Minor League Wrap (4/25/-5/1/11)

Jay Yencich · May 2, 2011 at 8:30 am · Filed Under Minor Leagues 

We were 12-13 this week, so I guess things seem to be on the up-and-up, particularly with the high minors affiliates. In this wrap, we talk defense, High Desert mirages, players on the rebound, and the debut of a very important pitcher. Also Horacio Ramirez makes an appearance.

To the jump!

Paxton Takes the Hill:
NOTE: PAXTON PITCHES AGAIN TONIGHT. TUNE IN TO 1390 KCLN AT 4:30 PM PDT TO HEAR IT. IT’S AN OFF-DAY, WHAT ELSE WILL YOU DO?

Wednesday evening marked the highly-anticipated debut of one James Alston Paxton of Richmond, BC. I spent the evening parked in front of my computer so that I could tell you a bit about what happened with greater detail than could be gleaned by looking at that box score, but to give you a line to work with:

6.0 IP, 5 H (HR), 3 R, 6/4 K/BB, 8/3 G/F

First off, Paxton was hit by a grounder up the middle early on in the game, as the ball bounced and hit him in the right thigh. He talked with the trainers for a bit and then threw a few more times and seemed to be fine, but one wonders a little. Still, the Lumberkings lost that series to Peoria by a combined score of 31-6, and Paxton came out with less damage than any of the other starters, which speaks a bit to his abilities.

Second, I noticed that his at-bats tended to have a momentum to them, which I’d chalk it up to a little bit of debut jitters. When he got ahead of hitters, he’d try to put them away with the curve or the fastball rather quickly, and early on, a lot of the hitters swung anyway and managed to get balls to drop onto the field (there were a few misses by the defense). When he fell behind, he couldn’t throw strikes, at all, and there were at least two of his walks where he didn’t throw a single strike that at-bat. The home run he allowed as another instance of him pitching himself into trouble, as he went 3-0 to the hitter before the next pitch found its way out of the park. My woefully incomplete tally for the evening (radio blips and distractions) included nine first-pitch strikes and five first-pitch balls.

As for velocity, he was topping out around 94, which isn’t amazing or anything, but plenty promising for a left-hander. He was reported to be throwing both a four-seam and a two-seam in the interview with the Lumberblog following his start, which would explain the uptick in groundballs. The two-seam was something that was a little new for him, and didn’t show up in many of the previous scouting reports. He also threw a change-up from time to time, rarely for strikes, but he threw it in enough high-leverage situations to make one think that he’s not afraid to use it.

All said, it was a positive start for him. Not dominant as one would hope, but there was enough to take away from it to believe that he is a strong talent and will get better, and maybe move quickly, with additional turns in the rotation.

Tacoma Rainiers (4-2 this week, 8-16 overall)

The Week in Review:
Monday, April 25th 2011
Tacoma 5, Salt Lake 4 (ANA + 6) (twelve innings)
W: Jimenez (2-1, 4.15) L: Berg (1-1, 5.11)

Tuesday, April 26th 2011
Tacoma 8, Salt Lake 4 (ANA + 5)
W: Castro (1-2, 5.89) L: Shoemaker (0-2, 8.14)

Wednesday, April 27th 2011
Off day

Thursday, April 28th 2011
Tacoma 12, Reno 13 (ARI + 8 ) (twelve innings)
W: Stange (2-0, 3.86) L: Lueke (0-1, 2.25)

Friday, April 29th 2011
Tacoma 9, Reno 6 (ARI + 7)
W: Delcarmen (1-1, 4.82) L: Rodriguez (0-2, 6.97) S: Lueke (1)

Saturday, April 30th 2011
Tacoma 11, Reno 9 (ARI + 6)
W: Delcarmen (2-1, 5.56) L: Norberto (1-1, 5.25) S: Bautista (1)

Sunday, May 1st 2011
Tacoma 8, Reno 10 (ARI + 7)
W: Layne (2-1, 8.24) L: Roe (0-2, 8.25)

