The Dynasty Digest: June 15, 2024
Chris Clegg breaks down some live looks from yesterday plus all the happenings from around the league.
Another good day of live looks plus great action across the Minors. Let’s talk everything you need to know that happened yesterday.
Live Looks
Yordanny Monegro, RHP, BOS, 20, A+
Monegro was stellar in his four innings of work. He needed just 56 pitches and landed 41 of them for strikes. He allowed just three hits and didn’t walk a battery, but unfortunately, one of those hits was a two-run home run, which was the only damage allowed.
On quite a hot evening, the hottest day we’ve had all year, the ball was traveling, and we saw a ton of balls leave the yard. Other than that blemish, Monegro dominated, striking out eight batters and generating 11 whiffs, while getting 13 called strikes.
Monegro’s fastball worked in the 94-96 mph range, and he is using more of a sinker now than a four-seam, which actually suits his arsenal much better. The new split-change was nasty, sitting at 86-89 mph, and while the shape was not always consistent, it generated the most whiffs of any of his offerings.
He also worked both his upper-80s slider and his upper-70s 12-6 curve. What I love about Monegro is that he is confident working backward in counts. He will throw any pitch at any time, and you never know what you are going to get. The upside is there for Monegro to be a mid-rotation arm, but he has a lot of work to do.
Edison Batista, RHP, HOU, 22, A+
Batista entered the start with a 3.86 ERA across 51.1 innings this year but left with an ERA just under 5 at 4.97. He has been a pretty interesting arm that I have been tracking most of the year, but Friday’s start was a disaster. He allowed eight earned runs across three innings pitched, walking four batters and allowing seven hits. He struck out just one and did not miss many bats.
The sinker sat in the 92-94 range with decent movement profile and a changeup that mimicked it fairly well sitting around 87 mph. The slider is a long sweepy pitch sitting between 78 and 80 mph.
I never want to let one start affect my opinions of a player, but it was bad. I am not sure there is enough in the arsenal to warrant wanting to roster Batista in a fantasy league.
Cutter Coffey, INF, BOS, 20, A+
You would be hard-pressed to find a hotter hitter in the Minors right now than Cutter Coffey. He broke a record yesterday for the Greenville Drive with home runs in five straight games and he actually had two on the day with seven RBI. He nearly left the yard a third time toward the end of the game.
Coffey has seen his average tick up from sub-.200 to begin the streak to .234 after Friday’s action. His two home runs left the bat at 95 and 98 mph, and while it is nothing to get excited about, they were two home runs, nonetheless.
Let’s see if Coffey can build on this streak and continue progressing forward.
Brice Matthews, SS/3B, HOU, 22, A+
Coffey may have overtaken Matthews as hotter hitter in the minors, but last week, Matthews was in that spot. Entering the week, since returning to Asheville from injury on June 1, he has 16 hits in eight games, including six home runs and a double. Pair that with five stolen bases and a .485/.575/1.061 slash and no hitter has garnered more buzz over the last week.
I was a big fan coming out of the draft given how good the collegiate data was. My report was this:
A patient hitter with a strong feel for the strike zone, Matthews chased less than 20 percent of pitches out of the zone at Nebraska in 2023.
During his final collegiate season, Matthews hit 20 home runs and stole 20 bases while slashing .359/.481/.723 and striking out just 20 percent of the time. He has exit velocities as high as 113 mph this year and is an excellent athlete. The 90th percentile exit velocity checked in with an impressive 109.4 mph 90th percentile exit velocity.
Matthews is an analytic darling who fits the Astros system well. While the contact was inconsistent in his debut in Single-A (70%), he is still a player that Astros fans should have plenty to look forward to with his power, speed, and athleticism.After struggling in 2023 in his pro debut, slashing .217/.373/.367, the inconsistent contact worried me. I sat on his ranking pretty steadily before dropping him in my recent update that dropped May 31, just before he return to action.
Matthews is a stellar athlete, and it is evident from the moment you see him in person and watch him run. The power upside is there, but it is important to note that all six of his home runs have come in Asheville, which is the smallest park in the minors. But I have seen him hit the ball hard several times this week.
My biggest concern with Matthews is his contact ability. Last year in college he ran a 74 percent overall contact rate and an 80 percent in-zone rate which is below average, especially considering his league context. The overall contact rate this year is hovering around 63 percent and since returning from injury, closer to 67 percent.
All week I have seen some struggles against breaking balls, and splitters. Every Red Sox arm has a splitter at this point and he has faced some decent ones and gotten eaten up.
The data is good on Matthews though who has a chase rate below 20 percent and an in-zone contact rate near 80 percent. His 90th percentile exit velocity near 105 mph also shows the kind of power he can get to.
Miguel Bleis, OF, BOS, 20, A+
Bleis made his anticipated High-A debut on Tuesday and has had an up and down week since joining Greenville. He had his best game in a Drive uniform on Friday, collecting a double and single while also reaching via walk. He immediately stole a base when he got the opportunity, and now has 19 on the year.
I clocked Bleis at 4.2 seconds home to first on a sprint which is a plus clock time and I thought Bleis looked good in centerfield. He made good reads and jumps and showed a big arm.
Leading into the High-A debut, Bleis was riding a 16-game hitting streak and, over that span, was slashing .313/.387/.493 with three home runs and three doubles. He has posted an exit velocity as high as 112.5 mph this year, and his contact rates have been close to the league average. Both batted balls last night left the bat at 103 and 104 mph.
Bleis has immense upside and could still see his stock soar. I am excited to get more looks at him over this year.
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