MLB Prospect Profile-Aaron Nola

                                       
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                                   Aaron Nola

Background

Aaron Nola caught the attention of scouts while he was still at Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, La.

The right-handed starting pitcher was named the 2011 Class 5A State Player of the Year and was voted the state's "Mr. Baseball." His efforts earned him a selection in the 22nd round of the '11 Draft. However, instead of signing with the Toronto Blue Jays, Nola chose to attend Louisiana State University.

Nola's success continued for the Tigers and the awards continued to come. He was named to several All-America teams and was the College Baseball Foundation's National Pitcher of the Year in 2014. He was also a finalist for the prestigious Golden Spikes Award.

The Phillies selected Nola seventh overall in the 2014 Draft and he was immediately placed on a quick path to the big leagues. A year after being drafted, Nola is pitching for the parent club.

Not huge by today's standards, Nola is 6-foot-1, 195 pounds.

Nola began this season pitching for Double-A Reading and advanced to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. In total, he threw 109 1/3 Minor League innings this season and posted a 10-4 record with a 2.39 ERA and a sparkling 1.05 WHIP.

After pitching in parts of only two Minor League seasons in the Phillies' system, Nola made his Major League debut on July 21 against the Tampa Bay Rays. He threw six very solid innings, allowing one run and striking out six, in a losing cause.

Repertoire

Nola has an effective repertoire that includes a two-seam fastball that sits between 92 and 94 mph, an infrequent four-seam fastball, a very good changeup and a curveball that can be very effective. He mixes and matches well between those pitches.

Everything works off his sinking fastball. The pitch results in a good percentage of ground balls, always a great sign for a pitcher.

Due to his good control and command, Nola is not afraid to pitch inside. He also has the confidence to use any pitch in any count.

This is why Nola is No. 2 on the Phillies' Top 30 Prospect list.

Mechanics
Nola has advanced pitching mechanics, changing his low three-quarter arm angle on occasion, resulting in good movement on all his pitches. It is the movement and use of the entire strike zone that adds deception to his delivery. It is rare that Nola is behind in counts, negating a need to throw a "get-me-over" fastball.

Challenging hitters is an important part of his plan. Nola has appropriate confidence in his talent and can skillfully navigate a solid lineup. He has always had an excellent strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Strengths
Nola brings a very mature demeanor and presence to the mound. He is advanced in almost every phase of his game.

Being able to change speeds and locations with ease, Nola takes charge on the mound and throws strikes. In fact, in his brief Minor League career, he had a walk rate of 1.5 per nine innings and struck out an average of 7.5 per nine.

Due to his ability to keep the ball down in the zone, Nola has yielded less than one home run per nine innings throughout his career. At a very hitter-friendly park like Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Nola's ground-ball proficiency will be an asset. Even though Nathan Karns -- his first mound opponent -- hit a home run off Nola in his debut, the young righty should be able to limit long-ball damage.

Contrary to the norm with many right-handed pitchers, Nola has shown an ability to succeed against left-handed hitters.

Weaknesses
If he elevates the ball, his pitches have a tendency to straighten out. However, he self-corrects and may only experience a brief encounter with a lack of command.

I find this interesting
Nola's older brother, Austin, also attended LSU and is a professional baseball player, too. He is a middle infielder in the Marlins' organization.

Aaron is only 22. Austin is 25.

The future
The future is now for Nola. It is likely he can retain a role in the Phillies' rotation.

Nola in a word
Ready.

SOURCE... Bernie Pleskoff

Adalberto Mejia

Adalberto Mejia

Adalberto Mejía (born June 20, 1993) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Career[edit]

Mejía signed as an international free agent with the San Francisco Giants. He pitched for the Augusta GreenJackets of the Class A South Atlantic League in 2012, and was named the league's Pitcher of the Week for June 18–24.^[1] He pitched for the San Jose Giants of the Class A-Advanced California League in 2013,^[2] where he had a 3.31 earned run average(ERA). The Giants assigned Mejía to the Richmond Flying Squirrels of the Class AA Eastern League in 2014,^[3] and he had a 4.67 ERA. After the season, Minor League Baseball suspended Mejía for the first fifty games of the 2015 season for testing positive for sibutramine, a banned substance.^[4] The Giants added him to their 40-man roster after the 2015 season.^[5] He began the 2016 season with the Sacramento River Cats of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League.^[6]

On July 28, 2016, Mejía was traded to the Minnesota Twins for Eduardo Núñez. The Twins assigned him to the Rochester Red Wings of the Class AAA International League.^[6] The Twins promoted Mejía to the major leagues on August 20.^[7]

Source...Wikipedia

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Khalil Lee

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Name: Khalil Rashad Lee

Born: Jun 26, 1998 in Newark, Del. USA

High School: Flint Hill School, Oakton, Va.

Ht.: 5'10" / Wt.: 170 lbs

Bats: L / Throws: L

As an eighteen-year-old outfielder in his first season of Class-A ball, Kansas City Royals prospect Khalil Lee is facing some of the best young pitchers in the low minors. After tearing up rookie ball in 2016, he may just be up to the challenge.

