Farm Report: Atlanta prospect Austin Riley is raking
Atlanta Braves prospect Austin Riley has been on a vicious tear for Triple-A Gwinnett, homering seven times over his last nine games, including three multi-homer performances. Riley is now slashing .305/.378/.664 for the year with a dozen home runs, 10 doubles and 32 RBIs. He leads the International League in runs (28), total bases (85) and RBIs, plus he ranks third in slugging. So a case can be made that Riley is ready.
It might seem as if we've been hyping Riley over multiple seasons (because we have), but he's still only 22 years old. He's played third base throughout his minor league career, though it's worth noting that he got a start in left field two games ago. Atlanta doesn't offer an obvious path to major league playing time for Riley at the moment, but it certainly helps if he can fill multiple defensive spots.
Again, Riley's bat is probably as MLB-ready as it's gonna get...
Austin Riley's second home run of the night from Wednesday.
Dude is hitting cannon shots. #Braves
pic.twitter.com/aeJmSupSO3— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) May 9, 2019
Whenever he arrives, you'll want him.
Yordan Alvarez remains ridiculous
Houston's Yordan Alvarez hasn't really cooled off since the last time we promoted him around here. He's hitting .386/.478/.851 with 14 bombs and 41 RBIs, generally dominating Triple-A. He leads the Pacific Coast League in pretty much all the good stuff: On-base percentage, slugging, homers, total bases and probably several other things. The Astros don't have a glaring need in the major league outfield, but, well ... c'mon. At some point, Alvarez's monstrous production just becomes too great to ignore.
J.P. Crawford, back in the game
Former Phillies top prospect J.P. Crawford relocated to the Mariners organization in the Jean Segura deal this offseason. He's spent the early weeks thriving at Triple-A Tacoma, slashing .319/.420/.457 with three homers and three steals. Crawford has been promoted to the big league club (along with Shed Long) following Dee Gordon's injury, and he'll be batting seventh in his Mariners debut. He and Long both have double-digit power/speed potential down the road, so these additions should be of interest to the fantasy community. Obviously Crawford has been a disappointment in our game to this point, but he's still just 24. We don't yet have clarity on Gordon's wrist injury as of this writing, but it seems likely he'll miss a protracted period of time.
Bobby Bradley has been binging
Cleveland first base prospect Bobby Bradley is experiencing a power surge in recent days, with four homers over his last four games. He's hit safely in seven straight, going 14-for-31 with 10 RBIs. Not too shabby. Bradley hasn't really hit for average at any point in his minor league career, piling up strikeouts at every stop. But he's been feasting so far this season at Triple-A (.315/.372/.613) and he's always had pop. He's hit 79 home runs over the past three minor league seasons, including 27 last year at Double-A and Triple-A.
Various other farm notes
Oakland's Jorge Mateo has gone 5-for-9 over his last two games at Triple-A Las Vegas, lifting his season average to .344. He also has 11 steals and 21 XBHs (with nine triples). Mateo swiped 25 bags last year and 52 the season before. ... Marlins right-handed pitching prospect Zac Gallen has been shredding PCL lineups, compiling ridiculous stats over his seven starts: 5-0, 1.14 ERA, 0.57 WHIP, 55 Ks in 47.1 IP. Goodness. He's reached double-digit Ks in two of his starts this season. It should go without saying that Miami might just give him a look at some point. ... Dodgers shortstop prospect Gavin Lux just completed a four-game streak in which he homered five times at Double-A Tulsa, raising his season total to eight. He strikes out roughly once a game, but he's still slashing .295/.342/.581. He's just a year removed from a 27-steal campaign, too, so there's a lot to like here.
