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6/11 AAA Minor League Report

Jeremy — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:02:40 +0000

Milwaukee Brewers OF prospect Cole Gillespie hit his 4th HR of the season and drove in two runs yesterday. I had high hopes for the former Oregon State Beaver last season as he flew under the prospecting radar for most of last season. Much of that was due to the fact that he played for the star-studded Hunstville Stars team last year that boasted the talents of Matt LaPorta, Mat Gamel, Alcides Escobar, Angel Salome, and Michael Brantley. Still, Gillespie had a well rounded stat line, hitting .281 with 14 HR 79 RBI 17 SB 38 doubles and 73 runs scored. He doesn’t have any standout tool, but he does everything well and has an enormous baseball IQ. This season has been a disappointment since Gillespie moved to AAA, hitting just .202 with his 4 HR and 20 RBI. His plate discipline has been solid (28 BB/43 K), but he doesn’t seem to be driving the ball with much authority against AAA pitchers. My initial projection of him as an everyday corner outfielder at the major league level is starting to look a little too generous. There’s still quite a bit of potential there for him to be an effective, offensively minded 4th outfielder though.

Non-flashy Twins pitching prospects seem to grow on trees, and 23 year old Villanova alum Kevin Mulvey fits the bill perfectly. The ‘06 second rounder tossed a seven hit shutout Thursday walking one and striking out seven for his third win of the season. Mulvey can bump his fastball up to 94 MPH on occasion, but normally moves it around the strike zone at 87-91 MPH while mixing in a sharp slider and serviceable curve and change. This season, Mulvey has gone 3-3 with a 3.61 ERA and 28 BB/59 K in 72.1 IP. The main positive in his game has been his increased ability to force groundball outs. Last year, Mulvey was a flyball pitcher forcing just 0.79 GO/FO while being touched up for 16 HR. This season has been quite different, though, as Mulvey has nearly doubled his GO/FO ratio to 1.53 which has limited his HR’s allowed to just five.

Long term, Mulvey’s stuff should limit him to a ceiling as a #3 or 4 starter. There’s been some conjecture that he could be called up to serve a long reliever/spot starter role, but recent callup Anthony Swarzak has seemed to handling things quite capably. The Twins are starting to improve their level of play, as the offense has kicked into full gear. Mulvey’s arm could be a valuable asset either in the bullpen or rotation at some point this summer.

AAA Player of the Day—KEVIN MULVEY

Other Notable Performances

Hitting:

Angel Salome—3-5 R RBI
Cole Gillespie—1-4 HR(4) 2 RBI
Alcides Escobar—1-4 R BB 2 SB(24)
Max Ramirez—2-3 2B BB
John Raynor—2-5 2B 2R RBI SB(6)
Cameron Maybin—2-5 2B 2 RBI
Brett Hayes—2-4 2 2B 2R 3 RBI
Ben Copeland—2-4 HR(2) RBI
Jesus Guzman—1-5 HR(9) 2 RBI
Sean Rodriguez—2-5 2B RBI R
Brandon Wood—1-5 HR(13) 2 RBI
Mike Carp—2-4 RBI R BB
Dan Putnam—1-4 HR(3) 2 RBI
Chris Nowak—3-4 2B 3B 4 RBI
Dustin Martin—3-5 R RBI 2 SB(16)
Jason Donald—1-4 R SB(6)
Drew Sutton—1-4 2B R 2 RBI
Wellington Castillo—2-4 HR(2) RBI

Pitching:

Jack Egbert—6 IP 4H ER BB 3K L (4-1)
Drew Carpenter—7 IP 6H ER 4K W (5-0)
Kevin Mulvey—9 IP 7H ER BB 7K W (3-3)
Sean O’Sullivan—6 IP 5H 2 ER 3 BB 5K W (5-2)
James Simmons—5 IP 4H ER BB 4K

5/22 AAA Minor League Report

Jeremy — Sat, 23 May 2009 15:23:48 +0000

Several of the usual prospects make this list and, as players from the AAA ranks keep getting recalled to their major league clubs, the list of true prospects to report about gets smaller and smaller. Andrew McCutchen hit his 2nd HR of the season and Brandon Wood hit #10. Today’s top performances, however, were on the mound. Red Sox pitcher Charlie Zink tossed eight quality innings allowing a run on three hits for his 3rd win. Padres righty, Will Inman struck out nine over 5.2 innings but today’s competition boils down to two American League pitching prospects.

