Daily notes on prospects from lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen. Read previous installments here.

Chuckie Robinson, C, Houston (Profile)
Level: Low-A   Age: 22   Org Rank: HM   Top 100: NR
Line: 1-for-2, HR, 2 BB

Notes
A 21st rounder out of Southern Miss, Robinson has big pull power and takes full-effort, uppercut swings. He’s homered in two consecutive games (his first two of the season) and is now up to .282/.346/.479 on the year. He’s significantly improved his conditioning since high school and improved his defensive mobility, though he’s still listed at 5-foot-11, 225 pounds. Robinson is now a passable receiver with above-average pure arm strength that plays down on throws to second base because he’s still a bit slow to exit his crouch. Some are apprehensive about the sustainability of Robinson’s Bunyanesque approach to hitting, but he’s got louder tools and a better chance to reach the majors than the typical 21st-round pick. He profiles as a third catcher.

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Daily notes on prospects from lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen. Read previous installments here.

Greg Harris, RHP, Tampa (Profile)
Level: Double-A   Age: 22   Org Rank: 29   Top 100: NR
Line: 6 IP, 1 BB, 4 H, 2 ER, 11 K

Notes
After seeing Harris last fall, I projected him to the bullpen due to loose command. Other than one bad start on May 4 at Biloxi, however — when he walked four batters — he’s generally avoided issuing free passes, walking just six in 36 innings. Harris throws hard, in the low-to-mid 90s, has an above-average changeup, a viable cutter, and curveball. If he can maintain his upright, stiff-looking delivery and fill the zone, he could pitch in the back of a rotation. He has a 3.26 ERA at Double-A Montgomery.

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Daily notes on prospects from lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen. Read previous installments here.

Ronald Acuna, CF, Atlanta (Profile)
Level: Double-A   Age: 19   Org Rank: 3   Top 100: 35
Line: 3-for-4, HR, SB, CS, IBB, 2 R

Notes
After a whifftastic start to the season, Acuna caught fire and hit .352/.410/.611 during his final two weeks at High-A before a promotion to Double-A, where he debuted last night. His peripherals had gone backward at Florida. For example: he recorded a 32% strikeout rate and 6% walk rate there — double and nearly half, respectively, of last year’s rates. Nevertheless, Acuna is entering a strange statistical realm where, even though he’s at a minor-league level at which on-paper performance becomes a more reliable measure of ability, failure will seem relatively meaningless because he’s a 19-year-old at Double-A who has played only 68 career games above Rookie-level ball. He has plus speed, plus raw power, and surprising bat control for such a high-effort swing.

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Daily notes on prospects from lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen. Read previous installments here.

Mike Gerber, OF, Detroit (Profile)
Level: Double-A   Age: 24   Org Rank: 5   Top 100: NR
Line: 4-for-5, 2 2B, 3 R, BB, SB

Notes
A 15th-round pick in 2014 out of an underrated Creighton program, Gerber first garnered national media attention by performing well during the 2015 Fall League. He finished 2016 with 42 games at Double-A Erie and has started well there this season, hitting .300/.364/.450. Gerber has some swing-and-miss and platoon issues (he has a 26% career strikeout rate and so far this year his splits are 34% against lefties, 21% against righties) but has solid-average raw power. He also plays good defense in right field, so even if he never hits lefties, he could still play every day because of the glove. He projects as a low-end regular.

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Daily notes on prospects from lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen. Read previous installments here.

Andres Gimenez, SS, New York NL (Profile)
Level: Low-A   Age: 18   Org Rank: 5   Top 100: HM
Line: 1-for-4, 2B

Notes
It wasn’t an especially notable night for Gimenez, but his promotion to full-season ball is significant. Gimenez was a high-dollar Venezuelan signee and was lauded by international scouts for his polish; he’s also a teenager who spent last year in the Dominican Summer League. After passing a few weeks in extended spring training, he effectively skipped three levels (the Mets’ GCL, New York-Penn League, and Appalachian League affiliates) and has been sent to full-season ball. My full report from the Mets’ prospect list is here, he garnered overall top-100 consideration from me despite modest physical tools because he’s so likely to stay at short, make a lot of contact and, as he seems poised to do, move quickly through the system. Below are all the swings Gimenez took last night as well as some of what he did on the defensive side.

