Minor League Wrap (8/1-7/11)
Good news, everyone, Moniker Madness is on and the M’s have a couple of representatives this year in perennial underachiever Jetsy Extrano (who will likely inexplicably lose to Kipp Schultz in the first round) and Forrest Snow. Moniker Madness is dumb because the player with the most interesting name almost never wins. The past four winners have been Houston Summers, Will Startup, Dusty Napoleon (okay, that one’s all right), and Rowdy Hardy, who somehow beat out SEQUOYAH STONECIPHER in the quarterfinals. It’s dumb.
To the jump!
Wrapping the VSL:
As of Saturday, the VSL season has drawn to a close with the M’s 2.0 games out of first and half a game out of second, and thus, the playoffs. Their record was 38-34. But the VSL isn’t so much about wins and losses so much as individual development and what we could see in the coming years, and that’s what I’m here to talk about, even if I am secretly disappointed that they missed the playoffs for the first time in a while.
The offense already lost two players to the AZL midseason as Felipe Burin and Reginald Lampe went to make their stateside debuts, but other players contributed and tried to do their part to keep the offense afloat. The name that people might be drawn to as one guy who could see the states next year is 3B Yordi Calderon, a rookie and high-dollar signing from last year who batted .271/.373/.421, ranking first in home runs with seven, second in doubles with sixteen, and second in walks with thirty-two. However, there are reasons to keep him down for another year or so: he made twenty-eight errors, which for a time ranked in the top ten for all the minor leagues despite the league’s late start and short season, and his sixty-two Ks led the team by sixteen. The abilities are there, though quite raw.
Another player who could see time in the states next year is RF Alexy Palma, who was a big signing two years ago. This season, he hit .263/.361/.397, which isn’t bad necessarily, but no improvement over his 2010 campaign and slightly worse in some respects. He would be looking at his third VSL season if he stayed on, but as was the case with Burin, there’s no reason he couldn’t work his way into a promotion midseason.
Other names caught my eye over the course of the season. One of the more powerful hitters late in the year was Aruban native OF/1B Kenny Hart, who batter .265/.419/.442, but he’s in his fourth VSL season, so he’s either in the states or released next year. 3B Ramon Coronel was the team’s breakout player after hitting .352/.406/.429 for the season, about two-hundred points better than the OPS he posted his previous two years. New infielder Pedro Okuda, who played prep ball in Japan and negotiated a contract where he could spend his first year in the VSL so that he could be close to his home in Brazil, had a season line of .275/.422/.315. That OBP is no misprint either, he had a 17/37 K/BB for the season and led the team in walks. Second in walks was CF Jesus Ugueto, who hit .262/.363/.371 in his third season, which again was a dropoff from his second. And just because I like the name and for no other reason (except maybe his 14/17 K/BB), keep your eye on IF Gianfranco Wawoe.
The pitching staff left us with less to talk about, unfortunately. It was the typical VSL story of a bunch of guys with interesting arms and mediocre to bad command. The top pitcher on staff was RHP Isliexel Gonzalez, who led the team with six wins and fifty-six Ks in 82.1 IP, averaging nearly six innings per start. He only walked eighteen men too, and that’s good given the circumstances. He’s in his fourth year in the league, but given that the M’s have been running out seven stateside affiliates for a while now, there’s no reason to avoid bringing him to the U.S. next season. Even Yoervis Medina spent four years down there.
The second-best pitcher was probably RHP Daniel Mata, who had a 40/19 K/BB in 60.2 IP. He was one of the announced signings from two years ago and seems to have decent stuff. Otherwise, you have a few rookie left-handers with good stuff and bad command like Erick Gomez and Luis Pina, a Salvadoran right-hander who got some press when he signed two years ago in Kevin Quintanilla, a new guy from Brazil in Thyago Vieira (who may have been more interesting for his 8/22 K/BB), and two guys with wacky names in Neritzon Osorio and Aljeurreau Bishop. I would hope that next year’s staff provides better pitching, or failing that, more names worth repeating for other reasons.
Tacoma Rainiers (4-3 this week, 58-58 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, August 1st 2011
Las Vegas 2 (TOR – 2), Tacoma 4
W: Ramirez (1-0, 0.00) L: Beck (1-1, 5.06) S: Patterson (5)
Tuesday, August 2nd 2011
Las Vegas 6 (TOR – 1), Tacoma 2
W: Lewis (3-3, 6.89) L: Robertson (3-5, 7.20) S: Korecky (1)
Wednesday, August 3rd 2011
Tacoma 3, Albuquerque 6 (LA + 4)
W: Parisi (2-1, 7.88) L: Snow (0-1, 5.60) S: Schlichting (2)
Thursday, August 4th 2011
Tacoma 12, Albuquerque 4 (LA + 3)
W: Vasquez (4-2, 3.43) L: Sexton (3-6, 6.86)
Friday, August 5th 2011
Tacoma 13, Albuquerque 9 (LA + 2)
W: Grube (2-3, 7.71) L: Keisler (6-6, 5.10)
Saturday, August 6th 2011
Tacoma 7, Albuquerque 20 (LA + 3)
W: Troncoso (2-2, 5.04) L: Seddon (7-6, 6.52)
Sunday, August 7th 2011
Tacoma 12, Round Rock 7 (TEX + 20)
W: Ramirez (2-0, 4.91) L: Tomko (5-5, 6.96)
Hitter of the Week:
3B Alex Liddi, R/R, 8/14/1988
7 G, 29 AB, 12 R, 13 H, 2B, 5 HR, 12 RBI, 6/3 K/BB, .448/.500/1.000
Recently, when Trayvon Robinson was acquired, we talked about Albuquerque park facors and how for home runs it was 153/100 for right-handed bats, just seven points under High Desert. Take that into consideration because 20% of Liddi’s home run output for the season came just this week and four of those shots were against the Isotopes at their home park, helping him set a new season-high for his career. With that, Liddi sits at an even .500 slugging percentage for the season, which seems like a hollow gain, even if the improvements in his walk-rate are worth pointing to as a real advance (forty-nine this year in 503 PAs, fifty last year in 565 PAs). For what it’s worth, Liddi got mentioned in the BA Prospect Hot Sheet this week, quote, “Once ranked as high as fourth in the Mariners system, Liddi has taken a back seat to other bats in the system in the last year because he continues to swing and miss too often—he has 137 strikeouts in 107 games this season—but his power remains undeniable.” Undeniable, huh? I sure hope so.
