The Arizona Diamondbacks have gone fishing for a replacement for injured outfielder Chris Young. The organization purchased the contract of prospect A.J. Pollock from triple-A.

Prior to the 2012 season the outfielder ranked as the 13th best player in the minor league system, which has one of the strongest collection of prospects in the game. He was the club’s first round pick (17th overall) out of Notre Dame in 2009.

Pollock, 24, has faced some adversity in his career and missed the entire 2010 season after elbow surgery but he has rebounded admirably. The right-handed hitter came back last year and hit more than .300 in double-A with 41 doubles and 36 steals (43 attempts). Moved up to triple-A in 2012 he was hitting .340 with six doubles in the 12 games prior to his promotion. The knock on the outfielder is that he lacks the range for centerfield but doesn’t possess the power that teams typically covet with their corner outfielders. His ceiling currently sits at platoon or fourth outfielder.

With Jason Kubel and Gerardo Parra swinging from the left side, Pollock could be a nice complement (along with Justin Upton) from the right side. The time frame is currently unknown for Young’s return from a torn ligament in his shoulder but Pollock should have a significant opportunity to prove the scouting reports wrong.

Look for him to provide the Diamondbacks offence with a decent average with a good number of doubles and some steals mixed in. Despite the fact that he’s a rookie, Pollock is a better top-of-the-order option than either Willie Bloomquist or Aaron Hill (although Pollock could stand to be a little more patient).

Nick Ahmed, SS, Atlanta Braves
Current Level: A+
2012 Top 15 Prospects Ranking: NR
Current Value: Monitor closely

Atlanta targeted Ahmed with its second round draft pick in 2011 with the hope that he could move quickly through the system in need of middle infield depth. The shortstop is not flashy in the field but he’s steady, makes all the plays and has a strong arm. At the plate, he’s more if a No. 2 hitter with good barrel control and the ability to play small ball. He’s shown his ability to get on base early in 2012 by walking eight times in his first 11 games. He’s struck out just three times. Ahmed also possesses good speed and has stolen six bases in as many tries. He’s definitely worth keeping an eye on even if he’s currently stuck behind Tyler Pastornicky and Andrelton Simmons on the shortstop depth chart.

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Tyler Austin, OF, New York Yankees
Current Level: A-
2012 Top 15 Prospects Ranking: 11th
Current Value: Ready to Explode

Already on his third position (3B, 1B, RF) after playing catcher as an amateur, Austin has done nothing but hit despite his uncertain defensive home. He hit more than .350 in 2011 and he’s currently above .400 in low-A ball. He also has 11 extra base hits in nine games. Austin was also successful in all 18 base stealing attempts last year so he’s not a one-trick pony, although he’s a smart base runner as opposed to a fast one. Austin is yet another example of the rich getting richer.

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Thursday night saw a number of strong pitching performances erupt throughout the minor leagues.

Cody Buckel, RHP, Texas Rangers
Current Level: A+
2012 Top 15 Prospects Ranking: 15th
Current Value: Holding Steady

Buckel, still just 19, is enjoying his time in the high-A Carolina League. He gave up just two hits and no walks in 6.0 innings last night. He’s now given up four hits and three walks in his first 10 innings of work. That goes along with 16 strikeouts and a high rate of ground-ball outs. Buckel doesn’t have the most dynamic stuff but if he continues to show good command and control of his repertoire he could develop into a solid No. 3 starter at the big league level.

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Dear Gary Sanchez,

I’ve made the two-and-a-half hour round trip to Rome, Georgia to watch you play baseball twice. On both occasions, you have had the game off leaving me with no choice but to dream of scouting your plus power potential without seeing it in person. Mr. Sanchez, the dugout is no place for a young man of your talents. On Saturday, I’ll be back at State Mutual Stadium and hope to see you in game action then. I enjoyed watching a number of your teammates perform well on Thursday, but their potent bats and steady glove work robbed me of seeing you make a token pinch-hitting appearance. Here’s to hoping you have a rightful place in the starting lineup this weekend so I may remove you from the list of “one’s who got away.”

