Daily Prospect Notes: 6/7

by
June 7, 2017

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

Dedgar Jimenez, LHP, Boston (Profile)
Level: Low-A   Age: 21   Org Rank: NR   Top 100: NR
Line: 6 IP, 8 H, 0 BB, 1 R, 7 K

Notes
Jimenez has 60 strikeouts and just 17 walks over 57.1 innings this year. He’s big — 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds — but is a good athlete who repeats his delivery and not only throws a lot of strikes but often throws them exactly where he intends to. His stuff is fringey, his best pitch an average slider which he uses heavily, and he’s surviving purely off of command right now. Without any physical projection, it’s hard to envision him competing at upper levels with this stuff, even if he has plus command.

Austin Hays, OF, Baltimore (Profile)
Level: Hi-A   Age: 21   Org Rank: 8   Top 100: NR
Line: 3-for-5, HR

Notes
Hays is white hot, hitting .321/.356/.555 with 11 home runs this year. He’s one of few bright spots in a bad farm system and has a chance to make an impact with some power (he has above-average bat speed) and his legs (he has above-average speed). Scouts are concerned about his approach, which is overaggressive, and his ball/strike recognition. Hays often swings early in counts when it doesn’t make sense for him to do so, and there’s concern that this will be exploited at upper levels. He has everyday big-league tools, but will likely have to make an adjustment at some point.

Cal Quantrill, RHP, San Diego (Profile)
Level: Hi-A   Age: 22   Org Rank: 3   Top 100: 25
Line: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, 1 ER, 6 K

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Notes
Just checking in on Quantrill, who has already thrown more innings than he did all of last year. The Padres are spacing out his starts. He’s making most of them on an extra day or two of rest, had one 10-day period of rest in late May, and has only eclipsed the 90-pitch mark in two of his nine starts. Despite those limitations, Quantrill has pitched at least five innings in all but one outing. He’s still sitting in the low to mid-90s with a plus changeup and fringey breaking ball the projects to average and should play at a higher level than that once his command totally matures.

Steven Brault, LHP, Pittsburgh (Profile)
Level: Triple-A   Age: 25   Org Rank: 8   Top 100: NR
Line: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 8 K

Notes
Brault has enough stuff to pitch at the back of a rotation, but right-handed hitters pick up the ball early out of his hand and have a much easier time deciphering balls and strikes than lefties do. He works his slider and changeup down below the zone where they can’t be elevated, but his command is generally a little worse than is typical for an above-average athlete like Brault. It’s good to see him missing bats at Triple-A, but scouts think he’s trending more toward a bullpen role.





 

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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