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Ryan Mountcastle 1B | BAL
Orioles' Ryan Mountcastle: Back from injured list Tuesday
The Orioles reinstated Mountcastle (wrist) from the 10-day injured list Tuesday.
The 27-year-old has been sidelined for the past month due to a sprained left wrist, but he's ready to rejoin Baltimore after a three-game rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk. Mountcastle was in the midst of a 3-for-22 slump prior to the injury, and he also struggled during the rehab stint with just one hit and six strikeouts in 11 at-bats. He is not in Tuesday's lineup versus the Yankees, as Ryan O'Hearn will be at first base.
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Steven Zobac SP | KC
Royals' Steven Zobac: Strikeout rate jumps at Double-A
Zobac notched a 3.25 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 65:14 K:BB in 55.1 innings across 11 appearances for Double-A Northwest Arkansas.
Zobac was effective earlier in the year with High-A Quad Cities (3.95 ERA, 1.15 WHIP) but his strikeout rate jumped from 20 percent to 28.6 percent after his July 9 promotion to Double-A. While the 23-year-old righty may not have a true plus pitch, he has never logged a walk rate higher than 7.1 percent and built up to 126 innings this year. Zobac projects to be a No. 4 or No. 5 starter, but he could exceed that projection if his changeup improves or if he adds a tick to his low-90s fastball that already has good movement.
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David Sandlin SP | CHW
Red Sox's David Sandlin: Fails to build up workload
Sandlin logged a 5.61 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and 32 strikeouts in 25.2 innings across eight starts for Double-A Portland.
Sandlin struck out 82 batters over 57.1 innings while splitting the season between High-A and Double-A. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs reports that Sandlin was limited by a forearm issue this season, and indeed, he didn't pitch between May 4 and June 15. Sandlin can touch 100 mph with his fastball and has a wicked slider, but he only logged five innings in a start once this year and will turn 24 in February.
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Mitch Bratt SP | ARI
Rangers' Mitch Bratt: Tough first taste of Double-A
Bratt logged a 5.45 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 33:12 K:BB in 33 innings over seven appearances for Double-A Frisco.
He wasn't as bad as his ERA, as 54.2 percent of his baserunners scored, but Bratt's walk rate jumped from 5.3 percent at High-A to 8.2 percent at Double-A while his strikeout rate dipped from 27.8 percent to 22.4 percent. Bratt's 22.5 K-BB% was the ninth-best mark among High-A pitchers who threw at least 70 innings, leading to his promotion to Double-A at the end of July. Bratt lacks high-end stuff, so he needs to be commanding his pitches to have success. Youth is working in his favor, however, as Bratt was the seventh-youngest pitcher with at least 30 innings at Double-A this year.