Minor League Baseball player promotion season has begun

Every season after minor league baseball has their league All Star games, a rash of promotions occur across the minor leagues.

In the last two weeks, all but the Triple-A minor league baseball All Star games have been played for each full-season league. Typically, following those games, teams will promote players who are producing well.

First we’ll take a look at a few promotions that have already been announced in the last few days, starting with hitters and then covering pitchers, and last we’ll look at a few that could be coming soon from their respective teams:

Brett Cumberland, C, Atlanta Braves

The Braves drafted the switch-hitting Cumberland out of Cal-Berkeley in the 2nd round of the 2016 draft. Cumberland is working on his skills behind the plate, but his ability to hit has certainly come through this year, hitting .263/.432/.531 with 15 doubles and 10 home runs. He has been hit by pitch an incredible 25 times this season. He recently was promoted from low-A Rome to high-A Florida.

Austin Hays, OF, Baltimore Orioles

Hays was a powerful hitter with Jacksonville that many thought would go early in the 2nd round and fell to the Orioles in the middle of the 3rd round instead. He’s shown that power this season as he’s hit .328/.364/.592 with 15 doubles, 3 triples, and 16 home runs for high-A Frederick before getting promoted to AA Bowie recently.

Michael Chavis, 3B, Boston Red Sox

Chavis has struggled to live up to his first round pedigree since being a first round draft pick in 2014 out of high school in Georgia. This season has unlocked the power everyone raved about when he was drafted, as he’s hit .318/.388/.641 with 17 doubles, 2 triples, and 17 home runs before being promoted recently to AA Portland.

Alex Blandino, SS, Cincinnati Reds

Drafted out of Stanford in the first round in 2014, Blandino was expected to be a shortstop that could hit along with playing high level defense. He quickly ascended to AA Pensacola by the end of 2015, but he stalled there in 2016 and opened 2017 there. His bat showed much better this season, as he hit .259/.374/.462 with 22 doubles, 6 home runs, and 3 stolen bases for AA Pensacola before being promoted recently to AAA Louisville.

T.J. Friedl, OF, Cincinnati Reds

A surprising sign last year as an undrafted free agent out of Nevada-Reno, Friedl had somehow escaped the eyes of many teams that he was actually draft eligible, and he would have been a fairly high pick if other teams had known, likely around the 3rd round, which is roughly the bonus money that he received. Friedl opened the season with low-A Dayton in his first full season, hitting .284/.378/.472 with 20 doubles, 6 triples, 5 home runs, and 14 stolen bases. He was moved up recently to high-A Daytona in the Florida State League.

Shedric Long, 2B, Cincinnati Reds

Initially drafted as a catcher in 2013, Long moved out from behind the plate, playing primarily 2B before sticking at the position this year with tremendous defensive play. His bat also has come along significantly, hitting .312/.380/.543 with 16 doubles, a triple, 13 home runs, and 6 stolen bases for high-A Daytona. He’s recently been part of a wave of promotions up to AA Pensacola.

Nick Senzel, 3B, Cincinnati Reds

Also part of the promotions to Pensacola was 2016 #2 overall selection Nick Senzel. Drafted with the knowledge that he would move through the Reds system quickly, Senzel opened 2017 in high-A Daytona, hitting .305/.371/.476 with 26 doubles, 2 triples, 4 home runs, and 9 triples before his promotion to AA.

Brendan Rodgers, SS, Colorado Rockies

Rodgers was the #3 overall selection in 2015 out of high school in Florida. He spent all of 2016 with low-A Asheville. This season, Rodgers opened with high-A Lancaster in the Cal League, hitting .400/.419/.700 with 21 doubles, 3 triples, 12 home runs, and 2 stolen bases. Rodgers was recently promoted to AA Hartford in the Eastern League, which will be an interesting challenge after having two very hitter friendly environments thus far.

Monte Harrison, OF, Milwaukee Brewers

Harrison was among a number of extremely toolsy outfielders drafted by the Brewers in the decade when he was selected in the 2nd round out of high school in Missouri. He has struggled since drafting to get his bat to catch up with his incredible defensive skills, with many believing Harrison to have the best arm in the entire minor leagues. With low-A Wisconsin this season, Harrison hit .265/.359/.475 with 12 doubles, a triple, 11 home runs, and 11 stolen bases. He has now been promoted to high-A Carolina in the Carolina League.

Miguel Andujar, 3B, New York Yankees

Andujar was a prominent signing when he was signed out of the Dominican Republic, and his tools were always present, but often he struggled to be consistent. After an impressive performance in 2016 and a solid Arizona Fall League, Andujar followed up with a huge improvement in 2017. He opened the season with AA Trenton, and he hit .312/.342/.494 with 23 doubles, a triple, 7 home runs, and 2 stolen bases. He’s been hitting well since his promotion to AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this week over four games.