Minor League Wrap (5/14-20/12)
There were interesting things that happened this week. Hultzen pitched well and was named to the Prospect Hot Sheet. Someone threw a four-run complete game. A High Desert hitter had an OPS of 1.300+. None of these things are the most interesting minor league baseball-related item I encountered this week. The most interesting minor league baseball thing I learned about this week was this, via Wikipedia, which I hope is not full of lies:
The Bakersfield Blaze have played in Sam Lynn Ballpark since 1941. Or at least they’ve been the Blaze since 1995, but they’ve been around since 1941. One night, in 1982, before they were the Blaze, a game that ran late resulted in the automatic sprinklers coming on while players were on the field. Various attempts were made to remedy this problem, such as the solution of standing on the sprinkler heads, most popular among four-year-olds, but the groundskeeper couldn’t be located easily and it took twenty minutes to find a shutoff. The problem of standing water remained, so Visalia’s team manager provided a novel solution: pour gasoline on the puddles, and try to burn them off. It worked. Sort of. The third base side of the diamond was badly burnt and wasn’t fixed until the offseason. Meanwhile, Visalia rallied and won the game.
And people wonder why I love minor league baseball.
To the jump!
Tacoma Rainiers (3-3 this week, 17-26 overall, 6 GB in PCL Pacific Northern)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 14th 2012
Round Rock 6 (TEX – 5), Tacoma 13
W: Marquez (3-3, 5.62) L: Perez (3-3, 5.27)
Tuesday, May 15th 2012
Round Rock 11 (TEX – 4), Tacoma 3
W: Reynolds (3-3, 4.11) L: Snow (0-4, 8.17)
Wednesday, May 16th 2012
Off day
Thursday, May 17th 2012
Tacoma 3, Omaha 2 (KC + 9)
W: Henn (3-0, 3.65) L: Smith (1-3, 4.01) S: Pryor (1)
Friday, May 18th 2012
Tacoma 4, Omaha 5 (KC + 10)
W: Jeffress (3-2, 4.84) L: Jimenez (0-2, 6.94) S: Bueno (3)
Saturday, May 19th 2012
Rain out
Sunday, May 20th 2012
Tacoma 5, Omaha 8 (KC + 11) (seven innings)
W: Mazzaro (2-0, 4.91) L: Marquez (3-4, 6.45) S: Sisk (5)
Tacoma 4, Omaha 0 (KC + 10) (seven innings)
W: Vasquez (5-2, 4.44) L: O’Sullivan (3-3, 6.27)
Hitter of the Week:
LF Carlos Peguero, L/L, 2/22/1987
6 G, 23 AB, 4 R, 7 H, 3 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, CS, 5/2 K/BB, HBP, .304/.385/.696
It seems inevitable that it will happen at some point this season. There’s not much we can do about it. Now that Carlos Peguero is healthy and has resumed hitting, he will eventually be called up. Acknowledging that we’re working with a pitiful eleven-game sample, has much changed since last year? In 2011, while with Tacoma, Peguero walked 5.8% of the time and struck out 31.8% of the time. Long-time followers of him will know that those are not typos. This year, he’s struck out 29.1% of the time, and I’d say that’s within the margin of error, and he’s walked 10.9% of the time, which might not be within the error margin, but small sample. This has ended up being less meaningful than I hoped it would be, considering how little he’s played. Just Beware. Beware.
Walking and Power Sphere Mention:
DH/1B Luis Antonio Jimenez, L/L, 5/7/1982
6 G, 21 AB, 5 R, 6 H, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2/5 K/BB, .286/.423/.476
Not Walking or Spherical Mention:
RF Chih-Hsien Chiang, L/R, 2/21/1988
5 G, 16 AB, R, 5 H, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 3/0 K/BB, .313/.294/.563
Pitcher of the Week:
LHP Anthony Vasquez, 9/19/1986
1-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2/3 K/BB, 5/7 G/F, WP
Prior to the series with Omaha, Mike Curto tweeted that the Storm Chasers led the league in runs scored while the Rainiers led the league in runs allowed. It looked to be one of those classic meetings of irresistible force and movable object, which usually results in something going “zoom.” And then The Out Whisperer came ’round. Omaha didn’t even manage to get a runner past second until the final inning. To that point, every time someone got on, there would be a pickoff or a double play that would quickly erase the threat. This is just how it is when he’s on his game. Cheers to you, Anthony Vasquez, you are in many ways incomprehensible.
