Kohl Simas, RHP, Chicago White Sox (Single-A Kannapolis)
The progress of recently-drafted high-profile White Sox pitching prospects has been touch and go, but the organization has managed to secure developmental wins on a few of their lesser-known selections. A 14th-rounder from 2018, Davis Martin looks like a capable spot starter for Chicago, and 2021 undrafted free agent Kohl Simas looks like an interesting find.
Simas is on the older side for the level, but the arsenal is advanced. Listed at just over six-foot, the 22-year-old is a quick worker with a strong build, good athleticism, and four usable pitches. The fastball comes in 91-93 mph with some heft and occasional run, though it will get hit when located towards the center of the plate. The good news is that I feel comfortable making an above-average command projection here; it’s already better than what you generally see at this level, and he shows an ability to repeat his delivery despite an uptempo delivery with a substantial leg kick. His best secondary is a low-80s slider that showed best at right around 80 mph, with short horizontal action and late vertical bite. The low-80s change has some fade and is a legitimate weapon against lefties, while the mid-70s curve provides a nice change of pace and significant velo separation from the fastball. It’s a solid package overall and there is big league potential here, either as a back-end command and pitch mix starter or as a middle-innings reliever who is primarily fastball/slider. I do wonder how the heater will play against higher levels of competition, but there is only one way to find out. —Ben Spanier
Brandon Walter, LHP, Boston Red Sox (Triple-A Worcester)
Every so often on Twitter I will see a post asking if you could give one prospect an 80-grade who and what would it be? The answer is inevitably going to be bestowing some slayer of belt high fastballs an 80-grade hit tool. I don’t know if someone spoke that into the universe for Aaron Judge this season, but that’s about what it would look like for Jordan Walker or Oneil Cruz or Triston Casas.
Being a weirdo and not particularly interested in farming engagement on prospect Twitter—sorry Craig—I’m more interested in how good a player can be with a 30-grade on their scouting sheet in an important place. When I caught Walter he was sitting around 90 mph. touching 92. Earlier that week he was mostly upper-80s. The pitch has some sink and run from his low-three-quarters slot, but despite the miniscule walk rate, he does miss armside with it a fair bit. I suppose we can quibble if that’s a 30 or a 40 heater for a southpaw, but it’s not a pitch he should be throwing much in the upper minors, let alone the majors.
Fortunately Walter doesn’t have to use it all that often, as he can lean heavily on a big sweeping slider. It breaks late and gets under bats despite the lower slot. It’s an easy plus pitch now. When he needs another non-fastball option against righties, he’ll use a change that flashes above-average fade and comes in about 10 mph slower than the fastball, but he doesn’t always get it to sink down below the barrel. Now, I am starting to abandon how prescriptive I get about pitch mix for starters. I’m even willing to consider larger ontological questions about the starting pitcher. Maybe Walter can be late-career Rich Hill—not to be confused with peak Rich Hill, which was also sort of late-career Rich Hill—but I suspect this arsenal is still best applied in four-to-six-out doses. —Jeffrey Paternostro
https://www.baseballprospectus.com/pros ... as-rising/
It’s the beginning of a new era behind the plate for the Toronto Blue Jays. Gabriel Moreno, the club’s No. 1 prospect and the No. 4 prospect in Major League Baseball, will join the club ahead of Friday’s series opener in Detroit, sources told MLB.com on Wednesday night.
The club is still evaluating whether it will add Moreno to the roster for Game 1, but the 22-year-old will be activated during the series in Detroit.
Moreno received the news following Wednesday’s doubleheader with Triple-A Buffalo.
Moreno represents the Blue Jays’ catcher of the future with All-Star potential, a remarkable story of player development after he was signed out of Venezuela for $25,000 in 2016.
After bursting onto the scene in full-season ball with Single-A Lansing in 2019, Moreno’s true breakout took place in 2021 with Double-A New Hampshire. Prior to a hand injury cutting that season short, Moreno hit .373 with eight home runs and a 1.092 OPS.
In 36 games this year at Triple-A, Moreno was hitting .324 with a .784 OPS, while showing marked improvement against the running game by throwing out 54% of runners attempting to steal.
“He wants to be great,” Buffalo manager Casey Candaele said. “He’s driven to do the things that he needs to do to get better. There’s no problems. When I think of a kid who’s that age and gotten so much publicity already, to be able to handle that is very difficult. To think that he has to go through that stuff and keep a sane mind, he does a great job of understanding.”
The Blue Jays have believed in Moreno’s bat stretching back to his teenage years, but his defense has made significant strides.
In fact, when Moreno was signed out of Venezuela, he was an infielder. Scout Francisco Plasencia and director of Latin American operations Sandy Rosario asked a young Moreno to stand behind home plate and make a few throws to second, and the rest is history.
“In every aspect of catching, he’s made significant progress,” general manager Ross Atkins said recently. “He’s become a better receiver. He’s become a better blocker. He’s become a better game caller. But the most encouraging growth has been on the leadership side. He recognizes the importance and power of pitchers feeling his confidence and conviction behind stuff, usage or an overall performance standpoint. Him learning his power to impact pitching has been really exciting.”
This opportunity opened up because of a recent injury to Danny Jansen, who fractured the fifth metacarpal on his left hand. Alejandro Kirk has been one of the hottest catchers in baseball this past month, building an All-Star case that will continue to earn him regular reps, but Moreno’s talent is ready to impact a contender right now. He’s being brought up to be part of the winning, not just a development project.
So much of this rapid ascent is owed to Moreno’s physical gifts, but from top to bottom in the Blue Jays’ organization, you’ll hear about Moreno the person before Moreno the player.
“There’s so much more confidence to his game,” said Andrew Tinnish, the Blue Jays’ vice president of international scouting. “Part of that could be experience, being in camp, being in the [Arizona] Fall League and knowing more English. Maybe part of that is seeing his name out there quite a bit, too. He’s handled it well. He was quiet early on, but he was always very approachable. He wasn’t shy, but a very happy-go-lucky, respectful kid.”
This has all translated into what the organization feels is one of the most important final steps to his development, which is handling a pitching staff. Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, Alek Manoah, Ross Stripling and Yusei Kikuchi are five very different pitchers, and it will be Moreno’s responsibility to manage this group. At first, that will come in small doses, but someday he’ll be thrown the keys.
“He recognizes the responsibility,” Atkins said. “Secondarily, he has something that you can’t teach. He has an incredible heartbeat. He is very relaxed. That’s going to benefit him as a leader.”
Where this goes from here is up to Moreno, who should eventually have every opportunity to succeed in an everyday role, even in one of baseball’s most talented and crowded catching groups when Jansen is healthy. For now, though, he stands at the beginning of something, with great expectations and possibilities in front of him.
https://www.mlb.com/news/gabriel-moreno ... ays-callup