TOP NL UTR PITCHING PERFORMANCE RHP Sam McWilliams (LoA Kane County – Arizona) 21 years old 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, Win Season Stats: 5-2, 2.74 ERA, 46 IP, 31 H, 14 ER, 8 BB, 38 K in 9 starts
- Three of McWilliams’ 9 starts, he has surrendered four earned runs in each. His other six?….he has only allowed a combined two earned runs over 32 innings. The high school draft pick (8th round) in 2014 was the UTR NL Pitcher of the Day on April 13th. It was the Phillies who drafted the 6’7″- 190 lb. righty, but traded him to the D-Backs for Jeremy Hellickson during the 2015 off-season. McWilliams also was the D-Backs Top UTR Pitcher for April 2017. He started pinging the radar by posting a 0.52 WHIP, which was the best amongst ALL minor league pitchers.
- UTR NL Pitcher of the Day – April 18th
- O’Reilly makes back-to-back mentions after being the Top NL Pitcher of the Day on May 20th. The right-hander has allowed only 2 earned runs in just one of his 7 appearances. If he would qualify, O’Reilly would be amongst the ERA leaders of all minor league pitchers. If he can maintain his performance through 2017, look for the control artist to crack the Cardinals Top 25 heading into 2018. Last season with the GCL Cardinals, O’Reilly went 3-1, with 2.48 ERA over 40 innings, and 32 K’s with only 3 walks in 11 appearances (4 starts).
- Brewers #24 ranked prospect keeps rolling.
- UTR Top Prospect for April 2017
- Nats #29 ranked prospect
- The 38th round selection in 2014 (West Jefferson HS, Ohio) only had 50 full season innings (LoA Great Lakes) entering the 2017 season. Turning only 21 years old in early July, Ferguson is holding his own (.206 opp. BA) in the hitter-friendly California League. He’s only allowed 4 ER over his last 18.1 innings along with 23 strikeouts and 8 walks.
TOP AL UTR PITCHING PERFORMANCE RHP Richelson Pena (HiA Down East – Texas) 23 years old 9 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, Win Season Stats: 3-2, 3.80 ERA, 42.2 IP, 37 H, 18 ER, 11 BB, 41 K in 10 appearances with 7 starts
- Pena was cruising through April and May before stumbling his last time out on 5/20. He only lasted a 1/3 of an inning giving up 6 earned runs on 2 hits and 4 walks. The Dominican right-hander put all that behind him tossing his first career complete game last night. Speaking of cruising, Pena was on the verge of accomplishing a complete game shutout with less than 100 pitches thrown, before giving up a home run in the 9th inning. Pena found himself back at HiA after being underwater at Double-A Frisco and AAA-Round Round in 2016. The Rangers got ahead of themselves with that aggressive assignment after Pena’s solid California League performance in 2015. That season earned him the 2016 UTR Organizational All-Star mention.
- The Whitecaps occupy 1st place in the Midwest League thanks to a strong rotation. Sodders was flying under the radar, as top prospect Kyle Funkhouser was receiving the most attention. Funkhouser was promoted to HiA Lakeland on May 17th, so the 7th round pick in 2016 (UC Riverside) is now the ace of the staff. The Tigers #16 ranked prospect makes back-to-back mentions and was the UTR NL Pitcher of the Day on April 29th. Sodders continues chasing D-Backs prospect Jon Duplantier (0.56) for the LoA ERA lead amongst all qualified minor league pitchers. Getting the no-decision last night snapped a 5-game win streak for southpaw.
- After setting a career-high with 10 K’s last time out, Funkhouser (Tigers #5) sat down nine last night over 6 scoreless innings. The 4th round pick in 2016 (Louisville) was the UTR AL Pitcher of the Day on April 7th and May 21st.
Under The Radar Minors 