Minor League Pitcher and Hitter of the Week: July 22-28
A teenage wunderkind who stayed put in a depleted Padres system at this week's MLB Trade Deadline is our MiLB Player of the Week.
It is time.
With the deadline in the rearview mirror, a few of the names mentioned throughout this series changed teams over the last several days. Entering Sunday, we had already seen prospects like Deyvison De Los Santos, Augustin Ramirez, and Dylan Lesko all find themselves in new organizations.
With the current market being set the way it was, we saw prospects ranked amongst the top of lists also call a new team home. The reliever market on its own brought teams the biggest returns. If you had told me that the Marlins and Rays would be able to net the returns they got for A.J. Puk and Jason Adam before the season, I would not have believed you. However, that has become the price to pay to strengthen the contender’s weaknesses and separate themselves from the rest.
For more information on the Top Prospects that find themselves on Just Baseball’s Top 100, you can find that list here.
Pitcher of the Week: Chase Petty (RHP) – Cincinnati Reds (Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts)
Weekly Stats: 2 GS, 11.0 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 11 K
Season Stats: 19 GS, 86.1 IP, 39 BB, 82 K, 4.69 ERA
You may see the overall numbers for Chase Petty and disregard his season, but he has been better since May.
The former first-round pick from the 2021 MLB Draft has had a roller coaster of a professional career thus far. While the strikeout videos are always the first thing to stand out, it is the high walk rate that continues to trouble him through his development process.
The upside of the young right-hander has always been the intrigue associated with him. Since being acquired by the Reds, it just does not seem as if he has been able to find his footing between injuries and struggles on the mound. If he is going to take that next step that many hope he does, lowering his 4.07 BB/9 is going to be the key to doing so.
Hitter of the Week: Leodalis De Vries (SS) – San Diego Padres (Single-A Lake Elsinore Storm)
Weekly Stats: .400/.500/1.380, 3 HR, 7 RBI, .480 ISO, 247 wRC+
Season Stats: .242/.362/.445, 9 HR, 32 RBI
The amount of intrigue that comes with Leo De Vries is absurd.
He was highly touted as the best international prospect of his class by a decent margin and, like Petty’s overall numbers, they don’t look great but he’s also 17 years old already playing in Single-A.
The Padres are notorious for pushing their young prospects quickly through the minors as a “test” to see how they can adapt. We saw the same thing with CJ Abrams and Ethan Salas. De Vries is just a different animal.
He is very advanced for someone as young as he is. The K% is a little high at 23.8%, but the 13.5% BB%, 11 stolen bases, and the 117 wRC+ speak for themselves. He has easy pop to all fields and there shouldn’t be any hesitation toward believing he will adapt and truly showcase his potential.
Honorable Mentions:
Pitcher: Lael Lockhart (LHP) – Detroit Tigers (Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens)
Weekly Stats: 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 9 K
Pitcher: Carson Palmquist (LHP) – Colorado Rockies (Double-A Hartford Yard Goats)
Weekly Stats: 2 GS, 12.2 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, 13 K, 26.5 K%
Hitter: Bo Davidson (OF) – San Francisco Giants (Single-A San Jose Giants):
Weekly Stats: .409/.563/1.445, 2 HR, 7 RBI, .500 ISO, 260 wRC+
Hitter: Sebastian Walcott (SS) – Texas Rangers (High-A Hickory Crawdads):
Weekly Stats: .391/.481/1.177, 2 HR, 4 RBI, .304 ISO, 216 wRC+
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