“I crush fastball” Mention:
DH Wily Mo Pena, R/R, 1/23/1982
7 G, 27 AB, 6 R, 10 H, 3 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 9/5 K/BB, .370/.469/.704
All Power and Average Mention:
RF Carlos Peguero, L/L, 2/22/1987
7 G, 32 AB, 5 R, 16 H, 3 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 SB, 10/0 K/BB, .500/.500/.781
Pitcher of the Week:
LHP Cesar Jimenez, 11/12/1984
0-0, 2 G, 1.80 ERA in 5.0 IP, 4 H (HR), R, 5/1 K/BB, 3/5 G/F
With a four-game set in Albuquerque, I’ll take what I can get. Jimenez has been following a bad month, good month trend since the beginning of May. In the bad months, 27.1 IP, 32 H, 18 R (17 ER), 30/19 K/BB. In the good months, June and the start of August in this case, 19.1 IP, 14 H, 4 R, 19/5 K/BB. There seems to be command and hit avoidance involved, but what it is that could be pointed to beyond that, heck if I know. If he continues the good month thing, he could pitch his way into consideration for a bullpen tryout late in the season, a suggestion that marc has put forth in the past. The issues with that are that he lacks option years and would probably be on the short list when room needs to be made for the Rule 5 anyway.
Uneven Starts, Won Mention:
RHP Erasmo Ramirez, 5/2/1990
2-0, 2 GS, 4.91 ERA in 11.0 IP, 17 H (HR), 7 R (6 ER), 4/4 K/BB, 18/4 G/F, HB
From The Training Room:
RHP Forrest Snow had another trip to High Desert which was a complete and utter lie. He got six innings in a not-start… The same day, RHP Erasmo Ramirez was added because, hey, we all thought Vasquez was going to start Wednesday. CF Trayvon Robinson also joined the team for the time being and LHP Aaron Laffey was recalled. 1B Matt Mangini also hit the temporarily inactive list… The next day, IF Kyle Seager was recalled after a fair amount of time playing shortstop, and since the team was short on pitching, they brought in RHP Ben Versnik from the Aquasox… On Wednesday (you can see how this is going), DH Johan Limonta came off the inactive list and LHP Fabio Castro, off the DL while CF Michael Saunders went inactive. Later, it was reporter that his mother lost her battle with breast cancer. Our thoughts are with Saunders and his family… Thursday, CF Trayvon Robinson was called up effective Friday and CF Greg Halman was optioned… A pitching domino was toppled on Friday as RHP Steve Delabar was called in from Jackson. Versnik, in turn, was sent to Clinton… Late Sunday, the Rainiers added IF Jetsy Extrano because an infielder was needed or something.
Strange Happenings:
Chaz Roe gave up five home runs in three innings on Saturday which is something I don’t think that I’ve seen happen, ever… Opposing starter on Sunday: Brett Tomko. Roy Corcoran also pitches for Albuquerque… An item of interest for Ken Levine, there are, in fact, Simpsons statues all over Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, according to Mike Curto… Halman is 6-for-17 with three doubles and three walks and “only” four Ks since going down. Everything about this season is silly… Shawn Kelley had 2.2 IP this week and let a run score on a solo shot in Albuquerque, two hits, 2/1 K/BB.