A Less Effective Out Whispering Mention:
RHP Andrew Carraway, 9/4/1986
0-0, GS, 2.57 ERA in 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2/3 K/BB, 9/3 G/F, BK, HB
From The Training Room:
In Tuesday’s day game, SS Carlos Triunfel got hit in the left wrist by a pitch. You see, it’s not always a matter of them getting good when they leave, it’s a matter of them getting injured when they get good. Think about it and I’m sure you’ll be able to cite many examples. Anyway, the good news is that he played Thursday and has continued playing, so I guess that he’s all right?
Strange Happenings:
The Round Rock series was supposed to be a big deal because at some point, assuming that the Rangers organization stopped jerking him around as to whether he was going to be making his start in triple-A or the big leagues, Martin Perez was going to show up. He’s kind of a big deal you know. And so Monday night, he did show up. And he lasted two innings, with seven runs scoring on eight hits, two walks, and two Ks. Suckerssssss… Former Rainier Andy Barkett is managing the Jacksonville Suns in the Southern League this year. Jamie Burke is also managing the Cedar Rapids Kernels. You wanted to know… In the first game of Sunday’s DH, the Rainiers scored three runs without an extra-base hit or a walk and that’s pretty much the Mariners way.
Jackson Generals (4-2 this week, 26-17 overall, 1st in SL North)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 14th 2012
Jackson 4, Tennessee 15 (CHC – 6) (seven innings)
W: McNutt (1-3, 2.84) L: Paxton (3-2, 3.58)
Jackson 3, Tennessee 1 (CHC – 7) (seven innings)
W: Moran (1-2, 0.49) L: Beeler (0-3, 3.89) S: Capps (3)
Tuesday, May 15th 2012
Jackson 8, Tennessee 10 (CHC – 6)
W: Weathers (2-1, 4.26) L: Hensley (0-2, 2.78) S: Cabrera (2)
Wednesday, May 16th 2012
Off day
Thursday, May 17th 2012
Mobile 2 (ARI + 8), Jackson 4
W: Hultzen (4-3, 1.81) L: Bolsinger (0-1, 1.35) S: Capps (4)
Friday, May 18th 2012
Mobile 5 (ARI + 7), Jackson 13
W: Hernandez (2-0, 3.18) L: Eitel (3-3, 4.96)
Saturday, May 19th 2012
Mobile 1 (ARI + 6), Jackson 2
W: Hensley (1-2, 2.66) L: Kaczrowski (0-1, -.–)
Sunday, May 20th 2012
Rain out 🙁
Hitter of the Week:
1B Steve Proscia, R/R, 6/26/1990
6 G, 22 AB, 5 R, 8 H, 3 HR, 6 RBI, CS, 1/2 K/BB, .364/.417/.773
Huh. When Proscia was promoted, I showed some concern with the whole affair because he was hitting .431/.453/.843 at home and .286/.333/.329 on the road. Justifiable concerns, right? Proscia has been up for nine games and has hit four home runs. This wasn’t something I anticipated. But looking at the splits a bit closer, three of the home runs he’s hit were at Tennesse, which is friendly to dingers in general. Their L/R HR park factor is 130/124, the highest in the league by a good margin. Their pitching staff is also tied for first in home runs allowed, and the two are probably related. So, if you’re curious as to whether or not I’m still concerned about Proscia as a viable hitting prospect, the answer is an emphatic “yes.”
Seven-Game Hit Streak Mention:
UT Eric Campbell, R/R, 8/6/1985
5 G, 21 AB, 6 R, 7 H, 2 2B, 3B, 6 RBI, 4/1 K/BB, .333/.364/.524
On-Base Machine Mention:
DH/CF Daniel Carroll, R/R, 1/6/1989
5 G, 17 AB, 6 R, 6 H, 2B, RBI, 2 SB, CS, 2/4 K/BB, .353/.476/.412
Pitcher of the Week:
LHP Danny Hultzen, 11/28/1989
1-0, GS, 1.29 ERA in 7.0 IP, 3 H (HR), R, 8/1 K/BB, 8/4 G/F, HB
If you’ve been following along for a while (I tend to wrongly assume that you have), you’ll know that I’ve been concerned about Hultzen. It’s not the hits, because his average against is .133 (holy crap), it’s the walks. For much of the season, as far as walks per nine innings went, Hultzen has been right there with Paxton, whose command we had already been concerned about. As I was saying last time around, in his eight starts he’s walked three or more five times. This time around, he only walked one and retired thirteen of the last fourteen batters he faced. Mobile isn’t one of the league’s great offenses, but they aren’t bad at drawing walks. We’ll see if this was a sign of things to come when the Generals take on Montgomery this week.
