Aside from Correa, I think Folty has the highest upside in the system. If this guy puts it all together he's got ace potential. Him, Appel and McCullers are going to be a lot of fun to watch if they all pan out, which I realize is a big if this early.
Buchanan knocked around for 5 runs...they had 6 XBH on him in 4 innings. Thats' as many earned runs as he allowed in April and May combined.
Great outing from Aaron West, as he no-hit High Desert for 5 innings. He walked 1 and struck out 5 as Lancaster leads 5-0
Wednesday Stories RIP Quad Cities' first-half playoff hopes Hooks begin a critical series in Frisco. Jethawks look to keep Inland Empire at bay by trying to beat High Desert. Brian Bogusevic trolls the AAA team of his former organization. Recap Iowa 5, Oklahoma City 1 Bogusevic trolled OKC in the form of 2 2-run homers. Couple that with the Redhawks' ineffectiveness on offense, and that was a rather comfortable win for the I-Cubs. Jose Martinez went 2-4 and his RBI single in the 8th was OKC's lone run. Andy Simunic (8) and Jonathan Villar (22) stole bases. Brett Oberholtzer was actually decent. Unfortunately, his two mistakes came in the form of Bogusevic's homers. He allowed 6 other hits, walked 1, and struck out 7. Science Guy allowed a run (inherited) in the 9th on a hit, walked 1, and struck out 1. Jason Stoffel allowed that run, as he induced a force out from J.C. Boscan. He got the final 2 outs of the 9th, but not before walking 2. The series finale will take place at 7:05 and will feature Brad Peacock on the mound. He will be facing Nick Struck. Corpus Christi 8, Frisco 5 The Hooks entered this 4-game series leading Frisco by 2 games with 6 to play in the Texas League's first half. They drew first blood to increase that to 3 with 5 remaining. Despite being outhit 14-8, they used the big inning to their advantage. Jake Buchanan is human after all. He was knocked around for 5 runs on 9 hits, and he walked 1 and fanned 2 in his 4 innings. The outing destroyed his ERA, which is now at 1.39. Sergio Escalona came out of the bullpen and threw 3 scoreless, allowing 4 hits, walking 1, and striking out 3. Pat Urckfitz finished it off, as he allowed a hit and walked 1 in 2 innings. Great effort from the bullpen. After the Roughriders got 2 off Buchanan in the 1st, Corpus responded with 3 in the 3rd via a 2-run single from Erik Castro and an RBI single from Jonathan Meyer. Frisco got 1 in the bottom of the inning to tie; Rene Garcia unleashed the perfect response in the 4th: a 3-run home run (4). Frisco got 2 more in the 4th to make it a 6-5 game, but Escalona and Urckfitz made sure they stayed at 5. Meyer finished 2-4 and added another RBI single in the 7th to make it a 7-5 game. Enrique Hernandez then hit an RBI single himself for the Hooks' final run. Domingo Santana went 2-4 with a double, a steal (7), and 2 runs scored. In game 2, Nick Tropeano and Bobby Doran will take on Carlos Pimentel. First pitch is at 7:05. Tropran will look to give the Hooks some more separation in the standings. Lancaster 10, High Desert 3 The Jethawks busted out for a 10-0 lead and won rather easily to take 2 of 3 from the Mavs. Aaron West was marvelous in his 5 no-hit innings. He walked 1 and struck out 5. West had no backup, so Lancaster went straight to the bullpen. T.J. Geith was the first man out and allowed 2 hits and fanned 2 over 2 scoreless. Michael Dimock, now stache-less, was knocked around for 3 runs (all on homers) on 3 hits (solo and 2-run homers) in the 8th. Cam Lamb tossed a 1-2-3 9th, striking out 1. The Jethawks got on the board with an M.P. Cokinos groundout in the 1st that scored Delino DeShields. Then, they got 4 in the 2nd as Joe Sclafani scored on an error, Cokinos was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Preston Tucker hit a 2-run single. Then it turned into a laugher with 5 in the 6th, as Aplin hit an RBI single with Nolan Fontana scoring on an error on the play. Cokinos then hit a 2-run homer (5), and Tucker went back-to-back (12). Delino DeShields went 3-4 with 3 runs scored. Tucker and Cokinos both went 2-4. Nolan Fontana did what he usually does; go