Jackson Generals (3-4 this week, 18-25 in second half, 56-57 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, August 1st 2011
Mississippi 10 (ATL – 3), Jackson 7
W: Spruill (1-0, 4.50) L: Gillheeney (0-1, 15.00) S: Bullock (9)
Tuesday, August 2nd 2011
Mississippi 6 (ATL – 2), Jackson 0
W: Avilan (3-6, 4.44) L: Hernandez (3-1, 6.35)
Wednesday, August 3rd 2011
Mississippi 3 (ATL – 3), Jackson 5
W: Hensley (2-6, 5.59) L: Shafer (0-1, 7.94) S: Delabar (12)
Thursday, August 4th 2011
Mississippi 3 (ATL – 4), Jackson 5
W: Carraway (8-3, 3.41) L: Lugo (0-3, 4.59) S: Pryor (1)
Friday, August 5th 2011
Jackson 1, Birmingham 7 (CHW – 9)
W: Shirek (3-5, 3.15) L: Kasparek (4-3, 4.46)
Saturday, August 6th 2011
Jackson 2, Birmingham 0 (CHW – 10)
W: Paxton (2-0, 1.97) L: Santiago (4-4, 4.65) S: Paredes (1)
Sunday, August 7th 2011
Jackson 2, Birmingham 5 (CHW – 9)
W: Jones (2-3, 3.55) L: Hernandez (3-2, 6.60) S: Carter (2)
Hitter of the Week:
LF Vinnie Catricala, R/R, 10/31/1988
7 G, 25 AB, 2 R, 9 H, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI, SB, 4/5 K/BB, .360/.467/.560
In talking of the minor leagues, we often note that the double-A jump is the hardest, by virtue of the fact that the roster regulations in double-A allow for more veterans than advanced-A or below. We also note that it’s particularly hard for guys in the Mariners system because High Desert is one of the most hitter-friendly parks in the minor leagues in a hitter’s league where the Southen League plays close to neutral. Catricala hit .351/.421/.574 in seventy-one games for the Mavericks and is now to thirty-five in Jackson, batting .367/.416/.612, with some worsening of the eye numbers, but nothing else in his batting line. There really has been no transition for Catricala. He’s just changed locations, and positions. We still need to figure out if he can hit well enough to rise to the t op of that third base pile because the org seems to be committed to Liddi, Seager, and Martinez at third.
New Guy Still Hitting (Not Walking) Mention:
RF Chih-Hsien Chiang, L/R, 2/21/1988
6 G, 24 AB, 2 R, 8 H, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 8/0 K/BB, .333/.320/.417
Pitcher of the Week:
LHP James Paxton, 11/6/1988
1-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 6.2 IP, 2 H, 10/2 K/BB, 5/2 G/F, HB
Saturday afternoon, Paxton logged his second double-digit strikeout performance at the double-A level in what might have been statistically his best start yet. He retired the first thirteen in order, erasing an early hit batter on a double play, and only got into trouble in the fifth when he loaded the bases on a single and two walks with two outs before K’ing the final batter of the inning. But I have the sometimes unpleasant role of providing context to these performances, and that’s just what I have to do here. After Paxton’s outing, Birmingham was ten games under .500 and 13.5 games back from first. As a team, they were batting .261/.335/.387 and led the league in strikeouts with 883. It’s good that he had this outing. It probably doesn’t mean as much as some of us might like it to.
Some Recent Inconsistencies, But Still No Walks Mention:
RHP Andrew Carraway, 9/4/1986
1-0, GS, 4.26 ERA in 6.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 6/0 K/BB
From the Training Room:
When Ramirez went to Tacoma, LHP Jimmy Gillheeney came in to fill a rotation spot and I think that’s a good move. I wasn’t so hot on the fact that CF James McOwen went down to High Desert on the same day… RHP Tom Wilhelmsen was recalled on Tuwesday, which brought RHP Stephen Penney off inactive… Thursday afternoon, RHP Kenn Kasparek and RHP Taylor Stanton traded places in Jackson and High Desert. Stanton has been curiously bad in the bullpen… Delabar’s departure brought in RHP Daniel Cooper from High Desert. I wonder if they get commemorative “I Survived Pitching in Adelanto” t-shirts.
Strange Happenings:
Savastano playing second base had already sufficiently weirded me out, but on Sunday, there was another head-scratching defensive move in that Johermyn Chavez was the starting center fielder.
High Desert Mavericks (3-4 this week, 15-27 in second half, 47-65 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, August 1st 2011
High Desert 1, Lake Elsinore 7 (SD + 9)
W: Werner (4-1, 2.98) L: Reed (0-1, 11.57)
Tuesday, August 2nd 2011
High Desert 8, Lake Elsinore 6 (SD + 8 )
W: Sorce (7-8, 4.45) L: Watt (4-8, 5.84) S: Cooper (2)
Wednesday, August 3rd 2011
San Jose 2 (SF+ 3) , High Desert 8
W: Sena (2-2, 4.88) L: Vessella (3-1, 2.52)
Thursday, August 4th 2011
San Jose 6 (SF+ 4) , High Desert 3
W: Heston (10-4, 3.79) L: Hudson (3-4, 6.02) S: Dunning (4)
Friday, August 5th 2011
San Jose 2 (SF+ 3) , High Desert 4
W: Kesler (4-2, 4.00) L: Dunnington (2-1, 1.37)
Saturday, August 6th 2011
San Jose 3 (SF+ 4) , High Desert 2
W: Westcott (12-3, 3.11) L: Markovitz (2-2, 6.03) S: Dunning (5)
Sunday, August 7th 2011
High Desert 3, Modesto 6 (COL + 7)
W: DeRatt (5-3, 4.48) L: Sorce (7-9, 4.57) S: Marbry (10)
Hitter of the Week:
3B Steve Proscia, R/R, 6/26/1990
7 G, 25 AB, 4 R, 10 H, 2 HR, 5 RBI, SB, CS, 2/3 K/BB, .400/.448/.640
Following the end of the season, there will be some attempts to figure out where exactly Proscia fits on the third base depth charts, or if he does at all considering he’s only played little over half his games there and has four errors from the position already. I have some confidence in his hitting ability though. He’s only logged a little more than 40 at-bats apiece at home and on the road, but he’s .279/.326/.512 at home and .286/.295/.452 on the road, the main differences being improved plate discipline in High Desert, which seems to go against conventional thinking, and a few doubles turning into dingers there. He’s also struck out in a little over 20% of his plate appearances, which is the territory where it starts to flag on the prospect watching radar.
