Beck's Minor League Threecap: 5/28/24
Beck breaks down three major things you need to know from yesterday's MiLB action.
If this was posted to the Dynasty Dugout site on Tuesday, then congrats to the Cleggs, and thanks for taking the time to post while your second child is on the way! If this goes up on Wednesday, I will get it, man. Some things are bigger than the Threecap. Sending you and your family my best!
Welcome back to the Threecap, esteemed ball-knowers. Yesterday was a weird mixed slate between full-season ball and Complex games, I assume as a function of the holiday, so we’re covering a little bit of extra ground today.
In other news, my updated prospect ranks are coming this week!
Jogger Martin.
I am grinning from ear to ear. Walker Martin (SFG)’s debut was one of my most anticipated of the year, and while it got off to a bit of a rocky start, Monday really turned things around. For those not aware, Martin is one of my pet prospects who posted off-the-charts athletic testing results with Loden Sports and then laid waste to the Colorado prep circuit by leading the nation in home runs. He missed some time to open the year due to a hamstring strain and made his professional debut at the Complex on May 20th. He scuffled his way through the first four contests, collecting just two hits in 12 plate appearances and striking out nine times, but I’m not concerned about that at all given the injury and it being his first four games outside of a high school environment. He went 2-for-3 with a pair of majestic, opposite-field home runs and a walk on Monday.
Guess how many stolen bases Chandler Simpson (TBR) has swiped this year. If you guessed 20 or 30, you’re coming in short. He has 39 thefts in 38 games, putting him on an absurd 166 stolen base pace over 162 games. What’s more: it hasn’t been a surplus of empty bags so far this year. He’s running a .376/.437/.389 slash through 38 games across Single- and High-A and he made zone contact at an elite rate in 2023, which bodes well for his future contributions in the average and on-base departments. He boasts 20-grade game power and isn’t built nor inclined to tick up (we’re talking literally one home run in the last five years), but he could be a really fun option in leagues that value stolen bases (or standard cats/roto leagues). He went 4-for-4 with (and you’ll never believe this) four singles and two stolen bases on Monday.
Softening the Blow.
It was a tough week in Atlanta. You’re all keenly aware why that’s the case. The good news: the arms on the farm were really good yesterday!
Funnily enough, yesterday was actually Hurston Waldrep (ATL)’s worst start since April 13th. He’s strung together seven excellent outings in a row and hasn’t given up more than two earned in a single appearance during that stretch. The Braves were tinkering with his pitch mix early on and restricting the usage of his splitter to emphasize development of his fastball and slider. It makes sense to me – when you don’t have your devastating splitter on any given night, you’ve got to have a fall-back pitch to get batters out. They’ve let him use it more recently, though the mix is still a little opaque to me. In any event, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in Atlanta at some point in the second half of the year. He went 5.0 innings of two-run ball and struck out seven on Monday.
Jeremy Reyes (ATL) is almost as many E’s and Y’s as you can fit in a single name. He signed out of Venezuela for $250K in 2023 and tossed just 8.1 innings in the DSL last summer, which is entirely too few to draw conclusions from. The Braves jumped him to the FCL this year despite the short track record and he’s throwing quite well through his first 17.2 innings. He has a 1.53 ERA and 19 strikeouts in that time. There’s not much to do here in terms of fantasy – he’s too far away and we know too little about him to recommend any action – but his 5.0 innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts on Monday was notable for a smaller slate.
Spencer Schwellenbach (ATL) is getting the call and is slated to make his first MLB start on Wednesday!
Mini Table.
Hey, it was a weird day. Only two arms in the table, but plenty more in tomorrow’s viewing guide!
Wednesday’s viewing guide with my recommendation(s) italicized:
Jaden Hamm (1.04 ERA) for the West Michigan Whitecaps (DET) at 11:00 ET
Ty Madden (9.22 ERA) for the Toledo Mud Hens (DET) at 11:05 ET
Samuel Aldegheri (1.89 ERA) for the Jersey Shore BlueClaws (PHI) at 11:05 ET
Nolan McLean (6.75 ERA) for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (NYM) at 11:05 ET
Robby Snelling (4.26 ERA) for the San Antonio Missions (SDP) at 6:05 ET
Drue Hackenberg (2.75 ERA) for the Rome Emperors (ATL) at 7:05 ET
Jake Bloss (1.27 ERA) for the Corpus Christi Hooks (HOU) at 7:30 ET
Spencer Giesting (0.66 ERA) for the Hillsboro Hops (ARI) at 9:35 ET