Minor League Wrap (5/16-22/11)
I’m back! Things should be resuming their usual schedule from here out. On the plus side, the Generals and the Mavericks both won five games this week! On the negative end of things, the Lumberkings, in spite of all of their personnel changes, still have an awful record, and yet remain fascinating to watch on certain days. Tacoma’s in the middle, but Ackley is still amazing, so that’s something.
To the jump!
Venezuela Starts Play:
Monday of last week, the Venezuelan Summer League opened up and the Mariners rushed ahead to an early 4-0 lead in the division after Saturday, including a win over a long-time rival in the Pirates, which seems natural in a way. The roster itself is much like last year’s, which is good for competition and yet kind of annoying for prospecting. Felipe Burin, Reginald Lampe, and Kenny Hart, who were one (.904), three (.817), and four (.817) in team OPS are still with the team for some [scouting] reason that’s basically beyond my understanding, Burin in particular. The #2, Michael Acevedo, was promoted mid-season and I’m guessing that #5 1B/C Ivan Ramirez will turn up in Peoria later. Similarly, highly touted OF Alexy Palma (ranking sixth with a .782 OPS) is also still with the team. At the same time, the team has added one of the big int’l signings of last season in Yordi Calderon and he’s already off to a hot start, batting .478/.538/.870 in five games [which is still less than what Burin is doing]. Hart and Lampe are also off to hot starts and Brazilian/Japanese shortstop Pedro Okuda has also been getting his hits in, if nothing else.
The pitching staff lost Vicente Campos and probably Angel Raga, Reynaldo Sabala, and Mayckol Guaipe to the states, but other live arms have remained, like Daniel Mata and Kevin Quintanilla, and they’ve been joined by a new southpaw who scouted well in Luis Pina. Factor in existing mainstays like Isliexel Gonzalez and Maykel Ynfantes, and it looks like the team could remain competitive throughout the year. Whether it should be that way or not, I don’t know, because it seems like it’s about time to send some of these guys to the states just to see what happens. On the other hand, we did see a few midseason promotions last year, which means it could still happen. I’m also spending a lot of words on players who may not even make it as far as advanced-A.
And since I usually cover this kind of thing, favorite new hitter name: IF Gianfranco Wawoe of Curacao. Favorite new pitcher name: Neritzon Osorio (followed by Thyago Vieira).
Tacoma Rainiers (3-3 this week, 18-26 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 16th 2011
Tacoma 8, New Orleans 9 (FLA + 5)
W: Ceda (2-1, 0.50) L: Lueke (0-2, 3.46)
Tuesday, May 17th 2011
Tacoma 7, New Orleans 2 (FLA + 4)
W: Castro (3-2, 4.50) L: Mendez (1-5, 8.57)
Wednesday, May 18th 2011
Off day
Thursday, May 19th 2011
Memphis 8 (STL – 7), Tacoma 2
W: Lynn (3-3, 4.25) L: French (0-5, 5.98)
Friday, May 20th 2011
Memphis 7 (STL – 8), Tacoma 9
W: Lueke (1-2, 3.14) L: Marte (0-3, 2.41)
Saturday, May 21st 2011
Memphis 4 (STL – 7), Tacoma 3
W: Valdes (3-2, 6.57) L: Cortes (1-1, 3.97) S: Rauschenberger (1)
Sunday, May 22nd 2011
Memphis 2 (STL – 8), Tacoma 5
W: Ring (2-1, 2.77) L: Dickson (1-5, 4.30) S: Lueke (4)
Hitter of the Week:
DH Luis Antonio Jimenez, L/L, 5/7/1982
6 G, 18 AB, 4 R, 6 H, HR, 3 RBI, 4/8 K/BB, .333/.519/.500
In his first four games in triple-A this season, Jimenez was 3-for-18 with a couple of doubles and four walks against three Ks. He’s still walking, but that’s the only part of the line that’s roughly the same. The strikeouts are dipping, and the only thing that seems to be missing now is him gripping and ripping pitches with a little more consistently. Even that seems like it will come in time. For now, I’m just wondering what the devil he was doing for all of last season, since he wasn’t in the NPB then. I’m guessing injury, or time working through the LVBP, like Felix’s brother did.
