The current thinking is that kids should wait to pitch until 4th grade, so that and 5th grade makes two years of pitching in little leagues.
Justin Thomas (7), Caden Powell (5), and Nehomar Ochoa (2, 7 season) have all homered for Asheville as they’re trying to come back from an 11-3 deficit to Greensboro.
I watched my mom’s cousin’s kid (9) recently and he’s… not a pitcher. He’s normally at 2B, short, CF, and will catch a couple innings. But, he got to pitch towards the end of one of the games and he sailed his first 4 warmup pitches to the backstop. Somehow, he got two outs in between a pair of walks. The third out was him catching a liner at short to end the game.
Which they did. Thomas hit a walk-off homer in the 9th to give the Tourists a 16-15 win. He now has 8 homers on the year. Thomas's numbers are inflated by the park, but he also has a respectable .823 OPS on the road.
2 years coach pitch to kid pitch at 9U. I played one year machine pitch, but seems like that has gone the way of the dinosaur
Brayan Mendez, an outfielder who signed on January 15, hit a grand slam for the DSL Blue team in his first plate appearance as a pro.
Re-post, just for people to think about: https://www.baseballamerica.com/sto...cross-the-minor-leagues-and-no-one-knows-why/ Something weird is happening across the minor leagues. Runs per game have skyrocketed. Home runs are flying out at unprecedented rates. And no one knows why.
Spoiler: Snake Diggit's Astros Top 30 Prospects: June 2026 Update Rank Pos Name (Preseason Rank) Grade: Note OF Kevin Alvarez (2) 55: Lack of walks is only blemish on a very good season so far. Alvarez should be a firm Top 100 prospect. 3B Xavier Neyens (3) 55: Confirming his 70+ grade power and walking a ton. His k rate is concerning as expected, but this is an extremely high ceiling prospect who is posting a 132 wRC+ in A ball as a teenager. P Ethan Pecko (10) 50: Didn't have a very good May as his walk rate ticked up. Hoping for a stellar June and a callup after the trade deadline. P Bryce Mayer (9) 50: Excellent k rate but the walk rate is not good. Only ranked this high because Houston's system is so shallow at the top. In a good farm system he'd be no higher than 10th. The draft should slot in 4-5 guys ahead of him. Not outside the realm of possibility for him to reach the majors this season, but also positioning himself to be a top trade chip if Houston buys at the deadline. C Walker Janek (4) 50: I have decided to cut him a break because of his injury. Hopefully he will reset once he gets back to AA off rehab and post some good numbers. P Cole Hertzler (14) 50: Very similar to Mayer, he needs to get to AA before we will really know anything. OF Ethan Frey (5) 45+: 29% k rate and very little power, so his stock is down from the beginning of the season. He did show some improvement in May so maybe a breakout is coming. P Ryan Forcucci (12) 45+: Disastrous results so far but I have decided to cut him some slack given his long layoff. Probably just an acclimation year and hopefully a breakout next season. OF Joseph Sullivan (11) 45+: Posting below average numbers in AA, without improvement his stock will start to slide next month. P Alimber Santa (HM) 45+: Reached the majors and looks like a potential leverage arm. Huge win for the farm. C/1B Will Bush (20) 45+: Cooled off a ton and his k rate is up to 34%. He's hurt now. Another one who is only ranked this highly because of the shallow 1st tier. P Jackson Nezuh (21) 45+: Had a pretty good May but is homer prone. Keep an eye on him because he could break out quickly. C Jase Mitchell (16) 45+: A walk machine who we won't know much about until he gets to A ball. P Miguel Ullola (8) 45+: Was moved to the bullpen which is a very bad sign. SS Max Holy (HM) 45+: Having a breakout season. Speed, defense, and baserunning give him a high floor. Lack of power and strikeout rate give him a low ceiling. Still, 23 year old SS who post wRC+ over 110 in AA usually reach the majors. IF Albert Fermin (18) 45: Top 30 int'l signing, will take a couple years before we know what he is. P James Hicks (22) 45: Very middling numbers in AA so far. 2B/OF Yamal Encarnacion (HM) 45: Stock up. He's showing a bit of power and already had tremendous speed. He also looks like he can probably be a good defensive player