Prospect Hot Sheet Chat

Ben Badler: I didn’t use any steroids this week, but I did consume plenty of Pop Tarts, so I’m full of chatting fuel. Let’s get started.

Jose (Queens, NY): With Mazara excelling in his 1st taste of the majors, will he be able to stick when Choo comes back?
Ben Badler: Unless he suddenly spirals into a nasty slump, which I don’t expect to happen, I don’t see how they can put him back in Triple-A with the way he’s hitting right now.

Anthony (Cambridge Mass): When will benentendi and moncada be in Fenway?
Ben Badler: I’ll say late April 2017. If the Red Sox are in contention down the stretch this year and they’re both dominating in Double-A, that might expedite the timetable.

Al (NJ): Arcia vs Crawford. This year and long term?
Ben Badler: I had Crawford and 3 and Arcia and 4 in my Top 50 in the Prospect Handbook coming into the season, so I think they’re both elite prospects with star potential. Arcia is the better defender and I think he’s going to be a very good hitter as well, but I’ll take Crawford because of his higher offensive ceiling and better plate discipline. For this year, I’d take Arcia, just on the greater likelihood of him reaching the big leagues before Crawford does.

bkobs (Massachusetts): Junior Fernandez (St. Louis) had a big game on Saturday with 8 IP, 0 Walks and 10 Strikeouts. How good is this guy? What's his ceiling??
Ben Badler: He broke through last year when his fastball shot up to touching 100 mph and sitting in the mid-90s as a starter, with a pretty filthy changeup to back it up. The breaking ball needs work and there’s effort in the delivery that makes some scouts look at him as a reliever down the road, but he could take another big step forward this year.

Casey (Nebraska): What's the latest on Alex Jackson? Considered top high school bat in 2015 draft is he officially a bust?
Ben Badler: Didn’t make a full-season team, so he’s back in extended spring training. Can’t call him a bust yet, but all the arrows are pointing in the wrong direction.

Tim Weber (Reno): Last year you brought Victor Robles to everyone's attention. Are there candidates to be this year's Victor Robles? A young guy on no one's radar that breaks out big?
Ben Badler: In terms of players who are coming over from the DSL this year like Victor Robles did a year ago, Rays OF Jesus Sanchez and Yankees OF Estevan Florial are two well-rounded players with a lot of tools and a good (albeit limited) track record of hitting who could make big jumps once they start playing later this summer.

Roger (Greenville, SC): With several SS at the top of the Hot Sheet this week (Rosario, Albies, Rodgers), which would you most want in your organization?
Ben Badler: Rodgers. I love the starts that Rosario and Albies are off to, and what Albies has gone as a 19-year-old skipping a level in Double-A is incredible, but the overall package of Rodgers’ ability to hit and hit with power that Albies doesn’t have gives him the edge for me.

Ryan (MD): Cool to see some pub for Pedro Payano. How about his (international) classmate, Yohander Mendez? He's off to a great start. Has he stepped forward in any way, or is his success still mostly due to pitch ability that will be tested more at higher levels?
Ben Badler: The velocity on Yo is up a tick or two, so that helps. He has a plus changeup too and he’s shown excellent feel for pitching when he’s been healthy, but just keeping him on the mound was a challenge early in his career. I still think he’s probably a back-end starter if everything clicks, but his stock is moving up.

Ryan (MD): The complete opposite of hot, what is going on with Jorge Lopez? I would love to see that young man succeed.
Ben Badler: His stuff has looked flat and he hasn’t been throwing strikes. It’s early, but it’s been ugly.

Jeff (Utah): What do you foresee the market being for Cuban FA Yadiel Hernandez? Is it likely he'll sign for more than $10 million?
Ben Badler: I stay away from speculating on potential contract values for unsigned Cuban players as a general policy, but Yadiel Hernandez is a tricky player to peg. The performance in Cuba just before he left was excellent, but when scouts saw him at international tournaments, he didn’t look good, and most teams are going to want someone with bigger raw power as a corner outfielder. That’s part of why I think whoever signs him is going to be a team that leans more heavily on analytics and their translations of his Serie Nacional stats more so than traditional scouting.

Birthday Boy Starkey (Manchester, CT): It seems like Glasnow has nothing left to prove in the MILB. Should we consider him a potential important part of the Pirates run for the playoffs?
Ben Badler: He should be up around mid-June or so. There are still things he has to work on—tightening fastball command, getting better at holding runners (a legitimate concern with him, not just boilerplate front office-speak for holding down a guy’s service time or arbitration clock). But development is a constant process that continues at the major league level, and he’s good enough right now to start for them. He can make a big impact for the Pirates once they bring him up.

