Welcome to the July 12th installment of The Daily Farm Report! We rake the news for each organization’s top prospects and give you a digest with some commentary for you greedy prospectors to enjoy. Here’s some recent news and highlights:
Forrest WhitleySTATS and RANKINGS
Astros #2 by MLB Pipeline
#KHOU11 Corpus Christi Hooks @cchooks officially put the #Astros top pitching prospect Forrest Whitley on the disabled list today . Whitley left his last outing (last week) after only 17 pitches with an oblique injury.
— Matt Musil (@KHOUSportsMatt) July 11, 2018
Whitley to the DL with an oblique issue he’s dealt with since coming back from his 80-game suspension. It is beginning to look like a lost season for Whitley, who many are calling the top pitching prospect in baseball at the moment. Right now the club is optimistic that Whitley will only miss a couple of weeks, but these oblique injuries have a tendency to hang around for a while. Whitley will miss out on pitching in the Futures Game over the MLB All-Star break due to the injury.
Garrett WhitlockSTATS and RANKINGS
Yankees #26 by MLB Pipeline
Baseball Farm Roto #2 Overall
#Tarpons RHP Garrett Whitlock made a quality start, tying his season-high in IP:
7.0IP, 2H, 1ER, 2BB, 8K, 91P/66S
Owns a 1.90 ERA in 9 starts since his promotion to Tampa.#Yankees
— Nick Flammia (@NickFlammia) July 12, 2018
Whitley is having a tough year, Whitlock is having a dynamic one. He currently sits as our #2 overall pitcher in the minors in 2018 using our weighted roto scoring method, posting a 1.57 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 90 K, 5.00 K:BB, 0.09 HR/9 line between A-Full and A-Advanced. An 18th-round pick in the 2017 draft out of UAB, Whitlock is starting to look like a serious find for the Yankees.
Corey RaySTATS and RANKINGS
Brewers #1 by MLB Pipeline
You want 3 Corey Ray dingers in one game?
You got 3 Corey Ray dingers in one game.
Ray now leads the Southern League in both homers AND stolen-bases, not to mention 3rd in doubles AND triples. #Shuckers pic.twitter.com/YlcIvsajq0
— Brewers Farm (@BrewersFarm) July 12, 2018
Something is clicking for this kid from Chicago’s South Side. Last year, he struggled to a .238/.311/.367 slash line in a full season at A-Advanced ball. He started the year slowly at AA as well, but has really turned things on as of late, and is slashing .248/.340/.484 while leading the Southern League in both HR (16) and SB (21)! Remember, prospect development isn’t linear. There are likely to be more bumps along the road for Ray, but the underlying tools are there for him to be a 5-category fantasy performer (especially in OBP leagues).
Royce LewisSTATS and RANKINGS
Twins #1 by MLB Pipeline
🚨 Royce Lewis HR 🚨@MLB's No. 11 overall prospect hit his ninth homer of the season for @CRKernels. Lewis is No. 1 on the #MNTwins Top 30: https://t.co/QHu30m3ymE pic.twitter.com/UpF2buJg48
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 12, 2018
Lewis is flying up mid-season prospect ranks, thanks in most part to him flashing all 5 tools in A-Full Season ball as a 19-year-old. Of all his tools, the biggest question mark probably surrounds his power potential. Obviously, 9 long balls in a half season of work for a shortstop is fantastic. However, he’s posted an ISO around the .150 mark in his pro career thus far, making him look like more of a 10-15 HR hitter than a 20-30 HR hitter when he lands in the bigs. That being said, Royce’s floor might be a 55 FV player with 50+ tools across the board outside of his plus speed. That’s an extremely valuable player for any franchise.
