It’s Saturday, you have things to do, you don’t need to read this. We have told you this how many times? Yet you refuse to follow directions. Sheesh! Anyway, you should know the drill Geoff has Triple-A and Double-A, Rhys White has High-A, and Matt Thompson has Low-A. Proceed to the blurbs!
All the College Baseball Probable starting pitchers for April 16th to April 18th, 2021. All starters subject to change due to weather and COVID-19 factors.
College Pitching Probables Starters for Week Five of 2021 College Baseball, March 19th to March 22nd.
The top starters to watch for week two of 2021 NCAA Baseball.
It seems like there isn’t an abundance of Shed Long love around baseball. That might be because he’s been the same player for the last three years or so with little variance, good or bad. We’ve long formed our opinion on the 5-foot-8 23-year-old. Yeah, that size is right. Long is anything but an imposing figure at the plate but he’s not lacking dynamic skills.
Son of a Big Leaguer, Freshman Phenom, Tommy John survivor, Top 10 pick, and under-performing prospect; Cal Quantrill’s career has been a roller-coaster ride of emotions. After varying results over the last season and a half, the former Stanford standout, received the call to the big leagues. Let’s dig into the scouting reports from the pre-season industry ranks and see how they compare with the pitcher we see tonight versus the Atlanta Braves.
Finally — and perhaps a year later than we expected — Nick Senzel is making his major league debut with the Reds. The elite prospect is batting second in the lineup and the hope is this is day one of his becoming a fixture in Cincinnati. Injuries have dogged him for the last year, to the point where I think some have forgotten just how good he can be.
There was a moment last season where I realized what separates Vladimir Guerrero Jr. from every other minor league hitter I’ve every watched. The funny part is it wasn’t an actual at bat. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was on deck while Bo Bichette faced Jack Wynkoop a soft tossing lefty in the Rockies system Guerrero Jr had homered off in Hartford about 10 days earlier. Despite his prior success against Wynkoop, Vlad was staring daggers at each pitch with an intense focus rarely seen. Bichette roped a double out to left center on a soft fastball over the plate. Up stepped Vlad. He took two pitches off the plate, the next pitch a fastball, he hit on a laser for a single.
Sometimes injuries force teams to do things they likely don’t want to in the first place. Add “ineffectiveness" to the injury and you now have the recipe for unexpected call ups. This was the case for the Pirates when they recalled shortstop Cole Tucker on Saturday and promptly inserted him into the lineup as a leadoff hitter. Welcome to the big leagues, kid.
Every year I go on vacation to Florida. In the spring of 2017 I was in the Sunshine state on my usual siesta, taking in games in Bradenton (caught Ke’Bryan Hayes, Will Craig, and others that year), meanwhile in the Carolina League a former Red Sox first rounder was emerging early in the season. That player was Michael Chavis, he continued his assault on the minors throughout that 2017 campaign. I remember digging into the box scores on the plane ride back to New England, wondering at what point in the summer I would get to catch the upstart third baseman with Portland. In late June of 2017 Chavis was promoted to AA Portland playing alongside current Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers. I remember taking in a series with the duo in Hartford, and while he was not quite on Devers level, the hard contact at the point of contact was obvious, as he ripped liners all over the field. Following the 2017 campaign Chavis was assigned to the Arizona Fall League and showed relatively well in 23 games with Peoria slashing .261/.327/.478 with four homers and 17 RBI. Then it came April, and with it an 80 game PED suspension for anabolic steroids that cut Chavis’ 2018 to just 46 games mostly split between AA Portland and AAA Pawtucket. For many this called into question the third baseman’s carrying tool, his 70 grade raw power. A year later, there’s been time for Chavis to regain some of his 2017 prospect stock but questions still remain. Let’s take a look at just what the Red Sox are getting with his recent promotion.
With Fernando Tatis, Nick Margevicius, and Chris Paddack all breaking camp with the big club in opening day the Padres certainly bucked the trend of suppressing service time on major league ready talent. A refreshing approach in the current environment. Later today righthander Chris Paddack will make his major league debut at home versus the San Francisco Giants. Over the last four years Paddack has experienced the highs and lows of the road to the show. Selected by the Marlins in the 8th round of the 2015 draft, Paddack impressed in his professional debut and followed it up with a standout performance early in 2016. On the last day of June the Marlins, with designs on a playoff run, traded Paddack to San Diego for Fernando Rodney. The righthander made three starts for the Padres before sustaining an elbow injury that required Tommy John Surgery. After sitting on the shelf for more than year Paddack pushed his way across high A and AA, arriving in camp determined to skip AAA and the PCL altogether as a member of the Padres rotation. The Texan stubbornness paid off, as the goal came to fruition, in fact the moment was captured beautifully in the below tweet.
Martin was the first pick in the 2018 Rule Five Draft, and will be the Orioles primary shortstop for the beginning of 2019. The Orioles plucked Martin from the Athletics, where he was their first round pick in 2015 going 20th overall out of the University of Florida. He was a steady college performer that was known for his defense and speed, and he went 45-for-52 on the bases while on campus. He did flash a hit tool at times when he led the Cape with a record .364 average in 2014. The defense has translated thus far in his pro career, but until 2018 the offense lagged behind considerably. While repeating Double-A last year in Midland, Martin put together the best offensive season of his professional career, hitting .300/.368/.439 with career high totals in homers (six) and steals (25).
