Aaron Altherr, OF, Philadelphia Phillies
Current Level: A-
2012 Top 15 Prospects Ranking: 15th
Current Value: Monitor Closely

The organization lacked a first round pick in the 2009 draft and its first actual pick (second round, 75th overall), outfielder Kelly Dugan, hasn’t done very much. The club still found a lot of talent, though, with the likes of Brody Colvin (7th round), Justin Singleton (8th), Josh Zeid (10th) and Altherr. At the time of the draft, Baseball America had a telling report on the outfielder: “He hasn’t played a lot of baseball, and the game doesn’t come easy to him. He’s a project, but has athleticism you can’t teach.” The Arizona native was an astute selection by the organization that has been burned by its love of raw athletes in the past with the likes of Greg Golson, Anthony Hewitt and Zach Collier. Altherr is still putting everything together but he’s showing flashes of brilliance on a more regular basis while taking the field in low-A ball.

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The 2007 amateur draft was an exciting time if you were a fan of the San Diego Padres, the San Francisco Giants, the Texas Rangers or the Toronto Blue Jays. Each organization had at least five picks before the second round, thanks to supplemental picks obtained for the losses of free agents the previous winter. It’s been five years since that draft, so it’s a good time to look back and see which team made out best with its additional selections.

1. San Francisco Giants: The organization found the best player out of the four clubs, a potential No. 2 starter and possibly landed a couple of future utility infielders. The club also flipped one of the prospects for a veteran infielder.

Madison Bumgarner, LHP, 10th overall: Drafted out of high school, the southpaw reached the majors in his third professional season — technically his second, since he didn’t pitch after signing in 2007. The 22-year-old has the ceiling of a No. 2 or a No. 3 starter at the big-league level and already has one 200-plus inning season under his belt.

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Charlie Culberson, IF, San Francisco Giants:
Current Level: AAA
2012 Top 15 Prospects Ranking: NR
Current Value: Leveling Off

After making 75 errors playing on the left side of the infield between 2008-09, Culberson has found more consistency on the right side of the field at the keystone. In truth his offensive profile fits better at second base too and he’s shown some nice gap power. Unfortunately he has an overly aggressive approach which hindered him at double-A in 2011 and his wOBA sat at just .303. Moved up aggressively to triple-A this season the 23-year-old infielder has walked just four times in 26 games. He also has 21 strikeouts and whiffs too much for a player with modest home run power. With experience at three infield positions Culberson’s future big league role will probably come as a utility player and the organization with have to look elsewhere for its second baseman of the future.

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With the big league pitching staff under performing, the New York Yankees front office has been forced to shake things up. In the upheaval, minor league starter D.J. Mitchell finds himself added to the 25-man roster for the first time in his four-year pro career.

Mitchell, who was omitted from the Yankees pre-season Top 15 prospect list, was out-performing – and earned the promotion over – fellow prospects Dellin Betances (ranked third) and Adam Warren (14th) at triple-A. Rookie hurler David Phelps (12th) was pitching well enough in the big league bullpen to earn a shot at replacing disappointing veteran Freddy Garcia in the starting rotation.

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It’s been an exciting week for call-ups with the Top 2 prospects within the Top 100 pre-season prospect list getting the call to the Majors. A couple other interesting names have also received a promotion to the Majors this week for the first time, although their names carry much less fanfare than the likes of Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels and Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals.

The demotion of Josh Collmenter from the starting rotation to the bullpen in Arizona is not a surprise. However, the prospect tapped with replacing him in the rotation may be. Southpaw rookie Pat Corbin, 22, was off to a very nice start in double-A, although he doesn’t possess the same ceiling as fellow top prospects Trevor Bauer and Tyler Skaggs. Prior to the season Corbin was ranked sixth on FanGraphs’ Top 15 prospect list for the Diamondbacks, while Bauer was first and Skaggs was third behind the now-traded Jarrod Parker.

