Complex and Dominican Summer League Risers

Happy Tuesday. A new week is upon us and more Minor League Baseball. This week, I have Greensboro in town, meaning more Konnor Griffin looks and plenty of other talent on the Grasshoppers roster.

Monday brought us a full slate of Complex and Dominican Summer League action. Here is everything you need to know about what took place and the players that stood out.

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Each day, I will pick a hitter and pitcher who stand out and deserve the top spot on the sheet. Those players’ reports will be free for all to read. The rest will be paywalled for Dynasty Dugout Subscribers. The article is around 3000 words, giving you detailed player reports to encapsulate everything you need to know.

Josuar De Jesus Gonzalez, SS, San Francisco Giants, 17, DSL

Gonzalez is the consensus top prospect in the J15 class from those I sourced. While he lacks the tall, projectable frame that some in the class have, Gonzalez still has room left to add to his athletic 6’0” frame. He is a quick-twitch athlete who runs exceptionally well and has a great feel for hitting.

The switch-hitter starts with an open stance and uses a small leg lift to transfer his weight. His entire body works together, and Gonzalez has strong hands, which allows him to create good bat lag and speed through the zone. From the right side, the setup is similar, but Gonzalez has a bit more pre-swing movement and drops his hands a little more before starting his swing. The right-handed swing is geared more toward an upper-cut approach.

Yesterday, Gonzalez collected three hits and stole a base for the third straight day. He also has a five-game hitting streak, with three of those multi-hit games. While Gonzalez has not left the yard yet, he has shown a good feel to hit. While it is hard to take much away from DSL, the hit tool has shown to be strong and Gonzalez has a solid approach at the plate.

The things we would like to see improved are more batted balls in the air and more to the pull side. Given that Gonzalez will be 17 years old all season and had the amount of hype he did, the early returns are good.

Johnny King, LHP, Toronto Blue Jays, 18, CPX

I am sorry to continue to write about King, but he continues to be the best pitcher at the complex. King pitched four innings on Monday for the time in his career and allowed just two hits and one run. He walked a batter, but punched out six and generated an impressive 11 whiffs.

King took a step forward in velocity this season and has topped around 97 mph and has averaged just shy of 95 mph. He creates upwards of 17 inches of IVB from a 5’6” release height and gets good horizontal movement as well.

The curveball is a hammer of a pitch, having 10-12 inches of glove-side movement and up to negative 13 inches of IVB, showing strong depth. It works around 80 mph, and misses bats at a high clip.

King rounds out the arsenal with an upper-80s changeup that has strong arm-side fade. It ranges from 13-20 inches of fade, and while showing some inconsistencies in movement, it is a solid pitch.

Once again, King should not be pitching at the complex. The stuff is far too good. Time for Florida State League competition.

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