Some Power, Some Walks Mention:
2B Dustin Ackley, L/R, 2/26/1988
6 G, 26 AB, 5 R, 7 H, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2/2 K/BB, .269/.321/.500
Some Power, No Walks Mention:
OF/1B Johan Limonta, L/L, 8/4/1983
6 G, 21 AB, 3 R, 7 H, 2 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 3/0 K/BB, .333/.333/.571
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Denny Bautista, 8/23/1980
0-09, 2 G, 0.00 ERA in 5.1 IP, H, 6/2 K/BB, 2/4 G/F
Hard-throwing pitchers with limited command are kept around in the high minors for years on the off chance that they make a plateau leap at some point and become useful on top of interesting. I don’t know that this is happening for Bautista, but some considerations for you to chew over. He’s running an 11.8 K/9 right now. The past two seasons he’s been over ten combined between triple-A and the MLB, but even this is excessive. His walk rate is also 5.3, which is roughly where his combined stats fall as well. The only difference is that he seems to be giving up home runs more frequently. Good week? Sure. Leap forward? Don’t hold your breath.
On the Left Side of the Boat Mention:
LHP Fabio Castro, 1/20/1985
1-0, GS, 1.69 ERA in 5.1 IP, 6 H, R, 3/3 K/BB, 4/7 G/F
From The Training Room:
Another slow week. RHP Chris Smith got his release on Thursday as the team brought in RHP Scott Patterson from Jackson. Smith had some good stretches of late, but was mostly bad. It’s possible that he had an opt-out in his contract, but this looks to me like it could be just a plain older release as well. Chad Cordero, Kanekoa Texeira, and Sean Green were also involved in transactions this week, all for other teams.
Strange Happenings:
Liddi got hit by a pitch three times last week. Through forty-two games, these are the only times he’s been hit by a pitch. His career high is eight, set two years ago. Curiously, he’s also only grounded into two double plays all season, one of which came on Sunday. Last year, he grounded into seventeen. Perhaps he’s getting more loft on the ball? Either way, he has more stolen bases than hits by pitch or double plays too…. Ackley has as many home runs in 2011 as he did all of last season. Take that, doubters.
Jackson Generals (5-1 this week, 25-16 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 16th 2011
Huntsville 2 (MIL + 2), Jackson 5
W: Carraway (1-0, 2.79) L: Bowman (1-1, 3.52)
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Tuesday, May 17th 2011
Huntsville 2 (MIL + 2), Jackson 5
W: Vasquez (3-3, 3.78) L: Sanchez (2-4, 5.21) S: Patterson (10)
Wednesday, May 18th 2011
Huntsville 4 (MIL + 1), Jackson 6
W: Paredes (1-0, 0.00) L: Meadows (3-2, 3.20) S: Fields (2)
Thursday, May 19th 2011
Mississippi 3 (ATL -9), Jackson 4
W: Wilhelmsen (1-0, 0.00) L: Swaggerty (0-1, 1.29)
Friday, May 20th 2011
Mississippi 8 (ATL -8), Jackson 2
W: Avilan (1-2, 5.03) L: Penney (3-1, 6.23)
Saturday, May 21st 2011
Mississippi 2 (ATL -9), Jackson 4
W: Carraway (2-0, 2.78) L: Cordier (0-1, 5.40) S: Fields (3)
Sunday, May 22nd 2011
Rain
Hitter of the Week:
3B Nate Tenbrink, L/R, 12/21/1986
6 G, 18 AB, 6 R, 7 H, 2B, 2 3B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 SB, 4/5 K/BB, .389/.522/.833
Here’s a name I know I haven’t yet had the opportunity to speak much about. Tenbrink was a guy that a lot of us, JH and myself included, had pegged for one of the rising stars in the system due to his start to last year. After his concussion though, he was still all right, but not quite the same hitter he was before. I wouldn’t say that I was looking at his line so far, .206/.338/.365 in April and .220/.350/.440 in May as of the end of this week, and wondering if he was broke, though some may have. The peripherals seemed to be there, and the eye was improving, so something else seems to have been amiss. I may have hit on what that is. For kicks, I decided to calculate out his BABIP, and it turns out it’s just .222. We all know that hitter BABIP is subject to a few more factors than pitcher BABIP, but given that Tenbrink is left-handed, reasonably strong, and not lacking in speed, it seems that he’s been a bit unlucky so far.
