Minor League Wrap (6/18-24/12)
Some of this is moderately slapdash as I’m filling it in between events. Gosh, I hope this is coherent.
Stuff going on:
* There was this MiLB.com feature on the Jackson Generals winning the first-half title.
* Danny Hultzen and Taijuan Walker made the U.S. roster for the Futures Game.
* Fangraphs scouted Danny Hultzen. So did Baseball America, with some additional notes on Walker and Capps.
* Alex Liddi was tenth on BA’s Prospect Hot Sheet.
* In addition to being named Southern League Hitter of the Week last time around (Mike Wilson was also named for the PCL), Joe Dunigan won the SL Home Run Derby with eight dingers.
* The Pulaski rotation seems to be Ogando/Kaalekahi/Garcia/Marte/Chen.
* There seem to have been a few pre-July 2nd international signings. I’m seeing OF Jose Guedez, a Venezuelan, on the AZL roster and the DSL M’s added C Jose Rosa, who had been on the AZL roster a few days without playing. Both have 1994 as their year of birth. These types of signings trickle in every year around this time.
To the jump!
All-Star Notes:
There were all-star games in lieu of meaningful games this week. I guess the games are meaningful for some people. Like the guys that were selected! Anyway, this is what I’ve got:
* In the Southern League, Denny Almonte led off the first inning with a home run to give the North All-Stars their only lead of the game. Almonte was lifted an at-bat later for a guy who was 2-for-2. Dunigan came in late as the left fielder and struck out in two at-bats. Nick Franklin was 0-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base, an error, and a K. Sucre made two outs and an error. Hultzen had a walk and a K in his inning of work. Walker continued his struggles with a couple of runs (one earned) scoring on two hits, a hit batter, and a strikeout in an inning of work. Carter Capps got one out total.
* The California vs. Carolina game was similarly lopsided. Hicks was the starting catcher and had a K in two at-bats and also made an error. Miller came in late as a third baseman (they really wanted Hamilton out there) and recorded a double, a stolen base, and a walk. 2B Stefen Romero struck out in one of two at-bats and had an error as well. I bet you thought Miller would have an error, but no.
* The Lumberkings found themselves on the losing end of the most lopsided game. Austin started in left and was 2-for-4 with a triple and a walk. Shipers had an unearned run score against him and had a K and a wild pitch in two-thirds of an inning. Tim Griffin allowed two hits in a third of a frame and let an inherited runner score.
Tacoma Rainiers (2-4 this week, 31-45 overall, 15.5 GB in PCL Pacific Northern)
The Week in Review:
Monday, June 18th 2012
Off day
Tuesday, June 19th 2012
Reno 7 (ARI + 16), Tacoma 3
W: Lewis (2-0, 2.42) L: Delabar (0-1, 3.86)
Wednesday, June 20th 2012
Reno 9 (ARI + 17), Tacoma 0
W: Martinez (7-3, 4.62) L: Grube (0-4, 9.34)
Thursday, June 21st 2012
Reno 1 (ARI + 16), Tacoma 9
W: Beavan (1-0, 3.00) L: Corbin (3-2, 3.86) S: Patterson (1)
Friday, June 22nd 2012
Reno 4 (ARI + 15), Tacoma 6
W: Sweeney (3-1, 4.62) L: Brewer (3-5, 5.37) S: Patterson (2)
Saturday, June 23rd 2012
Tacoma 4, Colorado Springs 8 (COL – 1)
W: Hynick (1-1, 7.04) L: Hultzen (0-1, 15.00)
Sunday, June 24th 2012
Tacoma 1, Colorado Springs 5 (COL 0)
W: Pomeranz (4-4, 2.51) L: Carraway (2-3, 3.70) S: Bergmann (1)
Hitter of the Week:
DH Luis Antonio Jimenez, L/L, 5/7/1982
6 G, 23 AB, 2 R, 10 H, 3 2B, 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 8/2 K/BB, .435/.480/.783
I don’t think you understand. Luis Jimenez hit his annual triple. Or annual-ish. Luis Jimenez has played parts of eleven seasons and has nine career triples. They are the four-leaf clovers of his hitting repertoire. And yet we may look at his June and say, “this is sort of disappointing. After all, he’s hit .325/.398/.542 through the Sunday this wrap aims to represent (whoops) and in May he hit .400/.517/.42. Surely, we have taken a step backward in some respects. He no longer walks almost twice as he strikes out. He hasn’t been walking even as much as he strikes out.” These are all true things, but he has set the bar weirdly high for himself, even for a player who provides his value totally through hitting.
