Beck's Minor League Threecap: 6/16/2024

Happy Father’s day, all. I hope you’re able to spend some time with dad today in whatever capacity possible. Feeling for those of you for whom that’s not possible – maybe give mom a hug.

Programming note: Monday’s and Tuesday’s Threecaps will likely be late night versions. That’ll mean when you wake up on Tuesday, you’ll be reading Monday’s Threecap covering Sunday’s games. Got it?

Off we go!

He’s Nacho Guardian of the Galaxy.

I wish I could say things are going well for Ignacio Alvarez Jr. (ATL), colloquially known as Nacho, but they just aren’t. He has a pretty solid hit tool and posted contact rates well above minor league average last year, but the power is just nonexistent at this stage. This season is shaping up to be the second consecutive in which his OBP outpaces his slugging percentage and I can’t say there’s much else in the profile that points toward an above-average big league regular besides some defensive versatility probably at third base or a corner outfield spot. However (and this is a big however), he’s been really young at every level over the last year and a half. The Braves recently promoted him to Triple-A Gwinnett where he’s almost six years younger than the average, and his hit tool has held up across High- and Double-A previously. Perhaps I’m the low man given there isn’t much projection in the frame, but I think you’re looking at more floor than ceiling. He reached in all six plate appearances on Saturday, going 4-for-4 with a double, a walk, and an intentional walk.

Cooper Pratt (MIL), famously not Chris Pratt, has been one of the hottest hitters in the minors over the last month. He missed just under two weeks of game time in April with a broken pinky, took a little time afterward to find his groove, and has since put together a .380/.448/.457 slash line over his last 24 games. There hasn’t been a lot of slugging, he’s collected just four doubles and one home run in that time, but the foundational aspects of his profile are quite strong. He’s also a strapping 6-foot-4, 195 lbs, and could very well turn a lot of these singles into extra-base outcomes in short order. He’s done a fine job keeping the ball off the ground, but a plurality of his batted ball events are line drives with little chance of clearing the fence (you know, because physics). I was a fan of his coming into the draft, and evidently the Brewers agreed strongly enough to pay him over a million dollars more than the slot value when they selected him in the sixth round last summer. He was 3-for-5 on Saturday.

Brush and Bloss.

The Brewers are exceptionally good at finding mid-round, junior and community college arms that they can mold with their vaunted pitching development system. Jacob Misiorowski is the most recognizable of the bunch, but Logan Henderson (MIL) is likely to be the next to provide real fantasy intrigue. He was a fourth rounder out of McLennan Community College in 2021 but missed the majority of the following year with an elbow injury that ultimately required surgery (non-Tommy John or UCL repair). He pitched exclusively at Low-A last year where he racked up 106 strikeouts in 78.2 innings and managed a 2.75 ERA and now finds himself in Double-A after just 6.2 innings in the Midwest League. He doesn’t have the traditional fastball velocity coveted by scouts, but it has nice shape and plays well as a 1-2 punch with his changeup, and he’s particularly effective when his slider is going well. He punched out 10 over 5.2 innings of two-run ball on Saturday and did so only requiring 78 pitches.

Jake Bloss (HOU) is making his second Threecap appearance after being in the table roughly a zillion times. He’s putting together a simply fantastic season across High- and Double-A and currently sits with a 1.74 ERA through 62.0 innings. If you’ve been a Duggie for a while you know I got some live looks at him during the Astros Spring Breakout game in March and came away pretty impressed. He’s listed at 6-foot-3, 223-pounds (strangely specific) and it looks like an athletic starter’s build. He’s in the 200-250 range for me at present with opportunity to rise even further should his raw stuff translate to punchouts with Corpus Christi. He went 6.1 innings without allowing a hit or a run and struck out six on Saturday.

Dylan Let’s Go! 

Alright that was probably too much enthusiasm for a good-not-great outing. Lesko was the only player in the table to avoid surrendering an earned run and it was his first such outing since his first appearance of the year.

No viewing guides on Mondays! Touch grass!