Daily Prospect Notes: 9/20/21

These are notes on prospects from Eric Longenhagen. Read previous installments of the Daily Prospect Notes here.

Noah Campbell, UTIL, Milwaukee Brewers
Level & Affiliate: Low-A Carolina Age: 22 Org Rank: NR FV: 30
Line: 0-for-4, BB, 1 IP, SV, played all nine positions

Notes
Campbell has played mostly 1B/3B/LF this year but also has had a handful of games at either middle infield spot; yesterday was the fourth time this season he has pitched but his first action in center field. A likely org guy more than a prospect, Campbell is wrapping up a nice first pro season, slashing .270/.388/.387 with 20 steals and one big, rare feather in his cap because of yesterday’s game.

JP Sears, LHP, New York Yankees
Level & Affiliate: Double-A Somerset Age: 25 Org Rank: NR FV: 35
Line: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 R, 7 K

Notes
Sears was drafted by Seattle in 2017 and traded to New York later that year as part of the package (with Juan Then) for Nick Rumbelow. He began the year as a swingman, pitching multiple innings out of the Double-A bullpen and making an occasional spot start. By July, Sears grabbed hold of a rotation spot and held it amid a promotion to Triple-A, where he has a 3.05 ERA and a 51-to-9 K-to-BB ratio in 41 innings. Sears is throwing a little harder this season, averaging just a shade over 93 mph on his fastball after sitting 90-92 and topping out at 93 in 2019. He works with flat fastball angle at the top of the zone, his slider has utility as a backfoot offering to righties, and Sears’ changeup is passable. He’s a perfectly fine spot starter candidate, the sort the Yankees rarely rely on but often find a trade outlet for.

Royber Salinas, RHP, Atlanta Braves
Level & Affiliate: Low-A Augusta Age: 20 Org Rank: NR FV: 35
Line: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 0 R, 5 K

Notes
The 20-year-old Salinas amassed 67 strikeouts in 39.1 IP this season split between the Complex and three late-season starts at Low-A. He sits 93-94 with carry and has a big, loopy, 12-to-6 curveball that has given lower-level hitters fits, but I’m not certain it’s going to be a viable upper-level weapon for him. Lacking any kind of physical projection despite his age and in possession of a relief-only mechanical look and command, Salinas is a super deep sleeper with a vertical fastball/curveball combination, a “maybe” relief prospect likely to be in the Braves prospect list’s Honorable Mention section this offseason.

Scott Randall, RHP, Arizona Diamondbacks
Level & Affiliate: Low-A Visalia Age: 23 Org Rank: NR FV: 35
Line: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 0 R, 9 K

Notes
The Diamondbacks drafted a couple of interesting Day Two and Three college arms including Randall, who has also thrown a little harder since being picked (ninth round lefty Jake Rice from Kennesaw State is another). Then with Sacramento State, Randall sat 87-89 mph at the WAC Tournament but has been parked closer to 92 in pro ball. The pacing of his delivery and Randall’s arm speed make him somewhat deceptive and tough for hitters to time, but he does most of his damage with a plus changeup that benefits from the quickness of his arm and also has nasty fading action. Strike-throwers with changeups tend to over-perform and move quickly. Ideally, the D-backs can find a useful breaking ball here and Randall can pitch toward the back of a rotation.

Housekeeping
There is now a 2021 Graduates tab on The Board where you can see which rookies have accrued enough big league time to have exhausted their prospect eligibility. A few players will exceed the inning/at-bat limits over the next couple of weeks and be added, and I’m sure I’ve missed and will need to add a handful of guys who have graduated on the basis of non-September roster days. If a player’s FV has changed upon final reflection, they’ll either have an “up” or “down” arrow on that page. Recall that short, de-briefing one liners will appear on the player pages of the graduates so future FanGraphs travelers can see what was thought about them at time of their graduation.

International amateur players who signed during the year are also now cemented within their own 2021 class’ rankings as well. They’ve been pulled from the default International Players tab in preparation for the addition of the next class (along with some new foreign pros you should know about). No changes have been made to rankings within that class. Updates to future draft and International classes will act as the lead-in to the pro lists next month.

This is the last Daily Prospect Notes of the year, as the minor league regular season comes to a close and instructional league begins in Arizona on Tuesday. The foundation is now being laid for our offseason prospect lists. Thanks for reading these again this year and thanks to Tess Taruskin and Brendan Gawlowski for helping to carry the load.