Hitting Again! Mention:
3B Vinnie Catricala, R/R, 10/31/1988
6 G, 23 AB, 3 R, 9 H, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 5/3 K/BB, .391/.462/.565
Walks! Mention:
1B/LF Alex Liddi, R/R, 8/14/1988
6 G, 22 AB, 4 R, 6 H, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 4/5 K/BB, .273/.407/.455
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Blake Beavan, 1/17/1989
1-0, GS, 1.29 ERA in 7.0+ IP, 9 H (HR), 3/2 K/BB, 7/5 G/F
As good results-based outings go, this was one by Blake Beavan. And since the Rainiers rotation is otherwise, frustrating, let’s say, here I am talking about Beavan. Beavan, for everyone else’s reference, had 133.1 career innings in triple-A prior to his return there this year and was walking about two per nine and striking out about five and a half, maybe a little more. So while cynics might be inclined to look at this and say “yes, this is a typical Blake Beavan outing”, it actually is below average for him. Should you have hope? Hey man, whatever makes you happy.
Runs-Based Analysis Doing Little Justice Mention:
RHP Andrew Carraway, 9/4/1986
0-1, 2 GS, 4.05 ERA in 13.1 IP, 10 H (HR), 4 R, 8/0 K/BB, 13/10 G/F
From The Training Room:
The Rainiers picked up LHP Danny Hultzen and SS Nick Franklin, something that just about everyone was talking about pretty quickly. What was unclear in the short-term was how the Rainiers roster would be manipulated to get those guys in. The answers turned out to be that LHP Cesar Jimenez hit the DL and OF/DH Johan Limonta was released. Limonta going away isn’t a huge surprise because he wasn’t a big part of the org’s future. He batted .279/.325/.401 for the Rainiers this year after posting a career OPS of .830, right about where his double and triple-A numbers were too. It’s kind of weird in that he just recently gained his citizenship, but he might be able to find a job in another org… Moves continued Friday as LHP Brian Moran was promoted from Jackson as RHP Jeff Marquez went on the DL. Here’s a weird not about Moran: even though he was advertised as a LOOGY, last year he had a .348/.425/.478 line against left-handers and a .218/.271/.370 line against right-handers. No wonder he wasn’t promoted then! This year it’s .240/.296/.320 against lefties and .254/.274/.310 against righties.
Strange Happenings:
Nick Franklin had a home run, and then didn’t have a home run, because his home run was overturned by the umpires… Hultzen gave up five runs in three innings after five hits, five walks, three Ks and a wild pitch. Yes, you did want to know.
Jackson Generals (2-2 this week, 44-30 overall, 1st in SL North)
The Week in Review:
Monday, June 18th 2012
All-star break
Tuesday, June 19th 2012
All-star break
Wednesday, June 20th 2012
All-star break
Thursday, June 21st 2012
Huntsville 4 (MIL), Jackson 3
W: Stetter (1-0, 2.25) L: Arias (0-1, 9.00) S: Sanchez (8)
Friday, June 22nd 2012
Huntsville 4 (MIL 0), Jackson 7
W: Hernandez (4-0, 3.94) L: Manzanillo (0-4, 6.08) S: Capps (10)
Saturday, June 23rd 2012
Huntsville 1 (MIL – 1), Jackson 5
W: Fernandez (1-0, 1.00) L: Heckathorn (2-7, 4.37)
Sunday, June 24th 2012
Huntsville 5 (MIL 0), Jackson 2
W: Byrd (2-2, 3.07) L: Arias (0-2, 18.00) S: Sanchez (9)
Hitter of the Week:
3B Stefen Romero, R/R, 10/17/1988
4 G, 17 AB, 2 R, 7 H, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 6 RBI, .412/.412/.824
We should appreciate the fact that Romero came off the plane to Jackson and started hitting immediately, with more than half his hits going for extras. That’s a good thing! I don’t know if I’d qualify it as a bad thing, but a baffling thing certainly is that he went through that span contact-only, sans walks, sans Ks. The major league average for unintentional walks is something like 8% of PAs. Romero was at 6.3% of his PAs for total walks last season. He was a 3.7% in High Desert this year before getting called up to Jackson. Perhaps when you see and hit the ball this well it’s not so much of an issue, but this is also Minor League Baseball and I have a persisting perception, however true, that hitters who don’t walk are more streaky in the level of production that they are able to provide.
