While mid-season is on the doorstep for the full season farm teams, Friday night marks Opening Day for the short season Vancouver Canadians. As well, next week they’ll be joined in action by the Bluefield Blue Jays and the GCL Jays. This is an exciting time for the prospect hounds among us. We finally get to check out a lot of the highly regarded players who were too young to make the full-season squads, along with, shortly, the newly drafted players.
All eyes, of course, are on the assignment of Vlad Guerrero, Jr. who (spoiler alert!) isn’t on the announced Canadians roster (nor was he really expected to be). However, there is a consensus Top 10 prospect who’ll open the season in Vancouver. We don’t know yet about the other two rosters, but Vancouver’s roster has been made official and we can guess at a lot of the other roster placements based on who’s not there. As well, we can’t be sure how the new draftees will be assigned, but typically high school players go to the GCL and college players are candidates for Bluefield. With that caveat on the table, here’s a rundown of the announced Van C’s roster.
Vancouver Pitchers
There are seven pitchers on the roster who might end up in the starting rotation, one of whom will open on the DL. The presumptive top prospect on the team is 6’3″ RHP Justin Maese. A 2015 3rd round pick as a 19 year old out of an El Paso high school, he put up a 1.08 ERA in 41.2 IP in the GCL last year, and struck out 10 hitters in 6 IP (1 BB) in his last start. He didn’t give up more than one run in any of his nine appearances.
Then there’s Dalton Rodriguez, who’s just two months older. He signed out of Mexico in 2012 and has progressed one level at a time. In that sense, he’s ready for Vancouver, but at the same time, his stateside stats haven’t been impressive.
Evan Smith, 20, was a 4th round draft choice in 2013. He’s having his second go at the Northwest League, having spent an inconsistent and mediocre season there in 2015. Also in Vancouver is Juliandry Higuera, who’s 2015 season at Bluefield started really well – he had an ERA of 1.14 through his first six starts – before hitting an inconsistent patch. The 21 year old Venezuelan might be your best bet for a previously unheralded breakout pitcher on this roster.
The other pitcher (besides Maese) that many will be watching is 6’8″ LHP Matt Smoral. Now 22, the 2012 compensation round pick has been a big ball of anticipation, frustration, and DL trips since even before the Blue Jays drafted him. In his senior year of high school he was hampered by a broken foot. When he finally got on the field in 2013 he had the control of Nuke LaLooshe. He worked on that some and looked like a serious prospect in 2014, but 2015 was all but a write off. Back issues in Spring Training kept him out until late May, and regulated him to a relief role when he was eventually assigned back to Bluefield. A mere 10.2 bullpen innings later a line drive to the face ended his season. Still, he spent his off-season at Driveline Baseball and reports are that both his health and his formerly awkward mechanics have looked good this spring. It’s unclear if he will be back in the rotation this year, but if he’s not, the spot will likely go to Dominican RH Luis Sanchez.
UPDATE: Per broadcaster Rob Fai on Jesse Golberg-Strassler’s invaluable Around The Nest podcast, Smoral will indeed begin the season in the VanC’s bullpen.
The bullpen consists of eight pitchers, none of whom are names you need to think about at this point.
Vancouver Hitters
Offensively, the opening day roster in Vancouver looks a lot more suspect. Other than in the outfield, there wasn’t a lot of offensive standouts at the lower levels last year that one might have penciled in as obvious promotions. Second baseman Deiferson Barreto(no relation to Franklin Barreto, who was the main piece in the Donaldson deal), 21, earned his promotion, hit .302 in Bluefield last year and has hit well at every level. Next to him is bonus baby SS Yeltsin Gudino, who’s well regarded but very raw. He was hitting fairly well at the end of July last year, then recorded only six hits in his final 25 games. It will be interesting to see which guy shows up this year. Other than 18 year old Bryan Lizardo, at 3B, another very young and raw player that might blossom, the rest of the infielders are weak hitting org players barring a surprise.
Things look better in the outfield, where CF Rodrigo Orozco looks like he’ll be the best hitter on the team. His OPS in Bluefield was .803 last year and the 21 year old switch-hitter is still listed at just 155 lbs. So, if he’s put on any muscle, he might be a sleeper. Left field will likely feature 2015 12th rounder D.J. McKnight, most nights. He hit well last July (.819 OPS) before fading in August as draftees are wont to do. Right field is the site of the ongoing comeback effort of Jacob Anderson who never got going for Lansing last year in 27 games. This may be his last chance.
Two of the three catchers assigned here, Josh Reavis and Andres Sotillo, hit well enough last year, but I’ve seen none of them figure into the conversation as actual prospects just yet. The third catcher, Javier Hernandez, has been praised as outstanding defensively but hasn’t shown up as a hitter of note just yet.
Bluefield Roster Speculation
Looking at the pool of returning players that don’t appear on the Canadians’ roster gives us a fair idea of who the interesting guys in Bluefield will be. The team looks to have a strong rotation, as Mexican Lupe Chavez, Dominicans Hansel Rodriguez, Yennsy Diaz, and 2015 5th rounder Jose Espada, all drew praise from scouts in the GCL last year. All are six foot or taller, and their listed weight implies a lot of room to fill out and grow stronger over the next few years. They’ll be joined by holdover Geno Encina, 6’4″ 220, who pitched really well in Bluefield last year and may have been squeezed out for the promotion. From the age and stats, he looks to be the first in line for a promotion when things change in Vancouver.
Among the hitters, there’s LF Freddy Rodriguez, who was a moderately high-profile international free agent signing in 2013, but he’s yet to break out offensively. There’s also CF Reggie Pruitt, whom the Blue Jays bought out of his college commitment to pull off the late-round steal in the 2015 draft. Pruitt started off hot, and faded badly in August last season. He’s said to be very physically talented, but also pretty raw.
Speculation has it that third baseman and top 10 prospect Vlad Guerrero, Jr. will start in Bluefield despite potentially being the youngest player in that league. He’ll likely be joined in the infield by 2016 draft picks Cavan Biggio at 2B and Bo Bichette at SS. The latter may do an internship in the GCL for a couple of weeks, but seemingly he’ll have the best chance to advance.
GCL Roster Speculation
As for the Gulf Coast team, it will be mostly loaded with 2016 draftees, notably outfielder DJ Daniels, but will also feature a smattering of interesting Latin players. Among them will likely be bonus baby free agent pitchers Juan Meza, Wilfri Aleton, and SS Kevin Vicuna.
Draft Pick Assignment Speculation
Beyond the high picks already mentioned, college pitchers T.J. Zeauch, when/if he signs, and Zach Jackson, will likely go directly to Vancouver after processing out of the minor league complex; like Jon Harris last year. However, this is proving to be a more cautious administration, so the two college starters could spend a month or so pitching in the GCL. Even more likely, 7th and 8th rounders Andy Ravel and Kyle Weatherly, both RHP, will be in the GCL complex just because of the crowding.
J.B. Woodman could be on the Bluefield roster, or possibly Vancouver, if not from opening day then quite soon. Fourth rounder Josh Palacios is another possibility for Bluefield, depending on when he signs.
From the way this seems to shake out, it’s the Bluefield team that’s going to be the most fun for prospect watchers, as they’ll potentially have a dominant rotation, and maybe 4 or 5 legitimate prospects in the field. You will hear a lot more about some of these guys as the season wears on.
Lead Photo: Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports