runs (six earned) on nine hits and a walk. He is not the first call-up to find that life in Amarillo is a bit more difficult than Hillsboro, but he can take encouragement from how Cole Percival has performed since his first start.
Yilber Diaz: Diaz pitched twice and had a rougher week than in the past, but on the whole was still pretty good. On Tuesday, he struggled with command and lasted just four innings, allowing three runs on five hits and striking out just two, five fewer than his second-lowest total of the season. His game score of 40 also matched his lowest of the season. But the Soddies won. On Sunday, he was much better, as he worked 6.1 innings and struck out eight with no walks while allowing two runs on four hits. Unfortunately, he got a no-decision in the 3-2 loss.
Dylan File: After three rough starts to open the season, File has now turned in four consecutive solid outings, and has not allowed more than two runs in any of them. On Saturday, he went 6.1 innings and allowed two runs of six hits, striking out three. He’s not a strikeout pitcher or a prospect, but the pitcher (born in Lake Havasu City, by the way) deserves recognition for what he is doing. He is yet another pitcher the Diamondbacks have signed after he spent some time in Korea, and could be a fast mover and a valuable depth piece if he continues adjusting well.
Will Mabrey: Mabrey saw his string of eight consecutive outings without allowing a run come to an end on Sunday, but it was an unearned run as a passed ball allowed the runner to reach third base, and he scored on a balk. He worked 2.1 innings, struck out three, and walked one.
Cole Percival: The son of Troy Percival had probably the best outing of his career on Friday, working 7.2 innings (I believe the longest outing of the season for any pitcher in the Diamondbacks’ system) and allowing one run on eight hits. It was his fifth start for Amarillo and definitely his best. If I were giving out awards, I think he’d be pitcher of the week. He and Billy Corcoran should talk about how to turn things around after a horrible start in Amarillo.
J.J. D’Orazio: D’Orazio went 3-for-16, but two of the hits were doubles. He continues to catch half of the games.
Deyvison De Los Santos: Another week, another dominant performance by De Los Santos, who looks to be on track to win Player of the Month for May as well. He slashed .450/.542/.900 (albeit with a BABIP of .546) while hitting three more home runs and being intentionally walked three times. Now that he’s getting the Barry Bonds treatment, there’s absolutely nothing left for him to prove offensively at AA, and it might start hindering his development with the bat if he doesn’t get moved up a level, since teams are pitching around him.
Ivan Melendez: The “Hispanic Titanic” had the best game of his minor league career on Tuesday, picking up four hits (two of them home runs) including a walk-off hit in the tenth inning that hit high off the wall in left and probably would have been a triple if the winning run had not scored. On the whole, his numbers don’t look as good, but it was still a good week. An encouraging sign is that he drew three walks; he had drawn just one walk in the last three series combined.
Caleb Roberts: The other half of the catching duo played in every game while catching half of the games, but struggled at first glance, going 3-for-14. Looking deeper, though, he had a good week. He walked nine times for an OBP of .542 on the week, and he picked up one of the highlights of the week, hitting a walk-off home run in Saturday’s win.
Kristian Robinson: Robinson went 0-for-14 on the week, and struck out eight times. He needs to turn it around soon, or it will be clear that he’s regressed from last season.
Tim Tawa: How long will it be before Tawa gets another shot at AAA? His .227/.280/.409 week doesn’t look good on the surface, but he posted a BABIP of .222 and struck out just four times. He also hit another home run, although he no longer is the franchise leader in home runs, with De Los Santos having well surpassed him at this point.
A.J. Vukovich: Vukovich also had a disappointing week, going 2-for-17. At least the two hits were on Saturday and Sunday, so perhaps he’s getting back to the way he started the season.
Hillsboro Hops
The Hops did their best impression of the major league club, losing the series in Tri-City 2-4 despite outscoring the opposition by a run.
Spencer Giesting: The other person who, from just looking at the stats, would be deserving of a pitcher of the week nod. He worked seven innings, struck out nine, and allowed just three baserunners. His ERA for the season is 0.79, and even though he’s allowed as many unearned runs as he has earned runs, his RA/9 is 1.59. But, in the “wins are a meaningless stat” department, he’s just 2-2 on the season and has only allowed earned runs in one game. He boasts four game scores of 65+ in six starts. He’s got to be advancing to Amarillo soon.
Zane Russell: In the good injury news department, Russell, who left the game on April 28th after pointing to his forearm, returned and pitched a scoreless inning on Friday.
Ricardo Yan: Yan got the win on Saturday despite not having his best outing, allowing three runs on three hits and three walks in five innings. He continues to be what he has been: practically unhittable on most days, but also as likely to walk the world as to set down the side in order. But he’s just 21 and was a late signer for a player from the Dominican Republic.
Christian Cerda: Cerda caught three games and was the DH in another, and showed slightly improved offense. He got on base half of the time, with two hits and five walks, while striking out just three times.
Gavin Conticello: After his blazing start to the season, Conticello has cooled considerably, but showed some signs of breaking out again. He played in every game and slashed .238/.333/.381, picking up a double and a triple. Of concern is that he struck out nine times.
Jack Hurley: Hurley had a rough return from injury and found himself below the Uecker and Wine lines for a while (batting average below .200 and OPS below .550.) But he’s been good all month, and last week slashed .296/.345/.482. He continues to show some pop, with another home run (giving him four on the year) and two doubles, as well as playing good defense.