Back from the DL and Slugging Mention:
OF Kuo-hui Lo, R/R, 9/26/1985
5 G, 18 AB, 5 R, 5 H, 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 7/2 K/BB, .278/.350/.778
Back on the Watch List Mention:
LF Jake Shaffer, L/L, 8/16/1987
5 G, 21 AB, 3 R, 7 H, 2 3B, HR, 3 RBI, CS, 2/1 K/BB, .333/.363/.667
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Taylor Stanton, 1/15/1988
0-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 6.0 IP, 7 H, 4/0 K/BB, 4/7 G/F, WP
To be fair, you’re going to see much of the rotation below. It was a week of dominant starting pitching for the Generals, but Stanton is probably not the guy people expected to be doing so well. He’s recorded all of four starts in advanced-A, and in that span, he had thirty-three hits allowed in 18.2 IP and a 11/4 K/BB. Bad, in a word. The Mavericks’ worst starter, in four words. But he got his call to double-A all the same once Hensley was hurting and has since been fine, more or less (it’s been two starts). Stanton seems to have his fans in the organization, but he’s been relying on balls in play more and more as he’s come up, with both the walks and strikeouts coming down. Maybe it’s just adjustment, but there’s also the possibility that his stuff isn’t playing as well at the higher levels as it used to.
Old Reliable Mention:
RHP Jarrett Grube, 11/5/1981
0-0, GS, 1.29 ERA in 7.0 IP, 6 H, R, 4/2 K/BB, 5/9 G/F, 2 WP
Winner Mention:
RHP Andrew Carraway, 9/4/1986
2-0, 2 G (GS), 2.13 ERA in 12.2 IP, 9 H (HR), 3 R, 7/2 K/BB, 9/13 G/F, HBP
Regressing Strikeouts? Mention:
RHP Erasmo Ramirez, 5/2/1990
0-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R (0 ER), 3/0 K/BB, 8/4 G/F, WP
From the Training Room:
The Generals picked up RHPs Shawn Kelley and Tom Wilhelmsen around the time they lost Patterson. Wilhelmsen will be in the rotation soon enough, but is busy getting stretched out. Kelley has pitched two innings and has two hits and two Ks to his line. This matters.
Strange Happenings:
Seager played a bit of shortstop last week. This seems a bit more normal than Liddi playing it, though both have happened recently… For the week, the team was 15-for-68 with runners in scoring position and still managed to win five games…. If you like Tenbrink, and want to keep liking Tenbrink, don’t check out his defensive numbers. That’s still a work in progress…. The Generals turned five double plays on Friday for the second week in a row.
High Desert Mavericks (5-2 this week, 21-23 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 16th 2011
Rancho Cucamonga 5 (LA + 10), High Desert 4 (ten innings)
W: Tolleson (1-0, 0.00) L: Kesler (1-1, 4.50)
Tuesday, May 17th 2011
High Desert 9, Lancaster 8 (HOU – 5)
W: Cooper (3-0, 4.35) L: Ramirez (0-1, 7.71) S: Hudson (1)
Wednesday, May 18th 2011
High Desert 10, Lancaster 8 (HOU – 6)
W: Markovitz (1-1, 4.91) L: Robinson (2-4, 5.70) S: Kesler (1)
Thursday, May 19th 2011
High Desert 1, Lancaster 2 (HOU – 5)
W: Cisnero (3-2, 5.13) L: Maurer (0-1, 3.60) S: Clark (11)
Friday, May 20th 2011
High Desert 13, Lancaster 9 (HOU – 6)
W: Cooper (4-0, 3.80) L: Grimmett (1-2, 5.34)
Saturday, May 21st 2011
High Desert 7, Visalia 4 (ARI – 3) (ten innings)
W: Delabar (1-1, 4.38) L: Worthington (1-2, 4.71)
Sunday, May 22nd 2011
High Desert 9, Visalia 4 (ARI – 4)
W: Sorce (4-1, 3.11) L: Smith (1-7, 10.31)
Hitter of the Week:
DH Dennis Raben, L/L, 7/31/1987
7 G, 27 AB, 6 R, 12 H, 2B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 6/1 K/BB, .444/.448/.926
The good news is that this wasn’t a homestand. The bad news is that two of the home runs came in Lancaster. Further good news is that neither Lancaster nor Visalia have strong LH HR park factors (104 and 111, respectively), so we can kind of get excited about these. Want some more to dream on? In the limited sampling to start the season, Raben’s L/R split issues have pretty much gone away, and he has a .814 OPS at home compared to .918 on the road. These are all important bits of information to us if we’re projecting Raben as being a useful contributor down the road. The only thing that seems to be missing is that his batting eye is little different from last season, maybe slightly worse. Walks are nice.
