Daily Farm Report 11/19/08
Posted on November 19th, 2008 by erik in Daily Farm Reports, tags: Hot Stove, Ian Ostlund, Trever MillerAfter sending three lefties to pitch in the Arizona Fall League and having not a one of them really distinguish them self, the Cardinals inked a couple of lefties. Bernie says Trever Miller has been signed to be the new left-handed specialist, and 30 year old Ian Ostlund (formerly of the Tigers organization) was signed to a minor league contract and invited to spring training.
Miller is an upgrade over Ron Villone, but if LaRussa mismanages him in the same horrendous fashion he did Villone then it’s not much of an upgrade. If I recall correctly, Villone faced way too many RHB.
As for Ostlund, I couldn’t find much on him as far as a scouting report. He was a 34th round senior sign out of Virginia Tech. This article says he can throw up to 90-91 but usually sits at 88. This article has his manager politely saying his breaking ball needs work. He’s put up fantastic numbers, but my goodness, he didn’t make it to AAA until he was 28. Granted, he had Tommy John surgery, but still. While at AAA, he posted a nifty 2.94 FIP with lots of swinging strikeouts and a 4.5 K/BB ratio. So you would think the guy would’ve had a cup of coffee in the bigs by now. Well, one blemish would be his extreme fly ball rate-35.1%. The other blemish would be a 1.44 WHIP against lefties.
If I were to guess, his scouting report probably says something to the effect of “Crummy stuff, outsmarting less experienced players.” It’s possible he could the make team out of spring training and not embarrass himself, but so could several F.A.T. LOOGYs. For a minor league invite, he’s worth a shot. Charlie Manning, Fiske and now this guy look to duke it out for the final roster spot so TLR can have his precious two lefty relievers. Make the Manning name proud, Charlie.
- Brett Wallace went 2-for-3, including his 6th homer, and he was intentionally walked. Koo koo ka choo.
- Shane Robinson went 1-for-3 with a sac fly.
- Tyler Greene went 1-for-4.
- Adam Ottavino struck out 4 in 2 innings, but allowed 3 runs on 4 hits (including a HR), 2 walks, and a hit by pitch. He face three batters in the 3rd inning, unable to get anyone out. It’s been a roller coaster of a year for the Ott, with more downs than ups.
- Justin Fiske faced just two batters and allowed two runs on a hit and a walk.
- Brad Furnish threw a scoreless 9th. No K’s, 1 BB, 1 H.
- Bryan Anderson went 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter. He’s hitting just .188 so far.
- Amaury Marti doubled and homered in 4 AB. When Amaury comes to bat, all the fielders take off their gloves and replace them with mitts made of Kevlar.
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having too many lefties to choose from would be a nice change. as for miller signing, i am hoping for two years at less money than one year at a higher chunk. that way there is still something left over for miles ;)
I wonder if Anderson is just fatigued. I also thought he was “sent home” or was that someone else? He played a full season in two levels and at a physically demanding position. I also wonder if Oquendo is working with him more on Defense and his Offense doesn’t matter while he is out there, though I would hate for him to form bad habits.
Anderson is a classic case of I didn’t want to be playing winter ball nor should I have been playing winter ball. Bryan is going to be in Memphis next year repeating AAA so it was absolutely crazy to have him play winter ball. This is why Rasmus decided to not play. What can be gained by playing and extra couple of months if you are going to repeat the same level again? Freese had a wrist injury in winter ball and he is going to be playing in AAA again next year also. Did his stint in winter ball help him?
This little escapade in winter ball is probably going to hurt Bryan ‘s number for next year. And for what?
How do you know Anderson doesn’t want to play winter ball. Are you his agent or father? Winter ball is another audition especially at the level of Puerto Rico. He can only gain valuable experience. Bryan was not over worked this past season. He didn’t play every day. He should be able to handle the workload in winter ball just fine.
So you’re telling me that Bryan does want to be in Puerto Rico playing winter ball? I know the answer but I will tell you this, he got some bad advice because he should be somewhere working on his strength because he is never going to be a gold glove catcher but with added power in his bat he could play along time as an average catcher with a big bat. He needs more power, this will make him more valuable. He is not adding muscle down in Puerto Rico.
The workload is not his problem, his lack of power is and that is why he needs to be somewhere getting stronger and I doubt that is happening while playing a winter season. That is what his agent should have told him.
Robert, the thing is that none of us know what he wants. We don’t know him or talk to him nor have we seen anything where he says what he wanted. We just know that he has statistically been not very good so far.
Can someone get ahold of Moze for me and let him know I’d like to see “The Destroyer of Worlds” against “The Walrus” in ST
Moze? You mean that guy that used to be on FJM?
From what I’ve seen of Anderson, he’s not going to be a big HR guy even with a lot of working out. I think he can improve his defense more than his power. Just my opinion.
Erik, I hate to be Mr. pedantic, but it’s goo goo ga joob. Koo koo ka choo is from Mrs. Robinson by Simon and Garfunkel
I will never doubt the Walrus’ stamina ever again!