Beck's Minor League Threecap: 6/4/2024

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

Hello! I took yesterday off from the Threecap to celebrate the updated ranks going live (and also to recoup from a long day at my day job). I strongly recommend checking those out if you have not yet done so as there was a lot of movement from the last iteration in January.

Today we’ll be focused entirely on Complex and DSL standouts from Monday. Away we go!

Young Guns.

Leonardo Pineda (TBR) actually has no listed stats on Baseball Reference. Makes sense given that yesterday’s game was the first of his career, and I’d venture to say that it’s all downhill from here. He was 4-for-5 with three doubles in his professional debut, landing him a cool 492 wRC+. He signed for $1.75M in January, the highest total doled out by the Rays, and is firmly on my watch list.

Jonathan Mejia (STL) inked a $2M deal and then enjoyed a pretty nice DSL campaign in 2022, compiling a .267/.418/.479 slash to go with five home runs and three stolen bases over 208 plate appearances. Last year he struggled to find his footing in 30 games in the Florida Complex but received a late-season bump to Single-A where he continued to struggle mightily. Somewhat unsurprisingly he’s back in the Florida Complex but it’s going better for him thus far. The .619 OPS he posted at the level last year is now an .855, and he’s got three home runs in 80 plate appearances after tacking on another in a 2-for-4 night that included a double. I’m a little tentative about putting a true watch list designation on him given the struggles last year, but the opportunity to get in on a big-bonus IFA at the ground floor is always appealing.

The window to buy Robert Calaz (COL) will soon be nonexistent. He’s leading the Complex in OPS among hitters 21 or younger with 50 or more plate appearances. He trails just 22-year-old Addison Kopack if we remove the age qualifier. I’ve written about him a number of times in the past, but I think he has one of the highest ceilings at any level in baseball and rarely do you have the opportunity to get in on a player with his upside before the risk/cost ratio is entirely out of whack. He posted completely absurd exit velocity figures as a DSLer last year and has already collected 14 extra-base hits in 86 plate appearances this year. The small red flag in his profile is a little bit of whiff – he’s striking out at a 26% clip so far this year – but that’s not entirely unexpected given his age, the jump to CPX, and the power he’s generating.

Just Missed.

There are a couple of names that narrowly missed my top 100 that I think are worth targeting, so here’s a list of players that could have slotted in anywhere in the last tier (up to #85):

• Santiago Suarez, RHP, TBR

• Jeral Perez, SS, LAD

• Thomas White, LHP, MIA

• Thayron Liranzo, C, LAD

• Chase McDermott, RHP, BAL

• Blade Tidwell, RHP, NYM

• Emil Morales, SS, LAD

• Angel Genao, SS, CLE

• Luis Perales, RHP, BOS

Table-Toppers. 

No viewing guide for Monday and Tuesday means no tables for the next few days. We’re just stocking the pond for the rest of the week which is fine by me. Here’s Wednesday’s viewing guide with my recommendation(s) italicized:

• Ty Madden (10.38 ERA) for the Toledo Mud Hens (DET) at 1:08 ET

• Anthony Solometo (6.23 ERA) for the Altoona Curve (PIT) at 6:35 ET

• Jackson Ferris (5.31 ERA) for the Great Lakes Loons (LAD) at 7:05 ET

• Alex Clemmey (6.82 ERA) for the Lynchburg Hillcats (CLE) at 7:05 ET

• Quinn Mathews (2.84 ERA) for the Peoria Chiefs (STL) at 7:05 ET

• Tink Hence (3.14 ERA) for the Springfield Cardinals (STL) at 7:35 ET

• Jacob Misiorowski (2.52 ERA) for the Biloxi Shuckers (MIL) at 7:35 ET

• Justin Wrobleski (3.73 ERA) for the Tulsa Drillers (LAD) at 8:05 ET