Still an Uncomfortable Number of Ks Mention:
LF Daniel Carroll, R/R, 1/6/1989
6 G, 15 AB, R, 6 H, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBI, SB, CS, 7/1 K/BB, .400/.438/.733
Now Seeing Outfield and First Base Mention:
1B/LF/3B Mario Martinez, R/R, 11/13/1989
7 G, 26 AB, 2 R, 10 H, 2B, 3 RBI, 9/2 K/BB, .385/.429/.423
Why is he Back Here? #1 Mention:
CF James McOwen, L/R, 9/26/1985
6 G, 21 AB, 6 R, 5 H, 3B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 6/4 K/BB, 2 HBP, .238/.393/.619
Why is he Back Here? #2 Mention:
UT Leury Bonilla, R/R, 2/8/1985
7 G, 31 AB, 5 R, 11 H, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 2 SB, CS, 7/0 K/BB, .355/.355/.484
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Jandy Sena, 8/10/1989
1-0, GS, 2.08 ERA in 8.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 4/1 K/BB, 11/8 G/F
I think Stanton had better stats this week, but Sena gets more credit because he got within an out of a complete game against a competent offense while pitching at home. Three of those hits and one run came because he couldn’t get that final out in the ninth, so if he had been yanked earlier we’d be looking at four hits and a 1.04 ERA, in a home game. How? This still boggles my mind. It’s probably also because Sena is still something of an unknown to me, listed as either No School or Marion Military Institute in last year’s draft, depending on which site you went to, and showing bad command in his limited time at Marion. His command is still bad, as he’s at a 39/29 K/BB in 85.0 IP as a pro, but he’s managed somehow to get to the Cal League and hold his own despite limited experience.
How Does One Pitch Better in Adelanto? Mention:
RHP Taylor Stanton, 1/15/1988
0-0, 1.80 ERA in 5.0 IP, 3 H (HR), R, 4/0 K/BB, 8/2 G/F
From the Training Room:
Do I even acknowledge the Snow nonsense? Around the same time, 1B Rudy van Heydoorn hit the DL, and they decided they needed an outfielder more, so 1B Tim Morris went back to Clinton and McOwen came in. As Gillheeney departed, LHP Nate Reed was promoted to fill the spot in the rotation… A few days later, van Heydoorn was activated (probably another retro thing), OF Matt Cerione hit the DL, which he does now and then, and you had the Stanton/Kasparek move and RHP Willy Kesler coming off the DL… As Cooper went northeast to the Southern League (I know), LHP Jonathan Hesketh returned to High Desert after being in Clinton from mid-May on.
Strange Happenings:
The losing streak got to eight games before the Mavs won again… The starter on Thursday was RHP Austin Hudson, a move I’m not opposed to considering that he’s been a reasonably valuable reliever for the team… LHP Nate Reed had the Jekyll and Hyde starts for the week. On Saturday, one run through six innings on six hits, a hit batter, and a walk against even Ks. On Monday, six runs through four and two-thirds after seven hits (2 HR), two walks, and four Ks. The weird part is that the former was in Adelanto and the latter was in Lake Elsinore… Sorce’s first start had him allow no runs over seven innings, though he had three hits, six walks, a wild pitch, a hit batter, and only three Ks. The second start was not worth recalling.
Clinton Lumberkings (3-4 this week, 22-20 in second half, 46-66 overall)
The Week in Review:
Monday, August 1st 2011
Peoria 8 (CHC – 12), Clinton 6
W: Peralta (2-3, 6.75) L: Nava (1-4, 3.89) S: Gonzalez (3)
Tuesday, August 2nd 2011
Clinton 1, Wisconsin 2 (MIL – 7)
W: Nelson (6-7, 4.12) L: Mieses (4-11, 4.87) S: Williams (1)
Wednesday, August 3rd 2011
Clinton 1, Wisconsin 2 (MIL – 6) (twelve innings)
W: Holle (1-4, 5.59) L: Taylor (0-1, 27.00)
Thursday, August 4th 2011
Clinton 3, Wisconsin 2 (MIL – 7)
W: Elias (1-0, 0.00) L: Miller (4-6, 4.86) S: Bischoff (2)
Friday, August 5th 2011
Clinton 6, Wisconsin 1 (MIL – 8 )
W: Walker (5-5, 3.04) L: Bashara (4-5, 5.53) S: Arias (5)
Saturday, August 6th 2011
Clinton 4, Burlington 8 (OAK – 13)
W: Joseph (3-4, 6.42) L: Butler (1-2, 3.26) S: Vidal (2)
Sunday, August 7th 2011
Clinton 4, Burlington 1 (OAK – 14)
W: Kohlscheen (2-3, 5.52) L: Long (6-6, 3.25)
Hitter of the Week:
OF Juio Morban, L/L, 2/13/1992
6 G, 22 AB, 6 R, 8 H, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 7/4 K/BB, .364/.461/.591
With Morban, the refrain has always been “when healthy.” Morban can hit, when healthy. He was presumably healthy when he started April hitting .293/.348/.415. From there, it’s anyone’s guess, but he only played twelve games combined between June and July before returning to form in August and finding the league suited to his talents. Wisconsin kind of has a middling staff, but Burlington is a legitimate pitching roster and in the two games to start the series, he’s a combined 5-for-7 with a home run, a double, and two walks. He’s still young enough to build a reputation for himself and make an impact in time. Of all the players on the roster, only Taijuan Walker is younger than him, and six months exactly at that. It would help if Morban were able to continue doing this, or something like it, and not make a return trip to the DL for the rest of the season.
