Innholdsfortegnelse for Monday, April 10, 2017 i Baseball America

MAY 2, 1999 » IN THIS ISSUE: Six-foot-10 Mariners pitching phenom Ryan Anderson always stands out from the crowd. » ALSO: The Pan- American Games rosters include non-40-man roster minor leaguers for the first time. Of all the things there are to love about minor league baseball, nothing gets people more excited than logos. Even if you have no idea who’s going to be pitching for Quad City this year, you have a definite opinion on the River Bandits logo (thumbs down). As it has been four years since we last did a major review of minor league logos, we thought it was high time we surveyed the landscape and let everyone know the way things should be. What we found is that things have calmed down since four years…

Baseball Writer, ESPN.com jerrycrasnick@baseballamerica.com JUPITER, FLA. Eric Zimmer keeps a busy schedule as an anesthesiologist in San Diego, but he’ll break free whenever possible to travel to Arizona in March to spend time with his two sons. Kyle is a righthander in the Royals system and Bradley is an outfielder in the Indians chain, and it’s a treat for them to meet up at the end of a long day of Cactus League baseball with an assurance that dad will pick up the tab. After one recent 90-degree grind, Kyle brought a couple of friends from Royals camp to a combination restaurant-bowling alleybilliards- and-laser-tag-emporium called the Main Event in the Phoenix suburbs. “It’s sort of an overgrown Dave & Buster’s,” Eric said. “We played some video games and yukked it…

Columnist, MLB.com DENVER When it comes to the World Baseball Classic, it is vogue to root for the underdogs. If those underdogs succeed, then interest builds on an international level, and that could mean making inroads into areas where baseball has been an afterthought. That’s why it was so encouraging to see Israel go undefeated in the opening round of this year’s WBC, though its Cinderella dreams turned into a pumpkin in the second round. It’s why the Netherlands advancing to the final four in 2013 and repeating the feat in this installment is cause for inspiration. Consider, there has never even been a major league player who was born in Israel. At the other extreme is the United States, where baseball is the national pastime. And then there are…

PHOENIX Even in the midst of a snowy Wisconsin winter and the Green Bay Packers making another NFL playoff run, David Stearns’ trips to the grocery store felt like a summer stroll. Coming off of a 73-win season and consecutive fourthplace finishes in the National League Central, the Brewers have a fired-up fan base. “The enthusiasm when I walk around Milwaukee, even in the winter when it’s Packers time, is unbelievable,” said Stearns, the club’s 31-year-old general manager. “People stop me in the grocery store and want to talk Brewers baseball. It’s unbelievable.” Those fans are starting to have more to talk about. The Brewers’ rebuild is still in its nascent stages, but after trades restocked the farm system over the past two years and the 2016 draft netted an…

PEORIA, ARIZ. Padres fans are going to have to be patient. The big league team this year could be a disaster. The San Diego rotation is the last refuge for veterans such as Jered Weaver, trying to get one more big league shot. The lineup features Wil Myers, some promising rookies and a whole lot of questions. The Padres are a better bet for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft than they are for a .500 record in 2017. But far away from San Diego, the Padres have a whole lot of impatient prospects. On the minor league back fields this spring, the organization has assembled an experiment that’s never been attempted before. The Padres spent more on international amateurs in the past year (roughly $80 million…

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC March 6-22 * Advanced to next round CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND SEMIFINALS Puerto Rico 4, Netherlands 3 United States 2, Japan 1 FINAL United States 8, Puerto Rico 0 ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM MVP: Marcus Stroman, rhp, United States. C—Yadier Molina, Puerto Rico. 1B—Eric Hosmer, United States. 2B—Javier Baez, Puerto Rico. 3B—Carlos Correa, Puerto Rico. SS—Francisco Lindor, Puerto Rico. OF—Wladimir Balentien, Netherlands; Gregory Polanco, Dominican Republic; Christian Yelich, United States. DH—Carlos Beltran, Puerto Rico. P—Kodai Senga, Japan; Marcus Stroman, United States; Josh Zeid, Israel.…

