Los Angeles Dodgers highlight early minor league stories

The Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians highlight the first installment of CttP’s minor league notes.

There are six levels of minor league baseball—Single-A, Double-A, etc. Each of those levels has at least two leagues. All 30 major league franchises have a team at each level. Baseball publications such as Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and MLB.com rank the players within a franchise’s minor league system. Usually there is some consensus, but there’s lots of subjectivity in the process.

Keeping track of what’s going on in the minor leagues is a daunting task. In fact, it can be borderline overwhelming. And with baseball being swept away by the tsunami of young talent in the game, it seems as if teams are promoting players through the ranks more quickly.

Which is why, every week for the rest of the season, I will be doing a weekly notes column about baseball’s minor leagues. This is for readers’ benefit and my own, as it will allow me to write about a large number of topics in a succinct manner.

I’ll split the column up into sections based on level of the minors and I’ll try to give readers updates on different topics and players every week. A weekly J.P. Crawford slash line probably wouldn’t carry a column for an entire season.

But enough with the introductions. Let’s talk some baseball. First up: your favorite team’s newest starting pitcher.

Next: Triple-A

Several teams have pitchers dominating in Triple-A, which means they may not be there for very long.

In 2015, MLB and its fans enjoyed one of the best rookie classes in the game’s history. Consider that 23 rookie hitters amassed more than 1.5 wins above replacement and 32 had a 100 weighted runs created plus or better, according to FanGraphs. Rookie pitchers weren’t quite as prolific, with 13 above 1.5 WAR, which is still an impressive number.

By the end of the 2016 season, the pitchers may flip the script. The Dodgers’ Kenta Maeda is doing his best Fernando Valenzuela impersonation and Ross Stripling almost tossed a no-hitter.

Several teams in baseball have pitchers lining up to give their teams a jolt, just like the ones Astros shortstop Carlos Correa and Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor provided after their June promotions. The Dodgers’ Zach Lee is a prime example of such a pitcher, especially considering the team can’t seem to purge the injury bug of death.

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Lee, the Dodgers’ first round draft pick in 2010, on Monday tossed 5 1/3 inning and allowed just one earned run, bringing his earned run average to 1.56 in 17 1/3 innings. He has 14 strikeouts to just one walk in his three starts. Should another big league starter go down, Lee could be next in line.

The thing is, Lee isn’t even one of the Dodgers’ top prospects. Other teams have stallions chomping at the bit. Sean Manaea of the Oakland Athletics—Manaea is the team’s No. 2 prospect according to MLB Pipeline—struck out 11 hitters Saturday and has 17 in just 12 innings. In Saturday’s start, he out-dueled Julio Urias, the Dodgers’ No. 1 prospect. Urias has 12 strikeouts against one walk as a 19-year-old in Triple-A.

You can add the Pirates’ Tyler Glasnow and a healthy Jameson Taillon; the Rays’ Blake Snell; and the Tigers’ Michael Fulmer to the list. Each of them is a top pitching prospects and each is off to an impressive start this season.

Next: Double-A

The Reds are seeing encouraging development from a group of talented pitchers in Double-A.

Now we’re going to look at an entire rotation, not individual prospects. The Pensacola Blue Wahoos, the Cincinnati Reds’ Double-A affiliate, are leading the Southern League with a 2.25 ERA. Entering play Wednesday they had the three pitchers with the league’s best Fielding Independent Pitching.

The top four in the rotation are Amir Garrett, Jackson Stephens, Sal Romano and Nick Travieso. What makes this group interesting is that it is the same group that made 89 of 135 starts for the Class A-Advanced Daytona Tortugas and finished fifth in the Florida State League in ERA.

Garrett is the best prospect of the bunch. He finished last season as the FSL’s co-Pitcher of the Year after posting a 2.44 ERA, 2.90 FIP and 133 strikeouts. So far in 2016, he has a 2.00 ERA and 1.96 FIP. Most interestingly, he seems to have ironed out some control problems: he has three walks in his 18 innings pitched.

Wednesday, Stephens started in a 5-2 loss to the Biloxi Shuckers. He went 6 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits and five strikeouts, bringing his ERA to 3.12

Also of note:
Astros 2015 First Round draft pick Alex Bregman is a beast. He’s currently second in the Texas League with a 254 wRC+.

The Royals’ Raul Mondesi and Hunter Dozier also are crushing it in the Texas League. Dozier is slashing .316/.435/.711 and Mondesi’s experience is starting to overcome his age, as the 20-year-old shortstop is slashing .250/.327/.545 with three home runs and seven stolen bases.

The Red Sox’s Teddy Stankiewicz, the team’s second round draft pick in 2013, pitched six scoreless innings yesterday and now has a 1.00 ERA through three starts.

Next: Class A-Advanced

A group of 2015 first round draft picks are shining in the South Atlantic League.

Leave it to a couple teenagers to make you feel like you’re a waste of a man. Of the 12 South Atlantic League leaders in wRC+ entering play Wednesday, four are playing in their age 19 season. (When I was 19, I was putting up this batting average for a junior college.)

The Royals’ Chase Vallot is the leader of the bunch. The Royals’ Competitive Balance Round A pick in 2014, Vallot is slashing a robust .317/.423/.561. He’s also showing advanced plate discipline with seven walks in his 52 PAs.

Next is Ke’Bryan Hayes, an infielder for the Pirates. Hayes is on his way to a good full-season debut after an impressive .308/.408/.346 line in 2015. So far in 2016, he’s slashing .400/.449./578 and hit his first professional home run Monday.

Last but not least is Victor Robles, a Nationals outfielder. Robles was a .334/.428/.496 hitter from 2014-15, and so far in 2016 he’s on pace for another great year at the plate. After a 3-for-4 with a home run performance during Wednesday’s game, he was hitting .348/.492./630 with just eight strikeouts.

Next: Five best rivalries in 2016

Also of note:
LaMonte Wade looks like a great draft pick for the Twins. The ninth-rounder out of Maryland is hitting .358/.413/.604 after hitting his first home run of the season yesterday. He has six walks to just five strikeouts. Last season he hit .312/.428/.506 with nine home runs in Rookie-level Elizabethton of the Appalachian League.