Swinging for All Manner of Fences Mention:
DH Joe Dunigan, L/L, 3/29/1986
4 G, 17 AB, 2 R, 5 H, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 6/0 K/BB, .294/.294/.647
Pitcher of the Week:
LHP Anthony Fernandez, 6/8/1990
1-0, GS, 1.00 ERA in 9.0 IP, 6 H, R, 5/1 K/BB, 11/5 G/F
Not exactly the debut I was anticipating, but a welcome one, certainly. I’ll admit to not really making as big of a deal of Fernandez as I probably should have been, as Elias or Stanton or someone might be overshadowing him at any given time, but he’s put together a solid season. 3.8% walks with 21.6% Ks, with a low HR rate and a better than average groundball rate? Yes, more of that please. Fernandez, for a left-hander, has decent stuff, and the reports on him after this outing were positive: 90-92 mph heater, five different kinds of breaking ball, and Jackson’s first nine-inning complete game since 2009. For a guy on the fringe of 40-man candidacy, this can only help.
Still a Bridesmaid Mention:
RHP Brandon Maurer, 7/3/1990
0-0, GS, 1.29 ERA in 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R (ER), 6/2 K/BB, 9/5 G/F
From the Training Room:
Room became available on the Jackson roster with Franklin and Hultzen departing, so 2B Stefen Romero was called in along with LHP Anthony Fernandez and RHP Jonathan Arias from High Desert. RHP Andrew Kittredge, who had been an extra pitcher on the roster, was sent on to Clinton. Some might cry foul at Fernandez being brought in over someone like Gillheeney, who has college experience and strikeouts and stuff, but Fernandez’ tRA is actually the best on the team at 3.51, a full run and change ahead of Elias. The promotion of Arias is less explicable, save for him having an exciting number of strikeouts, but Burgoon has more exciting strikeouts. My guess would be that these moves are partially motivated by the fact that both players are overdue for addition to the 40-man roster and the team may as well attempt to figure out what they’re about. Romero is just good so I don’t feel like I need to explain it as much. OF Chih-hsien Chiang also came through waivers and was assigned to the team officially… Kittredge’s departure was short-lived as he was added again with Moran departing. Also, IF Nate Tenbrink was brought in because they looked at his rehab appearance, saw that he went 5-for-5, and said, “you know, forget the rest of it.”
Strange Happenings:
Submitted without comment:
Chris Harris ?@CHarris731
Well we had a skunk delay here in Jackson. A skunk wondered into left field for about 5 minutes. Of course Carter Capps helped shoo it out.
Skunk Wrangler is up to 22.0 innings without an earned run… Pettit was 5-for-11 with a dinger and played three of four. This will become a theme… Denny Almonte walked three times in a game again this week. He didn’t do much else. But… WALKS! Tenbrink did the same in limited time. Gosh I hope he’s good/healthy again… No less noteworthy: Noriega going 3-for one day… Five double plays behind Fernandez. Your move, rest of the minor leagues.
High Desert Mavericks (3-1 this week, 40-34 overall, T-1st in CAL South)
The Week in Review:
Monday, June 18th 2012
All-star break
Tuesday, June 19th 2012
All-star break
Wednesday, June 20th 2012
All-star break
Thursday, June 21st 2012
High Desert 6, Inland Empire 0 (LA)
W: Raga (3-2, 4.24) L: Correa (3-5, 4.52)
Friday, June 22nd 2012
High Desert 6, Inland Empire 5 (LA – 2)
W: Gillheeney (7-2, 4.90) L: Crowley (1-6, 7.23) S: Smith (2)
Saturday, June 23rd 2012
High Desert 6, Inland Empire 4 (LA – 3)
W: Blandford (1-0, 9.00) L: Tillman (0-1, 5.40) S: Boyce (1)
Sunday, June 24th 2012
High Desert 8, Inland Empire 12 (LA – 2)
W: Russell (4-6, 6.00) L: Shankin (0-1, 20.77)
Hitter of the Week:
3B/1B Steve Proscia, R/R, 6/26/1990
4 G, 15 AB, 4 R, 5 H, HR, 3 RBI, 3/2 K/BB, .333/.444/.533
You know what would be awesome? Minor league double situational splits. Considering how difficult it was for us to get any kind of splits up until recently, I’m not holding out though, but it would help me to determine whether or not Proscia’s road power issue is improving. I can’t really tell off-hand, but his dinger this week was his second road dinger of the season (he has nine total) and it happened to come at Inland Empire, where the RH home run factor of 63. Another thing I’m noticing this time around is that, for all the power questions, his walk rate on the road is much higher as he’s drawn nine on the road compared to two at home in twenty-nine and twenty games respectively, which I suppose is also to say “please walk more.”
