- The Phillies #2 ranked prospect is proving why he is the top arm in system. As one of the youngest pitchers at the HiA level (Adrian Morejon, Bryan Mata), Sanchez is finding his groove. Over his last three starts, the 6’0″ 185 lb right-hander has posted a 0.96 ERA over 18.2 innings with 24 strikeouts and only 2 walks. He is facing hitters that, on average, are 4 years older than the teenage Dominincan native. He’s limited those advanced bats to a paltry .191 average over that time, and .242 over his seven starts. Though he is the Phillies top prospect, Sanchez has kept himself “under the radar” here at UTRMinors. He’s made multiple mentions, but always came up short on being a UTR Organizational All-Star. He just missed in 2016 during his state-side debut due to limited innings, and his last season promotion to Clearwater hindered him last season. With some pieces currently at Triple-A (Ben Lively, Jake Thompson, Drew Anderson) and UTR stalwarts at Double-A Reading (Franklyn Kilome, Ranger Suarez), there is no need rush Sixto Sanchez to Philadelphia.
- Dietz is on the other end of the spectrum of Sanchez. Top draft pick pick (2nd Rd – 2016) and ranked 24th in the Orioles system. He picked up his third straight win last night, as well as his longest outing as a pro. But like Sanchez above, Dietz’ last three starts have been lights out. He’s limited hitters to a .164 batting average while posting a 0.50 ERA with 10 hits, 17 strikeouts, and 5 walks over 18 innings. This is a far cry from his last stint at Delmarva from last season. The 6′ 5″ 220 lb righty went 3-10 with 4.93 ERA and 92 K’s / 50 BB’s in 129.2 innings in first shot a full season ball, after only seeing 18.2 at short-season Aberdeen.
LoA Mentions – Starters RHP Cody Bolton (LoA West Virginia – Pittsburgh) 19 years old 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 0.00 ERA, Win 1-0
- Pirates 6th round pick from last year sees his first start in 2018
- Keep an eye on this young right-hander for the Reds. His overall stats from 2017 might hint doubt, but the (6’3″ 180 lb) 13th round pick in 2015 just slid into the last UTR Organzational All-Star slot last season. In 131.1 workhorse innings, Jordan showed promising peripherals with a 8.3 H/9, along with 7.7 K/9 and 1.2 BB/9 rates. The ouch factor was the 17 home runs surrendered. My system actually touched upon him during the 2016 season, where he just missed my UTR-OAS ranking, but was named as my Reds “One to Watch” for 2017.
HiA Mentions – Starters LHP Wennington Romero (HiA Daytona – Minnesota) 20 years old 8 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 2.73 ERA, Win 5-1 RHP Dustin May (HiA Rancho Cucamonga – Los Angeles Dodgers) 20 years old 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 2.73 ERA, Win 1-3 RHP Pedro Avila (HiA Lake Elsinore – San Diego) 21 years old 7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K, 3.68 ERA
- Here’s what I wrote about the 2017 UTR Organizational All-Star.….**As a 19-year old, Avila was handling hitters in the South Atlantic League with LoA Hagerstown (Washington). I had tagged him prior to that season as the Nationals “One to Watch” and he was sent to the Padres in the Derek Norris trade at the end of the season. The Padres aggressively assigned right-hander to HiA Lake Elsinore, where he continue to surprise, but was sent down to Fort Wayne to finish the season. His trajectory will continue to climb as his curveball was rated the best in the system. At only 21 years-old for the whole 2018 season, consideration may be given for Avila to repeat as a “One to Watch” for his new team for 2018.
National League – Relief RHP Carlos Bustamante (LoA Kane County – Arizona) 23 years old 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 4.26 ERA American League – Relief RHP David Sosebee (HiA Tampa – New York Yankees) 24 years old 3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 0.87 ERA, Win 3-2
Under The Radar Minors 