COLUMBIA, S.C. Wil Crowe never suspected anything was wrong. Even when it happened, and the fibers in his elbow finally snapped, he felt nothing. No pain. Just a pop in his joint, like he had just cracked a knuckle. The 2015 season had been a struggle for the South Carolina righthander, then a sophomore. The year before, Crowe was a Freshman All-American, going 8-3, 2.75 and positioning himself to be the next great Gamecocks ace. But on this day, April 10, 2015, he took the mound in Gainesville, Fla., as a shell of his freshman self. He was 3-4, 4.91. Though his arm had bothered him earlier in the season, he thought nothing of it. He simply didn’t have his command or the crispness that he had the season before,…

NEW YORK | Yankees For statistics, organization reports, prospect lists and recent drafts, check out: baseballamerica.com/t/organization-reports/ TAMPA Had the Athletics not taken Billy McKinney with the 24th pick in the 2013 draft, then the prep outfielder would have been a Yankees farmhand three years earlier. The Yankees, who flew the Plano, Texas, product to Tampa for a workout, were poised to select McKinney with the 26th pick and had him rated higher than Notre Dame third baseman Eric Jagielo, whom they took and later included in the package they used to pry Aroldis Chapman from the Reds in 2016. McKinney moved from the A’s to the Cubs near the 2014 trade deadline in a deal that also sent Addison Russell to Chicago for Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. Last year the…

PORT CHARLOTTE, FLA. It’s hard to say how outfielder Jake Bauers has made a bigger impression on the Rays this spring. Is it the powerful way he has swung the bat—which includes a pair of mammoth home runs—or is it the mature way he carries himself? “You wouldn’t know he was here,” first baseman Logan Morrison said, “unless he swung the bat and it made a really loud noise.” Bauers is just 21 and has not played above Double-A Montgomery. He is still getting used to right field after being asked to move from first base to get more playing time. None of that has stopped him from being one of the best stories in big league camp. “I’m telling you, man, that dude is unbelievable,” center fielder Kevin Kiermaier…

JUPITER, FLA. John Norwood was in right field at high Class A Jupiter last season when, as is his custom, he said hello to the opposing team’s relievers as they warmed up. In the bullpen was Reds righthander Nick Howard. He and Norwood talked for only a second, but it was their first encounter since June 25, 2014. That’s when Norwood’s life changed forever. On a 1-0 pitch from Howard, Norwood turned on a 97 mph fastball and lined a solo homer to left field, breaking an eighth-inning tie in the final game of the College World Series and leading Vanderbilt to a 3-2 win against Virginia. It was an unexpected blast from a player who hit just four homers in three college seasons. He hit .159 as a freshman…

WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. While scrolling through Twitter on his off day as an intern for the Diamondbacks last June, C.J. Picerni noticed that he was about to be working for a different organization in a more hands-on capacity. Much to his surprise, Picerni saw that he had been drafted in the 31st round by the Nationals. The catcher thought his playing career was over when his senior season ended at Division III New York University, but instead he became the first Violets player to be selected in a major league draft since 1974. “I had been in the (D-backs) war room on the first day of the draft, and my boss (assistant of baseball operations Ian Rebhan) told me to take the next two days off,” Picerni said. Picerni…

LAKELAND, FLA. Dominic Ficociello took a step backward offensively in 2016, his first season at Double-A Erie. But the first baseman has taken one step forward in the mind of Tigers manager Brad Ausmus, who has seen plenty of him the past two springs. “He seems to be becoming more selective at the plate,” Ausmus said. “He’s not chasing out of the strike zone as often. He’s more polished.” He’s also a bit bigger. The 24-year-old Ficociello, who is listed at 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, spent a good amount of time in the offseason working to add weight. The switchhitter went 8-for-37 (.216) with three home runs and eight RBIs through spring games as of mid-March. The three homers Ficociello hit added up to more than half the total he hit…

