A young Phillies pitcher seems to be enjoying his change of scenery.
Last week I mentioned that several teams had starters in Triple-A who were close to being ready for the major league debuts. I left out the Philadelphia Phillies’ Mark Appel, but he looks like he’s close as well.
Apparently a change of scenery was all he needed. Appel has lost much of the luster that made him the No. 1 overall pick in 2013 by the Astros ahead of some guy named Kris Bryant. Appel has had an up-and-down ride since then as control problems hampered him at times, but he seems to be trending up.
Through three starts, Appel has a 1.62 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings. More importantly, he’s walked only five batters. That means he’s handing out 2.70 BB/9, which is down from the 3.27 he walked since his promotion to Double-A in 2014.
A pitcher who is still figuring out control problems is the Atlanta Braves’ Tyrell Jenkins. Jenkins walked five batters in three innings of work April 10 in his first start of the season. Since then he’s been much better, making three starts that each lasted six innings. In those three starts he walked a combined five batters.
In spite of the elevated walk total, Jenkins has just a 1.71 ERA. If he continues to maintain the control from his last three starts, Jenkins will be in for a productive season.
And now for a bias alert: Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia is my favorite minor league baseball player. He caught my attention last season when he was the best hitter on the homeless Biloxi Shuckers and I couldn’t stop watching him. He vaulted up prospect rankings and now he’s very close to the majors.
The Brewers will be cautious about promoting him so they don’t start his arbitration clock to soon. In the meantime, I will sing his praises until he is promoted and then I will sing them some more.
Next: Has Jamaal Charles Lost a Step?
Arcia hit .307/.347/.453 last season and won a minor league Gold Glove award and the Brewers’ Minor League Player of the Year. He hit his second home run of 2016 season Tuesday and is hitting .313/.351/.448.