It was a big week in Minor League Baseball. New draftees are beginning to sign their big contracts and becoming top prospects. All Star teams have started to be announced by level (you can see the High-A prospects heading to the All Star Game here). Major League Baseball continued its trend in the Year of the Prospect as the Indians finally called up Francisco Lindor, and the Minnesota Twins promoted Byron Buxton, a move as highly anticipated as Kris Bryant reaching the bigs. Trea Turner’s roller coaster of a career finally ended it’s drama, as the elite shortstop prospect finally made his way east and is officially a Washington National.
This week’s Players of the Week continued that trend. Most of the big bats in the Minor Leagues this week were highlighted by top prospects from around the baseball world. Who will be the next big name to break out in 2015? With the Top 50 prospects completely in need of an overhaul with 11 of the top 20 playing in the Majors, it seems like those next in line found another gear this past week to stake their claim.
Let’s take a trip around Minor League baseball as we break down the Minor League Players of the Week.
Next: Triple A
Jul 1, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Astros left fielder Domingo Santana (13) is congratulated by second baseman Jose Altuve (27) after scoring a run during the seventh inning against the Seattle Mariners at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
TRIPLE A
Pacific Coast League: Domingo Santana
Santana became the Astros top offensive prospect when Carlos Correa was promoted last week. He responded by having his best week of an already solid season for the Fresno Grizzlies.
Santana had five multi-hit games this past week, totaling 12 hits altogether. The big swinger hit .545 on the week smashing his 11th home run of the season. Overall, Santana is slashing .320/.444/.584 on the season with 11 home runs and 38 RBI. Tuesday morning, Santana was rewarded with a promotion to The Show. Why has it taken till now for Santana to make it to Houston?
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Take a look at his MLB debut last season, and one can see Santana’s set back. His huge power swing misses… a lot. He struck out 14 times in his 17-at bat MLB debut last year, and has continued the trend this year, striking out nearly 29 percent of the time he is up at bat. That being said, if Santana continues to have weeks like this, which there is nothing to show he won’t, the Astros will be forced to make a move on him sooner than later. Whether he becomes a trade chip or a role player off the bench in Houston, Santana will be a fixture in the MLB before too long.
International League: Corey Brown
Brown is no top prospect, but that doesn’t take away from his monster week. The 29-year old, who provides outfield depth for the Tampa Bay Rays at Durham, blasted 4 home runs this past week. He isn’t lighting up the slash lines, but the veteran Minor Leaguer now has at least 10 home runs in 6 consecutive seasons.
Next: Double A
Apr 26, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays left fielder Dalton Pompey (45) singles during the fifth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
DOUBLE A
Eastern League: Dalton Pompey
Pompey made news early in the season as one of the big six rookies that the Toronto Blue Jays opened the season with on their roster. He made bigger news when he struggled mightily and was sent down after slashing .193/.264/.337 after his first 23 games. He didn’t do so well in Buffalo either, and one of the front runners for AL Rookie of the Year suddenly found himself in Double-A.
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The Blue Jays No. 2 prospect re-found his stroke with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Pompey has hit in every game since arriving in Double-A on June 6th, and is sitting on an 8-game hitting streak entering Monday night’s action. Pompey had a 10 hit week — with 3 multi-hit games — including hitting 3 home runs in two days. He also tagged on a double and a triple, and started looking like Pompey again.
With the Blue Jays on fire at the big league level, there doesn’t seem to be a rush to get Pompey back to the Major Leagues. He should be back up at Triple-A sooner than later now that he looks like one of baseball’s top prospects again.
Southern League: Tyrone Taylor
Another No. 2 prospect takes home a Player of the Week Award. Taylor, the Brewers 21-year old outfield prospect, had a huge week. Taylor reached base in every game en route to clinching the Biloxi Shuckers the first-half South Division title.
Taylor had 4 multi-hit games, while belting home runs in consecutive games to start the week. He drove in 8 and scored 7 more while raising his season average from .253 to .271.
