Beck's Minor League Threecap: 6/26/2024

Hey hey hey! Welcome back to the Threecap. I don’t have a ton of energy for chit-chat up top, so we’re diving straight in. Thanks for reading!

Windishing It Out.

It’s okay if you’re not familiar with Hogan Windish (SEA). I certainly was not and you probably don’t need to be either, but he’s on the Threecap because he had an exceedingly rare game on Tuesday. He finished the night with four hits in five plate appearances and nine RBIs. That’s already quite rare – the last nine RBI game was notched by Ryan Mountcastle on April 11th, 2023, against the Oakland A’s – but I’ve intentionally buried the lede; all four of Windish’s hits were home runs. Only 18 players in the history of Major League Baseball have notched a four home run game (one of which was Scooter Gennett, so maybe tuck that in your back pocket for bar trivia).

It’s been a ho-hum kind of year for Brady House (WSH) in the sense that he’s neither been hot nor cold enough to warrant much discussion. It’s a down year in terms of surface performance (.238/.312/.444 through 276 plate appearances), but he’s been hampered by some poor batted ball luck and is still just 21 years old in Double-A (he was 20 to open the season, his birthday was a few short weeks ago). The strapping young man surpassed his home run total from last year in 97 fewer plate appearances by beltinghis 13th of the season in a 2-for-4 effort that also included a double.

Hurter? Barely Know’er.

Drue Hackenberg (ATL) had a pretty good introduction to Double-A on Tuesday. Right after he finished saying “Hi, I’m Drew, brother of former NFL second rounder Christian and MLS first rounder Brandon” he promptly shut out the Montgomery Biscuits over 6.0 innings and allowed just five baserunners. I don’t think he’s a huge upside play, but I do like the floor especially with the sinker/slider repertoire that should produce a ton of ground balls. 

Brant Hurter (DET) had a solid start for Toledo on Tuesday, going 6.0 innings of shutout ball with four strikeouts. It’s been kind of a tough go-around at the level for him as he currently has a 5.13 ERA. His peripherals are better – his K-BB% is sitting at 18.4% – but even still I’m not the biggest fan of his stuff. He is an above average strike-thrower, though, so it’s at least likely he’ll be deployed as a starter or long-reliever.

Misi-Or-Else. 

Jacob Misiorowski was the only fella to throw zeroes on Tuesday, but nobody really got blown up, either. Jairo Iriarte has had a few outings this year that really showcase his upside as a starter (like his 7.0 three-run innings with 13 strikeouts on May 19th), but also a couple that make his likelihood as a reliever weight heavily. This one was neither, the remainder of the table feels kind of the same way – unremarkable.

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

• Chase Dollander (2.84 ERA) for the Spokane Indians (COL) at 2:05 ET

• Bubba Chandler (4.37 ERA) for the Altoona Curve (PIT) at 6:00 ET

• Troy Melton (4.58 ERA) for the Erie SeaWolves (DET) at 6:05 ET

• Nolan McLean (6.93 ERA) for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (NYM) at 6:35 ET

• Jhancarlos Lara (5.46 ERA) for the Rome Emperors (BOS) at 7:00 ET

• Jarlin Susana (5.44 ERA) for the Fredericksburg Nationals (WSH) at 7:05 ET

• David Sandlin (5.12 ERA) for the Greenville Drive (BOS) at 7:05 ET

• Gary Gill Hill (2.11 ERA) for the Charleston RiverDogs (TBR) at 7:05 ET

• Jaden Hamm (2.10 ERA) for the West Michigan Whitecaps (DET) at 7:05 ET

• Trevor Martin (0.00 ERA) for the Montgomery Biscuits (TBR) at 7:35 ET

• Noble Meyer (2.89 ERA) for the Beloit Sky Carp (MIA) at 7:35 ET

• Brett Wichrowski (5.87 ERA) for the Biloxi Shuckers (MIL) at 7:35 ET

• Robby Snelling (5.92 ERA) for the San Antonio Missions (SDP) at 8:05 ET

• AJ Blubaugh (3.58 ERA) for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (HOU) at 8:05 ET

• Zebby Matthews (1.55 ERA) for the Wichita Wind Surge (MIN) at 8:05 ET