Beck's Minor League Threecap: 5/8/24

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

Half way through the week, y’all. We’re gonna make it. In personal news, I bought a lawnmower this week and am on the precipice of completing a cabinetry project, so vibes are high. I think it was love at first mow.

Anyway, back to talking ball. Here’s what stood out to me yesterday!

Here Comes the Oldest Player in Baseball. He’s 25. A Miracle.

The title is a reference to the infamous tweet about a 32-year-old player being in the twilight of his career. Carson McCusker (MIN) isn’t quite 32, he’s just 25, but I’m so rarely talking about prospects 25 or older that I felt it apropos. The 6-foot-8 outfielder was originally drafted in the 26th round by the Brewers but finds himself at Double-A in the Twins system this year and he’s raking so far. His three home run day yesterday raised his slash to .321/.394/.536. McCusker demolished the Frontier League last year, which is an independent partner league of MLB, with 17 home runs in 37 games and a 1.302 OPS. 

Brailer Guerrero (TBR) is an early name to watch in the Florida Complex. He played just seven games in the DSL last year before going down with a shoulder injury but flashed huge exit velocities in that time. He’s a manageable defender in a corner outfield spot for now but may need to move to first base eventually, though the bat looks like it could potentially play anywhere. He swatted his first professional home run yesterday to pair with a triple and two singles.

I’m still trying to get to the bottom of Jacob Wilson (OAK)’s offensive outburst with Double-A Midland this year. Unfortunately I don’t have any EV data to share just yet, but know that his scintillating season continued on Tuesday with a 4-for-4 day that included a double, two RBIs, and a walk. It was announced this afternoon that he’s been promoted to Triple-A.

I haven’t written about Jud Fabian (BAL) this year but there’s certainly been a lot written about him in the past. He was famously selected by the Red Sox in the second round of the 2021 and ultimately opted to return to the University of Florida and give it a second go at improving his draft stock only to go 27 spots later the following year. He’s a good athlete with plus raw power but significant concerns about his hit tool, and those concerns came to life with a 37.5% K-rate with Double-A Bowie last year. He’s returning to the level this year and has brought that figure down to 32.0% through 100 PAs but is faring far better with a .264/.350/.517 line. He uncorked his fifth and sixth home runs of the year in a 4-for-5 night on Tuesday.

He Might Just Be the Cure(t).

Funny enough, I was a guest on the Heat Check podcast with Smith Brickner (@SmithBrickner) and Nathan Graham (@nathangraham3) of Baseball Prospectus on Monday and we talked about Yoniel Curet (TBR) briefly. The question was whether I’d rather have Curet or Santiago Suarez, another promising arm in their system at the Single-A level, and it was truly a tough choice. I confessed to being a stuffist, and I think Curet has the better stuff albeit with some reliever risk. He’s got a double-plus heater, a hard slider, and a burgeoning cambio that will be crucial to his development as a starter. He’s firing strikes at a 62% rate, which is about the average in MiLB but falls short of what I’d typically like to see from a starter. He threw 5.0 innings of one-run (zero earned) ball yesterday and racked up nine strikeouts in the process, lowering his 2024 ERA to 1.93. It was his second consecutive outing without an earned run and his third with two or fewer free passes issued.

I was doing a little research on Ty Johnson (CHC) for today’s rundown and came across a fun fact but it requires a little bit of context. Johnson was a 15th rounder last summer out of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Muncie was apparently nicknamed ‘Little Chicago’ in the 1920’s because of its booming prostitution, liquor, and gambling businesses in addition to being a known hideout for John Dillinger when he was evading Chicago police. Johnson is not a criminal (as far as I know) but he had a criminally good night on Tuesday, going 4.0 near-perfect innings and striking out nine of the 12 batters he faced. His lone blemishes were a walk and hit batsman. 

We are deep in the lab today. Riley Frey (ATL) was a 19th rounder last year out of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he threw 90.0 innings and struck out 87 en route to a 4.90 ERA in his platform year. The Horizon League is not a breeding ground for elite college talent, and without much further context on this Frey character it’s hard to say what he’ll become outside of organizational depth. The Braves are a premier pitching development program and he’s throwing well to open the year with just four earned runs surrendered in 23.1 innings across five appearances. He had his best outing of his career yesterday, going 7.0 scoreless innings and striking out seven while allowing just three baserunners.

Craig Yoho (MIL) has huge, disgusting stuff. He struck out 63 over 37.0 innings as a pure reliever last spring before going to Milwaukee in the 8th round over the summer. He’s been lights out for High-A Wisconsin as their closer this year with 26 Ks in 13.0 innings and four saves. We had some folks in the Dynasty Dugout looking for the next Orion Kerkering last week, and Yoho should be in that conversation. He notched a 3.0 inning save on Tuesday and struck out seven in the process.

Back to Your Scheduled Programming.

Having games at the complex on Tuesday but no scheduled starters really messed with my rhythm on this section, but we’re back to normality!

Tuesday’s results:

Thursday’s viewing guide, with my particular interests italicized as usual:

• Chayce McDermott (2.89 ERA) for the Norfolk Tides (BAL) at 12:05 ET

• Chase Dollander (2.33 ERA) for the Spokane Indians (COL) at 2:05 ET

• Hayden Birdsong (2.66 ERA) for the Richmond Flying Squirrels (SFG) at 6:05 ET

• Michael Forret (2.41 ERA) for the Delmara Shorebirds (BAL) at 6:30 ET

• Brandon Sproat (0.92 ERA) for the Brooklyn Cyclones (NYM) at 7:00 ET

• Luis Perales (3.46 ERA) for the Greenville Drive (BOS) at 7:05 ET

• Cristian Mena (3.97 ERA) for the Reno Aces (ARI) at 9:05 ET