CINCINNATI | Reds For statistics, organization reports, prospect lists and recent drafts, check out: baseballamerica.com/t/organization-reports/ GOODYEAR, ARIZ. When shortstop Blake Trahan got a chance to play in big league camp last spring, he didn’t waste the opportunity. In 13 games he collected nine hits in 21 at-bats. Through six games this year he went 4-for-9 with a double. A year ago, Trahan’s hot start inspired confidence but didn’t carry over to high Class A Daytona. He had just nine hits in his first 20 games and 88 at-bats. “I don’t know,” said Trahan, 23. “Just the way baseball played out that season, it was a big learning curve for me. I just kind of lost my swing and lost track of the things I was doing. “I just had to…

BRADENTON, FLA. Tyler Eppler is working on a new pitch this spring, one with a somewhat risqué name. The 24-year-old righthander, who looks to open the season at Triple-A Indianapolis, has been learning to master a hybrid that is part slider and part cutter. Eppler and minor league pitching coordinator Justin Meccage jokingly refer to it as “the slutter.” “Sometimes when we tell other people that, they’re like, ‘Really?’ ” Eppler said. “So it’s like it’s our joke. I tell everybody else it’s a slider-cutter.” Eppler hopes the pitch can get him to the big leagues this year after he went 9-10, 3.99 in 27 starts last season at Double-A Altoona. The Pirates feel Eppler needs an extra pitch to complement a fastball that sits at 92-94 mph and a…

WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. A year and a half removed from his last pitch for Triple-A Fresno, righthander Tyson Perez is hoping to pick up where he left off. Perez was enjoying the best season of his career in 2015 before an MRI revealed his right arm would require Tommy John surgery. On Sept. 23 of that year, a day after Perez watched his Fresno teammates win the Triple-A national championship, orthopedic surgeon and Astros team physician Thomas Mehlhoff performed the operation. “It was tough, especially 2015,” said Perez, 27. “I was feeling really good and then to get injured, especially at the end of the year, it was really tough. But now that I’m healthy and I feel better than ever, I’m just trying to build on what I…

SURPRISE, ARIZ. Eddie Gamboa rates as one of the most intriguing—and possibly the most entertaining—newcomers to the Rangers spring pitching staff, but not solely because the 32-year-old righthander’s featured pitch is a knuckleball. But on the mound, it’s all about the knuckleball. In Gamboa, the Rangers have a candidate to be the change-of-pace reliever they like to have in their bullpen and a versatile pitcher who could work multiple innings on consecutive days or make a spot start for them. With lefthanded reliever Jake Diekman out and lefty Alex Claudio possibly moving into a more specialized role than he had last season as the change-of-pace long man, Gamboa is a pitcher to watch. He’s willing to fill multiple roles. “The goal is to be at the big league level,” said…

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. The extensive offseason work Riley Pint put into his delivery brought notable results at the outset of spring training. The hard-throwing righthander spent three months at the Rockies’ facility getting ready for his first spring training. As a result, Pint’s delivery was smoother, tighter and more repeatable while throwing bullpen sessions and live batting practice before the start of games. “It’s not like there was an extreme head whack or (he was) consistently trying to overthrow or looking like he was overthrowing,” farm director Zach Wilson said. “There was definitely some moving parts to it. There was probably a little more effort than you would like. It was more gaining some body control over those long limbs that he has. “He’s learned to keep that delivery more compact.…

Baseball Analyst, Senior Writer ESPN.com LAKELAND, FLA. Miguel Cabrera doesn’t care if you think the good old-fashioned RBI is the most washedup, irrelevant stat since six balls equaled a walk. In fact, if you think that stat is so irrelevant, the Tigers’ favorite RBI machine has a question for you. “How are you gonna score,” Miggy asks, “if somebody doesn’t drive in the runs?” The sabermetric answer to that question is that the RBI is random, that it’s purely a function of which hitters are lucky enough to arrive in the batter’s box with the most runners on base. And all sorts of data proves that’s true—for most people. But within the game, even folks who build teams around that data know it isn’t true for all people. And the…

