Minor League Wrap (7/12-18/10)
Pineda started on Sunday, which means that his next turn up in the rotation would be the beginning of the homestand, Friday night at 7 pm. Can you think of anything you’d rather be doing other than watching him and Ackley? I can’t.
To the jump!
Six International Signings Announced:
Earlier in the week, the news that the Mariners signed six international prospects went public. The names of Dominican OF Phillips Castillo ($2.2 mill), Colombian RHP Jose Torres ($851k), and Venezuelan 3B Yordyn Calderon ($477.5k) had long been connected to the M’s, so they really came as no surprise, but there were also the additions of RHP Rigoberto Garcia, LHP Erick Gomez, and LHP Luis Pina. I don’t have much on those last three other than I’m happy to see them make some southpaw signings after a bit of a drought there, but Engle has some comments in the release.
Castillo is the prize of the bunch, as the bonus would probably lead you to believe. He’s already 6’1 and 175 lbs as a sixteen-year-old, and the M’s have been on him for long time. Where other international prospects might get notice on being burners with good arms, Castillo was 7.1 down the line in one video I saw, and his defensive skills aren’t exactly top notch, with a few issues trapping balls and a tendency to fall off balance when he’s trying to put a charge in a throw. For these reasons, it’s hard to imagine him ending up anywhere but left field at the best defensively. The area where he stands out, and the justification for giving him a bunch of money, is that he handles the bat well, being capable of laying down bunts and swinging in a way that makes you think he could really hammer balls down the line, combined with enough knowledge of the strikezone to make you think that it’s more than just a physical possibility. He’s also demonstrated that he can go the other way or up the middle and isn’t strictly a pull hitter, which is something that the M’s have to appreciate. Other than that, I don’t know, it seems like this is the kind of guy who would have gotten a million or so a four years ago.
The top prospect out of Colombia this period, Torres is a big right-hander (6’3, 175 lbs) that is touching 90 already. He’ll also throw a curveball that shows promise at times, though he’s not able to throw it with consistency quite yet (think Walker, I guess). While he’s not likely to be on the level of countryman and Braves prospect Julio Teheran, he’s probably the best Colombia player we’ve signed since Emiliano Fruto, though I realize how much I’m saying with that. I kind of miss him at times, and his absolutely ridiculous inconsistencies.
Calderon is a guy that might grade out a five-tool type, though his abilities overall don’t rank quite well enough to allow him to play a premium position. Some think that he might be able to catch, but third base is where most expect him to end up. His best tools are probably his wheels and his raw power, which is largely projection at this point. While the physical talents are interesting, he doesn’t seem to be quite as polished as the others.
There are a few others that have been linked to the M’s, like top prospect SS Esteilon Peguero of the Dominican Republic, but the Rangers are thought to have an edge from signing a few prospects in the past year who were linked to Peguero’s trainer. There’s also Alberto Triunfel, who will probably be linked with the M’s on account of his brother, but don’t expect Mexican RHP Luis Heredia to get follow-ups from the M’s, as the Pirates seem to be heavy on him. There’s still a chance with Rafael dePaula, who has solid talent, but is a little older than most international FAs. Also the fact that he lied about his age just to look a year younger, when the punishment for falsifying such documents is a one-year suspension anyway, causes me to think less of him.
JH may have additional points to add if he has time.
Tacoma Rainiers (2-2 this week, 53-41 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, July 12th 2010
All-star break
Tuesday, July 13th 2010
All-star break
Wednesday, July 14th 2010
All-star break
Thursday, July 15th 2010
Tacoma 11, Reno 7 (ARI – 20)
W: Snell (3-1, 3.95) L: Valdez (2-6, 5.96)
Friday, July 16th 2010
Tacoma 3, Reno 7 (ARI – 19)
W: Mulvey (4-6, 5.02) L: Feierabend (2-3, 5.40)
Saturday, July 17th 2010
Tacoma 3, Reno 6 (ARI – 18)
W: Torra (6-6, 4.31) L: French (10-3, 2.97)
Sunday, July 18th 2010
Tacoma 9, Reno 3 (ARI – 19)
W: Pineda (3-0, 4.03) L: Roemer (1-5, 7.08)
Hitter of the Week:
CF Gregory Halman, R/R, 8/26/1987
4 G, 18 AB, 4 R, 5 H, 3 HR, 7 RBI, SB, 3/0 K/BB, .278/.278/.778
A few weeks back if you had asked me about Halman’s power output I probably would have been more conservative in my estimations. Suffice to say, that was before he hit eight home runs over the course of sixty at-bats. Don’t be fooled though, he did strike out fifteen times too, and oddly enough that’s an improvement for him, and not a minor one either. He also walked three times so far when he walked six times through a similar span when he was healthy in May. I’ve gotten a lot of questions about Halman recently, but I’m not seeing a whole lot that’s indicating to me a sustainable, positive change in his habits. This just resembles the kind of hot streak a man of his talents might have at times.
