Daily Prospect Notes: 5/15
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.
Stephen Woods, RHP, San Francisco (Profile)
Level: Low-A Age: 21 Org Rank: NR Top 100: NR
Line: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 ER
Notes
Woods had stock-sinking control issues in college and continues to have rashes of wildness. But his control has glacially improved since his freshman year at Albany, and Woods has had stretches of competent strike-throwing this spring. He touches 94, will flash a plus curveball, and is at least a middle-relief prospect at this point, but some scouts like the delivery enough to keep projecting on the command.
Lucas Sims, RHP, Atlanta (Profile)
Level: Triple-A Age: 23 Org Rank: HM Top 100: NR
Line: 6.2 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 10 K
Notes
Sims has an 11% career walk rate but is throwing strikes this year (having recorded just a 6% walk rate so far), including 74 of 107 pitches on Sunday. He’s throwing his fastball up above the strike zone and then working his plus curveball down below and getting swing and misses on both pitches. The fastball is 94-96 but was flat last year, when he surrendered 12 home runs in 50 innings at Triple-A. It doesn’t sound like a significant mechanical change has unlocked Sims’ suddenly good command, though one scout told me he thought Sims’ arm action looks better than last year.
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Notes from the back fields
Kansas City 20-year old righty Janser Lara sat 94-97 and touched 99 on Friday. His secondaries are all below average, but scouts like the delivery and think Lara has promising command projection.
Several Padres notes. Eighteen-year-old righty Andres Munoz was also 94-97 and has been up to 101 this spring. His arm action is reminiscent of Joel Zumaya’s. Teenagers who throw this hard are usually selected in the top two rounds of a given draft, even if throwing hard is all they do, but Munoz has been a relatively obscure name in a loaded farm system.
Righty Michel Miliano, just 17, was 88-90 with downhill plane and feel for locating his curveball though it lacked tight spin. The 18-year old and 6-foot-7 righty Starlin Cordero was 93-95 with his fastball on Friday.
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.