Innholdsfortegnelse for July 13, 2018 i Baseball America

Joey Devine’s golden right arm carried him through parts of five seasons in the big leagues only to see his career short-circuited by a pair of Tommy John surgeries. His career in baseball almost never got off the ground. He was largely overlooked by college recruiters and amateur scouts as a pitcher at Junction City (Kan.) High. Upon graduation in May 2002, Devine received no notice from scouts that he might be drafted. He made unofficial and official visits to six colleges but drew little interest and no scholarship offers. Then came a call from Billy Jones, the recruiting coordinator at North Carolina State. “Are you committed anywhere?” Jones asked. “No, I haven’t heard from anybody in a long time,” Devine responded. Devine was playing in the summer college Jayhawk…

He’s 19 years old. That’s what I have to keep reminding myself when I watch Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He’s already a complete hitter—major league ready now with the bat—and one of the best teenage hitters ever. Guerrero, the Blue Jays’ top prospect and the top prospect still in the minor leagues, hit .407/.457/.667 in 53 games for Double-A New Hampshire before hitting the disabled list with a strained patellar tendon in his left knee. He accumulated nearly as many walks (20) as strikeouts (21) and more extra-base hits (30) than strikeouts. He has humongous raw power, but it’s his incredible bat control, uncanny plate discipline and lack of holes as a hitter that stand out even more. Guerrero even made progress with his defense at third base. “You kind of…

BOSTON RED SOX BEST PLAYER: Lefthander Jalen Beeks has morphed from an overlooked 12th-round pick out of Arkansas in 2014 to a big league starter. The 24-year-old Beeks has overhauled his arsenal in pro ball to feature a four-seam fastball that ranges from 88-95 mph, a curveball, a four-seam changeup and—most significantly—a cutter that he added after the 2016 season. In college he threw primarily a two-seam fastball, a slider and a two-seam change. “I’ve changed a lot,” Beeks said. “I don’t have any of the pitches I got drafted with.” The changes have yielded results, particularly in 2018 at Triple-A Pawtucket. With strong fastball and cutter command and the ability to remain unpredictable in counts, Beeks went 4-4, 2.65 through 12 starts with an International League-leading strikeout rate of…

TARNOK WINS ADMIRERS AT SALLY LEAGUE GAME If a younger Freddy Tarnok heard that he would have three strikeouts in the South Atlantic League all-star game, he would have been very disappointed. That’s because Tarnok was an athletic high school shortstop until last year. Heading into his senior year at Riverview (Fla.) High in 2017, Tarnok got back on the mound for the first time since he was 12. He was impressive enough that the Braves drafted him as a pop-up pitcher in the third round. Only a year later, the 19-year-old earned an assignment to low Class A Rome, followed by SAL all-star honors. Tarnok shined at the all-star game as the event’s most impressive pitcher. He faced three batters and struck out all three. “I couldn’t ask for…

Projecting the future of international prospects who are 15 and 16 years old involves a high level of risk and uncertainty. For the 2018 class, that is particularly true, with little consensus in the international scouting community on even the top players. In general, scouts seemed more enthusiastic about last year’s strong class and another talented group ahead in 2019. That made it a challenge to line up the top prospects for 2018, particularly with the reality that players have had commitments in place to sign with clubs for more than a year in some cases. This year’s top 10 ranking also includes Cuban players who are subject to the international bonus pools. While 21-year-old outfielder Victor Mesa is an exception, most of the top Cuban players out now…

The NCAA Tournament has undergone incredible change in its 71-year history, even in recent years. The College World Series moved from Rosenblatt Stadium to TD Ameritrade Park, super regionals were introduced, the field was expanded to 64 teams and blanket TV coverage has made the games more popular. T Through it all, however, the CWS, at its most basic level, today looks a lot like it did in 1950 when it moved to Omaha. Eight teams arrive in the Gateway to the West for a double-elimination tournament to determine college baseball’s national champion. The CWS has not undergone a change to its format since 2003, when a best-of-three finals series was introduced to determine the winner, replacing a championship game. That was the most significant alteration to the CWS since…

Adidas has embraced the “cleathead” concept in 2018, spinning out new styles for the diamond while polishing fresh designs to make them shine. Of course, signing Aaron Judge to the Adidas roster ahead of the season gave the brand a bit of extra incentive to liven up its cleat game. While the 2017 American League Rookie of the Year took the field in the new Adidas Icon cleat this season, Judge celebrating Mother’s Day with a customized pair that featured a “Mom” banner wrapped around a chocolate-dipped strawberry on the tongue was when the movement really gained some traction. Adidas followed up its Mother’s Day success—more than 150 of its athletes wore special cleats for the weekend—with the recent release of the Adidas x Topps collaboration, turning Topps baseball card…

The prospect graduations of the Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. and the Phillies’ Scott Kingery combined with an injury-truncated year from the Nationals’ Victor Robles to shake up the top of this year’s ranking of power-speed prospects in the minor leagues. A quartet of 2017 draft picks join the fold this year—all but the Angels’ Jo Adell selected after the first round. T As in past years, each player’s production and tools are considered for this ranking. But because these prospects still are developing, high home run totals or high stolen base success rates are not a strict requirement. What’s more important from a performance perspective is a demonstrated ability to drive the ball for extra bases and a willingness to attempt stolen bases. Statistics are updated through June 24. 1.…

Players must retain prospect eligibility as of June 28 to qualify. Players from the 2018 draft or 2018 international signing class were ineligible. THE GRADUATES A lot has changed since we unveiled our Top 100 Prospects ranking for 2018 in January. Eleven players from our preseason list have graduated from prospect status by exceeding 130 at-bats, 50 innings or 30 relief appearances in the big leagues as of June 28. STOCK WATCH JO ADELL, OF ANGELS RANK: 13. PRESEASON: 46. Long regarded as an incredible athlete whose ability to hit good pitching was suspect, Adell has destroyed all challengers at the plate while retaining his all-around skills in his first full season. The 19-year-old hit .326 with a 1.009 OPS at low Class A, became the first high school first-rounder…

While we at Baseball America still are digesting the 2018 draft class, we also have an eye on the 2019 class. At this point in time, the top of next year’s class looks to be much heavier on position players at both the high school and college levels. In this feature we rank the top 10 high school and top 10 college draft prospects for 2019. Top 10 High School Prospects For 2019 1. BOBBY WITT JR., SS  Colleyville (Texas) Heritage HS The son of 16-year major league pitcher Bobby Witt, the younger Witt is an all-around player with above-average to plus tools in every category and the ability to stick at shortstop. His father found success on the mound, but Witt Jr.’s future is in the batter’s box—though he…

Everybody knows that a New York rat is one of the toughest animals on the planet, so it should come as no surprise that, after they came under attack in 2016, that the Staten Island Pizza Rats have resurfaced stronger than ever. Two years ago, the Staten Island Yankees had planned a full-on rebrand with a new name, colors and logos. After more than 2,000 fans submitted their ideas for the name, the list was whittled to Bridge Trolls, Heroes, Rock Pigeons, Killer Bees and Pizza Rats. Pizza Rats seemed to be the overwhelming favorite, but Staten Island politicians were not having it, so the team scrapped the rebrand and continued playing as the Yankees. “Ultimately, we have our own independent ownership and we have the ability to make decisions…