The Padres have an agreement to sign 18-year-old Cuban lefthander Osvaldo Hernandez for $2.5 million, according to multiple sources. His contract is subject to the 2016-17 international bonus pools, which the Padres blew past when the signing period opened last year on July 2. Between signing bonuses and the overage tax payment due this summer, the Padres have committed nearly $80 million to international amateur signings during the current 2016-17 signing period. The Padres’ other Cuban signings since July 2 include lefthander Adrian Morejon ($11 million), outfielder Jorge Ona ($7 million), righthanders Michel Baez ($3 million) and Ronald Bolanos ($2.25 million) and lefthander Ramon Perez ($400,000). At 6 feet, 175 pounds, Hernandez has shown advanced feel for his age for a wide repertoire of pitches, starting with a fastball that’s…

PAIR CONVICTED FOR CUBAN SMUGGLING A Miami jury convicted player agent Bart Hernandez and trainer Julio Estrada in March on a series of charges stemming from the smuggling of players from Cuba into the United States. Both men remained free on bail until sentencing, scheduled for July 11, but were facing 15 and 35 years in prison, respectively. The pair was convicted on 12 counts relating to falsely obtaining visas for Cuban defectors to obtain entry into the United States. Some of Hernandez’s clients have included White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu, Marlins shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, Royals outfielder Jorge Soler and Mariners outfielder Leonys Martin, among a host of others. The government charged that Hernandez and Estrada worked through back channels to smuggle players from Cuba into Haiti or Mexico…

Editor in Chief Baseball America johnmanuel@baseballamerica.com Predicting the first round of the 2017 draft may prove a fool’s errand. Not because the draft is unpredictable and teams have less consensus among the top picks than ever with more looks and more information available, though both of those are true. Not because the most predictable drafts are the loaded draft classes, especially the ones with deep college hitting and pitching classes. This is not one of those years. It’s a year with depth of velocity in the prep class, like every draft since 2013 has been on the high school side. But it’s characteristically light on the college side in position players with athleticism, and it has two candidates to go No. 1 overall—a selection the Twins will make—who fit profiles…

PHOENIX The Cubs proved last year that you can build a World Series champion with a complete lack of homegrown pitchers. While Chicago’s World Series lineup included homegrown stars Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Kyle Schwarber, its pitching staff was assembled from other teams. Free agents, trade acquisitions and even a Rule 5 draft pick filled out the majors’ best pitching staff as measured by ERA. But pitchers signed and developed by the Cubs were almost completely absent. Scanning the upper levels of Chicago’s farm system shows that this trend won’t change dramatically in 2017 or 2018. But there is hope lower down in the system. What once was a system stacked with hitters now stands out most for its young pitchers. At Class A or lower, the Cubs this…

Led by an experienced, veteran lineup, Texas Tech won the Big 12 Conference last season and reached the College World Series for the second time in three years. Half of last year’s regulars are now gone, including All- American first baseman Eric Gutierrez, leaving a hole in the lineup for new Red Raiders to step up and fill. Texas Tech hasn’t missed a beat this spring, however, starting the season 17-4 and rising to No. 8 in the Top 25 after five weekends. Along with senior first baseman Hunter Hargrove (.329/.387/.553), junior outfielder Tanner Gardner (.294/.344/.376) has been at the heart of the Red Raiders’ new-look offense. After leading Texas Tech in batting last season (.379/.484/.549), Gardner got off to a slow start this spring. Ten games into the season,…

SARASOTA, FLA. Catcher Austin Wynns finally made it to big league camp after an ankle injury he sustained playing winter ball delayed his arrival. Orioles manager Buck Showalter finally gets to see what all the fuss is about. “I can see why so many people like him,” Showalter said after Wynns caught the late innings of a game against the Twins. Wynns, 26, played at three levels of the system last season, including eight games at Triple-A Norfolk. He hit .287/.336/.416 with six home runs in 80 games. The Orioles invited Wynns, drafted in 2013 in the 10th round out of Fresno State, to big league camp, but they replaced him with catcher Yermin Mercedes and sent Wynns to their minor league complex. “It’s awesome the first time being (in…

