Minor League Wrap (5/28-6/3/12)
So, this is it. Today is draft day, or the first round of draft days plural, which is annoying. Today, we will either be overjoyed or go through the Five Stages of Grief over the course a few hours and then slowly come to realize that the Mariners scouting department simply knows more than we do.
At this point, I guess I want Buxton but don’t know if we’ll get him. Failing that, Correa. I originally wrote something here about a possible alternative, but then news seems to be going around about the Astros taking Appel, so I guess they get one of the two. Or, if last year is an example, they will have their choice between the two and then select someone different. Haha, suckers. If this Astros rumbling turns out to be cruel and vicious lies, I don’t know, Zunino? Pitcher?
Here is some advice to get you through the coming days: forget everything. They don’t have a thing for hitters or pitchers. They don’t have a thing for regions beyond wherever the first pick is coming from, as others tend to follow from there. They don’t have a thing for switch hitters or left-handed hitters or right-handed hitters. They don’t prefer college players or high school players. They have a thing for the best player available to them. Kick back and let it be what it is.
At any rate, I have limited patience for hours upon hours of rumor mongering and the fact that things have been dragged out until 4 pm our time only makes it worse, so I’m working around that by being away from the computer for most of the day. I will be back before the start time to relay the latest in a series of possibly baseless conjectures.
To the jump!
Tacoma Rainiers (2-5 this week, 24-33 overall, 7.5 GB in PCL Pacific Northern)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 28th 2012
Tucson 1 (SD – 15), Tacoma 4
W: Ramirez (2-1, 3.80) L: Wells (1-1, 3.38) S: Kinney (2)
Tuesday, May 29th 2012
Tacoma 5, Reno 7 (ARI + 3)
W: Martinez (3-3, 5.40) L: Carraway (2-1, 3.20) S: Albaladejo (9)
Wednesday, May 30th 2012
Tacoma 5, Reno 13 (ARI + 4)
W: Brewer (2-4, 6.38) L: Vasquez (5-3, 6.22)
Thursday, May 31st 2012
Tacoma 3, Reno 8 (ARI + 5)
W: Corbin (1-1, 5.73) L: Marquez (4-5, 6.47)
Friday, June 1st 2012
Tacoma 7, Reno 8 (ARI + 6)
W: Albaladejo (3-1, 2.49) L: Patterson (1-3, 3.97)
Saturday, June 2nd 2012
Sacramento 3 (OAK + 13), Tacoma 6
W: Ramirez (3-1, 3.34) L: Peacock (6-3, 4.81) S: Delabar (1)
Sunday, June 3rd 2012
Sacramento 4 (OAK + 14), Tacoma 2
W: Scribner (3-0, 3.31) L: Perez (2-2, 5.26) S: Threets (1)
Hitter of the Week:
C Guillermo Quiroz, R/R, 11/29/1981
5 G, 16 AB, 3 R, 10 H, 4 2B, 4 RBI, 2/4 K/BB, HBP, .625/.714/.875
Probably by now, you’re sick of seeing Quiroz get highlighted. Perhaps you’d rather see, I don’t know, prospects? But consider that, as a catcher with less playing time than other position players, he’s tied for second on the team in walks (with Robinson), is five walks away from an even K/BB, is third on the team’s home run leaderboard, fourth in RBI, ranks fifth on the team in total bases with the guys ahead of him logging anywhere from ~60 to ~100 more plate appearances, and has an OPS for the season of over 1.000? Quiroz is doing well, he’s just blocked by multiple backstops at the major league level and is playing for a team that hasn’t had a lot of success yet.