hitless, but have a multi-walk game. He went 0-2 with 3 walks and scored twice. In their final series of the 1st half, the Jethawks will hit the road to take on Lake Elsinore for 4 games. Lancaster holds a 2-game lead over Inland Empire with 4 to play. Brady Rodgers and Chris Devenski will take the mound in the opener against James Needy. First pitch is at 7:05. Cedar Rapids 12, Quad Cities 4 Well, an 8-run 8th from the Kernels buried the River Bandits in this game, and coupled with Beloit's current 8-game winning streak, pretty much signified the death knell for QC's first-half playoff chances. Colton Cain went 4 innings and allowed 3 runs on 4 hits (solo homer), walked 2, and struck out 4. Mike Hauschild tagged in and allowed 4 runs (2 inherited) on 6 hits and struck out 1 in 3+ innings. He failed to retire any of the 3 Kernels he faces in the 8th, and so Gerardo Sanchez came in. He got whacked, to say the least. Not only did he allow both of Hauschild's runners to score, he allowed 5 of his own (well, 1 was inherited) on 6 hits and walked 1 while only getting 1 out via strikeout. Richard Rodriguez had to clean up that mess, and he pitched the remaining 1 2/3 innings. He didn't allow any runs of his own, but he allowed 1 of Sanchez's to score. He also allowed a hit, walked 1, and struck out 1. Rather uneventful night offensively for QC. Carlos Correa was 0-2 with 2 strikeouts, but he walked twice and scored twice. Jesse Wierzbicki was 2-3 with a 2-run homer in the 7th that tied the game at 4. That was about as good as it got for the Bandits. Teoscar Hernandez had an RBI single in the 2nd. The series finale has Jordan Jankowski going up against Christian Powell at 7:00. DSL Astros 6, DSL Rays 5 in 15 innings Jeez. The running theme continues. Winning team scores run(s) late. Jarico Reynoso was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to put the Academy ahead. He also had an RBI single in the 6th. Marlon Avea hit a 3-run homer (1) in the 3rd and hit a single which was misplayed, allowing Hector Roa to score. Avea and Brian Peña each had 3 hits. Roa and Arturo Michelena both went 2-7. Downside: They struck out 19 times. Geronimo Franzua went 5 innings and allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 7 hits, walked 2, and struck out 3. 3 of the next 4 pitchers threw 3 scoreless. Carlos Vasquez allowed a hit and struck out 5 as the first man out. Yonquelys Martinez also allowed a hit, walked 1, and struck out 2. Juan Delis got the win, allowing a hit, walking 3, and fanning 5. Victor Mesa worked around a hit in the 15th to get the save, striking out 1. Three Stars 3. Sergio Escalona and Pat Urckfitz, P, Corpus Christi Escalona: W(1-1), 3 IP, 4 H, BB, 3 K Urckfitz: Save(2), 2 IP, H, BB 2. M.P. Cokinos, 1B, and Preston Tucker, RF, Lancaster Cokinos: 2-4, 2-R HR(5), 4 RBI, R Tucker: 2-4, HR(12), 3 RBI, R 1. Aaron West, P, Lancaster W(3-3), 5 IP, BB, 5 K Honorable Mentions DSL Astros bullpen Delino DeShields, 2B, Lancaster Jonathan Meyer, 3B, Corpus Christi Jesse Wierzbicki, 1B, Quad Cities Goat Mike Hauschild and Gerardo Sanchez really, really let that one get away.
Positive Jio news! We'll see how that works out. *An interesting note: St. John identifies Jiovanni Mier as a "hidden gem" in the minor leagues due to Mier being in the High BB category. Fans should keep an eye on him and not write off the 2009 first-rounder at the tender age of twenty-two.
Mier will be a major leaguer one day, IMO. Just not a good one. He does a lot of things well. He just doesn't hit the ball with authority.
Yes, that is true, if you're only looking at the conventional stats (average, homers, RBI, etc). Mier definitely has had a rough start to the season. However.... Mier's .277 BABIP is under the Texas League average of .299. His walk rate has been in line with his career averages. He's struck out at a slightly higher rate than his career average. His line-drive percentage, 12.2%, is well below the league average of 16.8%. He also seems to be falling back into his habit of hitting pop flies. 9.5% infield fly ball rate is also above the Texas League average, which is 7.5%.
