Minor League Wrap (5/3-9/10)
Covering the minor leagues is odd business for a number of reasons. I’m going into my sixth year of doing it now, and the M’s have not made the playoffs once in that stretch. On one hand, I know that it’s good for the attention, because if the major league team isn’t doing anything, you have to look elsewhere, but on the other, it’s kind of uncomfortable because I’d rather be in a position where we’re not scouring A-ball rosters for signs of hope. More games like Sunday’s would be helpful, certainly, and I look forward to them as they come.
To the jump!
9-1-4 Double Play:
In a game against the Timber Rattlers in mid-April, Daniel Carroll flew into a 9-1-4 double play. That’s right fielder, to pitcher, to second baseman. How did this work out? According to Rattlers broadcaster Chris Mehring, it went like this. Gabriel Noriega was on first, and started to move on a hit-and-run as Carroll flew one to center. The Wisconsin infielders somehow managed to fake Noriega out and convince him that the ball was going to drop in for a hit. So the outfielder, Franklin Romero, caught it and threw to the second baseman hoping to double off Noriega. The throw, however, went into the stands. The umpires told Noriega to take third on the play, except, inexplicably, Noriega cut across the grass without ever tagging second. There was an appeal to second and Noriega was called out. So if you missed having infielders that were capable of flashy plays but at times hilariously unfocused, I recommend adopting Noriega.
Tacoma Rainiers (5-2 this week, 14-14 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 3rd 2010
Tacoma 3, Portland 2 (SD – 4)
W: Seddon (2-0, 4.30); L: Carrillo (1-2, 3.24)
Tuesday, May 4th 2010
Tacoma 3, Portland 4 (SD – 3)
W: Munter (2-1, 5.02); L: Speigner (1-3, 5.27)
Wednesday, May 5th 2010
Tacoma 4, Portland 2 (SD – 4)
W: Baldwin (2-1, 3.86); L: Frieri (1-1, 1.38)
Thursday, May 6th 2010
Tacoma 2, Portland 1 (SD – 5)
W: French (4-0, 1.35); L: Ramos (0-2, 3.86)
Friday, May 7th 2010
Las Vegas 0 (TOR – 3), Tacoma 7
W: Shell (1-1, 2.10); L: Broadway (0-4, 7.12)
Saturday, May 8th 2010
Las Vegas 0 (TOR – 4), Tacoma 8
W: Seddon (3-0, 3.30); L: McLeary (0-1, 15.00)
Sunday, May 9th 2010
Las Vegas 4 (TOR – 3), Tacoma 0
W: R. Ray (3-2, 3.44); L: Pauley (0-3, 3.41)
Hitter of the Week:
3B Matt Tuiasosopo, R/R, 5/10/1986
7 G, 25 AB, 5 R, 9 H, 2B, 5 RBI, 6/10 K/BB, .360/.543/.400
Saunders was well on his way to getting this after going 5-for-11 with five walks, but then he had to go and get promoted, so how about TUI? I looked up his line today and saw that he had as many walks as total bases, and frankly, that’s weird but I’m willing to go with it. To put it in context, he had thirty-six walks in fifty-nine games in Tacoma last season, and at current pace he’d hit eighty-four in the same span. Not that we expect that, but it is one way of increasing his value when he’s not hitting for power. Additionally, it’s nice to see the strikeouts down a bit when he was K-ing more often than every third at-bat last season. I still don’t know if Tui ever starts for us regularly, but given some time, I’m pretty sure he could still be a good contributor on offense.