Waiting on Walks Mention:
3B Vinnie Catricala, R/R, 10/31/1988
7 G, 27 AB, 7 R, 11 H, 3 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 6/1 K/BB, .407/.429/.630
Also Hitting, but Oh No, Reno 🙁 Mention:
CF Trayvon Robinson, S/R, 9/1/1987
7 G, 28 AB, 3 R, 10 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, SB, CS, 2/2 K/BB, .357/.400/.643
Only Extra Base Hits Mention:
LF Casper Wells, R/R, 11/23/1984
7 G, 22 AB, 6 R, 6 H, 5 2B, 3B, 6 RBI, 4/7 K/BB, .273/.448/.591
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Erasmo Ramirez, 5/2/1990
2-0, 2 GS, 1.37 ERA in 13.1 IP, 12 H, 2 R, 15/2 K/BB, 9/8 G/F, HB, 2 WP
Erasmo managed to avoid being scheduled for a start in Reno this week, getting the last outing of the homestand, so as cool as it would be if he did part of this against a team with a .823, he did it against two teams that roughly have an average OPS for the league. Of course, Sacramento is the better of the two teams and against them, he struck out nine over six innings and topped 100 pitches for the first time. Also, one of the six hits he gave up was to Manny Ramirez, which is forgivable. There are a few blemishes here and there like the hit totals and the wild pitches, but beyond that, I would say that Ramirez is stretched out and pretty much ready to start at the major league level should any spot open up for him.
All This During the Reno Trip Mention:
RHP Brian Sweeney, 6/13/1974
0-0, 2 G, 0.00 ERA in 5.0 IP, 4 H, 3/0 K/BB, 8/1 G/F
From The Training Room:
RHP Steve Delebar was optioned and later, RHP Stephen Pryor was selected and called up. I don’t have anything more to say about this that hasn’t already been covered. Delebar needs another pitch or a better breaking ball. Pryor already has three pitches and is probably the most viable “future closer” we have in the system. Around the time Pryor actually got selected on paper, the Rainiers released LHP Sean Henn, who presumably had a June 1st out in his contract, and then took RHP Jarrett Grube off the DL… CF Franklin Gutierrez was assigned to the Rainiers on Saturday. Yay, Gut. He’s had five at-bats so far and has recorded three walks and a double. Some of those walks have been intention. Cheaters.… Sunday afternoon, DH/1B/OF Johan Limonta was pulled off the “DL,” where he was while he was out of town, at UT Leury Bonilla moved back to Jackson.
Strange Happenings:
Four double plays on Sunday! And a home run to… Eric Sogard?… Luis Rodriguez had a streak of thirty consecutive games reached safely end on Sunday… Daren Brown now has the record for most wins as a Tacoma manager, one that he continues to add to.
Jackson Generals (6-1 this week, 35-22 overall, 1st in SL North)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 28th 2012
Pensacola 0 (CIN – 3), Jackson 5
W: Hultzen (5-3, 1.59) L: Gustafson (2-2, 5.04)
Tuesday, May 29th 2012
Pensacola 2 (CIN – 4), Jackson 4
W: Garrison (3-1, 3.00) L: Sulbaran (3-4, 4.58) S: Hensley (2)
Wednesday, May 30th 2012
Pensacola 7 (CIN – 3), Jackson 3
W: Lotzkar (2-1, 3.16) L: Stanton (0-1, 20.25)
Thursday, May 31st 2012
Rain!
