The Farmhands of the Week are back for a third season! A great resource for dynasty/keeper league players to find some under the radar prospects or breakouts before they happen. These ‘Farm Freebies’ can help rebuild your minor league system in no time!

For example, in 2018, Houston Astros pitcher Josh James entered the season as a 25-year-old former 34th round selection with no real history of minor league success. However, unknown to most, Josh was also diagnosed with and treated for sleep apnea in the 2017-2018 offseason. After adding nearly 10 mph to his fastball, James proceeded to dominate minor league hitters, earning a mid-season call-up to Houston. While we didn’t know about the sleep apnea diagnosis, we definitely knew something had changed as Josh was a 6-time Farmhand of the Week winner early in 2018, including 4 consecutive weeks from May thru June.

So, with that said, let’s start looking for 2019’s ‘Farm Freebies’! Here are the Farmhands of the Week for April 8 thru April 14, 2019:

Hitters

AAA

Name Age Level ORG Org Rank MiLB Team Position H TB AB HR RBI R BB K SB AVG SLG Will Craig 24 AAA PIT 15 IND 1B 9 22 23 4 7 5 5 5 1 0.391 0.956 Josh VanMeter 24 AAA CIN NA LOU 2B 9 22 27 4 8 7 3 5 0 0.333 0.814 Dylan Cozens 24 AAA PHI NA LHV LF 6 20 24 4 10 6 3 9 1 0.25 0.833 Keston Hiura 22 AAA MIL 1 SA 2B 8 19 24 3 7 4 1 7 0 0.333 0.791 Trent Giambrone 25 AAA CHC 20 IOW 2B 7 18 24 3 5 5 0 8 0 0.291 0.75 Bryan Reynolds 24 AAA PIT 8 IND CF 9 18 21 2 2 6 2 7 1 0.428 0.857

Could Pittsburgh’s big bopper be on the verge of breaking out? A 1st round choice out of Wake Forest in the 2016 draft, Craig now has 6 HR in the early goings of the 2019 season. He’s a 1B-only prospect, so he’s really going to have to hit to force the issue in Pittsburgh. And right now Josh Bell seems to be holding down the 1B/cleanup hitter spot for the Buccos. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if Pittsburgh, in the hunt for a playoff spot in the 2H, takes an all hands on deck approach and brings Craig up for some MLB action if he continues to blister the ball at the same rate as he’s doing now.

AA

Name Age Level ORG Org Rank MiLB Team Position H TB AB HR RBI R BB K SB AVG SLG Buddy Reed 23 AA SD 17 AMA CF 10 28 28 6 13 9 4 10 1 0.357 1.000 Rhett Wiseman 24 AA WAS NA HBG RF 10 24 21 4 8 4 4 3 1 0.476 1.142 Alan Trejo 22 AA COL NA HFD SS 14 24 25 2 6 5 1 6 0 0.560 0.960 Eliezer Alvarez 24 AA TEX NA FRI 2B 10 22 29 2 5 8 1 8 1 0.344 0.758 Irving Lopez 23 AA STL NA SPR 2B 8 20 25 3 6 5 3 7 0 0.320 0.800 Vince Fernandez 23 AA COL 25 HFD DH 7 19 25 3 7 5 3 7 0 0.280 0.760

My Buddy, my Buddy…my Buddy Reed! Raging start to 2019 for Reed. Stole 51 bags between 2 levels last year to go with 13 HR. Now has 6 HR to start 2019. Plays outstanding defense. The 5-tool potential is palpabale, but he just strikes out a lot. If he can reign the Ks in just a bit, he’s a stat sheet stuffer with his glove creating a clear path to playing time.

A-Advanced

Name Age Level ORG Org Rank MiLB Team Position H TB AB HR RBI R BB K SB AVG SLG Seuly Matias 20 A-Adv KAN 6 WIL CF 8 22 21 3 8 7 1 9 1 0.380 1.047 Luis Robert 21 A-Adv CWS 4 WS CF 10 22 23 2 5 8 0 4 0 0.434 0.956 Anderson Tejeda 20 A-Adv TEX 4 DE SS 12 22 27 2 7 3 3 4 3 0.444 0.814 Jack Suwinski 20 A-Adv SD NA LE CF 10 19 21 2 9 7 4 4 0 0.476 0.904 Devin Mann 22 A-Adv LAD NA RC 2B 9 19 26 3 9 6 3 9 0 0.346 0.730 Tirso Ornelas 19 A-Adv SD 16 LE OF 11 19 27 1 6 9 5 8 1 0.407 0.703

Seuly just keeps using his 80-grade raw power to smash yacks. He also keeps striking out in at least 1/3 of his plate appearances. He’s still only 20 years old and is feasting on A+ Carolina League pitching thus far. He launched 31 HR in Full Season ball last year as a teenager and now has 50 HR in 792 career professional at bats. Don’t forget about his potential 80 arm in RF either. The sky is the limit if he can just figure out how to make a little more contact. He looks every bit the part of a high-upside Top-100 prospect to me.