Hitter of the Week:
3B Alex Liddi, R/R, 8/14/1988
5 G, 20 AB, 9 R, 7 H, 2B, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 5/6 K/BB, .350/.500/.850

Here was the week in Rainiers offense: the team averaged nearly nine runs a game, had two hitters bat over .400 and another come close (one hit nearly .500), and Liddi still managed to outdo all three of those guys by walking circles around them and outslugging them. In the past ten, he’s batting .306/.404/.639 and it’s only the depths of the earlier miserable hitting that are dragging his season line down to .224/.307/.435. I’m having fun with this, so some extra goodies: with nearly a full month played, Liddi is already nearly a quarter of the way to last season’s walk totals, and more than a quarter of the way to his home run totals. Now if only we can get him to scale back the Ks from every third plate appearance and maybe hit to the other side every now and then (both his home runs on Sunday were pulled), we’d be groovy.

Do You Think He Was Bored in Double-A?? Mention:
1B/OF Johan Limonta, L/L, 8/4/1983
6 G, 25 AB, 5 R, 12 H, 2 2B, 5 RBI, 3/1 K/BB, .480/.500/.560

Back From the DL, with a Vengeance #1 Mention:
1B Matt Mangini, L/R, 12/21/1985
6 G, 30 AB, 6 R, 12 H, 2 2B, 5 RBI, CS, 4/1 K/BB, .400/.419/.467

Back From the DL, with a Vengeance #2 Mention:
CF Mike Wilson, R/R, 6/29/1983
5 G, 23 AB, 7 R, 9 H, 3 2B, HR, 8 RBI, 4/1 K/BB, .391/.417/.652

Six-Game Hit Streak Mention:
C Josh Bard, S/R, 3/30/1978
5 G, 24 AB, 5 R, 8 H, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2/1 K/BB, .333/.360/.542

Pitcher of the Week:
LHP Fabio Castro, 1/20/1985
1-0, GS, 1.50 ERA in 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R (ER), 6/1 K/BB, 4/4 G/F

The perils of picking pitchers. Sure, the Rainier scored nine runs a game, but they were also allowing an average of seven and two-thirds, the starters being a problem spot for the team, so things were perhaps closer than they needed to be. Castro turned in one of the better efforts by throwing strikes at the Bees and keeping them off-balance long enough for the offense to get and secure a win. He’s been trading good starts with awful ones though, and has walked seven in 18.1 innings, so I’m not confident with him yet. At least the Ks are there, as he’s logged twenty already.

Getting Back on Track Mention:
RHP Josh Lueke, 12/5/1984
0-1, 3 G, SB, 1.80 ERA in 5.0 IP, 3 H (HR), R, 4/2 K/BB, 9/2 G/F

From The Training Room:
RHP Justin Miller had an opt-out on his contract that allowed him to be released to pursue other opportunities starting May 1st. The M’s decided to give him a running start and let him go on Tuesday… The following day was the one when OF Carlos Peguero and RHP Josh Lueke were both optioned and RHP Dan Cortes was called up. … Later in the week, some roster maneuvering was done out of necessity. LHP Chris Seddon was placed on the temporarily inactive list as OF Mike Wilson was brought off the DL, then when Seddon’s turn came up in the rotation, they activated him and sent OF Brandon Haveman back to Jackson… You should know that Aardsma pitched an inning and two-thirds this week and let a run score on two hits and a walk while striing out four.

Strange Happenings:
Ackley had an interesting week. He batted .148 (4-for-27) with two doubles, but ran a 3/8 strikeout to walk ratio for a .343 OBP. Neat. I think… On Monday, the Rainiers nearly hit into two dumb double plays. Ackley opened the game with a double, but then Tui hit a grounder to the third baseman, who tagged out Ackley and threw to first to complete it. The very next inning, Carp doubled and Mangini grounded directly to the pitcher, and after the ball went 1-5-6-1, Carp was out, but Mangini was safe. Perhaps the dumbest thing of all, however, was that the Salt Lake City Bees brought in Horacio Ramirez to face Dustin Ackley in extra innings, and Ackley promptly hit a two-run double. Come on Bees, you’re an Angels affiliate, you should know better.