Closer? Mention:
RHP Carter Capps, 8/7/1990
0-0, 3 G, 2 SV, 0.00 ERA in 4.2 IP, 2 H, 4/0 K/BB, 3/6 G/F
Extra Pitching Notes:
Paxton did the Jekyll/Hyde start thing this week. On Monday, he took his second loss after letting five runs score on three hits (two HR), four walks, a balk and a couple Ks. He was followed by Yoervis Medina, who is bad more often than not, and did not disappoint, giving up six runs in a single inning with no outside help. When Saturday’s start came around, Paxton was on his game again, going six strong with one scoring on a solo shot to go with three other hits, a wild pitch, a hit batter, two walks, and six Ks… Taijuan Walker lasted just two and two-thirds innings with a run scoring on three hits, two hit batters, a walk, and three Ks. He left early because he landed on his ankle funny, which is great, because the ankle is not part of the arm.
From the Training Room:
RHP Moises Hernandez came off the DL on Monday, which I guess was the delayed corresponding move to Carraway’s promotion. Hooray!… Wednesday, DH Joe Dunigan landed on the DL retroactive to Monday. The corresponding move on Thursday was that IF Anthony Phillips came in from Clinton. Why, they’re not alike at all! But Jackson already had Kalian Sams around, so… whatever… Nick Franklin didn’t bat from the 10th to the 18th because he was out with a thumb injury. His first game back he was 4-4 with a double, two triples, and a walk. Awesome.
Strange Happenings:
Proscia now has the same OPS (through three digits) in the Southern League as he did in the Cal League. Wha?… Thursday was supposed to mark a much anticipated showdown between Trevor Bauer and Danny Hultzen, but at the last minute, Bauer was promoted to triple-A because THE DIAMONDBACKS ORGANIZATION IS POPULATED BY COWARDS… That ERA with all those dashes in Saturday’s game? Chris Petit hit a walk-off HR and it was the first batter the guy faced.
High Desert Mavericks (3-4 this week, 23-21 overall, T-1st in CAL South)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 14th 2012
Visalia 4 (ARI – 2), High Desert 14
W: Fernandez (2-1, 3.38) L: Hernandez (3-2, 3.52)
Tuesday, May 15th 2012
Visalia 26 (ARI – 1), High Desert 11
W: Holmberg (5-3, 3.72) L: Sorce (1-2, 7.11)
Wednesday, May 16th 2012
Visalia 13 (ARI 0), High Desert 7
W: Chafin (3-0, 3.30) L: Gillheeney (3-1, 4.28)
Thursday, May 17th 2012
High Desert 4, Rancho Cucamonga 7 (LA – 4)
W: Sanchez (3-2, 5.36) L: Hobson (0-1, 11.57) S: Eadington (2)
Friday, May 18th 2012
High Desert 7, Rancho Cucamonga 6 (LA – 5) (ten innings)
W: Kesler (2-1, 6.75) L: McGough (2-2, 3.10) S: Smith (1)
Saturday, May 19th 2012
High Desert 5, Rancho Cucamonga 6 (LA – 4) (ten innings)
W: Eadington (1-0, 6.75) L: Raga (0-2, 7.15)
Sunday, May 20th 2012
High Desert 11, Lancaster 4 (HOU + 2)
W: Stanton (2-1, 6.82) L: Martinez (1-3, 6.55)
Hitter of the Week:
LF/CF Julio Morban, L/L, 2/13/1992
6 G, 22 AB, 6 R, 10 H, 3B, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 6/4 K/BB, .455/.500/.818
Assuming he’s healthy and stays that way, Morban has been one of my favourite stories this year. It’s not just that he’s been hitting (40.5% extra base knocks for your reference), it’s that everything I’d ordinarily be concerned about in a prospect’s splits are reversed. I’m concerned about L/R splits in left-handed bats. Morban is .351/.400/.623 against right-handers and .400/.467/.800 against southpaws. I’m terrified of looking at home/road splits with High Desert hitters. He’s .316/.344/.614 at home and .422/.500/.733 on the road. The only thing I feel like I could rightly ask for is a little bit more playing time and some walks, because if he qualified (he just barely misses qualifying), he would have the best OPS in the California League right now.