I Am Planting an Idea Mention:
1B Brad Nelson, L/R, 12/23/1982
5 G, 17 AB, 5 H, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, SB, 2/4 K/BB, .294/.429/.529
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Steven Shell, 3/10/1983
1-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 6.1 IP, 2 H, 6/2 K/BB, 6/3 G/F
One of the reasons Shell was sent to Tacoma early on was due to the belief of the coaching staff that he needed to keep working on various mechanical tweaks they made on him in spring training. So a month in, are we seeing any results? Short answer: no. Shell’s walk and strikeout rate are no different from what we’ve seen from him before. He’s inducing a few more groundballs than he used to, but nothing that would really account for a whole lot of difference. Except one thing that he hasn’t done, for whatever reason, is allow a home run. In the past, Shell was pretty reliable for giving up a home run every nine innings. Through over thirty, we’ve seen nothing. This is interesting, but it’s not like his line drive rate or ground ball rate are all that different, so I don’t think I’ll be drawing any conclusions off it yet.
Wait, What? Mention:
LHP Garrett Olson, 10/18/1983
0-0, GS, 2.57 ERA in 7.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 9/3 K/BB, 6/5 G/F
From The Training Room:
After Saunders got called up, they brought out SS Anthony Phillips from extended, where he’s been chilling the past month or so… Kelley getting promoted didn’t do anything because they just reinstated David Pauley from the inactive list.
Strange Happenings:
Jack Hannahan has been getting starts at second now. The bad news is that in thirteen defensive games, he’s made ten errors… People want to know about Luke French. Through 40.0 innings, he’s allowed thirty-eight hits, walked twelve, and struck out twenty-two. Now you know!
West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (4-3 this week, 15-14 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 3rd 2010
Montgomery 5 (TB + 3), West Tenn 4 (seven innings)
W: De La Rosa (1-0, 2.08); L: Varvaro (0-1, 2.84)
Montgomery 3 (+ 4), West Tenn 1 (seven innings)
W: Downs (3-0, 1.17); L: Munoz (0-2, 4.60)
Tuesday, May 4th 2010
West Tenn 13, Huntsville 2 (MIL + 4)
W: Pineda (2-0, 1.27); L: Bowman (2-3, 5.11)
Wednesday, May 5th 2010
West Tenn 7, Huntsville 3 (MIL + 3)
W: Hensley (3-1, 1.33); L: Cody (2-3, 4.91)
Thursday, May 6th 2010
West Tenn 5, Huntsville 2 (MIL + 2)
W: Cortes (3-1, 5.52); L: Rivas (4-1, 2.10)
Friday, May 7th 2010
West Tenn 5, Huntsville 6 (MIL + 3)
W: Jones (1-1, 5.14); L: Fields (1-1, 3.45)
Saturday, May 8th 2010
West Tenn 4, Huntsville 1 (MIL + 2)
W: Robles (3-1, 3.30); L: Hand (1-1, 2.79)
Sunday, May 9th 2010
Off day
Hitter of the Week:
2B Dustin Ackley, L/R, 2/26/1988
6 G, 20 AB, 3 R, 8 H, 2B, HR, 6 RBI, 5/6 K/BB, .400/.538/.600
Finally, right? Ackley’s first month of playing pro baseball was characterized by two things in the main, a good eye and bad luck. Right now, Ackley is running a 19/19 K/BB through 116 plate appearances, a slightly higher strikeout rate than one might want given his lower power output, but nothing too alarming. Of course, you could also excuse that because he’s third in the league in walks, behind journeyman Lorenzo Scott and suspected übermensch Mike Stanton. In spite of seeming to see the ball well enough, he was running a BABIP of only .180 through the month of April. Now, we know BABIP to be more a function of skill in hitters than it is in pitchers, but Ackley’s particular skillset, which included squaring up on the ball and hitting for greater power than his physique should allow for (see his final season at UNC) and decent speed, seemed to be conducive to running higher than average BABIPs, not this. That’s not sustainable, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Where Did Those Strikeouts Go? Mention:
3B Alex Liddi, R/R, 8/14/1988
6 G, 24 AB, 3 R, 10 H, 3 2B, 3B, 8 RBI, SB, CS, 1/2 K/BB, .417/.462/.625
Looking For Ticket to Tacoma Mention:
1B Johan Limonta, L/L, 8/4/1983
7 G, 29 AB, 6 R, 12 H, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, CS, 2/3 K/BB, .414/.469/.552
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Michael Pineda, 1/18/1989
1-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 7.0 IP, 4 H, 11/1 K/BB, 2/6 G/F
Let’s take a moment to look over the Southern League leaderboards. Using four starts as entry criteria, there are three pitchers in the league who have better than five on their strikeouts to walks ratio. Pineda is second on that list. There are five pitchers who have over ten Ks per nine innings. Pineda is fourth on the list (Robles is fifth). There are six pitchers who have walk rates under two per nine. Pineda is sixth. This is all well and good, except it overlooks one other detail, and that is that Pineda is presently the second youngest pitcher in the league and everyone sitting ahead of him on that list is generally two to four years older, with a few exceptions. Pineda is good. Really good. He retired eleven of the last twelve against a decent Huntsville squad on Tuesday. With lesser squads like Mobile, Mississippi, and Montgomery coming up, he’ll probably keep cruising.