Even Eye Mention:
OF/DH Kevin Rivers, L/R ,8/24/1988
7 G, 19 AB, 2 R, 5 H, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, SB, 6/6 K/BB, .263/.407/.474
Still Slugging Mention:
2B/DH Stefen Romero, R/R, 10/17/1988
7 G, 28 AB, R, 9 H, 2B, 3B, HR, 6 RBI, 4/2 K/BB, .321/.367/.536
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Jonathan Arias, 2/8/1988
0-0, 2 G, SV, 0.00 ERA in 4.2 IP, H, 10/2 K/BB, 3/1 G/F
The opportunity came up and I couldn’t really pass it up. Arias isn’t known to a lot of people. He started out his career as a catcher and then spent a little time in the outfield up through 2008 before they converted him to pitcher in 2009. The results were nothing special the first two seasons, but after May, something weird started to happen. Through May, he had twenty hits and ten runs to go with a 17/12 K/BB in 14.0 innings. Since then, he’s had sixteen hits and five runs to go with a 62/16 K/BB in 34.1 IP. That’s a 16.25 K/9. The walk rate could really use some improvement, but a K-rate that high allows for some margin of error. I don’t know even how he’s done it. Despite two+ months of pitching like this, he’s flown under the radar and I’ve yet to see any real features on him, not even one interview on the Lumberblog this season. Maybe that will change shortly.
7+ Innings in Six of Last Seven Starts Mention:
LHP Anthony Fernandez, 6/8/1990
0-0, GS, 1.23 ERA in 7.1 IP, 6 H, R, 4/2 K/BB, 9/6 G/F
A Weird Start Before the DL Mention:
RHP George Mieses, 5/3/1991
0-1, GS, 2.57 ERA in 7.0 IP, 5 H (HR), 2 R, 0/1 K/BB, 11/6 G/F
Command Slip Mention:
RHP Taijuan Walker, 8/13/1992
1-0, GS, 1.80 ERA in 5.0 IP, 3 H, R, 6/3 K/BB, 6/2 G/F
Welcome Back Mention:
RHP Steve Kohlscheen, 9/20/1988
1-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 6.0 IP, 3 H, 6/2 K/BB, 5/4 G/F
Welcome Aboard Mention:
LHP Roenis Elias, 8/1/1988
1-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 6.1 IP, 5 H, R (0 ER), 4/2 K/BB, 6/4 G/F
From the Training Room:
One of the reasons Morris came back was that IF Matt Browning landed on the DL on Monday. Reed also left on Monday, bringing in Cuban LHP Roenis Elias for an early challenge… On Tuesday, RHP Tyler Blandford went on the DL retroactive to Monday and the Lumberkings added RHP John Taylor from Pulaski…. As Hesketh left to go to the club where he started the year, so too did RHP Steve Kohlsheen, coming back from Everett. Vernisk was also added as RHP George Mieses landed on the DL.
Strange Happenings:
Jessie Nava, a right-hander, picked off three in Monday’s start. He only pitched three innings… Something I noticed while perusing the league pitching stats: the Lumberkings are tied for the fewest home runs allowed in the league. Guess what’s probably going to be helping out some of those guys in High Desert next year?
Everett Aquasox (3-3 this week, 7-5 in second half, 23-27 overall)
Monday, August 1st 2011
Off day
Tuesday, August 2nd 2011
Everett 3, Yakima 5 (ARI – 3)
W: Capaul (2-1, 2.75) L: Whitmore (2-5, 5.21) S: De Los Santos (1)
Wednesday, August 3rd 2011
Everett 3, Yakima 4 (ARI – 2)
W: Pedrotty (1-2, 4.19) L: Pries (1-2, 4.03) S: Hamrick (1)
Thursday, August 4th 2011
Everett 7, Yakima 3 (ARI – 3) (twelve innings)
W: Hunter (1-0, 0.00) L: Hamrick (0-5, 6.61)
Friday, August 5th 2011
Everett 6, Yakima 2 (ARI – 4)
W: DiRocco (1-1, 3.74) L: Zizinia (1-2, 8.66)
Saturday, August 6th 2011
Everett 3, Yakima 5 (ARI – 3)
W: Blake (3-4, 4.03) L: Weiss (0-1, 11.25) S: Hamrick (2)
Sunday, August 7th 2011
Vancouver 2 (TOR – 2), Everett 7
W: Campos (4-3, 2.82) L: Cole (1-3, 6.16)
Hitter of the Week:
RF Jabari Blash, R/R, 7/4/1989
5 G, 13 AB, 3 R, 3 H, 2 2B, 2 RBI, SB, CS, 2/5 K/BB, HBP, .231/.474/.538
Oh, Blash. I hope that you always remain fascinating and never break that boundary into frustrating territory. We’ve talked about how peculiar his first half with Clinton was in that he walked in nearly a quarter of his plate appearances and is meanwhile down to something like 13% in Everett, but this week he decided that he remembered how to do that walking thing and was back to his early quarter clip. He also doubled his triple output for the season in Saturday’s game, which is cool because the speed doesn’t always show as much as we hoped it would. Blash’s average is much better in his Everett tenure on the whole thanks to a jump of about fifty points in his BABIP, and one hopes that he’s just squaring up a little better now. I’d like walking Blash and power-hitting Blash to somehow be reconciled and maybe be on good terms with average-hitting Blash too, or else he’s just Kalian Sams, pt. 2.
