minor lines, 5/15/11
by steve S on May 15, 2011 11:16 PM PDT
in They Might Be Giants
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PrintSunday highlights from the Giants' farm: Juan Perez had five hits, Chris Heston had 7.0 shutout IP, and both Luke Anders and Adam Duvall homered.
AAA: Fresno lost to Memphis 10-2
(allowing seven runs in the 6th inning)
Fresno: 3B Conor Gillaspie: 1 for 3, 2 BB
Fresno: LF Brandon Belt: 0 for 2, 2 BB (1 IBB), SO
Fresno: C Chris Stewart: 0 for 1, 2 BB, HBP, SO
Memphis: SS Pete Kozma: 4 for 4, 2B, BB (IBB)
Fresno: SP Matt Yourkin: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 2 K--1 IBB, 1 WP
Fresno: RP Henry Sosa: 1.0 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 2 BB--1 HR, 1 HB
Memphis: SP P.J. Walters: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 8 BB, 2 K
Gillaspie had one of just two hits for the Grizzlies' as both he and Stewart reached base three times. Top prospect Belt also reached base twice, although that is not particularly remarkable for a corner outfielder. Kozma, the Cardinals' first round selection four years ago, had four hits as he reached base in all five plate appearances. His AVG remains just .220, though.
Perhaps the nearby Mississippi floodwaters made it tough to throw strikes today the two starting pitchers, Yourkin and Walters, combined to throw fewer than half their pitches for strikes (55 of 100 for Yourkin and 39 of 87 for Walters). Both pitchers had season-high walk totals. Sosa had a disastrous 7th inning that raised his ERA above 10.50. He didn't exactly pound the strike zone with 21 of 38 pitches for strikes.
AA: Richmond defeated Harrisburg 11-4
(after adding five insurance runs in the 8th inning)
Richmond: 2B Charlie Culberson: 3 for 3, 2B, SO, SB
Richmond: SS Nick Noonan: 3 for 4, BB
Richmond: CF Juan Perez: 5 for 5, 3B, 2B, CS
Richmond: 1B Sharlon Schoop: 3 for 5, 2B, E
Richmond: SP Daryl Maday: 4.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K--1 HB
Richmond: RP Danny Otero: 1.0 IP, 2 K
Richmond: RP Jason Stoffel: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K--1 HB
The Flying Squirrels' offense exploded for 22 hits as every position player in the starting lineup had at least two hits. They were led by Perez's five hits, including his 2nd triple and 9th double, which improved his season line to .270/.318/.365 through 137 AB. With three hits each, Culberson, Noonan and Schoop raised their respective AVGs to .293, .278, and .130. Schoop had previously been 0 for 18 this year.
Maday allowed a season-high 8 H in his shortest start of the year. His ERA rose to 3.77. Otero struck out two of his four batters. Stoffel snapped a string of five straight appearances allowing at least one earned run.
A+: San Jose defeated Stockton 2-0
San Jose: CF Gary Brown: 1 for 3, HBP, 2 SO, SB
San Jose: 1B Luke Anders: 2 for 3, HR
San Jose: SP Chris Heston: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K--2 HB, 1 WP
San Jose: RP Heath Hembree: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K
Anders had his 6th HR as he had two of the Giants' six hits. Brown was one of two other Giants to reach base twice, with the single extending his hitting streak to ten games.
Heston had his most effective start of the year, setting a new season-high with 8 K, matching a season-high 7.0 IP, and not allowing a run for the second time in second starts. He improved his W-L record to 4-1 as he lowered his ERA to 2.76. Hembree got his 12th save.
A-: Augusta lost to Hickory 4-1
Augusta: 2B Carlos Willoughby: 1 for 3, 2B, BB, SO
Augusta: 3B Adam Duvall: 1 for 3, HR, BB
Hickory: SS Jurickson Profar: 2 for 3, 2B, BB, E
Augusta: SP Austin Fleet: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 1 K--1 WP
Augusta: RP Brett Bochy: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K
Duvall led off the 6th inning with his 8th HR. He has homered four times in his last seven games. He and Willoughby were the only two GreenJackets to reach base twice. The Rangers' 18-year-old Profar has a five-game hitting streak during which span he has had four doubles. His AVG is just .229 but over half his hits (12 of 22) have been XBHs, giving him a .438 SLG.
