Beck's Minor League Threecap: 6/20/2024

Hey hey hey! Welcome back, all. I’m enjoying the Rickwood Field game as we speak and I hope you are (did?) too. I was saddened by the loss of Willie Mays earlier this week and I found it rather poetic that current Giants CF Heliot Ramos went yard tonight.

We’ve got some good names on the rundown tonight. Let’s dive in!

Them’s the Brooks.

A herniated disc held Brooks Lee (MIN) out of game action until late May and he was reinserted to the Triple-A lineup on June 5th. Since then he’s been one of the hottest hitters in baseball, slashing .340/.380/.553 over 50 plate appearances with two home runs and four doubles, and could be a part of the big league lineup in a matter of weeks. He’s actually belted another two home runs tonight as this article has been in progress. The Twins will probably have to trim the roster of the duplicative pieces in the infield in some form or fashion, and I’d probably bet on the corresponding move being a Kyle Farmer DFA. Lee was 3-for-5 with three doubles on Wednesday.

Roman Anthony (BOS) essentially did a 2023 Salem part two to open the year, and what I mean by that is his underlying data was very strong but the surface results were not. He carried a .200/.326/.320 slash with a 32.6% strikeout rate through his first 20 games and then put it in overdrive to go .318/.424/.600 with a 21.2% strikeout rate in the 31 games since. He had noticeable left/right splits last year and displayed particular difficulty with left-on-left breaking balls, but that gap has closed rather considerably in 2024. There’s still plenty of concern in that regard, but it’s nice to see him competitive against pitchers of both handedness. He’s a top 10 prospect for fantasy purposes, so I’m really just nitpicking here. He was 2-for-3 with a home run and two walks on Wednesday.

Another day, another Guardians prospect. José Tena (CLE) had the biggest last week in the entire sport, belting six home runs and posting a 1.383 OPS over his last eight games. His 107.9 mph 90th percentile exit velocity proves the power is real and he’s improved his strikeout rate from 28.2% across Double- and Triple-A last year to 25.6% solely in Triple-A this year. There’s a little bit of chase in the profile that I don’t love, but it doesn’t seem to be resulting in poor batted ball quality and may just contribute to an elevated K rate. His in-zone contact is healthy enough for him to capitalize. His vignette at the big league level at the end of last season wasn’t confidence-inspiring, but it was all of 34 plate appearances and means mostly nothing. He was 2-for-5 with two home runs on Wednesday.

Graves Danger.

Mavis Graves (PHI) has been taking up a lot of column space this year. He twirled 6.0 innings of shutout ball and collected 10 strikeouts on Wednesday night, marking the third time he’s racked up double-digit punchouts and the fourth time he’s left a contest without surrendering an earned run. He’s striking out 35.6% of batters faced and walking 9.3%, which is a pretty good way to prevent runs when paired with limiting damage on contact. He’s allowed just one home run and eight doubles over 53.0 innings and opposing batters are slugging a measly .255 against him.

It hasn’t been the season Carson Whisenhunt (SFG) wanted thus far as he sits with a 4.87 ERA and 12.0% walk rate through 15 starts. He’s righted the ship in his last three by posting a 1.72 ERA and 25.0% strikeout rate in his last 15.2 innings, all in an effort to crack the big league rotation some time this summer. It’s worth noting that Whisenhunt’s near-5.00 ERA is coming in the PCL and he has a .372 BABIP against, which is to say that he’s been unlucky in an unfavorable environment, but the real concern for me has been the backup in control. That could be because every ball in play seems to have eyes thus far and he’s skittish about throwing in the zone, but even still he’s firing strikes at a 63% clip which is near the minor league average. He went 4.1 scoreless frames and struck out seven on Wednesday.

Hey, Kris Bubic (KCR) is pitching again! He underwent Tommy John surgery in April of 2024 and returned to game action in early May. His fifth rehab start with Triple-A Omaha was his longest in terms of pitch count (93) and strongest in terms of strikeout total (8) as he went 4.1 innings of one-run ball. He’ll be vying for the last rotation spot in Kansas City soon enough, though it gets a little murky once Michael Wacha is ready to return from a fractured left foot. The Royals only have four listed starters on Roster Resource (Ragans, Lugo, Singer, Marsh).

Sometimes I Joander About You. 

All told, not too shabby for the table. Nobody walked more guys than they struck out, Chase McDermott was the only arm to surrender more than two earned runs, and everybody went at least 4.0 innings. I think I just talked myself into it being a great day for the table. Hooray!

Here’s Friday’s viewing guide with my recommendations italicized as usual:

• Jaden Hamm (2.13 ERA) for the West Michigan Whitecaps (DET) at 6:35 ET

• Jhancarlos Lara (5.47 ERA) for the Rome Braves (ATL) at 7:00 ET

• Bubba Chandler (5.13 ERA) for the Altoona Curve (PIT) at 7:05 ET

• Adam Maier (3.83 ERA) for the Augusta GreenJackets (ATL) at 7:05 ET

• Gary Gill Hill (2.35 ERA) for the Charleston RiverDogs (TBR) at 7:05 ET

• Jarlin Susana (6.10 ERA) for the Fredericksburg Nationals (WSH) at 7:05 ET

• Nolan McLean (5.64 ERA) for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (NYM) at 7:05 ET

• Troy Melton (4.79 ERA) for the Erie SeaWolves (DET) at 7:05 ET

• Rhett Lowder (6.52 ERA) for the Chattanooga Lookouts (CIN) at 7:05 ET

• Thomas White (1.35 ERA) for the Beloit Sky Carp (MIA) at 7:35 ET

• Marco Raya (4.67 ERA) for the Wichita Wind Surge (MIN) at 8:05 ET

• Robby Snelling (5.00 ERA) for the San Antonio Missions (SDP) at 8:05 ET

• AJ Blubaugh (4.00 ERA) for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (HOU) at 8:35 ET

• Hayden Birdsong (6.75 ERA) for the Sacramento River Cats (SFG) at 9:45 ET

• Chase Dollander (2.65 ERA) for the Spokane Indians (COL) at 10:05 ET