Power and Such Mention:
3B Mario Martinez, R/R, 11/13/1989
4 G, 17 AB, 3 R, 5 H, 2 2B, 3B, RBI, 4/1 K/BB, .294/.333/.529
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Stephen Kohlscheen, 9/20/1988
0-0, G, 0.00 ERA in 3.0 IP, 2 H, 3/1 K/BB, 2/2 G/F
For a while, Kohlscheen wasn’t doing so hot. Starting out the year in Clinton, he was walking 10.5% of the batters he faced and striking out 20.2%, which is good for the Ks, but not good for the ratio. Even if last year suggested he could handle it, I wasn’t too keen on promoting him because it seemed as though the timing for it could be wrong if command was going to be an issue. Thus far in June, the numbers have looked better by merit of him allowing fewer runs, but when you look at the components, it’s still 9.6% walks and 23.1% Ks, and the former of those I’m still uncomfortable with. Regression can be a pain, you know.
Next in Line for Promotion? Mention:
LHP James Gillheeney, 11/8/1987
1-0, GS, 3.18 ERA in 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 5/2 K/BB, 7/1 G/F
From the Training Room:
The Mavs lost Arias, Fernandez, and Romero in alphabetical order, and immediate additions were RHP Tyler Blandford coming off the DL, and UT Patrick Brady. Blandford was a 5th-round pick in 2009, did not debut until the following year, and has yet to pitch more than thirty innings in a season or show a walk rate below 16% or a K-rate below 19%… Friday afternoon, the Mavs got RHP Brett Shankin from Clinton. Shankin’s component numbers are not especially exciting. He walks 5.6%, strikes out 11.2%, and runs a .287 average against having been mostly a starter since late April. Where this decision has some promise is in that he has a 57.9% groundball rate and doesn’t allow many home runs, which means that survival of High Desert seems sort of possible.
Strange Happenings:
John Hicks was 7-for-14 with three doubles, but then with four games played I feel weird about highlighting someone who only played three. I don’t knowwwwwww… Spoiler alert: Mavs won over Rancho Cucamonga on Monday and got the first-half title as a result.
Clinton Lumberkings (1-2 this week, 24-41 overall, GB in MWL Western)
The Week in Review:
Monday, June 18th 2012
All-star break
Tuesday, June 19th 2012
All-star break
Wednesday, June 20th 2012
All-star break
Thursday, June 21st 2012
All-star break
Friday, June 22nd 2012
Kane County 1 (KC), Clinton 6
W: Miller (4-5, 3.66) L: Baez (1-2, 3.75)
Saturday, June 23rd 2012
Kane County 6 (KC 0), Clinton 5 (ten innings)
W: Brown (1-0, 3.68) L: Taylor (1-4, 4.68)
Sunday, June 24th 2012
Kane County 4 (KC + 1), Clinton 3
W: Mitchell (2-4, 4.94) L: Shore (0-1, 3.00)
Hitter of the Week:
RF Jabari Blash, R/R, 7/4/1989
3 G, 9 AB, R, 3 H, HR, 3 RBI, 3 SB, 2 CS, 4/2 K/BB, HBP, .300/.500/.667
Boy if you were squeamish about naming a guy HotW based off of four games, here’s a guy getting it for three. Dingers are practically cheating in this context, but look how much managed to happen in this span for Blash. Five stolen base attempts! Four Ks! Jabari Blash is a player for whom things are constantly happening! Maybe too much at times. So, since we haven’t checked in with him for a while, he has struck out in 26.8% of his PAs this year and walked in 15.6%. Last year, he struck out in 27.6% of his PAs and walked in 16.9%. We’re seeing more contact, I guess? I don’t know if that’s a good thing, and even with it, his average is forty-six points lower, not that this means a whole heck of a lot.