Youngest Pitcher Mention:
LHP Mauricio Robles, 3/5/1989
1-0, 2 GS, 4.09 ERA in 11.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 15/4 K/BB, 11/4 G/F, WP, PO
From the Training Room:
There were two personnel moves on the week. One of them was LHP Edward Paredes being sent to the DL, which may send up red flags for some based around his performance, but as it turns out, it’s only an injury to his left ankle. RHP Wes Littleton is back with the club after resting his arm for nearly three weeks. The other is Guillermo Quiroz hitting the DL. The backstop injured his knee sliding into third the other night and was replaced on the roster by system vet Jose Yepez. Quiroz had been hitting .338/.390/.592 at the time of the injury, but has really been in double-A forever now. No news on Hill.
Strange Happenings:
Some might think it odd that I chose Robles over the other candidates, but it’s really because he had one incredible start on Saturday afternoon where he went seven innings, allowing a run to score after three hits and a walk while striking out ten, and that was enough to bear mentioning. By contrast, you had Cortes who, despite striking out six and only allowing one earned run in six innings, gave up six hits and walked four. Hensley was in a similar boat. Yes, he had an unearned run, two hits, and eight Ks in seven innings, but he also walked five. Free passes spook me. I prefer to avoid them at all costs… The one D-Jaxx loss of the Huntsville series was contentious. In the ninth inning of the game, with one out, Josh Fields gave up RBI doubles to two Stars batters to bring them to 5-4. The next batter hit a triple, but West Tenn manager Tim Laker believe it to be a foul, not fair ball, and was eventually ejected for arguing. Then Fields walked the next two intentionally and Varvaro gave up a bases-loaded single to end it… The D-Jaxx won 4-1 on Saturday, without Ackley or Liddi in the lineup. This is a good offense.
High Desert Mavericks (4-2 this week, 18-12 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 3rd 2010
Off day
Tuesday, May 4th 2010
Lancaster 8 (HOU – 8), High Desert 1
W: Wolf (2-2, 4.40); L: LaFromboise (3-1, 3.62)
Wednesday, May 5th 2010
Lancaster 10 (HOU – 9), High Desert 11
W: Penney (1-1, 3.38); L: Berner (1-1, 3.50)
Thursday, May 6th 2010
Lancaster 6 (HOU – 8), High Desert 4
W: Wabick (2-1, 1.65); L: Richard (0-2, 5.11)
Friday, May 7th 2010
High Desert 5, San Jose 2 (SF + 2)
W: Carraway (2-1, 4.97); L: Nicholson (2-2, 5.60)
Saturday, May 8th 2010
High Desert 15, San Jose 3 (SF + 1)
W: Czyz (2-0, 3.86); L: King (1-2, 7.29)
Sunday, May 9th 2010
High Desert 8, San Jose 4 (SF 0)
W: Moorer (1-1, 1.46); L: Stolp (1-3, 5.03)
Hitter of the Week:
CF Denny Almonte, S/R, 9/24/1988
6 G, 23 AB, 7 R, 11 H, 2 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, SB, 2/1 K/BB, .478/.522/1.000
One way to knock Tenbrink out of the top spot is to slug a thousand for a week. Another is to slightly outdo him in average. Almonte did both. One of the nicknames JH has for Almonte is Halman, Jr., given that he struck out 148 times in 409 plate appearances last year. Almonte is striking out 5% less this year, which is something I suppose, but his walk rate is as bad as ever. His K/BB in April was 27/2 in 78 at-bats. Now, in May, it’s 6/2 in 31 at-bats. Progress? It may very well be, but I’m not really willing to go out on a limb over a week+ of input here. It’s something to watch over the course of the season, if you’re into such things, but otherwise, we might expect to see a few weeks like this now and then when he’s really on his game amidst periods where he’s struggling a bit more.
