With 120 teams and 5,000+ players spread through four levels (not to mention the Dominican Summer League and the renamed Complex leagues in Arizona and Florida), keeping up with minor league performances can be difficult. If you wait until end-of-season wrap-ups, a breakout prospect may no longer be available. You can scout stat lines all year, but that can be tedious, and it’s difficult to keep an eye on every tweet of a new highlight. But fear not, intrepid dynasty league manager: Welcome to Pitcher List’s MiLB Player and Pitcher of the Week!
This is a weekly column where I’ll select one hitter and one pitcher who performed outstandingly in the prior week. Not only will you get a name, but also we’ll dive into what powered their results and where their future value stands.
Player of the Week: C Hunter Goodman, COL, High A
Stats: (6 games) 11-25, 4 HR, 1 doubles, 11 RBI, 8 runs
The man known as “Beef” had a filet mignon of a week, continuing to add to his already impressive HR and RBI totals (33 and 101, respectively. No that’s not a typo). Yes, he’s a Rockies prospect. Yes, he’s played half of his games in stadiums with some of the highest HR and Run park factors in the entire minors per Baseball America’s 2021 MiLB Park Factor report. Buuut…looking at this season’s home/away splits:
Ahhh, that’s nice to see.
Unfortunately, neither Spokane (Colorado’s High A affiliate) nor Everett (Spokane’s recent opponent, Seattle’s affiliate) has a broadcast so we have to go way back to early August to see a Goodman AB vs. Hillsboro.
https://gfycat.com/IdealLivelyCaiman
Now there are still requisite caveats: As he’s been promoted from Low to High A, his K rate has skyrocketed into the danger zone (30.8%) along with his BABIP (.429). The Regression Monster is hunting the Hunter and when it catches up with him, it will not be Good, man (it’s late, stop your groaning). That said, digging into those numbers shows some improvements. Namely, after striking out 41% in July at the start of his promotion to a new level, we see the adjustment: 22.5% K rate. Goodman still has an uphill climb; his position, team context, and home park all throw any potential gains into question. But as the season winds down, Goodman is a good dart throw to get in on early before 2023.
Honorable Mention: OF Luis Matos, SFG, AA
Stats: (6 games) 11-23, 2 HR, 1 double, 9 RBI, 9 runs, 3 SBs
Matos has had a terrible 2022 overall after being heralded as a top 100 prospect and one of the Giants’ most talented players on the farm. His OBP is under .300 and he’s just now approaching 10 HRs/10 SBs in a little over 80 games (last season, he accumulated 15 HRs/21 SBs in 109 games). He suffered a strained quad that kept him out of action for an entire month as well.
Guess who’s back? After struggling in the first month and a half since returning from that quad injury, all of August Matos has looked much more like the phenomenal hitter we saw in 2021. The OPS is climbing and the K rate is way down. His legs seem to be healthy as he’s stolen 4 bases without being caught. If you had been anxious about Matos on your roster, I think you can start to breathe easier.
Pitcher of the Week: SP Andrew Painter, PHI, AA
Stats: (2 starts) 12.1 IP, 2 ER, 7 hits, 1 BB, 14 Ks
File this one in the No Brainer category. Painter has been magnificent all year long and has continued his dominance now at Double A.
https://gfycat.com/ScalyDishonestCollie
With Grayson Rodriguez and Daniel Espino missing most of the season with injury and Eury Perez cooling off since the All-Star Break, Painter can convincingly make the case for the best minor league pitcher right now.
Honorable Mention: SP Taylor Dollard, SEA, AA
Stats: (1 start) 6.2 IP, 3 ER, 3 hits, 2 BB, 8 Ks
Did I choose Dollard in part to get my nickname of “Tay Dollard $ign” for Dollard in front of a larger audience? Yes. But did Dollard also earn his honorable mention? Absolutely. After looking good but not great at Low A, Dollard has become more consistent in staying around the zone but not hittable in the zone. Currently, the main concern is whether his stuff is still better in short bursts out of the bullpen as his overall K rate, K/9 and K-BB have all decreased since his promotion.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)