Baseball America Prospects Chat

Ram (Cupertino): Hello, Phil Bickford is dominating the South Atlantic League, has a 33/4 K/BB ratio in 20.2 innings. Any chance he moves up to San Jose soon? He looks to be too advanced for the SAL.
J.J. Cooper: Hey everyone. I’m going to be in and out for a few minutes here as I finish a draft call. Bickford has been great. I don’t know if there is a pitcher in the minors who gets more swings and misses off his fastball. I do think he’s making a strong case for a quick promotion. Doesn’t hurt to let him develop and succeed for a month or so in LoA before pushing him up.

Lisa (San Francisco, CA): I see Sean Manaea is getting the call to debut for the A's Friday. What are the chances he sticks?
J.J. Cooper: The A’s have Hahn and Henderson Alvarez trying to work their way back before too long but Manaea misses bats better than anyone currently in the back half of the A’s rotation. I’d say he’s 50-50 to stick as the big concern will be how well he can command his fastball. His command and control have gotten better but it still looms as a concern.

Ryan (Missouri): Can we still expect Glasnow, Taillon, and Bell in 2016? Who gets the call first?
J.J. Cooper: I’d say Glasnow then Taillon then Bell. Bell is not going to push Jaso aside until Jaso slows from his currently scorching start. And Bell still has some work to do defensively at first. Bell has 3 errors so far in 13 games at first this year, but beyond the errors, he still looks to be struggling to become a smoother fielder at first–his hands are hard at times. All of those are things for him to work on but Bell can really hit, which makes up for the defensive concerns. Glasnow is closer to the big leagues than Taillon in my mind largely because he’s coming off a full season of work while Taillon is still in his first month of official action after a two-year layoff.

Josh (Toronto, ON): How would you project/compare: Matt Chapman Cody Bellinger Yuniel Diaz Thx!
J.J. Cooper: Very different guys. Guessing you are asking for fantasy purposes as you are asking about a 3B, a CF/1B and an OF. Chapman is closest to the majors of the three, Bellinger has the best long-term offensive potential.

Rich (NJ): Nick Delmonico is doing extremely well at AA in the White Sox system after a couple of difficult years (much of his own doing). Do you still consider him a good prospect? Thanks,
J.J. Cooper: At this point he’s a prove it guy. A great month in AA is not going to erase what has been a pretty disappointing career so far. If he’s still doing this in June or July then it’s time to re-evaluate but this first two weeks are so far beyond his normal production that you want to see if he can sustain it.

Nathan (New York): Can you rank these pitchers in order of the number of major league starts you think they'll have this season: Berrios, Snell, Manaea, Glasnow.
J.J. Cooper: Berrios, Snell, Manaea, Glasnow.

Steve (California): Do you see Tim Anderson being with tge White Sox after the all star break.
J.J. Cooper: Barring injury I don’t think he’s an upgrade over Rollins for most of this season. If the White Sox are out of it and building for tomorrow than yes, a call-up may be in order, but not for a while. Anderson has battled a wrist injury but his tendency to swing at most everything is really hurting him in Triple-A right now. He’s better than the .221/.221/.265 line (with a 30% strikeout rate) he’s putting up right now, but he hasn’t shown he’s ready to handle big league pitching.

Ryan (Missouri): Is Zimmer/Frazier Cleveland's CF/RF of the future? Both are expected to debut either late 2016 or early 2017, so who has more upside?
J.J. Cooper: Zimmer is more of a true CF while Frazier likely ends up in right field. Zimmer is more well-rounded, but Frazier has better power. I’d say Zimmer is a safer bet to have a long big league career as a starter and considering the defensive value of a center fielder, likely to have a more productive career, but Frazier’s peak could be higher thanks to significant power potential.

Jim (Minnesota): Do you like the chances of Taillon being a top level starter in the near future?
J.J. Cooper: I think he looks better than he did before all the injuries. Nothing from what we’ve seen so far this spring leads anyone to think he can’t get back to his pre-injury projections of a front-line starter. He just has to show he can stay healthy. That being said, the path from hard-throwing 23-year-old pitching prospect to front-line starter is usually a road with a lot of setbacks. Check out how long it took Gerrit Cole to ascend to his expected spot at the front of the Pirates’ rotation. I’d expect some ups and downs if Taillon came up this year but am very bullish on his long-term potential.

Patrick (Fort Wayne, In): What have you heard about Gleyber Torres slow start? Has he taken a step back? over matched? or are there other issues?
J.J. Cooper: SSS. Haven’t heard anything to indicate he’s way over his head yet. Worth noting that he hit .204/.248/.280 for South Bend last August but because it was at the tail end of a great year it wasn’t that noticeable. Because Torres has started out slow this year it’s much more noticeable.

Ben (Miamisburg, OH): With the Reds many starting pitchers coming off the disabled list soon, do you see them moving Michael Lorenzen into the closer role once he is fully recovered from mono?
J.J. Cooper: I think Lorenzen makes the most sense from the current crop of big league ready Reds pitchers to be the closer. Considering the Reds’ bullpens ability to pour accelerant on any rally so far, it makes even more sense.

Nick (Atlanta): Is there power coming for Albies? He's 19 and looks tiny. I know he homered yesterday, just curious if we're talking about a guy who will have 0-5 homers per year in the big leagues or is there room for more?
J.J. Cooper: There is more power than one would think for someone his size. It was a different time, but Rafael Furcal is no bigger than Albies and he hit 10+ for a significant stretch of his career. I don’t think 5-to-10 HR power is outlandish for Albies.

