Minor League Wrap (5/24-30/10)
Sorry about this one being a few days late. Computer issues bogging me down and then I had to sift through everything again, so it’s a bit slapdash. Anyway, let’s get to it.
To the jump!
DSL Season Starts:
The DSL got underway a few days ago, for those of you who still can’t seem to get enough baseball no matter how hard you try. I discourage too much investment in it, as the format of only playing within the division is really horrible for information gathering purposes with only four teams in it. On top of that, it’s often guys you don’t expect who do come over and make the biggest impact, like Michael Pineda for one.
There were two big signings from there last season in OF Guillermo Pimentel and Alfredo Morales and neither of them are on the roster, putting them as probable to debut for one of the short-season squads later, but you do have names like Domingo Brazoban and Jochi Ogando joining the squad, both right-handers, and Westlonder Marcelino is still around. Plus, you have a few system “legends” now coaching the staff, like Francisco Gerez, who in his debut season got a cup of coffee in Tacoma and chose that time to reveal that he was actually twenty-four, or Manelik Pimentel, who only played two games in the states while not wearing an Aquasox uniform.
Tacoma Rainiers (3-3 this week, 23-24 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 24th 2010
Oklahoma City 3 (TEX + 4), Tacoma 7
W: Seddon (4-2, 4.18); L: Ballard (2-3, 5.25)
Tuesday, May 25th 2010
Rain out.
Wednesday, May 26th 2010
Rain and stuff.
Thursday, May 27th 2010
Oklahoma City 2 (TEX + 5), Tacoma 1 (seven innings)
W: Scheppers (1-0, 1.38); L: Olson (2-5, 3.38)
Oklahoma City 6 (+ 6), Tacoma 2 (seven innings)
W: Mathis (1-0, 5.63); L: French (5-2, 1.76)
Friday, May 28th 2010
Tacoma 4, Las Vegas 6 (TOR – 7)
W: Carlson (1-1, 5.48); L: Shell (3-2, 3.00)
Saturday, May 29th 2010
Tacoma 17, Las Vegas 9 (TOR – 8 )
W: Baldwin (3-1, 4.68); L: Rzepczynski (0-2, 18.56)
Sunday, May 30th 2010
Tacoma 9, Las Vegas 7 (TOR – 9)
W: Seddon (5-2, 4.00); L: McLeary (0-4, 11.33)
Hitter of the Week:
DH/1B Tommy Everidge, R/R, 4/20/1983
6 G, 24 AB, 5 R, 10 H, 5 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 6/3 K/BB, .417/.481/.875
Every time I look down at Tacoma these days it seems like there are at least two guys who had an OPS above 1.000 for the week. It seems that we have nowhere to play them though, which puts guys like Everidge in a bit of a bind, because so long as our bench is a bit weak and Sweeney is getting starts, they don’t have a place for a guy who slugged nearly .500 for May and had half his hits go for extras. Unlike Nelson, whom they try to get an outfield appearance here and there (perhaps out of necessity), Everidge probably isn’t moving any time soon, either off first or up to Seattle.
For When Alfonzo Inevitably Gets Injured Mention:
C Guillermo Quiroz, R/R, 11/29/1981
4 G, 18 AB, 3 R, 10 H, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2/0 K/BB, .556/.556/.833
Triple-A Breakout Continues Mention:
3B Matt Mangini, L/R, 12/21/1985
6 G, 21 AB, 4 R, 8 H, 2 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 7/2 K/BB, .381/.435/.619
Walking Man Mention:
1B Brad Nelson, L/R, 12/23/1982
6 G, 19 AB, 5 R, 6 H, 2B, HR, RBI, 4/8 K/BB, .316/.519/.526
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP David Pauley, 6/17/1983
0-0, GS, 2.25 ERA in 4.0 IP, 4 H, R, 8/2 K/BB, 1/2 G/F, WP
Putting aside the fact that the Rainiers pitching was bad this week and there were few other options, Pauley struck out nearly half the batters he faced this week. That doesn’t come around every day you know, particularly for a starter. After ringing up fourteen in 24.0 April innings, he struck out twenty-seven in 32.2 innings for May, which is a nice recovery. The walks have also gone up proportionally, though, and three per nine is treading dangerous ground. He’s also been on and off the inactive list, which I don’t really understand or have the context for in the same way I do with Littleton.
