Tag Archives: Midwest League

02 Aug

there it is

Bobby Bradley, the former Harrison Central High star, has rediscovered his home run swing. The lefty-hitting first baseman jacked two homers Saturday night for Lake County in the Cleveland organization and has four in his last five games. “Just trying not to do too much at the plate,” Bradley told milb.com. Bradley hit five bombs in eight days during a stretch in early June, then cooled off a bit. He had hit only one in July before going yard on Tuesday, then added another homer on Wednesday. He now has 18 for the year, tops in the Class A Midwest League, to go with a .252 average and 57 RBIs. Bradley has fanned 112 times in 294 at-bats, but at age 19 and in just his second pro season, his plate discipline will surely improve. He was the rookie-level Arizona League MVP in 2014, when he hit eight homers in 39 games, and took a big step up to the MWL this year.

24 Jul

catching up

Delta State, the 2,700-student school up in Cleveland with its proud baseball tradition, has produced, remarkably enough, three major league catchers. Carlos Leal has designs on being the fourth. Leal, in just his second pro season, is playing in the Class A Midwest League and batting .314 with two homers and 26 RBIs for Wisconsin in the Milwaukee system. Leal, from Puerto Rico, was a two-time All-Gulf South Conference catcher at DSU and an All-Stater at East Central Community College before that. But he was drafted as a pitcher (34th round) last year by the Brewers, who were impressed by his strong arm in a workout. He did not make a smooth transition last summer, putting up an 8.53 ERA in six rookie-league appearances. Milwaukee brass decided in the off-season to give Leal a shot at making one of the minor league clubs this spring as a catcher. He not only made the Wisconsin roster, he became the Timber Rattlers’ No. 1 catcher and made the MWL All-Star Game last month. “You could tell he has a passion for catching,” Charlie Greene, a Brewers minor league instructor, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. At 24, the left-handed hitting Leal could and probably needs to move up quickly. It’s a long way from A-ball to the big leagues, but Leal certainly appears to have a shot at joining Barry Lyons, Scooter Tucker and Eli Whiteside as Statesmen who’ve caught in The Show.

19 May

tag team

If it was a contest, D.J. Davis won. But just barely. The former Stone County High star had four hits for the Lansing Lugnuts on Monday. Fellow Mississippian Anthony Alford, Davis’ teammate, had to settle for three hits. Both picked up a run, an RBI and a stolen base as the Lugnuts beat South Bend 7-5 in a Midwest League game. Both Magnolia State products are picking up momentum in their pro career. Davis, Toronto’s first-round pick in 2012, is batting .265 in the low Class A MWL. Hailed for his sprinter’s speed, the lefty-hitting outfielder, 20, has seven stolen bases (in 12 tries), a homer, 12 RBIs and 18 runs. Alford, the former Mr. Baseball (and Mr. Football) from Petal, has been on a tear in his first full season since leaving the Ole Miss football program last fall. Alford, also 20, a right-handed hitting outfielder, is batting .322 with seven RBIs, 19 runs and six steals. Davis is currently rated the No. 18 prospect in the Blue Jays’ system by mlb.com, a notch ahead of Alford, though Alford may have the greater potential. “It’s limitless what Anthony can do,” Kenny Graham, the hitting coach at Lansing, told milb.com. Both Davis and Alford are projected to make The Show in 2018, though that might be a conservative forecast.

25 Jul

20 candles

He’s not a teenager anymore, but in baseball terms, D.J. Davis is still a kid — and still raw. The former Stone County High standout, the first Mississippian drafted in 2012, turned 20 today. He is celebrating, we presume, in Peoria, if that is possible, where he and his Lansing Lugnuts teammates are scheduled for a Midwest League game. Davis, a left-handed hitting outfielder, was the 17th overall pick as a 17-year-old by the Toronto Blue Jays, who reportedly loved his speed. He is rated the No. 4 prospect in that system by mlb.com but obviously still has room to grow. Davis, 6 feet 1, 180 pounds, has shown some pop this season with 11 doubles and seven home runs, and his wheels have produced five triples and 12 steals. He’s got 40 RBIs and 45 runs in 88 games. But he is hitting just .213 (.271 on-base percentage) and has fanned 124 times in 367 at-bats with only 28 walks. And this is in low-A ball. The pitching will only get better as he advances. But again, at 20, Davis is young. He’s got time.