TOP NL UTR PITCHING PERFORMANCE LHP Cody Reed (LoA Kane County – Arizona) 20 years old 6 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 K, Win Season Stats: 1-0, 1.35 ERA, 20 IP, 12 H, 3 ER, 6 BB, 27 K in 4 starts
- Reed was one of my D-Backs UTR Organizational All-Stars in 2015 while he was with short-season Hillsboro. He made one HiA Visalia start to begin 2016 and was then sent down to Kane County where he made 7 starts and excelled (1.82 ERA). He was promoted back to Visalia and something happened, because he really struggled (7.28 ERA). That something could have been a nagging injury which cause Reed to miss the last seven weeks of the season. The 2nd round pick from 2014 returns back to Kane County and has posted 4 strong outings to get back on-track.
- He has now gone 18 scoreless innings over his last three starts. The impressive stat thus far, is Suarez’ career WHIP over 226.1 innings drops sub-1.00 at 0.95. This could be the season where the 21 year-old cracks the UTR-Organizational All-Star barrier and would immediately become a “solid stash” for fantasy dynasty/keeper rosters. He would join past UTR-OAS Phillies pitchers, Franklyn Kilome and Sixto Sanchez.
- The 2015 UTR-OAS and Mets #14 ranked prospect extends his scoreless streak to 28.1 innings and unbelievably has yet to be named NL UTR-Pitchers of the Day. Could he receive the honor as the Mets top pitcher for the month of April? Jordan Humphreys might have something to say about that….stay tuned during the early part of May for that posting.
- Pirates #13 ranked prospect
- Was the Padres top pitching prospect until the trade with the Red Sox that brought Anderson Espinoza to San Diego. Quantrill is currently ranked at #4, while Espinoza took the #1 spot.
TOP AL UTR PITCHING PERFORMANCE RHP Dane Dunning (LoA Kannapolis – Chicago White Sox) 22 years old 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, Win Season Stats: 2-0, 0.35 ERA, 26 IP, 13 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 33 K in 4 starts
- Not much more can be said about these outstanding performances during the first month of the season. I haven’t seen anything like it. Across LoA/HiA Leagues, the top starting pitchers have thrown 216.2 inning and have only allowed 6 earned runs, a 0.25 ERA….thats insane. To place it in further context, those stats were over 35 starts, and LoA has been the most dominate. Midwest and South Atlantic League’s top pitchers have made 25 starts (157 IP) and only allowed 4 earned runs. Dane Dunning hasn’t surrendered a run since his first start on April 8th and made his 1st UTR-POD appearance and today is his third. The Washington Nationals have to be beside themselves to include the righty in the Adam Eaton deal.
- As I stated last week, it would only be a matter of time Alex Wells would receive a mention. Alex’s twin brother is Lachlan Wells, who is also pitching in the Twins system and was the AL-POD on April 17th. The Orioles #25 ranked prospect has thrown 13 scoreless innings over the last 3 starts. His April 20th outing only lasted one inning before the rains fell and suspended the game. I selected Wells as the Orioles 2017 “One to Watch” .
- The Royals #16 ranked prospect finally pieced together a solid outing, but took his 4th straight loss. Watson allowed 14 earned runs in as many innings over his 3 previous starts.
- Despite allowing 11 walks over 21 innings, Burke has only relinquished 2 runs.
- Sexton (14th Rd-2016) makes his first appearance on the list this season. He was on the best side of a pitcher duals with Dylan Lee (mention above) to complete a series sweep.
Under The Radar Minors 