Daily Prospect Notes: 5/18/21

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

Demarcus Evans, RHP, Texas Rangers
Level & Affiliate: Triple-A Round Rock Age: 24 Org Rank: TBD  FV: 40+
Line:
2 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Notes
Evans lives almost entirely off his fastball’s carry and angle, which punishes hitters at the top of the zone. I saw him sit 94–96 mph during the spring. He can also dump in an inconsistent 12-to-6 curveball, but his feel for burying it is still poor, and it hangs in the zone too often. In an attempt to find a more impactful second pitch, Evans has added a cutter. The outing I saw during the spring was his second or third time using it, and it was understandably of mixed quality. We’re still talking about a premium fastball here, though — one that plays in a similar fashion to James Karinchak‘s and Nick Anderson’s fastballs. But there’s just no second plus offering to pair with it. I think it’s more likely Evans ends up in a middle relief role early on, but he’s a high-leverage lock if a secondary pitch ever materializes.

Joey Bart, C, San Francisco Giants
Level & Affiliate: Triple-A Sacramento Age: 24 Org Rank: 2 (54 overall)  FV: 50
Line:
2-for-3, 2B, BB
Notes
Five of Bart’s first nine games came in the hitter haven that is Las Vegas, but he is off to a really hot start, slashing .382/.432/.735, albeit while striking out 33% of the time. Strikeouts are always going to be a part of Bart’s offensive profile; it’s just a matter of how much they hamper his ability to get to his power in games. He is tracking almost exactly like Mike Zunino did eight years ago, and while Zunino had some lean years in which he hit below the Mendoza line, he’s still been a valuable everyday catcher with some All-Star–caliber seasons, and that’s what Bart looks like. Hitting like he has to start the year isn’t a sign he’s improved, but he is kicking down the door to big league playing time, especially with Curt Casali struggling. The longer the Giants stay near the top of the standings, the more it makes sense to insert Bart (who is an excellent defender and field general) to lighten the load on Buster Posey’s legs and improve his chances of staying healthy all year.

Taylor Trammell, OF, Seattle Mariners
Level & Affiliate: Triple-A Tacoma Age: 23 Org Rank: 8  FV: 45
Line:
3-for-4, 2B, HR
Notes
Speaking of guys kicking the door down: Since he was demoted, Trammell has had nothing but multi-hit efforts and is batting .636 with six extra-base hits in five games. It’s not cause to re-evaluate what I wrote on the recent Mariners list, but I do think it illustrates the gap between big league pitching and Triple-A pitching. Trammell was striking out 40% of the time in MLB, double his career rate and four times the rate since his demotion (though in a tiny sample).

Tommy Nance, RHP, Chicago Cubs
Level & Affiliate: MLB Age: 30 Org Rank: TBD  FV: 40+
Line:
1 IP, 1 K
Notes
Nance is another Indy Ball signee who had a velo spike during the off year (read about Max Bain here), but unlike Bain, whose affiliated career just began this year, he has had a longer runway. He signed out of the independent Frontier League early in 2016 and pitched in the middle levels of the Cubs’ system for nearly half a decade before showing way bigger velocity this year. He was 91–94 in 2019 but got up to 97–98 during his single-inning big league debut. Nance had three strong relief outings at Triple-A Iowa (combined: 6 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 10 K) before the call-up. There he was more 94–96 and topping out at 97, really only throwing his mid-80s power slurve apart from the fastball. His heater has big tailing action and is capable of running off the hips of lefty batters and back over the plate.

As I wrote regarding Julian Merryweather on the Blue Jays list, just because this guy is 30 doesn’t mean he’s not a prospect. He’s rookie-eligible, has roster flexibility, and is under team control the same as any young player. He’s also a pitcher who clearly has immediate big league bullpen utility. The likelihood of age-related decline during his year of team control does complicate where he falls on the FV scale, since I care about all six or seven of those years, but teams need to decide how they value a guy like this versus a more traditional prospect, so I will, too. Would you rather have Nance or Anderson Espinoza right now? Or Jay Groome? If either of those younger arms were to end up sitting 97-plus with an upper-80s hammer breaking ball out of the bullpen, we’d think it was a great outcome given what they have dealt with on the way there. Well, Nance is that right now.

