On this patriotic weekend, it's easy to get busy and put prospect-watching aside for a few days. But what could be more patriotic than the combination of America's Pastime (which it will always be) and the dream of rising up from the bottom to the top the way prospects do?
While the rest of us were Bar-B-Que-ing all weekend, our favorite prospects were still in action. So as you enjoy your final day of the first weekend of the summer, let's take a moment to go over the action that's already taken place.
The big event of the weekend was Dylan Bundy's first start in High-A ball, which came Saturday in Frederick, Md and drew 9,833 fans, or as many as most Rays games.
Bundy, who had been flawless (not counting two unearned runs) in 30 innings in Low-A ball, gave up his first two earned runs as a professional, including his first home run, but was otherwise the dominant pitcher everyone expected him to be, reports Jordan Tuwiner of Orioles-Nation.com. The outstanding numbers are one thing, but Bundy is an even better pitcher today than he was just a month ago, says J.J. Cooper of Baseball America, which is a scary thought for opponents of the Orioles prospect as he continues to dominate inferior competition, much of which is younger than he is.
As good as Bundy has been, there are other pitchers doing impressive things who are actually allowed to pitch past the fifth inning. Fellow 2011 draftee Jose Fernandez is dominating the same league Bundy just left, leading it in ERA, WHIP and strikeouts, says Andrew Pentis of MiLB.com. The Marlins top pitching prospect added to that strikeout total on Saturday by fanning 12 batters in six innings in what was supposed to be a matchup against Bundy before the latter got promoted.
Fernandez's performance wasn't the only piece of good news for the Marlins organization, as struggling catching prospect and former first-rounder himself, Kyle Skipworth, went 4-for-4 and hit for the cycle on Saturday, writes David Heck of MiLB.com, despite entering the game hitting just .182 in his second go-round in Double-A.
Sunday's action was more about the offense, led by Travis d'Arnaud, who homered for the seventh time in his last nine games and the 11th time this season, says Ashley Marshall of MiLB.com. The Blue Jays catcher started out slow in April, but has been red-hot in May and is now hitting .318/.376/.585 in Triple-A on the season.
Also slugging his 11th home run of the year on Sunday was Rangers third base prospect Mike Olt. The former Cunnecticut Huskie first-round draft pick has been great in Double-A this season and is now hitting .281/.392/.526 on the season, with the only blemish on his year being his 50 strike outs in 45 games.
There were some big-name prospects taking the ball on the mound on Sunday, however. Jameson Taillon got hit hard, giving up five earned runs while failing to get out of the fourth inning. The Pirates have put similar innings restrictions on Taillon to what the Orioles have put on Bundy, both prep righties drafted just one year apart, but Taillon has not dominated the low minor leagues the way Bundy has. He is pitching well and more realistically, however, and despite his 3-4 record in the Florida State League this season, he's got a 48-to-15 strikeout to walk ratio in 52 innings of work and has done nothing to deter anyone from his original status as a top prospect.
Progressing at a Bundy-esque pace this season has been Taijuan Walker, who has separated himself from the pitching depth in the Mariners farm system in the last two months to become their top pitching prospect. His last start on Sunday got him his fourth win of the season, as he gave up two runs in five innings to raise his ERA to 2.23 on the season.
We'll be updating our projected prospect starters as the week gets going, but slated to get a Memorial Day start are red=hot Nationals prospect Danny Rosenbaum, Mariners 2011 first-rounder Danny Hultzen, Diamondbacks above-slot 2011 draftee Anthony Meo, and A's off-season acquisition Raul Alcantara.