Vin Mazzaro had another dominant performance tossing eight innings of one-hit ball, striking out six in a no-decision. Mazzaro has now allowed just one run over his last 23 innings of work and has held opponents to a .207 BAA–quite a feat considering the tough pitching atmosphere in the PCL. In the International League, Baltimore Orioles righty David Hernandez surrendered three unearned runs, all in the 8th inning, in 7.1 IP on just three hits, no walks and 14 strikeouts. Hernandez has followed up last year’s breakout season by continuing his dominance at Norfolk, going 3-1 with a 2.91 ERA and 60 K’s in just 43.1 IP. Last year, Hernandez paced the Orioles organization with 166 K’s. His fastball sits between 90-92 MPH, hitting 94 on occasion. Hernandez has a deceptive delivery and hides the ball well from hitters. In addition to his fastball, he has a decent slider and changeup that he has improved the command of this season. Ultimately, Hernandez profiles as a mid-rotation starter within an organization that has a considerable amount of near major league ready pitching depth. Don’t be surprised if the O’s bring him along at some point this season, though it may be in the bullpen.

AAA Player of the Day—DAVID HERNANDEZ

Other Notable Performances

Hitting:

Michael Brantley—2-5 2R RBI
Fernando Martinez—2-5 2 RBI
Drew Stubbs—1-2 2 BB SB(15)
Andrew McCutchen—1-5 HR(2) RBI
Matt Wieters—2-4 2B R RBI
Carlos Gonzalez—2-4 2 RBI
Aaron Cunningham—2-6 2B R
Cliff Pennington—3-3 2B BB SB(16)
Freddy Sandoval—2-5 R SB(11)
Brandon Wood—2-4 HR(10) RBI
Allen Craig—2-4 2B R RBI
Bryan Anderson—2-4 2B R RBI
Michael Saunders—2-3 R BB
Joe Koshansky—1-4 HR8) RBI 2R BB SB(2)

Pitching:

Will Inman—5.2 IP 6H 2 ER 2 BB 9K
Vin Mazzaro—8 IP H BB 6K
David Hernandez—7.1 IP 3H 3 UER 14K
Matt Maloney—7 IP 6H UER BB 3K
Charlie Zink—8 IP 3H ER 2 BB 3K W (3-4)

PPR is on “The Hobby” Again!

Jeremy — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:56:35 +0000

I could get used to this radio gig

I just completed an interview segment with Mike Schopp of WGR 550 AM in Buffalo for his Saturday morning show “The Hobby“. We discussed some of the rookies to watch this season, most notably Matt Wieters and David Price, as well as the #1 hottest baseball player in the hobby Stephen Strasburg.

There was so much more that I would love to talk about on the show and, if you listen, I am sure that you will notice that I sound like a giddy school girl. Give me the chance and I would blab about baseball prospects and prospecting philosophies all day.

Opening day is just 3 days away and how can any red-blooded baseball enthusiast not be excited about that?

Thank you to Mike Schopp for giving me a chance to talk some baseball on your show once again. Those of you PPR readers that have not had a chance to check out “The Hobby“, check out their comprehensive archives that date back to their inaugural show on 10/4/08.

3/30 Spring Training Report

Jeremy — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 06:34:56 +0000

With one week left to go, all of the clubs have been or will be calling up some of their younger players from the minor league camps for a final round of innings in the big league camp before heading to their minor league destinations. Today’s action saw Adam Jones belt his 3rd HR of the season, as did the red hot Erick Aybar. Taylor Teagarden and Justin Smoak went deep for the Rangers and Alex Gordon did it twice. On the mound, Glen Perkins pitched to his 3rd win of the spring and Brett Anderson gritted through 6 innings for his 2nd victory. The youngster of the day, though, was Seattle Mariners OF prospect Mike Wilson who blasted his 6th and 7th HR of the spring, knocking in 5.

Youngster of the Day—MIKE WILSON

Other Notable Performances:

