Former Orleans Firebird Marcus Stroman is the Opening Day starter in Toronto.
Day One
Judge key in Yankees plans
Aaron Judge is pretty good with first impressions. In the summer of 2012, he hit a home run in his first game as a Brewster Whitecap. Last year, he was invited to Yankees spring training and blasted a home run on the first day of exhibition games.
Soon enough, the Yankees hope Judge will be making a good first impression in the Bronx.
The Fresno State product and former Whitecap ranks among the best prospects in baseball. He’s the third-best in the Yankees’ system, according to Baseball America, and ESPN’s Keith Law has him at 13th among all MLB prospects. With another invite to spring training this year, Judge is knocking on the door and has been mentioned as a likely big-league starter in 2017, as a key part of the Yankees’ youth movement.
Back in 2012, Judge was still raw, but he cut an imposing figure in the Brewster lineup. His 6-foot-7, 250-pound frame drew comparisons to Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton.
Judge hit five home runs in 32 games for the Whitecaps. His summer in Brewster was the juiced-ball summer, so that total only ranked 20th in the league. It was a year in which Tyler Horan hit 16 home runs, after all.
But scouts suspected that Judge’s power – perhaps more than anybody else’s – would play best at the next level, and they’ve been proven right. Judge was selected by the Yankees in the first round of the 2013 draft. In 255 minor league games, he has hit 37 home runs.
Between two levels last year, Judge hit 20 home runs, including eight at Triple A. He’ll likely be back there to start the 2016 season, but that first impression isn’t too far off.
Newcomb leads CCBL in Top 100
With players like Kris Bryant, Dallas Keuchel, A.J. Pollock and Kyle Schwarber taking the torch as Major League Baseball’s young Cape League stars, it seems the next wave of alumni to crash on big league shores is still brewing.
MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list released Friday is a good place to see what’s cooking.
With Bryant, the former Chatham Angler, now off prospect lists and in Wrigley Field, there’s no obvious next top-of-the-heap prospect with Cape League roots, and the Top 100 list reflects that, with no Cape alumni in the top 20. (Interestingly, there aren’t a lot of college guys in general in that group, so it’s not a Cape League-only gap. Trea Turner and Dansby Swanson are the only former college players in the top 20, and they both were on Cape League rosters before going to Team USA).
The top former Cape Leaguer checks in at No. 21, and it’s former Wareham Gatemen pitcher Sean Newcomb.
The lefty from Hartford was limited by mono in his 2013 season with the Gatemen but struck out 28 in 22.1 innings, flashing his potential. He then delivered on it in a big way with a huge junior season at Hartford, and was drafted 15th overall by the Angels in the 2014 draft. He was sent to the Braves in the Andrelton Simmons trade this off-season.
Newcomb struck out 168 in 136 innings of minor league action last year and is emerging as one of the game’s elite pitching prospects.
From his MLB Pipeline Scouting Report:
There were readings of Newcomb’s fastball touching triple digits in 2015 and he’ll sit in the 94-97 mph range. Big and physical, he maintains that velocity and does so without too much effort. Newcomb’s curve has become a plus pitch, one that misses plenty of bats. His changeup gives him a third at least Major League average offering.
Newcomb does have to cut down on his walks to reach his ceiling, but as a Northeast guy who used to divide focus among two sports, he has more upside than your typical college arm. If the control improves, he could even outperform those Jon Lester comps.
The other Cape Leaguers in the Top 100:
26. Bradley Zimmer – Cotuit – Cleveland
31. Aaron Judge – Brewster – New York Yankees
40. A.J. Reed – Harwich – Seattle
52. Jeff Hoffman – Hyannis – Colorado
56. Aaron Blair – Y-D – Atlanta
60. Tyler Jay – Y-D – Minnesota
65. Kyle Zimmer – Cotuit – Kansas City
68. Sean Manaea – Hyannis – Oakland
70. Mark Appel – Y-D – Philadelphia
76. Ian Happ – Harwich – Chicago Cubs
78. Erick Fedde – Y-D – Washington
MLB Pipeline also has lists of the top 10 prospects at every position. Those lists feature a number of additional Cape Leaguers including 2013 MVP Max Pentecost.
Cape Leaguers Await Draft Calls
The Major League Baseball draft begins tonight at 7 p.m. with the first and second rounds. They’ll be televised live on MLB Network and MLB.com. The draft continues Friday at 1 p.m. with rounds three through 10, and the final 30 rounds will go off Saturday at 1 p.m. Live audio of the second and third days will air on MLB.com.
As usual, hundreds of former Cape Leaguers will hear their names called. Two-hundred twenty nine were selected last year after 258 went in 2011. Those numbers are major increases over the 148 that were selected just 11 years ago in 2002.
Baseball America’s latest mock draft has 11 CCBL alums projected to go in the first round:
2 – Cubs – Mark Appel (Y-D ’11)
3 – Rockies – Kris Bryant (Chatham ’11)
5 – Indians – Colin Moran (Bourne ’11 & ’12)
11 – Mets – Ryne Stanek (Bourne ’11)
14 – Pirates – D.J. Peterson (Hyannis ’11)
17 – White Sox – Alex Gonzalez (Y-D ’11 & ’12)
22 – Orioles – Chris Anderson (Y-D ’12)
24 – Athletics – Aaron Judge (Brewster ’12)
26 – Yankees – Eric Jagielo (Harwich ’12)
27 – Reds – Phillip Ervin (Harwich ’12)
28 – Cardinals – Marco Gonzales (Falmouth ’12)
Some of those guys will be very familiar to Cape League fans, like Moran, Jagielo and Ervin. Others made cameos, like Appel, who made only three starts for Y-D in 2011.
One name missing from the first-round list is reigning CCBL Pitcher of the Year and Top Prospect Sean Manaea, who opened the spring as a projected top-three pick. Injuries have created question marks, and those have sent him tumbling. He could still sneak into the first round – and won’t last much beyond it – but it appears he’s not enough of a sure thing to break into the top 10.
A few other notes: