Morning Rundown: MiLB Preview - Week Ending 6/2/24
Minor League affiliates all finish .500 or better last week, and head into weekly matchups against top offenses
Indianapolis Indians: 23-25
Last week: 3-3
Opponent: Omaha (Royals)
Team OPS: .816
OPS Rank: 3rd of 20
Team ERA: 4.11
ERA Rank: 1st of 20
Quick Overview:
A day late and a dollar short, this preview comes out the day after the Indianapolis Indians kicked off their series against the Omaha Storm Chasers.
Omaha has five of the Kansas City Royals’ top 30 prospects, but none currently ranked higher than ninth. As mentioned the last time the two teams met up though, is that the Storm Chasers have plenty of once highly regarded prospects that haven’t found their footing in the majors: Drew Waters, Nick Pratto, and Daniel Lynch IV, to name a few.
Colin Selby is still with the Triple-A affiliate and has struggled since being traded with a 6.94 ERA in 11.2 IP.
It’ll be a strong matchup for an Indy offense that has caught fire over the last week, with a team OPS north of .900 over the last seven days.
Tyler Gentry | OF | 9
Chandler Champlain | RHP | 11
Anthony Veneziano | LHP | 13
John McMillon | RHP | 17
Will Klein | RHP | 18
Altoona Curve: 14-31
Last week: 4-2
Opponent: Portland (Red Sox)
Team OPS: .770
OPS Rank: 1st of 12
Team ERA: 4.54
ERA Rank: 9th of 12
Quick Overview:
The Altoona Curve are coming off probably their best week of the year to date, winning four of six games. It is in part due to the Pittsburgh Pirates demoting players with Triple-A and even MLB experience to a roster that has struggled throughout the year.
This week they’ll take on a loaded Boston Red Sox Double-A affiliate. The Portland Sea Dogs have eleven of the Red Sox top 30 prospects, with only Blaze Jordan currently on the injured list. Of those eleven, the Red Sox top three prospects— five of their top six — are on the roster. Starting with Marcelo Mayer, the fourth overall selection in the 2021 draft, Roman Anthony, the 79th overall selection in the 2022 draft, and Kyle Teel the 14th overall selection in the 2023 draft. Being that all three are hitters, it helps explain the Sea Dogs league-leading .770 team OPS.
Their pitching is near the bottom of the league, but if you’ve been following (and reading) these lists, the name Luis Perales should stick out. He was recently promoted after tossing five shutout innings with twelve strikeouts of the Greensboro Grasshoppers.
Marcelo Mayer | SS | 1
MLB Top 100: #12
Baseball America Top 100: #18
ESPN Top 100: #20
Fangraphs Top 100: #56
Roman Anthony | OF | 2
MLB Top 100: #17
Baseball America Top 100: #15
ESPN Top 100: #15
Fangraphs Top 100: #12
Kyle Teel | C | 3
MLB Top 100: #30
Baseball America Top 100: #47
ESPN Top 100: #46
Fangraphs Top 100: 67
Wikelman Gonzalez | RHP | 5
Nick Yorke | 2B | 6
Luis Perales | RHP | 9
Blaze Jordan (7-Day IL) | 1B/3B | 19
Eddinson Paulino | INF | 22
Hunter Dobbins | RHP | 25
Angel Bastardo | RHP | 26
Bryan Mata (Rehab Assignment) | RHP | 27
Greensboro Grasshoppers: 26-19
Last Week: 3-3
Opponent: Asheville (Astros)
Team OPS: .746
OPS Rank: 1st of 12
Team ERA: 4.83
ERA Rank: 11th of 12
Quick Overview:
In Advanced A ball this week, the seven games above .500 Greensboro Grasshoppers take on a top offense themselves. The Houston Astros affiliate currently only have three healthy prospects of the Astros top 30, with 2022 International Free Agent out of the Dominican Republic leading the way, Luis Baez.
The 20 year old outfielder is having a strong campaign so far for the Asheville Tourists. He has a .802 OPS through 38 games with six long balls.
Luis Baez | OF | 2
Andrew Taylor (60-Day IL) | RHP | 17
Trey Dombroski | LHP | 22
Cam Fisher | OF | 24
Bradenton Marauders: 20-25
Last Week: 3-3
Opponent: Fort Myers (Twins)
Team OPS: .685
OPS Rank: 3rd of 10
Team ERA: 4.09
ERA Rank: 7th of 10
Quick Overview:
In the Florida State League, the Bradenton Marauders visit Minnesota Twins affiliate Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. Similar to the previous two discussed levels, the Mighty Mussels are among the top offenses but with a pitching staff at the bottom.
Charlee Soto and Brandon Winokur were both 2023 draft picks out of the prep ranks. Soto struggled mightily against Bradenton back on May 2nd, giving up eight runs — six earned — in 3.1 IP. Winokur has had a rough ten-game stretch, slashing only .205/.262/.308 since May 16th.
Charlee Soto | RHP | 7
Brandon Winokur | OF | 11
Jose Rodriguez (7-Day IL) | OF | 25
Cesar Lares | LHP | 27
Check out the latest podcast episode, where we talk about some of the best-hitting performances recently, which happen to be a lot of first basemen.
We then shift to the College Baseball tournament and examine some draft-eligible names we are considering entering.
The Podcast is available on all major podcast platforms, but simply subscribing to the site will get it sent to your email every week.
Support the site by becoming a paid member, and get access to all of our premium content, including our Top 25 list with complete player write-ups and my video breakdowns, which come out weekly.
It will also give access to my player feature articles from on-site trips.
It might be just a hot stretch for Gorski and I've only seen a handful of his at bats lately but he doesn't seem to be flying open as much. Still not a pretty swing but the power is there.
Good podcast, in my opinion they need to take one of the consensus top 8 college players if one falls. If they are gone and they want a player from college, Yesavage, Tibbs, Cam (has the higher ceiling but lower floor in my opinion) with an outside gamble of Honeycutt (if he takes a discount). If they're good with a prep Griffin or Rainier (flip a coin lol).
CompA pick and round 2, my preference would be college bats in this area for both unless the right pitcher is there. One of the picks would be Blake Burke unless they got Kurtz or Cags with pick 9 (I would probably still take him even if the got one of the others lol). The other pick would be an outfielder with upside like Sirota, Thomas, or someone that maybe falls. In rounds 3 and 4 I'd try and grab high ceiling guys pitcher or hitter. Round 5 on kinda like last year, pitchers with flaws but great stuff. Wouldn't mind grabbing a power bat like Jared Jones either or a senior or 2 to bank on an over slot for latter.
That Portland lineup, sheesh.
What's the state of the Altoona rotation these days? Solo only went an inning last time out, Bubba on the shelf for an extended period?