Fleet's general pattern this year of alternating effective starts and not-so-effective starts continues. This start fits in the latter category, putting his ERA back above 4.50. Bochy made his pro debut with 2.0 scoreless IP.
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Noonan is hitting .278/.358/.412. Not bad.
Culberson is hitting .293/.333/.387. Glad he’s not falling on his face completely, though the k/bb is scary
Matt Cain: He'll save children, but not the Dodger children.
I call him gerald. he’s a pristine white handkerchief, though? nediB eoJ Joe Biden ‽ Joe Biden.
Noonan becomes much more interesting as a SS prospect, right?
Anyone know if his defense has any chance of being acceptable at an ML level?
Carter Jurica!
"The trouble with baseball is that it is not played the year round." - Gaylord Perry
by GrahamCrakalaka on May 15, 2011 11:26 PM PDT up reply actions
Small chance
Don't think he can cut it in the bigs? Brock Bond will be the bigger man and walk walk walk away.
He’s just holding down the spot while Adrianza is rehabbing. He’ll probably be playing 3B, with a little 2B thrown in, in a few weeks. In the long run, though, his only real chance to be a mojor leaguer is at 2B. Right now he’s screwed because the Giants like Culbie more than him and he’s not good enough to be promoted to AAA yet.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Keep an eye on my son, Jake "The Jacksonville Rifle" Dunning. From SS to the mound - exclusively toeing the rubber since March 2010.
At this point, I’d be tempted to keep Noonan where he is, drop Jurica to Augusta, and send Adrianza back to San Jose for a while. It’s not like he crushed the Cal League the first time around.
This
Seth Rosin can hit the side of a barn with a baseball. From space.
Giants baseball: We're stupid enough to WIN that (TM)
Is Heston worth keeping an eye on?
He’s exactly average age for his league, and put up decent numbers last year. H/9 a little high, but HR/9 and WHIP and BB/9 aren’t bad.
Carter Jurica!
"The trouble with baseball is that it is not played the year round." - Gaylord Perry
by GrahamCrakalaka on May 15, 2011 11:25 PM PDT reply actions
FWIW, I tend to believe that the average age for a league is slightly on the old side of age appropriate. Two years younger would be better (though even at that Heston is probably another version of a Pucetas-type pitcher: enough guile and command to perform well in the lower levels but without the stuff to get more advanced hitters out).
MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!
I'll disagree slightly with Roger here.....
I do think when using league average ages you error to slightly younger, but asking for prospects to be 2 years younger than the 22.5 years of age average that high A has been sitting at for years is extreme. That would mean that almost all college juniors drafted in 2010 like Brown, Gyorko, Grandal, and Jarrett Parker are “old” in their first full season of professional ball. This, to me creates an unnecessary bias that can only hinder ones prospecting forecasts.
"Don't trust anyone under the age of 30" - Brian Sabean
by Smotheredinhugs on May 16, 2011 7:52 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
That’s all fair. FWIW, I didn’t look up the average age, but rather went off what I knew Heston’s to be (Heston turned 23 the first week of the season). 21 strikes me as the most age appropriate for A+, 20 young, and 19 hubba hubba young. However, it’s entirely true that that makes guys like Brown (22, he’ll turn 23 in the fall) on the older side of age appropriate, but I think the high draft picks are likely to move up during the season and that puts them on a perfectly age appropriate track.
I’ll just add that a few years back I did a post on here that looked at all the starting or platoon starting players in the major leagues and the ages that they first made the majors. I can’t remember the numbers exactly, but the average age was around 22.5, and there was a very steep drop off after you got to about 23.5 (that is, players who made it to 24 or even really older than 23.5, and hadn’t yet appeared in the majors had a dramatically lower chance of becoming starters. By the time you got to the age of 25 or 26, you were dealing with literally a handful of players, most of whom were catchers).
MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!
I went and found it. Good read for everyone, including the subsequent comments.
Juan "Doesn't Cheat The Game" Perez, future CF for the World Champion San Francisco Giants.
Wow, blast from the past. I used to hold out some weird hope for Antoan Richardson! Career .392 OBP in the minors!
Ask me about my blog.
I believe that’s a form of PTS induced by the 2003 series against the Marlins.
MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!
Someone has surely mentioned this before, but doesn’t it seem as though Sabean has spent the last ten years trying to re-create the team that beat him in the World Series in 2002? Those Angels were characterized by solid starting pitching, a deep bullpen full of power righties, an offense built around batting average and baserunning, and Bengie Molina. Completely the opposite of the outstanding Giants teams of 2000-03, but very much like the more recent version.
I think that that Angels team was built more along the lines that Sabean would have wanted to create a team or they were the type of team that he really values, and certainly their performance in that series no doubt reinforced those notions. But, catch as catch can he ended up with a team with a core of Bonds, Kent, Snow, Aurilia, and Burks and that kind of constant pressure, aggressive base-running etc just wasn’t an option. But now, you can see if draft after draft and winter after winter the way they talk about getting more athletic that that type of team really is the ideal. It’s the old joke about Sabean trying to field a lineup made up entirely of CFs.
MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!
LOL Mapquest...
Hey that is really nice. Hard to imagine how long 4 years ago really was. Roger, did you ever find that house. I think I know which one you are talking about.
Yeah, I took her there the next time we went out together. I tend to function pretty visually, so I can go back to places I’ve been (as long as they haven’t changed too much) much easier than I can find them on a map or describe to anybody how to get there.
MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!
Interestingly, of the several players in the system who I used as examples of players who had very long odds of future major league success, one has actually mostly overcome those odds: Matt Downs who’s currently putting up an .898 OPS as a role player for Houston.
And he took what is probably the best route for such players: find your way to one of the worst teams in the league, and when the guy starting in front of you falls on his face or gets injured, hit like crazy immediately. Even then, of course, every time he manages to start two games in a row Mills has to make an announcement to the press that Chris Johnson is still is starter. Life will never be easy for players like Downs and there will always be somebody coming up that management likes better.
Whether the moral of that story is that these kinds of players are held back by the prejudices of others and just need the opportunity in order to succeed, or whether the strawhats and FO folks see things we can’t, is more than I can say.
MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!
I remember that discussion.
On the whole I agree with you. In fact, in my own little homemade spreadsheet for prospecting Age is weighted the heaviest. If you look at the top performers in AA and below the past 5 years, sorting by age is almost always as good or better in finding future major leaguers than any other metric.
That said I do like to look at prospects as individuals first – Take Ryan Verdugo as an example – He lost a year in college to Tommy John, which means his age has always seemed old for his level, but his stuff – if he get’s it in the strike zone is pretty good. Does that mean he makes it? Who knows?
Ultimately my point (and I sense you agree with this) is the biggest red flag for a player like Heston isn’t his age, it’s his stuff.
"Don't trust anyone under the age of 30" - Brian Sabean
by Smotheredinhugs on May 16, 2011 10:38 AM PDT up reply actions
That seems fair. Although I think you can also fairly extrapolate backwards with prospects who are having some success at a level they’re old or oldish for and assume that if their skills were better (barring things like injury issues), they’d likely have moved quicker. We had a discussion something like this with Willoughby just the other day: he always puts up good numbers, but you have to believe that the organization doesn’t see much in the way of eye-popping skills or they wouldn’t be moving him so deliberately through the system. As Sabean himself likes to say, the player will tell you what level they belong in.
MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!
Certainly.
Every organization needs it’s Brock Bonds and Ryan Cavans. But I remember us disagreeing on Culberson being either young or age appropriate last year in the Cal league, so I thought it was appropriate to provide a different perspective on the question of “too old given the level”.
"Don't trust anyone under the age of 30" - Brian Sabean
by Smotheredinhugs on May 16, 2011 12:19 PM PDT up reply actions
I think you need to work “hubba hubba” into more posts.