A Walk Now and Then Couldn’t Hurt #1 Mention:
3B Mario Martinez, R/R, 11/13/1989
7 G, 32 AB, 7 R, 14 H, 3 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, CS, 3/0 K/BB, .438/.438/.813
A Walk Now and Then Couldn’t Hurt #2 Mention:
C John Hicks, R/R, 8/31/1989
7 G, 34 AB, 4 R, 10 H, 3 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 7/0 K/BB, .294/.294/.647
Has Twice as Many Walks as the #2 on the Team Mention:
SS Brad Miller, S/R, 10/18/1989
7 G, 28 AB, 7 R, 11 H, 2 2B, HR, RBI, 3 SB, 5/6 K/BB, HBP, .393/.514/.571
#3 in Walks Mention:
RF James Jones, L/L, 9/24/1988
6 G, 24 AB, 6 R, 9 H, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, CS, 3/2 K/BB, .375/.423/.667
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Taylor Stanton, 1/15/1988
1-0, 2 G (GS), 2.77 ERA in 13.0 IP, 15 H (HR), 8 R (4 ER), 6/3 K/BB, 22/5 G/F, WP
The rotation got a little wonky when Tuesday’s starter left early, and Stanton, being the guy who came in for long relief, ended up taking over the spot for Sunday’s game. Given that opportunity, he threw a complete game. Who could have guessed? But then again, it was the kind of complete game I’ve seen every now and then here: four runs, eleven hits, 6/1 K/BB. That diminishes the enthusiasm a bit, but the groundballs are legit and appear to have helped him this season. His rate stats are mostly worse, relative to his last tour of High Desert, but his tRA has been better in large part because some extra sink on his pitches has helped him avoid the longball. I could see him in Jackson later this season, dependent on what’s going on in their rotation.
Lacking Options This Week Mention:
RHP Jonathan Arias, 2/8/1988
0-0, 2 G, 4.50 ERA in 4.0 IP, 3 H (HR), 2 R, 6/2 K/BB, 1/4 G/F, 2 HB
From the Training Room:
It was something I wasn’t thinking about particularly because of the fifteen-run loss thing, but RHP Chris Sorce lasted just an inning and a third on Tuesday and the next day it was revealed that he would go on the disabled list with a forearm contusion. RHP George Mieses, with whom I’d seen no issues, also hit the DL with shoulder soreness. To fill in the gaps, RHP Tim Boyce was activated from the DL, where he had been to start the season, and LHP Cameron Hobson came in from Clinton. Hobson has been a bit inconsistent for the Lumberkings and so I’m more than a little worried he might have trouble in High Desert. At least he keeps the ball on the ground. And he did keep the ball down in his first start! Sort of! 7/3 G/F! That’s good! 4.2 IP, 7 H (2 HR), 7 R (6 ER), 2/1 K/BB. Not good… Saturday afternoon, the Mavericks picked up two guys from Clinton, C Carlton Tanabe, because three catchers is not enough, and IF Carlos Ramirez. UT Patrick Brady, who had been with the team and was hitting .286/.333/.414 (low in High Desert terms, but not bad), was sent to Clinton. Tanabe didn’t play this week, but neither did Coleman, who could be injured for all I know.
Strange Happenings:
There were thirty-seven runs scored in the game on Tuesday evening and that’s still fourteen runs shy of the all time scoring high I’ve seen since we’ve been there. At the same time, I may be coming around to being there in the same sense that Mike Curto eventually learned to love playing games in Colorado Springs… Miller made three errors this week, which qualifies as a blip on the radar, I think… Coming into Sunday, the Mavericks led the minor leagues with 6.68 runs scored per game and are you surprised?
