Prospects of the Week: August 10 – August 16

Ryan Castellani, Hartford Yard Goats, April 6, 2018, Hartford, CT. Photo credit Bill Mercey - hartford.baseball on Instagram and BillMerceyPhotos.com

In a normal year, each week during the Minor League Baseball season, Scott Greene and I would pick the hitting and pitching prospects from each level (AAA, AA, A+, A, A- (Short Season) and Rookie ball who, in our opinion, had the best week. The 2020 season is a little bit different. Even though there is no minor league action, we are still going to bring you POTW, but instead of highlighting prospects at each level, we are going to highlight prospect eligible players in the majors!

As always, tweet us (@Prospects1500@berrys_baseball and @Scotty_Ballgame) when you see a great performance that warrants a consider for Prospect of the Week. Enjoy, and make sure you’re keeping an eye out for these prospects in your dynasty leagues.


Hitters

Yoshi Tsutsugo, 3B/LF (Tampa Bay Rays #15)
.333/.381/.722, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 6 H, 5 R

Tsutsugo had a strong week for the Rays at the dish and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Since homering in his first game in MLB, Tsutsugo has been in a bit of a dry spell. In fact, he had gone hitless in his last five games prior to this week. The native of Hashimoto, Japan was more productive over his last six games than he had been in the previous 13 as he homered twice and collected six hits, the same amount he collected in nearly double the sample size to start the season. Tsutsugo only struck out four times and drew a couple of walks as well.


Jonathan Arauz, IF (Boston Red Sox #37)
.450/.450/.500, 9 H, 4 RBI, 2 R

Arauz (pronounced ah-rah-OOZ) tied Alex Verdugo for the team lead in hits last week while holding down both the hot corner and second base defensively. The 22-year-old hit safely in every game last week except for Sunday night’s matchup with the Yankees. He isn’t known for striking out, but it is always impressive when you see a big leaguer in this day and age make it through a full week of play with just two punch outs like Arauz did.

Danny Mendick, IF (Chicago White Sox #17)
.333/.368/.868, 1 3B, 2 2B, 6 H

Mendick finds himself on POTW for the second week in a row thanks to his six hit week. The 26-year-old logged his first career triple and his second career double last week.


Pitchers

Ryan Castellani, RHP (Colorado Rockies #13)
4.2 IP, 7 K, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB

Castellani is off to a great start to his career after impressing in his first outing at Coors. The 24-year-old righty was dealing as he struck out seven Texas Rangers and generated 14 swinging strikes in his 4.2 innings. The stuff was clearly on as Castellani allowed just one run on two hits and limited hard contact for the most part with just five fly ball or line drives allowed. That is two strong outings to begin his big league career (4 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 K in his MLB debut on August 8), but the impressive showing at his home ballpark last week was notable.


James Karinchak, RHP (Cleveland Indians #18)
4 IP, 9 K, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 BB

The strikeout king strikes again. The Indians continued to use Karinchak in the later innings and he did exactly what was expected of him by striking out more than half of the batters he faced last week. I keep waiting for this young man to slow down the strike out pace a little bit, but at this point it is hard to see that happening. Karinchak is on fire.

Tony Gonsolin, RHP (Los Angeles Dodgers #5)
4.2 IP, 8 K, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB

Gonsolin had himself quite a start last week against the Padres and was a no-brainer for POTW honors. He threw 52 of his 82 pitches for strikes and the three hits he allowed were all singles. He struck out eight of the 18 batters he faced and the rich continue to get richer. In this case the “rich” are the Dodgers rotation.

I reside in Carrollton, Georgia and love everything baseball. I graduated from the University of West Georgia with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sport Management. I have a passion for the minor leagues and have high hopes of visiting as many minor league parks as I can. I enjoy the statistical side of the game, especially sabermetrics. I am also an avid baseball card collector and fantasy baseball player.




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