Not That I Want to Mention:
RHP Sean White, 4/25/1981
0-0, 2 G, 0.00 ERA in 3.0 IP, 2 H, 3/1 K/BB, 4/1 G/F, HB, BK
From The Training Room:
You probably noticed already, but Eliezer Alfonzo was called up to the Mariners, and that led them to bring in C Blake Ochoa, for lack of better options. I say that not because I don’t think much of Ochoa, but because he was in the Midwest League all of last season. They also added UT Jeff Dominguez from West Tenn… Before Sean White was called up, he walked two to force in a run and all he needed to do was record one out. I want you to know.
Strange Happenings:
Chad Cordero for the month of May, had eight hits allowed in 9.2 IP and a 13/3 K/BB. We could do worse, and arguably have already… Mike Carp played the outfield this week and had an assist out there. What?… Mike Wilson misses out for playing time, but he did have a 4-for-5 night on the 29th with two home runs.
West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (3-2 this week, 26-23 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 24th 2010
Flash flooding.
Tuesday, May 25th 2010
Off day
Wednesday, May 26th 2010
West Tenn 2, Carolina 6 (CIN – 2)
W: Webb (2-2, 4.39); L: Robles (3-2, 3.77)
Thursday, May 27th 2010
West Tenn 7, Carolina 4 (CIN – 3)
W: Pineda (4-1, 2.32); L: Smit (1-3, 8.55)
Friday, May 28th 2010
West Tenn 1, Carolina 2 (CIN – 2)
W: Horst (1-0, 1.59); L: Hensley (5-2, 1.53)
Saturday, May 29th 2010
West Tenn 4, Carolina 2 (CIN – 3)
W: Feierabend (1-0, 2.57); L: Cochran (2-2, 3.12)
Sunday, May 30th 2010
West Tenn 3, Carolina 2 (CIN – 4)
W: Bray (2-3, 2.53); L: Fairel (0-1, 3.86)
Hitter of the Week:
2B Dustin Ackley, L/R, 2/26/1988
5 G, 12 AB, 2 R, 4 H, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 1/8 K/BB, .333/.600/.500
I wonder if there is such a thing as walking too much. Ackley’s been hitting around six in the lineup for some time now, so to see a week where he might accumulate fewer at-bats than others would not be unusual. But twelve? Over five starts? In many ways, that’s crazy. It would seem more absurd, but a few weeks ago I mentioned where he had pulled even with walks and strikeouts for the year and leaving Wednesday’s game, he now has ten more walks than strikeouts. So, despite a season average of only .236, he’s approaching .400 in OBP and will likely surpass that mark the way he’s been hitting of late (.303/.475/.447 for May). As the average comes up, he’ll start to build a pretty legitimate case for joining the Rainiers, say, around the all-star break?
Sensing an Opportunity Mention:
C Jose Yepez, R/R, 6/19/1981
4 G, 16 AB, R, 7 H, 2B, RBI, 1/0 K/BB, HBP, .438/.471/.500
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Steven Hensley, 12/27/1986
0-0, GS, 1.29 ERA in 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R (ER), 6/0 K/BB, 4/9 G/F, WP
In the last five starts he’s made (which includes an outing on Wednesday, I’m spilling over a bit), Hensley has only pitched fewer than seven innings once, and he still made it to five in that case. He has only allowed more than two runs to score once and struck out fewer than five once, all these in the same start. We might expect as much from the guy leading the league in ERA, but the hit totals are actually quite misleading this week. You see, his average against for the year is under .200, and as his command has improved in May, there haven’t been many other outlets to get on base against him. He’s looking more and more like a mid-to-back-end starting candidate.
More of a Veteran Type Mention:
RHP Steve Bray, 12/22/1980
1-0, GS, 2.25 ERA in 8.0 IP, 5 H (HR), 2 R, 5/0 K/BB, 13/6 G/F
From the Training Room:
The big news of the week was supposed to be LF Nate Tenbrink getting promoted from the Cal League to replaced the injured Joe Dunigan, but in his second start he got hit in the head by a pitch and was rushed to the hospital. He didn’t require anything more than that, but the team put him on the DL anyway, bringing in CF Brandon Haveman from extended. Haveman took to the leadoff spot almost immediately… OF Jake Shaffer was also added to the West Tenn roster after Dominguez was promoted to Tacoma. Shaffer had been with the Mavericks… C Luis Oliveros also hit the DL, which brought in C Travis Scott, who had previously spent almost his entire career in the Cal League… LHP Ryan Feierabend ended up in double-A again and got one start, giving up a couple runs through seven innings on five hits and three Ks. I saw him on the Rainiers roster recently. Jake Wild was sent to the Cal League again to make way for Feierabend… IF Ronnie Prettyman was also released according to the league archives.