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Rob Brantly, C, Detroit Tigers
Current Level: AA
2012 Top 15 Prospects Ranking: 6th
Current Value: Monitor Closely

Left-handed hitting catchers carry a ton of value, and Brantly is a good example of this market deficiency. A former third round pick out of the University of California-Riverside, he has been moved quickly through the system and reached double-A in just his second full season. Brantly handles the bat well and doesn’t strike out much – but he also doesn’t walk. He’s currently hitting .375 with 10 extra base hits in 14 games. The extra base power is new for the catcher so if he can keep that up it adds that much more value to him. Scouts are still torn on Brantly’s ability behind the plate as he still needs a lot of polish although he does a nice job with the running game. With big league starting catcher Alex Avila also swinging from the left side, the prospect may end up as trade bait if his value continues to rise.

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Trevor May, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies
Current Level: AA
2012 Top 15 Prospects Ranking: 1st
Current Value: Looking Up

Like Phildelphia needs more pitching. If you’ve watched the big league club at all this season you know that the starting rotation, at least one-through-four, is pretty sick. If the organization gets tired of trotting Joe Blanton out there, though, May could be ready to help the club by the second half of the season. Currently pitching in double-A, the right-hander has given up just 12 hits in 23.0 innings of work. He’s walked a few too many batters (eight) but has 26 whiffs. After giving up just eight home runs in more than 150 innings last season May has yet to allow a ball to clear the fences in 2012. He has the ceiling of a No. 2 starter.

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Billy Hamilton, SS, Cincinnati Reds
Current Level: A+
2012 Top 15 Prospects Ranking: 2nd
Current Value: Looking Up

Hamilton is running away with the title of ‘Most Exciting Player’ in the minors. The Reds speedster has 18 steals (in 22 tries) in as many games. He’s using his speed to get on-base too; he’s hitting .405 from the left side and has beaten out a few infield singles. Hamilton also clearly understands that it’s important for him to get on-base to take advantage of his speed as he’s walked 11 times, which has allowed him to score 18 runs. The 21 year old is definitely being aided on offence by the potent California League but he should see double-A in the second half of the season. After making five errors already this year (and 39 last season) it’s his defense that might hold him back a bit. Current Reds Zack Cozart is more consistent and more of a proven commodity but he cannot match Hamilton’s upside.

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The Milwaukee Brewers have promoted Wily Peralta. The right-handed starter, ranked as the club’s No. 3 prospect, received the called on Saturday and will likely pitch out of the bullpen at the MLB level.

The burly prospect has made three starts at the triple-A level in 2012 with stellar results. In 17.0 innings of work he’s allowed just nine hits and six walks while striking out 13. Peralta has also been inducing a high number of ground-ball outs, something that has helped him survive pitching in the potent Pacific Coast League. Last season, spent mostly at double-A, the 22-year-old pitcher struck out 157 batters in 150.2 innings while again showing above-average ground-ball rates.

During the pre-season Top 15 prospect list for the Brewers I threw a Bartolo Colon comp on Peralta, as a heavy-set right-hander with good stuff (90-95 mph fastball, slider, changeup) who should be a big league workhorse with the ceiling of a No. 2-3 starter. To reach that ceiling, though, he’ll have to improve the consistency of his secondary pitches and his overall control.

Milwaukee’s No. 5 starter Chris Narveson is likely headed for season-ending shoulder surgery and reliever Marco Estrada is making the spot start on Saturday against the Colorado Rockies. Peralta should be available to relieve Estrada, if necessary, but could then take over the role going forward. The club has a strong starting rotation with the likes of veterans Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum and Yovani Gallardo at the top of the heap, so the playoff contender can easily afford to carry a rookie starter – especially one with Peralta’s potential. Even as a rookie, he could produce similar numbers to what Narveson produced between 2010 and 2011.

Jackie Bradley, OF, Boston Red Sox
Current Level: A+
2012 Top 15 Prospects Ranking: 7th
Current Value: Looking Up

A talented college player, Bradley’s stock slipped a bit in the 2011 draft due to injury. As a result the Red Sox organization may have gotten a bit of a steal. A potential gold glove fielder, Bradley also possesses good speed and appears to understand his own strengths. He’s currently hitting .333 with 11 walks in 12 games. He also has four steals in five attempts. If Bradley, 22, keeps hitting for average, walking and stealing bases he could end up as a real impact player at the big league level. If his hitting levels off, though, he will likely still have value at the big league level because of his glove work.

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