Clinton Lumberkings (4-3 this week, 16-27 overall, 10.5 GB in MWL Western)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 14th 2012
Clinton 2, Beloit 5 (MIN + 8 )
W: Gruver (3-3, 3.54) L: Landazuri (3-2, 3.27) S: Dempster (3)
Tuesday, May 15th 2012
Clinton 0, Beloit 1 (MIN + 9)
W: Shibuya (2-1, 2.25) L: Taylor (1-3, 5.14)
Wednesday, May 16th 2012
Peoria 4 (CHC – 4), Clinton 5
W: Corrales (2-0, 2.57) L: McDonald (0-1, 2.84) S: Hunter (2)
Thursday, May 17th 2012
Peoria 4 (CHC – 3), Clinton 3
W: Francescon (5-1, 1.86) L: Miller (1-3, 4.14) S: Lorick (6)
Friday, May 18th 2012
Peoria 2 (CHC – 4), Clinton 8
W: Hidalgo (2-5, 4.87) L: Rosario (3-4, 4.37)
Saturday, May 19th 2012
Quad Cities 3 (STL – 1), Clinton 5
W: Griffin (2-0, 1.78) L: Hernandez (3-3, 3.57) S: Hunter (3)
Sunday, May 20th 2012
Quad Cities 11 (STL – 2), Clinton 12
W: Colvin (1-0, 1.80) L: Revesz (0-1, 27.00)
Hitter of the Week:
CF Jamal Austin, R/R, 8/26/1990
6 G, 25 AB, 5 R, 9 H, 4 2B, 2 RBI, 2 SB, CS, 1/2 K/BB, .360/.407/.520
As of Sunday, Austin has hit safely in 27 of 33 games and has a safely reached streak spanning those same 33 games, which is the longest streak in the league this year. I referenced some of this last week. What was interesting to me this time around is that four of his nine doubles on the season came this week despite the week itself comprising about 15% of his total at-bats. Power had been one area where I had been concerned with him, though I didn’t expect that to change all that much given that he’s listed a 5’9″ and 170 lbs. Walks, on the other hand, seemed like an area where more could be done, and he just logged his tenth of the year on Sunday. I’ve suggested Jamal Strong as a possible career model before, but looking over Strong’s stats, he topped out at twenty-three doubles a season and Austin is making good pace so far. The issue is more that, in the same season, Strong walked ninety-one times and Austin is pacing for just over thirty. That’s a not-insignificant difference.
Not Quite a Starter, But Pretty Good #1 Mention:
OF Mario Yepez, S/R, 6/15/1988
5 G, 19 AB, 3 R, 8 H, 2B, 2 RBI, 3/1 K/BB, .421/.450/.474
Not Quite a Starter, But Pretty Good #2 Mention:
UT Dillon Hazlett, R/R, 1/22/1989
5 G, 17 AB, R, 5 H, 2 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, CS, 3/0 K/BB, .294/.294/.529
Pitcher of the Week:
LHP Kyle Hunter, 6/18/1989
0-0, 2 G, 2 SV, 0.00 ERA in 4.1 IP, 5/0 K/BB, 1/4 G/F, HB
With the way the rotation has been, I’ve missed a few opportunities to highlight the work that the bullpen has been doing. A lot of that boils down to my criteria for selecting pitchers too, but the chance came up to talk Hunter and I’ll take it. Hunter got on the radar soon after he was drafted (31st round, for reference) because he ran a 62/9 K/BB between two short-season stops last year. I figured that might be enough to get him a look in the rotation, but thus far he’s continued on in relief and has changed things up a bit as far as how he pitches. The story this week is strikeouts, but for the season he’s rung up roughly 20% of the batters he faced whereas last year it was 31.6%. With the shift, we’ve also seen a drop in walks, just 2.5% this year compared to 4.6% last year, and he’s gone from an average against of .277 to one of .200. So, the overall strikeouts have gone down, but he hasn’t been missing the plate much and has been inducing what looks like poor contact. He hasn’t allowed an earned run in over a month and the only hitter to reach against him this week reached unsafely. Baseball!
