Beck's Minor League Threecap: 4/26/24
Beck breaks down three major things you need to know from yesterday's MiLB action.
Hello, hello. Having the day off today means I can spend a little extra time diving in on last night’s performances, and let me tell you – they were capital F fun. I hope your Friday treats you well and you can sail off into the sunset that is the weekend.
Here we go!
Places You Can Get a Tan in April (Except Cleveland).
Cody Freeman (TEX) has been kicking around in the Rangers’ system since he was selected in the fourth round of the 2019 draft, which isn’t entirely fair given he was among the cohort of players who lost a full year of development during the COVID pandemic. Nevertheless he finds himself at Double-A Frisco to open the year after largely struggling to find his footing at Single- and High-A. I’m not sure there’s much intrigue here – he may not make it out of Double-A – but he was a perfect 5-for-5 with a double and two home runs on Thursday and that’s worth celebrating.
Oh yeah, Trey Sweeney (LAD) is in the Dodgers’ system now. Surely they won’t turn him into a monster, right? Probably not, but he’s been solid to start the year. Thursday was his biggest performance to date as he went 4-for-5 with a double, a home run, and five RBIs. He’s up to a .292/.434/.461 slash, which looks fantastic until you reconcile it with run values in the Pacific Coast League. Maybe he figures in somewhere on the dirt for the big league club this year, but I don’t think a promotion is imminent as he’s spent just 23 games at Triple-A and is a newcomer to the organization.
Jace Grady (ATL) was an eleventh rounder last summer who slugged 12 home runs and swiped 25 bags over 63 games in his platform year at Dallas Baptist. His frame was the biggest demerit in his profile – he stands 5-foot-9 and 178 lbs – and the concern was that it would keep his offensive profile from translating to wood bats as a professional. That’s largely been true as Grady has a .757 OPS in 205 plate appearances split between Rookie ball and Single-A. He had a great day at the dish yesterday, though, going 2-for-5 with a pair of long balls.
I can’t tell if Jonah Advincula (CLE)’s name reminds me more of a spider or a vampire. Both sound pretty scary, but I’m sure the West Michigan Whitecaps were terrified enough of the left-handed bat by the end of the night. He went 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, a walk, two RBIs, and a run scored in a 4-1 victory for the Lake County Captains on Thursday. He was an eighth rounder out of Washington State last summer and compiled a .350/.455/.565 line with five home runs, 24 stolen bases, and more walks than strikeouts (28:19) in his platform year. His transition to pro ball has gone as smooth as anyone could have hoped through 74 plate appearances (small sample alert). He was a contact/speed guy in college whose value was tied largely to the leather, but he’s seeing the ball well early at High-A.
We’ve Reached the Pinnacle of Nicknames.
You might think you have a good nickname. Hell, you might think you’ve already bestowed the best nickname in the universe upon one of your buddies. Terrible news: that title belongs to Matt Wilkinson (CLE) and Matt Wilkinson alone. Some things you need to know about him before I bless you with his moniker:
He’s listed at 6-foot-1, 270 lbs
He’s a bulldog on the mound
He’s leading all levels sans Triple-A in strikeouts
And they call him Tugboat. Simply incredible stuff. He was outright dominant on Tugboat Thursday, going 6.0 near-perfect innings and striking out 15 in the process. His only blemish was a base on balls. He’s (near) perfect.
We’re in full physical outlier mode on the Threecap today. Tyler Stuart (NYM) stands 6-foot-9, 250 lbs, and throws from a three-quarters release. That angle from that height with that extension is a unique look for batters of both handedness and helps generate unexpected movement patterns. It isn’t necessarily potent stuff – he’s primarily a sinker/slider arm that relies on east-west movement to induce soft contact – but the Fisher Cats had a really difficult time picking him up on Thursday. He struck out 12 over 6.0 innings and allowed one earned run on four hits and a walk.
Jonah Tong (NYM) has a 0.00 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 18.2 innings. That is a 52.9% strikeout rate. His four outings have gone 11 K’s, 10 K’s, 6 K’s, 9 K’s. Sure, there’s plenty of reliever risk there, but it’s getting hard to ignore the upside. I recommend this thread detailing Tong’s mechanics and pitch shapes from Isaac Groffman (@isaacgroffman on X).
I’m not really sure it’s going out on a limb to say Owen Murphy (ATL) has been the most eye-catching arm in the sport through the first month of minor league ball. His fastball has ticked up in terms of both shape and velocity and he’s getting stellar results. He’s second in strikeouts among all arms Double-A and below with 37 in 24.0 innings and has allowed just three earned runs all year. He continued his tour of dominance on Thursday by slinging 7.0 shutty with 10 strikeouts on 89 pitches.
George Klassen ain’t the only pop-up arm in town. Samuel Aldegheri (PHI) is an Italian from Italy (unlike the pasta pirate Spencer Arrigheti) and has been off to a stellar start for Jersey Shore. The lefty went 5.0 scoreless and struck out 10 on Thursday, bringing his season totals to 15.1 and 24, respectively. He’s yet to yield an earned run in that time and hasn’t walked a batter since he issued four free passes in his season debut.
Saturday Matinee.
We’ve got a pretty good trio going early on Saturday between Dylan Lesko, Brandon Sproat, and Sean Sullivan, all of which have been solid thus far in the season. Later on we have Noble Meyer (first prep arm off the board in 2023), Chayce McDermott (in the running for a rotation spot in Baltimore), Noah Schultz (perhaps the highest pitching upside in the minors), and Michael Forret (recently caught my eye).
All times Eastern:
Dylan Lesko (3.00 ERA) for the Fort Wayne TinCaps (SDP) at 1:05 PM
Brandon Sproat (1.86 ERA) for the Brooklyn Cyclones (NYM) at 2:00 PM
Sean Sullivan (2.87 ERA) for the Spokane Indians (COL) at 4:05 PM
Noble Meyer (8.00 ERA) for the Jupiter Hammerheads (MIA) at 6:00 PM
Chayce McDermott (3.48 ERA) for the Norfolk Tide (BAL) at 6:35 PM
Noah Schultz (4.50 ERA) for the Winston-Salem Dash (CHW) at 7:00 PM
Michael Forret (3.46 ERA) for the Delmarva Shorebirds (BAL) at 7:05 PM
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