DUNEDIN, FLA. At 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, Rowdy Tellez looks every bit the part of the hulking first-base slugger. Yet the 22-year-old hasn’t made hitting home runs a priority through his first four seasons. He prefers to develop himself more completely at the plate. “I wanted to learn how to hit first and be the best hitter I can be, because the longer you play, the more people have an opportunity to figure out who you are,” said Tellez, a 30thround selection in 2013 out of Elk Grove (Calif.) High. “So if I can be the best hitter I can be, people are going to be worried about me hitting and make more mistakes. That’s when I have to capitalize, and that’s where power comes into the mix.” The mature…

PORT ST. LUCIE, FLA. T.J. Rivera is willing to wear any glove in his bid to break camp on the big league roster. The Pacific Coast League batting champion last year at Triple-A Las Vegas already has shown he can handle second base and third base. This spring he is also giving first base a shot and is looking to increase his reps in the outfield, where he has played sparingly. “I am doing it just to kind of help my value,” Rivera said. With David Wright likely headed to the disabled list with to a right shoulder impingement, the 28-year-old Rivera could become the primary backup to Jose Reyes at third base while dabbling at other positions. Rivera, a native of the Bronx, N.Y., who attended Troy and signed…

CHICAGO | White Sox For statistics, organization reports, prospect lists and recent drafts, check out: baseballamerica.com/t/organization-reports/ GLENDALE, ARIZ. The White Sox released veteran Brett Lawrie on March 3, paving the way for top prospect Yoan Moncada to take over as the club’s starting second baseman. That day should come at some point this season, but Chicago is rebuilding and sees no point in rushing Moncada—or anyone else— to the major leagues. “We’re really not going to have anyone in Chicago until they’ve answered any questions we’ve had for them at the minor league level and we feel they’re ready to succeed,” general manager Rick Hahn said. Guilty in past seasons of rushing prospects to the majors before they were ready, the White Sox are now going in the opposite direction.…

SURPRISE, ARIZ. Righthander A.J. Puckett went from unheralded prospect at Pepperdine to Royals big league camp within a year. “I was getting ready for college Opening Day a year ago,” Puckett said in the Royals’ spring clubhouse, where he was surrounded by veteran starters Jason Hammel, Danny Duffy and Ian Kennedy. Puckett was not considered a premium draft prospect when his junior season began last year, but a scoreless streak of 45.2 innings put him on scouts’ must-see lists. “Midway through the streak I kind of started realizing I had a little streak going,” said Puckett, 21. “The guys on my team were starting to give me a hard time, saying they wanted to face me to break my streak.” The Royals selected Puckett in the second round, making him…

MESA, ARIZ. Has righthander Pierce Johnson gone from struggling minor league starter to the next Wade Davis? Not yet. But early in spring training, Cubs manager Joe Maddon made it sound like that’s what could be coming for the first pitcher drafted by the organization under president of baseball operations Theo Epstein. After a late-season move to the bullpen at Triple-A Iowa last year, Johnson arrived at big league camp this spring as a full-time reliever. “It’s a different look. It’s a different animal all of a sudden,” Maddon said. “What he had done last year once they put him in the pen, (he showed) the typical uptick (in velocity). (It was) kind of like a Wade Davis thing.” Davis, the closer whom the Cubs acquired from the Royals in…

JUPITER, FLA. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny was so fond of what he saw from outfielder Magneuris Sierra during spring training that he told the story a few times about how a coach with another team was even more impressed. “He’s in (low Class A),” Matheny later said. “I have to remind myself that. I have to remind other people who watched him play against them this spring. “There are teams out there that could put him in there and watch him compete. If they had a kid like that—who could run like that, who puts together the kind of at-bats like that and plays that kind of defense—you could see a team saying, ‘Let’s push this kid a little bit.’ ” That team now could be the Cardinals. While Sierra…