at both 2B and LF and potentially CF. One of very few hitters in Houston's system with a plus contact tool. Only 22; keep an eye on him. P Brett Gillis (HM) 40+: Mixed results but I'm encouraged considering the long layoff. IF Pascanel Ferreras (HM) 40+: Recently promoted to AAA, guys with his profile usually get at least some time in the majors. Low ceiling player but could be a decent bench piece. C/1B Jason Schiavone (HM) 40+: 70+ grade power and looks like he can stick at catcher. The ultimate test of whether a very high k rate can be overcome by defense and power. P Jagger Beck (HM) 40+: Next to Alimber Santa, Beck is probably the biggest pitching breakout of this season. Teenage pitchers who can hold their own in full season ball have a good track record and velo won't be a problem for him. Stock up and could skyrocket over this season. This could be a really good prospect. P Kellan Oakes (HM) 40+: Dominating A ball, won't know much until he gets to AA but so far so good. P Javier Perez (27) 40+: Really good k/bb ratio. P Gabel Pentecost (26) 40+: Decent start but then got hurt. P Nick Potter (25) 40+: K rate ticked up in May but so did walk rate. Overall a good 1st season and stock could go up quickly. P Brandon McPherson (HM) 40+: Reached AAA but hasn't looked great in the early going there. Potential BoR SP or MR. IF Sami Manzueta (HM) 40+: Repeating DSL because of his age but I'm very high on him. OF Tyler Whitaker (HM) 40+: 128 pa sample and he's still holding his own. OF Lucas Spence (17) 40+: Stock down. Got hurt and isn't hitting. Still time. Graduated: 2B/OF Brice Matthews (1), P AJ Blubaugh (6), OF Zach Cole (7) Fell off: P Alonzo Tredwell (13), OF Anthony Huezo (15), OF Caden Powell (19), OF Luis Baez (23), P Hudson Leach (24), P Parker Smith (28), P Ramsey David (29), IF Nick Monistere (30) Honorable Mention: C: Collin Price, Carlos Cauro, Luis De Leon, Alexi Quiroz IF: Randy Arias, Alberto Hernandez, Juan Rojas, Alejandro Nunez, German Ramirez, Trevor Austin, Nick Monistere, Anderson Areinamo, Camilo Diaz, Landon Arroyos, Tommy Sacco Jr., Nehomar Ochoa Jr. OF: Ethan Wagner, Luis Rives, Anthony Huezo, Kenni Gomez, Justin Thomas Jr., Cesar Hernandez, Amauri Ramirez, Caden Powell, Juan Sierra, DJ Newman, Josh Wakefield, Anthony Millan, Ariel Lebron, Drew Brutcher, Jack Valbrune, Imanol Feliz P: Julio Rodriguez, Adrian Ardines, Juan Fraide, Alex Santos II, Andrew Taylor, Joey Dixon, Charlie Weber, Brandon Cassedy, Josh Hendrickson, Nic Swanson, Nolan DeVos, Jose Varela, Jesus Carrera, Parker Smith, Ryan Verdugo, Leomar Rosario, Joey Mancini, Luis Rodriguez, Hudson Leach, Jackson Wells, Dylan Howard, Raimy Rodriguez, Michael Knorr, Ramsey David, Omar Damian, Derek True, Trey Dombroski, Jose Fleury Houston's farm is not having a great season. Most of their pitchers are walking too many guys and most of their hitters are striking out too much. So almost none of their players outside of Kevin Alvarez project as productive big leaguers based on statistical modeling. Still, there are a lot of high ceiling prospects and it only takes a few to complete the unlikely task of fixing striking concerns as a hitter or fixing walks as a pitcher for the farm to really provide a lot of big league value. The draft will add some good talent, and after that Houston should field an average farm system. But until then, this is a below average farm with a very shallow 1st tier but a robust 3rd and 4th tier.
Astros brought up Colin Price and DFA Cesar Salazar? I guess Dana is desperate for a lottery ticket chance at some offense at catcher?
I wouldn't guess about desperation, but Salazar was just about the worst catcher in professional baseball
Kellan Oakes vs. Columbia: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, BB, 5 K; both runs were inherited runners that scored and were charged to him. I remember @Nook didn't really regard him as a prospect (not trying to be snide) during the draft, so I wonder whether this assessment has changed.
Caden Powell hit his 6th home run of the season for Asheville. Cole Hertzler: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K; both runs came on a homer.
Hunter Brown allowed a run on a solo homer, two other hits, walked one, and struck out four in 4.1 innings in his first rehab appearance for Sugar Land.
