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Each month during the season, Baseball America publishes an organization report for each of the 30 clubs.These reports by our major league correspondents contain a trove of player development updates and spotlight traditional reporting. Here are 10 updates I found to be enlightening from our April reports.
Top 10 April Takeaways1. Extreme players call for extreme measures. The Mariners have to craft a unique development plan for 2024 first-round switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje so that he can get game reps throwing with each hand.
Seattle’s initial plan calls for Cijntje—pronounced SAIN-Ja—to make starts as a righthander for High-A Everett, followed by relief appearances “two or three days later” as a lefthander. 2. Twins lefthander Connor Prielipp could be back after losing the better part of the last three seasons to a pair of elbow surgeries.
He opens the season with Double-A Wichita after shining in minor league camp. “He looks amazing. His pitches look different than anyone else’s,” Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said.
The Twins plan to pitch Prielipp once a week as he builds up his workload.3. Six-foot-six Nationals lefthander Alex Clemmey streamlined his delivery.
“I’ve been able to simplify it where it’s smooth and effortless, and I can still produce high velocity,” he said. The 19-year-old opens the season at High-A Wilmington, where he was missing plenty of bats and proving to be difficult to square up.4.
Hard-hitting Reds infielder Sal Stewart will focus on third base this season. The 2022 first-rounder played second base on occasion in each of the past two seasons, and the Reds plan to play him there sporadically for Double-A Chattanooga this season.5.
Young Pirates slugger Esmerlyn Valdez led the Florida State League with 22 home runs last season. This year at High-A Greensboro, his goal is to take “control of the strike zone, to make good swings.” Through three games this season he has one home run, two walks and zero strikeouts.
6. The White Sox could fast-track 2023 second-round righthander Grant Taylor to the big league bullpen, but instead they will develop him in the Double-A Birmingham rotation. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Taylor has rare arm talent.
He has touched 101 mph and has feel for spin and an emerging kick-changeup. But that’s not all: “There’s something really special about him anatomically that allows him to do things that most pitchers can’t do,” White Sox senior advisor to pitching Brian Bannister said.7.
Mets righthander Raimon Gomez brings the heat! The 23-year-old Venezuelan touched nearly 103 mph in an early spring session this year, and the organization is hopeful that his power stuff, improved conditioning following Tommy John surgery and added maturity will lead to a breakthrough season.8. Giants third baseman Sabin Ceballos played his college ball at the University of Oregon.
So when the Braves traded their 2023 third-rounder to San Francisco last summer, he experienced a homecoming of sorts. That’s because the Giants’ High-A Eugene affiliate plays in the same park as the Ducks. Ceballos responded with seven homers in 32 games and just kept raking in the Cactus League this spring.
The Giants praise his “well-rounded approach” and ”power to all fields” as he embarks on an assignment to Double-A Richmond.9. Second baseman James Triantos thrived at Cubs big league camp.
He received defensive tips from Chicago’s Gold Glove double-play combo and got his marching orders as he headed to Triple-A Iowa on Opening Day. According to Cubs manager Craig Counsell, the pure-hitting Triantos must focus on “picking the right pitches to put in play.”10.
Athletics outfielder Henry Bolte held his own when he reached Double-A Midland last season—but he struck out nearly 39% of the time. That’s why he focused on simplifying his swing in the offseason by “loading a little bit earlier and a little bit simpler, getting to my launch position.” This season Bolte returned to Midland, where he avoided striking out through his first three games.
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