TEMPE, ARIZ. Shortstop David Fletcher’s favorite player growing up in Orange County, Calif., was David Eckstein, so he always has appreciated being compared with the gritty, over-achieving shortstop and leadoff man for the 2002 World Series-champion Angels. “He’s like David Eckstein on extra vitamins,” farm director Mike Gallego said of Fletcher last fall. But there is one comparison to Eckstein— that of a slap hitter with virtually no power— that Fletcher would like to shed this season. Much of his focus last winter was on strengthening his 5-foot-10, 175-pound frame in an effort to “add a little more power and extrabase hits,” he said. “My strength has always been my defense,” said Fletcher, 22. “I’m trying to improve on being more productive at the plate.” That Fletcher is in big…

LOS ANGELES | Dodgers For statistics, organization reports, prospect lists and recent drafts, check out: baseballamerica.com/t/organization-reports/ GLENDALE, ARIZ. For all the praise his hitting skills receive, Willie Calhoun draws nearly equal criticism from scouts for his chunky build and clunky defense at second base. So Calhoun has focused on those things this spring. Even before reporting to his first big league camp, the 22-year-old Calhoun was in Arizona working on a daily basis with Dodgers strength and conditioning coach Brandon McDaniel and coach Chris Woodward. Under McDaniel’s supervision, Calhoun was establishing a better workout routine and working to get his body in better shape. On the field, Woodward has been working with Calhoun on his defensive mechanics, particularly focusing on his footwork and range at second base. The whole package…

PEORIA, ARIZ. Righthander Walker Lockett’s long odds to crack the Opening Day roster were stretched even longer when the Padres dipped into the free-agent bargain bin to add Jered Weaver, Jhoulys Chacin and Trevor Cahill to the rotation competition. That doesn’t mean the 22-year-old Lockett isn’t asserting his standing in a vastly overhauled farm system. The 2012 fourth-rounder out of high school in Jacksonville breezed through four levels last year to land on Triple-A El Paso’s playoff roster, onto the Padres’ 40-man roster and into big league camp for the first time. There, the 6-foot-5 Lockett turned in a pair of scoreless outings in his first exhibitions in front of the big league staff. “It’s great to see a young guy come up, not be rattled at all and have…

Meteoric Rise Garrett Stubbs went from being unranked in 2016 to the Astros Top 10 in 2017. How often does that happen? JASON, LOS ANGELES It actually happens more than one might think. By my count, there are 21 players who made a team’s Top 10 in the 2017 Prospect Handbook who were eligible for the 2016 list but did not crack the Top 30. Most of the players who make that jump are like Stubbs. The typical profile of players who go from unranked to Top 10 is pretty straightforward. It happens largely for international signees (who usually don’t even get to play a pro game before they are eligible for their first Prospect Handbook) and for later-round draft picks. Usually those draft picks fell in the draft for…

Jerry Krause, a longtime baseball scout in addition to his signature role as the general manager of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls championship teams, died March 22. He was 77. Krause is one of the rare scouts who had success in two sports. As a baseball scout, he helped recommend the White Sox trade for shortstop Ozzie Guillen. His scouting career preceded his stint as the Bulls’ GM—during which time his Michael Jordan-led teams won six NBA titles—and he returned to baseball scouting after his basketball career ended. He worked in the scouting departments for the Yankees, Mets, White Sox and Diamondbacks.…

Columnist, MLB Network petergammons@baseballamerica.com DUNEDIN, FLA. In many ways, the Blue Jays these past two years have returned to the glory days of the Pat Gillick era. Toronto in 2015 made the playoffs for the first time since the World Series championship team of 1993. Over the past two seasons the Blue Jays won 11 more games than any other American League East team, attracted 6.1 million fans to Rogers Centre and on most nights had more than a million people watching on television. When the Blue Jays hired Mark Shapiro away from the Indians in August 2015 to serve as president of baseball operations, his mission statement was to change the culture. Shapiro hired Ross Atkins, his farm director in Cleveland, as general manger. Subsequently he brought on former…

Spring training is headed for home and the minor league season is here at long last. Prospects are spreading out across the country and readying themselves for the grind of a 140-game season. In minor league front offices, however, the preparation started long ago. Tickets were sold, bobbleheads and specialty jerseys were dreamed up and trends on social media were carefully monitored to ensure their Twitter feed is as up to date as possible. Last season’s minor league campaign was marked on the field by the ascent of Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi and Minor League Player of the Year Yoan Moncada’s rise from high Class A to the majors. The sport-wide spike in velocity continued as well, with at least 71 minor leaguers touching or surpassing 100 mph with…

