All of a sudden Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is the place to see the best young pitching in the Minor Leagues. The Braves advanced A-ball affiliate already has two of the Braves top three pitching prospects in Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado. Now they will receive the final piece of the trinity as Arodys Vizcaino was promoted from low-A Rome to Myrtle Beach today.
Vizcaino was the main prospect the Braves received in the trade this winter that sent Javier Vazquez to the Yankees. He was the Yankees top pitching prospect and some feel he's better than either Teheran or Delgado. Vizcaino is in the midst of a 34.2 inning scoreless stretch spanning five games. He was clearly dominating the Sally League, and will now have his chance in the Carolina League.
When Teheran was promoted he made an immediate impact on his new, more advance, team. Will Vizcaino be able to do the same? These three prospects continue to shoot up, not only the Braves, but baseball's prospect charts. As Teheran, Delgado, and Vizcaino could all be considered the Braves top-3 prospects, and among the top-100 prospects in all the minor leagues.
Another promotion this year from Rome to Myrtle, left-hander Brett Oberholtzer, is also doing well of late in the Myrtle Beach rotation. Along with J.J. Hoover, likely the fourth-best pitching prospect in the Braves system, the Myrtle Beach rotation is now the best rotation in the minor leagues.
Too bad they didn't tell Arodys he was getting promoted yesterday, he could have gotten a ride with shortstop Mycal Jones, who made the drive from Rome to the Beach on Wednesday. Now there are two Mike Jones' in Myrtle Beach.
Exciting times for Braves fans!
UPDATE: Julio Teheran, Randall Delgado, and J.J. Hoover have all been named Carolina League All-Stars.