40% XBH Mention:
RF David Winfree, R/R, 8/5/1985
4 G, 17 AB, 3 R, 6 H, 2B, 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 3/0 K/BB, HBP, .353/.389/.706
More Walks than Ks Mention:
3B Matt Tuiasosopo, R/R, 5/10/1986
4 G, 16 AB, 4 R, 5 H, 2B, 2 RBI, 4/3 K/BB, .313/.421/.375
Slugging in His Debut Mention:
2B Dustin Ackley, L/R, 2/26/1988
4 G, 17 AB, 4 R, 4 H, 3 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 1/1 K/BB, .267/.313/.667
Pitcher of the Week:
RPH Michael Pineda, 1/18/1989
1-0, GS, 2.70 ERA in 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3/1 K/BB, 8/8 G/F, HB
Options tend to dwindle when you only play four games in a week. So, on nine days rest, we get Pineda, who turns in his second-lowest performance as strikeouts go (behind his 3.1 inning outing where he struck out two) and got pulled in the middle of an inning with no runners on because he hit eighty-five pitches. In that particular context, you could say that they’re trying tro rest his arm to prevent overwork or, if you’re more optimistic, saving him for a call-up to the Mariners later in the season, though I would not necessarily side with this line of thinking. On the plus side, a performance of this calibre in Reno is not a bad thing at all.
26/13 K/BB in 27.1 Innings Mention:
RHP Ian Snell, 10/30/1981
1-0, GS, 5.40 ERA in 5.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 5/2 K/BB, 1/8 G/F, WP
From The Training Room:
The arrival of 2B Dustin Ackley, LHP Edward Paredes, and RHP Anthony Varvaro were the big bits of news for the week, but they came at the expense of quad-A relievers RHP Mark Worrell and LHP Billy Traber. I’m really torn up about this as you can plainly see. Equally so about LHP Chris Seddon replacing RHP Sean White. RHP Mumba Rivera and UT Jeffrey Dominguez also hit the DL, so there’s that. Saturday brought Mike Sweeney in a rehab appearance. He went 5-for-10 in his first two games while striking out once. I know you’re thrilled, but please, contain yourselves.
Strange Happenings:
Ackley hit a home run in the first pitch of his first at-bat. I know we’d all go nuts if he did that in the majors, but for now we’ll have to settle for perhaps a fist pump and a subdued “woo!”. Manager Daren Brown and pitcher Scott Patterson were both ejected in the ninth on Sunday when Patterson threw his first pitch over the batter’s head. A batter later, whoever was at the plate argued over a foul and got himself ejected too.
West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (2-3 this week, 47-46 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, July 12th 2010
All-star break
Tuesday, July 13th 2010
All-star break
Wednesday, July 14th 2010
West Tenn 12, Birmingham 7 (CHW – 6)
W: Munoz (3-4, 4.30) L: Ouellette (1-1, 3.45)
Thursday, July 15th 2010
West Tenn 0, Birmingham 1 (CHW – 5)
W: Lowe (4-3, 4.26) L: Grube (1-3, 2.59)
Friday, July 16th 2010
West Tenn 3, Birmingham 5 (CHW – 4)
W: Edwards (3-6, 5.73) L: Cortes (5-4, 6.08)
Saturday, July 17th 2010
West Tenn 6, Huntsville 13 (MIL + 3)
W: Cody (5-7, 5.10) L: Beavan (0-1, 11.25)
Sunday, July 18th 2010
West Tenn 7, Huntsville 3 (MIL + 2)
W: Lueke (2-1, 3.27) L: Henderson (3-2, 4.97)
Hitter of the Week:
3B Alex Liddi, R/R, 8/14/1988
5 G, 19 AB, 4 R, 6 H, 4 2B, HR, 4 RBI, SB, CS, 4/2 K/BB, .316/.381/.684
We’re well past the halfway point of the minor league season, so it seems reasonably safe to say that this was not the season a lot of people expected of Liddi coming out of the Cal League. Whether or not those people were reasonable in the first place, that’s another matter. I would have pegged him for about fifteen home runs by the end of the season and right now he doesn’t even have half that. While he has passed last season’s mark for triples already, doubles, he’s at a little over 50%. That’s not good. It looks like he’s striking and walking a little less on both fronts. One of the main problems seems to be that he’s posting a sub-.700 OPS against right-handed hitters, which is just awful. Combined with the struggles he’s had with the glove, Liddi is not a hot prospect at the moment. He’ll probably get a 40-man spot anyway in the offseason, to which I’d say “hey, at least there are option years.”
