Beck's Minor League Threecap: 4/6/24

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

What a rollercoaster Friday was. Opening day for Double-A, High-A, and Single-A is one of the best days on the baseball calendar, but a day marred by injury on the Major League side put a bit of a damper on the party.

The upshot: there is an enormous amount to cover with 58 games across four levels! As we march through the season this article will become a bit more formulaic so as to fit in as much info as possible. Today’s iteration will primarily cover top hitting and pitching performances. Giddy up!

Fridays’s MILB Standouts

Big Time Bats.

It wasn’t opening day for Liover Peguero (PIT) but he sure celebrated like it was. He racked up five hits, four singles and a double, and tallied three RBIs in Friday night’s win over the Memphis Redbirds. He wasn’t hitting the ball particularly hard as all five of his BBE were under 100 mph, but they found open territory. Peguero’s role with Pittsburgh remains uncertain, but he’s one call away from being with the big league club.

James Triantos (CHC) was one of the big stars of the Arizona Fall League, narrowly losing out on MVP honors to Jakob Marsee of the Padres. He compiled a .417/.495/.679 line over 99 plate appearances in the desert and didn’t miss a beat in his 2024 debut. He went 4-5 with four singles, a stolen base, and an RBI. Impact remains a question but the hit tool is a profile-carrier.

Speaking of Fall League Stars, Caleb Durbin (NYY) was one of the most fun players to spectate while I was in town. He’s built like a bowling ball at 5-foot-6, 185 lbs, and is the kind of player that will never be out-hustled. His Fall League line ended at .353/.456/.588 over 103 plate appearances. He kept it rolling with a two hit night on Friday that included a home run (100.8 EV, 346 feet) and a single. 

Luis Baez (HOU) just missed my top 100 and is one of my favorites in the lower minors. He laid waste to the Florida Complex in 2023 before being promoted to Single-A where the age-to-level caught up with him a bit. He got an aggressive assignment to High-A Asheville to open the year and wasted no time getting on the home run leaderboard. He went 3-5 on the night with four RBIs, a walk, and a strikeout. Asheville is a hitter’s park through and through, so I’m hopeful he goes up in perceived value with gaudy surface figures.

Heston Kjerstad (BAL) is here because he hit his sixth home run in his last four games. He leads minor league baseball in hits (17, tied with Brett Sullivan), home runs (6, tied with Kyle Stowers), and RBI (25, he stands alone in this regard).

Christian Knapczyk (CLE) is a name I was previously unfamiliar with. He was a 5th rounder last summer out of Louisville who walked more than he struck out over his college career and showed outlier bat-to-ball ability. He’s also been known to take a bag and ended his tenure with Louisville with 43 stolen bases in 143 games. It’s a profile that may play up in points leagues but is in a system with a lot of similar up-the-middle, bat-to-ball guys. He went 3-5 on Friday with a home run – a rarity for him, he had just three in college – and struck out twice.

Prime Time Pitchers.

Trevor Martin (TBR) topped the strikeout leaderboard, dispensing nine batters by way of the K over five innings of one-run ball. The 2022 third rounder is an interesting arm to follow in deeper formats as he’s shown considerable strikeout upside and manageable control since being selected with the 104th pick. He struck out 131 batters in 110.0 innings en route to a 3.56 ERA at A ball during his first year as a professional and opened 2024 with High-A Bowling Green. Martin’s arsenal is led by a mid-90’s heater with ride that tops out at 98 when he’s reaching back, complemented by a slider, curveball, and changeup, all of which grade as fringe-average but flash better.

Owen Murphy (ATL) was Atlanta’s first round selection in 2022 as a prep right-hander out of Illinois. He had video game numbers the spring before his draft, striking out 137 of the 190 batters he faced and ceding just 10 hits during his senior year. Professional ball has been tougher sledding – he has a career 4.40 ERA – but the stuff that made him a first rounder was on display on Friday. He struck out eight over 6.2 innings of work while allowing just three baserunners (two hits and a walk).

After an offseason of yo-yoing across the league, Drew Thorpe (CHW) settled into the White Sox’ system nicely with five scoreless outings in his 2024 debut. He struck out eight, walked just one, and allowed only two hits. Elite control and a changeup minor league hitters just can’t handle is what we’ve come to expect from him and it was on display Friday.

San Diego has a system full of interesting arms, and Adam Mazur (SD) is a personal favorite. His mid-90’s heater eats batters up at the top of the zone and his slider is a weapon. He went five innings on Friday, striking out eight in the process and allowing just one earned run on a solo home run. He was pitching in a hitter friendly park and still shoved. He’s a potential top-100 prospect this year.

A lot of people mentally erased Chase Dollander (COL) after he was drafted by the Rockies, but that may have been short-sighted. His professional debut couldn’t have gone better as he threw five hitless, scoreless innings for High-A Spokane on Friday night and disposed of eight batters by strikeout along the way. We may not love his future home park, but there’s a reason Dollander was the potential top pitching prospect in the 2023 draft entering his final year at Tennessee.

What more should really be said about Paul Skenes (PIT)? He’s ready. You know it, I know it, and the Pittsburgh Pirates know it. His second outing was a near copy-paste of his first – three innings of scoreless ball with six strikeouts.

Tink Hence (STL) retired the first 14 batters he saw on Friday in a very efficient night. It took just 67 pitches for him to carve out five innings (43 strikes) without allowing a run. He struck out three and did not allow a hit.

Screen Time.

Here’s what I’m paying attention to on Saturday:

• Will Warren in his second outing for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders at 2:05 ET

• Quinn Priester in his second outing for the Indianapolis Indians at 5:05 ET

• Lyon Richardson in his second outing for the Louisville Bats at 6:05 ET

• Brandon Barriera in his 2024 debut for the Dunedin Blue Jays at 6:30 ET

• Reid VanScoter in his 2024 debut for the Arkansas Travelers at 7:05 ET

• Tekoah Roby in his 2024 debut for the Springfield Cardinals at 7:05 ET

• Walker Buehler in his second rehab start for the OKC Baseball Club at 7:05 ET

• Robby Snelling in his 2024 debut for the San Antonio Missions at 8:05 ET