Jackson Generals (4-1 this week, 12-10 overall)

The Week in Review:
Monday, April 25th 2011
Mobile 7 (ARI + 6), Jackson 5 (twelve innings)
W: Shaw (1-0, 0.84) L: Fields (0-1, 0.84)

Tuesday, April 26th 2011
Rain and wind.

Wednesday, April 27th 2011
Add’l rain and wind.

Thursday, April 28th 2011
Jackson 6, Chattanooga 5 (LA + 3)
W: Ramirez (2-0, 3.28) L: Eovaldi (1-1, 3.06) S: Patterson (2)

Friday, April 29th 2011
Jackson 5, Chattanooga 3 (LA + 2)
W: Grube (1-0, 3.09) L: De La Rosa (2-1, 3.80) S: Patterson (3)

Saturday, April 30th 2011
Jackson 5, Chattanooga 2 (LA + 1)
W: Kasparek (3-1, 3.09) L: Antonini (2-3, 3.03)

Sunday, May 1st 2011
Jackson 3, Chattanooga 0 (LA 0)
W: Vasquez (2-2, 3.19) L: Newby (0-1, 1.80) S: Patterson (4)

Hitter of the Week:
2B Kyle Seager, L/R, 11/3/1987
5 G, 23 AB, 3 R, 10 H, 2 2B, 3 RBI, CS, 4/1 K/BB, .435/.458/.522

The last game in which Kyle Seager didn’t record a hit was the 19th of April. Bear in mind that the team has weathered a few rainouts in the meantime, but in his nice little ten-game streak, Seager is hitting .413/.438/.587 with eight doubles. Analyzing a double-A transition is tough because it’s widely regarded as the most difficult jump in the minor leagues, owing to greater level of experience that the average player has at that level. With that in mind, I’m not in a rush to knock down what Seager has accomplished, but he’s only hitting .231/.310/.269 against southpaws and his strikeout-to-walk ratio is 12/6 where it was 94/71 last year.

Other .400+ Hitter Mention:
C Ralph Henriquez, S/R, 4/7/1987
4 G, 15 AB, 4 R, 6 H, 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, 3/2 K/BB, .400/.471/.600

Still Mysterious, Still Hitting Mention:
1B Luis Antonio Jimenez, L/L, 5/7/1982
3 G, 11 AB, 3 R, 5 H, HR, 3 RBI, 1/1 K/BB, .455/.462/.727

Pitcher of the Week:
LHP Anthony Vasquez, 9/19/1986
1-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 7.0 IP, 5 H, 7/0 K/BB, 4/2 G/F

Last season, Vasquez tore out of the gate for Clinton and in time, got himself promoted twice and ended the season in the Southern League. However, for a guy who was already familiar with double-A, he struggled a bit to start this year. In his first two starts, he took two losses and had a combined 4/4 K/BB with sixteen hits allowed in 11.1 innings. Recently, the strikeouts have started to come back and he’s regained some momentum as a result. Sunday’s start saw a very efficient performance from him, with no walks, two double plays behind him, and more than two-thirds of his 95 pitches going for strikes. I’m a little worried about right-handers seeming to hit him a lot better this season, but it is just the beginning of May and he’ll have some time to get things straightened out.