FORT MYERS, FLA. Just two years ago, it would have been difficult to imagine lefthander Henry Owens being among the first round of cuts from big league camp. Yet his performance in the early stages of the Grapefruit League—a 15.95 ERA with 12 walks in just 6.2 innings—made it clear that the 24-year-old has work to do. An offseason of strength gains allowed the 6-foot-7 Owens to arrive at a solid 230 pounds and had him working with better velocity—he pitched at 90-94 mph in his final spring outing—than in recent years. Nonetheless, inconsistent mechanics, particularly out of the windup, resulted in a return trip to Triple-A Pawtucket. “To Henry’s credit, he didn’t mince words,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “He knows he’s capable of more. He knows he…

ATLANTA | Braves For statistics, organization reports, prospect lists and recent drafts, check out: baseballamerica.com/t/organization-reports/ KISSIMMEE, FLA. Lefthander Kolby Allard discovered that patience is indeed a virtue. Drafted 14th overall in 2015, the San Clemente (Calif.) High product battled a stress reaction in his back that led to minor surgery. Braves officials also were cautious while making sure they did not allow Allard to do too much too soon. The results in 2016 lived up to expectations. Allard made his season debut on June 6 at low Class A Rome and ran up a 8.25 ERA over three starts before a demotion to Rookielevel Danville, where he thrived. “When I went to Rome, that was the first time I had faced live competition in quite a few months,” said Allard,…

CLEARWATER, FLA. Though the spotlight does not shine on righthander Mark Appel as brightly as it once did, he remains a tantalizing curiosity in the organization and around baseball. After being selected No. 1 overall by the Astros in 2013 and dealt to the Phillies in December 2015, Appel has been slow to live up to expectations, and his once-golden prospect label has dulled. Fully recovered from surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow in June, the 25-year-old Stanford product believes he is poised to take a leap forward in 2017. “There’s always the hope and dream of getting to the big leagues, but it doesn’t happen overnight,” Appel said. “Everybody kind of makes their own opportunity based on how they play. I know if I go…

GOODYEAR, ARIZ. Among the Indians’ internal candidates, righthander Shawn Armstrong has the best chance to emerge as a factor in the big league bullpen in 2017. The 26-year-old has had brief stints with Cleveland in each of the past two seasons. After a strong showing at Triple-A Columbus in 2016, and some impressive work early in big league camp this year, Armstrong could pitch his way onto the Opening Day roster. Or he could be the next man up should an injury strike the bullpen. “He came into camp looking like he was on a mission, and looking like he’s really matured,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. An 18th-round pick from East Carolina in 2011, Armstrong’s maturity and confidence both got a boost from his strong performance at Columbus last…

FORT MYERS, FLA. The Twins aren’t sure yet where righthander Griffin Jax will be assigned. It could be Fort Myers for extended spring training. Or it could be Rookie-level Elizabethton, where Jax pitched in four games last year after being drafted in the third round. Or he could be sent to Elgin. That would be the Air Force base in the Florida panhandle. That uncertainty represents the risk the Twins assumed in 2016 when they selected the 22-year-old Jax. Jax will graduate from the Air Force Academy in May, and he’s not at spring training because the academy requires him to complete his degree first. Even when Jax does report to the Twins, he owes the U.S. military five years of service, just like all Air Force cadets. How he…

PHOENIX Considering the dearth of lefthanded pitchers in the organization, the Brewers decided to make one from scratch. When Nick Ramirez took a step back offensively last season as a first baseman at Double-A Biloxi, the Brewers suggested that he would have a better chance to advance as a pitcher. It wasn’t a crazy notion because Ramirez also served as the closer at Cal State Fullerton before Milwaukee made him a fourth-round pick in 2011. “They mentioned it in July and I started throwing bullpens, getting back into it,” said Ramirez, 27. “When I first started, I looked like an infielder throwing off the mound. I hadn’t done it in five years. “I wasn’t using my lower half. I wasn’t using my body. It was just a slow progression to…