Friday, June 1st 2012
Pensacola 1 (CIN – 4), Jackson 6 (seven innings)
W: Maurer (3-1, 4.01) L: Corcino (2-3, 3.79)
Pensacola 1 (CIN – 5), Jackson 2 (ten innings)
W: Hensley (2-2, 2.87) L: Freeman (2-4, 3.86)
Saturday, June 2nd 2012
Jackson 6, Chattanooga 5 (LA 0)
W: Hernandez (3-0, 3.27) L: Bawcom (1-1, 2.25) S: LaFromboise (2)
Sunday, June 3rd 2012
Jackson 7, Chattanooga 0 (LA – 1)
W: Hultzen (6-3, 1.44) L: Magill (5-3, 3.72)
Hitter of the Week:
SS Nick Franklin, S/R, 3/2/1991
7 G, 27 AB, 5 R, 11 H, 2 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, SB, 8/3 K/BB, .407/.467/.852
In April, we were mostly content to know that after the various injuries and setbacks, Franklin was coming back, hitting .296/.360/.444. Then May came, and he hit .394/.457/.648 with half of his hits going for extra bases. “The home runs still aren’t there,” some worried, perhaps validly. But now he has home runs in consecutive games. There are only two areas that really are concerning me at the moment. One is that the K numbers for this week were pretty bad, but in the larger scope of the season, he’s been doing better, so this may be little more than noise. The bigger problem is the same one that I always seem to be talking about. As a left-handed batter, he’s hitting .377/.449/.623. Pretty astonishing. No less astonishing is the fact that he’s hitting less than half that as a right-handed bat, just .190/.222/.262. Having watched the offense of Mariners shortstops in recent years, I’m a little impatient and have grown tired of arguments that it takes much longer for switch hitters to develop their right side swing. I don’t really care. I can’t imagine that Franklin’s left-on-left results would be worse than his right-on-left swing is at present.
Swinging Dutchman Mention:
RF Kalian Sams, R/R, 8/25/1986
6 G, 22 AB, 5 R, 10 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, SB, 6/2 K/BB, .455/.500/.818
Plate Discipline Returning to Baseline Expectations Mention:
CF Denny Almonte, S/R, 9/24/1988
6 G, 23 AB, 5 R, 9 H, 3 2B, HR, 4 RBI, SB, 8/1 K/BB, HBP, .391/.423/.652
Not Old for Double-A, or the Team Mention:
C Jesus Sucre, R/R, 4/30/1988
6 G, 21 AB, 4 R, 10 H, 2B, 4 RBI, 3/3 K/BB, .476/.542/.524
Pitcher of the Week:
LHP Danny Hultzen, 11/28/1989
2-0, 2 GS, 0.00 ERA in 11.2 IP, 7 H, 11/5 K/BB, 11/7 G/F, HB, WP
Hultzen is probably one of the hottest pitchers in the minor leagues right now. I’ve come to expect some level of dominance out of him every time out these past few weeks, so there isn’t a whole lot I feel like I can complain about anymore. If I’m really out to pick things apart here, though, on Sunday in the fifth he got two quick outs before walking the next two batters and getting the hook. On Monday against Pensacola, it wasn’t so much the last inning that gave him trouble, though it did, as back to back singles had to be erased by a shallow fly out and a double play. Instead, I’d point to the third inning when, with two outs, one of the Blue Wahoos batters singled and advanced to third on a wild pitch and a passed ball, then two consecutive walks followed to load the bases before the final out was recorded. The major league average strike% is roughly 63% according to StatCorner and Hultzen was at 56.4% on Sunday, which may be inflated by the shoddy work by Jackson at home this year. These are just things that I’m noting.
9.24 K/9 in Last Five Starts, 3.72 K/9 in Five Prior Mention:
RHP Brandon Maurer, 7/3/1990
1-0, GS, 1.29 ERA in 7.0 IP, 4 H, R, 5/2 K/BB, 6/3 G/F
Suddenly, Strikeouts! Mention:
RHP Jandy Sena, 8/10/1989
0-0, 2 G (GS), 0.00 ERA in 6.1 IP, 4 H, 5/2 K/BB
No Middle Ground Mention:
RHP Yoervis Medina, 7/27/1988
0-0, 2 G, 0.00 ERA in 4.1 IP, H, 5/1 K/BB, 6/2 G/F, HB
Approaching a 1.00 ERA for the Season Mention:
LHP Brian Moran, 9/30/1988
0-0, 2 G, 0.00 ERA in 4.0 IP, H, 3/2 K/BB, 1/6 G/F
Extra Pitching Notes:
Taijuan Walker did not have a good outing this week, but the results sure as heck look weird. Through six innings, he allowed four runs on three hits (HR), four walks, and nine Ks. That’s okay. Kids have rough spots with their command sometimes. But the Chattanooga pitch tracker, which I trust more than the Jackson one, has 70 of 103 pitches for strikes. Que?… Paxton sat out, as mentioned… Capps only got one outing this week and struck out four in two frames of work. I guess this means he’ll be good and fresh next week and has some sort of chance to dethrone Hultzen. Capps hasn’t allowed a run in his last ten appearances.
