A look at how the players on our top prospect list are doing this season.
With the All-Star break we thought we'd look at how the guys on our Top 30 Prospect List are doing to this point this season. This isn't a reorder, just a look at how the guys are doing.
1. Marcus Stroman: I really don't have to talk about him, but I'm glad we had him at the top of our list. He's been terrific. In Buffalo, around a stint in the Blue Jays bullpen, Marcus made 7 starts, had a 3.03 ERA. In 35.2 innings he allowed 32 hits, 1 home run, 9 walks with 45 strikeouts. His time in our bullpen wasn't overly successful, but, since they have brought him back as a starter, he's been great, 3-2, with a 2.87 ERA, batters have hit .232/.283/.350 against him. He's not always going to be this good, I'm really curious to see how he'll handle a slump (no rush though), but he's been great.
2. Aaron Sanchez: Sanchez started the season at New Hampshire, made 14 starts, had a 3.82 ERA, struck out 57 in 66 innings, but he also walked 40. 40. That's 5.5 per 9 innings. Normally,, that wouldn't get you a promotion, but he was moved up to Buffalo. As a Bison, he's 0-2 in 6 starts. In 32.1 innings, he's allowed 17 walks and has 25 strikeouts. That's still 4.7 walks per 9 innings. The good news is that he's allowed just 5 walks in his last 3 starts, 19 innings. Much, much better, 3 starts isn't much but they talk about making a minor change to his delivery that has made the difference. We'll see. I do think he's moved himself to near the top of the list to be the fill in if, god forbid, we lost another starter to injury. They are talking of bringing him up to pitch out of the pen. I'm all for the idea of starting pitchers career's in the bullpen.
3. Daniel Norris: Norris started the season in Dunedin, went 6-0 with a 1.22 ERA. In 66.1 innings he allowed 50 hits, 0 home runs, 18 walks with 76 strikeouts. They moved him up to New Hampshire and he hasn't been quite as great, 1-0, 4.24 ERA, 17 innings, 13 hits, 3 home runs, 8 walks and 25 strikeouts. They have been talking about bringing him up for the Jays pen too. I do like the idea of having pitchers come up and pitch in the pen first, though I'm slightly worried that that it is panic move because of how bad the pen has been. He also pitched a clean inning in the 'futures game'. John Sickels said " Has made huge progress refining his mechanics and command, and he always had the stuff."
4: Alberto Tirado: Tirado started the season at Lansing and wasn't good. He pitched in 13 games, 7 starts, had a 6.30 ERA. In 40 innings he allowed 45 hits, 3 home runs, 39 walks with 40 strikeouts. 8.8 walks/9 isn't good. In 2013, pitching in Bluefield, he only allowed 3.7 walks/9, I don't what's going on with him. He was moved down to Vancouver, and it hasn't gone all that much better, 5.40 ERA in 5 games, 3 starts. In 11.2 innings, he allowed 10 hits, 11 walks with 7 strikeouts. That's 8.5 walks per 9. In his last start, he only got through 1 innings and walked 3. He is just 19, playing against guys that are older, but I think it's safe to say he'll be lower down on our list next year.
5. Franklin Barreto: Barreto has been at Vancouver and it is going great for him, he's hitting .311/.400/.434 in 31 games, with 13 walks and 27 strikeouts. He's got 11 steals, caught twice. He's playing shortstop and has made too many errors, 12, for a .912 fielding average, but again he's young and has time to smooth out, or move to second base or center field. We really could use a good middle infielder to fight his way up our minor league system.