Ks also Koming Back Mention:
RHP Kenn Kasparek, 9/23/1985
1-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 6.1 IP, 4 H, R (0 ER), 5/2 K/BB, 6/4 G/F

Relief Hero Mention:
RHP Scott Patterson, 6/20/1979
0-0, 4 G, 3 SV, 0.00 ERA in 6.0 IP, 3 H, 9/0 K/BB, 4/3 G/F

From the Training Room:
RHP Steven Hensley’s DL stint proved to be relatively short and he was activated Monday, and resumed pitching out of the rotation. LHP Brian Moran hit the temporarily inactive list as a result. I don’t know what that’s about, but giving a guy a holiday when he has fifteen hits (three of them taters) and five walks allowed in7.1 innings seems reasonable… When Haveman came back, UT Jorge Agudelo went back to extended spring training. I’d expect him to be an Aquasox later this season.

Strange Happenings:
The losing pitcher on Sunday was Joey Newby, an Alaskan who pitched for West Tenn in 2009. At that time, I tried to convince people that if he had a 40/36 K/BB in 53.0 innings with forty-five hits allowed, he probably shouldn’t have a 2.38 ERA. Well, Newby took his show to the independent leagues last year and had a 2.48 ERA to go with a 80/53 K/BB in 112.2 IP with eighty-five hits allowed. So yeah! I don’t get it… Erasmo Ramirez also had an interesting week for strikeouts. He struck out seven Thursday afternoon, in the process nearly doubling his season total through four starts. The bad news? He also allowed ten hits for the second consecutive start, this time in 5.2 innings… In Saturday’s game, two unearned runs scored, but no errors were committed. Credit two passed balls by Bantz for that. Of course, it was his first time playing in nearly a week… Tenbrink made his seventh error of the season on Sunday. It’s difficult to tell how much longer they’ll run him out at the hot corner, but I don’t really have a problem with it.

High Desert Mavericks (2-5 this week, 10-14 overall)

The Week in Review:
Monday, April 25th 2011
Inland Empire 6 (ANA 0), High Desert 4
W: Hellweg (1-0, 4.76) L: Hesketh (1-2, 8.10) S: Carpenter (3)

Tuesday, April 26th 2011
Inland Empire 5 (ANA – 1), High Desert 6
W: Diaz (1-0, 2.53) L: Piazza (0-1, 2.77) S: Jimenez (3)

Wednesday, April 27th 2011
Inland Empire 14 (ANA – 1), High Desert 7
W: Haynes (1-2, 9.39) L: Medina (0-4, 7.43)

Thursday, April 28th 2011
Inland Empire 14 (ANA 0), High Desert 7
W: Pena (2-1, 5.26) L: Hume (0-1, 6.75)

Friday, April 29th 2011
Rancho Cucamonga 11 (LA + 4), High Desert 2
W: Webster (3-2, 3.38) L: Czyz (1-2, 9.49)

Saturday, April 30th 2011
Rancho Cucamonga 8 (LA + 5), High Desert 3
W: Walter (2-1, 4.85) L: Hudson (0-2, 3.09) S: Smith (1)

Sunday, May 1st 2011
Rancho Cucamonga 3 (LA + 4), High Desert 4
W: Sorce (2-1, 3.26) L: Redding (2-2, 3.41) S: Delabar (1)

Hitter of the Week:
OF Daniel Carroll, R/R, 1/6/1989
7 G, 25 AB, 8 R, 9 H, 3B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 5 SB, 11/6 K/BB, .360/.484/.680

This has been an odd year in some respects for the Mavericks, as they’ve too often been on the wrong end of blowouts at home, and it’s at home that a lot of their hitters have thrived. Take Carroll. He’s having an interesting season, some might call it a breakout. He’s already stolen fifteen bases, which is impressive no matter how you look at it, and has walked eighteen times already and will eclipse his 2008 total set in seventy-nine games shortly. But there are problems. Carroll has hit four home runs, and has a career high of ten. This would also be good news except that his slugging at home is nearly .700 and on the road it’s just .324. That’s sad. So while I look on his improved plate discipline and stolen base totals with some hope, I notice that his Ks are creeping back and that the power is mostly a mirage. He could be getting into bad habits as we speak.

