Yesterday, we had a list of players who significantly improved their prospect stock in the first two months of the 2017 season. Today is a list of players who have hurt their stock to start the 2017 season.
LHP Alex Young B- to C+
It’s becoming more likely that Young might not end up as a starter at the MLB level considering his inconsistent outings in Jackson. Young outings, regardless of how good he is at preventing runs includes a lot of traffic on the bases and very few strikeouts overall. The one saving grace for him is he’s left-handed and has two average or better pitches, which suggests a potential LOOGY role. It’s still a bit too early to give up on him as a starting pitcher in the minors considering he’s not eligible for the Rule 5 Draft until after the 2018 season. If he’s still inconsistent as a starter halfway through the 2018 season, I think the move to the bullpen has to be permanent.
Jared Miller B- to C+
I think we all jumped too early on the Miller bandwagon considering how electric he was in the Fall League last October. Miller had a really ugly April that has hurt his overall line. In May, Miller has pitched to a 3.18 ERA with a 20/4 K/BB in 11 1⁄3 innings. He’s still giving up more hits than innings pitched, but his bad season is on an upward trend. The team clearly has plans for him considering they invited him to camp this Spring and he looked good outside of one disaster outing against Oakland. If Miller can continue to pitch more like he has in May over the rest of the season, that April hiccup will be mostly forgettable. I’d still like to see his WHIP drop a significant amount over the season because 1.59 is not a good number at any level. I still think he will be an integral piece of the bullpen the next 6-7 seasons though, only question is what role.
At the end of the day out of 30 prospects, I’d say only 5 have made a drastic change in their stock over 2 months, which is why the next one will be at the All-Star break with more games to evaluate with.