Andrew Pintar: Pintar finished a triple short of the cycle in a four hit performance on Saturday, and slashed .360/.429/.680 on the week, with two home runs and two doubles. He’s been the most consistent offensive force in Hillsboro this season, a nice turn of events for a player who struggled in returning from injury in 2023.
Visalia Rawhide
It was another series loss for the Rawhide, winning on Tuesday and Friday but losing the other four games.
Caden Grice: The left handed pitcher had one of his worst outings, taking the loss on Wednesday after allowing four runs in four innings. He allowed just one hit; unfortunately it was a home run, and he allowed five walks.
Edgar Isea: Isea isn’t a name on a lot of prospect lists, but he’s a right handed reliever who can hit triple digits. In other words, the kind of pitcher the Diamondbacks have had difficulty finding (Justin Martinez being the exception) despite every other team seemingly having an inexhaustible supply. He had a good week, not allowing a hit and striking out three in facing seven batters across two appearances.
Landon Sims: Sims may be back officially in the bullpen, but he still worked just once this week. It was a solid outing on Friday, as he faced six batters, struck out three, and walked one.
Jacob Steinmetz: After consecutive scoreless starts, Steinmetz came crashing back to earth on Thursday, allowing six runs on seven hits and walking two. He did strike out six in his 3.2 innings, so it wasn’t all bad.
Kenny Castillo: Castillo hasn’t been regarded as a prospect, but perhaps he should be. Despite his rough game on April 23rd that I detailed last week, he’s had a great season. He just turned 20, so he is young, and has been one of the more consistent offensive performers for Visalia. He went 3-for-17 this past week, but with two doubles. His .745 OPS on the season is above more highly regarded prospects like Jansel Luis, Anderdson Rojas, and Ruben Santana.
Druw Jones: Jones had a bipolar week. On the one hand, the prospect with just two three-hit games to his name had his first ever four-hit game on Thursday, including his second home run of the season. On the other, in his other four games he collected one hit, one walk, and seven strikeouts. The overall numbers look better than they ever have, and that’s a good thing. Because of how good his defense, speed, and arm are, he doesn’t ever have to grow into power to be a major league player; he just has to start hitting with acceptable levels of consistency.
Jansel Luis: The 19-year-old got a hit in every game he played this week, and now has an eight game hitting streak. He slashed .476/.522/.810, including two triples in a game on Thursday. He struck out just four times. As with most of the infield prospects at Visalia, he’s been tasked with playing three positions (2B, 3B, SS) and has handled it fairly well.
Anderdson Rojas: The once red-hot Rojas has cooled off, and struck out four times against just two hits on the week. He got hits in 13 of 15 games in April, including a 12 game hitting streak. Since the calendar turned to May, however, he’s slashing .218/.214/.273. No, that is not a typo; his OBP is really lower than his batting average. It’s not all bad luck, either, as his BABIP sits at .273.
Ruben Santana: Santana played every game last week, an unusual occurrence in Visalia. He didn’t collect any extra base hits but was an acceptable 6-for-24. He did strike out 11 times and have a BABIP of .462, though, so it’s still concerning.
Cristofer Torin: Your reminder that Torin is one of the youngest players at his level: he turns 19 on Sunday. He struggled to a 1-for-19 performance this past week, but still walked three times against just one strikeout. (That’s a BABIP of .053 and a batting average of .053, as a sacrifice fly counts against his BABIP but not his batting average.) His OBP for the season still stands at .390, and he’s still walked more times than he’s struck out. There’s no need to worry about Torin.
ACL D-Backs
The complex league group went 2-2, including a completely nuts 16-13 win in seven innings.
Nate Savino: Savino is building up his length and worked two innings on Thursday. He struck out four and allowed a hit and a walk. He has yet to allow a run in 5.1 innings against much younger and overmatched competition. Hopefully he will get to face a stiffer test at Visalia soon.
Alberto Barriga: Barriga got a hit in each game last week, although it was just one hit per game and only one extra base hit, a double. He also committed his first error. The diminutive catcher (he’s generously listed at 5’9”) struck out four times and now has an OPS on the season of .826.
Demetrio Crisantes: The Nogales native played in each game and collected his second triple of the season. He also singled three times and stole two bases.
Abdias De La Cruz: De La Cruz had struggled at the plate so far this season as he makes the change from the infield to the outfield, but he broke out with a four hit day on Thursday as he singled three times, doubled, and stole a base. Granted, he also struck out nine times in 18 plate appearances and had a BABIP of .714, so there’s still some work to do.
Jakey Josepha: Josepha turned 20 on Wednesday, and had an interesting week. The overall numbers look great: 5-for-14 with a double and a home run for an OPS of 1.000. However, he also had a BABIP of 1.000. He played three games and collected a golden sombrero twice before going 5-for-6 in the 16-13 win on Saturday.
Yassel Soler: I regard Soler as the highest-ceiling offensive prospect currently in the complex, and possibly the greatest sure-thing. And he’s living up to that so far, with hits in all ten games he’s played this season. This past week, he went 9-for-15 with three doubles, plus he walked twice and was hit by a pitch against only three strikeouts. He’s slashing .439/.500/.659 on the season, and he only turned 18 in January. The only question mark so far is his defense, and he’s committed three errors at third base, but none of those came in the past week.