Innholdsfortegnelse for 11-17 NL CENTRAL TOP 10 PROSPECTS i Baseball America

EDITOR john.manuel@baseballamerica.com My first week at Baseball America was back in September 1996, and then-prospect Vladimir Guerrero was on the cover of the magazine. Working at BA was a different gig back then. I filed some photos, went on food runs for Jim Callis and Will Lingo and tried to learn from and listen to BA founder Allan Simpson. The knowledge in the office was daunting; I know where the phrase “out of my depth” comes from. I experienced it first-hand. With time, I adjusted, covering the college beat after Jim left BA for two years and taking to the wider latitude afforded by the 1999 launch of BaseballAmerica.com. The next year, I not only got married to Becky Kirkland—by far the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to me—but I…

BEST TOOLS Best Hitter for Average: Nick Senzel. Best Power Hitter: Jose Siri. Best Strike-Zone Discipline: Jesse Winker. Fastest Baserunner: Jose Siri. Best Athlete: Jose Siri. Best Fastball: Hunter Greene. Best Curveball: Ariel Hernandez. Best Slider: Jimmy Herget. Best Changeup: Tony Santillan. Best Control: Tyler Mahle. Best Defensive Catcher: Chris Okey. Best Defensive Infielder: Alfredo Rodriguez. Best Infield Arm: Nick Senzel. Best Defensive Outfielder: Stuart Fairchild. Best Outfield Arm: Jose Siri 1. NICK SENZEL, 3B BORN: June 29, 1995. B-T: R-R. HT.: 6-1. WT.: 205. DRAFTED: Tennessee, 2016 (1st round). SIGNED BY: Brad Meador. TRACK RECORD: High expectations follow players drafted second overall, like Senzel, but even by those standards he has overachieved in his brief pro career. After a good start at low Class A Dayton in 2016, he…

BEST TOOLS Best Hitter for Average: Jonathan Machado. Best Power Hitter: Tyler O’Neill. Best Strike-Zone Discipline: Nick Martini. Fastest Baserunner: Magneuris Sierra. Best Athlete: Magneuris Sierra. Best Fastball: Sandy Alcantara. Best Curveball: Alex Reyes. Best Slider: Dakota Hudson. Best Changeup: Junior Fernandez. Best Control: Jack Flaherty. Best Defensive Catcher: Carson Kelly. Best Defensive Infielder: Alex Mejia. Best Infield Arm: Patrick Wisdom. Best Defensive Outfielder: Oscar Mercado. Best Outfield Arm: Jose Adolis Garcia. 1. ALEX REYES, RHP BORN: Aug. 29, 1994. B-T: R-R. HT.: 6-3. WT.: 175. SIGNED: Dominican Republic, 2012. SIGNED BY: Rodney Jimenez/Angel Ovalles. TRACK RECORD: Reyes grew up in Elizabeth, N.J., and was a solid high school infield prospect. But after his junior year, he moved to the Dominican Republic to live with his grandmother in the hope…

WRITER, ESPN.COM jerry.crasnick@baseballamerica.com The Astros’ Lance McCullers Jr. learned from failure in the 2014 California League, BA national writer Kyle Glaser reported while at the World Series in Houston. Visit BaseballAmerica.com/majors While Hurricane Harvey was inflicting catastrophic damage on Houston and surrounding areas in late August, the city’s baseball team was busy empathizing from afar. Major League Baseball moved a scheduled series between the Astros and Rangers from Minute Maid Park to the Tropicana Dome in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Houston lost two of the three games before average crowds of 4,331 people in a climate-controlled bubble. When the flood waters finally began to recede and the Astros returned to a ravaged city, they got a slight reprieve. A day off was built into the schedule on Friday, Sept. 1,…

In terms of median date, the top 50 preps for the 2015 draft committed in October of their junior years. The top 50 for the 2018 draft committed in January of their sophomore years. That change means elite high school players are now often making their college decision before the start of their sophomore season of high school, almost two years before they can make the decision official by signing a national letter of intent.…

