Baseball America Prospect Report — September 10, 2019

Image credit: Nico Hoerner (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)

Nico Hoerner, SS, Cubs. Dealing with a rash of injuries at shortstop and a playoff outlook that’s anything but guaranteed, the Cubs called up  and immediately insert him into the starting lineup. The 2018 first rounder answered decisively, going 3-for-5 with a triple and four RBI, leading the Cubs to a 10-2 win over San Diego as “Nico, Nico!” chants grew louder at Petco Park. 

Hoerner missed two months this year with a broken wrist and was slated to make up some of those at-bats in the Arizona Fall League. Instead, he looks like Chicago’s answer at shortstop for the foreseeable future, as Javier Baez, Addison Russell and Dixon Machado contend with injuries. 

While the decision to elevate Hoerner seemed somewhat surprising — he has just 337 career minor league ABs, none of which are above Double-A — the results Monday night were not. The Stanford product can put the ball in play, as evident by his .284/.344/.399 line with Double-A Tennessee this year. 

He now finds himself in the middle of a competitive NL playoff race. Chicago is four games back of St. Louis in the NL Central, but is two games clear of the Brewers for the second Wild Card spot. The D-backs (2.5 GB), Phillies (3 GB) and Mets (4 GB) are still within striking distance. 

Wander Javier, SS, Twins. Javier had a good night with the bat for low Class A Cedar Rapids in the Midwest League semifinals against Clinton. The infielder had a base knock and also smacked two doubles while coming around to score once. It was a solid performance for Javier, who hit just .177/.278/.323 in 80 games after missing all of 2018 with a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder.

Gilberto Jimenez, OF, Red Sox. Jimenez had the decisive hit for Lowell in game two of the New York-Penn League finals against Brooklyn. The outfielder batted leadoff and hit a two-run single in the second inning which provided enough cushion for Lowell to hold on for the victory. Jimenez had been 3-for-16 during the playoffs, but his two RBIs proved to be the difference maker.

Ronny Henriquez, RHP, Rangers. Henriquez tossed six strong innings for low Class A Hickory in the South Atlantic League finals against Lexington. While his team lost, the righthander allowed two runs on three hits while walking one batter. He also struck out seven batters along the way. Henriquez has completed at least five innings in each of his last four starts.

HITTERS

TEAM CLASS PLAYER, POS AB R H BI AVG NOTES
ARI MAJ Kelly, Carson C 3 0 0 0 0.254  
ARI MAJ Kelly, Merrill P 2 0 0 0 0.022  
ARI MAJ Lopez, Yoan P 0 0 0 0  
ARI MAJ Rojas, Josh LF 4 0 1 0 0.260  
BOS MAJ Travis, Sam 1B 3 0 0 0 0.228  
CHC MAJ Hoerner, Nico SS 5 2 3 4 0.600 3B (1)
CLE MAJ Chang, Yu 3B 3 1 1 3 0.220 HR (1), BB (8)
CLE MAJ Mercado, Oscar CF 5 0 1 0 0.272  
HOU MAJ Alvarez, Yordan DH 5 2 2 2 0.314 2 HR (24)
HOU MAJ Straw, Myles PR-SS 2 0 0 0 0.233  
HOU MAJ Stubbs, Garrett LF 2 1 1 0 0.214  
HOU MAJ Toro, Abraham 3B 4 2 2 0 0.255 3B (2)
HOU MAJ Tucker, Kyle RF-1B 2 0 0 0 0.286  
LAA MAJ Rengifo, Luis 2B 4 0 1 0 0.244  
LAA MAJ Walsh, Jared PH 1 1 1 1 0.233 HR (1)
MIA MAJ Diaz, Isan 2B 5 0 0 0 0.145  
MIA MAJ Dugger, Robert P 1 0 0 0 0  
MIL MAJ Black, Ray P 0 0 0 0  
MIL MAJ Grisham, Trent LF 6 2 5 2 0.264 2B (4), 3B (1)
NYM MAJ Alonso, Pete 1B 4 2 2 2 0.267 2 HR (46)
OAK MAJ Murphy, Sean PH-DH 0 0 0 0 0.222 BB (1)
OAK MAJ Neuse, Sheldon 3B 2 0 0 0 0.130  
PHI MAJ Garcia, Edgar P 0 0 0 0  
PHI MAJ Haseley, Adam CF 2 0 0 0 0.266  
PIT MAJ Kramer, Kevin PH 1 1 1 0 0.250  
PIT MAJ Newman, Kevin 2B 5 1 1 2 0.316  
PIT MAJ Reyes, Pablo LF 5 0 0 0 0.187  
PIT MAJ Reynolds, Bryan CF 5 1 2 1 0.329 2B (34)
PIT MAJ Tucker, Cole SS 4 0 1 0 0.207 2B (9)
SD MAJ Allen, Austin PH-C 2 0 0 0 0.228  
SD MAJ France, Ty 3B 1 0 0 0 0.223  
SD MAJ Naylor, Josh RF 3 0 0 0 0.252 BB (20)
SD MAJ Quantrill, Cal P 1 0 0 0 0.083  
SD MAJ Urias, Luis SS 4 0 2 0 0.186  
SF MAJ Dubon, Mauricio 2B 4 1 1 0 0.286 SB (2)

PITCHERS

TEAM CLASS PLAYER IP H R ER BB K ERA NOTES
ARI MAJ Kelly, Merrill 6 7 3 3 2 5 4.68 L (10-14)
ARI MAJ Lopez, Yoan 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 2.93  
BOS MAJ Brewer, Colten 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 4.59  
BOS MAJ Hernandez, Darwinzon 0.1 3 3 3 0 1 3.86  
BOS MAJ Lakins, Travis 1 1 0 0 0 1 3.93  
BOS MAJ Shawaryn, Mike 0.2 2 1 1 2 0 8.22  
HOU MAJ Abreu, Bryan 2 1 0 0 1 3 0.00  
HOU MAJ Perez, Cionel 1 0 0 0 0 2 10.00  
LAA MAJ Jewell, Jake 3 1 0 0 1 4 6.86  
LAA MAJ Sandoval, Patrick 3.1 5 3 3 2 4 5.28 L (0-3)
MIA MAJ Dugger, Robert 3 4 2 2 4 3 4.29 L (0-2)
MIL MAJ Black, Ray 1.1 0 0 0 0 3 2.45  
PHI MAJ Garcia, Edgar 1 0 0 0 1 1 6.34  
SD MAJ Quantrill, Cal 4.1 10 8 8 2 5 5.12 L (6-7)

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