Sincerely,
Mike Newman

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Pitching is quite often ahead of hitting early on in the season but as you’ll see below there are still quite a few position prospects who are off to strong starts to the year.

C.J. Cron, 1B, Los Angeles Angels
Current Level: A+
2012 Top 15 Prospect Ranking: 3rd
Current Value: Holding Steady

Despite having his pro debut in 2011 cut short due to injury, Cron has come out swinging in 2012, taking full advantage of the friendly confines of the California League. The right-handed hitter currently has a 1.022 OPS in seven games, including a .556 batting average against left-handed pitchers. Perhaps because he’s seeing the ball so well he has yet to take a walk. Although his stats will no doubt be inflated by the league, Cron could very well hit his way to double-A by mid-year.

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Michael Schwimer wasn’t happy with his performance last Friday. The 26-year-old right-hander threw a scoreless ninth inning when Triple-A Lehigh Valley beat Scranton Wilkes-Barre. He also earned a save. But the Phillies’ stat-geek pitching prospect looks beyond the numbers that can be found in a box score. After each game, Schwimer charts his pitches and grades them with a plus-minus system.

Schwimer broke down his April 5 outing, pitch-by-pitch, when Philadelphia’s Triple-A club visited Pawtucket a few days later.

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Schwimer, on charting his outings: “After the game, I look at the film and chart every pitch that I threw. The first thing I chart is my intent. For instance, the intent could be a fastball away. I give it either a plus or a minus depending on whether I was able to physically do what my mind intended it to. That’s a piece of data that FanGraphs or Pitch-FX can’t be helpful with, because they don’t know my intent on the pitch.

“I also read the hitter’s movements and reactions. I chart every pitch and every reaction I get on that pitch. From that information, I formulate a game plan as to how to approach that same hitter in the future.

“When I do the charting, I try to take out baseball’s traditional-result goals. Read the rest of this entry »

The minor league season is now well underway with a plethora of high-level performances by intriguing names from triple-A all the way down to low-A. Below is just a snapshot highlighting five strong starts to the season.

Tony Cingrani, LHP, Cincinnati Reds
Current Level: A+
2012 Top 15 Prospects Ranking: 8th
Current Value: Holding Steady

It’s not easy jumping from short-season ball to high-A ball but Cingrani made it look easy. His first start – in which he allowed just one hit in 6.0 innings – was all the more impressive when you realize it took place in the hitter friendly California League. The southpaw also walked a batter but he struck out five. Of the balls put into play, Cingrani recorded more outs via the fly ball than the ground ball so that gives him something to work on for his next start.

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Dylan Bundy’s Orioles debut for the Delmarva Shorebirds versus the Asheville Tourists, a Rockies affiliate, marked the start of a fourth season for me scouting prospects in the South Atlantic League. In previous years, highly ranked pitching prospects have come and gone, bringing with them reportedly unhittable “stuff.” In most cases, those arms never live up to advanced billing as the prospect hype does not match performance on the field. With Dylan Bundy, his ability may have been undersold, as exemplified by the lack of major media at his first professional start.

Video after the jump

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In the first of what hopes to be a yearly tradition in the Atlanta area, the Braves matched up against an all-star team of prospects from the organization. And while the nearly 10,600 fans in attendance were there to catch a glimpse of Jason Heyward, Freddie Freeman and company, my interest was a handful of top prospects in the organization who had spent little-to-no time at the Rome affiliate at which I scout extensively.

The eye-opener of the evening had to be J.R. Graham, who had the least success versus big league hitters, but easily showed the most velocity in the park. From my vantage point in the auxiliary press box, I was forced to rely on the stadium gun, but feel pretty comfortable reporting velocities considering both Sean Gilmartin and Mike Minor, whom I’ve scouted previously, had readings in line with previous reports. And in Graham’s inning, every fastball was 95-96 MPH, touching 97 on two occasions. Amped up on adrenaline, the command was non-existent and the pitch was flat, but his loose arm action, combined with plus velocity, leaves him a prospect to watch intently throughout the 2012 season.

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