Now Just a First Baseman 🙁 Mention:
1B/DH Ji-Man Choi, L/R, 5/19/1991
3 G, 9 AB, 3 R, 3 H, 3/3 K/BB, .333/.500/.300
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Trevor Miller, 6/13/1991
1-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 7.0 IP, 2 H, R (0 ER), 3/1 K/BB, 10/4 G/F, 2 HB, WP
Miller’s been a productive little 40th-round pick, wouldn’t you say? He’s walked just 2.8% of the batters he’s faced (let’s just assume that leads the team), though his strikeouts as a starter (31 in 49.2 innings) just seem on the threshold of passable for the level. Still, he’s averaging five-and-a-half innings per start (I know that’s impossible, thank you) and that’s second on the team, and he’s only two weeks older than Shipers, whom we regard as prospect-y in spite of his lack of Ks. Perhaps we should keep tabs on Miller as well, since he’s in the same age-range as the rest in spite of his brief college tenure.
Decent Reliever, Slow Week (Happy Birthday?) Mention:
LHP Kyle Hunter, 6/18/1989
0-0, G, 0.00 ERA in 2.2 IP, H, 1/0 K/BB, 5/0 G/F
From the Training Room:
While the team was not actually playing, they were still making moves and sent C Christian Carmichael officially to AZL as their season opened and RHP Bobby Shore went to the Aquasox as Kittredge came in. I know this because I saw Shore pitch. Then Shore came back to Clinton and Kittredge and Brady left again and Shankin left for the first time.
Strange Happenings:
Nate Melendres was an outfielder all of last season. This year, he opened the year in extended, presumably due to injury, but there may be something else going on. On Sunday, he started at second base for the Lumberkings.
Everett Aquasox (7-3 this “week”)
Friday, June 15th 2012
Everett 2, Tri-City 1 (COL)
W: Sanchez (1-0, 1.50) L: Padilla (0-1, 1.59) S: Garcia (1)
Saturday, June 16th 2012
Everett 5, Tri-City 3 (COL – 2)
W: De Jesus (1-0, 0.00) L: Reid (0-1, 18.00)
Sunday, June 17th 2012
Everett 1, Tri-City 3 (COL – 1)
W: Hart (1-0, 0.00) L: DeCecco (0-1, 0.00) S: Rankin (1)
Monday, June 18th 2012
Everett 7, Tri-City 2 (COL – 2)
W: Kim (1-0, 1.50) L: Tago (0-1, 14.73)
Tuesday, June 19th 2012
Everett 0, Tri-City 6 (COL – 1)
W: Dennis (1-0, 1.35) L: Valdivia (0-1, 2.25) S: Hart (1)
Wednesday, June 20th 2012
Spokane 8 (TEX – 4), Everett 9 (thirteen innings)
W: De Jesus (2-0, 5.40) L: Vickerson (0-1, 40.50)
Thursday, June 21st 2012
Spokane 6 (TEX – 5), Everett 7 (ten innings)
W: Leone (1-0, 0.00) L: Kendall (0-1, 1.69)
Friday, June 22nd 2012
Rain out
Saturday, June 23rd 2012
Spokane 3 (TEX – 5), Everett 6 (seven innings)
W: Unsworth (1-0, 3.00) L: Perez (1-1, 6.00) S: Garcia (2)
Spokane 0 (TEX – 6), Everett 2 (seven innings)
W: Kim (2-0, 0.75) L: Sadzeck (0-1, 4.82) S: Plotz (1)
Sunday, June 24th 2012
Spokane 11 (TEX – 5), Everett 2
W: De Los Santos (1-1, 1.74) L: Valdivia (0-2, 8.10)
Hitter of the Week:
SS Chris Taylor, R/R, 8/29/1990
10 G, 33 AB, 8 R, 13 H, 3 2B, HR, 6 RBI, 4 SB, 2 CS, 3/9 K/BB, 3 HBP, .394/.556/.576
Remember when, a few weeks back, some of us were crying foul because giving a glove-first shortstop almost double his slot money didn’t seem likely to go down in the annals of good ideas? Remember that? Taylor ended up being the Aquasox biggest offensive threat through the first week and a half and I could tell you from watching him for a game that he wasn’t getting cheated up there. Even the flyouts he made, the ball was at least getting out there to around the warning track, which makes the fact that he was the first Aquasox hitter to go yard this year a little less perplexing. He can pick it too. Perhaps the scouting dept. was on to something. No less interesting is the fact that he had three times as many walks as Ks, and as many hits by pitch as Ks for that matter. I’m not keen on the getting plunked thing, nor the caught stealing, but the rest is exciting.