From the Training Room:
Early in the week, the right knee issue that LHP James Paxton was dealing with seemed bad enough to warrant putting him on the DL, so RHP Taylor Stanton was called in from High Desert. Under the circumstances, i.e., short-term solution, I’d say it made sense… Bonilla’s return to Jackson pushed out 1B/3B Steve Proscia, who went back to High Desert. After that one series in the hitter-friendly park, he was pretty bad and left with a .211/.259/.395 line.
Strange Happenings:
Jandy Sena went 4.1 innings on Friday and struck out four. In the previous nine appearances, he went a total of 13.0 innings and also struck out four… Robles wasn’t going to get the mention this week for the lack of innings, but he had a 5/2 K/BB in 3.1 innings and didn’t allow a hit. The rub is that he’s walked thirteen in the same number of innings… Francisco Martinez barely missed a mention, hitting .296/.387/.407 in the past week. He’s been surprisingly not useless lately. Of course, he also made three errors and another additional play that was initially labeled as an error.
High Desert Mavericks (3-4 this week, 31-26 overall, 1st in CAL South)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 28th 2012
Stockton 9 (OAK – 16), High Desert 8
W: Walz (3-4, 3.93) L: Kesler (2-2, 6.30) S: Hoehn (1)
Tuesday, May 29th 2012
Stockton 9 (OAK – 15), High Desert 1
W: Murphy (1-1, 0.61) L: Elias (4-3, 3.88)
Wednesday, May 30th 2012
High Desert 1, Modesto 9 (COL – 1)
W: Matzek (4-3, 2.64) L: Fernandez (2-3, 3.93)
Thursday, May 31st 2012
High Desert 12, Modesto 2 (COL – 2)
W: Arias (3-2, 5.33) L: Hynick (1-1, 3.20)
Friday, June 1st 2012
High Desert 2, Modesto 3 (COL – 1)
W: Bergman (6-4, 2.93) L: Gillheeney (4-2, 4.67) S: Jorgenson (8)
Saturday, June 2nd 2012
Inland Empire 6 (ANA – 4), High Desert 7
W: Smith (3-1, 4.56) L: Flores (0-1, 3.96)
Sunday, June 3rd 2012
Inland Empire 7 (ANA – 5), High Desert 21
W: Elias (5-3, 3.84) L: Crowley (1-4, 7.39)
Hitters of the Week:
CF/LF Julio Morban, L/L, 2/13/1992
6 G, 26 AB, 6 R, 7 H, 2B, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 8/0 K/BB, .269/.269/.654
OF Mike McGee, R/R, 3/7/1989
7 G, 29 AB, 6 R, 10 H, 2 2B, HR, 8 RBI, 6/3 K/BB, .345/.406/.517
RF/CF James Jones, L/L, 9/24/1988
7 G, 26 AB, 7 R, 9 H, 2B, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 SB, 8/0 K/BB, .346/.346/.577
Uh…. So… the starting outfield for the Mavericks all managed to post the same OPS for this past week. I’ve seen plenty of unusual things over these many years, but from a statistical standpoint, this is probably one of the high water marks.
I feel like it’s relevant to talk about plate discipline a bit seeing as how two of our heroes here completely failed to walk this week. Morban has walked in 5.95% of his plate appearances this season and Jones has managed it in 7.65% of his PAs. The team average, coming into the game at least, was about 7.5%, while the league average is 8%, which is roughly the same as the MLB average excluding intentional walks. So, Jones and Morban are slacking a bit and need to pick up the walking thing a little. McGee is in the clear for being at 9.3%. But where Morban is usually a bit better at putting the bat on the ball, with 20.2% Ks, Jones has his struggles. His fifty-three Ks lead the team and his 27.55% strikeouts mark is pretty bad. League average appears to be about 20.7%. Again, McGee is the best of the bunch at 15.2%.