Close Second Mention:
3B/LF Nate Tenbrink, L/R, 12/21/1986
6 G, 24 AB, 6 R, 10 H, 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, SB, HBP, 3/2 K/BB, .417/.481/.792
Remember When We Thought He was a Free Swinger? Mention:
RF Johermyn Chavez, R/R, 1/26/1989
6 G, 23 AB, 4 R, 8 H, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 3 CS, HBP, 1/4 K/BB, .348/.464/.565
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Andrew Carraway, 9/4/1986
1-0, GS, 1.42 ERA in 6.1 IP, 6 H (HR), 2 R (ER), 9/0 K/BB, 3/5 G/F
While not quite on the level of what Erasmo Ramirez is doing in Clinton (did I just get to say that?), it bears noting that Carraway has only walked one batter all season. It didn’t even happen until May. Along this stretch, he’s also struck out twenty-four in 25.1 innings. This is all well and good, but there’s kind of a reason I haven’t talked about him much until now. His stuff isn’t that great. He’s among the better prototypes of what McNamara tried to draft last year; solid pitchers who won’t give in even though they know they don’t have top shelf stuff. All the same, you can see why I might be a little leery when I look up his season numbers and see a .336 average against. At least you can spin it by saying San Jose is fairly respectable team.
One Bad Pitch, But Less Damage Mention:
RHP Jake Wild, 8/18/1984
0-0, 1.35 ERA in 6.2 IP, 7 H (HR), 2 R (ER), 7/0 K/BB, 7/2 G/F
Surviving in Spite of Flyballs Mention:
RHP Kenn Kasparek, 9/23/1985
0-0, GS, 1.29 ERA in 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R (ER), 5/1 K/BB, 1/15 G/F
From the Training Room:
Feierabend pitched four innings this week, giving up a run on two hits and striking out four… No news on Cleto.
Strange Happenings:
I mentioned Johermyn Chavez above, but for want of greater detail (and a few bites of tasty, tasty crow), I’ll talk a little more about him here. I regarded Chavez as mostly a throw-in when he was traded to us because I didn’t think that his plate discipline was up to even the Wladimir Balentien comps he was getting. Wlad, after all, had a breakout year in double-A that netted him seventy walks. Things like that don’t come out of nothing. But sometimes they do, or perhaps they’re working with him, or something. Chavez hasn’t hit all that many home runs this season. Strangely, his slugging is about the same differential as it was last year, but whatever. The interesting thing to me is that he’s run 22/14 K/BB in 115 plate appearances. Now let’s do a little number crunching again. Last year he had a 137/40 K/BB in 569 plate appearances. That’s good for a strikeout once every 4.2 plate appearances and 14.2 for every walk. Not good. This year, it’s a strikeout every 5.2 plate appearances, a noticeable improvement, and 8.2 for every walk. Now, pick up your jaw… On Wednesday, the Mavs endured a seven-run rally in the ninth and came back to win it in their half of the inning with two more. How? Well, first there was a single, and then there were two bunts which I think were meant to be sacrifices, but resulted in the bases getting loaded. Chavez, whom I just finished talking about, walked to force in the tying run, and that brought in Travis Scott, the catcher, who singled, to the shortstop, to drive in the run. When they’re on their game, the Mavs can be more annoying than the M’s. The good kind of annoying.