Negligible Home/Road Split Mention:
3B Vinnie Catricala, R/R, 10/31/1988
5 G, 22 AB, R, 7 H, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 4/1 K/BB, .318/.348/.545

Two Outcomes and Change Mention:
RF Kalian Sams, R/R, 8/25/1986
5 G, 16 AB, 4 R, 3 H, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 7/2 K/BB, .188/.278/.750

Pitcher of the Week:
LHP Jimmy Gillheeney, 11/8/1987
0-0, 2 GS, 2.13 in 12.2 IP, 5 H (HR), 3 R, 17/0 K/BB, 14/7 G/F, HB

Picking a POTW for the Mavs isn’t usually this easy. Monday night, Gillheeny outpitched a rehabbing Joel Pineiro, with a run on three hits and seven Ks in seven frames to Pineiro’s three unearned runs on six hits, two walks, a wild pitch, and two Ks in five and two-thirds. Then on Saturday, he struck out ten, and came up with the “no decision” in part because the bullpen again failed him and scored an inheritted runner against him. Gillheeney, I don’t think really has any business being in High Desert anymore, beyond them needing someone in the rotation. His performances, at home no less, are getting more impressive by the week.

Competent Relief Mention:
RHP Timothy Boyce, 2/6/1987
0-0, 2 G, 3.17 ERA in 5.2 IP, 5 H (HR), 2 R, 6/1 K/BB, 2/6 G/F

From the Training Room:
Things were busier for the Mavs then they have been of late. On Monday, they got SS Anthony Phillips from Clinton and sent back IF Shaver Hansen in the exchange, then assigned SS Jake Schlander to the Aquasox… The Mavs also picked up LHP Jason Markovitz from Clinton, but sent RHP Chris Kirkland to extended in the process to work on some things. The same day, RHP Taylor Stanton hit the DL… Saturday afternoon, LHP Nick Czyz was activated from the DL along with RHP Stephen Pryor (who then walked three without recording an out), but RHP John Housey was released. Someone is going to need to update the list of notable Mariners minor leaguers on Wikipedia. So, in summary, the two guys who had an even strikeout-to-walk ratio were both sent elsewhere, and Ogui Diaz and Donnie Hume better watch their backs… Sunday afternoon, RHP Steve Delabar was added to the team. He’s a former Padre who pitched 2008-9 in the indy leagues.

Strange Happenings:
All of Sams’ six home runs were also at home, in case you were wondering… Franklin hit .125/.314/.250 in seven games this week. At least there were lots of walks and some power… The Lake Elsinore Storm now have a catcher by the name of Rocky Gale. Perfect.

Clinton Lumberkings (2-5 this week, 7-17 overall)

The Week in Review:
Monday, April 25th 2011
Peoria 14 (CHC + 1), Clinton 3
W: Jokisch (3-0, 1.50) L: Mieses (0-2, 4.58)

Tuesday, April 26th 2011
Peoria 10 (CHC + 2), Clinton 1
W: Kirk (2-1, 2.00) L: Maurer (1-2, 4.76)

Wednesday, April 27th 2011
Peoria 7 (CHC + 3), Clinton 2
W: Lopez (1-0, 5.29) L: Paxton (0-1, 4.50)

Thursday, April 28th 2011
Rain!

Friday, April 29th 2011
Clinton 0, Wisconsin 5 (MIL – 3) (seven innings)
W: Miller (1-2, 4.43) L: Kim (0-2, 4.74)

Clinton 6, Wisconsin 1 (- 4) (seven innings)
W: Snow (1-2, 5.47) L: Howell (0-3, 4.34)

Saturday, April 30th 2011
Clinton 5, Wisconsin 2 (MIL – 5)
W: Mieses (1-2, 4.01) L: Nelson (0-2, 4.74) S: Burgoon (3)

Sunday, May 1st 2011
Beloit 10 (MIN + 5), Clinton 8
W: Dempster (1-1, 4.91) L: Arias (0-1, 33.75) S: Hauser (3)

