Our own Al Phillips was in Lawrenceville, Georgia on June 2nd-3rd to scout Indianapolis against Gwinnett in AAA action. Al was able to see the Pirates’ best hitting prospect (Pedro Alvarez) and one of their best young pitchers (Brad Lincoln) during his visit, but he wasn’t so impressed with Alvarez. Below are his scouting reports of the top Indy prospects as well as two Gwinnett Braves he found interesting.
LAWRENCEVILLE, GA-
TOP PIRATES PROSPECTS
1. RHP Brad Lincoln
Brad Lincoln’s June 3rd start at Gwinnett was impressive; he worked six innings with 4H, 6K, and one walk in getting the win.
Lincoln showed great command of 92-95 mph fastball as he jammed the first four Braves he faced with only Joe Thurston getting a hit, a mere blooper that he fisted. Lincoln’s curveball was 82-84 MPH and his slider 86-87 MPH.
He seemed to have trouble throwing breaking balls for strikes in the early innings, but Lincoln continued to work inside with hard stuff on every hitter. Of the four hits he gave up, only one was hard.
Lincoln also showed a quick pickoff move to first. He picked off the Braves’ Luis Bolivar following a soft hit.
Lincoln is a very good prospect and I would not be surprised to see him in Pittsburgh before season’s end.
Lincoln is also a good hitter. He struck out in his first at-bat but does not look like a “pitcher” when he takes a cut. Lincoln had a bunt single and a walk in his other at-bats. He has a good eye and a nice swing.
2. CF Jose Tabata
Tabata had a tough game Wednesday (June 2nd) at Gwinnett. The righthanded hitter struck out in his first two at-bats on pitches that were almost identical, up and away. In his third and final at-bat, Tabata popped out to first on yet another pitch up and away.
The following night he did better with a walk, triple, and a double. Both hits were on high pitches. He also struck out twice on Thursday, one that was on a change-up away and then a called third strike on an inside curveball. Simply put, Tabata likes the ball up.
Defensively, he had no difficult plays to make in either game.
Due to his stats, I feel Tabata is a better hitter than he showed in these two games. He’s probably a year away from the big leagues.
3. 3B Pedro Alvarez
Alvarez had a rough night Wednesday as the lefthanded hitter struck out in all four at bats. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that Gwinnett’s pitchers were going to keep the ball on the outside part of the plate on Alvarez. Two strikeouts were called and two were swinging, on Wednesday.
On Thursday night, Alvarez was safe on an error in his first at-bat after hitting a pitch that he reached for, well outside. In Alvarez’s second at-bat, he tripled to right-center on a belt-high, down-the-middle fastball.
In his third at-bat, Alvarez swung early on a change and grounded weakly to third.
At-bat #4, he took a curveball on the outside corner. In his fifth and last at-bat, Alvarez lined out to center.
He made a couple nice defensive plays at third going to his left. He did not have any tough plays to his right.
His stats are better than what he showed in these two games, but he did not go with the pitches away and he had plenty of opportunities to do so. Right now, it’s hard for me to project him doing well at the major league level.
4. C Eric Kratz
Kratz caught both games and was impressive with the bat. Over the two games, Kratz reached base five times with three doubles. All of them were smoked!
He’s a big, durable looking catcher. He’s having a good year in AAA and if he’s needed for big league duty, Kratz is ready.
5. RHP Jeremy Powell
The 34 year-old was the Indianapolis starter on Wednesday and pitched his best game of the year, throwing 6.2 no-hit innings before giving up a two-run homer to Mitch Jones.
Powell’s fastball was 88-91 MPH, curve 82-85 MPH, and change 77-79 MPH.
6. LHP Wil Ledezma
The former major league pitcher threw two innings of relief on Thursday with five strikeouts and one walk; he was quite dominant. The lefty is still a hard thrower with a 94-96 MPH fastball and an 86-88 MPH curveball.
He’s having a good year for Indianapolis and might be of some help to Pittsburgh before the season’s over.
TWO BRAVES PROSPECTS OF NOTE:
LHP Michael Dunn
This lefty showed a 94-95 MPH fastball and an 84-87 MPH curve. Dunn Pitched one inning on Wednesday with three strikeouts and one walk. In his last five appearances (which includes four outings against Indy), Dunn has pitched 4.1 innings and struck out eight.
Hitters have a tough time getting around on this guy. But like all the other pitchers in the Braves organization, you have to wait your turn to get a chance in Atlanta.
RHP Craig Kimbrel
This 22 year-old righty could very well be Atlanta’s closer in 2011. Kimbrel pitched an inning of relief on Wednesday in gaining his 8th save. His fastball was 95-97 MPH and his curve was 86-87. Kimbrel works the corners well and keeps the ball down.
He was up for one game with Atlanta earlier this year. Like Dunn, he’s just waiting on a phone call.