More Peripherals! Mention:
SS Marcus Littlewood, S/R, 3/18/1992
5 G, 18 AB, 3 R, 4 H, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 6/4 K/BB, .222/.364/.444
Pitcher of the Week:
LHP Cameron Hobson, 4/10/1989
0-0, G, 0.00 ERA in 5.0 IP, H, 6/1 K/BB, 5/2 G/F
Hobson has had an odd start to his career. To date, he’s the highest pitcher selection that we’ve signed, coming in at the eleventh round, and with the depth of this draft I would say that on talent he could have been somewhere between the sixth round and the eighth. He has a low-90s fastball and a good slider, and inconsistencies aside, that’s something to dream on, right? Well, he hasn’t pitched much. Despite opening the season with the team on June 17th, he didn’t appear until ten days later, and then went two weeks without an appearance from July 6th to the 20th. I followed along with the news and it seemed like he was having elbow problems and was sighted in the dugout with an ice pack much of the time. Thursday’s outing was the longest for him, and one of the more dominant ones. I can’t say “most” because in his debut he struck out all six batters he faced. But I’d like to see more of him pitching healthy, certainly.
Still Pitching Beyond his Years Mention:
RHP Vicente Campos, 7/27/1992
1-0, GS, 3.00 ERA in 6.0 IP, 5 H (HR), 2 R, 8/0 K/BB, 3/5 G/F
From the Training Room:
The Aquasox were a little less active than the others. Monday, they sent UT Patrick Brady to Pulaski because someone probably hit the DL that we don’t know about… Tuesday, Versnik went to Tacoma, but it took them another two days to pick up LHP Kyle Hunter from Pulaski… Pries is in the rotation now.
Strange Happenings:
The Aquasox website had a feature on RHP Jose Campos that goes into a little of his history… Landazuri had an odd outing on Friday, allowing nine hits and a walk while striking out three in five and two-thirds innings, but those numbers only translating to two unearned runs.
Pulaski Mariners (2-4 this week, 21-25 overall)
Monday, August 1st 2011
Burlington 5 (KC – 9), Pulaski 0
W: Murray (2-2, 3.18) L: Guaipe (3-4, 4.28)
Tuesday, August 2nd 2011
Off day
Wednesday, August 3rd 2011
Pulaski 10, Burlington 7 (KC – 10)
W: Kim (1-1, 6.75) L: Hall (2-1, 8.85) S: Sabala (3)
Thursday, August 4th 2011
Pulaski 7, Burlington 10 (KC – 9)
W: Ridings (2-3, 2.70) L: Raga (2-1, 3.38) S: Brown (1)
Friday, August 5th 2011
Pulaski 7, Burlington 4 (KC – 10)
W: Colvin (2-1, 0.89) L: Gonzalez (0-1, 10.80) S: Corrales (1)
Saturday, August 6th 2011
Elizabethton 7 (MIN + 3), Pulaski 0
W: Christensen (3-2, 2.45) L: Unsworth (4-3, 5.18)
Sunday, August 7th 2011
Elizabethton 11 (MIN + 4), Pulaski 3
W: Van Steensel (4-2, 5.55) L: Guaipe (3-5, 4.60)
Hitter of the Week:
3B/2B Michael Acevedo, R/R, 12/5/1990
5 G, 21 AB, 5 R, 10 H, 2B, 4 RBI, 2 CS, 2/0 K/BB, .476/.476/.524
Acevedo makes it another week as Hitter by getting a hit pretty much every other at-bat. He’s yet to be held hitless in August and had multi-hit nights on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. He’s also made an appearance at second base for the first time with Pulaski, but only really for the sake of giving Paolini a day off. While he doesn’t really have the same offensive profile, as there’s not nearly as much power he’s showing at present, I can possibly seem some Catricala-like conversation about Acevedo being a competent hitter without a true position. Cat hit .301/.363/.493 in his Appy League stint and Acevedo currently sits at .283/.362/.395, with a better batting eye on the whole, but far less power. However, with Acevedo, the questions have a different tinge to them because Catricala is considered a bat that has a chance at the corners, while a 25.5% xbh rate for Acevedo (Cat had 36.4% at the same level) just isn’t going to sell. Either he manages up the middle, or he needs more doubles and a few additional home runs.
Focusing on Average Mention:
LF Guillermo Pimentel, L/L, 10/5/1992
5 G, 19 AB, 4 R, 8 H, 2B, 3 RBI, SB, 3/2 K/BB, .421/.476/.474
Broke Up Monday’s No-Hitter Mention:
2B Dan Paolini, R/R, 10/11/1989
5 G, 21 AB, 4 R, 7 H, 2 2B, 5 RBI, SB, 7/1 K/BB, .333/.391/.429
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Bobby Shore, 1/26/1989
0-0, 2 G, 0.00 ERA in 5.0 IP, 3 H (HR), 2 R (ER), 5/2 K/BB, 5/3 G/F
Pitching was a mess this week as the staff managed a 7.47 ERA as a team, so I’ll only name one guy. Hello, and welcome to the wraps, Bobby Shore, a native of Oceanside, California who has the perfect surname for such origins. Shore was a JuCo guy in Cali before transferring to Oklahoma, which means that the M’s were probably on him for a while before drafting him as a senior. He was a bit inconsistent in his college days and had a 4.14 ERA in 54.1 IP with a 44/20 K/BB this season, BUT he had a good reputation for showing well in the bigger games against better opponents and I suppose that the M’s hope to bring that out of him with some regularity. Sunday’s three-inning stint was his longest as a pro and to date, he’s only logged 10.1 IP. He could be one guy they switch to the rotation next year.
