Beck's Minor League Threecap: 4/12/24

Beck breaks down three major things you need to know from yesterday's MiLB action.

Good morning and Happy Friday, all. The weekend is a mere eight hours of work away for many of us and that feels great. I hope you have big weekend plans, but if you don’t there is always plenty of Minor League baseball to catch up on. In a similar vein, here’s yesterday’s standouts – away we go!

Thursday’s MILB Standouts

Ladies and Gentlemen, James Wood.

Everyone here deserves a little discussion, but James Wood (WSH) took all the headlines on Thursday. He looks like he’s turned a real corner this year after striking out in 33.7% of his place appearances at Double-A in 2023, and he’s getting monster results. He had four balls in play over 106 mph on Thursday for Triple-A Rochester: a third-inning home run (106.8 mph), a fifth-inning single (108.0 mph), a 6th inning double (111.9 mph), and an eighth-inning homer (108.8 mph). That’s about the best way to miss out on a cycle there is.

The laser show wasn’t entirely one-sided in this contest. On the other side of the box score for James Wood’s huge game was Damiano Palmegiani (TOR), with three of his own batted balls over 100 mph, two of which were over 110 (!!). He finished the evening with a home run (110.7 mph, 453 feet) and a single in four at-bats. The Blue Jays have a lot of this kind of guy (Palmegiani, Schneider, Barger, et. al.), but Palmegiani deserves a shot. He has exactly 30 games played at the Triple-A level, so it’s not like he’s trapped, but a promotion and subsequent playing time might be hard to find in the near future.

Dominic Pitelli (CIN) was the Reds’ seventh round selection last summer out of Miami where he broke out in his third season to the tune of a .294/.380/.525 line in the ACC. He was shipped to Rookie Ball for four games after the draft and then swiftly transferred to Single-A where he struggled to find his footing over 80 plate appearances. He’s back at the level to open 2024 and is swinging a very hot bat in the early going, including a two-homer night on Thursday. Unfortunately, I’m not sure there’s much to see here – Pitelli’s carrying tool is with the leather, and draft reports cite issues with bat to ball and a lack of underlying pop – but two-round trippers get you on the Threecap.

Josh Hood (SEA) split time between Single-A Modesto and High-A Everett in 2023 after going in the 6th round of the 2022 draft. He’s returning to Everett this year after posting a .692 OPS in 92 plate appearances at the level the year prior and is out of the gate slow (which is kind of unimportant; Thursday was his fifth game of the year) but really dialed in on Thursday. He belted a home run in a 3-for-5 effort and scored twice. Hood is 23 and will be 24 in July. He hasn’t shown enough offense to be considered a real fantasy prospect yet, but Everett is hitter-friendly enough that he may generate a little bit of buzz.

Matthew Etzel (BAL) was a 10th-round selection in last year’s draft and bounced quickly between three levels in the final months of the minor league season. He’s primarily a contact and speed-oriented prospect, but has shown enough pop to think that ten home runs annually is possible. He’s opening the year with High-A Aberdeen and is playing excellent ball through five games, most recently punctuated by a 5-for-5 night with a double, four singles, and a stolen base on Thursday. 

There isn’t a ton to say about Dom Johnson (DET) from a fantasy perspective – he was a 13th-round pick in 2022 and hasn’t produced much in his year and change as a pro – but he had arguably the second most impressive night on this list trailing just James Wood. He went 4-for-4 with a pair of home runs, a double, and four RBIs on Thursday for Low-A Lakeland.

Thursday’s Almost Friday, and Friday’s Almost the Weekend, Feeling Good!

Hump day wasn’t the greatest for our resident ball throwers, but Thursday had a significant number of standout starts, perhaps the best among them from Cameron Weston (BAL). He was an eighth-rounder out of Michigan with an unclear future as a starter, but he has since worked almost exclusively in that role as a professional. He pitched 43.0 innings in 2023, primarily in High-A, and he’s returning to the level to start 2024. “So why is he here?” Relax, I’m getting to it. Weston fanned nine batters over five perfect innings against the Wilmington Blue Rocks (whatever that is) on Thursday. Not a name I’m circling or even watchlisting at this time, but a fantastic outing nonetheless.

