Club Check: Quad Cities River Bandits
Posted on May 6th, 2009 by azruavatar in Quad Cities River BanditsAs of Tuesday May 5th, the Quad Cities River Bandits are 13-10 in 3rd place 2.5 games back from the division leader.
Niko Vasquez
Can’t Touch This – Kevin Thomas has a 0.00 ERA. He’s struck out 13 against 3 walks and 7 hits. Yes, that’s correct. He’s struck out more batters than he’s allowed to reach base.
What’s The Motte-r With You - Casey Mulligan, converted catcher, has struck out 20 in 10IP while walking just 2. I’d say he might be ready for the next level.
Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot – Jonny Bravo just got the call up and unfortunately for him, I’m not a kind enough robot to pull punches. He’s pitched 1 inning and walked 6 batters.
Second Verse, A Slightly Lessor Succes Than The First – David Carpenter, converted catcher has thrown 12 innings this season. He hasn’t experienced quite the success that Mulligan has but it’s still been a relatively positive conversion. He’s been a bit hittable (15) but he’s shown good control (4 walks) and the ability to strike batters out (19).
Be Still My Heart – This team does not league the league in walks. [clouds part, rays of light shine down]
Strike Two (Hundred Thirteen) – The River Bandits are 3rd in the league in Ks trailing by just 6. They’ve managed that in 17 fewer innings.
Cruzin – Paul Cruz leads the team in offensive production. He’s got a .948 OPS with 12 walks against 6 Ks. It’s only ~50 ABs and he has just 3 extra base hits but a .475 OBP is a positive.
Walk Like Niko – Niko hasn’t shown the kind of power he flashed last year. In 78 ABs he’s only hit 4 doubles and a triple. What he has shown is a tremendous approach at the plate leading the team with 14 walks.
Kyle Russell – He’s playing in the Midwest League and has an OPS over 1.000. Wait, what’s that? We didn’t sign him. . .my bad.
The Quad Cities are getting by with mid-level hitting and mid-level pitching. There aren’t any prospects on this team that jump out at you as you’ve got a lot of late round picks and some raw players. The 24 unearned runs are reflective of a somewhat weak defensive team especially at two key positions: SS Niko with 10 errors and 3B Alex Castellanos 9 errors.
Entries (RSS)
“Can’t Touch This”
A Hammer reference has made it into a post!
Break it down.
I’m not going to worry about Niko unless he’s still struggling when the weather gets consistently warmer. QC seems like a tough place to start out as a full-season player, especially if you’re from someplace warm, like Las Vegas.
As for Niko’s power last year, I’ve learned not to read anything into the numbers first-year guys put up at Johnson City.
Take 2005, for example. Which of these looks like the better prospect?
Player A, middle infielder: .300/.387/.500
Player B, outfielder: .296/.362/.514
Player A is Jose Martinez. Player B is Colby, who also had 73 strikeouts in 62 games.
like Bravo’s headline the best
Who in the world is Kevin Thomas?
you bettah axe sumbunny!
Mulligan up to 23 K’s in 11 after striking out the side again last night. right now, he’s the ants’ pants, cat’s pajamas and all that stuff.
whiskey tango foxtrot? didn’t know they let robots in t.he military
Great series AZRU .
How ’bout that Mulligan ?
In the low minors, it’s often more valuable to see HOW somebody is succeeding than merely acknowledging the statistical fact. Have any readers actually seen Mulligan pitch? What’s he got? Are there reliable radar gun readings for him? Does he strike the guys out with the heater, or a big bender, or I-don’t-know-how-he-does-it, PJ Walters-style oddities? Are his mechanics smooth or violent enough to presage injury problems?
Almost regardless of the answers, this looks like a very exciting guy, but it would be really nice to have some serious scouting insights into him.