Welcome to the System Mention:
2B Matt Lawson, R/R, 11/18/1985
4 G, 17 AB, 3 R, 6 H, 2B, 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 3/0 K/BB, .353/.353/.706
Sacrifices Must Be Made Mention:
SS Carlos Triunfel, R/R, 2/27/1990
5 G, 13 AB, 2 R, 4 H, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2/0 K/BB, .308/.286/.615
Who Needs Singles? Mention:
RF Carlos Peguero, L/L, 2/22/1987
5 G, 18 AB, 4 R, 4 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 9/2 K/BB, .222/.300/.667
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Josh Lueke, 12/5/1984
1-0, 0.00 ERA in 3.1 IP, 2 H, 6/0 K/BB, 1/2 G/F
I’ll admit, I’m curious. When a pitcher has more strikeouts than all his other outs combined, it’s something of an intrigue. Lueke has made about as good an impression on his new club as he could in his debut, recording three of four outs as Ks. He also threw twelve of fourteen pitches for strikes. The next time out, it was eighteen of twenty-two pitches for strikes on the way to the win with the D-Jaxx rallying in the ninth. He’ll need a bit of time in the league before they get adjusted to him, at which point he may give up a walk, or perhaps another hit or two, but the early returns certainly make him look like an intriguing bullpen option in the near future.
Probably POTW Next Week Mention:
RHP Jarrett Grube, 11/5/1981
0-1, 1.35 ERA in 6.2 IP, 7 H, R, 6/3 K/BB,
All-Star Reliever Mention:
RHP Anthony Varvaro, 10/31/1984
0-0, 2 G, S, 0.00 ERA in 3.0 IP, 2 H, 4/0 K/BB, 2/3 G/F, 5/7 G/F
From the Training Room:
OF Joe Dunigan and RHP Aaron Jensen both came off the DL on Wednesday. Dunigan’s arrival meant OF Kuo-hui Lo went to the Cal League. Jensen’s return came at the expense of RHP Steve Palazzolo, who was released back on Monday along with C Luis Oliveros, who was replaced by Brandon Bantz after the break. It’s the end of an era. There was also Ackley/Paredes/Varvaro going to Tacoma in exchange for Beavan/Lawson/Lueke. Robles was pulled after two innings on Sunday with an injury, but around the same time the game was called due to weather, so it’s hard for me to tell if he’s arm-hurt or slipped-and-fell-on-his-ass-hurt. All it says is “undisclosed injury”.
Strange Happenings:
On Saturday, utility man Leury Bonilla started the game in center field and ended it at catcher.
High Desert Mavericks (1-5 this week, 49-45 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, July 12th 2010
High Desert 7, Rancho Cucamonga 8 (ANA + 3)
W: McKiernan (3-1, 3.24) L: Nation (3-4, 5.08)
Tuesday, July 13th 2010
Off day
Wednesday, July 14th 2010
San Jose 10 (SF – 8), High Desert 4
W: Whitaker (1-0, 1.80) L: Hesketh (0-2, 3.45)
Thursday, July 15th 2010
San Jose 7 (SF – 7), High Desert 5
W: Odle (10-3, 4.52) L: Wild (6-4, 5.73)
Friday, July 16th 2010
San Jose 1 (SF – 8), High Desert 8
W: Carraway (6-5, 5.57) L: Stolp (4-8, 5.13)
Saturday, July 17th 2010
Inland Empire 12 (LA – 3), High Desert 4
W: Savage (3-2, 4.24) L: Vasquez (6-4, 3.10)
Sunday, July 18th 2010
Inland Empire 6 (LA – 4), High Desert 7
W: Moran (1-0, 3.38) L: Aguasviva (1-4, 4.96)
Hitter of the Week:
IF Kyle Seager, L/R, 11/3/1987
6 G, 27 AB, 8 R, 12 H, 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, SB, 5/2 K/BB, .444/.467/.889
This seems to cry out for context. Seager had three home runs this week. He had three home runs total in July. For the entire season, he has seven home runs. In this particular span, the Mavs were scoring five and two-thirds runs a game, so it’s not really a product of everyone hitting. It’s more that Seager is hitting. And won’t stop. This is incorporating stats through Monday, so it’s a little skewed, but I just looked it up and in twenty-five games following the Cal League All-Star Break, Seager has hit .434/.483/.632. That’s over a hundred at-bats of… that! Before the break, he was just hitting .302/.386/.403. His eye numbers have also gone from above-average to nearly even, which hardly anyone reaches. Something seems to be up. I just wish I knew where he fit into the defensive scheme of things.
Walkin’ Dude Mention:
RF Johermyn Chavez, R/R, 1/26/1989
6 G, 19 AB, 6 H, 2 HR, 6 RBI, SB, CS, 6/8 K/BB, .316/.500/.632
Great Week, Bit Player #1 Mention:
OF Jake Shaffer, L/L, 8/16/1987
5 G, 20 AB, 2 R, 7 H, 2 2B, 4 RBI, 4/1 K/BB, .350/.381/.450
Great Week, Bit Player #2 Mention:
C Ralph Henriquez, S/R, 4/7/1987
5 G, 19 AB, 3 R, 7 H, 2 2B, 5/0 K/BB, .368/.368/.473
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Andrew Carraway, 9/4/1986
1-0, GS, 1.08 ERA in 8.1 IP, 9 H, R, 3/1 K/BB, 13/8 G/F, WP, HB
Carraway nearly did the improbable this week: throw a complete game shutout in Mavericks Stadium in the middle of the summer. I don’t even understand how that is possible, at least not without the aid of voodoo or cheat codes, but I can say that my world is a little bit saner for knowing that he didn’t pull it off. This was on the heels of a pretty strong outing at Rancho Cucamonga where he gave up two runs on five hits in six innings while striking out eight, but in the preceding outing, also against the Quakes, he let ten score in two and a third innings. Recognizing that it’s a pretty awful way to go about judging pitchers, I see six outings in his last ten where he had an ERA of three or under, and in the remaining four, only one wasn’t double-digits, but it was appreciably close to it. Armchair speculation might be that they’re working with him on some things, but then again, he is pitching in the Cal League.