Sporadically Hitting Catcher Mention:
C Trevor Coleman, S/R, 1/19/1988
6 G, 21 AB, 3 R, 8 H, HR, 2 RBI, 2/4 K/BB, .381/.480/.524
All Power, No Walks Mention:
3B Mario Martinez, R/R, 11/13/1989
6 G, 28 AB, 9 R, 10 H, 2 2B, 3 3B, 5 RBI, 7/0 K/BB, .357/.357/.642
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Willy Kesler, 8/11/1987
0-1, 2 G, SV, 1.59 ERA in 5.2 IP, 4 H (HR), 7/0 K/BB, 5/2 G/F
We open with the guy who is fast becoming the Mavericks’ best reliever. Kesler didn’t have much trouble with the Midwest League before moving up. He had a 16/0 K/BB in 18.2 IP and a .217 average against. In the Cal League, the story has been a little different, and his line is marred by a debut outing that had him with a couple of runs allowed on four hits, three walks, and two Ks in his first two innings pitched. Since then, he’s seemed like he’s settling down and returned to getting a lot of groundballs and not really walking anyone. The pre-draft reports on Kesler weren’t particularly glowing, but he did redshirt as a junior after Tommy John surgery, so I’d consider him to have maybe been a little undersold coming in.
The Other Relief Hero Mention:
RHP Daniel Cooper, 11/6/1986
2-0, 2 G, 1.93 ERA in 4.2 IP, 4 H (HR), R, 5/2 K/BB, 7/1 G/F, WP\
From the Training Room:
RHPs Yoervis Medina and Timothy Boyce landed on the DL this week and RHP Brandon Maurer was added from Clinton to take the spot in the rotation. Good move! Maurer, if healthy, could stand to be pushed a little.
Strange Happenings:
During homestands, the Lancaster JetHawks run a promotion known as We Win You Win Wednesdays where if the team walks away with a victory, everyone who attended will get a free ticket to a future Lancaster game. We beat them 10-8. I imagine a lot of people walked away unhappy… Since I sort of addressed it above, Mavericks hitters drew twenty-seven walks this week (and handed out fewer than that). That’s still putting them in roughly the middle of the pack for the league, and since the home stadium tends to inflate things a bit, I’d like to see them do better than that…. Lancaster sent thirteen men to the plate in the fourth inning of Friday’s game, scoring eight runs in the process. We still won. Games are NEVER over there… Nick Franklin was 6-for-29 with no walks, but one of each extra-base hit. Someone would have asked.
Clinton Lumberkings (1-5 this week, 11-33 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, May 16th 2011
Off day
Tuesday, May 17th 2011
Clinton 6, Burlington 8 (OAK + 19)
W: Long (2-0, 3.24) L: Mieses (1-4, 6.00)
Wednesday, May 18th 2011
Clinton 4, Burlington 3 (OAK + 18)
W: Sena (2-1, 1.08) L: Hart (2-1, 2.12) S: Burgoon (4)
Thursday, May 19th 2011
Clinton 5, Burlington 7 (OAK + 19) (eleven innings)
W: Tyson (3-2, 4.15) L: Sena (2-2, 3.12)
Friday, May 20th 2011
Clinton 1, Peoria 3 (CHC + 3)
W: Sosa (1-0, 1.69) L: Snow (1-6, 4.62) S: Hatley (3)
Saturday, May 21st 2011
Clinton 3, Peoria 5 (CHC + 4)
W: Jokisch (6-0, 2.55) L: Reed (0-1, 4.15)
Sunday, May 22nd 2011
Clinton 3, Peoria 8 (CHC + 5)
W: Kirk (3-1, 1.94) L: Mieses (1-5, 6.00)
Hitter of the Week:
OF Kalian Sams, R/R, 8/25/1986
5 G, 17 AB, 5 R, 6 H, 2B, HR, RBI, 4 SB, 2/4 K/BB, .353/.476/.588
The cheap writer thing to do here would be to claim that Sams’ newfound walking tendencies are merely one more indication of the strange times we live in and then make some reference to eschatology. I’m going to pass by that, if that’s okay, even if Marc and I used to refer to Sams’ HR or strikeout tendency as Manichaean. For one, it’s that he had twice as many games in High Desert and walked a quarter as often. Over there, he was more his usual self, with thirty-two of his sixty at-bats resulting in a strikeout or a home run. But it’s also that we’ve been watching Sams for a really long time now, so maybe he should be walking. He’s in his fifth pro season, four or which have involved stops in the short-season leagues, and four of which have involved the MWL in some way (he was around for Wisconsin). If he wasn’t doing interesting things now and then, he probably wouldn’t be around.
