Beck's Minor League Threecap: 4/13/24

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

Welcome to the weekend! We made it through the work week and we’ve got nothing but open road ahead of us. A full slate of games on Saturday and Sunday awaits before we do it all again next week. I hope you’ve all been obsessively checking the standings in your leagues and feeling full of hope and optimism, but if you aren’t, there’s plenty of time left in the young season.

Anyway, let’s talk shop!

Hey, Hi, How You Doin’?

Have a night Joey Loperfido (HOU). Have a two-weeks-of-unadulterated-dominance may be more accurate. He lifted his seventh, eighth, and ninth home runs out of the yard on Friday night while passing Heston Kjerstad for the minor league lead along the way. His first tater came in the fourth and left the bat at 104.0 mph, his second and third (a grand slam!) both came in the seventh and were clobbered 105.3 mph and 113.9 mph respectively.

I’m not really sure what to make of Loperfido at this point. He’s showing significant improved impact relative to last year but his contact rates are concerning. Usually prospects with contact rates like Loperfido’s are candidates to be eaten alive by big league pitching upon debut. On the other hand, nine dingers in 12 games.

So Jackson Holliday got the call. Did you think that would stop the Norfolk blurbs? Coby Mayo (BAL) didn’t think so. He went yard twice on Friday, once in the first inning and once in the third. He’s up to five homers on the year and 10 total extra base hits but he’s also striking out 33% of the time through 13 games. I think he’s probably the next hitter on the Triple-A roster to get the call, but they might ask that he prioritizes bat-to-ball for a while before promoting him.

Yesterday I wrote about Jefferson Rojas (CHC) as a potential global top-50 prospect come midseason and how Thursday may have been his coming out party. One day of games doesn’t really change my conviction but Rojas went deep for the second time in the young season on Friday night and the video was a “holy cow” moment. This is what they look like, folks. He’s 18 years old in the Midwest League and looks like one of the best youngsters at the level so far.

Emmanuel Rodriguez (MIN) is on some kind of heater to open the year. He went yard for the third consecutive day on Friday and is the proud owner of a .391/.548/1.000 line through seven games with eight walks and nine strikeouts during that time. He was extraordinarily passive last year with huge damage on contact figures and the hope is that his swing decisions improve by half a grade so he can get to his gaudy impact more often. It looks like we may be seeing it early on.

Agustin Ramirez (NYY) has seven hits through six games. Five of them are home runs! He added his fifth in the top of the third against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats yesterday. Ramirez has been a recurring guest on the Threecap in the early going and I think he’s the best offensive talent at the catcher position in the Yankees system. The window to acquire him is closing very quickly.

One Quero went down with injury (Jeferson) and will be out for the year, the other went yard twice on Friday. It had been a slow start for Edgar Quero (CHW) coming into Friday, but the two bomb evening brought his total line to .250/.292/.700. He’s coming off a down year in which he hit just six homers over 101 games and finished with a .731 OPS, but there’s still plenty of intrigue here. He’s posted pretty solid on-base figures throughout his minor league career, including walking more than he struck out at Double-A with the Angels before the trade that sent him to Chicago.

Klassen is in Session.

It’s too early for a victory lap (I repeat to myself compulsively). George Klassen (PHI) made his second appearance for the Clearwater Threshers on Friday and was dominant again as he struck out eight over five scoreless innings. His stuff really stands out – his fastball has big time velocity and plenty of armside run and both of his breaking balls grading out very well. He managed a 58% whiff rate in the contest. He has just two walks through 10 innings, which is the real story here. If he has truly made gains in command/control, we’re talking about a top-100 prospect.

Tink Hence (STL) made his second appearance of the year for Springfield on Friday and tossed a gem. It was the second time in a row he went a full five innings, which is notable as he only went five innings eight times last year. Hence looks sturdier than he did last year with a few added pounds of muscle, which bodes well for his future prognosis as a starter. He finished the evening with eight strikeouts, a 43.9% whiff rate, and a 37.8% CSW. He allowed one earned run.

Is Jack Leiter (TEX) back? Every start he makes nudges me in that direction. It’s early and he’s logged just 14.1 innings over three outings, but his walk rate is significantly lower than it had been historically thus far. Friday’s outing wasn’t incredibly clean – he surrendered three earned on six hits – but he fanned 10 batters over six innings without walking a batter. We’ve known about the strikeout stuff for years and years, but it looked like he was trending firmly towards the pen. If his control gains are real he’ll shoot back up prospect rankings.

Sometimes we think we know who a guy is coming into the draft and they show us something early that stands out. George Klassen has been the biggest example of this so far in 2024, but Quinn Mathews (STL) is a similar story. He’s come out of the gate with significantly improved velocity and is getting huge results. He went five scoreless, nearly perfect innings on Friday and racked up 11 strikeouts in the process. He allowed just one baserunner. The lefty is up to 8.1 innings with 17 strikeouts and one earned run on a solo homer.

Paul Skenes (PIT) has been totally untouchable in his 9.1 innings. He tacked on another 3.1 on Friday and struck out eight. The Pirates have a homestand that starts next Friday, exactly in line with Skenes’ next turn, and I think we’re likely to see him called up at the beginning of the series against the Red Sox. There is no reason for him to be throwing at Triple-A.

What’s on TV?

It’s a beautiful day in Minneapolis on Saturday, but this slate has me tempted to turn all the lights off and watch baseball. Maybe I’ll go for a walk and bring home some good food. Here’s who’s throwing:

• Dylan Lesko in his second start for the Fort Wayne Tincaps at 1:05 ET

• Jackson Jobe in his second start for the Erie SeaWolves 1:35 ET

• Jaden Hamm in his second start for the West Michigan Whitecaps at 2:00 ET

• Trystan Vrieling in his second start for the Somerset Patriots at TBA

• Bubba Chandler in his second start for the Altoona Curve at 3:00 ET

• Jarlin Susana in his second start for the Fredericksburg Nationals at 4:00 ET

• Noble Meyer in his second start for the Jupiter Hammerheads at 6:00 ET

• Cade Povich in his third start for the Norfolk Tides at 6:35 ET

• Tekoah Roby in his second start for the Springfield Cardinals at 7:05 ET

• Hurston Waldrep in his second start for the Mississippi Braves at 7:05 ET

• Sean Sullivan in his second start for the Spokane Indians at 9:30 ET