Drew (Washington DC): Franklin Barreto, Gleybar, Torres, Jorge Mateo, Alex Bregman: who will provide the most offense? Hit, power, speed.
Ben Badler: As an overall prospect and just for what he does in the batter’s box, Alex Bregman. He has a great hitting approach and a short, simple swing with great path to the ball, makes a lot of contact, gives you a high OBP and he’s shown some sneaky power early on this year. For pure speed, Jorge Mateo without question.

Larry (Long Island): Who gets called up first Urias or de Leon
Ben Badler: If De Leon were healthy, I would have said him, but he has to get back on the field first. I’m not saying they should (and in fact I wouldn’t call him up yet if I were in their shoes), but if the Dodgers wanted to bring up Urias tomorrow, he could help them right away.

Chris (Pittsburgh): Although all are not comparable prospects (or even truly prospecty prospects), the Indianapolis starting pitchers have been amazing so far. Is there another pitching staff in the minors that is close in terms of both potential and results?
Ben Badler: The Reds have Robert Stephenson and Cody Reed at Triple-A Louisville with John Lamb in there too, but yeah, I’d take that Indy rotation over them. They’re stacked.

Micah (Quebec): Love your international reviews. Pertaining to the Giants, Jorge Labrador and Diego Rincones seemed particularly interesting. Who were the Giants most excited about out of the whole group apart from Lucius Fox? Giants still seem to be signing a lot of Venezuelan players, nearly all their Venz signings got more than 100k this year, even with the difficult environment there. Will Giants continue to have a strong presence there?
Ben Badler: Thank you. To me one of the most interesting guys they signed beyond Fox was Nishell Gutierrez, the Venezuelan catcher. We’ll see how he does this year in the DSL, but it sounds like his hitting ability and overall game acumen is advanced for his age. I’m sure they will continue to be aggressive in Venezuela, maybe even more so now that they’re under the penalty, if you look at what teams like the Red Sox and Yankees did last year under the penalty in Venezuela. Although I do think the prices on Venezuelan players are going to go significantly higher this July 2.

Bob (Downers Grove, IL.): Which prospect outfielder that has yet to reach the majors has the most offensive upside?
Ben Badler: Andrew Benintendi, Nick Williams, Austin Meadows are three great ones to start with.

Db (Pgh): Any updates on Gouriel brothers and destination for either? Eta to sign?
Ben Badler: They’re both in Florida training, but no upcoming showcases yet. Lourdes Jr. won’t officially sign until he turns 23 and becomes pool-exempt in October. Yuli probably won’t become cleared to sign until late in the season, but it’s up to how fast the commissioner’s office clears him, so there’s some uncertainty there.

Joey (Michigan): Do you think Ozzie Albies position with the braves ends up being second base?
Ben Badler: I’m getting about a billion questions here and on Twitter about what the Braves are going to do with Albies and Dansby Swanson, but even the Braves know what they’re going to do yet. They both have the defensive skills to stay at shortstop, they both can hit and they’re both premium prospects. Swanson could go to Double-A tomorrow and handle it with ease, but the fact that the Braves (wisely, in my opinion) are keeping them at different levels to get them both maximum playing time at shortstop is another sign they want to keep both at shortstop as long as possible and see how it plays out. If I had to make a bet today, I’d say it’s Swanson and shortstop and Albies at second base, but I don’t think there’s a clear answer yet unless one of them suddenly hits a wall and the other one leaps forward because of that. Not a bad dilemma to have.

Jose (Queens, NY): With Philadelphia nonexistent production from corner spots, what are the chances Nick Williams gets an opportunity?
Ben Badler: If he’s dominating Triple-A, I expect he will be up around the midpoint, but he’s not the type of player I would push to MLB. I love his tools, the bat speed is electric and he has made huge strides with his selectivity at the plate over the last year-plus, but I’d like to see him get more time to continue working on that plate discipline in Triple-A, where he only has 16 games under his belt.

Ben (Miamisburg, OH): Is it likely that Vlad Guttierez and Alfredo Rodriguez wait for July 2 at this point?
Ben Badler: Alfredo Rodriguez is waiting until July 2, then he’s going to sign with the Reds, unless something changes. Gutierrez I should have a longer update on after I’m done chatting, but it just depends who signs him. There are teams over their pool right now in on him that would sign him immediately, but otherwise he’ll reach a deal and just wait until July 2 to officially sign so the team can file him under its 2016-17 pool.

Matt (Norfolk, VA): What is Cornelius Randolph's ultimate ceiling?
Ben Badler: Ceiling is a middle of the order bat. Not a great start to the season, but he’s a calm, balanced hitter with a good approach and barrels the ball routinely. Game power hasn’t shown up yet, but it’s coming with his bat speed and strength.