Yu-Min Lin (ARI) is in the running for the most challenging arm to evaluate in all of the minor leagues. He was an international signing in the 2021-22 period and received a $525K bonus from the Diamondbacks that winter. He’s since been nothing short of spectacular, pitching his way to a 3.49 ERA across 180.2 innings with 236 strikeouts over the last three years. He does so without the help of a fantastic fastball — a pitch that for him is unspectacular both in terms of shape and velocity — largely because his secondaries are solid enough to carry him, and he has above-average command. He fanned ten batters over five innings on Thursday (excellent!) but was knocked around for seven hits (not great) and four earned runs (probably could have been worse). He has the distinct displeasure of pitching in Amarillo, which is a treacherous environment to pitch in (129 PF for runs, 190 PF for home runs, ouch).

Gunnar Hoglund (OAK) has only thrown 73.2 innings since being taken 19th overall in 2021 as he had recently undergone Tommy John surgery at draft time and missed almost the entirety of 2022 as a result. He pitched to a 6.05 ERA over 61.0 innings split between Single-A, High-A, and Double-A last year while striking out a measly 46 batters as his stuff regressed post-TJ. He had one of the best outings of his career on Thursday, tossing five innings and striking out eight while allowing three earned runs. Transparently – he probably didn’t belong in the Threecap for this performance, but I liked him at Ole Miss, and I’m saddened by the way his injury derailed him, so it’s nice to see him come out and have a pretty solid game.

Andrew Morris (MIN) has been a run-prevention savant since signing with the Twins as a fourth-round draft pick in 2022. He has a career 2.72 ERA in 89.1 innings split between Rookie Ball, Single-A, and High-A. That performance has come without gaudy strikeout numbers – he has just 86 Ks in those 89.1 innings – but he was punching tickets on Thursday night. He sent nine batters back to the bench over six innings and allowed just one earned run on three hits.

Being traded for cash considerations has to feel bad. Now imagine getting traded for international bonus pool money – dollars literally reserved to sign players in their mid-teens – and how that might make you feel. That’s what happened to Aldrin Batista (CHW) last August when he was sent to Chicago from the Dodgers. He was pretty good both before and after the trade, ultimately logging a 3.16 ERA and 75 strikeouts over 62.2 innings split between Rookie Ball and Single-A. He had an awesome night in his return to Kannapolis on Thursday, going five scoreless innings and striking out eight while allowing just one hit and one walk. Transparently I haven’t been able to watch any film of his but these numbers are good enough to warrant at least a smidgeon of attention moving forward.

It’s 11:00 PM, and I have an early day at work tomorrow, so we’ll make the blurb for Dominic Hamel (NYM) nice and snappy. He was a third-rounder out of Dallas Baptist in 2021 and has worked his way up to Triple-A as a 25-year-old this year. He may find himself in line for big-league work at some point over the summer. He struck out ten batters over five innings against Worcester on Thursday while allowing two earned on three hits and a walk.

Fri-Yay Viewing Guide.

Should you choose to stay in on Friday night and watch some minor league ball, here’s what to look out for:

• Lyon Richardson in his third start for the Louisville Bats at 5:05 ET

• Bubba Chandler in his second start for the Altoona Curve at 6:00 ET

• Carlos F. Rodriguez in his third outing for the Nashville Sounds at 6:05 ET

• Brett Wichrowski in his second start for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers at 6:05 ET

• Tink Hence in his second start for the Springfield Cardinals at 6:05 ET

• Marco Raya in his second start for the Wichita Wind Surge at 6:05 ET

• Will Warren in his third start for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at 6:35 ET

• Mick Abel in his second start for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs at 7:05 ET

• Luis Perales in his second start for the Greenville Drive at 7:05 ET

• Santiago Suarez in his second start for the Charleston RiverDogs at 7:05 ET

• Rhett Lowder in his second start for the Dayton Dragons at 7:35 ET

• Robby Snelling in his second start for the San Antonio Missions at 8:05 ET

• Jack Leiter in his third outing for the Round Rock Express at 8:15 ET

• Chase Dollander in his second start for the Spokane Indians at 9:30 ET