The Dynasty Digest: April 10, 2024
Chris Clegg breaks down everything you need to know from the previous days' games on the MiLB side.
This is our first full week of Minor League action at all levels. Breathe it in; it is go time. Jackson Holliday got the call to the Majors, which means the three youngest players in MLB are all named Jackson. It also means that many top prospects will be graduating soon, so we could have a new top prospect in the next several months.
I will now be at Minor League games more nights than not, getting live looks at players to help give you an edge in dynasty. Last night was Bowling Green(TB) and Greenville(BOS). I will have a live report on what I saw last night after the Digest is posted.
Let’s discuss the top prospect performances around the league.
MiLB Hitter Standouts from Tuesday
Luis Vazquez, SS, CHC, 24, AAA
Vazquez remains one of the biggest sleepers in the Cubs system, possibly due to the fact that he was drafted in 2017 as a 17-year-old and that he was 23 years old, dominating Double-A and Triple-A in 2023. It is funny that people ding him for age, but Vazquez was younger than the average in his Double-A league and over three years younger than the Triple-A average age.
Vazquez posted a .271/.361/.456 slash with 20 home runs and ten stolen bases. The numbers don’t jump off the page at anyone, but Vazquez played a strong shortstop and had decent underlying metrics across the board. His 90th percentile exit velocity of 103.5 mph checks in right at MLB average, and the contact skills are also respectable despite being a free swinger.
On Tuesday, Vazquez mashed two home runs and a single, and while none of them had massive exit velocities, all three batted balls were at least 97 mph. It is hard to project what kind of role Vazquez could be in long term with the Cubs, but he looks like a future major leaguer.
Dylan Crews, OF, WSH, 22, AA
After everyone was in full panic mode about Crews’ performance over the weekend, Crews decided to come out and show he is, in fact, still a really good hitter. He collected four hits, which included a home run. In the process he raised his slash line from .077/.143/.077 to .278/.316/.444, which just does to show what a small sample we are looking at.
Crews did not just forget how to hit. This is not a Druw Jones situation. We are talking about someone who was an elite college hitter at an SEC school facing elite competition. He chased less than 15 percent of the time and posted an average exit velocity north of 95 mph. Pair those with an 85 percent zone contact rate and a near 110 mph 90th percentile exit velocity.
Hitters of this caliber don’t just forget how to hit and usually come out better on the other side of slumps. Many cite the struggles since debuting in 2023, his performance last year was still good with a slash of .292/.377/.467 with five home runs.
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