Strange Happenings:
Manager Tim Laker got ejected on Sunday for arguing a double to Kuo-hui Lo in right field. It was a close game, so it’s hard to fault him for it.
High Desert Mavericks (3-3 this week, 29-21 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 24th 2010
High Desert 9, Lancaster 7 (HOU – 14)
W: Penney (2-2, 4.43); L: Berner (1-2, 3.28)
Tuesday, May 25th 2010
Off day
Wednesday, May 26th 2010
Modesto 3 (COL + 3), High Desert 18
W: LaFromboise (4-2, 4.34); L: Scahill (2-2, 6.09)
Thursday, May 27th 2010
Modesto 10 (COL + 4), High Desert 6
W: Durst (5-2, 5.10); L: Vasquez (1-1, 4.15)
Friday, May 28th 2010
Modesto 9 (COL + 5), High Desert 6
W: Froneberger (2-0, 1.90); L: Nation (3-1, 5.34)
Saturday, May 29th 2010
Modesto 7 (COL + 6), High Desert 3
W: Nicasio (3-3, 4.85); L: Wild (4-1, 3.61)
Sunday, May 30th 2010
High Desert 8, Lake Elsinore 3 (SD + 17)
W: Carraway (4-2, 3.40); L: Reyes (5-4, 5.12)
Hitter of the Week:
RF Johermyn Chavez, R/R, 1/26/1989
6 G, 28 AB, 8 R, 13 H, 2 3B, HR, 5 RBI, 6/2 K/BB, .464/.500/.714
This week, I happened to have three hitters to pick from that were all hitting at or over .400. An embarrassment of riches, let’s say (Poythress did happen to be one of them). I went with Chavez because the peripherals were a bit better, more so for the extra-base hits than the walks, of which he had a pair of triples and a home run. I was a bit suspicious of him after April, but his walk and extra-base rates have remained somewhat stable for him, as have the strikeouts, so he may have evolved as a hitter now. The only concern I’d raise is that there’s a .140 split of OPS from home to road, which is roughly to be expected, but even that is picking at it a bit considering that he’s been quite a bit luckier at home.
.400 Hitter #2 Mention:
1B Rich Poythress, R/R, 8/11/1987
6 G, 25 AB, 9 R, 10 H, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 3/4 K/BB, .400/.467/.560
.400 Hitter #3 Mention:
2B Kyle Seager, L/R, 11/3/1987
6 G, 27 AB, 6 R, 12 H, 2B, RBI, SB, 3/3 K/BB, .444/.484/.481
Three Home Run Week Mention:
CF Denny Almonte, S/R, 9/24/1988
6 G, 28 AB, 6 R, 9 H, 3B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 10/0 K/BB, .321/.321/.714
Landing with a Splash Mention:
LF/1B Dennis Raben, L/L, 7/31/1987
5 G, 19 AB, 6 R, 7 H, 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 5/6 K/BB, .368/.500/.737
Pitcher of the Week:
LHP Bobby LaFromboise, 6/25/1986
1-0, GS, 1.50 ERA in 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, (ER), 6/2 K/BB, 4/6 G/F, 2 WP
Pitcher evaluation at the advanced-A level is not without perils for the Mariners. Take the case of LaFromboise, who has seen his K rate increase at the level by nearly half a point, but also added a walk and over two hits. This week aside, May has not been kind to him, and he’s walked twelve in 28.2 innings. So how much of that is park affected? It’s hard to say. His walk rates are nearly identical and he adds a K or so at home, it’s just the home runs that have been biting him, as he’s allowed six so far, more than halfway to his totals for all of last season, and he’s handing out free passes at a similar pace. I’d like to think that this last outing showed that he’s improving, but he had a rough go of it in his final start of the month against Lake Elsinore, the division-leading team, so it’s hard to say.
Walks? Mention:
RHP Andrew Carraway, 9/4/1986
1-0, GS, 1.50 ERA in 6.0 IP, 6 H (HR), R, 6/3 K/BB, 1/9 G/F
From the Training Room:
As was the case in West Tenn, the Mavs had a lot of moves, most of them prompted by the needs of the Jaxx. To compensate for losing their starting catcher, they added Ralph Henriquez from extended, and Maximo Mendez came off the DL to replace Shaffer… I already talked about the Feierabend/Wild switch, but the promotion of Tenbrink brought in Dennis Raben, who not only started out hitting surprisingly well, but also has played three games in left when he was split about 40/60 at DH and first with the Lumberkings.