Another First Baseman with a Triple Mention:
1B Taylor Ard, R/R, 1/31/1990
10 G, 35 AB, 4 R, 12 H, 4 2B, 3B, 7 RBI, CS, 5/6 K/BB, .343/.439/.514
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Seon Gi Kim, 9/1/1991
2-0, 2 GS, 0.75 ERA in 12.0 IP, 4 H (HR), R, 16/2 K/BB, 12/7 G/F, WP, HB
As I was saying in the roster introduction, Kim has had a slightly clunky career trajectory so far. In his debut, he was in the AZL and had six Ks for every walk, and then in the following year he was assigned to Clinton for a time, scuffled, and finished out the year with Pulaski and not even one-and-three-quarters Ks per walk. Then this happens, which largely resembles his 2010 showing. It’s a bit misleading because he’s not a high-octane hurler and one of those outings was a six-inning no-hitter where he ran a 13/1 K/BB, which is crazy. I don’t think I’ve seen thirteen Ks in a game from even the Cerberus trio this year. But the lack of Ks in the other outing makes it hard to sell this one as much as I’d like. Maybe he’s putting his stuff together and is turning out to be too good for the NWL. I’d like to see a little more before moving him.
Sharkie Week Mention:
RHP Dylan Unsworth, 9/23/1992
1-0, 2 GS, 3.00 ERA in 12.0 IP, 10 H (2 HR), 4 R, 9/3 K/BB, 13/9 G/F
From the Training Room:
Shore’s tenure as an Aquasox was limited and he left a few games later to make way for the various activations that would follow.
Strange Happenings:
There was the game recap I did. You should go look it up as it gets a little more detail in… In the midst of the 13-K game by Kim, the Indians manager was ejected in the fourth and the catcher was ejected in the fifth. Incidentally, the manager for Spokane is Tug Hulett’s dad… Four double plays in a game on Sunday! And three errors by infielders…
Pulaski Mariners: (2-4 this week)
Tuesday, June 19th 2012
Burlington 8 (KC), Pulaski 1 (ten innings)
W: Walter (1-0, 0.00) L: Huijer (0-1, 13.50)
Wednesday, June 20th 2012
Burlington 7 (KC + 2), Pulaski 5
W: Stumpf (1-0, 0.00) L: Holman (0-1, 0.00) S: Martinez (1)
Thursday, June 21st 2012
Burlington 3 (KC + 1), Pulaski 4
W: Garcia (1-0, 3.00) L: Bangs (0-1, 18.00) S: Huijer (1)
Friday, June 22nd 2012
Pulaski 1, Princeton 2 (TB + 4)
W: Brandt (1-0, 0.00) L: Gonzalez (0-1, 2.45) S: Butler (2)
Saturday, June 23rd 2012
Pulaski 6, Princeton 1 (TB + 3)
W: Chen (1-0, 1.59) L: Suero (0-1, 9.82)
Sunday, June 24th 2012
Pulaski 4, Princeton 5 (TB + 4)
W: Davis (1-0, 7.71) L: Huijer (0-2, 12.27) S: Butler (3)
Hitter of the Week:
IF Brock Hebert, R/R, 5/11/1991
6 G, 25 AB, 6 R, 8 H, 3 2B, HR, 7 RBI, SB, 5/1 K/BB, .320/.370/.560
Coming out of the draft, it seemed like one might make some comparisons between McGruder and Hebert. Both were second baseman (sort of, in McGruder’s case), both had high-end speed (McGruder moreso), and both projected as leadoff types without much power. We’ve seen McGruder follow his profile, more or less, but Hebert hasn’t. One stolen base is where he sits, and meanwhile he’s tied with Marlette, whose power is known, for the team lead in doubles and is one of only four Pulaski M’s to go yard so far. Given the difficulty projecting hitting numbers post-APL, I’m not sure how to weight this increase in power. After all, Gabriel Noriega had fourteen doubles and four dingers in his Pulaski season and only one extra-base hit all this year. But this sure is a thing that is happening, isn’t it?