Rick (NJ): Where do you see Ian Happ winding up for the Cubs? Can he be their future 2nd baseman?
J.J. Cooper: I don’t know where he fits. The Cubs are seemingly two deep at every position as Javier Baez is struggling to find a regular spot. The good news for the Cubs is Happ is a year or two away. Time has a way of opening spots up. That said, 2B is the best fit for Happ if he’s willing to grind away to become more polished at the position.

Matt (Nashville, TN): What are your thoughts on the long term prospects of Chesney Young? He continues to hit for a high average at every level (now almost at .400 in AA) with tremendous strike zone control and a little speed to go with it. He certainly doesn't have the profile of a top prospect, but his floor may be so high that he has a much better chance to carve out a long career in the majors. Would you rather have two of him or one higher profile prospect?
J.J. Cooper: I love him. He’s not going to be an impact guy but I’m with you–he’s going to play in the big leagues. My expectation is he ends up in some sort of Tommy La Stella role where his hitting ability get him pinch hit at-bats. But Young has more defensive value than La Stella, so he could end up being better than La Stella.

Ryan (Macon): JJ I'm a big Braves fan and had an important question about the rebuild. I see the middle of the field valuable players. I see all the pitchers. There is zero power in this system besides Davidson and Riley, and they're both a long ways away. Whenever this team is good again (and who knows when that will be), where do they get power from?
J.J. Cooper: I don’t know if you can call Davidson a big power prospect either as his approach seems more geared to getting on-base rather than getting to a point in the count where he can drive the ball. That’s the big concern for the Braves right now as far as the long-term. Ronald Acuna is a name to watch as far as future power for Atlanta, but it’s definitely a need.

Jonathan (Syracuse, NY): Francis Martes has had a rough start to the year in Double-A. Is this just a question of a young kid deservedly decimating High-A but not being ready for advanced hitters (he started last year in extended spring training, after all), or is there something wrong with him?
J.J. Cooper: He’s had one really bad start, one good start where he didn’t strike anyone out and one start where he gave up some hits but missed a lot of bats. Too soon to get worried.

Zack (Okc): Does Devers just have the worst luck to start the season out of anybody? Doesn't seem like he is striking out a lot.
J.J. Cooper: Yeah a lot of bad luck. Devers currently has a .143 BABIP. He needs to drive the ball more but I promise you that BABIP will jump by 100 or more points before the year is done.

Nick (NYC): Corpus Christi's Joe Musgrove is having an outstanding season. What type of repetoire can we look forward to seeing when he reaches the majors?
J.J. Cooper: Musgrove has exceptional control with solid middle-of-the-rotation stuff. It’s a great combo. If you are nitpicking you could say that Musgrove lacks a plus pitch, but all of his offerings play up because he can locate, and we’re talking solid stuff already (90-93 mph fastball that will touch 95).

Evan (Boynton Beach): After watching some of the top college arms I came away thinking really good stuff but lacking the ability to command their pitches consistently. At what age does this really start to become a concern for them?
J.J. Cooper: It’s a concern with this year’s class. There are a lot of guys in this class who scouts are worried could end up in the bullpen. There are few, very few, pitchers in this year’s college class who combine potential above-average stuff with repeatable deliveries and solid control.

Ben (Miamisburg, OH): Should we expect to see Robert Stephenson up for good sometime in June once we are safely past what we think the super two deadline will be?
J.J. Cooper: I’ve been surprised how good Stephenson’s control has been so far. That’s been a long-running issue for him so I wouldn’t have been surprised if he needed much of this year to work on improving his strike-throwing ability. Instead, it hasn’t really been an issue for him in the first month of the season. Keep that up in Louisville and your timetable seems pretty logical.

Rick (Wisconsin): What's your opinion of Alex Bregman. Will he be traded or stay an Astro, and development into what and what position
J.J. Cooper: Long-term I do think that Bregman may be more valuable to other teams as a middle infielder than he is to the Astros who will have to move him out of the middle infield–he could do either, but he may be worth more in trade than he provides as a left fielder if third base ends up blocked as well. But that’s the long-term. Right now he could figure eventually in the third base mix and he’s also the Astros’ best backup option in case of an injury to Correa or Altuve.

Bob (California): Who will prove to be a better left hand pitcher? Urias or Snell?
J.J. Cooper: Urias has a higher upside but Snell is safer. Snell is a big league starter right now, whether the Rays have him in Tampa or Durham. Urias has some work left to do.

Ryan (Missouri): If Austin Meadows is expected to debut in 2017, how do the Pirates accommodate as they currently have "the best outfield in baseball"?
J.J. Cooper: You don’t have to fix that problem until he’s ready which he isn’t. I don’t see him moving any of the current outfielders out of their spot, but that’s a great problem to have.

Jonathan (Syracuse, NY): Kohl Stewart is sitting in the mid-90s with his four-seamer, he's still getting tons of ground balls with his two-seamer, his secondaries are still flashing plus, his performance this year has been electric in all four starts, and - most importantly for me - it looks like his fastball command has taken a big step forward. If I were able to take the rose-colored glasses off, though, what sort of more measured, realistic assessment would be appropriate here?
J.J. Cooper: The big thing you hit on is his stuff is improved and he’s missing more bats. Your rose-colored glasses are appropriate here. He’s looking a lot better than he looked a year ago.

J.J. Cooper: Thnaks to everyone for coming out. I’ve got to get back to draft calls. Ben Badler will be here to chat about the Hot Sheet on Friday.