Strange Happenings:
Lake Elsinore, I’ve mentioned, is leading the division right now with the Mavs back a few games. The team itself is about forty points behind as a team with their OPS, which is still nice at second place, but they also have one of the league’s better pitching staffs, and may prove difficult to catch up with. So what’s the strange part? They’re second in fewest walks given out…. to the Mavs, who at 116, have not only given out thirty fewer free passes than the Storm, they’re nearly sixty under the league average. It’s one way of building an effective team in Adelanto if you can’t avoid the home run otherwise.
Clinton Lumberkings (7-1 this week, 30-21 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 24th 2010
Kane County 4 (OAK – 5), Clinton 8
W: E. Ramirez (3-2, 2.06); L: A. Ramirez (0-1, 14.54)
Tuesday, May 25th 2010
Rain out.
Wednesday, May 26th 2010
Burlington 1 (KC – 14), Clinton 6 (seven innings)
W: Gillheeney (3-3, 2.22); L: Mitchell (1-5, 5.77)
Burlington 1 (- 15), Clinton 7 (seven innings)
W: Moran (2-1, 1.96); L: Wooley (2-3, 5.56)
Thursday, May 27th 2010
Burlington 5 (KC – 16), Clinton 6 (seven innings)
W: Lewis (3-0, 3.38); L: Dennick (0-1, 6.75)
Burlington 2 (- 15), Clinton 1 (seven innings)
W: Odenbach (2-3, 3.81); L: Hesketh (2-4, 5.80)
Friday, May 28th 2010
Clinton 6, Kane County 2 (OAK – 5)
W: Stanton (5-2, 3.31); L: Marks (1-6, 6.66)
Saturday, May 29th 2010
Clinton 5, Kane County 3 (OAK – 6) (fifteen innings)
W: Cooper (2-1, 4.24); L: Hoehn (4-3, 3.11)
Sunday, May 30th 2010
Clinton 6, Kane County 1 (OAK – 7)
W: Housey (4-0, 1.80); L: Gilliam (3-4, 3.68)
Hitter of the Week:
3B Mario Martinez, R/R, 11/13/1989
8 G, 29 AB, 8 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 7/3 K/BB, HBP, .276/.364/.552
Ordinarily I’ll go with the .400 hitter for the week, but Mr. Carroll gets snubbed because he’s only walked six times this season (his OBP is fueled by getting hit, which is not good) and curiously has yet to record a double, despite thirty-two hits. So, welcome back Mario Martinez, who turned up his power game a bit and continues to walk, providing some of the best peripherals on the roster save for maybe Jones. I would say that both have helped him move up around 350 points of OPS from April. The end of May was pretty good for him, so we’ll have to see if June manages to start out the same way. As long as the rest of the offense is going, he should be fine: he has a .847 OPS with runners in scoring position, and only .483 when the bases are empty. Let’s hope he’s actually turning a corner and making good on the promise he had when he signed.
Empty .400 Mention:
CF Daniel Carroll, R/R, 1/6/1989
6 G, 25 AB, 6 R, 10 H, 3B, 2 RBI, 2 SB, 9/0 K/BB, HBP, .400/.423/.480
Peripheral Mention:
RF James Jones, L/L, 9/24/1988
7 G, 22 AB, 4 R, 4 H, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 SB, CS, 5/7 K/BB, .182/.379/.363
Reasons for Hope from the Other Middle Infielder Mention:
IF Gabriel Noriega, R/R, 9/13/1990
6 G, 22 AB, 4 R, 8 H, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 8/1 K/BB, .364/.391/.545
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Erasmo Ramirez, 5/2/1990
1-0, 2 GS, 0.64 ERA in 14.0 IP, 9 H (HR), 2 R (ER), 7/0 K/BB, 14/15 G/F, 3 HB, WP
Ramirez was the hot topic in the VSL last year after striking out about a man an inning, walking only five for the entire season, and recording nearly three-and-a-half groundballs for every fly. Even Larry Stone wrote about him, which is pretty much unheard of for a player at that level. Still, one should exercise a bit of caution when evaluating VSL stats. Coming up to the Midwest League, Ramirez has had few issues, running a 1.90 ERA for the season, but two changes have presented. For one, he’s not getting grounders nearly as frequently, and is a little under one-and-a-half per fly at the moment, and secondly, his strikeouts have dropped to around six per nine innings. It’s possible that he’ll rebound, but given his stuff, it might be more realistic to project him as a back-end starter with the potential for more. His command at least hasn’t dropped off any: he’s only walked two all year. He’s also clearly not afraid to pitch inside.
