Memphis vs. Oklahoma City, 6:05pm: PJ Walters
Springfield @ Frisco, 7:00pm: Scott Schneider
Palm Beach @ Jupiter, 6:35pm: Eric Fornataro
Quad Cities vs. Clinton, 7:00pm: Trevor Rosenthal
Batavia @ Mahoning Valley, 7:05pm: Todd McInnis
Johnson City vs. Pulaski, 6:00pm: Benjamin Freeman
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My prediction:
If Trevor Rosenthal has a good game, he gets promoted before his next start.
Nice. Though who goes out of the PB rotation?
Good question. Have we started a musical chairs routine since Memphis lost 2 starters to St Louis?
There are a few AA starters that could easily be moved to the pen or released. Blazek, Schneider, and Kevin Thomas have all been awful this year. The Springfield bullpen is not great so they could easily move them to the pen for the rest of the year or release them.
Would like to see Butler in Springfield bullpen.
Butler had another scoreless inning tonight with a save and 2 K’s. Now has pitched 16 1/3 innings giving up only 1 ER! ERA 0.55 WHIP 0.89
Have you seen any of these guys actually pitch this year or you only going off stats. i have seen all three starters pitch and they are not awful. It is their first prolonged stretch in AA, a very tough league. ERA alone does not indicate a pitchers true value especially only after 2.5 months. Kind of premature to say they should be released already since all three have done well at lower level and AA frequently requires adjustment for most unless you are a talent like Shelby Miller
Yes, I am basing my assertions on stats. ERA alone does not indicate a pitcher’s true value, yes. But when it is higher than 5, you have to really consider that a problem. It is VERY rare to see a pitcher initially for 2.5 months at a level get pounded and then figure things out and become the kind of prospect you want. VERY rare.
Blazek has given up 6+ runs 3 out of his last 7 outings. He’s been awful away from Springfield (45 IP, 8 GS, 6.80 ERA). Blazek pretty much skipped Palm Beach, which is surprising for any SP prospect. Even weirder because in his 4 innings there, he gave up 6 runs. Not encouraging.
Schneider – barely averaging 5 IP a start this year (68.2 IP, 13 GS, 16 appearances). His 5.30 ERA is not very good. Schneider had a 3.77 ERA at Palm Beach and only 50 Ks in 74 IP of work there last year. Unless there are some special circumstances, I don’t think calling up a SP prospect to the next level makes sense if they have not dominated the previous level.
Thomas – Thomas’ ERA (6.51) is even higher in comparable IP (65 IP) and starts (14 GS). Thomas certainly earned his promotion from Palm Beach. His ERA has really ballooned the last 4 starts as he has given up 6+ runs 3 out of his last 4 outings. Perhaps he is dealing with an injury. His star was certainly rising since then. I’m cool with keeping him but certainly he is facing some trouble if he can’t get things straightened out quickly.
Compare these guys with the likes of Dickson, Lynn, Walters, Ottavino, and even Cleto. All guys who have been called up in recent years. If you look at their stats, they did well at AA and did well to begin with (with the exception of maybe Dickson in his short late stint in ’08 but then he dominated AA in 2010). These guys are the prospects you have to compare them to because that is what you want to see, a path to the majors. Who do you look to for that? People who have ACTUALLY done it!
The system has a lot of good starting prospects coming up in the low levels. Carlos Martinez, Rosenthal, Whiting, Siegrist, Kelly, and hopefully Swagerty next year is reconverted. So by my count, that’s 6 SP prospects with excellent potential. Something has to give. SP prospects higher in the system have to produce quickly or get out of the rotation because there is too much talent coming up through the ranks.
Sorry, hate to put a qualifier on something but just wanted to say “at a level AA OR HIGHER.” You could do poorly in rookie ball and then take off from there. But AA is a relatively advanced stage in prospect’s path to the majors.
It isn’t just the ERA’s it’s the WHIP’s too. Looking at the stats upside down and sideways, there isn’t much positive unless striking out more than they are walking is a positive. Recent stretch yielded 77 runs in 66 innings. I don’t care how much a hitters league it is. No doubt stats aren’t everything, but let’s get real. At the AA level, I would think stats mean more than they do at the A level.
Rumor is that changes are coming at the AA level. I don’t think that should be a surprise to anyone.
If a kid fails as a starter, you still have to see if he can make it as a reliever… If he fails as a reliever, it’s time to find another profession.