Adjusting, After Early Struggles Mention:
LHP Brian Moran, 9/30/1988
1-0, 3 G, 0.00 ERA in 3.1 IP, 2 H, 2/0 K/BB, 4/4 G/F
From the Training Room:
The corresponding move from Raben hitting the DL last week was that, once Dunigan returned to the Southern League, Lo came back to Adelanto.
Strange Happenings:
On the 14th, Jonathan Hesketh started a game where he gave up seven runs in five innings. Only one of them was earned, and he had allowed only five hits and a walk. BASEBALL!… Ralph Henriquez, normally a catcher, played a game at third recently. Versatility!
Clinton Lumberkings (4-2 this week, 50-41 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, July 12th 2010
Clinton 5, Kane County 7 (OAK + 2)
W: Krol (7-3, 2.28) L: Czyz (1-1, 2.96)
Tuesday, July 13th 2010
Off day
Wednesday, July 14th 2010
West Michigan 4 (DET – 7), Clinton 9
W: Ramirez (6-3, 2.71) L: Newman (0-5, 4.27)
Thursday, July 15th 2010
West Michigan 7 (DET – 6), Clinton 1
W: Larez (6-7, 4.56) L: Gallagher (0-3, 3.52)
Friday, July 16th 2010
West Michigan 6 (DET – 7), Clinton 11
W: Stanton (7-4, 3.91) L: Sanz (1-4, 6.45)
Saturday, July 17th 2010
South Bend 0 (ARI – 6), Clinton 6
W: Gillheeney (8-6, 2.73) L: Allen (3-3, 5.02)
Sunday, July 18th 2010
South Bend 6 (ARI – 7), Clinton 9
W: Czyz (2-1, 3.51) L: Gemberling (2-7, 6.16)
Hitter of the Week:
SS Nick Franklin, S/R, 3/2/1991
5 G, 13 AB, 6 R, 5 H, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 4 SB, 4/5 K/BB, 2 HBP, .385/.571/.846
At some point last week, I voiced a complaint that Franklin wasn’t walking enough of late. Either the same day or the day after, he went 2-for-2 with three walks. I wasn’t thinking about complaining about his power output because he had recently had two home runs, but then he hit a home run again two days after that. Since April and May, this is as good a week as he’s had in a while, and July is looking much better than June, with its .208/.291/.429 line. I suppose the only issue I could raise is that his numbers still look weak from the right side, as he’s had only two of his seventeen home runs against left-handers, despite getting almost a quarter of his at-bats against them. Of course, with Safeco, Franklin as a probably left-handed bat in the future isn’t the worst thing in the world.
33% of His Home Runs Mention:
CF Daniel Carroll, R/R, 1/6/1989
5 G, 18 AB, 4 R, 6 H, 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 SB, 5/1 K/BB, .333/.400/.722
Peripherals Coming Back Mention:
RF James Jones, L/L, 9/24/1988
6 G, 24 AB, 8 R, 7 H, 2 2B, 2 3B, HR, 5 RBI, SB, 3/2 K/BB, .292./346/.667
Pitcher of the Week:
LHP Jimmy Gillheeney, 11/8/1987
1-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 7.0 IP, 5 H, 5/0 K/BB, 5/8 G/F, HB
The development of Gillheeney continues to be one of the most interesting things the pitching staff has going for it right now. If Gillheeney had been pitching in the second half like he did in the first half, he would have walked about fourteen by now in 32.0 innings of work, but as it stands, he’s only at six, which is really a remarkable transition for him. He’s also dropped his opponent average by about eighty points, for whatever that’s worth. While at the current pace, you could probably pencil in Gillheeney for one of the league’s Pitcher of the Week awards at some point, all the teams he’s faced thus far have been in the bottom half of the league’s offenses. If he gets the start next Friday against Great Lakes, that could be a huge test for him.
30% of His Walks For the Year Mention:
RHP Erasmo Ramirez, 5/2/1990
1-0, GS, 1.50 ERA in 6.0 IP, 3 H, R, 4/3 K/BB, 8/3 G/F
From the Training Room:
With Bantz being sent to West Tenn, the Lumberkings brought back C Henry Contreras from Pulaski for backup duties. Contrares was 5-for-7 in his first two games back.