Shortstops have very low offensive expectations. Just look at the ,minor league stats of Tim Bogar, Adam Everett, and Marwin Gonzalez. Bogar .652 OPS Gonzalez .662 OPS Everett .714 OPS Mier .698 OPS These are just some astro SS i thought of. He is solid defensively and he has enough plate discipline to be competent offensively. He'll be a fringe big leaguer for a few years, maybe a little more.
A Report on Astros Prospect Jonathan Villar by Lee Warren http://www.minorleagueball.com/2013/6/13/4423652/a-report-on-astros-prospect-jonathan-villar Houston Astros No. 12 prospect Jonathan Villar is known for several reasons – the switch-hitter is aggressive at the plate, he has a cannon of an arm at shortstop, he steals a lot of bases and he makes too many fielding errors. I had the chance to see him play last week during a three-game series in Omaha and his aggressive nature was on display. Villar, who was acquired from the Phillies in the 2010 Roy Oswalt deal, was 3-for-11 in the series with 2 RBIs, 2 K, 0 BB and 2 SB. The 22-year-old is hitting .275 with 5 HR and 31 RBIs in 60 games. And he has stolen 21 bases. This is Villar’s first year in Triple-A Oklahoma City (affiliate of the Astros) and he’s still adapting. During the first game of the series, Royals highly-touted pitching prospect Yordano Ventura got ahead of him 0-2 on two 98 mph fastballs that Villar swung at and missed. Two pitches later he threw Villar an 83 mph change-up that missed Villar's bat. But the next day, Villar showed a lot more patience, working the count to three balls in four of his five plate appearances and he singled in two of those. According to Alex Freedman, the radio broadcaster for Oklahoma City, such patience is not the norm for Villar. "He usually does not work very deep counts at the top of the order," Freedman told me during the series. The Astros had him batting eighth in the lineup for OKC early in the season and then after they called up several guys, they moved him toward the top. Villar is hitting just .200 against lefties (as a right-handed batter) this season and .312 against righties (as a left-handed batter). That disparity hasn’t always been the case for him at the lower levels of the minor leagues. Last season in Double-A, he hit .265 against lefties and .259 against righties. In 2011 (split between Single-A and Double-A), he hit .242 against lefties and .241 against righties. He has more power from the left side and that has been the case throughout his minor league career – 30 of his 36 career home runs have come from the left side. If you look at his career strikeout numbers, they have to be a real concern for the Astros. In 2010, he struck out 153 times in 132 games. In 2011, he struck out 156 times in 130 games. In 2012, he struck out 87 times in 86 games (he missed part of the ‘12 season after punching a door between innings of a game in July, breaking his right hand). "I think the strikeouts are a little bit high for someone who would ideally profile as a top of the order kind of guy," Freedman said. "But he really is one of the most exciting players in the league. He’s got the speed – he’ll get a hit and the next thing you know, he’s at third base. And he’s very good defensively." Freedman says he didn’t see Villar at the Double-A level, so he can’t really comment about how Villar is adjusting to Triple-A pitching, but he has noticed an improvement since the beginning of the season. "He got off to a terrible start, a 2-for-34 start," Freedman said. "And this was not an unlucky 2-for-34, either. He chased a lot of pitches, hit into a lot of routine groundouts and fly outs. He didn’t have a lot of solid contact in general, but he adjusted after that and went on a real tear and he’s kind of evened out since then." He doesn't draw a lot of walks (19 this season), but when he does get on base, he creates a problem for pitchers. He has stolen 183 bases during his minor league career, including 39 last season and 34 the season before. "He’s aggressive, but consistently aggressive," Freedman said. "There have been times this year when he noticed the catcher was just tossing the ball back to the pitcher and he’ll dart off to the next base. There have also been times when he’s tried that and it has backfired. "But I remember one game against Nashville when he was at third base. He was the only guy on base and he was such a distraction for the pitcher that he drew a balk and scored. He had a straight steal of home earlier this year, but was also caught trying a straight steal of home in a very critical situation in another game." Defensively, you won’t see too many better arms at shortstop in the minor leagues, but the errors have really piled up for Villar. He has committed 157 errors in 503 minor league games – including 12 errors in 59 games this season. "A lot of those were at the beginning of the year – and a lot of them were fielding," Freedman said. "I don’t remember too many errant throws. He’s been very good lately. It feels to me like maybe the game has slowed down a bit for him." But defensive consistency is a problem. "He’ll make plays that you don’t know if any other shortstop in this league can make and other times he’ll slow-play a ball and his throw will be late," Freedman said. Freedman says Villar tends to move best defensively to his left, up the middle, especially on slow choppers. He says he also makes a lot of nice plays charging in on slowly hit balls to short. And he’s turned quite a few 6-3 double plays by himself. Even though he plays an aggressive brand of baseball, the Astros are looking for more consistency from him. An article about Villar in the most recent edition of Baseball America Magazine says Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow wants to see three strong months from Villar before even considering a big league promotion. "Towards the end of the year, if we feel like (Villar’s) a guy who needs to get some exposure to big league pitching, we’ll do that," Luhnow says in the article. "But really the focus is more on next year than this year. But we’ll handle that as we get later in the summer."
