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Minor League Notes: New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge finds his power stroke

By Brody Hilgenkamp

Mar 8, 2016; Jupiter, FL, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) at bat against the Miami Marlins during a spring training game at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 8, 2016; Jupiter, FL, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) at bat against the Miami Marlins during a spring training game at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /
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Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports /

The Kansas City Royals have one of the best rotations in minor league baseball. The Northwest Arkansas Naturals, the Royals’ Texas League affiliate, has the four highest strikeout-to-walk ratios in the league; the third best team ERA (3.52); and all four of the team’s starters are in the top eight in the league in FIP.

Three of the starters—Jake Junis, Matthew Strahm and Eric Skoglund—are still with the team, while the fourth, Alec Mills, was promoted to Triple-A on June 16. Mills leads the league in K/BB (5.67) while Junis (4.82), Strahm (4.67) and Skoglund (4.53) are second, third and fourth, respectively. All four have a FIP under 3.18—Mills is first in the league, Skoglund if fifth, Strahm is sixth and Junis is eighth—and Junis and Mills were among the top 10 in batting average allowed.

Junis also tossed a scoreless inning with two strikeouts in Tuesday’s Texas League All-Star Game.

The Colorado Rockies’ Raimel Tapia flat-out knows how to hit. There were questions about the legitimacy of his 2015 performance in the California League, but facing advanced pitching hasn’t slowed him. He’s second in the Eastern League with a .318 batting average and is ninth in OBP (.370) and 14th in slugging (.449). He’s been particularly hot lately, hitting .389/.463/.528 since June 8.

Like Tapia, the Chicago Cubs’ Ian Happ has had no trouble adjusting to more advanced pitching. In five games in Double-A, Happ has hit two home runs, two doubles and is slashing .733/.706/1.267. Granted it’s an incredibly small sample size, but it’s impressive that he has continued to hit after slashing .296/.410/.475 with seven home runs in Class A Advanced.

Next: Class A Advanced

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