Tampa Bay Rays prospects dominate FSL All-Star game, High-A recap

It’s been a couple weeks since we had a normal High-A recap, and a lot has happened in that time. First-half division titles have been clinched, an All-Star game has been played—with one more to come tomorrow—and notable performances continue to happen.

More from MLB Prospects

The Florida State League All-Star game was played Saturday, won by the Southern team in dominant fashion 6-0. One franchise in particular saw several prospects play well in the game—more on that later. In the standings, the Charlotte Stone Crabs clinched their postseason berth with a by winning the South division by nine games over second place Fort Myers. In the North, Daytona holds a one game lead over Clearwater.

The Carolina League and California League All-Stars will play each other tomorrow in Rancho Cucamonga, Cal. Teams in both leagues will have off days Monday and Wednesday, with the regular season resuming in both leagues Thursday.

In the Carolina League, the Wilmington Blue Rocks (Royals) and Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs) clinched postseason berths by winning their respective divisions. The Blue Rocks won the Northern division by five games over the Lynchburg Hillcats (Indians) while the Pelicans won by 3.5 games over the Salem Red Sox.

The California League also has two division champions. The Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks) won the North division by four games, while the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers) won the South by 3.5 games.

Next: California League

California League
North
Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks)—42-28
Stockton Ports (Athletics)—38-32
Modesto Nuts (Rockies)—33-37
San Jose Giants (Giants)—30-40
Bakersfield Blaze (Mariners)—26-44

South
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers)—41-29
High Desert Mavericks (Rangers)—37-32
Lancaster JetHawks (Astros)—37-33
Inland Empire 66ers (Angels)—34-35
Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres)—31-39

Notable performances:
Texas Rangers outfield prospect Ryan Cordell is red-hot at the plate, hitting .333 in his last 10 games. He’s slashing .311/.376/.528, all top-ten in the league. Cordell also has 13 home runs, tied for how many he hit in 2014, and he did it in 50 less at bats. Cordell has had the fortune to play in a lot of hitter-friendly ballparks in his professional career, as he spent most of 2014 at Single-A Hickory, another hitter haven. But his offensive consistency the past two seasons is still noteworthy.

More from Call to the Pen

Harrison Musgrave, the Colorado Rockies’ eighth-round pick out of West Virginia in 2014, is 8-1 with a 3.10 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and salty 3.9 K/BB ratio, which is sixth in the league. Musgrave has gone at least five innings in each of his last five starts and hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in seven starts. It’s been an impressive run of starts that included a flirtation with a perfect game.

Domingo Leyba, the 19-year-old second baseman, is not enjoying the same offensive success he had the previous two seasons. In 124 games from 2013-14, he hit .334, but is hitting just .225 with a .250 OBP and .271 SLG. Leyba is one of the youngest players in the league, so some youthful struggles can be expected. The Diamondbacks’ No. 8 prospect has only 43 Ks in 318 plate appearances, but he has only drawn nine walks, so plate discipline is part of the issue. He also is suffering from a sharp dip in BABIP, which has fallen nearly 100 points from last season.

Next: Florida State League

Florida State League
North
Daytona Tortugas (Reds)—37-30
Clearwater Threshers (Phillies)—34-33
Tampa Yankees (Yankees)—33-34
Lakeland Flying Tigers (Tigers)—30-36
Dunedin Blue Jays (Blue Jays)—30-37
Brevard County Manatees (Brewers)—29-37

South
Charlotte Stone Crabs (Rays)—44-23
For Myers Miracle (Twins)—35-32
St. Lucie Mets (Mets)—34-33
Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins)—33-34
Palm Beach Cardinals (Cardinals)—32-35
Bradenton Marauders (Pirates)—30-37

Notable Performances:
Rays prospects dominated the Florida State League All-Star game; Jacob Faria threw a dominant perfect inning to start the game where the North All-Stars looked overmatched—he struck out two of the three hitters and induced a weak ground ball by the third; Jacob Bauers had an RBI double; and Willy Adames showed off his defensive skill and was 1-for-1 and scored a run.

More from MLB Prospects

Dominic Ficociello, the first baseman for the North All-Stars, was 1-for-2 in the game to continue his productive season. Even though the Tigers prospect is only hitting .188 his last 10 regular season games, Ficociello is hitting .293 with a .358 on base percentage in a league that stifles offense. If he maintains his current offensive production, it’ll likely be the second season in a row that his AVG and OBP will raise by 20 points.

Next: Carolina League

Carolina League
Northern
Wilmington Blue Rocks (Royals)—38-32
Lynchburg Hillcats (Indians)—33-37
Potomac Nationals (Nationals)—33-37
Frederick Keys (Orioles)—32-38

Southern
Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs)—41-28
Salem Red Sox (Red Sox)—38-32
Carolina Mudcats (Braves)—34-35
Winston-Salem Dash (White Sox)—30-40

Notable performances:
If it were up to me to determine who the starting pitchers are in the Carolina/California ASG, I would pick Duane Underwoodof Myrtle Beach to start for the Carolina League. He’s well rested as he hasn’t pitched since Tuesday, but that’s not why; he’s been dominant all season: he’s 6-2 with a 1.85 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and .192 average against. His dominance can be attributed to the weak contact he’s inducing; he only strikes out 5.83 batters per nine innings, but his BABIP is .216 and he gets 1.56 groundouts for every out in the air.

Sean Godfrey, an outfielder for the Carolina Mudcats, is quietly having a productive season. He wasn’t named to the All-Star team, falling short in a league loaded with outfield names like Bradley Zimmer and Mark Zagunis. Nevertheless, Godfrey is hitting.304/.331/.425 with five home runs. He hits in a ballpark that isn’t conducive to hitting home runs, yet in the same number of games (62) as in 2014, Godfrey has two more home runs (five).

Manuel Margot, who is among several Red Sox prospects having productive seasons, has been hot offensively his past five games. In that span, he has nine hits in 20 at bats (.450) with eight runs and three stolen bases. Margot’s power numbers are down a little from last season, as he’s on pace for fewer home runs (seven) and doubles (13) than the 12 and 25, respectively, from 2014, but he has already hit as many triples as he did all of last season and has improved his stolen base percentage by seven points, pointing to his impressive speed and athleticism.

All stats from MiLB.com and FanGraphs.com

Next: Yankees promote Aaron Judge

Home/MLB Prospects