Richie Martin is ranked number seven on Ralph Lifshitz’s Baltimore Orioles top 30 list.
THE TOOLS
Defense (60 Field/60 Arm): Defense is Martin’s calling card. His plus speed combined with lightning quick first step give him plus range, and that range paired with his plus arm allow him to make all the plays at the six. The glove at short will buy him more time for the bat to develop, and even if it doesn’t come around there’s enough here to carve out a career as a utility man. He did play some second base last year in an effort to expand his portfolio.
Power (30 Game/40 Raw): Martin set a new career high for homers in a season last year with six while repeating Double-A Midland, so there isn’t much over-the-fence thump here. Most of Martin’s extra-base hits will come from splitting the gaps or using his feet. In addition to the six homers, Martin set personal highs with 29 doubles and eight triples. He made more consistent hard contact last season, but his extreme groundball profile limits the upside. His last three stops in the minors have resulted in groundball percentages of 64%, 62% and 57%. Expecting more than ten homers a year from Martin might be a fruitless exercise, but he did drive the ball further last season after he re-worked his swing and swapped out his toe-tap for a leg kick.
Hit (40 Present/50 Future): Martin has done an excellent job of making consistent contact throughout his career and his strikeout rates should settle around 18-22% at peak. Martin credits a lot of his offensive breakout last season due to eye strengthening exercises and improved vision due to new contact lenses. The focus for Martin and the Orioles will be turning that high rate of contact into more quality contact.
Speed (60 Present/60 Future): Martin is a plus runner and it shows on both sides of the ball. How much his speed plays will be directly correlated to how much he gets on base and if the offensive improvements translate to the big leagues. At peak he could steal 15-20 bases.
Prediction: Martin is a worthwhile gamble for the Orioles and is exactly the type of player they should roll the dice on in a non-competitive season. The Orioles are looking to see if they can develop a role player like Martin into a second division regular. He’s a low upside player but his defensive skills alone can be worthy of a roster spot for the next half-dozen years. If his offensive game continues to grow then that’s a massive win for Martin and the Orioles.
The Cubs signed Eloy Jiménez for $2.8m out of the Dominic Republic in 2013. The Cubs blew past their bonus pool limits to sign Eloy and Gleyber Torres who were at the top of this international class. The two developed in to valuable assets the Cubs used to bolster their bid for a World Series. After dealing Gleyber to the Yankees in 2016, the Cubs sent Eloy to the cross town White Sox as the headliner in a package for LHP Jose Quintana in 2017.
At 6’4”, 205 lbs., he’s a presence in the box, and his size is warning enough of what he’s capable of. He has the appearance of a hulking slugger, but he’s more than that. Jimenez hit .337 and .312 the last two minor league seasons, becoming one of the top prospects in the game. With the Southsiders looking to excelerate their competitive window, they signed Eloy to a record-breaking deal for a player with no service time. The deal is for 6 years, $43 million with two option years that can push it closer to $75 million.
Eloy Jiménez is ranked number two on both our top 100 and our top 100 fantasy list. He is number one on Lance Brozdowski’s Chicago White Sox top 30 list.
THE TOOLS
Eloy is a complete hitter and becomes one of the best hitters in the American League immediately.
Defense (40 Field/45 Arm): Eloy has alternated between left and right field in his pro career thus far, but his below-average arm makes him a better fit for left. He doesn’t cover much ground in the outfield and is a sub-par defender and designated hitter could be his future long term role.
Power (70 Game/80 Raw): The power comes easy, and there isn’t a fence in any ballpark that Eloy can’t clear. He famously did his best Roy Hobbs impersonation when he took out a light tower during the 2017 Carolina League home run derby. The swing is simple and repeatable. He starts his hands from a low slot, and at the top of his leg kick his hands rise up and his hips do their job. The result is a seemingly effortless stroke that produces hard contact and elite exit velocities. He’s already worthy of being a centerpiece in any lineup.
Hit (55 Present/70 Future): The above average present and future plus hit tool is the separator for Jiménez. It’s rare to come across a hitter of his size and power peak that has the ability to control the zone and recognize spin like he does. He’s a tireless worker that has famously been seen working on pitch recognition drills early in the morning after a two-strikeout game in the minors. He studies pitchers and their game plans and reacts and adjusts due to how they attack him. He makes consistent hard contact while posting sub-20% strikeout rates for a majority of his pro career. After a sub-par spring the plan right now is to attack him with breaking balls, and in fact 15 of the first 21 pitches he saw in the big leagues were breaking balls. It will be fun to see what happens when he adjusts.
Speed (40 Present/30 Future): Speed isn’t a part of his game, and he’s a good enough hitter where it doesn’t matter. I do expect him to slow down as he gets more physically mature.
Prediction: The White Sox have a franchise building block here, and he will be the face of the south side squad for at least the next six years, likely more. I believe Eloy can hit .290 right now, and is a .300+ hitter at his peak. Our Prospects Live peak projection was .310/.360/.580 while also hitting 40 homers. He draws Miguel Cabrera comps for a reason. The White Sox are going to let Eloy finish developing at the big league level, and he will become a top five hitter in baseball at his peak.
