Baseball America’s 48th-ranked prospect entering the season, Billy Hamilton is known for being among the fastest players in Minor League Baseball. Last year he used that speed to his advantage, becoming the first player in a decade to steal 100 bases in a season. He’s off to another great start this season, hitting .356/.447/.589 with 19 steals in 19 games for the Bakersfield Blaze in the California League. I had a chance to speak...
In an effort to milk this list as much as possible, I made a post that has all 100 prospects in just one list with their Opening Day assignments. At the bottom, I have a handful of stats that show the distribution of the top 100 by organization, position and classification. 1. Bryce Harper, OF, Washington- Syracuse (AAA, International) 2. Matt Moore, LHP, Tampa Bay- Tampa Bay (MLB, AL) 3. Mike Trout, OF, Anaheim-...
I kept seeing random mentions here and there about the whereabouts of the various players I profiled last season for MiLB.com, so I finally decided to put together a list of where each one was assigned to start the 2012 season and how they’re doing so far. Of the nine, seven advanced to Low-A, one to High-A, and one is expected to miss the season due to injury. Stetson Allie (West Virginia Power, Low-A,...
Welcome to Bus Leagues Express. Every morning, you’ll be able to stop here for a quick summary of the previous day’s minor league action, what’s to come, and interesting links the staff wants to share. While you’re eating cereal getting ready for the day, you can check out the notable stories from each league and some of the top performers at the plate and on the mound. Since this is the first day of...
I saw a press release the other day in which the Dayton Dragons noted that they led the minor leagues in stolen bases last season, or something to that effect. My first thought: “Okay, yeah, but how much of that was Billy Hamilton-related?” Hamilton, of course, stole 103 bases last season, the first player to reach triple digits since Chris Morris swiped 111 for the Peoria Chiefs in 2001. So the logical next step...
Hitting thirty homeruns in a single minor league season is not an exceptionally rare feat. It has been accomplished hundreds of times over the past century or so*, including 21 in 2011 and 14 in 2010. Only two players hit 30 or more homeruns in both 2010 and 2011, however: Arizona’s Paul Goldschmidt (35 for High-A Visalia in 2010 and 30 for Double-A Mobile in 2011) and Washington’s Tyler Moore (31 for both High-A...
Anyone who has read Bus Leagues since the beginning knows of our fascination with Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jay Bruce. He was named the top prospect in the game by Baseball America and USA Today shortly after Eric and I started pretending we knew something about minor league baseball, and so we have followed his career arc more closely than that of just about any other player. With Bruce firmly entrenched in the Reds lineup,...
Prospect A-Z returned to the Rangers organization with lefty starter Robbie Ross. He’s one of a few upper minors starters the Rangers have left after trading Robbie Erlin and Joe Wieland to the Padres at the deadline, but it’s still a deep system, especially in the lower levels. Ross has the potential to start, but with a solid major league rotation and an organization with a lot of pitcher depth, he could do very...
Yesterday’s Prospect A-Z featured Nationals starter Matt Purke. Purke was expected to be one of the top picks in the 2011 draft, but a shoulder injury in his sophomore year at TCU greatly diminished his stuff and his draft stock. His usual 91-94 MPH fastball and sharp slider became 81-84 MPH and flat. Statistically, he was still very good, but the talent he displayed all throughout high school and in his freshman season at...
Yesterday, Prospect A-Z returned with Washington catcher Derek Norris. He has the power and defensive skills to potentially be an All-Star, but he needs to improve his batting average. He’ll be competing for true three outcome titles in the majors with his patience and also penchant of striking out. Wilson Ramos established himself as a solid starter behind the plate for Washington, but Norris could eventually surpass him. He could be a key piece...
2012 05 14 Scranton Wilks Barre/ Empire State Yankees vs Pawtucket Red Sox
