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!

Here are the Farmhands of the Week for April 15 thru April 21, 2019:

Hitters

AAA

Name Age Level Org Rank Team Pos H TB AB HR RBI R BB K SB AVG SLG Ty France 24 AAA SD NA ELP 3B 16 42 28 7 17 13 1 2 0 0.571 1.500 Seth Brown 26 AAA OAK NA LV RF 10 29 32 6 10 8 1 7 0 0.312 0.906 Jacob Wilson 28 AAA WAS NA FRE 2B 10 25 27 4 14 9 3 7 0 0.370 0.925 Ryan Mountcastle 22 AAA BAL 2 NOR SS 10 24 27 4 11 8 0 7 0 0.370 0.888 Kevin Cron 26 AAA ARI NA RNO 1B 10 21 22 3 7 6 2 3 0 0.454 0.954 Josh Naylor 21 AAA SD 11 ELP 1B 9 21 30 3 7 11 4 6 0 0.300 0.700 Nicky Lopez 24 AAA KAN 8 OMA SS 10 20 28 2 5 6 2 1 1 0.357 0.714

My god, is something going on with the baseballs at AAA?? To be fair to Ty France, he also slugged .532 in 25 games at AAA last season. But this year he has been on a different planet. This week saw his batting average on the season climb to .440. He posted THREE multi-homer games this week, bringing his slugging average up to a robust .920. The Padres have been playing him at 1B, 2B, and 3B for the Chihuahuas this season, hopefully offering him some additional paths to MLB playing time for the big club this year. 2B playing time seems especially open right now with the team sending Luis Urias back down to AAA after a rough run in the MLB. France should be owned in all dynasty/keeper formats, and you should have your eye on his call-up in your redraft leagues as well as he will become a good FAAB target if he’s getting playing time.

AA

Name Age Level Org Rank Team Pos H TB AB HR RBI R BB K SB AVG SLG Drew Waters 20 AA ATL 8 MIS OF 12 21 32 1 5 4 2 12 0 0.375 0.656 Pavin Smith 23 AA ARI 17 JXN 1B 9 19 26 2 7 6 0 3 0 0.346 0.730 Connor Lien 25 AA ATL NA MIS CF 7 19 18 3 6 7 3 3 0 0.388 1.055 Cody Thomas 24 AA LAD NA TUL CF 7 19 23 4 7 7 2 7 0 0.304 0.826 Omar Estevez 21 AA LAD 19 TUL 2B 12 19 21 1 4 4 1 2 0 0.571 0.904

This is Connor Lien’s 4th consecutive season playing for the AA Mississippi Braves. He was a 12th round prep selection by the Braves in 2012. Man, I love rooting for organizational depth players like this to finally figure some stuff out and ride it to the MLB. Lien hit safely in all 5 games he played in this week and walked as much as he struck out (3 times each). The Farm is rooting for him to continue his improvement in 2019.

A-Advanced

Name Age Level Org Rank Team Pos H TB AB HR RBI R BB K SB AVG SLG Seth Beer 22 A-Adv HOU 10 FAY OF 9 22 23 3 7 6 1 3 0 0.391 0.956 Dermis Garcia 21 A-Adv NYY NA TAM 3B 8 22 24 4 9 6 1 7 0 0.333 0.916 Chris Sharpe 22 A-Adv PIT NA BRD CF 11 21 23 2 5 5 4 4 2 0.478 0.913 Jancarlos Cintron 24 A-Adv ARI NA VIS 2B 11 19 21 1 5 7 4 0 0 0.523 0.904 Luis Liberato 23 A-Adv SEA NA MOD CF 9 19 22 3 9 6 3 5 1 0.409 0.863

Houston’s first-round choice is picking up in 2019 right where he left off in his 2018 professional debut. He hit a scalding .391 this week with 3 HR while also only striking out 3 times. He’s also played 7 games in LF as well as 7 games at 1B for Fayetteville so far this season. If he can continue to play well enough in the OF to retain 1B/OF eligibility when he hits the big leagues, his future fantasy value just takes another little bump.

A-Full

Name Age Level Org Rank Team Pos H TB AB HR RBI R BB K SB AVG SLG Will Benson 20 A-Full CLE 25 LC RF 8 24 18 5 12 7 2 9 1 0.444 1.333 Chris Betts 22 A-Full TB NA BG C 8 20 20 4 10 10 6 6 1 0.400 1.000 Reed Rohlman 24 A-Full KAN NA LEX OF 11 20 25 1 4 4 1 3 0 0.440 0.800 Jerar Encarnacion 21 A-Full MIA NA CLI RF 9 19 25 3 7 5 2 5 1 0.360 0.760 Trey Cabbage 21 A-Full MIN NA CR 3B 7 18 18 3 9 7 5 5 0 0.388 1.000

Cleveland’s power-hitting prospect set the minors on fire this week with a 4 HR game against South Bend on April 18. He’s pushed his 2019 OPS to 1.256 with a big week. He’s also stolen 4 bases to go with his 6 HR on the year. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, he’s 6’5″ 225 and built like an NFL edge rusher. And he’s still just 20 years old.