EDWARD “ED” BARNOWSKI, a righthander for the Orioles in 1965 and ’66, died Oct. 17 in Naples, Fla. He was 74. Barnowski appeared in six big league games, allowing two earned runs and striking out eight batters in 7.1 innings. FREDERICK “FRED” CRITTENDEN, who played in the Florida State League in 1950, died Sept. 27 in Hardyville, Va. CLARENCE “CHUCK” CURN, a righthander for the Pirates, Indians and Dodgers from 1957-59, died Oct. 21 in Lady Lake, Fla. He was 87. Curn, also known as “Slim”, made 25 career relief appearances in his big league career, including a career-best year in 1959, when he struck out 24 hitters and recorded a 4.99 ERA in 30.2 innings for the Dodgers. WILLIAM “BILL” GOSNELL, a minor league third baseman in the Florida…

DECEMBER 1981 Heading into the 1982 season, the sons of ex-big leaguer Dave Stenhouse appeared to be can'tmiss prospects, Mike in the Expos system and Dave Jr. at Holy Cross. The three Stenhouse families live within three miles of one another these days in their original home of Cranston, R.I. They are reunited after a decades-long baseball odyssey that saw dad pitch in the big leagues, one son reach the majors and the other son’s career stall at Triple-A. The Stenhouses remain today the first family of Rhode Island baseball. “Baseball has been pretty good to us,” Mike said. “We’ve enjoyed it. It’s been in our blood.” The Stenhouse trio graced the cover of Baseball America in December 1981. At the time, Dave Sr. was a firstyear head coach at…

We continue division-by-division Top 10 Prospects rankings this year with the National League Central. For each organization, we identify the 10 prospects with the highest ceilings, with consideration given to the likelihood of reaching those ceilings. To qualify as a prospect, a position player cannot exceed 130 big league at-bats, while a pitcher cannot exceed 50 innings or 30 relief appearances. These thresholds mirror major league rookie qualifications. For top prospects and draft picks of the decade, we display Baseball-Reference.com estimates for wins above replacement (WAR). ORGANIZATION TALENT RANKINGS CUBS NOTABLE GRADUATIONS: OF/2B Ian Happ (2) and OF Albert Almora (3), both first-rounders, carved out roles. TRENDING: ▾ Down after graduations and trades. REDS NOTABLE GRADUATIONS: RHP Luis Castillo (10) showed swing-and-miss stuff, while RHPs Sal Romano (8) and Robert…

BEST TOOLS Best Hitter for Average: Keston Hiura. Best Power Hitter: Monte Harrison. Best Strike-Zone Discipline: Trent Clark. Fastest Baserunner: Johnny Davis. Best Athlete: Monte Harrison. Best Fastball: Josh Pennington. Best Curveball: Corbin Burnes. Best Slider: Brandon Woodruff. Best Changeup: Trey Supak. Best Control: Corbin Burnes. Best Defensive Catcher: Dustin Houle. Best Defensive Infielder: Antonio Pinero. Best Infield Arm: Lucas Erceg. Best Defensive Outfielder: Lewis Brinson. Best Outfield Arm: Brett Phillips. 1. LEWIS BRINSON, OF BORN: May 8, 1994. B-T: R-R. HT.: 6-4. WT.: 205. DRAFTED: HS—Coral Springs, Fla., 2012 (1st round). SIGNED BY: Frankie Thon (Rangers). TRACK RECORD: Brinson had a disjointed 2017 season, beginning with a dislocation of his left pinkie finger on Opening Day at Triple-A Colorado Springs. He had two short stints with the Brewers, getting…

COLUMNIST, MLB.COM tracy.ringolsby@baseballamerica.com It was the summer of 1979. Bob Lemon had recently been let go 65 games and 34 wins into the season as manager of the Yankees—the second year in a row he had been replaced midway through the season. And during a lunch with friends back home in Long Beach, Calif., the subject was broached. “I just took a lot of dumb pills in the winter,” Lemon joked. It was as good an explanation as any about the fickle life of a big league manager. Consider, Lemon guided the expansion Royals to 85 wins in 1971—their third season—only to be replaced after the ’72 season. He worked similar magic with the White Sox in 1977, winning 90 games, though it didn’t stave off his firing 74 games…

