3/11 Spring Training Report

Posted by Jeremy on March 12, 2009 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment

Yesterday was a down day for action as several teams had an off day.  Pablo Sandoval and Jason Donald continued their hot hitting, Jeff Clement and Mat Gamel awoke from spring slumps with two hit games, and John Mayberry Jr. belted his 4th HR of the spring (one was in a WBC exhibition game).  Today’s youngster of the day is the not-so-young OF from the St. Louis Cardinals Joe Mather.  Mather continued to swing a hot bat with a two-hit, four RBI game, making a statement to the Cardinals brass that he deserves consideration in an enlarged role in 2009.

 

 Youngster of the Day—JOE MATHER 

 

Other Notable Performances:

• Jeff Clement—2-3 2B RBI
• Wladimir Balentien—1-2 BB SB(2)
• Chris Jakubauskas—3 IP BB 2K
• Dexter Fowler—1-4 3B 2R BB
• Eric Young Jr.—1-1 SB(3)
• Gordon Beckham—1-1 2B 2 RBI
• Casey McGehee—3-3
• Mat Gamel—2-3 2B R RBI
• Allen Craig—1-1 2B R
• Jon Jay—1-3 R
• Brian Barden—2-2 2R RBI
• Joe Mather—2-4 2B 4 RBI
• Chris Volstad—4 IP 5H 2 ER BB K
• Pablo Sandoval—2-3 2B R RBI
• Emmannuel Burriss—2-3 2B SB(3)
• Travis Snider—2-3
• Wilkin Ramirez—2-3 HR(1) 2R RBI
• Matt Wieters—1-3 R
• Matt Macri—1-2 2B 2 RBI
• Drew Sutton—1-1 HR(1) 2 RBI
• Brian Bogusevic—2-4 SB(1)
• Adam Rosales—1-2 2B 2 RBI
• Jordan Schafer—2-3 2R SB(2)
• Diory Hernandez—2-4 2B 2 RBI R
• Jason Donald—3-4 2B 2R
• John Mayberry Jr.—2-3 HR(4) 2 RBI 2B

7/20 AAA Minor League Report

Posted by Jeremy on July 21, 2008 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment

Today is a landmark day for Porters Prospect Report!  This blog exceeded the 1,500 view mark this morning.  Now, while that doesn’t seem like much to many other more established sites, it is exciting to me to see many of you coming to my site and enjoying the content.  I will remain dedicated to posting more quality content every day!  If you have a topic or product you would like to have me cover, send me an email or post a comment and I will work it into the blog!

 

Here’s the rundown from AAA on Sunday…

 

David Huff

• 5 IP  6H 2K (L)—Pitching well since promotion to Buffalo (2-3 3.19 ERA 50K/48IP)

 

Brett Clevlen

• 3-4 HR(17) 2 RBI 2R—.333 3 HR 5 RBI 10 R last 10 games

 

Jeff Samardzija

• 6 IP 2H ER BB 9K—Solid at Iowa (4-1 3.13 ERA 40K/37IP)

 

Josh Whitesell

• 3-4 2 HR( 18 ) 3R—.432 2 HR 8 RBI 16 H last 10 games

 

Wladimir Balentien

• 2-3 HR(15) 2 RBI 3R 2BB—HR in 4 straight games (.400 7 HR 15 RBI last 10 games)

 

Rob Johnson

• 2-4 HR(7) RBI 2R BB—Playing really well since Jeff Clement’s promotion

 

Nelson Cruz

• 1-4 HR(31) 2 RBI—.353 6 HR 12 RBI 10 R last 10 games

 

Joe Mather

• 2-4 HR(17) 2 RBI—.306 41 RBI 1.046 OPS

 

Eric Patterson

• 2-4 2R 2B 3B RBI BB 2 SB(14)—.417 1.336 OPS at Sacramento

 

Travis Buck

• 1-2 2B 2 RBI 2BB—.297 2 HR 16 RBI 21 R in 38 games at AAA

 

BUY/SELL Analysis

Got Bandaids?

Well, I must admit that I had a pretty big man crush on Travis Buck last spring as he was tearing it up during Spring Training.  I loaded up on dozens of his Topps Chrome Update autos and Bowman Chrome Draft RC’s expecting him to fulfill his .300 20 HR 80 RBI potential right out of the gate.  Instead, he suffered injury after injury throughout the whole season.  With high hopes, I purchased even more of his cards (albiet at basement prices) during the off season knowing that his history of injuries was merely an abberation and that 2008 would be a new season.  Instead of a rennaissance, his career has taken a Great Depression-like turn as he has hit just .160 for Oakland with 28 punchouts in 26 games.  At Sacramento, Buck has quite a bit better hitting .297 scoring 21 runs in 38 games, but he has hit just 2 HR in 106 AB’s.  At an athletic 6-3 225 lbs.,  it is reasonable to expect more power production from Travis.  When (or if) healthy, Buck can hit 20-25 HR a season at the MLB level.  Buck has rookie cards in the 2005 Bowman Products and Topps Chrome Update.  Currently, his only first year autos in the Topps Chrome Update set sell for $5-7 each and his Bowman Chrome cards can be had for 50 cents to $1 each. 

 

Market Advice: I still love Buck but his injuries are severely diminishing his chances of being a star player.  Oakland is chocked full of young outfielders from Oakland on down the farm.  Buck needs a change of scenery preferrably to a hitter’s park.  Trading prospects for stars is not the Oakland A way though and the clock is ticking on the 24 year old’s still promising career.  5 bucks for one Buck seems to be a good BUY for his autos.  If you are like me and have a plethora of his cards HOLD and hope for better health and more AB’s.