May Be My New Favorite Player Mention:
RF Jabari Blash, R/R, 7/4/1989
5 G, 14 AB, 2 R, 3 H, HR, RBI, SB, 4/7 K/BB, .214/.476/.429
Some Power! Mention:
1B/LF Mickey Wiswall, L/R, 11/25/1988
6 G, 24 AB, R, 8 H, 2 2B, HR, 5 RBI, SB, 4/1 K/BB, .333/.346/.542
Pitcher of the Week:
LHP James Paxton, 11/6/1988
0-0, GS, 1.69 ERA in 5.1 IP, 3 H, R, 7/3 K/BB, 4/2 G/F
Some people might look at this and find their eye drawn to the walk total. It’s less than we’ve seen in any of Paxton’s previous starts, but still more than one might like and this wasn’t a long outing, though not short either. On the other hand, the Bees are an Oakland farm team and they drew seven walks in the five and two-thirds innings that Paxton wasn’t on the mound, and the Bees are also tied with the Lumberkings for the most walks in the league as of Monday night. This may have been a bigger step forward than we’re easily able to account for at the moment. I’m thinking that it might be.
Far Better than his Season ERA Suggests Mention:
RHP Steve Kohlscheen, 9/20/1988
0-0, 2 G, 1.93 ERA in 4.2 IP, 3 H (HR), R, 7/3 K/BB, 2/2 G/F
From the Training Room:
After Clinton lost Maurer, RHP Keli’I Zablan finally found a home there… On Friday, 1B Tim Morris went on the DL, which is bad, but OF Julio Morban came off it, which is really, really good, especially considering I wrote a piece for Grand Salami recently talking about how healthy he’d been.
Strange Happenings:
Backup catcher Carlton Tanabe had his seven-game hit streak end this week. That isn’t too special. What’s special is that the seven-game streak spanned from April 16th to May 15th… Jabari Blash leads the team in walks by nine. On his own, he accounts for more than 16% of the total walks from the Clinton hitters, and has only played in little over half their games. He also played a little center field this week!.. This is another “someone would have asked” moment: Taijuan Walker pitched four and two-thirds innings this week and let two score on seven hits, a hit batter, two walks, and three Ks, giving up a home run along the way. This was against Peoria though, and Peoria has been nigh unbeatable for the Lumberkings.
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29 Responses to “Minor League Wrap (5/16-22/11)”
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Is there anyone noteworthy that we can plan on being on the Everett squad? Guillermo Pimentel?
Thanks for your hard work as always Jay.
I was at Saturday’s Rainiers game, which was a heartbreaker. They rallied to tie, and then Cortes grooved a 98 MPH fastball that got the crap hit out of it.
Ackley didn’t look that good that night, but it was one night.
The guy who grabbed our attention was Luis Jimenez. He hit the ball hard a couple of times, and he stole a base! Let’s just say that he doesn’t have the prototypical base-stealer’s frame.
What’s the story on Jimenez? Is he a real prospect? Could he be enough of an MLB hitter to DH at the big league level? (I don’t see anywhere he fits defensively.)
Jay, I have a question.
Does Venezuela actually have seasons? I mean – they’re right above the equator; so if they actually differentiate summer from winter it’d just mean it’s that much bloody hotter. 😉
Actually I have a real question. I’m not familiar with the notation in some of these scores… (STL + 5), (OAK +19), (HOU – 6). What does that mean? I understand that STL or OAK are the major league affiliate, but I don’t understand the numbers.
Sorry if it’s a silly question; and thanks!
So, Ackley+Liddi call up sometime soon then? 😀
Nice to see Tenbrink pick it up again. I like what Catricala, Raben and Shaffer doing so far. Good insights as always Jay.
“So, …….. Liddi call up sometime soon then?”
After Peguero’s heroics (please never forget, Peguero was a NO-PROSPECT for everybody outside the organization) that would be an intolerable affront for blog experts. I’m keeping all the files for the moment.
I posted this on the last Minor League Update, but is there any plan to update the Future Forty? It would be nice to have a general overview of the system in addition to the detailed updates.
A lot of guys that I thought were going to head there, like Walker and Blash, are already in Clinton, so I’m not eager to make predictions. Shipers? Richard Vargas? Littlewood and Morla? Pimentel? Kim? Some of those names.
Jimenez is an enigma. Eleven years in the minors, seven different MLB organizations and a stint in the NPB. I don’t know what his deal is other than he’s been able to hit in the past. No one knows what his deal is beyond that.
