http://www.whattheheckbobby.blogspot.com/ Oklahoma City RHP Bobby Doran assigned from Corpus Christi to Oklahoma City C Rene Garcia assigned from Corpus Christi to Oklahoma City Corpus Christi LHP David Rollins assigned from Lancaster to Corpus Christi C Ryan McCurdy assigned from Lancaster to Corpus Christi Lancaster RHP Kyle Smith obtained in trade with Kansas City and assigned to Lancaster [UPDATED] C Luis Alvarez assigned from Quad Cities to Lancaster Quad Cities LHP Josh Hader obtained in trade with Baltimore and assigned to Quad Cities ------ I realize some of this has already been reported. Easier just to keep it all together.
I don't know exactly what the original plan was, but I do know they said they would be very conservative with his innings and pitch counts this year since he already had a full college season. My guess is that it's all just in the plan. Have also heard that he could end up at AA before the year is over, would think if that is the plan then they would be really careful with his innings/pitches right now. No idea if that is really the plan, but it would be cool to see how he performed at that level
I hate the thought of Appel and McCullers ever pitching in Lancaster. None of our big pitching prospects should go there.
I agree, I have read that they do not plan on Appel ever going there, but I have no idea how valid that is
I don't really like the thought of any prospects going there. I detest that affiliate. Pitchers get absolutely shelled and hitters grossly inflate their numbers. And were stuck with them for a few more years.
What I remember Luhnow saying was that Appel would not start out at Lancaster. Mike Foltynewicz was the top pitching prospect entering into this season. He started out in Lancaster, even though he was similarly rumored to start in Corpus and to thus avoid Lancaster.
Apparently this happened at the Hooks game. Chris Blake is the Hooks' media relations coordinator and occasional commentator. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>You see something new in baseball all the time. Tonight I saw a one-pitch strikeout. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23crazy&src=hash">#crazy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23cchooks&src=hash">#cchooks</a></p>— Chris Blake (@ChrisCBlake) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisCBlake/statuses/363139911961948162">August 2, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> How on earth did this happen? <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>.<a href="https://twitter.com/JustinWhiteTCU">@JustinWhiteTCU</a> Batter argued strike one call, and when he refused to get back in the box ump called strike two. Repeat for strike three.</p>— Chris Blake (@ChrisCBlake) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisCBlake/statuses/363141211252473857">August 2, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Tonight I might have made history with a "One Pitch Strikeout". I'll take it haha!!!</p>— Nick Tropeano (@PaPaTropeano) <a href="https://twitter.com/PaPaTropeano/statuses/363139293734109185">August 2, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Sweet Jesus the Jethawks have scored 26 runs. And Tyler Heineman has 12 home runs. What the actual f?
Wut Lancaster is flat out exciting. There will always be the Lancaster Mirage, but it seems unlikely that Cokinos, Sclafani, and Heineman are all mirages.
Beware Sclafani's 372-point difference between home and road OPS. I'll let you decide which is the higher number.
Yeah, but I can't get over the 15% BB and 16% K numbers. I'll chalk up some of his ISO to the Lancaster effect, but the BB numbers are actually more exaggerated than the power numbers. It's weird. I understand park factors for power, but a player who simply walks more at home? Until Sclafani moves up and fails, I'll just chalk it up to a weird anomaly with 150 road and home ABs. Also, side note: I didn't realize until now that Sclafani was a switch hitter. My love for him grows. But his splits as a LHB are MUCH better than his (admittedly small sample) RHB numbers. Robbie Grossman is similar, with much better numbers from the right side. Switch hitters that insist on switch hitting when they aren't very good from one side are really frustrating. Just bat from your good side, people.
The hitters there are insanely disciplined, the clubs new approach towards prospects is really showing in Lancaster. First in walks and last in K's both by wide margins. 13 vs 2 today alone. Gonna be interesting to see how these Lancaster numbers start translating to Corpus. The Lancaster inflation has long been established, but it's unlikely all of these guys are park abberations. The only hitters there viewed as significant prospects are DD and Fontana. When you focus on the road numbers of the other guys, they aren't as staggering. M.P. Cokinos 1B .886 OPS Matt Duffy 3B .845 OPS Chris Epps OF .834 OPS Telvin Nash 1B .800 OPS Tyler Heineman C .745 OPS Brandon Meredith OF .743 OPS Andrew Aplin CF .718 OPS Joe Sclafani 2B . 703 OPS Duffy is the player I'm most impressed with. He is a slick fielding 3B who frankly should be in AA but is kind of stuck behind Meyer and his breakout season. Cokinos has the best numbers, but he is gonna have to be entirely carried by his bat because he can't stick at catcher. Heineman on the other hand is a catcher, and a good one, so his bat has more latitude. The rest of the guys I'm simply not buying yet. Still thats 5 guys on the roster that I think can have a big league future.
