Top Prospect Watch

#1: Kyle Harrison

This Week (AAA): 0.00 ERA, 0.25 WHIP – 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 0 BB, 7 SO

Season (AAA): 3.20 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, .162 Avg – 7 G, 7 GS, 19.2 IP, 11 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 0 HR, 21 BB, 34 SO

Finally, Kyle Harrison seemed to get control of his control, with his first start without a walk, and that earned him a Pitcher of the Week award for the PCL.  That’s very encouraging for the top prospect, whose numbers are starting to normalize after a rough first month for his control.  Hopefully, this is the start of a real roll and those walks come down further.

#2: Marco Luciano 

This Week (AA): .154/.353/.385 – 2-13, 0 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 4 BB, 5 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

Season (AA): .154/.353/.385 – 2-13, 0 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 4 BB, 5 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

Hey, look who’s back!  Finally, Marco Luciano got into games, getting into four this week as he finally returned from the back issues that had kept him out for most of the season.  Luciano’s first hit in his return was a home run, but he’s still rounding out his hitting.  One has to love those walks versus strikeouts early on.

#3: Casey Schmitt

This Week (AAA): .381/.480/.619 – 8-21, 2 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 3 BB, 4 SO, 1-1 SB-SBA

Season (AAA): .313/.352/.410 – 42-134, 10 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 8 BB, 28 SO, 3-3 SB-SBA

Casey Schmitt’s most notable change this week was his first pro games at second base, though Schmitt shifted back to shortstop after just three games.  But Schmitt just kept hitting, with a hit in all five games he played, and he is starting to get more and more walks and his first home run of the season.

EDIT: Schmitt is headed to the big leagues!

#4: Grant McCray

This Week (High-A): .409/.458/.0818 – 9-22, 0 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 2 BB, 7 SO, 2-2 SB-SBA

Season (High-A): .208/.321/.396 – 20-96, 2 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 12 BB, 38 SO, 10-13 SB-SBA

Highlighted by a 2-home run game, it looks like all it took was reaching May to wake Grant McCray up.  In one week, McCray had nearly as many hits (9) as he had in the rest of his season before (11), and three of his four home runs.  Hopefully, this is just like his 2022, where he struggled in April and had a breakout season the rest of the way.

#5: Carson Whisenhunt

This Week (High-A): 2.25 ERA, 0.50 WHIP – 4.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 HR, 1 BB, 3 SO

Season (Low-A): 3.29 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, .231 Avg – 4 G, 4 GS, 13.2 IP, 12 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 HR, 4 BB, 20 SO

Season (High-A): 1.13 ERA, 0.38 WHIP, .074 Avg – 2 G, 2 GS, 8.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 HR, 1 BB, 9 SO

Another strong week for Whisenhunt, in his second game at Eugene.  Whisenhunt’s strikeout numbers aren’t as overwhelming against slightly older competition, but he’s not getting hit at all, and isn’t giving out a lot of free passes, so it’s all working for the second round pick.

#6: Vaun Brown

This Week (Combined): .211/.375/.316 – 4-19, 2 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 3 BB, 8 SO, 3-3 SB-SBA

Season (Low-A): .412/.500/.529 – 7-17, 2 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 BB, 5 SO, 3-3 SB-SBA

Season (High-A): .167/.286/.167 – 2-12, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 BB, 5 SO, 2-2 SB-SBA

Vaun Brown’s rehab continued, and he got promoted up to High-A as a part of it.  While he got a pair of hits in his first game at the level, but the hits have dropped off since.  Then again, that’s what this rehab is for, so hopefully he comes along quickly.

#7: Luis Matos

This Week (AA): .429/.478/.619 – 9-21, 1 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 2 BB, 2 SO, 4-4 SB-SBA

Season (AA): .289/.390/.411 – 26-90, 5 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 15 BB, 11 SO, 6-7 SB-SBA

Speaking of hot weeks, Luis Matos had a 4-hit game to open this week, and just continues to hit, and has even added a little more slugging.  Most impressive is that Matos continues to show excellent patience while he hits, and is showing off his speed as well.

