Archive for the “Adam Reifer” Category

Baseball America named him the best pitching prospect in the New York Penn League in 2008. It was hard not to notice Adam Reifer, the then 22-year old right handed relief pitcher, as he struck out over a batter an inning with a fastball that touched the high 90s.  In 2010, he was listed as the Cardinals 16th best prospect by Baseball America who noted his fastball velocity and “a slider that grades as a plus-plus pitch at times”.

The 2007 draftee was poised to have a big season in 2011 for the Memphis Redbirds. In competition for the closer’s role, Reifer would suffer a season ending injury on a cold April night against the Chicago Cubs AAA affiliate in Des Moines, Iowa.  Surgery would follow and the history books of baseball will note a season that totaled five appearances — the last of which was on April 17th, 2011.

A healthy Reifer, just arrived in Florida for Spring Training, took the time to talk with me last week. The weather is beautiful and Reifer is ready to fight for a job; to fight for what that unfortunate moment in 2011 delayed but, hopefully, didn’t take away from him.  He’s “100% go” and eager to be back in competition. Our conversation follows.

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I missed this yesterday but Erin Bolen of the Springfield News-Leader reports that Steven Hill tore his meniscus and will be out 4-6 weeks.  That’s a pretty big setback for someone who is a) a catcher and b) not getting any younger.

Adam Reifer was also carted off the field during Memphis’ game per The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Here’s hoping Hill & Reifer have a fast and full recoveries.

If there was any doubt as to what the strength of the organization is right now, the last five days of games should have put that to rest.  Starting pitching throughout the system, though most prominently in the low minors, is very much the backbone of the Cardinals prospect lists.  Here’s a recap of the top pitching performances thus far.

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When thinking about prospects to highlight and research, I’m always looking for under the radar players that have been in the system for at least 3 years.  It always helps if the player is making news lately with winter leagues or player movement.  To me at least, it always seems like Adam Reifer is very under hyped.  He is ranked highly in the prospect rankings, but not a lot of pundits are talking about him.  Now that he is a member of the Cardinals 40-man roster, this ends now.

Adam Reifer was drafted in the 11^th round of the 2007 MLB draft out of UC Riverside.  He had been a relief pitcher his entire college career, but was limited to less than 10 innings his junior year due to injury.  The Cardinals took a flyer on him and he signed, but did not play the rest of the 2007 season as he rested and rehabbed his injury.

In 2008, he was assigned to rookie short season team Batavia.  He lead the Muckdogs to the NY-Penn League Championship, including closing out the Championship game.  He earned that right through a great season.  His strikeouts per 9 innings was 12.16 and his strikeout to walk was 2.73. So, he was striking out 2.73 times as many players as he was walking.  He had 22 saves in the short season.  He was absolutely dominating in Batavia and rightfully earned a leap up to Palm Beach for the 2009 season.

The rest of Adam’s career after the jump and a GIF of his mechanics.

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In an effort to be timely, I though I’d take a quick glance at the big name relief prospects in the high minors. Before we get into the numbers, I think the major league pen is fine despite two nasty outings in a row. These things happen when you have a closer who lives on his control and a somewhat crazy-ex catcher who throws pitches into the dugout on a bad play.

There is not currently a player in the pen that I can definitively and unquestionably point to and say, “What is he doing in the majors?!?!?”.  Generally, that statement is followed by an expletive but we’re a family friendly blog.  Part of what brought this post to fruition was a comment from the Cardinals broadcasting pair last night with regards to Kyle McClellan’s future. There seems to be some continued curiosity about his repretoire and converting to starting pitching.  It’s understandable considering that he has a full complement of pitches (FB, CH, CU, SL) but I’ve long had trepidation about Kyle McClellan.

In any event, the Cardinals continue to produce some interesting relief options in the minors. What follows is an admittedly incomplete list of players that may be ready in 2011 or 2012 for a shot at the bigs.

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Drafted in 2006, Jeff Luhnow called Adam Reifer the “sleeper of the draft”. No one is sleeping on him any longer, as Baseball America rated him the top pitcher of the NY Penn League. Armed with a 95-99 MPH fastball, a nasty hard slider and an abundance of confidence, he helped steer Batavia to their league’s championship. I was fortunate enough to catch up with Reifer for a little Q and A.

Congrats on winning the NYPL championship. Can you describe the experience of winning it all?

Winning the NY-Penn was an awesome experience. It was the first championship that I have ever won, so this will forever stick out in my mind, especially being out there to close out the game. And to do it with the guys we had on our team just made that much more special. We had one of the best group of guys that I have ever been a part of.

How would you describe Adam Reifer, the ballplayer?

Adam Reifer the ballplayer is intense and wants no one to get an edge on his game. He wants to be the best and will stop at nothing to try an get there.

And Adam Reifer the person?

Adam Reifer the person is laid back and takes life as it comes. He tries not to take life to seriously because life is short and stress could make it shorter.

What was the key to your success this past season?