Wednesday Stories Let's play 2 in Davenport!!! Lancaster scored the alphabet. One of the most unusual strikeouts ever. See post #309. Tri-City's downward spiral continues. Recap Oklahoma City 3, Reno 2 A 3-run 2nd for OKC canceled out a 2-run homer for Reno in the 6th, as they won the series. Yep, as you can see, the Redhawks scratched across 3 in the 2nd off of Tyler Skaggs, one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball. Che-Hsuan Lin put them on the board with an RBI bunt single, and then Trevor Crowe hit a more conventional RBI single, by swinging the bat. Lin then scored on an error that allowed Jose Martinez to reach. Rene Garcia, in his OKC debut, was 1-4 and scored the first run. Martinez was 2-4. Paul Clemens threw 3 scoreless and allowed 2 hits, walked 3, and fanned 3. Philip Humber tossed 2 scoreless as the first man out, and he gave up 3 hits, a walk, and struck out 4. Science Guy pitched 1 1/3 and allowed a 2-run homer to Ed Easley in the 6th. He allowed 2 other hits and walked 1. Rhiner Cruz retired all 3 Aces he faced as he got the last 2 outs of the 7th and 1 in the 8th. Kevin Chapman allowed a hit and walked 1 after coming on in the 8th, but finished the inning unscathed. Hector Ambriz worked around a walk and a hit to close it out, and he struck out 1. The Redhawks are looking for the sweep. They will send out Asher Wojciechowski to take on Houston native Garrett Mock. First pitch is at 7:05. Corpus Christi 5, Midland 4 2 runs in the 5th turned out to be the difference for the Hooks as they took the opening game of this series. Nick Tropeano went 6 innings and allowed 4 runs on 9 hits (7 singles, a triple, and a 2-run homer), walked 1, and struck out 10. Carlos Quevedo struck out 2 over 2 perfect innings, and Jonas Dufek allowed a hit and struck out 2 in the 9th to shut the door. After Jake Goebbert continued his season-long trolling of the Hooks by putting Midland on the board first with a 2-run homer in the top of the 1st, it was only appropriate that the Hooks responded with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 1st. The rebuttal was provided by Preston Tucker, who promptly tied the game with his 6th homer as a member of the Hooks and 21st of the season. Erik Castro hit an RBI single in the 3rd. In the 5th, Max Stassi scored on an error to tie the game at 4, and Jonathan Meyer put them ahead with an RBI single. Ronald Torreyes went 2-3 with 2 runs scored, and Stassi was 2-4 without a homer. Shocked. In game 2 of this series, Ross Seaton will take on Zach Neal. First pitch is at 7:05. Lancaster 26, Lake Elsinore 5 The Jethawks scored in every inning but the 1st. Well, and the 9th too, but we all know that's impossible. For the 2nd straight day, I am at a loss for words to describe a game, so I'll just leave you with the box score. Yes. Everyone who appeared in the game scored a run. Yes. Tyler Heineman now has 12 home runs on the season. Yes. Nolan Fontana walked 5 times. Yes. The Jethawks as a team walked 13 times and only struck out twice. Brady Rodgers grinded through 7 innings and allowed 3 runs (all on a 3-run homer) on 5 hits, walked 1, and struck out 7. Tyson Perez suddenly had a 23-run cushion to work with as he pitched the final 2 innings. He allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and struck out 1. The Jethawks will now welcome High Desert to The Hangar. Oh boy. We might see a 30-run game here. TBA will take on Cam Hobson in the opener. First pitch is at 7:00. Game 1: Quad Cities 5, Peoria 3 The River Bandits scored 3 in the 5th to take a 4-3 lead and scraped across an insurance run in the 6th to take the opener of the twinbill. Rio Ruiz, whose Twitter has been hacked, was 2-3 with a solo homer (8) in the 2nd. The 3 runs in the 5th came on a triple from Teoscar Hernandez and a couple of RBI singles from Danry Vasquez and Dan Gulbransen. Hernandez, who finished 2-4, hit an RBI single in the 6th to get that crucial insurance run across. Lance McCullers went 6 innings and allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 7 hits, walked 2, and struck out 7. Jordan Jankowski worked around a hit to close it out, as he fanned 1. What happened in the nightcap? Game 2: Quad Cities 2, Peoria 1 Sweep!!! <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23tqctimes&src=hash">#tqctimes</a> The doubleheader sweep is the first in 12 tries for Quad-Cities since winning two at Burlington on May 30, 2011</p>— Steve Batterson (@sbatt79) <a href="https://twitter.com/sbatt79/statuses/363142809638801408">August 2, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Vince Velasquez delivered a solid start, as he allowed a run on 3 hits, walked 3, and struck out 7 in 6 innings. Juan Minaya worked around a hit and a walk to shut the door. Vasquez hit an RBI single in the 3rd to put QC on the board first. The Chiefs tied it in the 4th, but in the 6th, consecutive doubles from Carlos Correa and Dan Gulbransen gave the River Bandits the lead. The River was 1-2 with a double; his average now sits at .251. In the series finale, Chris Devenski will take on Silfredo Garcia. First pitch is at 7:00. State College 4, Tri-City 1 7 straight losses. Tony Kemp led off the game with a triple and scored on a Jack Mayfield groundout. The ValleyCats had runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs in the 6th, but Mike Martinez flied out to end the inning. Ryan Dineen was thrown out at home trying to score on a single from Brett Booth in the 8th. So, that groundout from Mayfield was it. Tanner Bushue went 5 innings and allowed 3 runs on 3 hits, walked 1, and struck out 2. Pat Christensen threw a 1-2-3 6th, and Adrian Houser allowed a run on 3 hits and fanned 2 in 2 innings. Well, hopefully Michael Feliz and Andrew Thurman can snap this funk. They'll be on the mound as TC opens up a 3-game series in Aberdeen. Feliz will face Janser Severino at 7:05 Eastern. Greeneville and Bristol was postponed Doubleheader begins at 6:00 Eastern. Enderson Franco will take on Spring native Thaddius Lowry, and Chris Lee will start game 2 against TBA. GCL Pirates 5, GCL Astros 0 Well, Jake Nottingham doubled twice, Mesac Laguna tripled, and Ydarqui Marte hit a double of his own. But.... the Kissimmee Stros were 0-4 on steals. On the bright side, Austin Nicely pitched rather nicely (he's only pitched 3 times and I'm already tired of hearing that). He threw 4 scoreless and allowed 2 hits, walked 1, and struck out 2. Erick Gonzalez allowed a run on 5 hits and walked 1 in 2 1/3. Jorge Perez got the final 2 outs of the 7th. Devonte German made his pro debut and got ragdolled to the tune of 4 runs on 2 hits. He walked 3 as he only got 2 outs in the 8th. Reymin Guduan got the final out of the inning via strikeout. Their game with the Phillies is in progress. DSL Astros 4, DSL Rays 2 A 2-run homer in the 4th from Marlon Avea turned out to be the difference, as the Academy took over sole possession of 3rd place in their division from the Rays. They got 2 in the 3rd thanks to an RBI single from Jarico Reynoso and an RBI double from Kristian Trompiz. Trompiz hit 2 doubles. Jean Estrella was 2-3 to raise his average to .313. Edwin Villarroel allowed 2 runs (both on a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 4th) on 5 hits, walked 1, and struck out 3 in 5 2/3 innings of work. Juan Hernandez walked 1 and struck out 3 in 1 1/3 innings, and Starlyng Sanchez allowed 2 hits and fanned 2 in the final 2 frames to get the save.
BA: Prospect Hot Sheet, August 2 Um.... surprise??? Spoiler Also, Vince Velasquez #7, Delino DeShields #11, Teoscar Hernandez, Rio Ruiz, and George Springer in the team photo
I have never been too hung up on scouting these days as it seems impossible to judge whether a player will pan out long term. But.... When judging a young pitcher in your farm system, is it better to judge them off K/9 or ERA? I always felt like K/9 would be a better indicator of success down the road, but obviously there are guys with high K/9 and even higher ERA's? Hence there are some with low K/9 and low ERA's.
