Luke Erickson: Checking out some early-season surprises on the farm

Luke Erickson: Checking out some early-season surprises on the farm
We're roughly three weeks into the minor league seasons - still in small sample size territory, but large enough to use as a story peg take notice. Before you start champing at the bit for these guys to get promoted, remember two things: The entire league hasn't seen them yet, and there has to be a space for him at the next level. At Single-A Hagerstown, Daniel Johnson caught my eye last season by racking up nine assists and four errors last summer in 62 games for short-season Single-A...

Midseason adjustment for lefty Crownover led to surge into postseason

Midseason adjustment for lefty Crownover led to surge into postseason
Left-hander Matthew Crownover made a mechanical adjustment this season that turned things around for him after a shaky start. In his last five starts, he allowed only six runs in 30 innings. During that span, he walked six batters and struck out 30 hitters. High Single-A Potomac manager Tripp Keister said that pitching coach Franklin Bravo diagnosed the issue with Crownover's delivery and was able to get him to repeat to a point where he was able to get the ball down in the zone better than he...