Strange Happenings:
Wednesday’s game featured a win against Nate Newman, who was drafted by us in the 10th round out of college back in ’08, but held out for his senior year and landed with the Tigers in the 17th round. It’s probably not worth gloating over but I still smiled.
Everett Aquasox (5-2 this week, 21-9 overall)
Monday, July 12th 2010
Spokane 2 (TEX – 1), Everett 6
W: Sorce (3-0, 3.00) L: Grullon (0-2, 7.04)
Tuesday, July 13th 2010
Everett 4, Yakima 1 (ARI – 3)
W: Seco (1-0, 3.86) L: Reagan (1-3, 6.63)
Wednesday, July 14th 2010
Everett 7, Yakima 15 (ARI – 2)
W: Cantwell (3-1, 2.08) L: Medina (1-2, 3.68)
Thursday, July 15th 2010
Everett 2, Yakima 1 (ARI – 3)
W: Kesler (2-2, 3.29) L: Hale (0-2, 0.56)
Friday, July 16th 2010
Everett 7, Yakima 10 (ARI – 2)
W: Andrews (3-0, 1.98) L: Markovitz (1-2, 4.22)
Saturday, July 17th 2010
Everett 5, Yakima 3 (ARI – 3)
W: Wilhelmsen (1-0, 5.40) L: Robinson (3-2, 4.00)
Sunday, July 18th 2010
Eugene 5 (SD – 4), Everett 8
W: Martinez (2-0, 1.76) L: Sanchez (0-1, 5.19)
Hitter of the Week:
CF Ryan Royster, L/L, 10/13/1985
6 G, 25 AB, 5 R, 7 H, 3 2B, 3B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 SB, CS, 8/4 K/BB, .280/.400/.600
Another week and Royster proves that he doesn’t really need another week in the Northwest League. Unless you seem to think that 1.010 OPS in 50 at-bats is nothing special, or that a 78.6% extra-base hit rate isn’t all that worth notice. There are a few blips on the radar to be concerned with, but they’re minor it seems. The main one is that he’s struck out in 30% of his at-bats, which isn’t good considering, but for all I know he could just be swinging really hard in the hopes of putting up the numbers that would award him a better position on the organization ladder. I wouldn’t really fault him for that.
No Longer Top Dog? Mention:
OF/DH Kevin Rivers, L/R, 8/24/1988
6 G, 23 AB, 4 R, 7 H, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 7/2 K/BB, HBP, .304/.385/.391
Still Playing the Hot Corner Mention:
3B Mickey Wiswall, L/R, 11/25/1988
7 G, 29 AB, 3 R, 8 H, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 9/1 K/BB, HBP, .276/.323/.448
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Forrest Snow, 12/30/1988
0-0, 2 G, SV, 0.00 ERA in 7.0 IP, 5 H, 10/2 K/BB, 7/1 G/F
Snow did not have an especially distinguished career at the UW. He started only rarely, and in his junior year only had two Ks for every walk, which is not all that exciting. His Aquasox career has turned out a bit different. Snow didn’t even allow his first hit until his fourth appearance, after 8.1 innings were already in the books. Opponents are only hitting .100 off him, and he’s running a 23/5 K/BB, in 19.1 innings. It’s not a big sample to work with as far as analyzing what he’s doing differently, though a couple of trends may be emerging. One is that his command is quite a bit better against left-handers, as he’s running a 12/1 K/BB in 10.0 innings against them, and the other is that he goes from one extreme to the other on balls in play. For left-handers, he’s an extreme flyball pitcher; against right-handers, you can expect him to get most of his outs on the ground.
Close Runner-Up Mention:
LHP Anthony Fernandez, 6/8/1990
0-0, GS, 1.50 ERA in 6.0 IP, 5 H, R, 6/1 K/BB, 8/0 G/F, WP
Five-Inning “One-Hitter” Mention:
LHP Edlando Seco, 7/23/1988
0-0, GS, 1.80 ERA in 6.0 IP, H, R, 4/3 K/BB, 2/6 G/F, HB
From the Training Room:
RHP Tom Wilhelmsen moved up from Peoria to join the rotation on Saturday. Woohoo.
Strange Happenings:
Medina had a start where he gave up nine runs on seven hits and two walks in two-thirds of an inning. Only two of them were earned, but I’d say it adds “cold” to what was a spectrum of “hot” and “lukewarm” starts…. Gebbers was hit by three pitches this week, perhaps inciting the wrath of local crowds… Baron was 5-for-17 with two doubles… Phillips had no hits in four at-bats, but five walks. The ‘Sox offense is a curious beast. On one hand, they’re batting .237, the second-lowest mark in the league, but they’re second in OBP at .340 because they’ve drawn thirty-one more walks than the next team and lead the league in slugging with .407 because they have sixteen more home runs. Part of me thinks this is really awesome, but I don’t think it’s the rational part.
