After an impressive 2009 in Palm Beach, the chatter was certainly building about the lefty who the Cardinals thought he was so nice they drafted him twice.  In 2007, he did not sign, but they were able to get the job done in 2008.  However, Freeman’s sleeper status was put to bed as his whole 2010 season was lost to an elbow injury and Tommy John surgery.

It does feel good to see Freeman back in the Vuch reports and eventually the DFRs.  As a reliever in Palm Beach he did have 30 Ks to 13 walks in 33 innings and a FIP of 2.56.  Despite those numbers, I’m not expecting the world of Freeman coming off the injury.  But, hopefully Freeman will build the numbers and the buzz back up to the level they were pre-TJ.

Seeing him pitch scoreless innings in the Vuch Report is the first step.

In practical terms for the teams depth, this isn’t of huge import. Freeman was in the mix but there are several left handers in the high minors right now: Evan MacLane, Jaime Garcia, Tyler Norrick.

Sam Freeman was the 24th round pick out of the University of Kansas in this past year’s draft. A hard throwing lefty, Sam dominated the Appy League before making the jump all the way to Palm Beach to finish his season. He struck out 38 batters in 26.1 innings and held lefties in check, to the tune of a .038 batting average. Jeff Luhnow recently called him one of the hidden gems in the system. I recently caught up with Sam and he was kind enough to answer my questions. My thanks to Sam for his time and thoughtful answers.

How would you describe your first taste of professional ball?

I Would describe my first taste of professional ball as exciting. Getting the opportunity to compete everyday against players who will one day be in the big leagues and see how you match up against them definitely a rush. I also learned a lot about myself, like what does and doesn’t work for me, what I need to do to keep my body ready to play everyday and how to mentally prepare for potential situations in the game where my number might be called, as I was used as a reliever.

You played in the instructional league. For those of us who don’t know, what goes on in the instructional leagues?

During instructional league, the players get to work on specific parts of their game they feel or the organization feels they need to improve on to advance. After we get to the facility and eat in the morning, we would stretch as a team then the hitters would work on base running then break up into their specific positions and get individual work, while the pitchers would condition and long toss, if a pitcher was to throw in that day’s game or had a bullpen, they would do pitchers fielding practice or “pfp” while the other pitchers did their long toss. After about 30 minutes all the players would come back together and we would do a team fundamental where we would focus on bunt coverages, first and third situations, cuts and relays or pop fly communication. Once that was over we would take batting practice then go in for lunch around 11:30. After lunch, about half of the players would play in a game against either the Mets or the Marlins instructional league team’s then call it a day. The instructional league is a huge benefit because players get more individual attention from the staff and are free to work on the different parts of their game without stressing about the results. Also we became familiar with what is expected of us and how to conduct ourselves in spring training.

Tell me about your repertoire.

My repertoire consists of a four-seam fastball that sits from 90-94 MPH, a change-up which is kind of in between a split finger and a traditional straight change up. I’ve heard the grip referred to as a “fosh” change up and am currently working with a cut fastball and a hard slider to see which pitch I can throw more consistently for strikes against left-handed hitters.

And how would you describe your pitching mechanics?

I would describe my mechanics as pretty clean for the most part, I would say one of my flaws with mechanics is my glove side tends to fly open which keeps my control from being as good as it could be. I would say I have an up-tempo delivery. I throw from an over the top arm slot and with me being a smaller pitcher, I feel it is necessary to get the most that I can out of my body so I use a lot of legs and really try to drive off the mound. I always pitch from the stretch because it is more comfortable to me and because of the less movement pitching from the stretch than there is from the wind-up I don’t have to worry as much about my timing.

Have you always pitched?

Yes and no. I have always worked on pitching since I was in little league and all throughout high school but it was never anything I actually wanted to do, I was more interested in making diving catches and stealing bases. I really began taking pitching seriously my freshman year in junior college at North Central after my pitching coach Mark Allen took me to a pitching clinic, and even after that I still signed with Marshall to be a two-way player. Last semester at Kansas University was the first time I was a pitcher only.

You were drafted by the Cardinals not once, but twice. What’s the story behind that?