Seth Rosin can hit the side of a barn with a baseball. From space.
Giants baseball: We're stupid enough to WIN that (TM)
Also of note...
…Charlie Culberson was moved to leadoff. Justin Christian, the free agent leadoff hitter, is now batting cleanup.
I like Culberson, but I have to say, he’s not exactly the ideal leadoff guy.
"The knowledge of the game is inversely proportional to the price of the seat." ---Bill Veeck. •Check out the new look of SFDugout.com•
From what I could gather...
…listening to the game podcasts and considering the teams offensive struggles, this is simply Machemer trying to shake up the lineup. Of course, since the team 20 hits with him leading off, it won’t change soon.
There also may be some intent to add incentive for Culberson to take some pitches. He’s been the teams most consistent hitter all year, hitting in 29 of 36 games this season. But with only 10 extra base hits he’s not ideal for the 3rd spot where’s he’s been hitting.
"Don't trust anyone under the age of 30" - Brian Sabean
by Smotheredinhugs on May 16, 2011 8:41 AM PDT up reply actions
I imagine the thought process went something like this
/Machemer looks at SF box score.
“Hmm…. Aaron Rowand, leadoff hitter, huh? That gives me an idea!”
MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!
I’m fine with it because it presumably gives him more PA. Plus, as mentioned below, a real incentive to get on base!
by North Side Chicago Expatriate Giants Fan on May 16, 2011 12:23 PM PDT up reply actions
Juan Perez is heating up
Still a terrible BB:K ratio, but if he can survive AA without completely shitting himself, I’m going to start squinting really hard to see an MLB future.
Juan "Doesn't Cheat The Game" Perez, future CF for the World Champion San Francisco Giants.
HOMER!
/disregards Aaron King support for past 2 years
Don't think he can cut it in the bigs? Brock Bond will be the bigger man and walk walk walk away.
no CS for Gary Brown?
Progress!
Billy Hayes: His job is better than yours.
@productiveouts | Productive Outs
Lttle Big Head
Damn, Brett Bochy is old. He’s going to turn 24 in August. Even taking the redshirt year that he took at Kansas into account, he’s still a year older than his incoming class. Wa he held back a year in frade school?
It will be interesting to see how long they keep him in Augusta this season if he pitches well from the get-go.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Keep an eye on my son, Jake "The Jacksonville Rifle" Dunning. From SS to the mound - exclusively toeing the rubber since March 2010.
F, g – it’s all the same to me.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Keep an eye on my son, Jake "The Jacksonville Rifle" Dunning. From SS to the mound - exclusively toeing the rubber since March 2010.
trade school
metal bending? web design? animation?
Marvin Barrios, come on I'll show you your bedroom. Don't stay on the phone too long to Panama, please.
by foothillsfan on May 16, 2011 10:17 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Good point, Gla-Fiant!
Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field?
by Lyle on May 16, 2011 10:34 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
You'd think the genetically massive head would mean a quicker trip through school
Seth Rosin can hit the side of a barn with a baseball. From space.
Giants baseball: We're stupid enough to WIN that (TM)
Hey
You leave my boy alone, his big head helps him get his weight heading toward home. Adds an extra MPH to his fastball, or more accurately adds some giddy-up to his giddy-up.
Proud member of the cesspool of ethical bankruptcy known as the McC.
Proud adoptive parent of Brett Bochy, he's my boy now Bruce!
by Giant Torture on May 16, 2011 12:33 PM PDT up reply actions
Hot to mention that it gravitaionally attracts balls toward him.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Keep an eye on my son, Jake "The Jacksonville Rifle" Dunning. From SS to the mound - exclusively toeing the rubber since March 2010.
I need an editor
Can’t seem to type today.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Keep an eye on my son, Jake "The Jacksonville Rifle" Dunning. From SS to the mound - exclusively toeing the rubber since March 2010.
The Sally!
It’s difficult to believe for us Augusta followers, but the Sally is the hottest league so far this season. The top end talent in the league is off the charts, and they’ve been delivering the goods so far (Bryce Harper, Bryce Brent, Manny Machado, Anthony Renaudo, Taillon, …).