Ryan (Indy): Do you think Newcomb and/or Foltynewicz will figure out their control issues? And what do you look for in a young picture to determine if they can overcome poor control? Thanks!
Ben Badler: You look at their deliveries, their athleticism, body control and other factors like height or how much pitching experience they have. Someone who’s athletic with a good delivery like Chris Archer can go from someone who walked 5 or 6 batters per nine innings in A-ball up through Double-A and eventually learn control. Taller pitchers like Newcomb sometimes takes longer to to figure it out too just because it can take more time for them to get all those longer levers moving in sync (remember when Dellin Betances was looking like a bust not long ago?). Some guys still never figure it out, but other times it just takes a little longer for the light bulb to go on.

Paul (Birmingham): Tell me what to expect out of Ke'bryan Hayes' bat? Will he ultimately hit for power?
Ben Badler: I’m a big believer in Hayes, offensively and in the field. He will show you bigger raw power in batting practice, but in games he takes a different approach and focuses more on putting the ball in play and using the opposite field instead of trying to turn on balls for power. But he can hit, and I’ll take that approach any day over a guy who’s just trying to sell out for power having to learn how to hit as he moves up. The power’s in there, and as he learns which pitches he should try to pull and drive to left field, you’re going to see the home run total spike.

Tom (Chicago): Ian Happ is killing it! Can we get pumped yet? How soon do we see him, and what's his ceiling?
Ben Badler: Yeah, he’s legit. About time the Cubs finally picked up a good hitting prospect! I don’t think you’ll see him up before mid-2017 or so, but I don’t think there’s any rush with that lineup. I think he’s got enough defensive aptitude to play second base and be an above-average regular there, but the position might just depend on what ends up fitting best for their major league roster, assuming he stays in the organization.

Jordan (Maryland): Is Anderson Espinoza the real deal? Most have compared him to the best thing they've seen in decades . Super excited to see him in Fenway
Ben Badler: I wouldn’t go that far, but he’s a special pitcher for his age with No. 1 starter upside. You can nit pick some things on him, but there’s not much more you could ask for from an 18-year-old pitcher.

Ryan (MD): Was it a down week? I thought Amed's numbers looked a little low for the #1 spot - at least the batting average.
Ben Badler: I thought it was a good week overall for a lot of prospects, but no slam dunk, obvious No. 1 guy. Could have gone in a bunch of different directions for the top spot, but Rosario having a big week in the midst of a great April in a pitcher’s league at a premium position stood out.

Nash (San Diego): These slightly off-the-radar studs are available in my NL-only dynasty league - Harrison Bader, Ronald Acuna, Donnie Dewess, KeBryan Hayes and Lucius Fox. 3 part question -- Who has most upside? Who is the "safest" pick? Thanks!
Ben Badler: Bader’s the safest if you’re concerned about proximity to MLB, but Hayes is the best prospect.

Jose (Queens, NY): Glasnow or Urias, which pitcher is most likely to make an impact this year and how do they project as a #1 or #2?
Ben Badler: Just for this year, Glasnow. I think Urias can help the Dodgers this year, I just can’t see the Dodgers jumping his innings high enough over last year to make a bigger impact than what Glasnow could do in the second half.

Chris VanDyke (Nebo, NC): Happy TGIF Ben. I know it's going to hack off as many Braves fans as it makes happy, but Albies WILL be the big club's SS no later than June. He's Rafael Furcal 2.0, no? The brass in Atlanta is going to have little choice other than to cave to the building pressure and start giving several of the kids a chance to get their feet wet, and it's been my contention since camp started has been that "The Plan" includes Ozzie and Dansby opening the new park as the team's double play combination. Tell me I'm wrong.
Ben Badler: Albies’ start is incredible, but we’re talking about a 19-year-old who has only played 21 games above Low-A, so he’s already being pushed on an aggressive timeline. There might be some incentive to push him along a little faster to get Swanson to Double-A to keep them both challenged and playing shortstop every day, but it goes against the best interest of the Braves’ long-term interests to call him either one of them before mid-April next year. I know that team is miserable to watch right now (and I don’t get a lot of the media outcry over how bad they are—did anyone expect them to not be terrible this season?), but keeping them in the minors all year and even to start next season is what would help the Braves the most, even if it means a little more pain in the short term.

Bud (Lexington, KY): What is the ceiling for Winker of the Reds?
Ben Badler: I think he can hit in the middle of their lineup as an above-average every day guy in LF. He’s an innate hitter with a short swing, a disciplined approach and the game power hasn’t shown up much yet this season, but it’s in there. Won’t give you much in the field, but he’s one of the better pure offensive prospects in the game.

kevin (nc): with todays developments in Miami could that be a landing spot for Jose Fernandez?
Ben Badler: They still have Gordon signed to a long-term deal, but I hope they sign Jose Miguel Fernandez just for all the confusion it would cause.

Ben Badler: I have write up a report on Vladimir Gutierrez’s showcase this morning, so I’ve got to run. Thanks for all the questions and for all the great feedback on a busy week of stories on the site. I know our draft guys are cranking away on those calls, so we’ve got a lot more good stuff coming soon for BA subscribers that I’m excited about.