Kenshin Kawakami—6 IP 4H 2 ER 2 BB 4K
Adam Rosales—2-2 2 2B 2 RBI
Wellington Castillo-2-2
Ross Ohlendorf—5.1 IP 3H ER 2 BB 3K
Johnny Cueto—5 IP 3H ER 4 BB 2K
Ryan Perry—IP BB SV(1)
Andrew MIller—6 IP 4H UER 3K
David Purcey—6 IP 2H ER 5 BB 2K
Adam Lind—2-3 2B
Glen Perkins—6 IP 4H Bb 4K W(3)
Adam Jones—1-3 HR(3) RBI
Daniel Murphy—2-3 HR(1) RBI 2B
Trevor Crowe—1-2 2R 2 BB SB(7)
Josh Whitesell—1-3 HR(3) 2 RBI
Taylor Teagarden—1-2 HR(4) 3 RBI BB
Justin Smoak—1-2 HR(2) RBI
Jesus Guzman—1-1 HR(5) RBI
Mike Wilson—2-3 2 HR(7) 5 RBI
Casey McGehee—1-2 HR(6) 2 RBi 2R
Alcides Escobar—1-1 2R RBI SB(4)
Brett Anderson—6 IP 6H 3 ER bB 4K W(2)
Chris Denorfia—2-5 2B 2 RBI R
Alex Gordon—2-5 2 HR(5) 3 RBI 2R
Josh Fields—2-4 2B R
Kendry Morales—3-4 2B 3B 3 RBI R
Erick Aybar—2-3 HR(3) RBI 2R

11/5 HWL Report

Jeremy — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:35:44 +0000

Honolulu and West Oahu started a baseball game last night and a soccer game broke out. The game was called after 9 inning when no one could push a run across the plate. Good pitching or bad bats? Here’s the rest of the report…

Honolulu Sharks 0

Kala Ka’aihue—2-4
Jonathan Venters—5 IP 3H 5K
Tony Cruz—1-4

West Oahu Cane Fires 0

Fumikazu Kimura—5 IP H 4K
Cyle Hankerd—3-4
Caleb Gindl—1-4

North Shore Honu 11

Matt McBride—3-5 2B 2 RBI R
Chris Carter—1-3 2B R BB
Ryan Kalish—1-2 2R RBI 3 BB 2 SB(12)
Jason Godin—5 IP 4H ER 3 BB 5K (W)

Waikiki Beach Boys 1

Tony Thomas—2-4 2B BB
Tommy Giles—1-4 2B R
Alfredo Silverio—1-4
Austin Romine—1-4 RBI BB

11/6 AFL Report

Jeremy — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:10:39 +0000

News Flash! Tommy Hanson is human. He allowed his first run of the AFL season last night on a long HR by A’s prospect Sean Doolittle. Shellshocked, Hanson mowed down the rest of the competition pitching 5 innings allowing 2 hits a walk and just 11 K’s. As impressive as Hanson was, it was Chicago White Sox 1st rounder Gordon Beckham that stole the show. Beckham was perfect yesterday, going 5-5 with 2 HR 7 RBI and 5 runs scored. W-O-W!

Player of the Day: GORDON BECKHAM

Crush it like Beckham!

Phoenix Desert Dogs 4

Sean Doolittle—1-4 HR(7) RBI
Eric Young Jr.—2-4 R
Shane Tolleson—1-4 2 RBI R 3B
Danny Valencia—2-4
Chaz Roe—4 IP H 3 BB 7K

Mesa Solar Sox 2

Tommy Hanson—5 IP 2H ER BB 11K
Matt Young—2-2 RBI BB
Jeff Larish—1-4 HR(4) RBI
Logan Morrison—2-3 BB
Quentin Berry—1-2 2 BB

Peoria Saguaros 20

Gordon Beckham—5-5 2 HR(2) 7 RBI 5R 3B
Bill Rhinehart—3-6 HR(3) 4 RBI
Cole Armstrong—1-3 HR(6) 2 RBI 3R 3 BB
Ian Desmond—3-6 3B 2 RBI SB(3)
Brett Wallace—2-5 2B RBI BB R
Daniel Murphy—3-6 2B RBI 3R

Scottsdale Scorpions 9

Josh Reddick—2-4 HR(3) 5 RBI
Kevin Frandsen—2-5 HR(1) 2 RBI
Emmanuel Burriss—2-5 2R
Chris Pettit—3-4 RBI R BB
Chris Johnson—2-4 2B R BB 2 E(7)

Peoria Javelinas 7

Juan Miranda—1-4 HR(2) 2 RBI BB
Brent Brewer—2-4 2B R
Rhyne Hughes—2-5 2B R
Lou Palmisano—1-3 2 RBI
Chris Valaika—1-4 R 3B BB
Jeff Marquez—5 IP 5H 3K (W)

Surprise Rafters 0

Nolan Reimold—3-3 BB
Andrew Lambo—1-4 2B
Joe Dickerson—1-4 2B
Wes Hodges—1-4

10/13 AFL Report

Jeremy — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:50:59 +0000

Last night was a great night for many top prospects in the sun-drenched Arizona Fall League. It was a tough call to pick today’s best performance, but Robert Ryal’s two homerun game was not enough to quell Daniel Murphy’s perfect performance in Peoria’s 11-6 win over Surprise.

