In the second week fo April, I sat in on a handful of contests between the Buffalo Bisons and Rochester Red Wings in Rochester. The marquee matchup came on Thursday, April 14th as the Washington Nationals number one rated prospect Cade Cavalli toed the rubber and faced off against the Toronto Blue Jays number one rated prospect Gabriel Moreno. Read below to see how the two fared and more!
Cade Cavalli Right-Handed Pitcher
4.0 + IP 8 H 5 ER 1 BB 7 K Fastball 94-98 T99 Curveball 81-85 Slider 84-86 Changeup 89-91
Cavalli possesses all the intangibles that an organization desires in a front line starting pitcher. He has a tall frame that is well built physically throughout his entire body with a loud pitch mix. During his second start of the season, Cavalli showed glimpses of his potential. One area that has plagued Cavalli as a professional is the ability to consistently control his arsenal, which has led to higher walk rates across the minors.
During his start this past Thursday, he had no issue controlling all of his offerings. He established the zone with his blazing fastball and worked off the offering by commanding both of his breaking pitches. His curveball had an 11-5 shape, with sharp biting action that effectively missed barrels to both lefties and righties. The slider was more of a firmer offering with two plane break that had minimal lateral movement.
It appears Cavalli has improved upon the sequencing of his pitches as he looked to utilize his whole arsenal. This was an area he struggled with towards the end of last season following his promotion to Triple-A where he relied heavily on his fastball. He showed the ability to double up on his breaking pitches in all counts and was able to land his curveball for a strike in 0-0 counts to get ahead of hitters.
The changeup was used strictly to left handed hitters and showed a little arm side run with late fading action. Changeup has the makings to be an average pitch in his arsenal moving forward. He also generated whiffs with all of his offerings, with the most whiffs coming on his fastball which he was effectively able to locate above the letters.
Cavalli breezed through the order the first two times before running into a little trouble in the fifth inning. He appeared to show a little fatigue towards the end of the outing as his fastball velocity dropped down to the 94-95. He left a couple of fastballs over the heart of the plate which were barreled and then had a four-pitch walk to load the bases.
The box score is a bit misleading to how Cavalli performed as he pitched into the 5th inning before loading the bases and giving way to the bullpen which allowed all of the inherited runners to score. Nonetheless, there were a handful of positives to take away from the start as he showed the best command of his arsenal that I have seen in my live looks of Cavalli. The improved command will be an area to monitor as he progresses through the Triple-A season.
Gabriel Moreno Catcher
5-10 (5 1B 0 BB 0 K)
Gabriel Moreno made his much anticipated season debut on Tuesday, April 11th. Moreno missed most of his 2021 campaign due to a fractured thumb and had a delayed start to spring training following troubles with his visa. Moreno made his presence felt on both sides of the ball in my looks. In the box, Moreno showed a selective eye at the plate and made great swing decisions. He did not expand his zone, which is a credit to his plate discipline. His hit tool stood out the most, as it projects to be double plus at the major league level.
As an organization, the Blue Jays value players who are able to make a lot of contact. Moreno was no exception as he showed tremendous hand-eye coordination and barrel control all week. He had a knack for fouling off pitches before finding a pitch he could handle and was able to hit the ball to all fields. Perhaps the most impressive at-bat of the week came against Cade Cavalli. After swinging through two 98 mph fastballs to fall behind 0-2, Moreno was able to make a mid at-bat adjustment as he shortened up his stroke and was able to barrel the third consecutive 98 MPH fastball into the right-center field gap. This is a testament to his advanced hit tool.
He did not appear to be fooled by any pitches he saw this week and he controlled his at-bats when in the box. Despite possessing an elite hit tool, Moreno did struggle to consistently elevate the baseball. The majority of his contact were hard hit ground balls or low line drives which he sprayed to all fields. There is still room for projection in Moreno's frame and he has the potential to grow into more power as he matures. At this moment in time, it does not seem necessary to tinker with his swing path which could potentially sacrifice his elite bat to ball skills in order to add more loft to his swing.
Defensively, Moreno put on a clinic behind the plate. In the first inning of the first game with a runner on first, there was a shallow popup hit behind home plate that he was able to jump out of the crouch and make a sliding grab into the backstop. On the very next pitch, the runner on first broke for second and Moreno threw a strike down to second to nab the base runner on a 1.94 poptime. His receiving has made noticeable improvements as he stole numerous strikes in all quadrants of the zone with his subtle glove movement. He also showed great lateral movement behind the plate which allowed him to keep balls in front and is a credit to his athleticism.
In a small sample size, Moreno showed all of his tools which makes him one of the more highly touted prospects in the industry. If he is able to continue making an impact on both sides of the ball, Moreno may be the X-factor the Blue Jays need to propel them in the second half of the season in what figures to be a bottle-necked American League East.
Samad Taylor Second Base
2-8 (1 HR 1 1B 1 BB 1 K)
The 5’10 Taylor has sneaky power due to his plus bat speed. In his second at-bat on Thursday, Taylor went with a breaking pitch on the outer third of the plate and drove the ball onto the warning track in the right center field gap for a loud out. In his next at-bat, he worked a 3-2 count and fouled off a handful of pitches, before he unloaded on a grand-slam to his pull side. Taylor does have some swing and miss in his game, as he did make a couple of poor swing decisions as he chased spin out of the zone. His swing decisions may limit his hit tool long term. He has plus speed coming out of the right-handed batters’ box as he moves well down the line (3.91 home to first). Taylor also puts pressure on the defense as he is very efficient at stealing bases. He has already swiped five bags through the first two-weeks of the minor league season.
Defensively, Taylor played second base in both games. He made all the routine plays that were hit his way, as well as showing good footwork around the second base bag as he turned a double-play. Despite having the athleticism and quickness to play in the outfield, Taylor may be capped as a second baseman due to his below average arm strength. Long term, he has the tools to be a quality bench piece in the major leagues.