I’m out of pocket for most of the day but the minor league starts bring about other writers as well.
Steve Hill OK with fourth year in Springfield – Kary Booher
In essence, Hill has been passed over twice already this season: 1, when a timeshare was created for catcher Tony Cruz alongside Bryan Anderson in Triple-A Memphis; and 2, when longtime backup Nick Derba was anointed Springfield’s main catcher.
When Warner broke the news to Hill, “He was positive and said, ‘Tell me how to get better,’” Warner said. “But you can’t help but feel for the kid. He’s put up some good numbers.”
Can’t ask for a better attitude than that.
The Passing of the Knee Socks – Kary Booher
“We don’t measure (prospects) by their socks but by how they do on the field,” Vuch said. “The NBA doesn’t wear shorts up high like they did in the ’70s, so we’re not going to force players to wear them up.”
… that’s depressing but I Vuch’s quote cracks me up. Fake Quote: “Pete Kozma is our top prospect because he wears his socks up to his boxers. No one else is committed like that. It says a lot about him.”
Detoxing From the Offseason – Jason Parks
The spring training detoxification process is still ongoing: My diet has been regulated, but my appetite for baseball is too salacious for the simple meal provided by MLB.tv. As lonely and depressing as my journey was, it might have been the happiest five weeks of my adult life. I was spread thin and deposited in a cultural wasteland, but can you think of anything better than watching baseball in person, for six to eight hours per day for 35 straight days? I really can’t.
I really can’t either.
Monday Morning 10-Pack – Kevin Goldstein
Ryan Jackson [...] It will take merely acceptable offense for him to have big-league value, and he could end up exceeding the intial projections of being a Jack Wilson comp.
I’ve said this before and if Jackson has really tweaked his swing (or if he’s a true high-average hitter) than there’s no reason he can’t be a Brendan Ryan-esque defensive wizard at shortstop. He’s honestly one of the smoothest shortstops I’ve ever seen.
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I’m a big Ryan Jackson fan. Looking forward to his hitting the Show. Hope the bat makes the trip.
I hope it’s okay to post this link to Bernie’s column today:
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/article_ad7efea0-6515-11e0-88fc-001a4bcf6878.html
He has an interesting quote about Colby from Andy Van Slyke:
“I really thought coming into this year he was going to elevate his game defensively. And if anything in the early part of the year it’s gone backwards. Those balls have got to be caught. And if nothing else, at least give the effort … my son (A.J.) played with him for three and a half years in the minor leagues and he said he never saw him run into the fence once in the minor leagues. So I don’t think we’re going to see anything different.”
If he’s a defensive liability, with no reason to think he’s going to rise to the level we expected, I wonder how long before he gets challenged for the job? Pham is the only guy on the horizon who looks like he could force a decision — that is, he would play better CF and wouldn’t be a liability at the plate. I don’t think Pham will be ready before 2013, and even that’s assuming he continues to develop the way he did last year.
Taveras and Longmire are probably next, and I doubt if anyone projects them in MLB before 2014.
Open question: If someone does come along who’s good enough to push Colby out of CF, does he have enough bat for RF?
I guess my question is how much does Colby really cost us by not running into the fence? A handful of catches a year? I think Van Slyke may have some personal vendettas (his kid didn’t fare well in the org) but more importantly, I just think he’s overstating the effect of recent Colby misplays. I don’t think there’s much definitive evidence regarding Colby’s defense right now and it’s too early to label him a significant plus or minus in the field, imo.
Agreed, it is too soon to fully judge Colby’s CF play. So far, he has proven to be an adequate CF, with a good (and improving bat). Plainly said, he adds value to the team. He does have an obvious weakness in going back on balls. This can (and will, in my opinion), be mitigated through work and positioning.
The drop against San Fran on Saturday was costly–1 win. Its easy to magnify the drop and lose sight of the bigger picture.
how much does a one win player cost
that’s what it cost
I picked this up on VEB yesterday which was taken from Bernie’s Bits two days ago:
“Getting to deep drives is Raz’s biggest weakness according to John Dewan’s Fielding Bible stats. Last season Rasmus was a +2 center fielder on shallow fly balls, a +3 fielder on medium fly balls but a minus 12 on deep balls. That minus 12 is an eye-opening number, and at some point Rasmus is going to have to start making more catches on balls hit beyond him.”
Sorry Bernie
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/article_bd28f690-644c-11e0-8fe9-001a4bcf6878.html
I have to agree on Van Slyke and some personal vendetta being possible. I got to see Colby play every game in Springfield in 2007. I saw him go over the fence and bring the ball back on more than one time. I think is St. Louis there has been more of a communication problem than going to the wall. That can be corrected. Also how did PJ play with Colby for 3 1/2 years in the minors when PJ didn’t get to Springfield until 2008 and I don’t think he ever made it to Memphis. That just leaves 2005 and 2006 that he would had played with Colby.
It just seems that some people are trying to deflect the problems Pujols and Franklin are having by pointing fingers at others.
Andy Van Slyke always seems to have a personal vendetta. He was a good player but that’s about it.
A personal Vandetta? Isn’t more likely that he is correct? The whoe quote isn’t that you want the guy running into the fence, but he has to be more agressive on the track. There were 2 balls in San Fran that almost any other CF would catch.
I do think he has a good enough bat to play all 3 OF spots, but he isn’t improving enough to keep his position in center. He should get pushed out if somethine better comes along.
I think he would have the bat to play in RF yes. I don’t think we have a RF prospect anywhere in the system.
There are a number of things we can do, moving Colby off CF this quickly wouldn’t be a good thing. It’s always possible that they move Holliday to RF and have Chambers play LF next year.
I’ve asked this at least 5 times on various sites. Why does Colby not position himself 3 steps back? He’s god the speed range to still make the plays in front if him, while giving him a bit if a head start on balls over his head
Because even though he’s not Jim Edmonds, he thinks he is? or wants to be?
Probably same reason as Edmonds did. If a center fielder can play in they can take away singles and still have the speed to close on balls deep. Usually in a standard sized park if the ball goes over the CF head it’s usually gone anyway. PAC Bell isn’t an averaged sized park though…..it’s a park with a deep CF and RCF.
I seem to remember some people used to criticize Cal Ripken Jr.’s defense by saying he never dives for balls. So? He was still a very good defensive player. I’m not putting Colby in a class with Ripken, but could we all need to remember that he is 24 years old and he is still establishing himself in the big leagues. Nobody is gonna step onto the field and instantly be as good, defensively, as Jim Edmonds.
One thing about Raz positioning himself on defense — and this probably applies to all the would-be CFs in the farm system too — is that defensive positioning isn’t just about your own skills, it’s also about knowing what your pitchers are doing and how that affects balls in play. Almost nobody (Andruw Jones may have been an exception) has a complete grasp of that the first time they arrive in the bigs. He’ll grow into that part. I suspect that guys like Chambers would too if/when given the chance.