Player of the Day: DANIEL MURPHY

4-4 2 RBI and 3 runs (Now hitting .571)

Phoenix Desert Dogs 3

Robert Ryal—2-3 2 HR(2) 2 RBI
Chris Nelson—2-3 HR(2) RBI
Max Scherzer—5 IP 4H 2 ER 2BB 9K

Peoria Javelinas 2

Phil Hughes—5 IP 4H ER BB 3K
Jeff Marquez—IP 2K
Carlos Triunfel—1-4 HR(1) 2 RBI
Juan Miranda—2-4 2B
Tyler Green—1-2 2B BB
Lorenzo Cain—1-3 R SB(1)

Peoria Saguaros 11

Daniel Murphy—4-4 3R 2 RBI 2B BB
Chad Huffman—2-4 2R 2B RBI BB
Leonard Davis—2-5 3B 3 RBI R
Kyle Blanks—1-3 R RBI BB
Brett Wallace—1-4 R RBI
Ross Detwiler—2IP H

Surprise Rafters 6

Ivan DeJesus—4-5 2 2B 2 RBI R
Brandon Snyder—2-3 HR(1) RBI
Nolan Reimold—1-5 2B 2 RBI
Chris McDonnell—2-4 R
Willie Eyre—3 IP 2H ER 2 BB 5K

Mesa Solar Sox 7

Tommy Hanson—2.2 IP 0 H 3 BB 4K
Scott Cousins—2-5 HR(1) 2 RBI 2B 2R
John Raynor—2-5 2B RBI R SB(3)
Tyler Flowers—2-3 RBI R
Jason Donald—2-4 3B RBI R
Tyler Colvin—1-4 HR(1) RBI

Scottsdale Scorpions 0

Chris Johnson—2-4 2B
Emmanuel Burriss—0-2 BB 2 SB(4)
Chris Petit—1-3 2B BB

10/11 AFL Report

Jeremy — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:19:57 +0000

Player of the Day: SEAN DOOLITTLE

2 HR 4 RBI for A's slugger

Peoria Saguaros 5

Shawn Bowman—2-5 RBI 2R 2B
Leonard Davis—2-5 RBI R
Mike Baxter—1-3 2B R BB

Peoria Javelinas 2

Sean Henry—2-4 R BB
Rhyne Hughes—2-4
Carlos Triunfel—1-4 R BB
Chris Valaika—1-3 RBI BB

Phoenix Desert Dogs 9

Sean Doolittle—2-4 2 HR(2) 4 RBI
Dustin Martin—3-4 HR(1) RBI 2R
Josh Donaldson—2-4 3B R
Chris Nelson—1-3 R RBI
Steve Tolleson—2-4 2B RBI
J.P. Arencibia—1-3 2R BB

Scottsdale Scorpions 5

Ben Copeland—2-4 2B RBI BB
Emmanuel Burriss—2-5 RBI SB(2)
Shelby Ford—2-3 RBI 2BB
Aaron Bates—2-4 2R BB
Steve Lerud—2-4 SB(1)

Surprise Rafters 2

Stephen Head—1-2 2R 2B 2BB
Jamie Hoffmann—2-4 SB(1)
Russ Mitchell—1-3 2 RBI
Brian Matusz—3 IP 0H BB K (W)

Mesa Solar Sox 1

Quentin Berry—1-4 2B RBI SB(1)
Lou Palmisano—1-3 2B
Drew Carpenter—2 IP 2H ER BB

10/10 HWL Report

Jeremy — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:38:30 +0000

Here’s tonight’s action from the Aloha state…

Honolulu Sharks 10

Ruben Tejada—2-4 2 RBI R
Brad Emaus—2-3 HR(1) 2 RBI 2BB 2R
James Rappoport—2-3 2R BB
Tony Cruz—3-4 RBI R BB
Greg Veloz—2-4 2R BB E(7)
Michael Taylor—1-5 3B R
Chris Kissock—4 IP H ER 6K

North Shore Honu 4

Jason Castro—1-4 HR(1) 2 RBI
Ryan Kalish—1-3 R 2BB SB(6)
Kenji Sato—2-4 3B R
Ron Rivas—2-4 R

Waikiki Beach Boys 2

Roger Kieschnick—2-4 3B RBI R
Yonder Alonso—1-3 R BB
Austin Romine—2-4
Jeremy Bliech—4 IP 4H 6K

West Oahu Cane Fires 1

Jim Negrych—1-4 2B R
Miles Durham—1-4 RBI
Kyle Bloom—4 IP 3H 2 BB 6K