COLUMNIST, MLB NETWORK peter.gammons@baseballamerica.com Alex Cora is who the Red Sox wanted as manager from the beginning, but they knew they would have to act fast before the Nationals or some other team could swoop in. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and Red Sox ownership acted decisively to hire Cora, the Astros bench coach this season who blew them away in his interview. He understands the landscape in Red Sox Nation. Since Pumpsie Green integrated the Red Sox in 1959, Cora is the club’s 19th manager but the first minority. He was born on one of the rainout days before Game 6 of the 1975 World Series between the Red Sox and Reds. He was a member of the 2007 Red Sox team that won the World Series. I…

HAVE A QUESTION? @jjcoop36 askba@baseballamerica.com Q The Astros are having all the fun now with Justin Verlander, but did the Tigers get enough in return to justify the deal? —JON ERKKILA, ARKENY, IOWA A When a team trades one of the best pitchers in the game, they are highly unlikely to get an equivalent player in return. That shouldn’t be the expectation for the Tigers. Starting pitchers of Verlander’s caliber are rarely dealt at the trade deadline. But when they are, they can make an outsized impact. When the Mariners traded Randy Johnson to the Astros in 1998, they received Freddy Garcia, Carlos Guillen and John Halama. All three lived up to expectations, but none had a run to match Johnson going 10-1, 1.28 in 11 starts with the Astros.…

BEST TOOLS Best Hitter for Average: Victor Caratini. Best Power Hitter: Nelson Velazquez. Best Strike-Zone Discipline: Mark Zagunis. Fastest Baserunner: D.J. Wilson. Best Athlete: D.J. Wilson. Best Fastball: Dillon Maples. Best Curveball: Alex Lange. Best Slider: Dillon Maples. Best Changeup: Jose Albertos. Best Control: Jen-Ho Tseng. Best Defensive Catcher: P.J. Higgins. Best Defensive Infielder: Luis Vazquez. Best Infield Arm: Luis Vazquez. Best Defensive Outfielder: D.J. Wilson. Best Outfield Arm: Eddy Martinez. 1. ARAMIS ADEMAN, SS BORN: Sept. 13, 1998. B-T: L-R. HT.: 5-11. WT.: 160. SIGNED: Dominican Republic, 2015. SIGNED BY: Jose Estevez/Gian Guzman/Jose Serra/Louie Eljaua. TRACK RECORD: Ademan, who played for the Dominican Republic’s 15U national team in 2013, trained with Amaurys Nina, and the Cubs have had success with Nina players before, most notably Eloy Jimenez. The Cubs…

BEST TOOLS Best Hitter for Average: Kevin Newman. Best Power Hitter: Jordan Luplow. Best Strike-Zone Discipline: Austin Meadows. Fastest Baserunner: Cole Tucker. Best Athlete: Austin Meadows. Best Fastball: Mitch Keller. Best Curveball: Mitch Keller. Best Slider: Edgar Santana. Best Changeup: Brandon Waddell. Best Control: Mitch Keller. Best Defensive Catcher: Christian Kelley. Best Defensive Infielder: Ke’Bryan Hayes. Best Infield Arm: O’Neil Cruz. Best Defensive Outfielder: Casey Hughston. Best Outfield Arm: Jordan Luplow. 1. MITCH KELLER, RHP BORN: April 4, 1996. B-T: R-R. HT: 6-3. WT: 195. DRAFTED: HS—Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 2014 (2nd round). SIGNED BY: Matt Bimeal. TRACK RECORD: Keller, whose older brother Jon is a pitcher in the Orioles system, became a major draft prospect between his junior and senior years at Xavier High in Cedar Rapids when he added…