[azruavatar note: Jeff and I will be doing individual recaps for rounds 11-20. We'll be posting them in order as we finish them and right now, I'm the hold up for reasons I won't get into. Stay tuned as we work our way through the draft. Rounds 11 & 12 are below.]
The system went 2-for-3 on the night. As a whole, the starting pitchers posted impressive strikeout-to-walk ratios with Anthony Ferrara compiling the most impressive line. Kolten Wong and Oscar Taveras powered Springfield to a high-scoring win, and Jonathan Rodriguez did the same for Palm Beach. Details after the jump…
Memphis: No game.
- Kolten Wong went 2-for-5 with his 5th HR of the year.
- Oscar Taveras also went 2-for-5 with his 12th HR of the year.
- Jermaine Curtis and Greg Garcia walked twice.
- Xavier Scruggs went 2-for-4 with a walk.
- Audry Perez went 3-for-4.
- Kyle Conley and Chris Swauger each had singles.
- Scott Gorgen was blasted for 6 runs in 5 innings but only 2 of the runs were earned. He struck out 6 against 2 walks and gave up 6 hits (1 HR).
- Deryk Hooker then pitched 1.2 innings of relief; he allowed a solo homer and 2 walks.
- Eric Fornataro allowed 1 hit and 2 walks but zero runs scored in 1.1 innings.
- Keith Butler had 1 strikeout and allowed 1 hit en route to his 12th save.
- Jonathan Rodriguez belted 2 HRs, his 4th and 5th on the season.
- Geoff Klein was 2-for-4 with a HR, his 2nd on the season.
- Cody Stanley was 1-for-4 with a double.
- Jeremy Patton and Ildemaro Vargas each had 1 hit and 1 walk.
- Mike O’Neill contributed 1 hit and 2 walks.
- Anthony Ferrara had an impressive outing, striking out 9 in 6 innings; he allowed 3 runs on 6 hits (1 HR) and 1 walk.
- Logan Billbrough gave up 1 run on 1 hit and 1 walk; he struck out 2 in 2 innings.
- Dean Kiekhefer registered his 5th save by striking out the side.
- Nick Martini was 2-for-4 with 2 doubles.
- Colin Walsh was 2-for-4.
- Virgil Hill had a double.
- Luis Mateo and Tyler Rahmatulla each had a single.
- Sam Gaviglio allowed 4 runs in 7 innings that included 5 hits (1 HR), 1 walk, and 6 strikeouts.
- Robert Stock struck out 2 and walked 1 in one inning of relief.
Entries (RSS)
Springfield closer, Keith Butler ERA 1.65, 12 for 12 in saves (First in Texas league), has aloud 1 run in his last 18-1/3 innings!
Haven’t heard much about Butler but he’s been effective as the closer for Double A this season. 8.54 K/9 3.42 BB/9 BABIP could improve .293 as well as the FIP. Last season he was 13.00 K/9. I think he is relying on contact outs this season. Fornataro is doing a nice job setting up Butler this season. I hear he has better stuff mid 90s FB alright off speed.
[2] days without a phony Oscar Taveras narrative.
Surprised Walsh hasn’t got a promotion yet for Single A. He has been tearing it up at Quad Cities. .321 AVG .435 OBP .617 SLG .1052 OPS. .327 BABIP wOBA .438. Power numbers are up 13 HR and 45 RBI.
Here we go again.
I’m not buying into Walsh either, but he’s at least performed enough to earn a shot at high A.
Remember he’s a Stanford guy that hasn’t totally focused on baseball until this year. The last 2 winters he was in school finishing his degree. There is a story one day in Spring he was particularly frustrated and he just decided to start swinging as hard as he can. He did and hit a double. Tried the same approach an dwent 2-3 the next day with a double off the wall. He’s been just ripping it since then. This is relevant because Stanford tends to mess hitters up by having them swing tentatively and focusing too much on merely making contact. He could finally be growing out of hte Stanford swing.
