Archive for the “Arquimedes Nieto” Category

I’m going to run the companion piece to yesterday “Breakout” thread and today we are going to talk about the players that are on the edge and poised to break down.  Some players are already in the doldrums and will drop further.  Other were playing above their heads last season and will drop down from their lofty heights.

Here’s my three candidates:

Daryl Jones – The further Jones gets away from his breakout 2008 season, the more trouble he will be in.  If Jones continues on his path from the past two seasons, he is going to simply break down.  There is only so much ~700 OPS we can get from Jones in Springfield.

Robert Stock – Stock’s potential break down might not be the worst thing for the Cardinals as it will drive him back to the mound where a lot of prospect watchers think he will end up anyway.  Stock hit like a pitcher in 2010 in Quad Cities after a good rookie level season in 2009 at Johnson City.

Arquimedes Nieto – As much as it pains me to say this (Nieto is one of my pet prospects) he has been living on the edge for a few seasons here.  Nieto is basically a junkballer and has been on the shuttle between Palm Beach and Springfield.  Since he does not have overpowering stuff, he is always a candidate to hit the wall and break down.

Who are your candidates to break down this season?

I celebrated the 4th at Veteran’s stadium, where I had the privilege of seeing Arquimedes Nieto take a no-hitter into the 8th inning. I wasn’t able to watch the game with the insane amount of diligence I normally do, as I was entertaining a future in-law who also happens to be a Cardinal fan, but I’ll tell you what I did see. Nieto definitely had us both paying attention with his flirtation with a no-no.

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