Beck's Minor League Threecap: 4/21/24

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

Happy Sunday, folks. It’s nice to see you (yes, you, the individual reading this, I mean you specifically). I hope the weekend treated you well and your weekly matchups fell in your favor. If they didn’t, there’s always next week.

Let’s jump into Saturday’s standouts!

Digging for Gold in Rancho Cucamonga.

It feels a lot like the cure for underperforming top prospects is me saying out loud that I’m a little nervous about them. It worked for Luisangel Acuña, now it’s working for Kyle Manzardo (CLE). He had been pretty cold to open the year, compiling a meager .217/.300/.391 line through seven games while racking up more strikeouts than hits. Since then he’s racked up 14 hits in nine games while running a .400/.488/.714 line, ultimately landing him about where you’d expect on the year. His latest feat was a two homer day in a 3-for-4 effort on Saturday, and he has added another long ball on Sunday as I write to you. It feels like he’s pushing close to a promotion.

As I’m sure you know from all the Norfolk coverage this year, Coby Mayo (BAL) has been excellent since day one. There’s been a little whiff, evidenced by his 28.8% strikeout rate through 17 games, but he’s doing premium damage when putting the ball in play. He hit his fifth and sixth home runs of the year on Saturday that left the bat at 106.0 mph and 107.3 mph respectively. He added a double and finished 3-for-5 with six RBIs.

We’ve already had a prospect in the Dodgers system catch some steam, now it’s Jeral Perez (LAD)’s turn. The 19-year-old is off to a stellar start through 12 games with three home runs, four doubles, and more walks than strikeouts (11, 9). He tied for the lead in home runs in the Arizona Complex last year and is one of the youngest players in the Cal League, trailing just 16 guys, many of which are highly regarded prospects in their own right: Tai Peete, Colt Emerson, Cristofer Torin, Josue De Paula. He had a two homer day on Saturday in a 2-for-3 day and raised his slash line to .333/.491/.643. Oswaldo Osorio, Zyhir Hope, and Jeral Perez all feature an OPS over 1.000 for Rancho.

Luke Gold (DET) had one of the best nights of any minor leaguer on Saturday, racking up four hits in five at bats with a home run, a double, and two singles. He was a fifth rounder in 2022 and has been fine in time split between Rookie Ball, Single-A, and High-A, with a .784 OPS through 129 games as a professional. He’s primarily a second baseman but can play third if needed and ultimately may be a utility-man by virtue of his defensive versatility, though he’s not outstanding at either spot. He ran hard hit and barrel rates slightly above average in Single-A last year.

Cole Carigg (COL) had a .731 OPS for Spokane coming into Saturday’s slate, a figure which now sits at .916 after a 4-for-4 day that included his first triple and second homer of the year. Spokane is a pretty hitter-friendly place to play (friendliest in the Northwest League), and Carrigg is a 21-year-old college draftee, so I’m looking for a little more before pumping his tires too much. He came out of San Diego State as a phenomenal athlete with a belt full of tools that can play every position on the diamond (including behind the dish), but had questions about his out-of-zone swing rate. He’s walked 10 times to just five strikeouts in 14 games this year.

Big and Tall, Big and Wide.

Duncan Davitt (TBR) is a new name to me. He was an 18th rounder in 2022 who threw 80.0 innings of 4.95 ERA ball while striking out 92 across Single- and High-A in 2023. He’s returning to Bowling Green this year and has been awesome in his first 14.2 innings, allowing just four earned runs while striking out 20. He went 6.0 shutout innings on Saturday with 10 strikeouts. It’s not often a guy with a draft bonus of $25,000 turns into a fantasy-viable arm, but if I had to pick an org to mold him into a usable big leaguer it might be Tampa Bay (or Houston, or Los Angeles).

The St. Louis Cardinals announced they had signed Chen-Wei Lin (STL) last July as their first ever international signee out of Taiwan. The 6-foot-7 righty had a big fastball at the time of signing, sitting 95 mph and topping out at 98 mph, and he had represented Taiwan at the U-23 Baseball World Cup in each of the two years preceding his signing. He’s got very little track record to this point, but the upside is as big as he is tall. He went 5.0 innings on Saturday and struck out eight in the process, putting his season totals at 15.0 and 16, respectively.

Chen-Wei Lin might be vertically big, but I’m putting my money on Royber Salinas (OAK) in a wrestling match. The latter is listed at 6-foot-3, 205 lbs, a truly laughable misrepresentation of the mass he’s cultivated, all of which helps him fire a mid-90’s fastball that carries a double-plus grade. He missed time with an elbow injury last year but is returning to Double-A this year and has been nails through 16.1 innings. His latest 7.0 came on Saturday as he allowed just one earned run while striking out seven, walking two, and hitting two. He’s been wild throughout his career and may very well be a reliever, but a 3.9 BB/9 is manageable if he’s limiting hard contact and preventing runs.

It has not been a smooth ride for Hurston Waldrep (ATL) thus far. He’d surrendered 10 earned runs in 7.0 innings coming into Saturday, leaving him with a gaudy 12.86 ERA through two starts for Mississippi. He righted the ship with a 6.0 inning, eight strikeout performance yesterday in which he ceded one earned while striking out five. Strike-throwing will be a big focus for him and a large determinant of when he’s ready to contribute for the Major League club. He threw 68% of his pitches for strikes on Saturday (that’s a good figure).

This is the second Threecap appearance for Michael Forret (BAL) who has strung together a pair of brilliant outings early in the season. He went 5.0 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts, no walks, and three hits allowed. Here’s what I had to say last time he featured:

“Forret 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.”

The Watch List.

With several weeks of games in the books we’re starting to see real breakouts happen. Here’s who I’m eying for the Sunday FAAB run, in rough order of priority:

• Ralphy Velazquez (CLE)

• Jeral Perez (LAD)

• Winston Santos (TEX)

• Luke Keaschall (MIN)

• Trystan Vrieling (NYY)

• Moises Chace (BAL)

• Ben Cowles (NYY)

• Owen Murphy (ATL)

• Mike Boeve (MIL)

• Quinn McDaniel (SFG)