Brock Jones, OF, Stanford Cardinal
Level & Affiliate: PAC-12 Age: 20 Draft Rank: 16 (2022) FV: 40+
Line:
2-for-2, 3 BB, HR
Notes
Jones was a high-profile, two-sport high school prospect from Northern California who ended up at Stanford because of a strong commitment, the kind typically associated with Stanford. He’s only played baseball there and had his freshman season shortended by the pandemic. He got off to a hot start before cooling as the Cardinal got deeper into conference play, falling into a homerless drought that lasted over a month before he went deep Sunday and Monday against Cal.

Jones is in incredible shape and is one of the more imposing physical presences in college baseball. With that strength comes power, but also some stiffness. The length and shape of his swing are not typical of a big league power hitter, though athletically he fits the bill. This is definitely a name to know for next year’s draft, and Jones has laid a strong foundational season on paper, but my look during Stanford’s visit to Arizona State and his mechanics means I’m still leaving him ranked where he was coming out of high school rather than moving him up.

Other Notes
There were only six games across the minors last night, typical of a Monday, with several big league rehabbers playing. Astros lefty Framber Valdez threw 47 pitches in three innings. After a week between outings, Rangers lefty Brock Burke struggled through 2.2 innings, his second early-season clunker in a row. Rockies infielder Brendan Rodgers played his fourth consecutive rehab game and went 2-for-4 with a double. Diamondbacks superstar Ketel Marte, returning from a hamstring strain, played his first rehab game at Triple-A Reno.





Eric Longenhagen is from Catasauqua, PA and currently lives in Tempe, AZ. He spent four years working for the Phillies Triple-A affiliate, two with Baseball Info Solutions and two contributing to prospect coverage at ESPN.com. Previous work can also be found at Sports On Earth, CrashburnAlley and Prospect Insider.

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sadtrombonemember
2 years ago

I am not that excited about Joey Bart blowing up AAA when he’s striking out about a third of the time! I guess the homers are exciting but that comp to Mike Zunino is scary. Once you see that parallel you can’t unsee it.

SenorGato
2 years ago
Reply to  sadtrombone

TBF, Zunino and pretty much anyone who can do the job full time with defense and some power is underrated. I really don’t think fans appreciate what’s asked of catchers, squatting in equipment all summer is no joke. Throw in the insane level of competition in today’s game and yeah, most of them are going to look like trash if we continue to look at them the way the reptiles/owners would love us to continue looking at people

cartermember
2 years ago
Reply to  SenorGato

Zunino has also had a great start to the season, and a few really good years scattered in. He currently has a 144wrc+ and has had seasons of 126 and 117 and numerous where he was over 2 war. It isn’t necessarily anything outstanding, but he has been an all star and would be again this year likely if the all star game was held now. At least half of mlb teams would gladly take him as their catcher, as they should.

tomerafan
2 years ago
Reply to  carter

Absolutely. He hasn’t been what his most bullish followers hoped he would be, but he’s a darn good catcher (and I’d take him on my team any day of the week for what he does behind the plate).

tomerafan
2 years ago
Reply to  SenorGato

Reptiles/owners? Really? Do you think anyone can take your comments seriously when you approach them from that angle?

gettwobrute79member
2 years ago
Reply to  sadtrombone

A big reason I’m hoping the Bucs pull the trigger on Hank Davis. I love his bat to ball skills, and I’m not sure that’s something he (or any prospect) can acquire easily.
More to Gato’s point, catching is just so absurdly difficult. It looks even more so because we’re going through a relatively dry stretch for the position. I think because of the difficulty the players face at the position, you’re going to see guys pop up briefly for a year or two and be very good, then slump back down. The Realmuto’s and Grandals are rare.