#8: Aeverson Arteaga

This Week (High-A): .308/.357/.538 – 8-26, 3 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 2 BB, 5 SO, 0-1 SB-SBA

Season (High-A): .219/.309/.375 – 21-96, 7 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 12 BB, 28 SO, 2-4 SB-SBA

Others have had bigger breakouts this week, but Arteaga continues to improve himself, chipping away at his low April numbers.  Arteaga is best known as a defensive prospect first, but his offense remains tantalizing.

#9: Cole Waites

This Week (MLB): 9.00 ERA, 3.00 WHIP – 1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 HR, 0 BB, 1 SO

Season (AAA): 9.31 ERA, 2.38 WHIP, .282 Avg – 11 G, 3 GS, 9.2 IP, 11 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 1 HR, 12 BB, 10 SO

Season (MLB): 9.00 ERA, 3.00 WHIP, .429 Avg – 1 G, 0 GS, 1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 HR, 0 BB, 1 SO

Waites has had a difficult season, and getting his MLB callup, and waiting nearly all week just to get into a game did not help, as he faced some struggles trying to cleanup a rough Sunday big league loss.  It’s not clear how long Waites will be on the big league roster, but he should get a few more chances before changes happen,.

#10: Mason Black

This Week (AA): 10.80 ERA, 1.80 WHIP – 3.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 HR, 3 BB, 2 SO

Season (AA): 5.60 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, .243 Avg – 5 G, 5 GS, 17.2 IP, 17 H, 13 R, 11 ER, 3 HR, 6 BB, 24 SO

The roughest of weeks this week was Mason Black, who got hit around pretty hard this week, boosting his ERA.  But the most notable stat was Black allowing three walks, which doubled his total for the season.  Hopefully, this is just a blip for Black.

System Risers

Tyler Fitzgerald

This Week (AAA): .200/.261/.250 – 4-20, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 BB, 5 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

Season (AA): .324/.410/.588 – 22-68, 6 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 9 BB, 22 SO, 3-3 SB-SBA

Season (AAA): .200/.261/.250 – 4-20, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 BB, 5 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

Fitzgerald won the Eastern League Player of the Month award, but so far he’s been a little challenged in Triple-A.  That’s too be expected, but he’s settled in at second base at a competitive Sacramento roster.  Hopefully, he’ll get up to speed soon.

Carson Ragsdale

This Week (High-A): 3.38 ERA, 0.88 WHIP – 8.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 HR, 0 BB, 12 SO

Season (High-A): 2.92 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, .189 Avg – 6 G, 6 GS, 24.2 IP, 17 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 1 HR, 3 BB, 38 SO

Ragsdale continues to be hot, getting in two starts this week, and continuing to put up ridiculous strikeout and walk numbers.  I don’t think Ragsdale will be in High-A for long as he seems very ready for a higher level.

Kai-Wei Teng

This Week (AA): 0.00 ERA, 0.25 WHIP – 4.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 1 BB, 2 SO

Season (AA): 2.33 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, .156 Avg – 5 G, 5 GS, 19.1 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 HR, 7 BB, 32 SO

Speaking of dominating pitching, Kai-Wei Teng bounced back this week to have four no-hit innings, even though his strikeouts took a dip.  That’s alright, because his 32 strikeouts in 19.1 innings if more than enough to be very impressive next to any numbers.

Wade Meckler

This Week (High-A): .571/.625/.857 – 4-7, 0 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

Season (High-A): .500/.550/.712 – 26-52, 6 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 6 BB, 6 SO, 1-1 SB-SBA

Meckler missed a few weeks with a hand issue, but was back at the end of this week, coming back with a 4-hit game to keep his batting average at video game levels.  It’s just two games, but Meckler’s numbers bear a lot of watching as he gets back into a rhythm.

Patrick Bailey

This Week (AAA): .278/.391/.333 – 5-18, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 4 BB, 6 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

Season (AA): .333/.400/.481 – 18-54, 2 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 6 BB, 13 SO, 2-2 SB-SBA

Season (AAA): .185/.324/.222 – 5-27, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 6 BB, 7 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

It took a little while, but Patrick Bailey is getting up to speed in Triple-A.  Bailey got pushed up to Sacramento quickly after one hot month in Richmond, partially due to a catching shortage in the system.  Will it be too much for him?