Drafted in 2016 in the 3rd round out of The Flint Hill School in Oakton, Virginia, Lee was a two-way stalwart at the time. His totals on the mound (7-0, 0.33 ERA, 3 BB, 87 K, 2 runs allowed in 43 IP) were just as impressive as his numbers at the plate (.471, 6 HR, 23 RBI, 11 SB, 37 runs scored in 25 games).

While the Kansas City Royals liked him both as a pitcher and a hitter, they chose to assign him to the outfield to take advantage of his multi-tool potential. At the time of his signing, he was sitting 91-93 with his fastball, touching 94 a number of times.

Lee picked up a preseason All-American nod from Perfect Game, then was named Virginia's Gatorade Player of the Year for 2016. He had been set to attend Liberty University, but backed out when the Royals picked him in the Draft.

Entering the 2017 season, Lee was ranked the 12th best prospect in the Royals' system by Baseball America. Lee was coming off a pro debut with the AZL Royals that saw him demonstrate both gap and pull power, combined with a patient approach at the plate that belied his years. While he did strike out a whopping 57 times in 182 AB, he also drew a healthy 33 walks to boost his OBP to .396, 127 points higher than his batting average. Lee picked up nine doubles, six triples and six homers in his 49 games, driving in 29 and scoring 43 as well.

It should be remembered that Lee began the 2016 season as a seventeen-year-old rookie.

So far in 2017, Lee has smacked five doubles and three home runs, driving in seven and scoring 14 to go with his 6 steals. He's struck out 25 times in 68 at-bats, but he's drawn nine walks and has shown patience and is working on pitch selection. Over the course of just under a year, Lee has been working with a trainer and has added twenty pounds of muscle as a consequence.

Sometimes listed as a 6-footer, Lee is closer to 5'10” but it hardly seems to matter. He generates good leverage with quick hands, letting the ball travel before he cuts loose with a swing that generates good topspin on his liners. He is highly athletic and compactly built, and seems to have retained his flexibility and speed while adding muscle to his frame.

Lee can drive the ball to his pull side and hits hard line drives to opposite field as well. Coupled with slightly above-average speed (4.2 to first from the left side) and smart base-running, Lee will rack up his share of extra-base hits.

He doesn't typically get rattled at the plate, and 2-strike counts are no real assurance that he will go down swinging. His ability to square up both fastballs and breaking pitches will continue to put him on base with frequency despite his strikeout totals.

In the outfield, Lee was initially thought to be a good fit for center. As it appears now, he would be best suited to play the corners until his reads improve. His above-average-to-plus arm strength plays well in right, and he can cover enough ground to reach the gappers or those fly balls that hug the foul line.

As with many highly-athletic players, Lee sometimes appears to be on cruise control on the field. Don't be fooled. He makes all the plays he should make, and is aggressive on the base-paths while taking the extra base prudently.

While he has probably maxed out size-wise, he's still nowhere near hitting his physical peak. As he learns to maximize his new-found added strength and matures as a player, Lee will add to his extra-base totals significantly.

With his athleticism, he should retain his speed for years to come. He will need to make sure he doesn't become so musclebound that he starts to limit his agility, but that doesn't appear that it will become an issue.

All told, Lee is certainly an intriguing prospect in an organization that is essentially resetting as its previous talent has hit the upper levels or graduated to the majors. For those of you who follow long-term prospects, Lee is likely five years away from the majors at this point.

He could certainly become one of the more exciting prospects in the Royals system very soon, as he has definite double-digit home run power, as well as the speed to add 30-40 extra-base hits and 15-20 steals. How soon that happens depends largely on his adjustment to Class-A pitching.

Source...MinorLeagueBall

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Fernando Tatis Jr.

Team: Status: Disabled 7-DayETA: 2019Position: SSAge: 19 DOB: 01/02/1999Bats: R Throws: RHeight: 6' 3" Weight: 185 lb.Signed: July 2, 2015 - CWS
mer 11-year Major Leaguer Fernando Tatis ranked 30th on MLBPipeline.com's Top 30 prospects list for the 2015-16 international period before signing for $700,000 with the White Sox, who shipped him to the Padres the following June as part of the James Shields trade. He made an immediate impact in his pro debut, finishing the season as a 17-year-old in the Class A Short-Season Northwest League, and then emerged as a top-flight prospect in 2017 as he became the first 18-year-old in Midwest League history to post at least 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases. Perhaps even more impressive was how Tatis Jr. handled himself after making the jump directly to Double-A San Antonio in August, and he continued to draw raves in his return to level in 2018 before undergoing season-ending surgery for a fractured thumb in late July.

Tatis Jr. has all the ingredients to become an offensive force in the Majors, as his bat speed, leveraged swing and overall capacity to make adjustments all portend a future plus hitter with plus power. He proved vulnerable to spin and sequencing early in the year but tightened his approach as the season progressed en route to pacing the Midwest League with 75 walks. Many evaluators believe Tatis Jr. is merely scraping the surface of his offensive potential, as he still has considerable room to grow into his tall and athletic frame.

