Top Prospect Watch

#1: Marco Luciano

This Week (High-A): .308/.400/.385 – 4-13, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 BB, 2 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

Season (High-A): .292/.362/.512 – 49-168, 10 2B, 0 3B, 9 HR, 17 BB, 40 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

With only eight games under his belt, Marco Luciano is still getting back up to High-A speed.  His four games this week were a good example, as he hit well, though not with his usual power.  But Luciano is definitely keeping things going in this crazy season.

#3: Luis Matos 

This Week (High-A): .435/.458/.609 – 10-23, 1 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 SO, 3-3 SB-SBA

Season (High-A): .211/.276/.350 – 70-331, 14 2B, 1 3B, 10 HR, 24 BB, 58 SO, 9-10 SB-SBA

Matos is continuing to have an excellent August, and was hitting the snot out of the ball this week.  More notably, Matos also stole three bases this week, which makes up a third of his season total, showing off another skill that’s been missing all season.

#4: Kyle Harrison

This Week (AA): 5.59 ERA, 1.55 WHIP – 9.2 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 HR, 6 BB, 14 SO

Season (High-A): 1.55 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, .179 Avg – 7 G, 7 GS, 29.0 IP, 19 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 2 HR, 10 BB, 59 SO

Season (AA): 2.96 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, .192 Avg – 15 G, 15 GS, 73.0 IP, 49 H, 25 R, 24 ER, 9 HR, 36 BB, 108 SO

It’s been a bit of a hot and cold streak for Harrison in Double-A, and he had a really rough game and a just okay game.  He’s still striking out a lot of batters, but this definitely wasn’t his best week.

#5: Heliot Ramos 

This Week (AAA): .250/.357/.500 – 3-12, 0 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 2 BB, 2 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

Season (AAA): .217/.308/.325 – 85-345, 11 2B, 1 3B, 8 HR, 38 BB, 92 SO, 5-11 SB-SBA

Ramos came back from his second period of missed time this week, and was able to hit alright in three games after his return, including an increasingly rare home run.  

#6: Will Bednar

This Week (Low-A): Did Not Play

Season (Low-A): 4.19 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, .167 Avg – 12 G, 12 GS, 43.0 IP, 25 H, 22 R, 20 ER, 7 HR, 22 BB, 51 SO 

Bednar has not been in a game since June 12th.

#7: Jairo Pomares 

This Week (High-A): .176/.300/.235 – 3-17, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 BB, 7 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

Season (High-A): .266/.339/.476 – 94-353, 23 2B, 0 3B, 17 HR, 37 BB, 129 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

Pomares has had a hot August, though he had a 3-game hitless streak that cooled him off significantly this week.  It’s still been a great August, as he’s batting .350/.419/.575 on the month.

#8: Aeverson Arteaga

This Week (Low-A): .348/.464/.565 – 8-23, 5 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 5 BB, 7 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

Season (Low-A): .262/.336/.416 – 121-461, 34 2B, 2 3B, 11 HR, 43 BB, 142 SO, 8-11 SB-SBA

It was a great week for Arteaga, and he hit a ton of doubles this week, as he’s done all season.  That’s the kind of hitter to expect Arteaga to be as he moves up the system.

#9: Hunter Bishop

This Week (High-A): Did Not Play

Season (High-A): .229/.319/.423 – 64-279, 11 2B, 2 3B, 13 HR, 29 BB, 106 SO, 17-19 SB-SBA

After straining his oblique on July 17th, Bishop came back for one rehab game on August 15th, but then went on the shelf again.  Maybe we’ll get him in the next couple of weeks as the season winds down.

#10: Nick Swiney

This Week (High-A): 1.50 ERA, 0.83 WHIP – 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 HR, 1 BB, 5 SO

Season (AA): 3.11 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, .184 Avg – 19 G, 18 GS, 84.0 IP, 56 H, 38 R, 29 ER, 3 HR, 39 BB, 101 SO

It was back to the good side for Swiney as his starts have swung from good to bad and then good, but the good is really good.  This wasn’t a perfect outing like he had a couple of weeks ago, but it was just more of a good thing for what has been a good season.

System Risers

Vaun Brown

This Week (High-A): .143/.400/.143 – 1-7, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 BB, 2 SO, 1-1 SB-SBA

This Week (AA): .000/.000/.000 – 0-2, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

Season (Low-A): .346/.427/.636 – 79-229, 14 2B, 5 3B, 14 HR, 25 BB, 67 SO, 23-26 SB-SBA

Season (High-A): .357/.455/.623 – 55-154, 10 2B, 2 3B, 9 HR, 21 BB, 52 SO, 21-24 SB-SBA

Season (AA): .000/.000/.000 – 0-2, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

What a crazy week for Vaun Brown.  A slow pair of games at Eugene set the stage for his promotion to Double-A.  But then, Brown was removed midway in his first game with Richmond with an unspecified injury, and he hasn’t been seen since.  Brown missed a week not long ago in Eugene.  Hopefully he makes it back this year.

Grant McCray

This Week (Low-A): .375/.444/.750 – 3-8, 0 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0-1 SB-SBA

This Week (High-A): .231/.286/.462 – 3-13, 0 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 6 SO, 1-1 SB-SBA

Season (Low-A): .291/.383/.525 – 127-436, 21 2B, 9 3B, 21 HR, 58 BB, 148 SO, 35-45 SB-SBA

Season (High-A): .231/.286/.462 – 3-13, 0 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 6 SO, 1-1 SB-SBA

Also getting a callup this week was McCray, who has also had a breakout season that started in San Jose.  For McCray, it was a slow start at Eugene, but not a horrible one.  McCray has a couple more weeks to right the ship before the season ends.

Casey Schmitt

This Week (AA): .300/.333/.500 – 6-20, 1 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 7 SO, 1-1 SB-SBA

Season (High-A): .273/.363/.474 – 91-333, 14 2B, 1 3B, 17 HR, 42 BB, 86 SO, 1-3 SB-SBA

Season (AA): .340/.386/.472 – 18-53, 5 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 4 BB, 11 SO, 1-1 SB-SBA

Schmitt’s Double-A run continued, though even batting .300 was a bit of a cool-down for him so far since the promotion.  Schmitt is truly establishing himself as a big prospect with his early returns at Richmond, though.

Sean Hjelle

This Week (AAA): 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP – 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 2 BB, 5 SO

Season (AAA): 4.92 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, .286 Avg – 20 G, 20 GS, 89.2 IP, 103 H, 58 R, 49 ER, 10 HR, 37 BB, 69 SO

Hjelle had his first good start since his rough mid-summer callup, and it came back to showing the ceiling that Hjelle has, as a good back end of the rotation guy, but a solid major leaguer none-the-less.

Ryan Murphy

This Week (AA): Did Not Play

Season (High-A): 2.90 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, .180 Avg – 7 G, 7 GS, 31.0 IP, 20 H, 11 R, 10 ER, 1 HR, 12 BB, 47 SO

Season (AA): 9.35 ERA, 2.19 WHIP, .265 Avg – 2 G, 2 GS, 8.2 IP, 9 H, 9 R, 9 ER, 2 HR, 10 BB, 7 SO

Like Hunter Bishop, Murphy made one rehab appearance and disappeared.  Bishop left Richmond on July 6th with back problems, and then came back to make one rehab appearance on August 20th.  It’s unclear if he’ll come back again as the season winds down, or might make it into the AFL.