On Deck Podcast: All Things Prospects with Eric Cross

Welcome back to the On Deck Podcast. On Episode 31, Shelly Verougstraete and Bob Osgood welcomed Eric Cross back to the show. Eric was the 2021 FSWA Baseball Writer of the Year, whose work can be read at Fantrax HQ, and can be followed @EricCross04 on Twitter.

We opened the show with some news and notes, including recent injuries to Triston Casas, Marcelo Mayer, Connor Seabold, and Jeremy Wu Yelland. On the positive side, Bryan Mata is back touching 100 mph in extended spring training games, and recent promotions for pitchers Brayan Bello and Frank German to Triple-A could be of relevance later in 2022 at the big league level. Additionally, pitcher Noah Song has applied for a waiver after completing his two year commitment to flight school.

Eric has gotten live looks with the Portland Sea Dogs at the exciting group of pitchers including Brandon Walter, Chris Murphy, Jay Groome, and the recently promoted Bello. He gave reviews of what he saw from each pitcher, as well as their possible long-term roles within the organization.

Shelly, Eric, and Bob finished out the show discussing infielders David Hamilton and Alex Binelas, who both came over in the Hunter Renfroe trade, outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela, utility man Ryan Fitzgerald, pitcher Josh Winckowski, and finally, the slow starts from catchers Connor Wong and Ronaldo Hernandez.

Thank you for listening, and please leave us a five-star rating and review if you enjoyed the show. You can follow Bob at @BobOsgood15 on Twitter, and Shelly at @ShellyV_643.