Stanford focuses on a handsy, inside-out swing that utilizies all of the field and especially the other way. They tend to take out the pull power of a player, and that can really effect both their power and their ability to use their hips in their swing.
I’m not saying Walsh is a prospect, but they truly do change their swing from one that will work at the professional level to one that works with an aluminum bat but reduces their power dramatically.
Sounds like if I think I can play ball and I am a position player, I shouldn’t go to Stanford…….
That sounds just about correct! Unless you really want a great education. But guys who just want to be pro’s its not recommended.
I think most accomplished ballplayers probably dream about the pros no matter how smart they are. I for one was not aware of this. I can’t afford Stanford no matter what, but I have a smart kid that plays catcher. I was not aware of this “Stanford Syndrome”. If I could afford Stanford, and my kid was good enough academically and athletically, I think about now I would be saying, “how about Vanderbilt or Purdue?” (or take your pick of good academic programs with a solid baseball program).
If your kids a pitcher he may not want to go to Vandy as that coachign staff is SO hard on the pitchers. Unreal and irresponsible pitch counts. The coaches aren’t paid to develop players, they are paid to win.
Corbin and staff considered one of the best in college baseball in developing players. They are NOT irresponsible and they work their pitchers to their strengths, you do know first rounder David Price?
Many college programs are far better at development than some milb teams.
I have friends whose sons went or are in Stanford and pay nothing because of their endowments. And their kids are in professional ball. Their academic standards are higher than most programs, so they do have trouble in recruiting but their program is top notch and people fight to even get to their camp. The problem is that some perceive Stanford players to be considered “upperclass” and they hold them to a different standard, I know a pitcher that was told by a classless minor league manager he didn’t like him because he went to standford. Vanderbilt is the same wit recruiting, both are top notch programs and both have players drafted each year.
I agree with the Stanford swing, this is college ball not professional but keep in kind that bat composite is completely different and the better coaches are teaching different approaches.
I’m not saying I don’t buy into him. Rather, it’s the same story line that Walsh has had since the beginning of the season. He’s mashing low A; he’s old for the level; this is his third year with time at QC; it is the first of those years that is full time; we can’t understand why he’s not getting promoted so they can see whether they’ve really got something or not.
I hereby proclaim the above paragraph to be known henceforth as “Canned Response #17″ so that whenever Walsh does anything, we can just say “Canned Response #17″ to save typing and move on, because the story line isn’t changing.
Last 2 prospects who were very successful in low A were jumped to Springfield. Could be the route chosen with Walsh due to his age and early success. Big question moving forward is what position can/will he play?
While I agree that this has been somewhat over-discussed, I thnk he is staying a RiverBandit so that he can get time at 2nd. He is essentially blocked by other prospects. The team, I thought, wanted him to focus on 2nd full time. In PB we already have a good 2B prospect, Springfield is Wong, and Memphis is a bit of a stretch. Where should he go to develop his defensive skills? My impression is that he is a bat looking for a position. If he can be a bat at 2nd, he’d have some value, but he has to get better at defense.
Speaking of defense, is Matt Adams’ rocky defensive start something that will improve? i.e., was defensive improvement one of the things he needed work on in the minors? I looked on FG yesterday and his hitting was good, but factoring his defense in has knocked his value.
Pretty much everything I heard/saw about Adams was good arm, surprisingly fast, but bad footwork and not a great glove. So he’s probably going to be a poor defender going forward.
Here in Springfield it is so much fun to go watch Taveras and Wong play. They are REALLY that good (at least against AA competition), and every time they do it seems apparent that:
1) Taveras has a strong will to win and a fire to improve. If he makes a mistake, or doesn’t do as well as he wants, you can tell he is disappointed in himself.
2) Wong plays with a lot of confidence. While he doesn’t seem as “fired up” as Taveras, he definitely seems like the kind of professional you would want in the ball club.
