TOP NL UTR PITCHING PERFORMANCE LHP Nick Margevicius (LoA Fort Wayne – San Diego) 21 year old 5.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K
- Deja Vu to start the 2018 season. Last season I decided to post my “Ones to Watch” after the season the season. LoA Jesse Scholtens was on my short list of Padres arms for the 2017 OTW honor, which ended up going to Jean Cosme. I posted the 2018 OTW roster last week, but maybe I should have waited again, as Margevicius was jotted down for 2018. I went with Emmanuel Ramirez with his return within the Padres UTR-OAS top ten, after being named in 2015. The 6’5″ 220lb southpaw had a successful debut in 2017 starting in the Arizona League and moving up to Short-Season Tri-City. The 7th round pick in 2017 posted a 1.31 ERA over 11 appearances (10 starts) with 62 K’s and only 8 walks. He’s more of a command pitcher with a low 90’s fastball and work in progress change-up and slider.
- Diaz was a 2016 “One to Watch” after making an impression during his state-side debut in the GCL in 2016. The 21 year-old is repeating at the LoA level in an effort to command his fastball. He has swing-and-miss stuff, but needs to cut his walk rate, which was a career worst (4.8) last season.
HiA Mentions – Starters LHP Gregory Soto (HiA Lakeland – Detroit) 23 years old 5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
- I wrote in 2016 to keep an eye on this kid and how he would be moving up through the system. That move has begun, as he was #3 within Tigers UTR-OAS rankings, and cracked the Baseball America Top 10 of Tigers prospects.
Under The Radar Minors 