Pitchers

AAA

Name Age Level Team W L SV IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP Lucas Sims 24 AAA LOU 0 0 0 11.2 11 4 4 1 1 23 3.21 1.07 Tyler Beede 25 AAA SAC 0 0 0 10 5 3 3 1 3 15 2.70 0.80 Mitch Keller 23 AAA IND 1 0 0 11.1 9 1 1 0 7 13 0.81 1.44 Elieser Hernandez 23 AAA NO 0 0 0 9.2 7 2 0 0 4 13 0.00 1.20 Cal Quantrill 24 AAA ELP 2 0 0 11.2 11 3 3 0 3 12 2.41 1.25

When you look at the top pitching performers in AAA this week, it’s hard to believe that they are using the high flying MLB ball in AAA. But juiced ball or not, these 5 pitchers had dominating stuff this week. Lucas Sims, a former 1st round pick of the Atlanta Braves who is trying to work his way back with the Reds, was particularly tough. He posted a stellar 23:1 K:BB ratio in 11.2 innings of work this week. If he can keep up his solid performance, there’s a good chance that Sims will see more time at the MLB level this season.

AA

Name Age Level Team W L SV IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP Michael Gibbons 25 AA BNG 2 0 0 10 7 4 3 1 3 14 2.70 1.00 Tanner Tully 24 AA AKR 1 1 0 12 12 4 4 1 1 12 3.00 1.08 Sean Poppen 25 AA PNS 1 0 0 5 2 0 0 0 4 11 0.00 1.20 Joey Wentz 21 AA MIS 0 0 0 9.4 7 4 3 3 5 10 2.87 1.28 Emerson Martinez 24 AA FRI 0 0 0 5 7 2 2 0 1 10 3.60 1.60 Trey Supak 22 AA BLX 1 0 0 13 5 0 0 0 1 9 0.00 0.46

Supak is a big (6’5″, 240) righty out of Texas who isn’t afraid to pitch to contact. This week, he scattered 5 hits across 2 starts, walked 1 batter, and allowed 0 earned runs. He’s now posted a stellar 1.52 ERA and .141 batting average against in 4 starts on the season. A 2014 pick of the Pirates, Supak might be on a path for a late-season callup to Milwaukee depending on the Brewers’ situation in the stretch run.

A-Advanced

Name Age Level Team W L SV IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP Bryan Abreu 22 A-Adv FAY 1 0 0 9.2 6 4 4 2 4 18 3.91 1.09 Parker Mushinski 23 A-Adv FAY 0 0 1 7 5 2 1 1 0 14 1.29 0.71 Jason Bahr 24 A-Adv DE 1 0 0 11.1 6 3 3 0 6 13 2.43 1.08 Ryan Lillie 22 A-Adv DBT 0 0 0 11 10 7 4 1 3 12 3.27 1.18 Kutter Crawford 23 A-Adv SAL 0 0 0 9.3 10 2 2 1 3 11 1.94 1.40 Tarik Skubal 22 A-Adv LAK 1 0 0 6 3 0 0 0 0 10 0.00 0.50

A lefty out of Texas Tech, Mushinski was stellar in two appearances for Fayetteville this week. On Easter Sunday, Mushinski mowed down 9 batters while allowing 0 walks in a 4-inning start against the Carolina Mudcats. Mushinski was primarily a reliever in college, but the Astros appear committed to trying to stretch him out this season against the competition in the Carolina League. His 13.8 K/9 ratio in 2019 is something to keep a watchful eye on.

A-Full

Name Age Level Team W L SV IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP Joe Ryan 22 A-Full BG 1 0 0 5 1 1 1 0 3 12 1.80 0.80 Ofelky Peralta 22 A-Full DEL 0 0 0 6 3 2 1 0 1 11 1.50 0.67 Freddy Pacheco 21 A-Full PEO 0 0 0 5.1 1 0 0 0 0 11 0.00 0.20 Chase Cohen 21 A-Full BEL 2 0 0 11.2 6 2 2 1 3 10 1.61 0.80 Sean Hjelle 21 A-Full AUG 0 0 0 10.2 6 4 3 1 2 10 2.65 0.78 Joan Adon 20 A-Full HAG 1 0 0 10 10 2 2 1 2 10 1.80 1.20