52 JULY 2019 • BASEBALLAMERICA.COM
Organization Reports
the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League to low
Class A West Michigan. He pitched mainly
in relief to control his workload but moved
back to the rotation this season.
The 22-year-old Skubal had Tommy John
surgery in 2016.
“We wanted to be cautious and make
sure that going into 2019, we had a healthy
guy,” Littlefield said.
The scouting community favors Skubal
sticking as a starter. He has four pitches at
his disposal, including a low-to-mid-90s
fastball, though refinement is certainly
necessary in climbing the ladder, especially
with his breaking pitches. He throws both a
curveball and slider.
Given Skubal’s strong start this sea-
son and his pitchability, a promotion to
Double-A Erie might be close.
“The players kind of point you in the
direction with where to go, and the num-
bers that he’s put up as a first-full-season
guy, they’re impressive,” Littlefield said. “Very
mature, definitely advanced—he’s a smart,
competitive guy who knows what he’s
doing out there.
“Obviously, there’s room for improve-
ment at this stage in his professional career,
but he looks very good.”
—ANTHONY FENECH
HOUSTON
ASTROS
Righthander Jose Urquidy is ascending
the system and adding his name to this
growing list of Astros’ upper-level pitching
depth that also includes Forrest Whitley,
J.B. Bukauskas and Corbin Martin.
Urquidy, who changed his preferred
name from Jose Luis Hernandez this
season, was the Opening Day starter for
Double-A Corpus Christi and earned a quick
promotion to Triple-A Round Rock after 33
innings.
A 24-year-old Mexican righty signed in
2015, Urquidy was once known as solely a
great pitchability guy before having Tommy
John surgery in 2016. When he returned in
2018, he had a four-pitch mix and a fastball
hovering between 89-92 mph and touching
93.
Four outings into the 2019 season,
Urquidy was touching 97 mph. Recipients
of Tommy John surgery often experience
some sort of velocity increase upon their
return, but not to the level Urquidy had
demonstrated.
He struck out 40 and walked five in 33
Double-A innings before being promoted.
Speaking in mid-May after Martin made
his big league debut, general manager Jeff
Luhnow lumped Urquidy along with the
aforementioned names as candidates for
the next promotion.
“It’s always hard to put a finger on what
the mechanical changes are or if it’s just
(him getting) physically stronger or some-
thing like that, but the coaches have been
working on getting him to rotate better,”
farm director Pete Putila said.
“I’m not completely surprised at what
he’s done thus far, but the velo has been a
very nice surprise. Now, he’s as legitimate of
a major league starting pitching prospect as
you can get.”
Lauded for his pitchability within the
organization, Urquidy has a plus changeup
and has recently progressed with a slider to
complete a four-pitch mix.
“At this point, he’s checking all of the
boxes,” Putila said. “He was sort of quietly
doing that before, but everyone wants to
see guys throwing 95, 6, 7 or 8.
“But him at 94 is still a very good pitcher,
maybe just not a guy who’s going to be
lighting up prospect lists just because velo
is easier to hedge on when people look at
pitchers. Now, pitching (93-96), it’s a differ-
ent ballgame.”
—CHANDLER ROMEKANSAS CITY
ROYALS
There were 631 players picked last June,
including two Virginia Military Institute
teammates, before the Royals called Nathan
Eaton’s name in the 21st round.And they drafted him as a catcher, a posi-
tion he did not play in college but did play
occasionally in high school.
“We drafted him as a catcher, but he has
not caught for us because we like his speed
and defensive versatility enough that we
don’t think we’d benefit by catching him,”
assistant general manager J.J. Picollo said.
Eaton may not be the next Salvador
Perez, but he could be the next Whit
Merrifield. This season at low Class A
Lexington, Eaton has played third base and
second base. Last year in his pro debut he
also played right field and center field.
“He’s a similar player to Whit in that he
plays multiple positions and plays hard,”
Picollo said. “Eaton has big tools and was
our player of the year in (Rookie-level) Idaho
Falls last year. He’s a plus runner, has plus
power and a plus arm.”
Eaton stole a VMI-record 36 bases as a
redshirt sophomore after sitting out the
2017 season when he was academically
ineligible.
Some clubs were scouting Eaton as a
pitcher. In 2017 the summer college Coastal
Plain League, he logged four saves with a
1.26 ERA, while striking out 16 and allowing
just six hits in 14.1 innings. He made 17
relief appearances last year for VMI.
The Royals have Eaton working as a
position player. He hit .354 in 66 games in
the Pioneer League last season, leading the
league with 92 hits, 37 extra-base hits and
59 runs. His 19 stolen bases ranked second.
The 23-year-old righthanded hitterbegan this season slowly at low Class A
Lexington in the South Atlantic League. He
hit .213 in April but had raised his batting
line to .252/.353/.392 with two home runs
and nine stolen bases through 38 games.
Eaton may not have been a high draft
pick, but he is certainly on the Royals’ radar.
—ALAN ESKEWLOS ANGELES
ANGELS
Angels general manager Billy Eppler and
manager Brad Ausmus consider defensive
versatility a strength. So much so that they
are taking a more proactive approach to
identifying and developing potential utility
players in the minor leagues.
That has led to a major position switch
for 22-year-old Venezuelan prospect
Franklin Torres, an infielder whose willing-
ness to strap on catcher’s gear could clear a
quicker path to the big leagues.
“He’s still young and there are things we
like about the bat,” field coordinator Chad
Tracy said. “He has a nice, clean (bat) path,
and we think he has a chance to impact the
ball. From an OPS standpoint, the catching
position is the lowest. If you can find guys
who can do that and hit, it’s definitely to
your benefit.”
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Torres, who
signed in 2013, came up with the Angels
as a third baseman but has started more
games at second. He’s also made 35 starts at
first base and 21 at shortstop.
The Angels, thinking Torres had the
hands, arm strength, agility and instincts to
catch, moved him behind the plate in spring
training. Under the tutelage of catching
coordinator Eddy Rodriguez, Torres adapt-
ed so well that he was catching two or three
times a week at high Class A Inland Empire.
“The first thing we looked at is receiving,”
said Tracy, who is a former catcher. “If you
can’t receive and it looks choppy, you’re not
gonna do it. We put the gear on him, fed
him some balls, and he received the ball
beautifully for a guy who’s never been back
there. It progressed from there.”
Offensively, Torres hit a combined .269
with a .719 OPS over his first five seasons. He
hit .248 with a .687 OPS, zero home runs and
nine RBIs in his first 36 games this season,
but the Angels believe he has the potential
to do much more.
“Nothing statistically jumps out at you
yet, but he has a strong frame, big hands,
and he’s shown some power to the oppo-
site-field gap, which is unique for me,” Tracy
said.
“If this kid can continue to refine himself
at the position and turn (his defense) into a
tool, we might have a decent catcher on our
hands who has the ability to hit a bit.”
—MIKE DIGIOVANNACONTINUED FROM PAGE 51
Royals third baseman Nathan Eaton led the Pioneer League in hits, runs and extra-base hits in his 2018 pro debut.STEPHEN SMITH/FS; HANNAH FOSLIEN/GETTY IMAGES