This is definitely all just opinion and from what I can tell from the stands, no insider info or anything.
Azru–hope the pup is ok
Thanks. He’s alright. I’m just completely drained between the draft and him this week. His schedule and my schedule still don’t mesh very well. Most notably on the issue of sleep.
It’s like having kids!
Looking at recent drafts, 2009 is shaping up to be the best since 06.
Shelby Miller- Top 10 prospect in baseball going into this year. Hitting a speed bump at 21 in AAA.
Joe Kelly – Currently 6th or 7th on the Starting pitchers depth chart
Ryan Jackson- Ready to be tested at MLB level if furcal goes down. Jumped over former 1st round pick Kozma on the depth charts this year.
Matt Carpenter- Proving to be a valuable piece in a major league line up
Trevor Rosenthal- Considered a top starting pitching prospect in an organization with a lot of them.
Matt Adams- Hasnt stop hitting since he signed and hasnt stopped in the majors.
There are also still some guys in the lower minors worth keeping an eye on: Stock, Hernandez, and Garcia.
Havent compared it to the other team’s 09 draft but thats gotta be tough to beat. Of course we still know more in the next few years.
Tyrell Jenkins to DL due to shoulder fatigue per Goold on stltoday.com…
Butler and Fornataro have been terrific at AA so far. Butler was a little tentative in his first few home appearances, but his amazing success to date has seemingly improved his confidence, and he is easily the best reliever Springfield has seen since Sanchez was here. Fornataro really goes after guys, and doesn’t strike out as many, but has come out of nowhere to really impress as well. It is such a breath of fresh air to have two guys that can hold a lead in the last couple of innings. Doesn’t make me want to bail after Taveras and Wong’s last at bat.
Both Butler and Fornataro sit mid-nineties (on the Springfield gun). Butler’s motion is a little unconventional, although I don’t think he is getting by on deception. Has good stuff.
Speaking of intriguing potential bullpen help in a year or two, I was surprised to notice how well Stock has thrown over his last ten games (half of his appearances and two thirds of his innings to date). Last 10, 21ip/13h/9BB/19Ks/.176BAA. SSS and still walking to many, but for a guy who hasn’t focused on pitching in a while, those are really encouraging results. He’s still only 22, and if he could further refine his control maybe he works his way to Springfield next season at some point?
If Butler is really throwing the same velocity as Fornataro then I would officially call him a real prospect. I know Springfield’s gun is hot but Fornataro is really upped his stuff after going to the pen. Butler has always been an 86-88 MPH fastball with a MLB slider. If he’s throwin harder now watch out.
Anyone got any idea how hard Stock’s throwing? I thought he had a 95mph FB in HS. I guess if he’s still got that arm strength he could still be a fringey prospect. Really wish they’d made this move at least a year sooner, though. Poor guy must’ve forgotten how to throw anything off-speed.
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/cards-wisdom-agree-matheny-oquendo-aldrete-scanio-drafted/article_da51c10b-1b2d-57e2-9d89-2b0a738f5619.html
Patrick Wisdom signed and Steve Bean close to signing.
Assume both must be pre-draft deals (or Wisdom, at least). Which gives me hope that Wisdom might be well under-slot (think he was a projected third round guy) and Bean might be a little under. Here’s hoping we can still pony up for Williams or Foody!
What’s the scoop on Kiekhefer? He has looked very good.
What does everyone on this site think about the minor league pitch counts? With the recent discussion about miller and kelly, I keep questioning how far they might have pitched into a game if they were always able to pitch like the would in the majors. Does anyone else have an opinion about this?
This is a tough question. No matter what level the less pitches you can throw to be able to get the W in 5 is what young players strive for. They do have limits, and each pitcher is different.
It takes a while to work your way to 6-7 innings in pro ball. That is what is expected for a starter. If they can’t make it by AAA they go to the pen.
However the objective is just to concentrate on how to throw a certain amount per inning.