SEATTLE | Mariners For statistics, organization reports, prospect lists and recent drafts, check out: baseballamerica.com/t/organization-reports/ PEORIA, ARIZ. Even righthander Chase De Jong says he won’t “wow you” with his stuff. So what was it about him that prompted the Mariners to acquire him from the Dodgers in early March for shortstop Drew Jackson and righthander Aneurys Zabala? General manager Jerry Dipoto responded by comparing De Jong to two other righthanders in the club’s system—Andrew Moore and Max Povse—who also typically don’t draw raves from scouts. “We see pitchers differently than, maybe, your ordinary scout,” Dipoto said. “All three (pitchers are) cut from a very similar cloth. We saw Povse throw (recently) at 92-94 (mph) with a pretty good changeup. “Two days prior, it was Moore out there pitching 91-94 with…

MESA, ARIZ. The adrenaline surged through righthander Kyle Finnegan’s veins. It may have only been the third game of spring training, but in this case the manager and coaching staff of the Athletics were watching. Finnegan responded with a shutout ninth inning for the save in a win against the Giants. “It was definitely exciting,” said Finnegan, 25. “I had the shaky legs. That’s what I like to feel on the mound. Looking back, it’s just so cool that I was able to face some big league guys and be around that atmosphere.” He may well have to get used to it—the atmosphere, that is. The slender 6-foot-2 Finnegan made the move from starting to relieving last year, and the new role could make him a contender for a callup…

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. After the way his past two seasons have unfolded, catcher Jose Herrera has relatively modest goals in mind—and that’s understandable. “I just want to be healthy all year,” he said. The 20-year-old Herrera has been limited to just 60 games the past two seasons. After fracturing a bone in his foot in 2015, he dealt with an elbow strain during extended spring training last year, then broke a bone in his hand in August that cost him the rest of the season. Still, the Diamondbacks have seen flashes of the potential that compelled them to sign Herrera for $1 million out of Venezuela in July 2013. He hit .304/.415/.380 in 79 atbats in the Rookie-level Arizona League in 2015 and slashed .277/.351/.438 in 137 atbats at Rookie-level Missoula…

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. Though he put together a solid first pro season in 2015, outfielder Steven Duggar realized he needed to improve. “There were a few things that we had to clean up from the offensive side of the game: bat path, posture and being able to drive balls to all parts of the field,” said Duggar, a 2015 sixth-rounder from Clemson. After working on those things with farm director Shane Turner, minor league hitting instructor Andy Skeels and then-high Class A San Jose manager Lipso Nava, Duggar enjoyed a much better second pro season. The lefthanded batter boosted his slugging percentage from .367 at short-season Salem-Kezier in 2015 to .448 in 2016 when he played for both San Jose and Double-A Richmond. His home-run total increased from one to 10.…

Transactions Transactions involving minor league players, i.e. those not on 40-man rosters, covering the period March 4-17. ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS: Signed LHP T.J. McFarland. Released RHPs Max Duval, Ethan Elias and Johnny Omahen; LHP Alex Gunn, 1B Trevor Mitsui and OFs Joey Armstrong, Myles Babitt, Jason Heinrich, Logan Soole and Stryker Trahan. ATLANTA BRAVES: Signed RHPs Andres Santiago and Karl Triana and LHPs Michael Kirkman and Joe Rogers. Released LHP Matt Marksberry and 2B Gerald Chin. BALTIMORE ORIOLES: Signed RHPs Andrew Bellatti and Steve Johnson and 1B Michael Katz. Re-signed 1B Pedro Alvarez. BOSTON RED SOX: Released RHP Ramses Rosario. CHICAGO CUBS: Signed OF Brandon Cummins. Released RHP Maikel Cleto. CHICAGO WHITE SOX: Signed RHP Chad Rogers. Re-signed RHP Miguel Chalas. Released C Jeremy Dowdy. CINCINNATI REDS: Released RHPs Hawtin Buchanan,…