The key to my success would be my dedication to let nothing get the best of me, because I did start this year on a sour note by not coming out of the gates healthy. But I knew I was better than that, and knew what kind of pitcher I was. I knew I would get through that bump in the road.

Baseball America ranked you the best pitcher in the NY Penn League. What does that mean to you?

Being ranked by BA as the best pitcher lets me know all the hard work I have done to be best has paid off. It also means a whole lot that I have been recognized by my peers and higher end guys that I was the top pitcher in the league.

How would you define a “closer’s mentality”?

I define a “closers mentality” as a cocky mentality. A closer tries and lets nothing get the best of them. They go out there for an inning or maybe more and they give it their all. You go out there giving your best every pitch and want no one to beat you because you really know there is no one better than you out there on the mound.

What is going through your mind when your called to record the last three outs?

When I get called to record the last three outs I am not thinking a whole lot, actually. A lot of my thought process comes before I’m called out there. I start preparing myself in about the 7th inning when I kind of separate myself from the the rest of the bullpen. A lot of my thought process is that I tell myself I am the best, and the other team has no chance. I begin to grow a hatred for the other team as well. I do a lot of things basically to build myself up. So when I actually get the call to go out there, everything now is just how I react than actually think.

What would you say was the most important thing you learned this past season?

Most important thing I learned would probably don’t get to ahead of myself. Take each day and outing as it comes because they are all different.

Is there a closer in the big leagues that you particularly enjoy watching?

Jonathan Papelbon is my favorite pitcher and favorite closer. I just love his intensity, the way he goes after every hitter with authority and he has electric stuff. He’s a pitcher I try to model myself after, but I want to better and just want to be me.

Give me your quick prediction – Who do you think wins the league championship series, who do you think will win it all, and why?

I think the Dodgers have a real good chance to win even though they are down 2-0 now, but I just think they have some firepower and have a lot of momentum still that can take them to the World Series. The Rays would be my pick in the ALCS because they are just a complete team and I just really want them to go. To win the whole thing…I will say the Dodgers will win even though I really want the Rays to win it all.

Thanks to Adam for taking the time to talk with us. I would say he has a very good shot at rocketing through the system given his stuff and demeanor.

Move over Jess Todd, Adam Reifer is the one who will destroy us all.

“Basically every player I play, I grow a hatred toward them. I just hate them. No one’s going to take me down, I have to go out there and destroy them.”

If you’re looking for a definition of a “closer mentality”, I think that would be it. Just a great look at Adam Reifer by BA.

Peoria 10, Scottsdale 7

• Adam Ottavino packed his struggles and took them with him to Arizona. He lasted two innings, allowing three runs on five hits.
• His teammate Brad Furnish followed and wasn’t a whole lot better, allowing two runs on a pair of hits and a pair of walks. He struck out one. Obviously, it would be nice to see these two get on track.
• Brett Wallace didn’t have the debut he had hoped for, going 0-4.
• Steve Hill doubled, then jumped back in his taxi and drove off into the mountain ranges of Arizona.
• Tyler Greene, playing second base in deference to Gordon Beckham, went 1-4.

Honolulu 3, Waikiki 1

• Arnoldi Cruz doubled. Four of his seven base hits have been doubles so far.

Jeff Luhnow said Reifer could be the sleeper of the 2007 draft, so far that prediction looks pretty good. BA had very high praise for Reifer, rating him the best pitcher in the league and the third best prospect in the league. Scouts are extremely high on his fastball/slider combo. His fastball reportedly was topping out at 99 and sitting around 96, 97. His slider is a plus pitch and he has the demeanor you look for in a closer.

What is shocking to me is there was no love shown for Lance Lynn. I mean, Danny Farquhar? How is someone who profiles as a middle reliever better than Lynn? The only thing I could think of is the piggyback system was Lynn’s doom in the rankings; maybe he didn’t qualify due to a lack of innings. If that’s the reason, then no big deal.

Just a note: I hate to be a wet blanket because personally think info is meant to be shared and I’m not really a fan of pay-per content, but BA does have copyrights on their chat and all their other subscriber content. I would ask that content would please not be retransmitted on the site in the comments.

UPDATE: I guess the chat isn’t subscriber only, so I don’t feel bad cutting and pasting this question from some weird Cardinal fan upset about Lynn being snubbed.

Q: Erik from Cedar Rapids, IA asks:
Thanks for the chats, this is one of my favorite times of the year to be a subscriber to BA. I was wondering however: Why no Lance Lynn? Seems like he’d be a shoe-in to me for this list.
A: Aaron Fitt: Lynn did not pitch enough to qualify for the list, but I’ve always been a fan of his at Ole Miss. Kind of like Brad Holt, his strength his is ability to command his heavy fastball, but his secondary stuff is fringy.

So I think he would have ranked if he had thrown more. For what it’s worth, KLaw gave his curve a 50 but future grade a 60. One thing I like about Law is, he does his own evaluating and you can decide. BA quotes these mystery scouts, so you can’t really evaluate the evaluator.