But what of extra base hits? Surely all this swinging is doing something! The team leader in doubles is actually Brad Miller, and he’s ahead by a margin of four, with Hicks, McGee, Romero, and Wiswall tied for second with fifteen. Morban and Jones managed their eighth and sixth doubles respectively on Sunday. Jones pulls ahead on triples, leading the team with three (by one), while home runs have been Morban’s thing. Both he and Mar Mar (Mar Mar?!?) have eleven dingers on the season, but Morban is slugging .600+ at this point and is the youngest regular in the lineup by a couple of years, which makes him more interesting at a lot of things. Particularly when he’s doing this while ranking ninth in plate appearances. With injuries and lineup changes, the leader, Brad Miller, had more than 100 more PAs entering Sunday. And Morban is still doing his weird thing of hitting the snot out of the ball on the road, leading to an OPS differential of more than 400 points.
What does all this mean? Heck if I know. I just spun out a bunch of words trying to compensate for an encounter with something weird. What more do you people want from me?!?
Wizzle Wozzle Mention:
1B Mickey Wiswall, L/R, 11/25/1988
7 G, 26 AB, 7 R, 7 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 5/2 K/BB, HBP, .269/.345/.577
Still Walking a Lot! Mention:
SS Brad Miller, L/R, 10/18/1989
7 G, 28 AB, 6 R, 8 H, 4 2B, 3 RBI, 2 SB, 4/5 K/BB, .286/.382/.429
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Stephen Kohlscheen, 9/20/1988
0-0, 2 G, 3.18 ERA in 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 9/3 K/BB, 3/2 G/F
Since I sort of talked about three hitters (really it was two and change), I think I might end up with only one pitcher here, since my alternative is highlighting an Angel Raga spot start where he ran a 1/1 K/BB in 4.1 innings. Right-o. As soon as Kohlscheen was moved up, what I wrote in the transaction register, later to be erased, was that I was concerned about the move for two reasons. One was that he was showing an increase in his walk rate relative to last season and what we’d had him for his career. The other thing was that he seemed to be getting more of his outs in the air than he has before. The increase in strikeouts seemed to be outweighed by both of those factors, particularly with a move to High Desert. Both of Kohlscheen’s games were at home this week and he didn’t really suffer a whole lot for it. His first outing, he gave up two runs on four hits and two walks, but he also struck out eight. Thus, the first look of Kohlscheen in the Cal League this year is more of the same, except that his hits are getting caught out there. Thanks, outfielders.
From the Training Room:
Stanton’s promotion freed up a spot for RHP Stephen Kohlscheen. Kohlscheen probably should have been in High Desert in the first place… Proscia was added on Sunday. I don’t see a corresponding move yet.
Strange Happenings:
From Tuesday…
HD Mavericks ?@HDMavs
Roenis Elias throws back-to-back 96 MPH fastballs
His velocity may be underreported a skosh… The Mavericks scored in every single inning on Sunday. This was the fourth time in Cal League history that the feat has happened and (surprise!) the second time it’s been done by the Mavs. And then in the ninth, both managers were ejected. Why? Why not, I ask you.
Clinton Lumberkings (3-4 this week, 20-36 overall, 14.5 GB in MWL Western)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 28th 2012
Clinton 12, Burlington 3 (OAK – 6)
W: Miller (3-3, 3.42) L: Alcantara (3-5, 5.69)
Tuesday, May 29th 2012
Clinton 2, Burlington 7 (OAK – 7)
W: Cole (1-0, 4.91) L: Hidalgo (2-7, 5.23) S: Perlman (2)
Wednesday, May 30th 2012
Kane County 13 (KC + 3), Clinton 10
W: Culver (1-0, 6.28) L: Colvin (1-1, 4.63) S: Giovenco (1)
Thursday, May 31st 2012
Rain!
