Dave Cokin’s Hardcore Baseball: Monday Recall Report

If someone had told me that there would be as many seven serious prospects recalled from the minors over just the last handful of days, I’d have bet big money that David Price, Matt Wieters or Clay Buchholz would surely have been on the list. But Price, Wieters and Buchholz are still on the farm.

That said, there are some very intriguing names in the newest group of call-ups that I’ll capsulize today.

The Diamondbacks are in the process of doing an in-season overhaul, with several prospects getting a chance to strut their stuff with the big club. Gerardo Parra is the best of the bunch. Parra has a real chance to be a star and he’s clearly the best position player prospect in the Arizona chain.

Just 22 and with his highest level to date being AA, there are sure to be bumps along the road for Parra. But the basics are all there. He’s got phenomenal plate discipline for someone so young. None of Parra’s tools jump off the page, but he does everything well.

Right now, there’s not much power and it remains to be seen if Parra can learn to pull the ball a little more. But he’ll spray line drives, and should hit for a decent average right away. Parra doesn’t have sprinter speed, but can steal bases and he plays a good center field.

The Diamondbacks may platoon him at the outset, but I would not be surprised at all if he becomes the everyday CF shortly.

Bryan Augenstein was also called up from AA Mobile, where he was on a phenomenal tear. Augenstein was 5-0 with a microscopic 0.78 ERA, so he was ready for the next challenge. I’m a little surprised the D-Backs decided to have Augenstein bypass AAA, however, and I expect that’s where he’ll end up shortly.

Augenstein is not a high end prospect, and in fact was not even rated among the 30 best Arizona prospects this year by Baseball America. He’s not a big strikeout pitcher, and has never really gotten much attention since turning pro. But those AA numbers were pretty impressive, so perhaps he’s just a late bloomer who slipped under the radar.

Mat Gamel caught everyone’s eye last season when he put together a phenomenal first half at AA Huntsville in the Brewers organization. He eventually cooled off a little, but ended up posting very strong numbers and earned a late season promotion to Nashville.

Gamel has been sizzling all spring at AAA, blowing out a .336 BA with eight long balls. The consensus is that this is a cup of coffee for Gamel, and that he’ll probably be shipped back after interleague play. But the Brewers will use his bat as a DH in those upcoming games.

The knock on Gamel is his defense, and he may eventually have to be moved to a position less taxing than 3B. But his bat will play in the big leagues, and he’s got little left to prove in the minors.

Nolan Reimold has been on a massive roll at Norfolk and the Orioles decided it was time to promote their best position prospect aside from Wieters. Reimold was going insane on the farm, hitting .394 with nine bombs and six steals to boot.

Reimold was a second rounder back in 2005 out of Bowling Green and progressed slowly at first. But he started to figure things out in late 2007 bat AA Bowie, and he’s been on a roll ever since. Reimold is already 25, so he’s going to get the opportunity to become the regular LF for the Orioles.

I would not look for him to be a huge BA guy, but Reimold can hit it far and definitely has a chance to be a 30 HR performer down the road. Unless he falls on his face with the O’s, he’s likely up for good as he’s simply got way more upside than Felix Pie.

Aaron Cunningham got a trial last September with Oakland, and he’s now back with the A’s following a short stint in Sacramento. Cunningham has bounced around since getting drafted in the 2005 sixth round. He started in the White Sox chain, but they sent him to Arizona in ‘07, and he was then moved to Oakland in the big Dan Haren deal following that campaign.

Cunningham looks like a guy who will hit for average wherever he plays. But he’s got limited power and average speed. He doesn’t profile as a center fielder, and doesn’t really have the right skill set to be an everyday corner OF on a good team. Cunningham should be an okay big leaguer, but he’s not a star.

David Huff made his first big league start Sunday for the Indians and got knocked around by the Rays. Huff doesn’t appear to have great stuff, but he’s been a big winner in the minors. He was 5-1 this year at Columbus and 20-9 at various levels since turning pro.

Huff has a very good changeup and that’s been his out pitch. But his fastball is average and he did not show a good breaking ball in his big league debut. I’m not especially high on Huff. I think he’s got more upside than fellow Cleveland lefties Aaron Laffey or Jeremy Sowers, but he’s strictly back of the rotation.

Huff will get by when he’s throwing all his pitches for strikes, but he doesn’t have good enough stuff to get big leaguers out when he’s off.

Ross Detwiler completes this week’s list. Detwiler has a chance to be top notch pitcher down the road for Washington. His minor league numbers to date are nothing at all to be excited about, and he’s still got mechanical issues to work out. But Detwiler has two out pitches in his arsenal already and his changeup is coming along.

Detwiler has not been working deep into games with Harrisburg this season, but he’s arriving in D.C. off two five-inning stints where he totally dominated. I would think this is just a quickie for Detwiler as the Nats are shorthanded in the rotation right now, and it’s not like they need to rush a top prospect.

On the other hand, if they’re willing to monitor his innings, there’s no real reason to send Detwiler back down if he shows he’s mentally ready for the big show. When Daniel Cabrera is the alternative, hey, why not give the kid a shot?

Regardless, as awful as the Nationals are now, a down the rotation of Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmerman, Detwiler and Collin Balester (struggling badly at Syracuse but still a prospect) is pretty exciting. In other words, laugh at the Nots now, but beware them in a couple of years if the talented young arms develop.