Of all the midseason prospect rankings, Baseball Prospectus remained the biggest booster of Lucas Giolito. While the big righty went from top half to bottom half on the rest of the top-100 updates, Baseball Prospectus placed him at No. 31.
Giolito thus qualified for Jeffrey Paternostro’s follow-up covering guys who drew the most division among evaluators.
No. 31 Lucas Giolito
It's been awhile since my film school days, but I wonder if a close reading of this season of Twin Peaks—and Evil Dale Cooper in particular—might not reveal Mark Frost’s semiological intent of exploring his nephew’s struggles as a pitching prospect. Is there a better explanation for the struggles of this oft-ranked top arm? Well, maybe. Our own Jeff Long saw him recently and came away impressed, but the velocity is merely plus now. There's a new slider and he is pitch mix over pure power stuff. This ranking isn't out of line for a low risk OFP 60 arm. Our 30th and 32nd ranked prospect preseason—Reynaldo Lopez and Amir Garrett—both fit into that category (though we can certainly debate how well those calls are working out). Still it feels low. There’s inextricable inertia around former top prospects. We keep waiting for the dominant Giolito, he of the five OFP 80 eyewitnesses to reemerge. He may not. He may only be the 31st best prospect in baseball. We sure think so.
Gwinnett 9, Charlotte 4
- Yoan Moncada went 2-for-5 with a homer, stolen base and two strikeouts.
- Nicky Delmonico went 1-for-4 with a walk, a stolen bas and two strikeouts.
- Willy Garcia was 1-for-2 with two walks.
- Rymer Liriano went 0-for-4 with a K, as did Jacob May.
- Danny Hayes, 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Lucas Giolito: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, 1 HBP
Biloxi 6, Birmingham 1
- Eddy Alvarez went 1-for-4.
- Jake Peter and Courtney Hawkins were both 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Trey Michalczewski was 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
- Jordan Guerrero had his first ugly outing in months: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 5 BB, 2 K, 1 HR
Kannapolis 7, Columbia 2
- Gavin Sheets went 1-for-4 with a walk.
- Micker Adolfo was 2-for-5 with a double and a strikeout.
- Jake Burger went 1-for-4 with a strikeout and an HBP.
- Luis Gonzalez, 1-for-4 with a walk and strikeout.
Grand Junction 10, Great Falls 2
- Craig Dedelow went 1-for-4 with a homer and a strikeout.
- Justin Yurchak was 1-for-4 with a K.
- Carlos Perez went 2-for-4.
- Franklin Reyes was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Felix Mercedes and Hanleth Otano were both 1-for-3 with a K.
- Chris Comito: 5 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 WP
AZL White Sox 6, AZL Brewers 4
- Alex Call went 0-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base.
- Evan Skoug was 3-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Lenyn Sosa, 0-for-5 with three strikeouts.