Minor League baseball players who are putting up video game numbers
A number of minor league baseball players are having excellent seasons, but some are putting up numbers that are almost hard to believe!
This week has been the week of many of the all star games for the various minor league baseball leagues. It gives a reasonably half way point in the season to examine which players are doing well, which are struggling, and which are somewhere in the middle.
Today, we’re going to look at a collection of players who have been putting up those amazingly positive numbers – so good, in fact, that one would think minor league baseball had been put on “easy” mode in a video game for these players!
Francisco Mejia, C, Cleveland Indians
Mejia put himself on the national map last season when he had a 50 game hitting streak. This season, he’s simply built on that, turning into the complete hitter that the Indians had hoped that he could become on top of the already elite defensive catcher that he is.
Mejia is currently hitting .366/.410/.611 with 8 home runs and 5 stolen bases. He’s also posted a strikeout rate under 15%.
Mejia has done all this at 21 years old in AA, putting him on the doorstep to the major leagues.
Let’s take a look at some of the others who are having big seasons!
Brendan Rodgers, SS, Colorado Rockies
In the 2015 draft, there were multiple college shortstops who were well-regarded, and four collegiate shortstops were selected in the top 20 selections of that season’s first round.
Rodgers was the one high school shortstop that was considered on par with the college shortstops in that draft class, and he was a legit option for #1 overall before going 3rd overall to the Rockies.
Rodgers had a good showing in the Pioneer League in his draft year before going to the South Atlantic League in 2016 for his first full season in the minor leagues. He showed well, with a 35/98 BB/K ratio being the biggest concern offensively, as he hit .281/.342/.480 with 31 doubles, 19 home runs and 6 steals.
Rodgers did struggle some with shortstop, and there were questions raised about his future at the position. While he certainly had the natural range, he was filling out and didn’t quite have the instincts one would prefer at the position, so he played 24 games at second base last season as well.
In 2017, the shortstop question has been put to bed, at least for now, as he showed up to spring training trimmed up and ready for the season at short, and the team has seen his instincts play up as well.
What has shown up even more has been his bat. The leaner frame only seemed to allow him to access even more bat speed, where he already was loaded up as it was. He moved up to high-A Lancaster, and while that’s the Cal League, and the Cal League has a reputation as a hitter’s league, Rodgers’ line of .400/.419/.700 is plenty more than any league enhancement would provide. He’s added in 21 doubles, 3 triples, and 12 home runs as well.
Rodgers was recently promoted to AA.
Bo Bichette, SS, Toronto Blue Jays
Many remember the Bichette name for Bo’s father, Dante Bichette, who was a 4-time All Star and finished with a .299 career average and 274 home runs.
If he keeps up his performance that he’s had as a professional thus far, Bo will be the Bichette that everyone knows among baseball fans.
Bichette has a pronounced leg kick and a frame that left his defensive position in question, which left his draft value in flux with many teams, causing him to fall to the 2nd round of the 2016 draft out of high school in Florida.
Bichette came out in his draft season and did nothing but hit, hitting .427/.451/.732 for the Blue Jays’ Gulf Coast League team, with 9 doubles, 2 triples, 4 home runs, and 3 stolen bases in 22 games.
The Blue Jays were aggressive with the 19 year old, promoting him straight to low-A Lansing in the Midwest League for full season ball. He’s simply done nothing but hit with Lansing this season, overshadowing teammate Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. as he’s hit .396/.463/.639 with 28 doubles, 3 triples, 7 home runs, and 9 steals in 255 plate appearances.
Bichette has shown that his leg kick is quite controlled and works well with even the top velocity pitching, allowing him to get his body in good torque and set the timing of his swing.
The big thing that he’s shown alongside his bat is that Bichette has the hands, foot speed, and range to play up the middle. He’s played 40 games at shortstop and 13 games at second base this season, and while he’s made a combined 12 errors, he’s also shown good range on the ball that should allow him to stay up the middle.
With his offensive profile, if he can stick up the middle, Bichette could be an incredibly valuable performer. He’ll be a guy that rockets up midseason prospect lists most likely.
Michael Chavis, 3B, Boston Red Sox
Drafted in the first round in 2014, Chavis has struggled to live up to his high pedigree that he had coming out of high school in Georgia to this point in his minor league career.
Chavis was moved quickly off of shortstop to third base in his draft season, where his wide 5’10”, 210-pound frame would play better.