Clinton Lumberkings (2-5 this week, 13-18 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 3rd 2010
Clinton 1, Peoria 3 (CHC + 7)
W: Leverton (4-0, 0.00); L: Stanton (2-2, 4.68)
Tuesday, May 4th 2010
Beloit 2 (MIN + 7), Clinton 0
W: Stuifbergen (4-0, 1.12); L: Gillheeney (1-3, 2.87)
Wednesday, May 5th 2010
Beloit 5 (MIN + 8), Clinton 2
W: Ibarra (3-2, 3.24); L: Ramirez (0-2, 2.66)
Thursday, May 6th 2010
Beloit 1 (MIN + 7), Clinton 5
W: Vasquez (1-2, 0.74); L: Hendriks (2-1, 1.32)
Friday, May 7th 2010
Clinton 13, Quad Cities 2 (STL + 5)
W: Blandford (1-2, 3.96); L: Miller (0-2, 5.32)
Saturday, May 8th 2010
Clinton 1, Quad Cities 7 (STL + 6)
W: Calhoun (1-0, 2.19); L: Hesketh (2-2, 7.46)
Sunday, May 9th 2010
Clinton 3, Quad Cities 4 (STL + 7) (ten innings)
W: Simpson (3-0, 2.89); L: Jimenez (1-2, 2.25)
Hitter of the Week:
SS Nick Franklin, S/R, 3/2/1991
7 G, 31 AB, 4 R, 11 H, 3 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, 3 SB, CS, 8/0 K/BB, .355/.355/.516
I believe it was Slurve who dropped by the other day to point out something interesting: after Saturday evening’s game, Franklin had five each of double, triples, and home runs. This would be even cooler if it were still true (he had to go and get another double Sunday), but it raises some interesting points. Franklin is in the top five in both triples (2nd) and home runs (4th) right now, while being tied for second in hits overall with forty-one. All this despite, my own perception at least, the fact that he slumped a little the past couple of weeks. Now, maybe the expectations were a bit high after the first month or so, after all, we’re all excited about the possibility of raising another legitimate shortstop prospect, but for the sake of being a bit of a buzzkill, after posting a 1.000 OPS in April and running a 15/7 K/BB, he’s now struck out every fourth at-bat in May and hasn’t walked once. That’s not good.
Fourth Best Hitter on the Roster (Currently) Mention:
1B Vinnie Catricala, R/R, 10/31/1988
7 G, 27 AB, 3 R, 9 H, 2 2B, 2 RBI, SB, 8/1 K/BB, HBP, .333/.379/.407
Hits, Gets Hit Mention:
1B Dennis Raben, L/L, 7/31/1987
7 G, 24 AB, 3 R, 5 H, 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 HBP, 11/1 K/BB, .208/.296/.500
Pitcher of the Week:
LHP Anthony Vasquez, 9/19/1986
1-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 8.0 IP, 2 H, R (0 ER), 6/0 K/BB, 15/3 G/F
The weirdest thing is that Vasquez didn’t have a win until Thursday, despite pitching like this on a regular basis. As I said on Thursday, the only reason to keep him in the league at this point beyond the High Desert effect is the sheer comedy of it all. Rain-shortened outing aside, Vasquez has yet to pitch fewer than five innings, or give up more than two runs (or walks, for that matter). Against the Beloit Snappers this week, not a terrible team, he retired the first eighteen in a row, helped by a double play ball after a single in the fourth. He’s getting two+ grounders for every flyball at the moment, and if not for his own throwing error in a pickoff attempt in the seventh, I don’t think anyone would have reached second against him. All that accounted for, I think he could probably survive a Cal League tour or two.
Junior Groundballer, No Walks in 20+ Innings Mention:
RHP Erasmo Ramirez, 5/2/1990
0-1, GS, 1.59 ERA in 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R (ER), 6/0 K/BB, 8/1 G/F
From the Training Room:
OF Daniel Carroll has hit the DL and I am trying my hardest to feign surprise. This brings in OF Wellington Dotel, who is known for being the oldest player on this team (four days older than Chris Kirkland). Also, as it turns out, Erasmo Ramirez kicked Taylor Stanton out of the rotation, so file that away, if you were keeping track of the rotations at each level. I suspect you weren’t.