From the Training Room:
Brady was added as Elias went out… When Taylor left, RHP Joshua Corrales, who had served as Peoria’s closer, was added… Hunter left a day later… As always, I know squat about the DL situation. I think Straus might be on it. I have no idea because every time I speculate, the guy shows up in the next game.
Strange Happenings:
I had Mayckol Guaipe all lined up for POTW or at least mentionable, but on Sunday he only lasted three innings and gave up six runs (three earned) on five hits, two hit batters, a walk, and three Ks. On Monday, he had two unearned runs through five innings on three hits and a walk against six Ks. Jekyll and Hyde, again… Jamal Austin is under a .400 season average! Oh no!.. There were a few games this week that were three-inning stints by three different pitchers and yes there were usually unpleasant starts surrounding that.
Dispatches from the Land of Rehabbers and Teens:
IF Yidid Batista: 24 G, 80 AB, 18 R, 25 H, 2B, 3B, HR, 15 RBI, 7 SB, 4 CS, 12/11 K/BB, .313/.423/.388
2B Felipe Burin: 23 G, 89 AB, 7 R, 28 H, 8 2B, 15 RBI, 2 SB, 2 CS, 21/10 K/BB, .315/.386/.404
OF Phillips Castillo: 34 G, 123 AB, 27 R, 40 H, 13 2B, 5 3B, HR, 22 RBI, 6 SB, 4 CS, 46/13 K/BB, .325/.394/.537
RHP Min-sih Chen: 4-3, 8 GS, 6.23 ERA in 34.2 IP, 42 H (2 HR), 32 R (24 ER), 20/21 K/BB, 5 HB
RHP David Holman: 2-1, 11 G, 7.08 ERA in 20.1 IP, 32 H (4 HR), 27 R (16 ER), 14/4 K/BB, 4 HB
RHP Lars Huijer: 0-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 1.0 IP
OF Reggie Lawson: 31 G, 124 AB, 12 R, 30 H, 3 2B, 2 3B, HR, 18 RBI, 4 SB, 3 CS, 37/2 K/BB, .242/.264/.323
RHP Jochi Ogando: 1-3, 7 G (4 GS), 5.63 ERA in 24.0 IP, 23 H (HR), 18 R (15 ER), 15/21 K/BB
SS Esteilon Peguero: 34 G, 142 AB, 23 R, 40 H, 11 2B, 3B, HR, 21 RBI, 17 SB, 5 CS, 19/4 K/BB, .282/.309/.394
LHP Scott Ronnenbergh: 1-0, 11 G (GS), 5.24 ERA in 22.1 IP, 31 H, 17 R (13 ER), 15/11 K/BB
RHP Alex Sunderland: 0-0, 11 G, 2 SV, 4.91 ERA in 14.2 IP, 145H (2 HR), 9 R (8 ER), 20/3 K/BB
LHP Nick Valenza: 0-0, 7 G (2 GS), 7.90 ERA in 13.2 IP, 15 H (HR), 13 R (12 ER), 10/14 K/BB
RHP Richard White: 0-0, G, 9.00 ERA in 1.0 IP, 2 H, R, 0/1 K/BB
CF James Zamarripa: 20 G, 83 AB, 16 R, 25 H, 4 2B, 3B, 5 RBI, 4 SB, 2 CS, 24/9 K/BB, .301/.366/.373
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17 Responses to “Minor League Wrap (8/1-7/11)”
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Dangit! You need to stop doing that. I was suddenly dreaming of a Felix-Pineda-Paxton-Beaven-Vargas rotation by mid-year in Seattle next year.
Seriously, though, is Paxton ready to move up some time this season to Tacoma? I realize he has only pitched 32 innings, but Tacoma has only 4-5 turns in the rotation left.
Also, is Marcus Littlewood actually a capable catching candidate, or is it just that there is so little depth for catchers in the organization that they’ll throw anyone behind the plate that looks like they can do it?
Jay, any more news on Franklin’s status?
Oh, also, I was going to ask about the OF at Tacoma. It seems like now there are about 10 OF that are either MLB-ready or AAAA players between Tacoma and Seattle.
At a certain point are there guys sitting at AA that are going to force Z’s hand in trading a few of these guys? Or are we sitting at that point at which they’re just going to stew in Tacoma nearly regardless of what they are hitting?
It amazes me how you stay on top of all these guys Jay. I’m retired and spend a lot of time on the net and read a lot on the M’s and their minors and I can’t hold a candle to you. Probably semi-senility has something to do with it. Hey Burin is looking better and doing better than Esteilon Peguero. Thanks for the link to the Campos article, he’s on my radar now. I wouldn’t be shocked if they moved Paxton up to Tacoma this season, they can use all the pitching help they can get.
Now that I’m able to control my laughter, I feel as though I can objectively assess the tournament. The finals will come down to Beamer Weems vs. Rougned Odor, with Beamer winning 5-4 in a shootout.