In his first season, Chavis flashed his power potential, hitting 29 doubles, 16 home runs, and even stealing 8 bases with low-A Greenville in the South Atlantic League. The issue was his 29/144 BB/K ratio that certainly didn’t help his .223 batting average.
Chavis worked around injury in 2016, opening in Greenville, and in spite of only hitting .244, he was promoted to high-A Salem in the Carolina League for 7 games to finish the season. Overall, he hit .237/.313/.372 with 8 home runs, 4 stolen bases, and a 24/81 BB/K over 81 games.
Chavis has broken through this season to tap into that rocket-fast bat speed and put more quality barrel to the ball. He opened the season with Salem, hitting .318/.388/.641 with 17 doubles and 17 home runs. He has been fairly consistent with around a 7-7.5% walk rate over his minor league career, and while he’s kept that up, he’s significantly dropped his strikeout rate, to 22.8%.
The Red Sox announced today that Chavis will be promoted to AA Portland.
Yordan Alvarez, 1B/OF, Houston Astros
The Astros were not major players in the Cuban market until 2015-2016, when they seemed to go “all in” after signing Yuli Gurriel. The Dodgers actually originally signed Alvarez from Cuba, but before he could play a minor league game, the Astros acquired Alvarez in a trade that sent reliever Josh Fields to the Dodgers.
Alvarez was always a gifted hitter with a very pretty left-handed stroke. He was part of Cuba’s Serie Nacional as a 16 and 17 year old, one of the youngest players in the entire league. While overmatched in 2013-14 as a 16 year old, in 2014-15 at 17, he hit .351/.402/.387 over 125 plate appearances, showing good strike zone judgement and excellent bat-to-ball skills.
Alvarez was knocked for his lack of access to his power in his Cuban playing days, showing off plenty of raw power in his 6’5″, 225-pound frame, but not having it translate to games.
That has changed this season for Alvarez. Still just 19 (he’ll turn 20 on June 27th), Alvarez has hit .360/.468/.658 with 9 home runs for low-A Quad Cities in the Midwest League. He’s improved his walk rate, to 16.5%, but his increased power seems to also have come with some increased swing and miss as well, as he’s striking out at a 25.9% rate – not horrid, but certainly higher than anything he’d displayed previously.
Alvarez has the frame to be a powerful piece in the center of a lineup for many years to come, whether that’s as a first baseman or left fielder, as he’s worked in both positions.
Jordan Humphreys, RHP, and Chris Flexen, RHP, New York Mets
Humphreys was drafted from high school in Florida in 2015 in the 18th round. He’s shown well throughout his career, but a step forward in his change up, and his breaking pitch has taken a significant step forward as well to go with his heavy low-90s fastball.
Humphreys is currently leading the minor leagues in wins with low-A Columbia in the South Atlantic League. He’s made 11 starts, throwing 69 2/3 innings, allowing a 1.42 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, and an insane 9/80 BB/K ratio.
Flexen isn’t a “spring chicken” at 22 years old, being drafted in 2012 in the 14th round out of high school. He has struggled with injury to throw a full season, pitching his first full year last year with high-A St. Lucie in the Florida State League.
This season, Flexen had surgery in spring training to remove a bone chip from his knee, which delayed the start of his season until mid-May. He’s only made a half dozen starts due to this. However, in those 6 starts, he’s put up eye-popping numbers, with a 1.89 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and a crazy 3/32 BB/K ratio over 33 1/3 innings. His 2.31% walk rate is more than impressive.
Corbin Burnes, RHP, Milwaukee Brewers
Burnes was a guy that received some hype into the first round of the 2016 draft with St. Mary’s in California. He’s got excellent stuff, ideal size (6’3″ and 205 pounds), and good poise on the mound.
The Brewers were elated to snag Burnes in the 4th round. In his draft season last year, Burnes worked up to low-A Wisconsin in the Midwest League, with a 2.02 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 18/41 BB/K ratio over 35 2/3 innings.
Burnes was assigned to high-A Carolina in the Carolina League this season. He opened the year absolutely dominating the league, and he was promoted to AA Biloxi on June 1st, seeing no change in results really in his first 3 starts at that level.
Overall on the season, Burnes has made 13 starts, throwing 76 2/3 innings, allowing a paltry 1.06 ERA and 0.82 WHIP, with a 20/75 BB/K ratio. What’s been incredible has been the way Burnes has used his wicked late movement to limit quality contact, leading to a tremendously weak contact rate.
