Minor League notebook: Masyn Winn's hot start, Zach Penrod's insane stretch, Orioles throw top prospects into mix
Baseball is officially here as the start of spring training is underway for all 30 teams. It’s easy to overreact to a hot spring, but it’s also not right to just throw out solid production throughout spring.
Here are a few stories that caught my eye over the first couple of days of games.
Masyn Winn’s hot start for Cardinals
Winn comes in at number 43 on the top 100 prospects according to MLB.com. He also ranks number 1 in the Cardinals system, now that Jordan Walker has graduated from prospect rankings.
After appearing in 37 games in the majors last season, the Texas native didn’t exactly light the world on fire.
The 21-year-old would put a .172/.230/.238 slash line during his brief 2023 MLB stint., which was a far dip from his career minor league slash line of .272/.351/.437.
On Sunday, Winn started at shortstop for the Cardinals as they faced the Houston Astros. He finished the day going 3-3 and making an excellent throw in the field. That arm became famous after throwing a ball in the 2022 Futures Game that was clocked at 100.5 MPH from shortstop.
“He swung it well, he brings energy that you expect, and it was just good to see him out there doing his thing,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said postgame to reporters. “He’s very confident. He believes in himself; we believe in him and he plays like it. … He has a certain confidence about him and doesn’t scare. When he goes through some struggles -- and we saw it last year -- he never backed down, and played the game with energy and confidence, which is hard to do.”
If Spring goes as planned for Winn and the Cardinals, they have found their shortstop of the future.
Zach Penrod’s insane run for Red Sox
It might be hard to top just how wild of a run Zach Penrod has been on over the last year.
The left-hander started 2023 pitching for the Missoula PaddleHeads in the INDY league. After pitching in 13 games and going 4-1 with a 2.98 ERA, he was signed by the Red Sox in August.
He would then proceed to the Greenville Drive where he started in four games and went 2-1 with a 2.18 ERA. He gave the team much needed quality starts in route to the championship they won.
If that wasn’t enough for the year, he headed to the Arizona Fall League and went 1-1 with a 1.29 ERA over four starts. He was named a 2023 FallStar for the elite numbers he put up.
A few shorts months later, he is right back on the mound in a Red Sox uniform after the shortest offseason of his life.
“I really only know 100%.” Penrod told Beyond the Monster after his outing on Friday. “I am feeling good for February though. I blinked and baseball was already back. I really can’t complain though.”
Penrod pitched a scoreless 8th inning while striking out the side in Boston’s exhibition game against Northeastern University.
The left-hander is projected to start the year in Double-A Portland’s starting rotation. The crazy year continues.
Orioles throw top prospects into mix
Baltimore started off their 2024 year with a bang after a walk-off home run knocked off the Red Sox on Saturday.
Their starting lineup featured the top prospect in all of baseball in Jackson Holliday. The 20-year-old got the start at second base and went 0-2 with a strikeout.
Colton Cowser, who is the 19th ranked prospect in the MLB, was the one who delivered the walkoff two-run homerun to beat the Red Sox.
Coby Mayo, who is ranked as the 30th ranked prospect in baseball, also got into the game and went 1-1 with a double.
Heston Kjerstad, who is the 32nd ranked prospect in all of baseball, went 0-2 with two strikeouts.
Noticing a trend at all?
The Orioles are in the envious position of hitting their stride at the right time, with many of their top prospects in the high minors and major leagues. The four listed above are set to join the likes of a MLB core of Ryan Mountcastle, Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, and Cedric Mullins.
Showing off the number one farm system in baseball while winning 100 games in the majors has to be tough to watch for fans who have to try to compete in the standings with Baltimore going forward.
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