No pressing need to, or at least I don’t feel that way. It probably wouldn’t hurt him though, and there’s a chance he could be ready mid-season next year.
I covered that a little in the last wrap, but to summarize, he has the right tools for it in that he reads bounces well, stays in front of the ball, has a good arm, and all of those things compensate for a lack of range and footspeed, but any attempts to start someone catching are usually insane. At least we’ve gone from it being a position of weakness to one of strength in about three months time.
First they were saying food poisoning, then they were saying mono, now they’re saying it was food poisoning followed by mono and he’s now in Arizona trying to get ready again.
The best answer I can provide for that is “I don’t know.” Left field is a free for all, and Guti is on contract for $5.5m next season and $7m in 2013 with a $7.5m option/$0.5m buyout in 2014, and he’s basically one of those guys that is going to have more value to us now than we can expect him to have for any other team. Left field and DH are likely to be filled internally, but it’s one of those situations of pick two of, what, Carp/Peguero/Wilson/Saunders/Pena/Halman/Robinson with Chiang and Catricala waiting in the double-A wings (Tenbrink gone due to injury, Shaffer to a poor second half). It’s a mess is what it is, and I think Halman is out of options after this season. Something will need to happen.
Thanks, although I’d be the first to admit that as much as I do, there’s still a lot more I could be doing and a lot more games I could be listening to. Even so, this part of the season is exhausting and I’m trying to figure out how I can scale back operations somewhat.
I’m more of a Maverick Lasker fan but I’ll settle for Zelous Wheeler.
Hmmmm. Is this actually true? I love your stuff and your knowledge far exceeds mine, but despite all the draft choices and the position switch the M’s still don’t have a single interesting catcher in Double A, Triple A or the majors.
I agree that the way they’ve loaded up on depth is encouraging, and I suppose the whole “throw enough crap against the wall and see what sticks” strategy might pay off, but we’re still talking the closest catcher to the majors that could be considered something of a prospect is Jack Marder at High A, who know one seems to know if he can stick behind the plate or hit enough for the bigs. I’m a big Marder fan, and had him as the highest (read: only) catching prospect on my updated M’s top 25 prospect list, but he came in at #25.
I just don’t see a lot to get excited about right now. Now, if Littlewood takes well to the switch and Brantly’s the PTBNL and we sign Marlette, I’ll feel a whole lot different. But all of those things are major question marks at this point.
What is it about the new guys that excites you about the strength of the position? Am I underrating Hicks by quite a bit?
You might be underselling Hicks, you might not. Through the last ten, he’s .286/.278/.457, which is better than he started out certainly, but he’s yet to draw a walk, which is kind of scary. Marder, I have some faith in, and the reports at least from a few months ago were that Marlette was going to sign in time. But I’ll admit, Villasuso, Hassiel Jimenez, and Dowd are all hitting a lot worse than I thought they would be given that all of them started out pretty well this year. So it’s not really a position of strength at the moment, more like a position of depth, whereas before, what did we have to talk about aside from Steve Baron’s inablity to hit?
And we can’t really expect the M’s to suddenly have even one interesting backstop in double-A, triple-A or the majors after a draft two months ago. But you know that.
On this we can totally agree. I like the depth they’ve acquired. I still think it’s a position of weakness, but not like it was.
True on both counts.
So Jay,
Who out of our current crop of catchers inspires the most confidence that they will at some point be a MLB catcher?
Or is it still Miguel Olivo and pray for rain/Steve Baron’s bat?
I would go with Miguel Olivo and pray that Adam Moore isn’t broken, personally.
Each has their own flaws. Marder, no one knows if he can stick, but he seems to be able to hit a bit. Hicks hasn’t been hitting, though he did in the past, and Littlewood seems to have enough offensive issues at the moment without him worrying about where he plays next. I’d probably side with dnc and go with Marder at this point.
Jay of the remaining draft picks, which are the ones most likely to sign before the deadline?
That’s a great question I have no way of answering!
I really expected a lot more of the top ten picks to have signed by now.
Don’t forget guys like Tanner Chleborad and Cavan Cohoes.
They have to sign so we have legit candidates for Moniker Madness next year!
Only remaining top 10 guy who was likely to sign by now was 2nd rounder Brad Miller. All the other guys are prep guys/cape guys/Danny Hultzen – guys who have no incentive to sign before the deadline.
Also – everyone is being a bit premature in evaluating the new draftees performances. First taste of pro ball doesn’t tell you a whole lot. Get their feet wet and then start taking stock after they have a full professional offseason under their belts.
I’m curious about the 2 Clinton callups Kohlscheen and Elias. Kohlscheen has really seemed to turn it around lately. He hasn’t given up a run in his last 22 innings. What is his stuff like? How does he project? Is his improvement from the begining of the year simply because he is starting instead of relieving? On Elias, I read a report on MarinersCentral that said his FB touched 95 on the house gun at Clinton. How reliable is that? How does he project?
It looks as though the Mariners have signed RHP Carter Capps (exciting), OF Cory Scammell (intriguing tools) and C Luke Guarnaccia (who joins the club effort to dramatically improve that position).
Guarnaccia was a re-draft from 2010, so someone up there in the org must like him. I know little about Scammell, but 6’5″ lefty outfielders with tools don’t really grow on trees. Maybe it works out.
Capps is the guy that seems to have Mariner people the most excited. He’s up there with Stephen Pryor in terms of sheer velocity, college experience, and high amounts of IQ.