Dodgers lefty prospect Julio Urias has made 17 starts this season. Julio Urias, as you may have heard, is 17 years old.

Fifteen of his starts came before his birthday less than two weeks ago. The Mexico native spent the majority of the season playing professional baseball — and full-season ball, at that — at the age of 16. Naturally, people are intrigued. Naturally, he’s received a fair bit of hype — especially with a 2.68 ERA, as well as just 16 walks to go with 62 strikeouts in 50.1 innings.

But is that hype justified?

Sort of.

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Two years ago, Josh Bell did the unexpected. He signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Bucs boldly drafted Bell in the second round, despite his proclamation — through a letter to all 30 teams — that he would be attending the University of Texas. The product of Dallas’ Jesuit College Preparatory School was committed to getting an education.

Much to the Pirates delight, he changed his mind. The powerfully built, switch-hitting outfielder was more than a promising student-athlete. He had as much raw talent as any player in the draft. Were it not for signability issues, he likely would  have gone in the top half of the first round.

Last season, Bell learned how to deal with adversity. Just 15 games into his professional career, he tore the meniscus in his left knee and missed the rest of the season.

Bell, who turned 21 earlier this month, is currently getting his schooling in the South Atlantic League. In 498 plate appearances with the West Virginia Power, he is hitting .280/.353/.455, with 37 doubles and 12 home runs. Read the rest of this entry »

Xander Bogaerts is in elite company. The 20-year-old Red Sox shortstop made his Major League debut last night hitting seventh against pitcher Ryan Vogelsong and the San Francisco Giants.

Between 1970 and 2013, 38 hitters’ rookie seasons came at the age of 20. Some of those names include Rickey Henderson (-0.7 WAR), Sammy Sosa (-0.4), Gary Sheffield (-0.4), Miguel Cabrera (1.0), Buddy Bell (1.5), Giancarlo Stanton (2.3), Alan Trammell (2.7), Andruw Jones (3.7), Roberto Alomar (3.9), Jason Heyward (4.7) and Mike Trout, who had the best debut season of any rookie with 10 WAR.

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The object of this article isn’t to compare Manuel Margot to Xander Bogaerts. That wouldn’t be fair. The latter is one of the top prospects in the game and just made his big-league debut. The former is playing short-season ball. There are other notable differences as well.

There are also notable similarities, which is why it is hard to write about Margot without mentioning Bogaerts. Each signed with the Red Sox as an international free agent at age 16 and excelled in the Dominican Summer League at age 17. Each proceeded to hold his own against older competition at age 18: Bogaerts in the South Atlantic League two years ago, Margot in the New York-Penn League this season.

Then there is the wow factor. The buzz surrounding Margot hasn’t reached Bogaerts proportions, but it’s definitely there. And it’s getting louder. Read the rest of this entry »

Prior to the 2013 season, the White Sox system got a lot of grief for being one of the worst systems in baseball. It definitely has some glaring holes but there are some intriguing prospects that probably don’t get enough press — such as the southpaw below.

Scott Snodgress, LHP, White Sox: The Stanford alum signed his first pro contract after being selected by Chicago in the fifth round of the 2011 amateur draft. Snodgress has moved swiftly through the system and has spent the entire ’13 season pitching in Double-A.

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That his pitching coach considered limiting the number of breaking pitches he could throw in a recent outing says a lot about Jake Thompson. It isn’t because the highly-regarded Detroit Tigers pitching prospect lacks quality secondary offerings, but rather that he needs to do a better job of establishing his fastball.

Drafted in the second round last summer out of Rockwall-Heath (Texas) High School, Thompson is currently honing his skills with the Low-A West Michigan Whitecaps. The 19-year-old right-hander talked about his development — including the fine-tuning of his multi-pitch mix — prior to his Aug. 9 start against the Lansing Lugnuts. Also weighing in was his pitching coach, former Detroit closer Mike Henneman. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve received more emails asking about Kyle Hendricks than any other prospect in recent weeks. Everyone seems to be curious about the Cubs’ right-handed pitching prospect who posted a 1.85 ERA in 21 Double-A starts. Due to popular demand, he leads off this edition of the Prospect Stock Watch.

Kyle Hendricks, RHP, Chicago Cubs: The hurler’s numbers immediately jump out: 1.85 ERA, 107 hits allowed in 126.1 innings (7.72 H/9) and just 26 walks (1.85 BB/9). The catch with Hendricks, though, is that he has a fringe-average fastball in the 87-91 mph range. He’s dominated hitters in the minors due to above-average control and command of his four-pitch repertoire (fastball, curveball, cutter, changeup).

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The author attended a Double-A Eastern League game on Sunday between the Richmond Flying Squirrels (a San Francisco affiliate) and New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Toronto) in Manchester, NH (box). What follows is a brief examination of two Giants prospects from same.

Adam Duvall, 3B

The author had no intention of more closely examining — had, in fact, scarcely heard of — third-base prospect Adam Duvall prior to Sunday’s game. And yet, one finds his name here in bold type, suggesting that something of that sort is in the offing.

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Daniel Norris seemed intrigued when I suggested he might be the next Drake Britton. It is an apples-to-orange comparison — the latter underwent Tommy John surgery and Norris‘s worst malady has been a forearm strain — but the southpaws share notable things in common. For one, they saw their professional careers get off to slow starts.

Norris, one of the top prospects in the Toronto Blue Jays system, has gone 3-11, 6.19 since being taken in the second round of the 2011 draft. Two years ago, in high-A, Britton went 1-13, 6.91. He is now in the big leagues with the Red Sox.

The 20-year-old Norris is showing indications he may be ready to turn a similar corner. In his last two starts for the low-A Lansing Lugnuts, he has thrown nine scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts. More importantly, he has begun pitching with more poise and confidence. Norris talked about his development — including what he has learned from his struggles — late last week. Read the rest of this entry »

The author attended a Double-A Eastern League game on Tuesday between the Bowie Baysox (a Baltimore affiliate) and New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Toronto) in Manchester, NH. What follows is a brief examination of three Blue Jays prospects from same.

Marcus Stroman, RHP

After returning in May from a 50-game suspension for a banned stimulant, the right-handed Duke product Stroman has been excellent for New Hampshire, having recorded strikeout and walk rates of 29.9% and 6.8%, respectively, entering Tuesday’s contest. Those figures situate him third among Eastern League starters behind only Cleveland prospect Danny Salazar (since promoted) and the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard by SCOUT, itself essentially a regressed (and probably poorly calculated) form of kwERA.

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