New York-Penn League All-Star Game Notebook

The New York-Penn League all-star game took place on Tuesday night at Dutchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls, home of the Hudson Valley Renegades. The South Division took a 9-5 win over the North Division. Erlin Cerda (Indians) was named the MVP of the game; he hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the fourth inning.

The game itself, however, was not really about the competition. Most pitchers were limited to one inning of work, and two innings were ended early, one because of a quick rain delay and another because a pitcher was struggling to get outs. The game served as a way to honor top performers in the league and to showcase some quality talent in a short look. There were approximately a dozen scouts in attendance.

The New York-Penn League often serves as a summer home for college players in their first seasons as professionals, as well as a springboard for young international or high school prospects who aren’t quite ready for the jump to a full-season league. Those maxims held true in the all-star game, with 10 prospects from the 2015 BA 500 making the game’s final rosters.

The top pitching prospect in the game was Phillies righthander Adonis Medina, the No. 8 prospect in the Phillies season in this summer’s midseason update. In his lone inning, Medina allowed a single and then a ground rule double before proceeding to strike out the next three batters.

Medina’s fastball sat at 94-95 mph and he reached 96 several times on Baseball America’s radar gun and the guns of scouts nearby. His fastball showed late sinking action, especially when he located it down and to his arm side, and he was able to generate arm-side run away from lefthanded hitters. Early on in the inning, Medina threw an upper-80s changeup, but when the bases were occupied, he turned to his slider.

The first slider that Medina threw seemed to cross up catcher Kevin Krause (Pirates), but it might have just been because Krause wasn’t expecting such late break. Seen at the one-minute mark of the video above, the 88 mph slider broke exceptionally late. The rest of his sliders were in the low- to mid-80s and showed more break. Medina showed the ability to consistently generate plus spin on the pitch, which projects as at least a 60 on the 20-to-80 scale, if not higher.

Krause, on the other hand, was one of the more intriguing prospects at the game. After missing the entire 2015 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, the former Stony Brook catcher has had a strong summer. Pittsburgh selected Krause in the ninth round of the 2014 draft.

During batting practice, Krause hit several hard line drives up the middle and to his pull-side gap. In game action, he walked in each of his three plate appearances. Behind the plate, Krause was able to keep the ball in front of him, for the most part, though he is a high-tailed receiver with a tall build, meaning he has to come down on the baseball often. This type of receiving technique is not necessarily conducive to framing pitches, a skill that the Pirates have emphasized in recent years. Krause’s arm action has some length, with a deep shoulder load and a somewhat higher arm slot.

After Medina, lefthanders Alex Wells (Orioles) and Travis Ott (Rays) were among the most intriguing pitching prospects in the game.

Wells, whose twin brother Lachlan Wells is a prospect in the Twins’ system, signed with Baltimore last year and made his professional debut this summer. Wells, 19, showed a compact, repeatable arm action, and the ability to locate his fastball all over the strike zone. He threw two curveballs and one changeup. Wells’ first curveball was loopy, but his second showed hard and late 1-to-7 snapping action. Wells was on the side of his changeup, and he swept across the plate for a called third strike on the inner half to a righthanded hitter, giving it the look of a slider.

Ott, who the Rays acquired along with Steven Souza and Jake Bauers in the deal that sent Wil Myers to the Padres, got the start for the North and threw a 1-2-3 inning, needing just 10 pitches to strike out two and generate a flyout. Ott has a wiry, lean frame with room for growth. His fastball touched 93 mph once and worked mostly at 89-92. He threw a pair of sliders, locating the pitch down and to his arm side and then down and to his glove side.

Ott worked from the third base edge of the rubber and strided towards the lefthanded batters’ box, cutting off his front side. Ott has a sort of bizarre motion with his back foot; after his front foot lands and he comes off his back ankle, his back foot hits the ground before coming through. It’s possible that this mechanism could detract a hitter’s eye momentarily.

OTHER PROSPECTS OF NOTE

• In the bottom of the first inning, Tyler Hill (Red Sox) sent the first pitch he saw over the wall in left field. Hill has a loose, athletic swing. Boston drafted Hill out of Delaware Military Academy in the 19th round of the 2014 draft, and he has blossomed with regular at-bats this summer.

• Nathaniel Lowe (Rays) is the brother of Rays first round pick Josh Lowe, but Nate has proven that he is much more than a legacy pick. A 13th-round pick out of Mississippi State, Lowe has a physically-imposing, muscle-bound frame and intriguing pull power.

• Miguel Mercedes (Athletics) showed some strength and the potential for average raw power in batting practice. Mercedes went 1-for-2 in the game. He is currently tied for the league lead in home runs, with nine.