10/17 AFL Report

Posted by Jeremy on October 18, 2008 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment

As previously forcasted, there were several gaudy offensive performances in today’s games.  It was tough to pick a winner from the heap and all signs point to an offensive player being the winner but…Brian Matusz is today’s player-o’-the-day.

 

Player of the Day: BRIAN MATUSZ

 

 

 

 Mesa Solar Sox  18

• Will Rhymes—4-5 2R RBI SB(1) BB
• Jeff Larish—3-5 2R 2B 4 RBI BB
• Nate Spears—3-6 2 2B 3R RBI 2BB
• Brent Clevenger—2-4 2 2B 3R RBI 2BB
• Casper Wells—2-5 2R 2 RBI BB SB(3)
• Matt Young—3-6 3R 3 RBI

 

 

 Peoria Saguaros  10

• Shane Robinson—2-5 HR(2) 4 RBI 2R
• Brett Wallace—1-4 HR(1) RBI
• Gordon Beckham—1-3 2R 2B BB
• Cole Armstrong—4-5 RBI
• Daniel Murphy—2-4 2B 2R RBI BB

 

 

 

 Phoenix Desert Dogs  8

• Eric Young Jr.—3-3 2R RBi 2BB 2 SB(5)
• Evan Frey—2-4 2B RBI R BB SB(2)
• J.P. Arencibia—1-4 2B RBI R
• Danny Valencia—2-4 2B RBI BB
• Brian Matusz—4 IP 3H ER BB 8K

 

 

 Surprise Rafters  7

• Julio Borbon—3-5 3B 2R RBI
• Matt Wieters—2-4 RBI R SB(1) BB
• Beau Mills—2-5 2B RBI R
• Brain McFall—2-4 HR(1) 3 RBI 2R 2B

 

 

 

 Scottsdale Scorpions  7

• Aaron Bates—1-2 HR(1) 3 RBI
• Drew Sutton—2-3 HR(1) RBI 3R BB
• Mark Trumbo—2-4 2R 2B

 

 

 Peoria Javelinas  3

• Lorenzo Cain—3-4 2B R SB(2)
• Greg Halman—1-4 3B RBI
• Chris Valaika—2-4 2B
• Rob Johnson—1-2 HR(1) RBI

8/22 AAA Minor League Report

Posted by Jeremy on August 23, 2008 under Market Watch, Minor League Ball today | Be the First to Comment

I hope you all enjoyed my post about the ‘08 Bowman Chrome case break.  I apologize for slacking off with the minor league reports.  I am going to do my best to get 4 posts in today covering AAA-Full Season Low A.  Starting from the top…

Max Ramirez

• 2-4 2R 3 RBI 2B—Nice 1st game at Oklahoma

 

Kila Ka’aihue

• 2-4 HR(35) 2 RBI—Look for him to be wearing Royal blue in the next couple of weeks!

 

Chris Lubanski

• 2-3 HR(14) 3 RBI 3B—.233 14 HR 49 RBI (days as a top prospect are over)

 

Rob Johnson

• 2-5 2R 2 RBI—4th straight multi-hit game

 

Brandon Morrow

• 4.2 IP 2H 2ER BB 10K!—Quest for M’s rotation spot nearly complete

 

Micah Hoffpauir

• 4-6 2B 4 RBI R SB(2)—.371 23 HR 92 RBI 33 2B 58 R in 64 games

 

Delwyn Young

• 3-5 3R 2B—1st hits of the his injury-marred season

 

Blake Dewitt

• 2-6 2B 3B 2 RBI 2R—Departure of Andy LaRoche bodes well for Dewitt’s Dodger future

 

Xavier Paul

• 2-4 RBI R—Oft overlooked athletic OF (.424 2 HR 7 RBI last 10 games)

 

Chin-lung Hu

• 3-4 2B 2 RBI—.299 0 HR 12 RBI in 34 AAA games

 

Ben Copeland

• 3-4 2B 2R RBI BB—.367 22 H 12 R in 15 games with Fresno

 

Jordan Brown

• 2-4 3B 2 RBI R SB(3)—.282 5 HR 45 RBI

 

Phil Hughes

• 3.1 IP 10H 8ER BB 6K (L)—Back to back nausea-inducing outings with Scranton

 

Drew Stubbs

• 2-2 2R BB SB(32)—.316 2 HR 7 RbI 7R in 9 games with Louisville

 

Phil Humber

• 9 IP 5 ER 8K (W)—5-1 2.56 ERA 50K/53 IP last 10 games

 

Daniel McCutchen

• 7 IP 4H 2 ER 7K (W)—10-11 3.48 ERA 137K/160IP

 

Brent Lillibridge

• 3-4 3 RBI 2B R BB—Disappointing season (.215 4 HR 32 RBI 21 SB)

 

BUY/SELL Analysis

100 MPH heater will warm up Safeco soon

For once I will not be talking out of an orifice other than my mouth when evaluating a prospect, as I have  been privy to many first hand evaluations of former Seattle Mariners set up man Brandon Morrow.  Morrow was recently sent to AAA Tacoma to stretch out and become a starter.  This maneuver was initially supposed to be implemented after the conclusion of last season, allowing Morrow to compete for a rotation spot in spring training of this year.  A preseason trade for Erik Bedard caused the M’s to lose then set-up guy (now All-Star closer) George Sherrill, relegating Morrow back to the bullpen.

Morrow’s stuff is electric.  He regularly pumps in fastballs at 96-98 MPH and throws a tight 84-87 MPH slider that leaves many hitters swinging at air.  He compiled 10 saves as temporary closer while striking out 47 in just 37 innings.  His 1.72 ERA and 0.90 WHIP were vast improvements over last season as well.  Mariners fans lauded Morrow’s transition to the rotation, however, I think that it is a mistake of Joba-like proportions.  Morrow’s fastball will likely lose 3-4 MPH in velocity and, suffice it to say, his ball does not have much movement on it.  His slider is a fine complimentary pitch, but he mainly throws it early in the count and does not have much command of it to throw it late in counts (especially if he is behind a hitter).  Finally, he does not have a MLB calibur 3rd pitch, which is essential for starting pitchers to have.  Combine those factors with the fact that he has a history of being fragile (the M’s were often forced to limit his workload) and is a diabetic and you are left with a player that is a huge risk to become the latest briliant flash in the pan.  Morrow has 1st year cards peppered throughout several 2007 products with varying prices.  His best autographs can be found in the 2007 Fleer Ultra set selling on Ebay for $20-25, but many other products feature his autos at $7-10 each. 

Market Advice: After reading my post above, you surely must think that I am a Morrow-hater.  Quite contrarily, I am a big fan of Morrow…as a late inning reliever or even closer.  I would not advocate buying his cards with the intent of holding them for the long haul, but a short term BUY  of some of his lower priced autos may render some positive results in the short run as his card values will increase as he has success as a starter.  Plan to SELL in September as I think that is where Morrow’s card values will apex.  I am intrigued to see how Morrow’s upcoming 1st inning debut goes, but over the long term, I believe the M’s are making a huge mistake, but not as huge as passing over UW alum Tim Lincecum in the ‘06 Draft.

 

 

 

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.