Name Age Level ORG Org Rank MiLB Team Position H TB AB HR RBI R BB K SB AVG SLG Willie MacIver 22 A-Full COL 28 ASH C 8 21 21 3 9 4 1 8 0 0.380 1.000 Nolan Gorman 18 A-Full STL 1 PEO 3B 7 20 22 4 10 4 1 6 0 0.318 0.909

The kid’s a beast. He was my #1 overall hitter for first-year player drafts this offseason, based on the fact that I think he’s just going to keep raking. He’s now hit 21 HR in 279 ABs as an 18-year-old playing full season baseball. From what I’ve seen, the odds that he sticks at 3B are greater than 50% too. It’s still a long road to the show from here for Gorman. But he’s doing everything right so far.

Pitchers

AAA

Name Age Level Team W L SV IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP Chris Flexen 24 AAA SYR 1 1 0 12 11 7 7 3 3 18 5.25 1.166 Adrian Houser 26 AAA SA 1 0 0 11.1 9 2 2 2 1 12 1.621 0.9 Taylor Hearn 24 AAA NAS 1 1 0 9 6 2 2 1 7 11 2 1.444 Keegan Akin 24 AAA NOR 0 0 0 6 4 2 2 1 0 10 3 0.666 Dylan Cease 23 AAA CHA 2 0 0 10 5 0 0 0 1 9 0 0.6

AAA FotW selections are always difficult early in the year. You get rehabbers, over the hill starters, and prospects who never panned out lumped together with a few legitimate dudes to keep your eye on. One of those potentially legitimate dudes this week was Keegan Akin. This WMU Bronco hails from Alma, MI, the geographical center of The Mitten. He’s a larger lefty (6’0″, 225) who has worked his way up the MiLB chain in fine fashion since being punched in the 2nd round of the 2016 draft. This week, he turned in a fine performance, punching out 10 and walking 0 in a 6-inning start for the Norfolk Tides.

AA

Name Age Level Team W L SV IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP Conner Greene 24 AA NWA 0 0 0 11 7 6 3 1 4 16 2.454 1 Darren McCaughan 23 AA ARK 0 0 0 12 7 0 0 0 0 14 0 0.583 Patrick Sandoval 22 AA MOB 0 0 0 5 4 0 0 0 2 11 0 1.2 Garrett Whitlock 22 AA TRN 1 0 0 12 11 3 2 0 2 10 1.5 1.083 Matt Manning 21 AA ERI 1 0 0 7 1 0 0 0 0 10 0 0.142

Unlike AAA, AA ball usually serves as a nice proving ground with a bunch of prospects that dynasty leaguers should be following closely. This list of top pitchers in AA for the last week fits that mold. There are several great names to keep tabs on this list. However, I have to admit that McCaughan was not on my radar before this writeup. The righthander was a 17th round selection out of Long Beach State in the 2017 draft. He was excellent this week, posting a 14:0 K:BB ratio in 12 innings across 2 starts for a fun Arkansas Travelers squad.

A-Advanced

Name Age Level Team W L SV IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP Ljay Newsome 22 A-Adv MOD 1 1 0 11.2 8 1 0 0 2 21 0.00 0.89 Cody Bolton 20 A-Adv BRD 2 0 0 11 5 2 2 0 3 14 1.64 0.73 Peter Solomon 22 A-Adv FAY 0 0 0 7.2 7 2 2 1 4 14 2.50 1.53 Cole Stapler 24 A-Adv VIS 1 1 0 11 12 3 2 1 0 13 1.64 1.09 Rony Garcia 21 A-Adv TAM 0 0 0 10 11 1 1 0 2 13 0.90 1.30 Jeff Bain 23 A-Adv VIS 0 0 0 10 2 3 2 1 5 12 1.80 0.70 Cristian Javier 22 A-Adv FAY 2 0 0 9 5 1 1 0 1 11 1.00 0.67

Whom? Exsqueeze me? Baking powder? This is a real name? Never heard of the guy before today. He’s struck out 30 dudes in 16.2 innings already this year. I’m going to find some tape now.

A-Full

Name Age Level Team W L SV IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP Dedniel Nunez 22 A-Full COL 2 0 0 10.4 10 5 5 1 0 17 4.33 0.96 Jonathan Bowlan 22 A-Full LEX 1 0 1 9.1 8 1 1 1 0 14 0.99 0.88 Jeronimo Castro 22 A-Full GL 1 0 0 9 4 0 0 0 4 13 0.00 0.89 Ramon Perez 19 A-Full FW 0 0 0 11 7 4 1 0 3 12 0.82 0.91 Kris Bubic 21 A-Full LEX 1 0 0 6 3 2 0 0 0 12 0.00 0.50 Nicholas Economos 23 A-Full GBO 1 1 0 7.2 5 1 1 0 5 11 1.25 1.39 Austin Hansen 22 A-Full QC 1 0 0 5 2 0 0 0 0 11 0.00 0.40