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Daily notes on prospects from lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen. Read previous installments here.

Jared Oliva, CF, University of Arizona (Profile)
Level: NCAA (Pac-12)   Age: 21   
Line: 5-for-7, 2 2B, 2 R

Notes
Oliva is a redshirt junior who went undrafted last year, as scouts considered him to be quite raw and inconsistent despite impressive physical tools. But Oliva didn’t play much on a loaded high-school team that included Rays 2016 seventh rounder J.D. Busfield and this student profile of Oliva alludes to a sub-optimal relationship with his high-school coach.

He’s broken out a bit this spring, still suffering the occasional instinctive lapse but less often than last year while hitting a healthy .351/.411/.557. Oliva runs well enough to have a chance to stay in center field and has above-average raw power, although scouts are mixed about how much he’s going to hit. As a redshirt junior slated to graduate soon, he’s an easier sign than most prospects with this kind of power/speed combination and represents an interesting underslot opportunity in a draft class severely lacking college bats.

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Daily notes on prospects from lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen. Read previous installments here.

Sean Newcomb, LHP, Atlanta (Profile)
Level: Triple-A   Age: 20   Org Rank: 11  Top 100: HM
Line: 7 IP, 11 K, 1 H, 2 BB

Notes
Walks have again been an issue for Newcomb so far this year, but he was dominant on Sunday, missing bats in and above the zone with his fastball and then working his curveball and changeup (the latter more frequently later in the game) down for either more whiffs or weak contact. He lulled Brock Holt to sleep in an early plate appearance by tripling up on his curveball, then sneaked a fastball past him for a called third strike. Newcomb finished the day with the sequence below.

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Daily notes on prospects from lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen. Read previous installments here.

Marcus Wilson, CF, Arizona (Profile)
Level: Low-A   Age: 20   Org Rank: HM  Top 100: NR
Line: 2-for-4, 2B, 2 BB

Notes
The latest iteration of Wilson’s swing includes a slow, dangling, leg kick (2016 version here, new version below), and it seems to be working. He’s hitting .362/.470/.696 so far. Wilson is a patient hitter with plus speed and he projects in center field, but his first three pro seasons were marred with swing-and-miss issues. He has a career 24% strikeout rate but is at 16% so far this year. This is Wilson’s first spring in full-season ball but, even after three years in rookie/short-season leagues, he’s still just 20. He’s hit some balls 400-plus feet this spring and still has some and has some physical projection remaining. The Midwest League will have a chance to solve him, and I don’t expect him to keep up this pace (Wilson already has more home runs this year than ’14-’16 combined), but the mechanical change suggests that not all of this is a small-sample mirage.

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Daily notes on prospects from lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen. Read previous installments here.

Hoy Jun Park, SS, New York AL (Profile)
Level: Low-A   Age: 21   Org Rank: HM  Top 100: NR
Line: 1-for-3, HR, 2 BB

Notes
Park is repeating the Carolina League and is exhibiting early indicators of improvement. He’s already hit more home runs than he had all last year (he has three), and he’s cut his strikeout rate in half while maintaining his impressive, career-long 13% walk rate. While unlikely to sustain his current .350/.450/.530 pace, Park’s early success is at least a sign that he could be ready for High-A this year, at which level Jorge Mateo is already splitting time between shortstop and center field and Kyle Holder, who’s old for the level, is hitting .083. Park is a 50 runner with polished defensive actions at shortstop and enough arm to play there. He projects in a utility role.

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Daily notes on prospects from lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen. Read previous installments here.

Yusniel Diaz, OF, Los Angeles NL (Profile)
Level: Hi-A   Age: 20   Org Rank: 9  Top 100: NR
Line: 3-for-4, 3B, BB, 2 R, SB

Notes
Baseball Prospectus’ Wilson Karaman was the first to notice that Diaz now has a leg kick instead of his 2016 Sammy Sosa variation. He struggled with contact at times last year and is repeating the Cal League, but he’s hitting .293 so far this season and will play all of this season at age 20. He’s hitting the ball on the ground more often this year and isn’t hitting for power right now.

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