Burnes will likely finish out the year in AA, unless the Brewers choose to have him spend a month or so in AAA, but he’s certainly inserted himself into 2018 plans now for the big league club with a bull dog mentality on the mound and stuff to match.
Tyler Wells, RHP, Minnesota Twins
While his stuff may not overwhelm, with a fastball that sits around 90 MPH, Wells used his excellent four pitch mix to have a solid college career, getting him drafted in the 15th round in 2016 by the Twins.
Wells showed excellent strikeout rate in 2016 with Elizabethton after being drafted, striking out 59 over 47 1/3 innings. He still showed excellent control, walking only 17 as well.
Wells was sent to low-A Cedar Rapids in the Midwest League. He’s thrown very well, making 10 starts, going 57 innings, allowing a 1.89 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and a 14/80 BB/K ratio. He has been striking out 35.87% of batters that face him this season!
Wells stands 6’8″ tall, and while his fastball velocity has been around 90-ish, his height gives the pitch an excellent downward plane, and he gets very impressive movement on the pitch as well. What seems to get the strikeouts for Wells, however, is his combination of his slider and curve, which can both flash as plus pitches when he’s working them well.
The Twins have a fairly loaded rotation at high-A Fort Myers, so it could be a bit before Wells can push his way up a level.
Tyler Mahle, RHP, Cincinnati Reds
Not many guys have had a bigger moment in their season than Mahle had in a road start against Mobile on April 22nd.
Mahle has been gaining velocity as he’s been gaining strength into his frame, allowing his future profile to become much more impressive than the back-end starter that he’d been projected as when he was drafted out of high school in 2013.
Mahle has always shown excellent control and seen his strikeout rate go up along with that, but this season, he’s not just keeping runners off base with limiting walks, he’s also using increased movement on his breaking pitches and increased velocity to limit quality contact.
The results have been impressive outside of just the perfect game that April evening. Mahle has made 14 starts, throwing 85 innings, allowing a 1.59 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, and a 17/87 BB/K ratio. He’s also had a sub-20% line drive rate, so his contact allowed works well to limit BABIP.
Mahle very well could come up to AAA by the end of the season, having done all of this with the Reds’ AA affiliate in Pensacola. He’s certainly improved his stock within the Reds organization.
Honorable mentions
A number of guys don’t quite have an entire line of excellence, but they’re putting up such tremendous stats in one line that it’s worthy of note.
Shane Bieber, RHP, Cleveland Indians – has pitched at low-A and high-A after being selected in the 4th round of the 2016 draft. He has posted a 0.6 BB/9 rate this season with just 5 walks in 78 innings, an incredible 1.56% walk rate!
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Dylan Cease has been working his arm into shape after struggling to stay healthy the last few years. If he’s not at full strength now, the baseball world should be scared of what he could do. He’s currently striking out 37.74% of all batters faced in the low-A Midwest League.
A.J. Puk struggled in his senior year with consistency, which took him from a sure-fire #1 overall selection in the 2016 draft to the #6 pick, and he’s been showing that big ability (and some of that inconsistency) this year. Puk has been competing for the most strikeouts in all of minor league baseball, and he’s currently striking out 37.37%.
Mike Morrison has been the closer for low-A Kannapolis in the Chicago White Sox organization this season. He’s been nearly untouchable, with a 0.53 ERA, 0.44 WHIP, and a 6/42 BB/K ratio over 33 2/3 innings.
Colton Welker has been hitting all season for low-A Asheville in the Colorado Rockies organization. The third baseman is still hitting .365 for Asheville, pounding the gaps with 17 doubles.
Though he’s hitting only .263, Brett Cumberland has an on base of .432, thanks to an excellent walk rate, but also in part due to 25 hit by pitch on the season.
Austin Hays was considered one of the best power hitters in college in 2016. The Orioles were more than happy to draft the outfielder and get his power into their system. For high-A Frederick, he’s hit .328/.364/.592 this season with 16 home runs and 15 doubles.
Next: Draft Review For All 30 Teams
Last, though he’s not a guy who has numbers quite to the level of the guys mentioned above, Ronald Acuna has worked his way to AA in the Atlanta Braves organization at just 19 years old. His line on the season is a combined .298/.352/.464 with 11 home runs, 6 triples, 7 home runs, and 29 stolen bases, across the board production that is impressive.