That larger frame doesn't currently impede Tatis Jr.'s abilities at shortstop, where he makes highlight-reel plays on a daily basis thanks to his athleticism, range and rocket arm, though further physical development could ultimately force him to third base. Even if that's case, Tatis Jr.'s bat gives him the ceiling of a perennial All-Star, possibly even an MVP candidate in his prime.

Source...MLB

Vlad Guerrero Jr.

Team: Buffalo Bisons (AAA)ETA: 2019Position: 3BAge: 19 DOB: 03/16/1999Bats: R Throws: RHeight: 6' 1" Weight: 200 lb.Signed: July 2, 2015 - TOR
The son of 2004 AL MVP and nine-time All-Star Vladimir Guerrero, Vlad Jr. was widely viewed as the top international prospect when he signed with Toronto for $3.9 million, the second-highest bonus in franchise history, in July 2015. His enormous talent was obvious the following year during his pro debut in the Rookie-level Appalachian League, and then even more so during his full-season debut in 2017, when, at age 18, Guerrero produced a .323/.425/.485 line with 13 homers between Class A Lansing and Class A Advanced Dunedin. He earned Midwest League All-Star honors in the process, as well as a trip to the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game in July before a torrid second half in the Florida State League. The teenager was even more impressive at Double-A in 2018, hitting .410/.460/.668 over his first 54 games before a strained patellar tendon in his left knee landed him on the disabled list in June.

Much like his father, Vlad Jr. has an elite ability to barrel the ball from the right side of the plate and generates effortless plus raw power to all fields with his combination of bat speed, physical strength and hand-eye coordination. His plate discipline is also impressive, as he accrued more walks (76) than strikeouts (62) in 2017 to finish among the Minor League leaders in on-base percentage. Moved from the outfield to third base before the season, Guerrero shows glimpses of becoming a passable defender there in spite of having below-average speed and range. His arm strength has developed into another above-average tool since signing.

As a future plus hitter with at least 30-homer potential, Guerrero boasts the offensive profile of a perennial All-Star and possible MVP candidate in his prime. Retaining his athleticism without becoming too bulky could pose a challenge for Guerrero moving forward, though obviously he has the requisite offensive profile to support a move to first base or left field.

Source...MLB

Drew Waters

Team: Florida Fire Frogs (A Adv)ETA: 2021Position: OFAge: 19 DOB: 12/30/1998Bats: S Throws: RHeight: 6' 2" Weight: 183 lb.Drafted: 2017, 2nd (41) - ATL

When Waters emerged as one of the best high school prospects from the state of Georgia, winning Gatorade state player of the year honors, the obvious landing place for him in the 2017 Draft was of course the Braves, who love bringing in talent from their own backyard. After a hot start in the Gulf Coast League, the second-round pick struggled with a promotion to the Appalachian League. But he clearly learned some lessons and has had a fantastic full-season debut in the South Atlantic League in 2018.

The toolsy outfielder made some solid adjustments at instructs last fall and it carried over into 2018, with the tweaks he made to his mechanics at the plate clearly helping him. He had tinkered quite a bit with his setup and they worked with him to stay with one approach, closer to what had worked for him in high school. He has a buggywhip of a swing, and work he did on his stride has helped him be on time more consistently, and that should continue to help him tap into his considerable raw power more consistently. Waters has plus speed, which will continue to aid him on the basepaths and in center field, where he has the chance to stick.

Waters is a veritable toolshed who simply needs time and reps to use those tools consistently and have them turn into performance. All the pieces are there for him to potentially develop into a dynamic everyday player and he took a large step in the right direction in 2018.

Source...MLB

Michael Chavis

Team: Portland Sea Dogs (AA)ETA: 2018Position: 3BAge: 22 DOB: 08/11/1995Bats: R Throws: RHeight: 5' 10" Weight: 216 lb.Drafted: 2014, 1st (26) - BOS

Chavis established himself as one of the best power hitters in the 2014 Draft, winning the home run derby at the Perfect Game All-American Classic the previous summer before batting .580 with 13 homers in 28 games as a high school senior. He had only sporadic success in his first three seasons after signing for $1,870,500 as the 26th overall pick, however, before a change in approach led to a breakout 2017, when he finished third in the Minors in extra-base hits (68) and fifth in homers (31) while reaching Double-A. But after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance during the offseason, he had to serve an 80-game suspension at the beginning of this year.

The key for Chavis was understanding that he doesn't have to swing for the fences and that his bat speed, strength and loft in his right-handed swing will create plenty of natural power. He stopped trying to pull every pitch he saw out of the park and did a better job of recognizing pitches and adopting a two-strike approach. He cut his strikeout rate to 22 percent last year but still may not show enough patience to hit for a high average against quality pitching.

Chavis broke into pro ball as a shortstop before moving to third base in instructional league following his pro debut. While his below-average speed limits his range, he has a strong arm and has worked hard to become an acceptable defender at the hot corner. Blocked by Rafael Devers in Boston, he began playing some first base late last season and in the Arizona Fall League, and some scouts wonder if he could become a second baseman in the Jedd Gyorko mold.

Source...MLB