Pulaski Mariners (4-2 this week, 14-12 overall):
Monday, July 12th 2010
Pulaski 6, Danville 0 (ATL – 1)
W: Diaz (2-2, 6.20) L: Pacheco (0-2, 6.59)
Tuesday, July 13th 2010
Off day
Wednesday, July 14th 2010
Johnson City 10 (STL + 6 ), Pulaski 11
W: Kiel (1-0, 1.59) L: Corpas (0-1, 3.12)
Thursday, July 15th 2010
Johnson City 3 (STL + 5), Pulaski 5
W: Mieses (1-2, 3.64) L: Johnson (3-1, 3.55)
Friday, July 16th 2010
Johnson City 10 (STL + 6), Pulaski 2
W: Rosenthal (3-0, 2.49) L: Olivero (0-3, 7.09)
Saturday, July 17th 2010
Danville 6 (ATL + 1), Pulaski 7
W: Boyce (5-1, 4.76) L: Weber (2-1, 3.25)
Sunday, July 18th 2010
Danville 13 (ATL + 2), Pulaski 7
W: Stovall (1-0, 1.35) L: Diaz (2-3, 7.94)
Hitter of the Week:
CF Mario Yepez, S/R, 6/15/1988
6 G, 24 AB, 6 R, 7 H, 2 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, SB, CS, 5/1 K/BB, HBP, .292/.346/.708
The wraps can yield surprises for me as much as anyone. Through Monday’s game, Ypeez was hitting .189/.256/.360 in 111 at-bats. Without the extra bases this week pushing up his line, the slugging would drop by ninety points. Yepez hit well in his second season in the VSL, batting .345/.404/.462 after coming back from an injury that sidelined him the previous year, but he’s struggled a bit to translate it to the U.S. On the plus side, he has more home runs this season than he had in the entirety of his career before it, and that’s certainly positive.
Small Sample Mention:
IF Derek Poppert, R/R, 7/27/1988
4 G, 15 AB, 4 R, 6 H, 3 2B, 2 RBI, 1/0 K/BB, HBP, .400/.438/.600
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP George Mieses, 5/3/1991
1-0, GS, 1.50 ERA in 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, (ER), 3/1 K/BB, 12/3 G/F
As far as consistency has gone thus far, Mieses has been as sure a thing as the rotation has had, allowing just one earned run in three of his five starts, and only recording one truly bad outing. This one was a little atypical for him, as he was getting more groundballs than is typical (2:1 seems about right, but 4:1?) and didn’t strike out that many. Everything else was about in line, and you might be able to take away a hit or two with a more proficient infield defense. Strangely, this past week’s game ended up being his first win of the season. Coming out of the week, Mieses led the staff with twenty-two strikeouts. I’m sure we’ll keep talking about the offense, but if you are more into pitching, keep an eye on him.
Closing? Mention:
RHP Matthew Bischoff, 5/21/1987
0-0, 2 G, 2 SV, 0.00 ERA in 3.0 IP, H, 2/1 K/BB, 2/4 G/F, WP
From the Training Room:
A few moves went down on Wednesday, which included RHP Preston Vancil and LHP Michael Vitale joining the team while Contreras went back to Clinton and OF Jarrett Burgess went back to the AZL, possibly due to injury. He hadn’t played in nearly two weeks anyway.
Strange Happenings:
Diaz had a seven-inning start where he gave up eight hits and a walk while striking out five on Monday. Sunday was pretty bad though… I’m pretty sure the bullpen has more wins than the rotation…
Dispatches from the Land of Rehabbers and Teens:
RHP Danny Cruz Ayala: 7 G, 3 S, 0.79 ERA in 11.1 IP, 9 H (HR), R, 22/0 K/BB
2B Michael Acevedo: 7 G, 29 AB, 5 R, 9 H, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, SB, CS, 5/0 K/BB, .310/.310/.410
C/1B Ji-Man Choi: 19 G, 64 AB, 11 R, 28 H, 5 2B, 3B, 14 RBI, 5 SB, CS, 13/8 K/BB, .438/.500/.547
RHP Jeroen de Haas: 7 G (GS), 4.80 ERA in 15.0 IP, 23 H, 13 R (8 ER), 12/3 K/BB, HB
1B Jose Flores: 14 G, 50 AB, 8 R, 13 H, 5 2B, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 2 CS, 16/9 K/BB, .260/.361/.480
RHP Seon Gi Kim: 6 G (4 GS), 7.52 ERA in 26.1 IP, 38 H (HR), 23 R (22 ER), 34/5 K/BB
CF Alfredo Morales: 19 G, 76 AB, 11 R, 19 H, 7 2B, 3B, 7 RBI, 2 SB, CS, 28/7 /BB, .250/.313/.368
OF Guillermo Pimentel: 19 G, 65 AB, 4 R, 14 H, 2 2B, 3B, 5 RBI, 17/2 K/BB, .215/.246/.277
RHP Luke Taylor: 2 G, 6.75 ERA in 2.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2/2 K/BB
RHP Dylan Unsworth: 5 G (4 GS), 2.63 ERA in 24.0 IP, 27 H, 10 R (7 ER), 18/0 K/BB, HB
RHP Taijuan Walker: 2 G, 0.00 ERA in 4.0 IP, H, 2 R (0 ER), 6/2 K/BB, HB
Comments
26 Responses to “Minor League Wrap (7/12-18/10)”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Jay, very nice piece as usual. Do you see Seager as a 2B? I saw he has played some SS as well. Is Mangini going to get a look with the big club if he continues to hit well, or is his defense just that bad at 3B?
