23 year old Christian “Dinky” Brown – Montreal Blazers
Dinky Brown has a shot to be a breakout star in the Monty heading into the 2018 season. He had a cup of coffee with the Blazers in 2017 after a full season in AAA Fort Wayne. His 9-13 record didn’t impress but the 3.18 ERA and 185 strikeouts, with only 48 walks, in 186 innings pitched sure did. Look for brown to have a shot at making the opening day staff and having a strong rookie campaign.
24 year old Michael Leroy – New Orleans Crawdads
Leroy was drafted out of high school in 2012 by California as a starting pitcher but has been used mostly out of the pen in the minors. Acquired by New Orleans in the Al Jones deal, Leroy has a shot at being a middle reliever with the big league team this coming season. He pitched 44 innings in 42 games for AAA Havana, posting a 3-6 record with 13 saves and a 3.48 ERA. He has an above average fastball and sinker and should dominate right handed batters. In 7 games this past September he managed a 1.04 ERA. A solid start to his Monty career.
23 year old Juan Cruz – Tucson Cactus
Cruz pitched in 5 starts for Tucson at the end of 2017 and had a rough go of things. He was 1-3 with an 8.31 ERA and gave up 41 hits, 5 of them homers, in 26 innings pitched. His solid play at AAA Milwaukee allowed the Cactus to trade for Cruz in the Guzman deal. I expect Cruz to get a long look during spring training but he might be better suited for a mid-season callup. Unlike the previous 2 pitchers, Cruz has some room to grow a bit yet and could use some added sharpness on his pitches. All 6 of them, yikes!
22 year old Kyle Moore – Seattle Storm
Moore is a bit younger than the others on this list but he has very solid attributes. He has used 3 excellent pitches to work his way up from rookie league Ogden to AAA Kalamazoo after being drafted in the 1st round of the 2013 draft by Seattle. He lacks control, as seen by his 22 walks in 43 innings last season, but should be able to gain some additional points there before he finishes his development. Look for Moore to be a late season callup in 2018.
21 year old Cesar “Frango” Martinez – Birmingham Bandits
Martinez his much like his Frick League Midwest counterpart Leroy in that he is a pitcher that was drafted as a starter and may be best suited for middle relief in the Monty. Also like Leroy he got a shot to show his stuff at the end of 2017 and he dominated opposing hitters to the tune of a 245 ERA over 18+ innings, piling up 14 strikeouts and only 4 walks. After starting with rookie league Tuscaloosa in 2014, the youngster has improved each step of the way. It just goes to show what slow mentoring, similar to Kyle Moore above, can do for a pitcher. Looks for Martinez to make the opening day roster and work consistently out of the bandits pen.
22 year old Jose Marroquin – Atlantic City Gamblers
Jose (and his stache) has a ton of talent and could be a huge addition for the Gamblers. He has shown greta intangibles and could improve slightly on his stuff but can pitch long into the game. His only downside is that while he has a blazing fastball, clocked at around 100 mph, his has a so-so second pitch (curveball) and a barely there third pitch (changeup). His stats weren’t great in AAA Brooklyn last season but if he can work on his 2nd and 3rd pitches he could really be a hidden gem. Look for Jose to get a look during spring training and be in the big leagues before the season ends.
22 year old Miguel “Slider” Flores – Madison Wolves
Flores may be the most difficult player to place going into the 2018 season in that he has great stuff, control and movement and has shown he can pitch both as a starter (R-Charlottesville, 2015 and A-Boulder, 2016) and a reliever (WL-Saint Johns, 2016 and AAA-South Bend, 2017). He posted 44 saves and a 2.53 ERA in AAA last season. Awesome numbers no doubt. But he also posted a 14-5 record in almost 200 innings in Boulder the year before. His downfall is a less than thrilling 3rd pitch, otherwise he has all the makings of a front of the rotation starter. Look for Flores to make the big league team out of spring training and if he can get a 3rd pitch working, behaving like an Ace. Otherwise a 44 save effort wouldn’t be bad either.
22 year old Jay “Algae” Lee, Jr. – Madison Wolves
Jay jr, the son of HOFer Jay Lee has some starting to think about how his dad used to pitch. The 2013 1st round pick started slowly by working his way through rookie league, A, WL, AA and then AAA but could be finding his groove. He went 18-12 in South Bend last season and posted a 3.56 ERA. Many scouts believe that the kid of the legend is fully developed and ready for a shot to see what he can do. Look for Algae to get a long look in spring and to likely end up first or 2nd out of the pen.
