The Z-meter is our way of tracking the prospects we like. We keep track of stats for 25 players at a time, compiled from Baseball America, reader votes, and our own irrational sense of whimsy.
A couple of the players who made it onto the meter via reader voting ended up starting their seasons in the majors, so Jason Heyward and Jenrry Mejia have the honor of being the first players on our Promotions list.
An asterisk designates a player who is injured. We tag names with red ink if the player is hot, and blue ink if he’s cooling off. Regular old black ink means he’s doing his job in a fairly standard way.
Promotions
Jason Heyward, started season with Atlanta Braves (MLB)
Jennry Mejia, started season with New York Mets (MLB)
Justin Smoak, 1B Oklahoma City Redhawks (AAA) to Texas Rangers (MLB)
Eric Young, Jr., 2B Colorado Springs (AAA) to Colorado Rockies (MLB)
Stephen Strasburg, P Syracuse Chiefs (AAA) to Washington Nationals (MLB)
Carlos Santana, C Columbus Clippers (AAA) to Cleveland Indians (MLB)
Pedro Alvarez, 3B Indianapolis Indians (AAA) to Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB)
Travis Wood, LHP Louisville Bats (AAA) to Cincinnati Reds (MLB)
Anthony Slama, RHP Rochester Red Wings (AAA) to Minnesota Twins (MLB)
Ryan Kalish, OF Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA) to Boston Red Sox (MLB)
Chris Carter, 1B Sacramento River Cats (AAA) to Oakland As (MLB)
Stephen Strasburg, P Harrisburg Senators (AA) to Syracuse Skychiefs (AAA)
Lars Anderson, 1B Portland SeaDogs (AA) to Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA)
Ryan Kalish, LF Portland SeaDogs (AA) to Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA)
Zach Britton, LHP Bowie Baysox (AA) to Norfolk Tides (AAA)
David Phelps, RHP Trenton Thunder (AA) to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (AAA)
Dustin Ackley, 2B West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx (AA) to Tacoma Rainiers (AAA)
AAA
Hitters
| Name | Pos | Team (Affiliation) | AVG | R | HR | RBI | BB | SB | SLG | OPS |
| Dustin Ackley | 2B | Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners) | .299 | 24 | 3 | 14 | 13 | 1 | 0.474 | 0.838 |
| Mike Moustakas | 3B | Omaha Royals (Royals) | .270 | 20 | 7 | 21 | 4 | 2 | 0.467 | 0.654 |
| Andrew Locke | LF | Round Rock Express (Astros) | .288 | 68 | 16 | 72 | 31 | 3 | 0.500 | 0.836 |
| Lars Anderson | 1B | Pawtucket Red Sox (Red Sox) | .246 | 39 | 7 | 40 | 41 | 1 | 0.396 | 0.730 |
Pitchers
| Name | Pos | Team (Affiliation) | G | W | L | ERA | SV | BB | K |
| Aroldis Chapman | LHP | Louisville Bats (Reds) | 36 | 8 | 6 | 3.69 | 7 | 52 | 118 |
| Zach Britton | LHP | Norfolk Tides (Orioles) | 9 | 2 | 3 | 3.08 | 0 | 18 | 39 |
| David Phelps | RHP | Trenton Thunder (Yankees) | 9 | 3 | 2 | 3.51 | 0 | 9 | 43 |
AAA Notes:
AA
Hitters
| Name | Pos | Team (Affiliation) | AVG | R | HR | RBI | BB | SB | SLG | OPS |
| Lonnie Chisenhall | 3B | Akron Aeros (Indians) | .273 | 70 | 15 | 71 | 36 | 3 | 0.444 | 0.787 |
| Conor Gillaspie | 3B | Richmond Flying Squirrels (Giants) | .292 | 49 | 6 | 58 | 34 | 0 | 0.421 | 0.760 |
| Collin Cowgill | RF | Mobile BayBears (Diamondbacks) | .299 | 79 | 14 | 79 | 51 | 24 | 0.471 | 0.833 |
Pitchers
| Name | Pos | Team (Affiliation) | G | W | L | ERA | S | BB | K |
| Kyle Drabek | RHP | New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Blue Jays) | 24 | 13 | 9 | 3.12 | 0 | 60 | 114 |
| Bubbie Buzachero | RHP | Corpus Christi Hooks (Houston) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3.55 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Brooks Brown | RHP | Erie SeaWolves (Tigers) | 26 | 11 | 8 | 4.09 | 2 | 34 | 83 |
AA Notes:
A
Hitters
| Name | Pos | Team (Affiliation) | AVG | R | HR | RBI | BB | SB | SLG | OPS |
| Aaron Hicks | CF | Beloit Snappers (Twins) | .275 | 69 | 5 | 42 | 73 | 18 | 0.419 | 0.813 |
| Ian Gac | 1B | Kannapolis Intimidators (White Sox) | .284 | 59 | 19 | 85 | 41 | 3 | 0.485 | 0.833 |
| *Tyler Kolodny | 3B | Aberdeen IronBirds (Baltimore) | .207 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 0.379 | 0.779 |
| Tim Beckham | SS | Charlotte Stone Crabs (Rays) | .250 | 62 | 5 | 53 | 55 | 20 | 0.351 | 0.692 |
| Kentrail Davis | LF | Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Brewers) | .357 | 34 | 2 | 34 | 23 | 2 | 0.533 | 0.977 |
| Sequoyah Stonecipher | OF | Greensboro Grasshoppers (Marlins) | .218 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 0.273 | 0.531 |
Pitchers
| Name | Pos | Team (Affiliation) | G | W | L | ERA | S | BB | K |
| Zeke Spruill | RHP | Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Braves) | 11 | 3 | 3 | 4.72 | 0 | 3 | 31 |
| Keyvious Sampson | RHP | Eugene Emeralds (Padres) | 10 | 3 | 3 | 3.56 | 0 | 17 | 58 |
| Brad Brach | RHP | Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres) | 56 | 5 | 1 | 2.34 | 40 | 9 | 63 |
| Brandon Moore | RHP | St. Lucie Mets (Mets) | 10 | 2 | 3 | 3.54 | 0 | 24 | 49 |
| Jacob Turner | RHP | Lakeland Flying Tigers (Tigers) | 10 | 4 | 2 | 3.88 | 0 | 11 | 32 |
A Notes:
Let me get this straight: Stephen “Lord Vishnu” Strasburg gestated through the minors in two months, but Mike Moustakas is still waiting for his call-up? WHY?!? /bitter Royals fan
Kila Ka’aihue approves this message.
Well, clearly the Royals have too many effective, long-term professional ballplayers at the MLB level to make room for these schlubs.
Rumor has it that Ackley has been promoted to Triple-A Tacoma. It hasn’t been reported anywhere, but I’ve got a source, so we’ll see what happens when the All-Star breaks for the Southern and Pacific Coast Leagues end later this week.
I feel so…journalistic.
[...] the end, I mentioned it in a comment on Eric’s Z-Meter on Tuesday, the day before Rainiers radio broadcaster Mike Curto had it on his blog. (Curto also told a story [...]