James Jones over the last 10 games:
.359/.419/.692 4/3 K/BB
I like him a lot.
Thanks for these write ups. Do you think Winfree is any kind of a prospect or is he just AAA fodder? Where did he come from?
Seager is a fringey 2B but you might be able to get him to work there in time. They were using him at short mainly because Juan Diaz was traded and Edilio Colina hit the DL. After Colina was back to nearly 100%, they moved him back (or at least that’s how I remember it). It was a decent challenge for him, at least. He’s a 2B or a bat-first utility infielder.
Mangini’s defense isn’t really anything good so he’s going to need to hit quite a bit. They’ve been playing him at first quite a bit recently with Tui getting his reps in at third, so take that as you will. I don’t really have good odds on whether Mangini will be added, other than to say that he’s due, along with a lot of other prospects.
I don’t think anyone expected Jones’ rough start to the season. He’s really good when he’s on though.
Winfree is a former Twins prospect who is going to be 25 in a few weeks. He hits the ball pretty hard, but isn’t good defensively and hardly walks at all. AAA fodder probably.
The Aquasox are in the playoffs for the first time since 2002 by clinching the first half division title.
According to the story on the Herald:
Right, they clinched on Monday, but since I was trying to make this for last week, I was going to mention it next time. Whenever that is.
Hey Jay, nice write up as usual.
How good of a prospect do you see Nick Franklin as? Is he a legit top SS prospect in baseball now?
I think it would be really cool if you did a current Top 10 Mariner prospect list after the trade line, and the M’s hopefully have some new intriging minor leaguers.
I don’t really have good odds on whether Mangini will be added, other than to say that he’s due, along with a lot of other prospects.
Looking at the current 40-man, is the team actually all that tight on space? I know the front office faces this decision for a few guys, more than last year and mostly international signings so it’s harder for me to keep track of who they all are. But it seems like we’ll still have spots that can be opened up, particularly among the pitchers.
Thanks Jay
I saw that Johermyn Chavez got a mention in your write up. That guy has been going off lately with his power numbers and I was wondering if it was a by-product of the California league, or if he is a viable prospect making a statement for advancement.
Also, if you have the information available, how does he rate in the 5 tools – Overall Future Potential (OFP) speaking? If you have that information – or know where one can find it, please let me know.
Loving these. What do you think Walker’s ultimate upside? Do you see Ackley and Pineda starting next season up in Seattle or Tacoma?
So is that a typo, or did Triunfel really pull off that OBP oddity? Has he been hanging around with Yuni on the weekends?
I’d say so, yes. My own questions about his ability to switch hit probably don’t ding his prospect status that much, and people think that the defensive kinks that exist now could be ironed out in time, though he’ll never be a wizard with the glove. People would be talking about him more, but there was Mike Trout in the same league so…
I’m pretty sure we’re looking at college draft picks from ’07 and high school picks from ’06 along with international signings from around the same time. So, Dunigan, Mangini, Hill, and Richard, if you’re into the latter two, Liddi, Pineda, Chavez, and I think Cleto as well. Triunfel I think waits until next year.
I’d say a reasonable projection would be that he’s probably going to hit around .260, hit 20+ home runs, and draw forty or so walks. He’s got an above-average arm, but not a lot of people seem to like his defense and a few have said they see him moving to first or DH. I’ve heard Jose Guillen as a comp, which seems about right.
Two or three starter, possibly closer if he can’t hack it. We’re talking a guy who has the stuff as far as fastball and flashes of the curve to theoretically be a number two, but my own personal bias is that I’m a little leery of guys who pick up pitching late and are power throwers because it’s easy for them to get into a mindset of just mowing dudes down and they miss out on certain subtleties of pitch selection.
It’s going to be one or the other, certainly. I think they’ll probably err on the side of caution. We’re not talking quite the same level of prospects, but you have them keeping down Moore right now waiting for him to polish up certain aspects of his game, even though he started out with the team, because they believe that when they call him up next they want it to be on a permanent basis. It depends on the development of Pineda’s pitching and how he adapts (and whatever they think about the health of his arm) and Ackley’s defense, I would say.
Well, the “Sacrifices must be made” quip implies sac flies so…..
I forgot about Cleto. Looks like Robles is in that group, too, so the tricky thing is all the guys who are not just international signings, but were acquired from other organizations. I don’t find the drafted players who are currently due all that compelling. I’d put Mangini on, probably Hill, but have my doubts about Dunigan or Richard.
Right, Robles is in there too. I was just going off the top of my head. It’s mostly the int’l prospects that are interesting this time.
Hill has struggled since the end of last season, and probably isn’t going to be a starter from here out. That’s a blow to his prospect status.