Bogar and Everett only played because they played great defense. Don't think that applies to Mier. Gonzalez plays because we have a terrible team.
How hard does NiTro throw. I've seen conflicting reports everywhere from the 87 range all the way up to 94. It's tough to be anything more than a functional big league pitcher with a fastball that can't reach 90
Thursday Stories Walkoffs! Corpus seizes control in a big series. Recap Oklahoma City 9, Iowa 8 in 12 innings OKC got the split despite blowing a 6-0 lead. Carlos Perez sent the Redhawks fans home happy with a 2-out walk-off single in the 12th. Brandon Laird went 3-4 with a solo homer (6) in the 2nd that put OKC on the board first. He also walked twice and scored 3 runs. Justin Maxwell has more hits in 1 rehab game with OKC than he did in a week (or so) with Corpus, as he was 2-5 with an RBI single in the 7th. Brett Wallace, of all people, had an RBI triple in the 7th. Perez, in addition to the winner, added a 2-run double in the 4th, and Jose Martinez was able to score on an error on the play. Marc Krauss was 2-4 with an RBI double in the 4th. Jake Elmore was 2-5 with a run scored and a steal (13). Jonathan Villar went 1-5 with 2 steals (24). Brad Peacock had a great start as he was perfect through 5. He ultimately allowed a run on 2 hits and struck out 4 over 6 innings. The same could not be said of the bullpen, who denied him a victory by failing to protect the lead. Kevin Chapman only got 1 out (a strikeout) in the 7th while giving up 3 runs (2 inherited) in the inning. Josh Zeid got the Redhawks out of the inning, but not before allowing 2 runs to score. He allowed a hit, walked 1, and struck out 1. Alex Sogard got 2 outs in the 8th, then served up a 3-run homer to Dave Sappelt that made it an 8-7 game. Rhiner Cruz got the final out of the 8th and 1 out in the 9th, but he allowed an RBI double to Steve Clevenger that tied the game at 8. Jose Valdez got the final 2 outs of the 9th and kept the game tied at 8 with 2 solid innings. He allowed a hit, walked 1, and struck out 2. Science Guy worked around a 2-out single to Donnie Murphy to retire the side, and he got the win after Perez's heroics. The Redhawks will now welcome the former AAA team to Bricktown. Round Rock lost 9-4 to Albuquerque in 11 innings, which moved the Redhawks into a tie for the lead in the PCL American Southern division. Ross Seaton will get the call in the opener, and his opponent will be Scott Richmond. First pitch is at 7:05. Corpus Christi 7, Frisco 1 The Hooks pounded Frisco pitchers to the tune of 8 extra-base hits (out of 14 total): 4 doubles, and 4 homers. Also, Nick Tropeano and Bobby Doran rendered the Roughriders' offense useless. Everyone had at least one hit except for Domingo Santana, who went 0-5 with a hat trick. Michael Burgess kicked it off with a 2-run homer (8) in the 2nd. After Alex Buchholz took Tropeano deep to lead off the bottom half of the 2nd, Jonathan Singleton responded with a solo shot of his own in the 3rd. Erik Castro also got in on the action with a solo shot (7) in the 3rd. Singleton added a 2-run shot in the 4th, and Enrique Hernandez provided the cherry with an RBI single in the 5th. Buchholz's homer was the only blemish in an otherwise solid outing from Tropeano. He went 5 innings, allowed 4 other hits, and fanned 3. Bobby Doran tagged in and allowed a hit and struck out 3 in 4 scoreless. With a win tonight, the Hooks will wrap up the first-half division title and the playoff berth that goes with it. Jorge De Leon, back from the Dominican, will team up with R.J. Alaniz to try and get that win. They'll take on Tyler Tufts at 7:05. Lake Elsinore 12, Lancaster 3 The good news: Inland Empire was blasted by High Desert, so the Jethawks still keep their 2-game lead over the 66ers with 3 games left in the 2nd half. However, they got blasted themselves. The Jethawks found themselves down 12-0, as the Storm flattened Brady Rodgers and Chris