Mets SS Ronny Mauricio started at second base Friday night in Triple-A. He’ll have to find somewhere other than Francisco Lindor’s position if he wants to start in New York. He went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts, dropping his slash line to .343/.395/.729 on the season heading into Saturday’s games. If New York can head into the off-season with major league regulars in Brett Baty, Francisco Alvarez and Mauricio, they’ll have some extra cash to flash in the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes.
Speaking of Ohtani, Showtime was marvelous on Friday night, and new catcher Chad Wallach chipped in with a home run, replicating the production the Angels had been getting from injured rookie Logan O’Hoppe, who’ll have to miss a chunk of time with a shoulder issue. Double-A backstop Edgar Quero has a .512 OBP through nine games and might make himself an option if O’Hoppe has to miss a few months. I wouldn’t expect him to catch Ohtani, but he could probably handle some lower velocity guys like Jose Suarez and Tyler Anderson.
Prior to 2023, tracking Dodgers C Hunter Feduccia has not been part of my fiscal responsibilities as a prospect analyst. A 12th round pick in 2018, Feduccia wasn’t especially productive in his one season at LSU, slashing .233/.375/.377 with three home runs in 56 games. His path through the minors has more or less replicated those outcomes. In 83 games last year across Double-A and Triple-A, Feduccia slashed .238/.331/.466 with 15 home runs, so it’s not likely he’ll maintain his 2023 slash line of .432/.577/.838 with four home runs, 14 walks, and 11 strikeouts in 12 games, but he looks good to me. He’s a left-handed hitter with quick hands who can absolutely launch pitches on the inner half. I expected to see a muscle hitter but found Feduccia to be an athletic bat with a shrinking swing-zone who finds the barrel with apparent ease. It’s hard to go broke betting on the Dodgers to max-out their middle-round talents. Feduccia has been handling designated hitter on his days off behind the plate and seems like the perfect piece to fill in for Will Smith if his concussion symptoms linger.
Guardians LHP Logan Allen will reportedly be recalled to start Sunday’s game in lieu of Hunter Gaddis “let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore. Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore.” Allen was bad in Triple-A last year (1.56 WHIP) but added a sweeper over the off-season and is getting better results in 2023 (1.05 WHIP, 1.23 ERA). His command was uncharacteristically off last year (10.7 percent walk rate) but is better so far in repeating the level (8.6 percent). He’s much, much more likely to succeed than Gaddis was, for what it’s Wuertz, and he’d be the only lefty in Cleveland’s rotation if he sticks. Feels like the ball’s in his court. If he falters, we’ll probably see Tanner Bibee (1.76 ERA, 1.04 WHIP in 15 IP at AAA).
If Allen and Bibee aren’t enough to bolster the Cleveland staff, RHP Gavin Williams awaits. He’s been in Double-A since June 6, 2022, and he’s been fairly awesome the whole time. As I was watching his start on Thursday night, I figured it would be his last at the level. No word on that yet, but he has a 0.63 WHIP and 0.63 ERA in 14.1 innings. His 32.1 percent strikeout minus walk rate would be elite for a power reliever. The Nats AA team is not strong, but they might as well have been totally absent from the batter’s box. The only baserunner he allowed in five innings was a walk born from a pitch-clock violation and a blatantly missed call from the umpire.
Yankees SS Oswald Peraza is playing third base in Josh Donaldson’s absence, and he’s a more talented defender than Andres Chaparro. The club batted Willie Calhoun fifth and Franchy Cordero sixth today, so it’s not like Peraza’s presence is the only thing blocking Chaparro. This kind of preference for journeymen over youngsters has been a trademark of the Cashman era. Anthony Volpe was an exception, but the rule remains. Donaldson is expected to miss several more weeks with his irreparable hamstring, so the runway is here to relegate the elder statesman to a reserve role. For his part, Chaparro seems to be pressing and striking out more than he usually does but hit his seventh home run on Friday night.
You have to remember the F when looking for Brewers RHP Carlos F. Rodriguez on the inner webs, and even then, you might not find him. He’s been pretty well obscured by all the Rodrigi with his given name, but the six-foot, 200 lb beermaker has been singularly excellent since he was drafted (pun unintended) in the sixth round of the 2021 draft. In 36.1 innings across seven starts in High-A, he posted a 0.94 WHIP and 1.98 ERA with a 31.9 percent strikeout rate. Something I always notice: he allowed zero home runs, a feature he’s carried over into the early stages of 2023. Just nine innings in two starts at Double-A so far, but CF Rod has a 1.00 ERA and 0.89 WHIP with 11 strikeouts. The Brewers’ arms tend to sneak up on the public-facing scouting community, creating a pocket for profit in our game.
Astros OF Joey Loperfido has fetched some attention thanks to hitting three home runs and stealing four bases in ten games across two levels. He turns 24 on May 11, so he’ll never pop in the age-to-level math, but Houston can teach hitting, with or without buzzers.
Dodgers 2B Jorbit Vivas is slashing .377/.459/.642 with one home run and two stolen bases in 13 Double-A games. He’s got ten strikeouts (16.4%) and eight walks (13.1%), showcasing the plate skills that give him an outside shot at contributing to this year’s major league team.
If you’ve got room for a years-away pitching prospect, Giants RHP Manuel Mercedes is cruising the block in Low-A, posting a 0.75 WHIP in his return to the level. Command is the last kingdom here; Mercedes already has the arsenal required to climb the professional parapets.
Thanks for reading!
