Beck's Minor League Threecap: 4/15/24

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

Good morning folks! I’m starting today’s article quite literally the moment after submitting yesterday’s article, so if things get weird just know I’ve been tip-tapping away for probably three hours consecutively. The English language can be a lot of fun, but putting so many words in the correct order is only bearable for so long. Why do you think it’s taking George R.R. Martin so long to put these books out?

Let’s dive in!

This Book is a Real Page(s) Turner.

Would you look at that, it’s Andy Pages (LAD) again. He’s had an absolutely torrid week, leading the minor leagues in hits, OPS (min. 25 plate appearances), and finishing second in home runs during that time. He had a two home run game on Sunday in a 3-for-6 effort that concluded with four RBIs and a walk. I remain convinced he’s on the shortlist for a call-up in Los Angeles should Chris Taylor, Enrique Hernandez, and Jason Heyward continue to scuffle. 

New both to the Threecap and to my consciousness is Dylan Campbell (LAD), who collected four hits, including a double and a dong, in five plate appearances on Sunday. Campbell was a fourth-rounder in last summer’s draft out of Texas, where he was a standout his draft year (.335/.433/.599 slash, 13 home runs, 26 stolen bases, 14.6% K, 13.2% BB). He’s compact and doesn’t have much projection remaining, if any, but does his best to maximize what he has by leveraging an aggressive pull-side approach.

Josue Briceno (DET) was one of my favorites coming into the season. I had a chance to catch him during the Tigers’ spring breakout game in Lakeland in mid-March and ultimately came away really impressed with him. He’s been off to a blazing start by compiling a .379/.500/.483 line through eight games with six walks to just two strikeouts. He played just 11 games at Single-A as an 18-year-old and is returning to the level to open 2024, but he may not be long for it if he continues to shine like he has. He belted a 108.7 mph home run for his first of the year on Sunday and is carrying at 106.6 mph 90th percentile EV coming into Monday.

I recently spoke about Luisangel Acuna (NYM)’s slow start on the Rotowire Prospect Podcast with James Anderson as something to monitor but probably not put too much weight in. Well, consider it monitored, because Acuna collected three hits in four plate appearances and swiped a bag. There isn’t much to be concerned about at all here, given he’s had just 60 plate appearances, but he has a .207/.233/.293 line to this point at Triple-A. It’s unclear to me where playing time at the big league level would come from in the near future, so he could spend the majority of the year with Syracuse.

Matt Shaw (CHC) is among the minor league leaders in OPS after a two-home-run day for the Smokies. He went 2-for-4 with the double taters, a walk, a strikeout, and a stolen base. I don’t think he’s long for Double-A and believe he has an outside shot to debut in the second half.

Ca-Caw!

That’s Hayden Birdsong (SFG)’s music! Last year’s semi-breakout arm tossed 100.2 innings between Single-A, High-A, and Double-A in 2023 while pitching to a 3.31 ERA and punching out 149 batters. His strikeout rate was second among all pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched (which, to be fair, is a rather prohibitive qualifier for minor league arms but is an impressive figure nonetheless). He continued punching tickets on Sunday with another eight over 4.0 innings of work while allowing just one earned run on a solo homer. His strikeout potential and overwhelming stuff might play best in the bullpen if he can’t rein in his command, but the Giants are obviously pushing for him to stick in the rotation.

Austin Ehrlicher (BOS) was snapped up by the Red Sox with the 549th pick in the 2022 draft (18th round) and has since pitched… basically not at all. His total track record, including his two relief appearances this year, constitutes just 23 innings, 17 of which came in 2022. He missed 2023 with an injury but is back with Single-A Salem to open 2024. He disposed of seven batters by way of the K during Sunday’s relief appearance and is up to six scoreless innings with ten strikeouts on the year. I don’t think there’s much to see here, given the usage and injury history, but I will always root for a late-rounder having a good day.

Moises Chace (BAL) has been interesting so far this year. I wrote about him after his last start on April 9th – here’s what I had to say:

“Chase is a 6-foot-1, 215 lb righty out of Venezuela who struck out 100 batters over 68 innings in his age 20 season for Single-A Delmarva. I don’t know much about him, admittedly, but he signed for $225K a few years ago as Baltimore re-engaged the international market and has found success largely in relief. He struck out nine over four innings of work on Tuesday in his first appearance for High-A Aberdeen.”

He could be an early breakout guy should his command/control hold the way it has through a miniscule sample this year.

Michael Forret (BAL) is another Baltimore arm that popped on Sunday. He spent the offseason at Tread Athletics cleaning up his mechanics and honing his velocity, and he’s seen a significant jump in stuff this year. He tossed five innings of pure domination against Salem yesterday, only allowing one baserunner via walk and striking out seven. His first outing was less successful as he coughed up five earned on three hits, two walks, and a hit batsman, but he’s worth a watch list with the new and improved stuff and velo.

MiLB Leaders Through 4/14

Hitting Leaders

Pitching Leaders