Friday, June 1st 2012
Kane County 5 (KC + 4), Clinton 2 (seven innings)
W: Fassold (1-0, 2.08) L: Shipers (2-1, 3.00)
Kane County 0 (KC + 3), Clinton 2 (seven innings)
W: Shankin (1-2, 4.10) L: Baez (1-1, 1.50)
Saturday, June 2nd 2012
Cedar Rapids 3 (ANA – 6), Clinton 4
W: Griffin (3-1, 3.38) L: Giardina (2-4, 3.70)
Sunday, June 3rd 2012
Cedar Rapids 3 (ANA – 6), Clinton 4
W: De Jiulio (2-1, 6.92) L: Hunter (0-4, 3.04) S: Kelley (9)
Hitter of the Week:
3B Ramon Morla, R/R, 10/20/1989
6 G, 24 AB, 5 R, 11 H, 3B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, SB, 6/0 K/BB, .458/.440/.792
The good news is that Morla is back and since the return from the DL, which had him benched from Cinco de Mayo to the 24th, he’s been hitting quite well. His May line ended with him hitting .270 and slugging .568. That’s the good news. The bad news? He didn’t walk for the week. He didn’t walk this month. Morla hasn’t walked since the 23rd of April when, coincidentally, he hit his first home run and the Fort Wayne pitching staff handed out six walks total. Granted, in the midst of that, he missed seventeen games, but when your sole source of additional OBP points is getting plunked, that’s kind of a problem. Morla had 8.4% of his PAs result in walks prior to this season, including a whole lot of DSL related shenanigans. Stateside, it’s more like 6.1%, and now he’s down to 4.9% for this year. It’s concerning. It also raises the question of “how the devil did he manage to walk seven times in April?”
Power? Mention:
CF Jamal Austin, R/R, 8/26/1990
6 G, 23 AB, 6 R, 8 H, 2B, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, 5 SB, 3/1 K/BB, .348/.360/.608
Power? But For Different Reasons Mention:
1B/DH Dan Paolini, R/R, 10/11/1989
6 G, 22 AB, 2 R, 8 H, 3 RBI, SB, 1/4 K/BB, .364/.462/.364
Discipline! Mention:
2B/LF Dillon Hazlett, R/R, 1/22/1989
6 G, 21 AB, 5 R, 5 H, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 2 SB, HBP, 4/4 K/BB, .238/.385/.429
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Brett Shankin, 10/30/1989
1-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2/1 K/BB, 12/5 G/F
“Who” indeed. Shankin was drafted in the 28th round out of Wayne state last season. The general profile around that time is “throws a lot of pitches but few of them good or for strikes” and this was exactly what little scouting data I was able to get on Shankin told me. But he does have certain virtues. For example, when the Lumberkings had a doubleheader after Thursday’s rainout, he was able to throw the seven-inning complete game shutout. For another example, he get groundballs. Milb.com has him at 2.54 groundouts for every air out (pops and flies) this season. StatCorner has him at 61+% groundballs for the season. And if you have good command but don’t really have the stuff to strike out a lot of guys at the higher levels, this is a good thing to be able to do. With a better infield defense, I would imagine that his ERA might be a lot lower, and sure enough, his starting FIP is 2.74 while his ERA is over a run and a half higher.
I Should Pick Someone Else Mention:
RHP Trevor Miller, 6/13/1991
1-0, GS, 2.57 ERA in 7.0 IP, 6 H (2 HR), 3 R (2 ER), 4/0 K/BB, 10/5 G/F
From the Training Room:
As Kohlscheen left, RHP Andrew Kittredge came in from extended. Local Boy pitched two innings for the Aquasox last year after being signed as a NDFA out of the UW. The Lumberkings hitting the fifty games played mark also meant that C Christian Carmichael could come off the DL, so between him, Dowd, Choi, and Baron, there are four guys listed as catchers on this roster. Of course, he hasn’t made an appearance and is possibly back in Peoria, so… On Friday, 1B Jharmidy de Jesus landed on the DL with something. The addition was RHP Stephen Shackleford who had previously been doing his baseballing for the Giants and Florence in the Frontier League. He was a 35th round pick in 2010 out of Savannah College of Arts and Design, so already I like the guy. Paolini and Choi have been splitting first base duties in the meantime.
