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Video Scouting Report on St. Louis Cardinals Pitcher Gordon Graceffo
Video Scouting Report on St. Louis Cardinals Pitcher Gordon Graceffo The St. Louis Cardinals have found value outside the early rounds of the draft from both hitters and pitchers. Early results indicate they may have found similar value in Gordon Graceffo. BackgroundGordon Joseph Graceffo was drafted by the Cardinals in the fifth round last summer out of Villanova University. After some struggles his freshman year at ‘Nova, Graceffo posted a 1.51 ERA over 107 1/3 innings with a 20/98 BB/K ratio over 2020-2021. He then dominated the Cape Cod League in 2021 over three starts, posting a 2/13 BB/K ratio over 13 innings while allowing just one run before the…
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Minor League Baseball Players of the Week for July 19, 2022
Minor League Baseball Weekly Top Performers While major league baseball is on All-Star break, minor league baseball keeps chugging along. The draft this week will add a collection of new players to each organization very soon. This week’s top performers are both breakout performers. Hitter of the WeekOne of the better prospects in the 2017 draft, Chris Williams injured his shoulder and fell all the way to the 31st round, leading to him returning to school. The Twins drafted him in the eighth round, and he spent his pro debut at first base, hitting very well for Elizabethton in the Appalachian League. He’s struggled to hit the same ever since…
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Minor League Baseball Players of the Week for July 12, 2022
Minor League Baseball Weekly Top Performers As minor league baseball heads into draft week, with a host of new players coming into the fold from the draft, those who are currently on rosters did their level best to impress. Let’s check out who took home top honors for the first full week of July: Hitter of the WeekA 2018 signee by the Reds out of the Dominican, Elly De La Cruz began drawing plenty of prospect attention last season when he made his stateside debut and simply crushed the ball, tallying 35 extra-base hits in just 61 games between complex ball and the Florida State League. The Reds promoted the…
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Minor League Baseball Weekly Top Performers for July 5, 2022
Minor League Baseball Weekly Top Performers Some big-name prospects in minor league baseball had big weeks this week, but their productive weeks fell just short of the weeks put up by other players around the minors, leading to the spotlight put on players who perhaps have had less overall exposure to the average fan at this point. Some excellent names also popped back up this week of guys that were once big-time prospects, so let’s dig in! Hitter of the WeekOnce considered the future “chosen one” of the Yankees franchise, Estevan Florial was originally signed out of the Dominican Republic by New York in 2014. He made good on his…
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Minor League Weekly Top Performers for June 28, 2022
Minor League Baseball Weekly Top Performers Incredibly, this is already the last weekly piece of June, meaning we will be heading into the fourth month of the minor league baseball season in next week’s piece! A good week for the San Francisco Giants organization sees both the hitter and pitcher of the week hail from that organization this week. Hitter of the WeekThe shortened 5-round 2020 MLB draft led to a number of excellent players being signed as undrafted free agents. The Giants signed Carter Williams out of North Carolina Central. Williams opened the season with Eugene, but with a number of more highly-regarded prospects getting healthy and being put…
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Minor League Baseball Weekly Top Performers for June 21, 2022
Minor League Baseball Weekly Top Performers This was possibly the most difficult week so far to pick the singular winner of the hitter of the week or pitcher of the week. It was not because there weren’t worthy players, as many were worthy on both the hitter and pitcher sides, but no one player set himself apart in a significant way over the competition, so I ended up choosing two players to highlight. Hitter of the WeekThe Atlanta Braves had a 2019 draft that brought a depth of talent into the organization. One of those later picks that has significantly blossomed has been 11th-round pick Vaughn Grissom, an infielder that…
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Video Scouting Report on San Francisco Giants prospect Casey Schmitt
The last San Diego State player who went in the first two rounds of the major league baseball draft before the San Francisco Giants selected Casey Schmitt in the second round of the 2020 draft was Stephen Strasburg, who was selected first overall in 2009. Now, he’s having a breakout season in 2022. Is he for real? Let’s take a look! BackgroundCasey Shawn Schmitt is a California guy through and through, born in San Diego, graduating from high school in Chula Vista, and then attending San Diego State. Schmitt originally got on the map for many with a huge performance at the Cape Cod League in the summer of 2019.…
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Minor League Baseball Weekly Top Performers for June 14, 2022
Minor League Baseball Weekly Top Performers A perfect week over a pair of relief appearances gave the nod to the minor league baseball pitcher of the week this week. On the hitting side, one of the top performers this season finally gets a weekly note after one of the top seasons in the minors in 2022. Hitter of the WeekOriginally signed by the Kansas City Royals out of the Dominican Republic, Esteury Ruiz was included in a trade to the San Diego Padres in 2017, and he has been working his way up the San Diego system ever since. Originally a free swinger, Ruiz has refined his approach year by…
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Minor League Baseball Weekly Top Performers for June 7, 2022
Minor League Baseball Weekly Top Performers The hitting performances this week across minor league baseball were amazing, but one of the elite ascending prospects shined above the rest while a fringe pitching prospect had a career week. Hitter of the WeekSigned for $2.75 million out of the Dominican by the Twins, Emmanuel Rodriguez has established himself in his first season in full-season ball. After the first week of June, Rodriguez is the only qualified minor leaguer with a wRC+ over 200 and is leading all qualified minor league hitters in on-base with a .495 mark. While he started out strong, Rodriguez has made an adjustment after pitchers made their adjustment…
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Minor League Baseball Weekly Top Performers
Minor League Baseball Weekly Top Performers for May 30, 2022 When reviewing minor league baseball top performers each week, the choice is subjective, for sure, but I can assure you that the end result was purely coincidental. This week the top pitcher and the top hitter of the week could do an advertisement for United Parcel Service! Hitter of the WeekThe extra season awarded to college players did mean some prospects are older at different development points, but it also means players like Vaun Brown are getting a chance. Brown was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 10th round last summer after using his extra season to make…