Devenski. Rodgers only lasted 1 2/3 and allowed 7 runs (1 inherited) on 6 hits, walked 2, and struck out 1. Jonas Dufek went 1 1/3 and allowed a run on 3 hits and fanned 1. Tom Shirley tossed 2 perfect innings, striking out 4. Chris Devenski only got 1 out in the 6th (via strikeout) as he allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 6 hits. He left the bases loaded for Cam Lamb, who cleaned that mess up rather nicely. He retired all 8 Storm batters he faced, fanning 3 of them. The Jethawks got a 2-run double from Chris Epps in the 7th and an RBI single from Preston Tucker in the 8th. Tucker went 2-4 and is now on a 7-game hitting streak. Matt Duffy was 3-3 with a walk and a run scored. Lancaster will try to get back on track in game 2 of this series. Tyson Perez and David Rollins will take on Frank Garces at 7:05 Pacific. Quad Cities 9, Cedar Rapids 8 The River Bandits gave up a big 8th inning for the 2nd straight night.... but they mustered up a big comeback, putting up 5 in the bottom of the 9th for the victory. QC's win allowed Beloit to move into a first-place tie with the Kernels. Jobduan Morales played hero, as his 2-run double was the winner. All 5 runs in the 9th came with 2 outs. Miles Hamblin reached on an error that allowed Teoscar Hernandez to score, then 2 RBI singles from Austin Elkins and Brian Blasik brought the Bandits to within 1. Morales picked a pretty good time to get his 1st hit of the evening. Turns out it won the game. Hamblin hit a sac fly in the 5th. Jesse Wierzbicki went 2-5 with a 2-run double in the 7th. Later in the inning, Ruben Sosa hit an RBI single that put QC up 4-1. Carlos Correa went 2-5 with a run scored. Blasik was 3-4 with a run scored. Jordan Jankowski allowed a homer to Byron Buxton to begin the game, then proceeded to shut down Cedar Rapids. In 4 innings, he allowed 1 other hit, walked 1, and struck out 5. Juan Minaya was untouchable through his first 3 innings. Then he ran into trouble in the 8th. He sandwiched a Buxton groundout in between 3 singles, one of which was of the RBI variety. He left with 2 men on for John Neely.... who allowed both of them to score. Minaya allowed 3 runs (2 inherited) on 4 hits and struck out 6 in his 3 1/3. Neely only got 1 out himself, and he gave up 4 (2 earned) on 2 hits, walked 3, and struck out 1. Mitch Lambson finally got that final out in the 8th, and he pitched a scoreless 9th to get the win. He went 1 1/3, allowing a walk and striking out 2. The River Bandits close out the 1st half of the Midwest League by welcoming Burlington to the Quad Cities for 4, with a doubleheader on Saturday. That's to make up for the April 10 game in Burlington that was postponed due to rain. The series opener has Vince Velasquez and Jamaine Cotton going up against Pat Lowery at 7:00. DSL Astros 8, DSL Indians 4 The Academy has gotten off to a 6-4 start. Considering that their 2012 season was an absolute wreck, this is definitely an encouraging sign. Kristian Trompiz finished a home run shy of the cycle, as he singled in the 1st. An error on the play allowed Luis Payano to score and also allowed him to advance to 3rd. Trompiz then hit a 2-run triple in the 4th and capped off his morning with an RBI double in the 8th. He would come around to score as Hector Roa grounded into a double play. Well, Roa was credited with an RBI and it appears that Arturo Michelena was caught in a rundown. Speaking of Payano, he hit an RBI single in the 2nd. He's only hitting .152, but I've been impressed at his on-base skills. Payano also stole 2nd (3). That was part of a double steal in the 2nd, where Jarico Reynoso stole 3rd (4). Another error (as the Indians tried to nail Reynoso) allowed him to score and Payano to take 3rd. Elieser Hernandez had a fine outing, as he gave up a run on 4 hits, walked 1, and struck out 5 in 5 innings. Cristhopher Santamaria, in his debut, threw a 1-2-3 6th, striking out 1. Rayderson Chevalier finished it out, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits, walking 2 and striking out 1. The Academy will make their way to the Indians complex first thing in the morning. Three Stars Taking some more liberties.... 