Strange Happenings:
James Gilheeney would have borne some consideration for pitcher of the week after his first outing, where he allowed one run to score on four hits and a walk in six innings as he struck out six. Not so much after the second when he walked five in five and two-thirds innings. Gilheeney has walked three or more in four of his seven starts… Your Clinton Lumberkings lead the league in strikeouts with 315. No other team has cleared 300. They’re also second in home runs with twenty-eight. Dingers!
Comments
18 Responses to “Minor League Wrap (5/3-9/10)”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
It’s good to see that the big club isn’t the only place where the M’s practice head-up-your-butt baserunning.
Maybe you can answer this, Jay… I am getting the impression that Tui has a weak and unreliable arm for an left-side infielder. Is this true? Or has he just choked in Seattle in his few brief appearances? He throws a lot into the ground, and then when he’s not doing that, he airmails them into the stands.
It’s starting to look like we should all take Luke French to Vegas, cause that guy is getting luckier every day. Usually “hits” and “walks” lead to “runs”, but apparently not in France.
Hannahan’s errors worry me. I figured him for our only reliable back up infielder. He better get that straightened out.
Well, we had the Ministry of Silly Walks in the bullpen last year and I think we’re expanding that organizational philosophy to include silly running.
Former star high school quarterback? I’d say the perception that his throwing is weak is probably an anomaly, though he did have some bone chips removed last year. It would trouble me to think that he’d still be struggling with that when it happened early-to-mid season, or that he’d still be throwing all funky when he’s not been on the football field in six years or so. Butterflies, perhaps?
Any thoughts to share on Triunfel?
Thus far he has 5 extra base hits (3 hr’s) in 107 ab’s. That seems a little strange. Also, how is he hanging at SS?
I always have thoughts!
Triunfel only had five extra-base hits, but two of those came in the last ten games and he had home runs on back-to-back nights not long before that. So he’s coming along lately, not on the level of the way other players are breaking out, but he’s doing it.
The defense, from what I’ve been able to determine, is average at short, at least in context of the league.
Jay – This is great. Thanks.
Perhaps you can answer this: is there a Future Forty update in the near future?
Since catching on the M’s has been pretty much a disaster this year, any thought on who would be the best catcher in the system to get called up this year? I assume this means one of the vets in Tacoma, unless someone else is ready.
I was working on it, but then school happened :\ Hopefully I’ll have time to put something together in the coming weeks, but at this point I almost wonder if I shouldn’t just hold off until the draft. Maybe I will, maybe I won’t, but some new version should be up within the next month or so.
I would have rolled the dice with Quiroz, in spite of the whole double-A hitter thing, but then he had to go and get himself injured. The Tacoma guys aren’t doing anything worth writing about; Bard is at .229/.298/.333 and [Eliezer] Alfonzo is about the same at .259/.310/.315. They could call up Luis Oliveros, I guess, but I’m opposed to that because trivia.
Is there a catcher that is good and likely to go in the middle of the first round? I realize “drafting for need” in the MLB is basically insane, but this team is utterly and totally devoid of a “catcher of the future”.
Or perhaps there is a catcher in AAA in another organization that the M’s might get for Lee or Lopez at the trade deadline.
Cause if I watch one more passed ball/”wild pitch” that Moore or Johnson tries to backhand, I’m going to lose it.
Jay,
Is Johermyn Chavez turning into a legitimate prospect? I know most of the attention in HD has been on Tenbrink’s start, and then following Seager and Poythress but Chavez intrigues me. He has a very small home vs. road split and his eye ratio is rapidly improving. Have you heard anything about his defense in RF? I still had the Morrow trade but maybe in the long run it will turn out OK if Chavez breaks the Balentien mold. Thanks.