Hitter of the Week:
3B/OF Stefen Romero, R/R, 10/17/1988
6 G, 13 AB, 4 R, 4 H, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 3/4 K/BB, 2 HBP, .308/.500/1.000

Two of these games, Romero only recorded one at-bat officially, but who am I to quibble with that? He’s found other ways of being productive. Such as the few hits he has been getting being knocked out of the park. Romero was one of the better college players in the region, but fractured his arm diving back to the bag on a pickoff attempt and fell down the draft boards as a result. The Mariners bit in the twelfth round and look like they may have gotten an interesting player out of it, but bear in mind that Romero’s only played in twenty-one games thus far and was pretty miserable at the plate coming into this week, so we’ll have to see if this is the start of something or not.

Haters Gonna Hate Mention:
C Steve Baron, R/R, 12/7/1990
6 G, 18 AB, 3 R, 6 H, 3 2B, HR, 3 RBI, SB, CS, 5/3 K/BB, HBP, .333/.455/.667

Probably Deserves a Promotion Mention:
1B/DH Tim Morris, L/L, 12/11/1987
7 G, 23 AB, 3 R, 8 H, 2B, 2 RBI, 5/5 K/BB, HBP, .348/.482/.391

Funk Blasht! (And Walks) Mention:
OF Jabari Blash, R/R, 7/4/1989
5 G, 13 AB, 4 R, 4 H, HR, 2 RBI, 2 SB, 3/5 K/BB, .308/.500/.538

Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Forrest Snow, 12/30/1988
1-0, GS, 1.29 ERA in 7.0 IP, 5 H, R, 7/1 K/BB, 5/8 G/F

The Forrest-Snow-In-The-Rotation Experiment has lasted all of five starts, in which he’s been amazing twice, mediocre once, and bad two other times. It’s tough to say what, if anything, we’ve learned from the experience thus far. There’s no pattern among the starts and the quality of the opposing offense, his left/right splits are about even, and I’m just going to assume the whole day game vs. night game thing is noise. What we do know is that with this victory, he has recorded his first pro win and got deeper into a game than he’d ever gone previously, and since it was the second game of a doubleheader, he got a complete game too.

Sparkplug Mention:
RHP Willy Kesler, 8/11/1987
0-0, 2 G, 0.00 ERA in 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2/0 K/BB, 13/1 G/F

From the Training Room:
Beyond the Phillips/Hansen swap, not a whole lot. RF Kevin Rivers hit the DL, which brought in RF Jabari Blash. As of Sunday evening, there has been a Funk Blasht… When Markovitz went to Adelanto, LHP James Paxton joined the team. Perhaps you noticed. I’m still trying to figure out what this means for the rotation.

Strange Happenings:
Maurer had the misfortune of recording one awesome start and one awful one this week. In the awful one, he let six runs (five earned) plate on seven hits, a wild pitch, a balk, two hit batters, three walks, and four Ks in five frames. In the good one, it was just two hits and two walks against six Ks in seven frames. Maurer didn’t even win that one, as the Lumberkings managed to turn a 7-0 lead into a 10-8 loss. Better luck next week… Marcus Littlewood hit his first pro home run on Monday! He hasn’t hit anything since 🙁

Comments

15 Responses to “Minor League Wrap (4/25/-5/1/11)”

  1. maqman on May 2nd, 2011 11:09 am

    Carroll and Barton are looking good while Franklin has fizzled like a damp squib. Fabio sounds like a guy who should have a candy bar named after him.

  2. msfanmike on May 2nd, 2011 11:29 am

    while Franklin has fizzled like a damp squib.

    It’s May 2nd. He will be just fine. His OBP is good (.380’s), he’s taking a lot of walks and he has that exceptional bat speed that will only get better with physical maturity/strength and it will translate well as he moves upward. I would be more concerned with his defense than his offense. He will end up having a good year at the plate.

