The Cleveland Indians’ Yandy Diaz appears to be ready for prime time. Since the newly-turned 25-year-old was signed out of Cuba in 2013, he has improved his hitting and plate discipline successfully at every level in which he has a made a stop. Now, it may be big leagues or bust for 2017, and maybe even the rest of this season.
Category Archives: MLB
Cardinals and Dodgers prospects make Desert Dogs team to beat
Yesterday, we began our look at the Arizona Fall League rosters. The rosters, primarily made up of Double and Triple-A players, are a who’s who of baseball’s biggest and brightest prospects. The AFL begins its action on October 12 in a game that features the Scottsdale Scorpions — whose roster we looked at yesterday — versus the Glendale Desert Dogs.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the Desert Dogs.
A few top Yankees prospects highlight the Arizona Fall League
Arizona Fall League rosters were recently announced and that means one of the more fun times of the year are upon us. Autumn in the desert heats up when the biggest prospects in baseball join forces with each other to go head-to-head in an abbreviated season of what amounts to a seven-week All Star Game.
Basically, it’s a minor league baseball enthusiasts version of Prospect Heaven.
Time to pay attention to the Yankees Jonathan Holder
When the New York Yankees decided to flip the page on their 2016 season and build for a better future, they did so at the expense of their bullpen. What was one of the most lethal shutdown bullpens for the better part of the last two seasons (let’s face it, with Mariano Rivera, it has been the last 20 or so years) has suddenly been searching for answers to bridge the gap from starter to closer.
![Get to know Atlanta Braves prospect Kolby Allard [Interview]](https://waynecavadi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/img_3272.jpg?w=672&h=372&crop=1)
Get to know Atlanta Braves prospect Kolby Allard [Interview]
Despite the Atlanta Braves clearing payroll and shipping off their big names at the beginning of the 2015 season, the real rebuild began with the 2015 MLB Draft. They made a huge haul in that draft and they are starting to see the results with the majority of them playing an integral part in the surging first place Rome Braves fantastic second half run.
Didder and Castro breaking out in Rome for the Atlanta Braves
The Rome Braves have had a stacked team this season, with some of the bigger prospects in the organization playing a big part in their turnaround. The pitching staff has been phenomenal with names like Mike Soroka, Kolby Allard, Max Fried, Touki Toussaint and the recently promoted Patrick Weigel coming of age and showing that the talent seen in them may be more than potential. Austin Riley is maturing into the best third base prospect in the system while being arguably the biggest bat on the pipeline behind a huge second half.
Having taken in quite a few Rome Braves games this season, primarily to see the names above, a couple other prospects — though much lesser known — have shown steady improvement seemingly each and every time I visited State Mutual Field.
The San Francisco Giants Bryan Reynolds hitting everything in Augusta
ROME, GA — Bryan Reynolds knows a lot about winning. As a member of the National Champion Vanderbilt roster that has seen a bevy of players make the successful jump to the pros like Dansby Swanson, Tyler Beede, Carson Fulmer, Walker Buehler, Vincente Conde and Jordan Sheffield, Reynolds was poised to add his name as the next great Commodore.
He has done just that in his brief professional career.
KC Royals AJ Puckett making most of opportunity
A.J. Puckett certainly paved an interesting road to the pros, one that may not have been heading into his junior season in high school. Since the Kansas City Royals drafted Puckett in the second round of the MLB Draft this past June, he is showing that he is well worth the investment, and the Royals were lucky he slipped to them.
New York Yankees second round steal Nick Solak [Interview]
This season has seen some strong debuts thus far come out of the second round. The Atlanta Braves’ Kyle Muller and the Chicago White Sox’s Alec Hansen have been nothing short of sensational on the mound. The New York Yankees have a second baseman making some noise in the NYPL as Nick Solak is getting it done at the plate.
The life and times of Boston Red Sox prospect Michael Kopech
The Boston Red Sox have a significant history of drafting right-handed pitchers in the first round this millennium. Eleven times since 2000, the Red Sox have invested their first-round pick (one of them, at least) on a young righty, and if you count Casey Kelly — who was drafted as an infielder and converted to a pitcher — you have a rounded dozen. The problem is none of them have really panned out as expected.
Michael Kopech is looking to change that trend, putting together an outstanding season in Salem.
Keep reading for one of the most tantalizing prospects in baseball.
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