Long Relief Hero Mention:
RHP Tim Griffin, 3/1/1988
1-0, 2 G, 0.00 ERA in 7.0 IP, 3 H, 5/1 K/BB, 5/7 G/F
Other Solid Reliever to Be Highlighted Later Perhaps Mention:
RHP David Colvin, 1/7/1989
1-0, 2 G, 1.80 ERA in 5.0 IP, 4 H (HR), R, 9/1 K/BB, 4/1 G/F
Good-ish Start Mention:
RHP Ambioris Hidalgo, 2/4/1991
1-0, GS, 1.50 ERA in 6.0 IP, 3 H, R, 3/2 K/BB, 11/4 G/F
From the Training Room:
Around the time Hobson was promoted, RHP Stephen Landazuri hit the DL with shoulder tendinitis, which is quite lame. One move was that RHP David Colvin came in from extended to join the team on Thursday, and the other moved was that on Friday, LHP Jeremy Dobbs came in from extended. He’s now in the rotation… I didn’t have major expectations when Phillips left, but the result was SS Ketel Marte being called in from extended. Marte is a slick fielding 18-year-old who played a year in the DSL, batting .259/.341/.336, before getting moved up, and he might have otherwise been our best shortstop in the short-season teams had he not been moved up early. The glove did not make the trip with him, however, as he made three errors in his first start… New faces continued to join the Mavs as, with the Ramirez, Brady and Tanabe shuffle, CF Janelfry Zorilla and C/1B/DH Ji-Man Choi flew in from extended. Choi went 2-for-4 with a double in his first game! The downside to that is that OF Guillermo Pimentel hit the DL and with how he had been hitting that makes me put on a big old sad face.
Strange Happenings:
Before the win on Wednesday, Clinton had lost eight in a row. As of Sunday, they’ve won three in a row… Shipers was also a participant in the Jekyll/Hyde start phenomenon. On Tuesday, he only struck out one, but allowed just six hits, a hit batter, and a walk through seven innings. He also picked off a pair. Good seeming! Sunday, he let eight runs (seven earned) score on eight hits (2 HR), two walks, and two Ks through four and a third innings. The weird thing is that Beloit is #3 in offense behind Quad Cities at #1, so it’s not as though there was a huge difference in the quality of competition.
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19 Responses to “Minor League Wrap (5/14-20/12)”
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Very much appreciate the write-up, as always Jay.
I will usually peruse the box scores but your narrative always lends much needed context to what I’m looking at.
Nice to see Franklin have a game like that. Hopefully he can get out on the field a little more often.
Hi Jay:
Is Felipe Burin in extended? Can we look for him in Everett this season?
One more: Where’s Tyler Marlette? Did they release him? Thanks.
The definition of “a while” is somewhat nebulous; but I’ve been reading your posts regularly for “a while”! It’s my favorite thing about Mondays!
Thanks Jay.
what is the take on ss Brad Miller. Seems to have a pretty solid bat. Is he an M’s top 5 prospect (not a lot of room here after the three starters and expecting our #1 pick in June, and of course Franklin) or do we need to see more of him as he moves up the system.
Jay,
When are we going to see Franklin move up to Tacoma? Nick has been in Jackson since last year and has produced and it doesn’t seem like Triunfel is doing much AAA… Do you think he’ll be in a Rainers’ jersey by the All-Star break?
Not Jay but I’ll take a stab at a couple of these:
“One more: Where’s Tyler Marlette? Did they release him? Thanks.”
Nobody knows exactly, which isn’t that uncommon for high school picks from the previous draft at this point. They certainly did not release. Most likely he’s still in extended working with alleged catching guru Roger Hanson.
“it doesn’t seem like Triunfel is doing much AAA”
I can’t speak for the author, but his own words can. In this very post he said this about Triunfel: “You see, it’s not always a matter of them getting good when they leave, it’s a matter of them getting injured when they get good.”
I think it’s safe to say he disagrees with your assessment of Triunfel. I certainly do. He’s having a pretty good year.
Franklin has a total of 201 at bats in Double A. I don’t think there’s any reason at all to rush him up.
“what is the take on ss Brad Miller. Seems to have a pretty solid bat. Is he an M’s top 5 prospect (not a lot of room here after the three starters and expecting our #1 pick in June, and of course Franklin) or do we need to see more of him as he moves up the system.”
The top 4 are pretty much locked up as you note. I don’t know who Jay would consider #5, but I’d imagine Miller is in the mix for that spot. If we could believe in Morban’s health he’d probably be a good choice.