Team records in relation to .500. + 19 means Burlington is nineteen games over .500. I get this question a few times a year.
BLARG
I get time to work on it every few weeks and then get slammed to the point where I can’t finish it off, then a bunch of minor league stuff happens and I have to recalibrate and then I’m swamped again. The short answer is that it will never be updated again unless it is. Early April was the last opportunity I had to update it, which means that everything I have down now is nearly worthless, and considering the draft is in a couple of weeks, there’s no point in working on it anyway.
Future Forty questions make me bash my head on the keyboard because I feel bad about it, and at the same time, never want to be asked about it again.
Sorry to contribute to your frustration! Speaking only for myself, I would be willing to forego a weekly update or two if it made it easier to work on the future 40. If nothing else, it’s nice to have a snapshot of what the system looks like at a particular moment in time, so it’s easier to track progress (or regression) from that point.
Right, I understand that vantage. I’ll make another attempt after draft day, but by then or soon after, I’ll be trying to wrangle with nine affiliates on a daily basis, so no promises.
Luis Pina is looking pretty awful. Do you have a mini scouting report on him? Like FB speed, and secondary stuff. Thanks!
Not really. Was tied for the 20th-highest bonus last year, supposedly has a good feel for pitching but inconsistent mechanics.
Any updates on Ji-Man Choi?
Thanks for the update Jay.
I saw Ackley has a triple and double so far today.
Hi Jay- hey, what’s the latest on Halman? He appears to be listed on MILB.com as “on the 7 day DL” which I did not even realize was an option. Any training room info either Halman or Robles? Lastly, do you figure there’s any interest in moving Triunfel up to Tacoma this year, and if so, when?
Limonta and Pimental (and Wilson) are all born in 1983. So I assume these are all guys who, at best, we can skim a few years of peak off of AAAA careers. Or am I being pessimistic?
Also, what does the organization think about Carp’s 12 HR? Amused, but indifferent?
Back issues in the earlier part of the year. In extended working on catching.
Geez, questions. Halman busted his wrist when he was hit by a pitch, so he’ll be out for a while. 7-day DL is the only minor league DL. We’ll probably start to hear about Robles within a month. Cleaning out elbows usually takes that long to heal. Triunfel, I’d consider promoting in a couple of months if he’s still at it, but there’s no big rush.
Who’s Pimental? And yeah, that’s fairly realistic. Baseball is weird though.
Rainiers up 15-3 going into the bottom of the seventh.
I am not the organization and could not tell you. I am but one man.
Thanks for the info on Jimenez. I was a couple beers in when he took off to steal second, and I may have yelled, “Run, fat boy, run!” I’m not entirely sure, however.
Wait, are you suggesting that Peguero’s .239 on base percentage is somehow indicative that everyone was wrong about Peguero? He’s had a couple of timely hits. The same things were said about Willie Bloomquist and Mike Morse and Rene Rivera upon being called up as well, only for reality to set in. Peguero has been very bad. Don’t let a couple of well-timed singles fool you. Timing is not a repeatable skill.
Ackley’s double and triple today were both off of the lefty starter
But you’re ignoring the stellar(*) defense he brings to left field.
(*)For sufficiently loose definitions of “stellar”.
Peguero’s defense, like all other forms of matter, was forged billions of years ago in distant stars.
“Wait, are you suggesting that Peguero’s .239 on base percentage is somehow indicative that everyone was wrong about Peguero?”
Not exactly. I’m just suggesting more prudence before making some scornful statement about a young AAA player, especially if his coaches show to go the opposite. Personally that would instill some doubts in my mind. Glad you haven’t. OBP you say ? OBP is not the primary matter for a 6’5″ 250 lb slugger IMO.
Sounds like Halman will be ready in about 2 weeks, though that’s subject to change.
Luis Jimenez is org depth. Entertainingly proportioned, but org depth. I always thought every AAA team should have a spherical 1B/DH type – a Bucky Jacobsen/Juan Thomas/Brad Nelson sort of guys.
Baseball is a game of outs. Anyone who makes outs 75% of the time is an extreme liability to his team. I agree he doesn’t need to post an OBP of .400, or even .360, but he absolutely has to get on base significantly more frequently to be anything close to an asset to the team.
And coaches opinions are important, the problem is we don’t know what they actually think because too much of their job is PR. The coach isn’t going to tell us the kid sucks, and rightfully so. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t suck though.
Thanks for the inside dope. And Paxton! Hot stuff tonight for Clinton. 12K:2BB, 1ER in 6in.