Doubles Co-Leader Mention:
C Tyler Marlette, R/R, 1/23/1993
5 G, 16 AB, R, 5 H, 3 2B, RBI, 5/3 K/BB, .313/.421/.500
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Rigoberto Garcia, 9/23/1993
1-0, GS, 3.00 ERA in 6.0 IP, 5 H (HR), 3 R (2 ER), 7/1 K/BB, HB
After the first week, Garcia was the team’s leader in innings pitched per start (Ogando had a longer first outing, but a much shorter second) and was the team’s co-leader in Ks with Kaalekahi who managed to get his seven in four innings, which is what? The thing is, I know pretty much bupkus about Garcia aside from liking his first name with certainty. He ran an 18/14 K/BB in the DSL last year over 24.2 innings, and I’ve certainly seen better than that, so I wasn’t expecting a promotion. Yet here he is. He’s listed at 6’5 and 200+ lbs, so the less rational, player-compy part of my brain is going “oh, maybe he’s Michael Pineda v2.0,” but I have to quash that urge to claim that because I don’t know what Garcia throws and Pineda spent two years in the DSL before leaping to the Midwest League. Someone go to the Appalachian League with a radar gun. I can’t pay you, but I’d be grateful.
Seven-Inning First Start, Three-Inning Second Mention:
RHP Jochi Ogando, 5/27/1993
0-0, 2 GS, 0.90 ERA in 10.0 IP, 6 H (HR), 3 R (ER), 5/0 K/BB
From the Training Room:
The roster was set. This was it. It has not been reset. The roster remains intact. Long live the roster unless someone in the AZL is amazing.
Strange Happenings:
So, as you might have been able to glean, the first series was a bit of a miserable one. There is, of course, the extra-innings game that was lost by seven runs, but the first win of the season was not a clean one. The M’s made two errors to open the game and through five innings, the Royals starter, some 23-year-old dude, was running a perfect game. Things picked up from there, as the relief for Burlington fell apart… Hebert has been seeing time at short, if you’re curious.
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11 Responses to “Minor League Wrap (6/18-24/12)”
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Whatever happened to James Paxton? He’s been on the DL for several weeks, and I was just wondering what the deal is with him.
Thx,
Right knee contusion, throwing in simulated games, expected back any time now.
What’s up with Jose Leal the big international signing from last year. Don’t see him in DSL or VSL box scores and he isn’t on he AZL roster. Have you heard/read anything about his status?
Leal is in Arizona? He hasn’t played yet, but there are a lot of the guys who are on that roster and have been taking their sweet time to show up in games. Could be injury. Could be that with so many rehabbers vying for time, they just haven’t gotten him in yet. Could be any number of things. But the M’s said when they signed Leal that he would be in Arizona and that’s exactly where he’s listed.
I see Poythress and Chavez are hitting the ball in the AZL. Any ETA for their return to Jackson, and what happens to the Jackson roster then?
Come on, Jay. Effective pitching combined with effective skunk wrangling isn’t enough to earn pitcher of the week?
It’s high time you give weight to these sorts of peripherals!
Some of the new kids are putting up some gaudy numbers out of the gate. It will be interesting to see who keeps it up. Anyone know what Walker’s problem has been lately? I sure hope it’s just a blip, same applies for The Incredible Hultz in Tacoma.
Regarding Capps:
I sure hope Skunk Wrangler catches on as a nickname. In the long history of great nicknames in baseball, that would have to rate in the top ten, if not the best ever.
I was excited to watch the AquaSox tonight vs the Volcanoes but now I’m really excited. I’ll have to do a post game comment to go along with this.
Jose Leal is in the starting lineup tonight in Arizona, looks like he’ll be making his pro debut. He’s starting in LF, with Morban in CF. DeCarlo who was pulled after one AB Tuesday is back starting at 3rd.
After watching the AquaSox vs Volcanoes game last night I came to a few conclusions. Littlewood looks half way decent behind the plate but he still needs to learn to find the ball quicker off of the bat. There was a couple of pop ups in foul territory that took him a little too long to see.
Ard is a big guy who hits the ball hard even when he doesn’t hit it right on the sweetspot.
Taylor looks pretty good at the plate and in the field.
Didn’t get to see Victor Sanchez and probably wont this series so I’m a little sad about that.