Well, after my sophomore year in junior college I was drafted in the 24th round by scout Joe Almaraz. I had signed with Marshall University earlier that fall and I thought if I could go prove myself in one of the better D1 conferences I could increase my stock for the following draft. Things didn’t work out at Marshall, so I transferred to Kansas University in the spring. I started the season pretty well going 4-0 then went completely down hill from there and finished the season on a horrible note. So my whole plan about increasing my stock pretty much blew up in my face at that point. Luckily for me, Joe Almaraz gave me another opportunity and invited me to a pre-draft workout. I guess I impressed the organization enough there for them to draft me again even after I put up horrible numbers at KU. Now I am determined to make the best of this opportunity.

Looking at your stats, I notice you were absolutely murder on left-handed batters. What does that mean to you?

To me, I guess it means I found a little niche for myself with lefty vs. lefty match-ups being key to winning games. Coming in to face left-handed hitters was one of the roles that I occupied and I am glad that I was able to come through most of the time.

Jeff Luhnow recently had a chat with fans and called you one of the “hidden gems” in the system. What are your thoughts on that?

It is definitely great to hear. I know that players that go late in the draft like myself are often looked upon as having an even harder road to make it to the big leagues than the players that go earlier. So, hearing him say that just drives me to keep working hard and prove that I can play with anybody.

Last question: Who do you like to win the World Series?

I have to go with the Rays. When I tell people that, they want to call me a fair weather Rays fan but the truth is I called it in 2005 that they would break out in three years, because back then they had prospects like Delmon Young and Joey Gathright along with the core group of guys they have now who are really showing they can play. I even have a text message on my phone from one of my friends validating me, but people just say that it’s fake and so I asked him to send it to me. (Ha ha) There is no winning either way, but yes, I am going with the Rays to win it this year.

Q: Thanks for the chat, Jeff! What can you tell me about the velocity/repertoire of Venezuelan southpaw sensation Moises Colorado?
Luhnow: I just saw him pitch the other day in Jupiter, and I saw him in Venezuela earlier in the year. He’s a tall pitcher with long arms. His fastball is 88-89 but he still could throw harder and he’s a left-hander. He has a curveball and a changeup, both of which are improving. I’m looking forward to seeing him in the US next year.

Q: Can you name a few hidden gems, future prospects we may not have heard much from yet?
Luhnow: Sam Freeman. Left handed pitcher up to 94 with good secondary pitches, and one of the best athletes we have in our system. Watch out for him! Good timing, too, as we certainly aren’t going to turn away any good lefties. Also, Ryde Rodriguez is really coming on. He was finally recognized as an All-Star in the GCL. He has matured as a hitter and has big league tools, as well as big league makeup.

He later says the system is lacking in the left-handed pitching department, but hopefully these two will prove to be useful down as they move up the ladder.

Sean Chone Smith released his 2008 MLE’s. David Freese had the best line I could find, with a .276/.321/.467 translation. I’m not sure how sold the Twins are on Brian Buscher; I wonder if Freese would interest them. I dunno, maybe Boof Bonser for Freese? I know Bonser has struggled with a 5.86 ERA and is now in their bullpen, but his peripheral stats haven’t really changed from year to year; his 4.21 FIP tells the real story. They have five young, cost-controlled pitchers right now and a couple of more on the cusp in Mulvey and Humber, so they could be more then willing to part with the Boofster for some offense/glove at 3B.

Speaking of the Twins, watching them come back on the White Sox last night was pretty impressive. I’ve always begrudged the Twins over ’87, and what the Northstars did to the Blues in ’91 furthered my hatred towards Minnesota sports teams. Yet somehow, I found myself pulling for them last night. It must be my appreciation for prospects, that team is packed with young, homegrown talent. They definitely know what they are doing with that farm system.’

And speaking of beefy pitchers (Boof), Goldstein starts an interesting conversation by looking at different pitcher body types in trying to determine if size matters when it comes to results and durability.

Tanner Scheppers, who the Pirates were unwilling to sign do to his shoulder issues and asking price, signed with the independent league St. Paul Saints. That makes two top draft picks in the American Assocation, with Aaron Crow playing for the Ft. Worth Cats being the other.