Oh, duh – I must not have been sufficiently caffeinated!
Jay: this is off the current topic, but [deleted, off-topic]
Jay,
Totally agree with you you on Castillo’s defense, it looked pretty rough on the YouTube video. However, his swing reminded me a lot of Manny Ramirez. He really gets good extension and some fast and powerful wrists.
Also, regardless of his past, Leuke looks like he can be a pretty nasty option for our pen sooner rather than later, probably out of Spring next year. I think he and Pryor could both be great power arms in 2011 out of the bullpen.
So due to the lack of excitement surrounding our Mariners right now I am going to put down my top 25 prospects as of 7/20/10 (not including the SS Bros., Saunders and Smoak)
1. Dustin Ackley
2. Michael Pineda
3. Nick Franklin
4. Greg Halman
5. Ryan Moore
6. Carlos Truinfel
7. Joyerym Chavez
8. Kyle Seager
9. Rich Poythress
10. Blake Beavin
11. Carlos Peguero
12. Taquaen Walker
13. Guillermo Pimentel
14. Josh Leuke
15. Dennis Raben
16. Mauricio Robles
17. Alex Liddi
18. Nate Tenbrink
19. Matt Mangini
20. James Jones
21. Steven Pryer
22. Gabriel Noriega
23. Mike Wilson
24. Steven Hensley
25. Matt Lawson
I know I am missing few guys but this was done pretty quick. Would love to see others top prospects list as well.
Cheers!
So, roughly how many 40-man roster spots do we have to squeeze these younger guys into? I’ve heard you mention it before, but how tight is the squeeze? Should we expect to lose a guy or two through the Rule V Draft?
Also, is Johermyn going to be sent to West Tenn this year? I’d love to see how much those 30+ dingers he’s going to hit are Cal League-inflated. I’m hoping on him — given the Brandons being 2.6 versus 0 in WAR this year.
Now that I’m looking at it, Lueke and Lawson would need to be on too. So yes, more prospects.
Hill has struggled since the end of last season, and probably isn’t going to be a starter from here out. That’s a blow to his prospect status.
True, but it’s not that much of a blow to his plausibility as a Rule 5 draft pick in the short-term. For example, Chavez almost certainly offers more value as a prospect now, in terms of who teams would be interested in as part of a trade deadline deal. But if the question is who can stick on a 25-man roster for 2011 if they have to, a reliever with extensive AA experience who could fill a lefty specialist role has a decent shot, even absent a possible future in the rotation. By way of contrast, for an outfielder with decent power potential but no strike zone judgment, who has yet to get above High-A ball and has been playing in a hitter’s paradise, it’s just not happening.
Jay,
What IFA’s that re in the minors do you think will help us eventually?
There was a discussion on Prospect Insider on not spending as much on IFA’s and more on the draft what do you think?
Do you think Ji-man Choi will be promoted anytime soon? He doesn’t seem to be fazed by the AZL competition as far as numbers go.
Also, I know he doesn’t have the build of a top pitcher, but Robles really intrigues me, and I thought he would be higher on a prospect list. Any reason he is that low, or is it mostly his size?
Well, you can look up the 40-man and try to make a determination for yourself how many of those spots are going to be held through the offseason, then factor in free agent signings, and what other teams do with their prospects when the crunch comes. Basically, this is a question that’s impossible to answer in July.
This is also a question that is impossible to answer in any satisfactory way. If you read the comments on Prospect Insider, you probably also saw the long list present of six-figure bonus guys that didn’t turn out to be anything at all, contrasted with Michael Pineda, who didn’t get a huge bonus and basically looked like the third or fourth most interesting pitcher on the roster in his DSL tenure.
The market for IFAs is inflating. As I said before, I don’t think Castillo gets much more than a million if that four years ago and now he’s getting $2.2 million. Because the bidding process is open, the top tier of players is going to continue to get more and more expensive until it just can’t be sustained anymore. Any team hoping to get an advantage is going to have to outscout everyone and dig up guys on their own and hope that no one else notices.
In certain areas it’s improving, like there’s a prospect league in the DR now that means that you’ll see guys faced talented competition here and there, but the expenses are starting to overrun the probable reward. It doesn’t mean that one should abandon international scouting so much as go about it smarter.
He might, if they can find a place for him. I’m thinking one of the main reasons that they have him there is just to help him work on learning the language and stuff like that. It’s quite common for Pac Rim signings to spend most of their first year hanging around the Arizona League.
Justin,
1) Ackley
2) Pineda
3) Triunfel
4) Franklin
5) Moore
6) Raben
7) Chavez
8) Halman
9) Poythress
10) Robles
11) Liddi
12) Peguero
13) Mangini
14) Hensley
15) Walker
16) James Jones
17) Tenbrink
18) Beavin
19) Savastano
20) Catricala
21) Seager
22) Pimentel
23) Leuke
24) Lawson
25) Mario Martinez
Hendu, good list. Not going to lie it’s tough to fit 5-15 with this team. Good stuff.