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San Francisco Giants prospects on hot streaks in low A-ball

By Brody Hilgenkamp

Aug 4, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; General view of a San Francisco Giants hat and glove in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the third inning at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 4, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; General view of a San Francisco Giants hat and glove in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the third inning at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /
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It’s been a few weeks since we checked in on the lower levels of the minors, so here are some hot performances by prospects in the New York-Penn League and Northwest League. Features members of the Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants.

New York-Penn League

Tommy Edman, shortstop, St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals’ sixth round draft choice in June, Edman is third in the NYPL in on-base plus slugging percentage (.884) and he’s slashing a robust .298/.414/.470 after going 3-for-3 with a double yesterday. A significant driver of his offensive value is strike zone awareness: entering play yesterday he was third in the league in walk-to-strikeout ratio , with 1.53 walks per strikeout. He’s also stolen 12 bases in 13 attempts.

Miguel Mercedes, first baseman, Oakland Athletics

Mercedes homered Monday to break out of a 4-for-33 slump. The home run tied him for the NYPL lead with nine on the season, and his .201 isolated power entering play Tuesday was fifth in the league. Mercedes has tapped into the power on his 6-foot-4 inch, 200 pound frame this season after he hit just three home runs combined over the previous three summers.

Alex Wells, pitcher, Baltimore Orioles

Signed as a minor league free agent out of Australia last August, Wells is thriving in his foray into baseball in the U.S. He had to leave Sunday’s start after just one batter after being hit with a line drive, but over his first eight starts he had a 2.06 earned run average and 2.50 fielding independent pitching. His 7.50 strikeout-to-walk ratio leads the NYPL and his 2.27 ERA and 2.50 FIP were eighth and fifth overall in the NYPL entering Tuesday, respectively.

Danny Beddes, pitcher, Pittsburgh Pirates

A 15th round selection out of Utah Valley, Beddes hasn’t allowed multiple earned runs in a start since July 10. In the five starts since then he has a 1.24 ERA and is holding opponents to a .221 average. In his most recent start Saturday, he pitched six innings and allowed one earned run on four hits and three walks.

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Northwest League

Kyle Cody, pitcher, Texas Rangers

Monday, Cody tossed five innings and allowed one earned run on five hits and two walks. The Rangers’ sixth round draft pick had two starts and three relief appearances in his first five outings, but he’s since switched to a starter full-time. Since July 10, Cody has made four starts and allowed five earned runs in 18 innings. In three of those starts he only allowed one earned run; he allowed five runs, just two earned, on July 23.

Brandon Miller, pitcher, Seattle Mariners

Another sixth-round selection from June, Miller allowed five hits in six scoreless innings last night. He entered the start with just five walks in 33.2 innings, which gave him the second-lowest walk rate (1.34 per nine innings) in the NWL among pitchers with at least 30 innings.

Heath Quinn, outfielder, San Francisco Giants

From July 19 to August 5, Quinn had a 14-game hitting streak in which he slashed .389/.477/.667 with three home runs. He is third in the NWL in OPS (.905) and was the NWL Player of the Week for the week of July 25-31.

Next: Clint Frazier Scouting Report

Ryan Kirby, first base, San Francisco Giants

Quinn’s teammate and a Giants 12th round draft selection, Kirby is 10th the NWL in OPS (.806). Kirby slashed .344/.423/.563 this spring at the University of San Diego and finished his career as a Torero with an .834 OPS. Yesterday he went 1-for-4.

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