Strange Happenings:
Jamal Austin hit a walk-off home run on Saturday. It was the first home run of his career. Yeah…. The Cedar Rapids lineup features Matt Scoscia. Neopotism!… Steve Baron went 4-for-5 in one game this week with a double, a home run, and a walk. He did not log enough at-bats/games to be mentioned though… Choi batted .250/.348/.450 this week which just barely disqualified him. Gosh, I wish he could still catch.
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11 Responses to “Minor League Wrap (5/28-6/3/12)”
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Thanks, Jay! I always like reading these.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts once the draft gets going.
And the learning continues. Thanks, Jay for a great recap. I used to never read these because it was just too much information with just MLB news. Then I read through the Rainiers. Now I read through Jackson and am starting get interested in Clinton. It is fascinating. Thanks, again!
Looks like it’s about time to see some movin’ on up, Hultzen and Franklin need some tougher competition. Wouldn’t hurt to see if any of those Maverick bats can hit in Jackson too.
FYI there’s also a huge writeup on Taijuan over at FanGraphs today.
Good stuff. Thanks Jay.
You are a saint JY. Awesome information.
JY, you have been and continue to be The Man. I’m anxious to get the draft going, but just a few hours longer.
Who is this Casper Wells guy? Is he any good? Gotta like his walks and doubles. Seems like the M’s could use an OF when they lose Figgins.
Thanks as always Jay. Buxton or Correa. Amen.
quick question I’v tried to ask the last couple weeks but too far after the Wrap was posted…
Obviously Hultzen is lighting it up, but have you heard about why the Ms picked him over Bauer? Mainstream media seems to want to marry Bauer, but of course that does not necessarily mean anything, and neither do prospect rankings in the end relative to ML performance. But Hultzen had been ranked lower, but Mcnamarra was quoted saying he would take Hultzen “in my sleep.”
loool at Wizzle Wozzle
Since Guti has officially begun his rehab assignment, the Mariners would have to lose an additional guy “when they lose Figgins” in order for Wells to rejoin the big squad.
And that’s assuming they are going to cut Figgins loose when Guti comes up, which is not a given.
Jay-
Who are some guys that you think would benefit most from moving up or down? It seems like Hultzen, Franklin, and Capps are all due for a move up but that would obviously have repercussions for the Tacoma roster? Also, it seems like Morban could use a promotion to dispel any myths about High Desert contributing to his stats (I know, he has an inverse platoon split but I think any Cal League stats need at least a dash of salt attached to them).
Any others that I’m missing, and any ideas on what a corresponding move would be if any of these were to occur?
And thank you for another great writeup. Always a good read and something I look forward to every week.
Don’t know. Rumors have gone around that they liked Bundy and Starling but the two were only signable for the Orioles and the Royals respectively. Bauer didn’t have those concerns, but it could be that they didn’t like his motion or something like that. I’m not privy to any of the info they’re running off of, and don’t feel inclined to complain about Hultzen anyway.
The only major repercussion would be in moving Franklin, since they have Triunfel at short. The solution would be to either move Triunfel off short to third or right or have him and Franklin trade time between second and shortstop, which isn’t really ideal either. The pitching staff is mostly quad-A types and no losses there are going to concern me.
Morban may move, but this is the first time he’s been healthy for any stretch of time and Jackson already has five outfielders not including the DL guys or Bonilla, who plays everywhere. I’d give serious consideration to moving Brad Miller and Stefen Romero as well. Miller takes over for Franklin, obviously, and Romero doesn’t really displace anyone important at second.
One issue with all this is that there’s no one banging the door down in Clinton. I suppose Jabari Blash could take an outfield spot, but the infield? I don’t know.