One of my favorite reasons to see minor league games is to photograph some promising young players who might well be on the road to the majors. But there's a reason they're call prospects: for every Matt Weiters, there's a Jesus Montero. (Above) Orioles catching prospect Alex Murphy connecting on a home run Friday night -- giving him 15 on the season. (Below) Another promising talent who could be a couple or three years away from Camden Yards -- outfielder Randolph Gassaway, batting way over .320 this summer.
Onto some Phillies youngsters... (Below) Outfielder Cornelius Randolph, a 2015 first round draft pick.
(Below) Alberto Tirado, with a 5 & 1 record for Lakewood with 75 strikeouts in just 50 innings. He worked five shutout innings against Delmarva.
Finally, the player who most intrigued me on the Lakewood roster had the night off. Outfielder Jose Pujols has been hitting homers like (the apparently unrelated) Albert this season -- 23 so far in '16. He had the night off, and in something you'll only see in the lower levels of the minors, spent part of the night "coaching" 1st base (what you don't see is a device, either a clicker or stopwatch) in his right hand.
Names to note, faces to remember -- some could be two, three or four years from playing in the majors. A few could wind up in trades and head elsewhere. Unwritten stories, history yet to be written. But that's the fun of following the minor leagues -- someone catches your eye, and makes an impression. If they turn into stars, you can always smile and say, "I was the first to know it."
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