Texas League: Nomar Mazara
The Texas Rangers farm system is in flux. Their top prospect is in the Major Leagues, but early reports were that Joey Gallo’s stay was just a temporary one. The Rangers then lost Jorge Alfaro, their No. 2 prospect, for the season. That left Nomar Mazara as the top prospect in the system, and last week he answered the call.
Mazara, the Rangers 20-year old outfielder of the future, hit in six straight games this past week, with three consecutive multi-hit games. Five of his 10 hits were for extra bases, with three of them being home runs. He drove in 12 runs this week as well and now has a .304/.383/.470 slash line with 7 home runs and 34 RBI on the season.
Next: High A
HIGH-A
California League: Zach Cone
Speaking of Texas Rangers prospects, meet Zach Cone. Cone was drafted back in 2011 as a first round Compensation A pick. He hasn’t done much up to this year to garner a lot of recognition, but perhaps the 25-year old is starting to get it.
Cone went on a rampage last week, closing the week by hitting 5 home runs Thursday through Sunday. He tallied 4 multi-hit games in a row, and 11 hits altogether. Cone drove in 12 runs and scored 7.
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Cone is currently on pace to crush every career high as he sits at .303/.354/529 with 12 home runs (17 was his previous career high) and 43 RBI (previous high of 64). Should Cone keep this up, he should finally see some time at Double-A.
Florida State League: Sebastian Elizalde
The Reds No. 25 prospect had his best week of the season. Elizalde has had back-to-back solid seasons in Single-A, and with a fast start, many felt he would be at Double-A very quickly. That was not the case as Elizalde came out of the gates slowly. That all changed this week.
Elizalde had a 9 hit week, highlighted by 2 home runs and 8 RBI. The left fielder has an impressive 44 RBI on the season on a Daytona Tortuga team stacked with the Reds’ top prospects. He should be in Double-A in no time.
Carolina League: Keith Curcio
Curcio is the 22-year old centerfield prospect in the Atlanta Braves organization. A once depleted Braves’ system was refreshed this offseason by new GM John Hart, and Curcio — a 6th round draft pick — was pushed to the back burner. Maybe he wants people to start noticing him.
Curcio had his best week since being promoted to High-A Carolina. He went 13-for-24 with 4 multi hit games. He matched his 2014 home run season total with his first blast of 2015. While he won’t wow you with his power, Curcio can turn heads with his good strike zone awareness and moderate speed.
Next: Low A
Jun 12, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cleveland Indians fan holds up a sign during the seventh inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. The Reds defeated the Indians 7-1. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports
LOW-A
Midwest League: Bobby Bradley
If you don’t know who Bobby Bradley is already, it is now certainly time you do. Bradley is the Cleveland Indians No. 10 overall prospects and is widely considered one of the elite first base prospects in all of baseball.
After being drafted in the 3rd round last season, Bradley would go on to lead the Rookie league (short season Arizona) in batting average, home runs and RBI. That’s right, he won a Triple Crown in his debut season. He hasn’t stopped yet this year, either.
Last week, Bradley went off. He had 9 hits, four of which left the yard. The 19-year old run producing machine drove in 10 and scored 6 of his own. Bradley is now slashing .279/.381/.588 on the year with 11 home runs and 35 RBI. He has done all of that in 20 games less than everyone else, after missing the first month of the season with injury.
South Atlantic League: Malquin Canelo
Canelo, the 20-year old shortstop signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2012, has a tough road ahead of him to the big leagues. The Phillies No. 29 prospect has J.P. Crawford working his way up the system as the future shortstop in the City of Brotherly Love. That hasn’t stopped Canelo from trying his best to make some noise.
Canelo enters this week on a 5-game hitting streak after he put together a 9-hit performance last week highlighted by 3 consecutive multi hit games. He also homered on consecutive nights. Canelo boasts an impressive .314/.372/.462 slash line with 4 home runs and 18 RBI on the season, but it’s his speed that propels him. He has scored 44 runs in 56 games this season.