  3. Ibuprofen on May 2nd, 2011 11:36 am

    Say that we get Rendon with our pick in the draft this year, but Liddi keeps consistently tearing it up as he has been. What do we do then?

  4. Jay Yencich on May 2nd, 2011 11:40 am

    Carroll and Barton are looking good while Franklin has fizzled like a damp squib.

    Barton?

    Say that we get Rendon with our pick in the draft this year, but Liddi keeps consistently tearing it up as he has been. What do we do then?

    Trade depth! We have some interesting, although inconsistent players internally at the hot corner for us, but Rendon is so much better defensively and projects to be much better on offense too that it’s hard to see any one of these guys taking his place.

  5. the tourist on May 2nd, 2011 11:42 am

    Say that we get Rendon with our pick in the draft this year, but Liddi keeps consistently tearing it up as he has been. What do we do then?

    We would have depth then. Foreign territory, but it’s allowed.

  6. Chipanese on May 2nd, 2011 12:46 pm

    I’m a little worried about Jones and Littlewood. Jones seems to be completely lost at the plate, striking out almost half of his ABs…

  7. Westside guy on May 2nd, 2011 12:48 pm

    Thanks, Jay, for the reminder of another stupidly lopsided Bavasi trade. 😀

    Man, I hope the Pirates go for Cole. I think we need a third baseman more than we need another pitcher, even a very good one.

    I won’t exactly COMPLAIN if we end up with Cole, though… it’s fun thinking about having a Phillies-quality rotation.

  8. paracorto on May 2nd, 2011 1:02 pm

    I find you’ve been too quick in analizing Ackley’s performances. Following carefully play-by-play I do not like at all his pitch selection in the zone, all those weaky groundouts even vs RH pitching, some worrying K’s and BA with RISP. Yes, he’s still finding a way to save his .OBP stat with some walks but that’s all right now. Please do not just reiterate he’s a great talent with a super eye and that’s is focused on improving his defense — we all know that like a dogma. I’d like to read some deeper and fair analysis on his struggles. Still if it’s possible to discuss an icon like him of course.

  9. jordan on May 2nd, 2011 3:33 pm

    I realize he isn’t worth the second pick, so we won’t get him there, but I am really excite about Mikie Mahtook out of LSU. I really hope he can fall to us in the second round, but that is doubtful as well. A draft of Rendon and Mahtook in the first two rounds would be amazing.

  10. spankystout on May 2nd, 2011 4:09 pm

    Corto: We don’t all have to be concerned over Ackley’s approach 30 days into the season.

    And please don’t “analize” Ackley, me, or any other innocent bystander.

  11. Chipanese on May 2nd, 2011 4:51 pm

    is Paxton pitching after Kohlscheen? Oh, and Guti is in the line-up for Tacoma!

  12. B13a on May 2nd, 2011 5:27 pm

    And please don’t “analize” Ackley, me, or any other innocent bystander.

    Great, now Ackley’ll have to use Crawford’s ridiculous batting stance.

  13. joser on May 2nd, 2011 8:07 pm

    The real question: what with all the vagaries of minor league promotions and trades, will the baseball gods allow us to see Rocky Gale face Forrest Snow?

  14. Paul B on May 3rd, 2011 11:05 am

    Liddi is already nearly a quarter of the way to last season’s walk totals, and more than a quarter of the way to his home run totals. Now if only we can get him to scale back the Ks from every third plate appearance and maybe hit to the other side every now and then (both his home runs on Sunday were pulled), we’d be groovy.

    Does he project to be able to field well enough to stay at third?

    It would be so great to have a good hitting third baseman.

    If they have to move him to a less demanding position, what would his career path likely look like? A guy that never really had a position, like a Mike Morse or a Cory Snyder?

  15. Jay Yencich on May 3rd, 2011 12:30 pm

    Most people hate his third base defense and thinks he looks stiff out there. I’m not yet convinced that’s incurable, but as a major league third baseman, his overall value is probably average at best.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.