Morning Rundown: MiLB Preview - Week Ending 4/14/24

Full week for all full-season clubs

Photo Credit: WTM

Indianapolis Indians: 5-4

Opponent: Toledo (Tigers)

• Team OPS: .643

• OPS Rank: 18th of 20

• Team ERA: 4.85

• ERA Rank: 11th of 20

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Quick Overview:

The first week with all affiliates having a full slate is a big week. Starting with the Indianapolis Indians coming off a 4-2 week and taking on Detroit Tigers affiliate the Toledo Mud Hens.

The Mud Hens bring with them their second overall top prospect and consensus top 100 in Jace Jung, the younger brother of Rangers’ young third baseman Josh Jung. Jace was the 12th overall selection in the 2022 draft out of Texas Tech.

In the outfield is the second highest ranked prospect (7th) on the Mud Hen squad, Justyn-Henry Malloy. Malloy was acquired in December of 2022 as part of a return for Joe Jimenez from the Atlanta Braves. He comes with a lot of power.

One of the more intriguing names is Wilmer Flores, the brother of Wilmer Flores and the son of Wilmer Flores.

If all of that isn’t interesting enough, he was considered a top 100 prospect coming into 2023, but a drop in velocity after working on some mechanics and a subsequent rough patch in Double-A dropped him down considerably.

This off-season, he found his velocity again and is working more in the 95-96 range, but he has been used more primarily out of the bullpen lately.

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• Jace Jung | 2B/3B | 2

  • MLB Top 100: 55

  • Baseball America Top 100: 80

  • ESPN Top 100: 61

  • Fangraphs Top 100: 47

• Justyn-Henry Malloy | OF/3B | 7

• Keider Montero | RHP | 8

• Wilmer Flores | RHP | 9

• Justice Bigbie | OF | 12

• Dillon Dingler | C | 13

• Brant Hurter | LHP | 15

• Eddys Leonard | SS/OF | 21

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Altoona Curve: 1-2

Opponent: Harrisburg (Nationals)

• Team OPS: .480

• OPS Rank: 9th of 12

• Team ERA: 3.33

• ERA Rank: 7th of 12

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Quick Overview:

In 2023, we were robbed of a Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews showdown, and unfortunately, we’ll miss it again as Skenes is a level-up. That aside, there are a lot of good reasons to tune in this week to the Altoona Curve’s rotation.

The Harrisburg Senators have two consensus top 100 prospects with the aforementioned Crews, as well as Brady House. Then they have another top 2023 Washington Nationals draft pick, Yohandy Morales, and also Robert Hassell III who was one of the big prospect names in the return for the Nationals trading of Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres.

It’s going to be an exciting week to watch a battle of the Pirates’ top prospect arms against the top prospect bats of the Nationals.

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• Dylan Crews | OF | 1

  • MLB Top 100: 7

  • Baseball America Top 100: 6

  • ESPN Top 100: 5

  • Fangraphs Top 100: 9

• Brady House | 3B | 3

  • MLB Top 100: 45

  • Baseball America Top 100: 54

  • ESPN Top 100: 53

  • Fangraphs Top 100: 88

• Yohandy Morales | 3B | 5

• Robert Hassell III | OF | 8

• Andrew Pinckney | OF | 17

• Cole Henry | RHP | 25

• Israel Pineda | C | 26

• Dustin Saenz | LHP | 29

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Greensboro Grasshoppers: 2-1

Opponent: Winston-Salem (White Sox)

• Team OPS: .821

• OPS Rank: 2nd of 12

• Team ERA: 9.72

• ERA Rank: 12th of 12

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Quick Overview:

As we get to Greensboro Grasshoppers in High-A, the quality level of competition doesn’t stop there.

At the top is the Chicago White Sox's second-round prospect, Noah Schultz, who was drafted in the first round (26th overall) in 2022 and foregoed a commitment to Vanderbilt. The left-hander has been a bit of a fast riser in rankings, moving up quickly by blowing away hitters with a mid-90s fastball.

Samuel Zavala may ring a bell, as the outfielder was recently acquired from the (tell me if you’ve read this recently) San Diego Padres as part of a return for Dylan Cease. There is also Jacob Gonzalez, who had some whispers early in 2023 as being in contention for the first overall pick, but he ended up falling to the White Sox with the 15th overall selection.

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• Noah Schultz | LHP 2

  • MLB Top 100: 47

  • Baseball America Top 100: 39

  • ESPN Top 100: 55

  • Fangraphs Top 100: 34

• Samuel Zavala | OF | 6

• Jacob Gonzalez | SS | 7

• Peyton Pallette | RHP | 12

• Tanner McDougal | RHP | 20

• Juan Carela | RHP | 28

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Bradenton Marauders: 1-2

Opponent: Lakeland (Tigers)

• Team OPS: .604

• OPS Rank: 6th of 10th

• Team ERA: 4.26

• ERA Rank: 9th of 10

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Quick Overview:

If you thought the fun was over, think again. The third instance of facing off against the Detroit Tigers and their affiliates brings us to the Bradenton Marauders, where they’ll get to see the 2023 third overall selection, Max Clark. Furthermore, the Tigers 2023 Competitive Balance A pick (37th overall) prep infielder Kevin McGonigle, who is currently on the 7-Day IL.

Clark is a consensus top 100 pick across the board, with Fangraphs the lowest on him. While McGonigle found himself on the backend of Kiley McDaniel’s top 100 for ESPN.

Sawyer Gipson-Long, the Tigers 10th ranked prospect, currently finds himself in Lakeland on a rehab assignment. He made four starts for the Tigers’ MLB club in 2023, to the tune of 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA. So, if he doesn’t get moved up the ladder for his next rehab appearance, it will be a quality test for the youngest prospect bats.

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• Max Clark | OF | 1

  • MLB Top 100: 13

  • Baseball America Top 100: 19

  • ESPN Top 100: 15

  • Fangraphs Top 100: 35

• Kevin McGonigle - (7-Day IL) | SS/2B | 6

  • ESPN Top 100: 93

• Sawyer Gipson-Long - (Rehab) | RHP | 10

• Josue Briceno | C/1B | 18

• Cristian Santana | INF | 26

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Check out our latest Podcast episode, where Nola and I talk about the previous week in the Pirates system, and look ahead to an exciting slate of games.

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