4. Kristian Trompiz, SS, DSL Astros 3-5, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI, R Easily the best game of his young career so far. He went 0-11 in his first 4 games, and now he's on a 3-game hitting streak. As one of the six-figure bonus recipients, there will probably be a few eyes on him. Elieser Hernandez, P, DSL Astros W(2-0), 5 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 5 K Hernandez held his own in his first year as a 17-year-old at the Academy last year. That's about all I know on him. He's certainly gotten off to a stellar start this year. 3. The Walkoff Heroes: Carlos Perez, C, Oklahoma City, and Jobduan Morales, C, Quad Cities Perez: 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI, walk-off single in 12th, R Morales: Walk-off 2-R 2B in 9th I think Perez could get a cup of coffee in September, and he should be ready to assume backup catcher duties next season. Or, at the very least, be the first catcher up. Morales has struggled, partly because of a low BABIP and a high strikeout rate. It's usually been in the upper teens in his career. On the bright side, his walk rate has been in line with his career averages. 2. Nick Tropeano and Bobby Doran, P, Corpus Christi Tropeano: W(2-4), 5 IP, 5 H (solo homer), ER, 3 K Doran: Save(2), 4 IP, H, 3 K Tropeano's looking like he's put that tough May behind him. Ditto for Doran. He's managed to knock down his walk rate while bumping up his strikeout rate throughout his career. He doesn't induce groundballs at a Jake Buchanan-like rate, but he's always been good in that department. You really have to love the pitching depth that's been built in the upper minors. 1. Jonathan Singleton, 1B, Corpus Christi 3-3, 2 HR (2, 5 season), 3 RBI, 2 BB, 2 R A productive rest of the month-first week of July should be enough to land Singleton in OKC, right? Brad Peacock, P, Oklahoma City 6 IP, 2 H, ER, 4 K So... it's absolutely criminal that he didn't get the win. That's baseball, though. Yes, I still believe that he is a Major League pitcher. Honorable Mentions Erik Castro, 1B, Corpus Christi: After being unable to break the Mendoza Line in April, Castro has really gotten his bat going. Jonathan Meyer, 3B, Corpus Christi: Had his 14-game hit streak snapped on Tuesday, but he's responded with 2 straight 2-hit games. He's living up to his billing as a lesser, lesser Matt Dominguez. Preston Tucker, RF, Lancaster: The hits just keep coming for him. Jordan Jankowski, P, Quad Cities: Other than allowing Buxton to homer right off the bat, he had a very good outing. Jose Valdez, P, Oklahoma City: Really calmed things down after the nonsense from the 4 guys who came in before him. Goats For failing to hold a 6-0 lead, the first 4 relievers out of the OKC bullpen share the ignominy. Dishonorable mention goes to Domingo Santana for his 0-5, 3 K performance.
Tommy Manzella would be a more appropriate comparison. Manzella was not noted for much of anything as a shortstop, yet he still made it to the big leagues for a couple of seasons. I could even see Mier as an Eric Bruntlett type. Shortstop is the hard one. If you have a guy that can play a respectable shortstop, then you can teach him to play a respectable second, third, right and left. A guy that can play shortstop as a utility player can be .300 points worse on his OPS than a guy that can't do that and still have a better chance of making it to the majors.
Defense and patience are what he has going for him. He just doesn't hit well because he doesn't make good contact. Dominguez has a similar problem, but he has more power and less patience. Actually, that applies to Mier. Adam Everett is asking a bit much (who graded out as an all-time great defensively), but he's very good defensively.