Four Frames in Extra Innings Mention:
RHP Daniel Cooper, 11/6/1986
1-0, 3 G, 0.00 ERA in 6.0 IP, 4 H, 5/0 K/BB, 5/8 G/F
Longer Outings? Mention:
LHP Brian Moran, 9/30/1988
1-0, 2 G, 3.18 ERA in 5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 9/2 K/BB, 5/3 G/F, WP
From the Training Room:
The departure of Raben for California meant that a new first baseman had to be added, so the Lumberkings called in Tim Morris, an 11th round pick last year, from extended…. RHP Tyler Blandford left the DL and struck out four without walking anyone his first two innings back.
Strange Happenings:
Chris Kirkland almost got through all of May without an earned run, then gave up four on the 31st.
Comments
10 Responses to “Minor League Wrap (5/24-30/10)”
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No worries, Jay.
The last few days seem to have lent themselves to flotsam and jetsam just about everywhere.
And your reports are well worth waiting for.
Jay,
Great work on the wrap up. Given the way Pineda, Robles, and Hensley are pitching, along with Ackley at the dish, I could see all 4 of these guys promoted to Tacoma this year.
It is exciting to have 3 guys in AA with tRA+ of 130 or better and actually have the capability of being more than 5th starter/long reliever.
I’m intrigued specifically by Robles. What exactly does he throw? It seems most of the concerns with him have to do with size and thus stamina, and also command. His K/rate is awesome so I’m wondering what exactly he repetoire is and whether you think it will work on more advanced hitters. It seems like more scouting reports are down on Robles and Mangini in the M’s system than anyone else in particular despite good results for both.
Robles throws anywhere from 88-96 mph with his heater and complements it with an improving change-up and a developing curveball. The change seemed to be what surprised everyone during spring training, but to this point it’s mostly been the fastball that’s the devastating pitch, and the other two are thought of as being erratic.
I check the Djaxx official website every day to check on Ackley. I was amazed in the line I saw at the time. A .208 average and a .380 OBP. Now it seems like he is slowly getting up to a .300 avg and a .450 OBP. The only thing I’m kinda upset about is his one HR. I was kinda hoping he would have a couple more given his possible 20/20 projections. I’ll take it though. Anyone know the dimensions of the West Tenn field?
A legend in Everett – very few players are around for 3 full seasons in Aquasox Teal (which is not actually a good sign). But Manelik played a very good defensive first base and seemed to enjoy the game. Plus his name always rolled off the tongue…
Being able to see Ackley and Pineda in Tacoma could (partially) help with some of my disappointment at the M’s this year.
Can Brad Nelson actually play LF is the majors? Or is he just there because we have 1,400 DH/1B at Tacoma?
And does Mangini have a position besides 3B? Is he a potential side-grade for Lopez if Lopey leaves in a trade?
Yeah, it was always strange to head to Everett Memorial on opening day and see him at first, again. Fine name though, really melodic.
A friend and fellow observer recently downgraded his speed from “golem” to “glacier”.
First? He doesn’t play a good hot corner. Plays that could require him to charge often trip him up, so you could expect a lot of bunts his way. He’s a bat first type.
Great, even more 1B/DH types… To my count that means we basically have 4 people in Tacoma that have no reason to play anywhere besides first in the majors. Ugh.
Also, Feierabend has been getting rocked in the Cal league, and now he’s getting rocked in the PCL. Is this a big problem? Or just a bump in the road?
Great, even more 1B/DH types… To my count that means we basically have 4 people in Tacoma that have no reason to play anywhere besides first in the majors. Ugh.
Also, Feierabend has been getting rocked in the Cal league, and now he’s getting rocked in the PCL. Is this a big problem? Or just a bump in the road?
Has Carrera improved his defense at all?
Feierabend is a command pitcher with limited velocity coming off Tommy John surgery. I’d exercise some patience, but if we get anything at all out of him, it would be surprising.
The early returns on Carrera seem positive, but it’s too little to make a judgment on yet, I’d think. He’s also splitting time there with Halman, roughly 67/33, but it’s probably more the organization mandate for versatility than anything else.