With Pimentel falling apart and nobody outside of High Desert having a huge breakout, there’s a big question mark for the #5 spect in the system. Miller’s probably as good of a candidate as any.
If the next 10 games truly go south, as is entirely possible, the M’s ML season is probably cooked. So, who should come up here in June? Or does everyone in AAA / AA need another month, regardless of how lost the ML team is?
Thanks all, particularly to dnc for chiming in. That helps. I’ll disagree on Pimentel though: he’s hit .333/.391/.429 in May, and seemed to be getting interesting before he got hurt. But yeah, I’m in the camp that thinks Triunfel is becoming interesting right now.
He’s in extended. I don’t know where he’ll end up, Pulaski or Everett probably.
There are so many candidates for #5 in the system. Pre-season I probably had it as Montero/Walker/Hultzen/Paxton/Franklin, then maybe Catricala as #6, but Cat obviously hasn’t done himself any favors to start the season and I don’t know who I would list as the #5 now that Montero has “graduated.” Miller would get serious consideration for how well he has hit, but the fact that he’s made seventeen errors to start the season is not helping his case.
Given that the organization talked about this year as a development year at the major league level and that there aren’t too many aging veterans to jettison anymore, I’d be surprised if we saw widespread moves even if the team was bad through the next three series. I’m also thinking, for now at least, that the Mariners are probably considering Carraway and Erasmo Ramirez to fill rotation spots before they’re considering Hultzen/Walker/Paxton.
Any thoughts on Catricala’s poor performance so far? Most of his peripherals aren’t too bad but the power is almost completely absent.
I don’t really know what’s up with Catricala, but I can point to a few issues. The main one is that his batting average on balls in play has been just .234 where it was hovering around .380 for most of last season. That would be one component. He’s also hitting the ball on the ground a little bit more and walking a little bit less. Those might also be contributing. He is not striking out more or getting jammed more, particularly, and his line drive rate now is better than it was in High Desert.
I meant to link it, but one of the guys at Prospect Insider went down to talk to him a little bit. It’s more interview-styled than scouting focused though.
“Thanks all, particularly to dnc for chiming in. That helps.” Happy to be able to contribute a bit. Very grateful for what you do.
“I’ll disagree on Pimentel though: he’s hit .333/.391/.429 in May, and seemed to be getting interesting before he got hurt.”
That is more promising than his April numbers to be sure, though an ISO under .100 is still discouraging. I was mainly just saying he’s not really a candidate for the #5 prospect in the system at this point though, which it seems we agree on.
Given that we seem to have an excess of shortstops (albeit ones that might not stick at SS) do you think any of them will move to the OF and if so, who? I was thinking possibly Truinfel given that he has a well above-average arm and is an at least average athlete but I haven’t seen enough to know if this is a viable option.
I’d caution against counting shortstops before they arrive in the big leagues. However they move would be dictated by the needs of the organization. IT was originally speculated that Triunfel would have to move because his range was insufficient, but talk of that has died down. Third and right field are possible destinations. Miller has enough speed to handle the outfield if they can’t get his throwing squared away. Franklin seems more likely for second than any other non-shortstop position, but he’s blocked there by Ackley.
I’m slow to the party… Bryan Lahair hitting like we need Smoak to hit?
Brian Lahair is basically the guy we thought we were giving up on with slightly more power. Put him in Safeco and he’s probably hitting .250 with 7 or 8 homers and a whole lot of K’s. Improvement? Yes. But the difference between that and Smoak given that Smoak hasn’t entered his prime and Lahair’s is starting to wind down, I’m alright with the tradeoff.
.403 BABIP was probably all that needed to be said.
I now think of Monday as Jay Day. That’s a good thing. Am looking forward to seeing how Burin does this season. I saw this week some other Brazilian beat him out as the first in MLB. Am surprised to see Moises Hernandez doing fairly well so far this season. Nice to see Mar Mar have a decent week. Happy for Andy Carraway to be the first General arm to Tacoma. I wonder who between him and Erasmo Ramirez will get to the big club first?
I think it might be leaning Carraway at the moment because he’s more stretched out and Erasmo has had a couple of rough outings. Not that Carraway has done anything other than put the ball in play at the moment.
Stefen Romero hit for the cycle today. He’s the best.