Now they add the best brawl of the season to their resume. Slade Heathcott, the Yankee prospect and bad-boy, went WWF on catcher Brandon Jacobs after he got hit by a pitch on Friday night.
check out the link below for the video clip and BA story:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/2011/05/slade-heathcott-ejected-for-attacking-catcher-with-video-in-eventful-day/
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Keep an eye on my son, Jake "The Jacksonville Rifle" Dunning. From SS to the mound - exclusively toeing the rubber since March 2010.
After watching how fast he blew a gasket, and reading his recent history I had one thought – Roid Rage. Is that wrong?
"Don't trust anyone under the age of 30" - Brian Sabean
by Smotheredinhugs on May 16, 2011 10:47 AM PDT up reply actions
Fresno Grizzlies
This is no breaking news, but I got to see the Fresno Grizzlies over the weekend, and I have little encouraging to report. Loux and Yourkin are journeymen starters, and Henry Sosa looks eminently hittable. Marc Kroon, sadly, didn’t appear in either game.
As for the hitters, Belt looks decent but didn’t wow me. I may start to be convinced that he is, indeed, too patient. Brad Eldred is a mountain of a man, 6’6" and every bit of 258 lbs. He actually played RF in one game, but wasn’t particularly challenged defensively, so it’s hard to say if he can really handle the position.
Surprisingly, the two players that I came away with as having the best overall performance were Emmanuel Burriss and (wait for it) Conor Gillaspie. Burriss showed some pop in his bat, and still runs quite well. His defense at 2B was iffy, as he bobbled at least one chance. He had no problems with CF in Sunday’s game but, like Eldred, wasn’t really challenged on anything hit to him.
Gillaspie had the best showing of anybody on the team. He made a couple of good plays on defense, and hit the ball hard every time up (or so it seemed). He stretched a single into a double, in game where his team was down by 6-7 runs, showing me he still wanted to compete. And he had the only RBI’s in Saturday’s game (iirc). I may have written him off too early.
Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field?
thanks, lyle
always appreciate the in-person reports. thanks for taking the time to share it.
Billy Hayes: His job is better than yours.
@productiveouts | Productive Outs
Burriss is playing CF??
Seth Rosin can hit the side of a barn with a baseball. From space.
Giants baseball: We're stupid enough to WIN that (TM)
He’s played there several times this year. Given his defensive deficiencies in the IF, I actually believe that CF is the only position that Burriss will ever be able to play regularly in the majors.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Keep an eye on my son, Jake "The Jacksonville Rifle" Dunning. From SS to the mound - exclusively toeing the rubber since March 2010.
Yeah
I’m kind of worried about Belt. Watching him in the big leagues he didn’t look as good as he did last year when I saw him several times at Richmond. Just didn’t seem aggressive enough. His slash line is .388/.533/.567. The OBP is great, but the slugging percentage doesn’t scream big league talent playing in AAA. Maybe I’m just reading too much in to it and I still think he’s a great young player, but I’m concerned.
Proud member of the cesspool of ethical bankruptcy known as the McC.
Proud adoptive parent of Brett Bochy, he's my boy now Bruce!
by Giant Torture on May 16, 2011 12:43 PM PDT up reply actions
I think it’s a mental thing with him now. I think that he got his eyes opened with the type of pitching that he faced during his major league stint. I also think that he’s being smart and usiing his time in Fresno to work on the thiings that he thinks will make him a better major league hitter. I dont’t think that he’s concentrating on putting up big numbers. He mostly just needs some time to work out a better balance between patience and aggressiveness at the plate. He’s got really good baseball instincts and he’s very coachable, so I think he’ll eventually get through this.
We know that the power is there and that he knows how to get the fat part of his bat on the ball on a consistent basis. I saw him hit HRs to straightaway LF and CF in ST that travelled at least 400 feet – he hasn’t all of a sudden lost that ability.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Keep an eye on my son, Jake "The Jacksonville Rifle" Dunning. From SS to the mound - exclusively toeing the rubber since March 2010.
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