I could stop you right there on the insane part. The last two times the Mariners have drafted a catcher in the first few rounds on need, it hasn’t worked out well (we’ll see about Baron). Since it takes them years to develop all the tools they require just to be competent anyway, and organization needs are going to change from one year to the next, the idea of drafting a catcher for need quickly goes from bad idea to horrible one.
What the M’s probably should have done is brought in another catcher which complemented one of the existing two better. I warned people in the past that Moore did have a bit of a passed ball problem, but combining that with the existing one from Rob Johnson and no one was going to be happy.
We’re better off looking outside the organization for assistance here. Where that would be, I don’t know yet, but something will give sooner or later.
Unlike Wlad, who was getting time in center here and there, Chavez is pretty much a corner outfielder through and through. I wouldn’t try to put him anywhere else. He has the arm for right field, it’s just a question of hitting for enough power to warrant it. He’s not exactly knocking my socks off in that department at the moment, particularly considering the conditions. In OBP department, however, I’ve not seen my socks for days.
Has there been a Ryan Royster sighting yet?
In Peoria, probably. And I’m not talking about Illinois.
Jay,
Is Matt Mangini turning into a legitimate prospect down in Tacoma? Do you have any thoughts on Mangini at this point?
Also, whats your opinion on Brian Moran? He seems to be doing some good things in A ball.
The news on Chavez is certainly encouraging, and he’s young enough that such a radical change in approach at the plate could be real, which would be amazing. I’d kind of forgotten about him since the Morrow/League trade, since he was widely considered a “throw-in” (despite Marc Hulet describing him as more than that). But what’s the deal with the CS? That’s apparently been a problem for him all along, and it can’t be helped by how much bigger he is than he was a couple of years ago. Is he just not fast (or not as fast as he thinks he is) or is he just really, really bad at reading pitchers/catchers?
Questions on a Wednesday, wow.
Thoughts? Wait and see I guess. A good month does not make me forget three years of him failing to post a .800 OPS as a corner infielder. He’s striking out a little less, not walking any more, but he’s on pace to collect sixty more total bases than he did last year, assuming the same playing time, and that’s not insignificant. He’s not showing any platoon issues, he doesn’t have an extraordinary BABIP… I don’t really have much to say about him yet aside from I need more data.
Okay arm, polished, low ceiling. He’s having his strikeouts drop in May, though a bunch of hits are dropping in against him, way too many. One of the main concerns with him is that he couldn’t be anything more than a a left-on-left reliever in the big leagues and I really don’t have enough to go on there, because both sides are hitting him up pretty badly. Again, need more data.
It’s a lot of a fuss to make over a guy who’s never made twenty attempts in a season. Those CSs are his first of the year, and he was 2-for-2 before that. My guess is that he gets a little overambitious out there and it’s out of line with his abilities, but I don’t see him as a guy who’s going to be even trying to steal more than ten times as he hits the big leagues. He’s not a threat really, there’s just not reason for it.
Jay,
I’m so late in reading this that I’m sure you’ll never see this comment. But just in case, a question:
Please rank the following W. Tenn. players in the order of who we should be most excited about:
Ackley
Peguero
Pineda
Robles
thanks!
I always check until the post leaves the front page, and then it’s on to next week.
Ackley. Great hitting acumen, probable batting title holder for a few years, heir apparent to Ichiro in the leadoff spot, could hit in the teens for home runs or more while playing above-average defense. Not a worldbeater, but great player to build around and I’d generally side with the hitter all other things being equal.
Pineda. #2 potential. Fastball increasing in velocity, command as good as ever. A few touch-ups to the slider and he should be good for a long time, health concerns aside.
Robles. Drew solid reviews in spring training for his improving change-up. Not showing a damning platoon split. Physique not prototypical and command, while improving, is not a plus yet, but could be a #3-4.
Peguero. Need more time to evaluate overall, but still struggles pretty noticeably vs. LHP. Eye improving, but striking out a lot this month. Needs to keep things together, as putting them together was merely the first step. Looks like a platoon OF at this moment.