SnakePit Hatchlings Report - Cheers! Edition
by Dan Strittmatter on Aug 27, 2010 7:29 PM EDT
in Diamondbacks Farm Teams
Email
PrintLast night in London, and I've got a little time and sufficient motivation to throw together a Hatchlings Report, as some of the affiliates have made a trip through the rotation since my last report. Let's hope I stay awake long enough to finish this thing.
Triple-A Reno:
RHP Bryan Augenstein - August 25 - 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R (0 ER), 5:0 K:BB, 7/5 GO/FO.
Hampton is included here strictly because we basically know for a fact that we're going to see him in September as another LOOGY option. The results so far have been fine, though he has recorded four outs in the air and just one on the ground.
Augenstein is legitimately encouraging though. For someone who has had as much time as he has this year with allowing a ton of hits (.370 BABIP after this game), to see Augenstein allow just one in six innings, despite likely being a fluke, is a treat to see.
Double-A Mobile:
Cowgill provided just enough offense to allow Bryan Woodall to earn the win for the BayBears, on in relief of Ryan Cook. He drove in all three of the BayBears' runs as Mobile topped Nashville by one run. Cowgill is the best prospect not named Jarrod Parker (or Brandon Allen - thanks for the catch here blue bulldog) in the D-backs' system who began the season in the upper minors (above A-ball), though that's rather obvious given that his competition is headlined by Konrad Schmidt.
Hi-A Visalia:
While the Cal League is notorious for hitter-friendliness, it is the starting pitching that has shown up for the Rawhide as of late. Smith appears to have his Hi-A feet under him after some early struggles for Visalia. Taylor continues an up-and-down season with a spectacular outing. Brewer took just one start to adapt to the Hi-A lineups after moving up from South Bend, and has been devastatingly effective ever since. McAnaney has been nothing shy of spectacular since arriving back at Visalia.
Low-A South Bend:
Borchering has perhaps been South Bend's hottest hitter since Matt Davidson left for Visalia. Borchering's post-ASB OPS is 60 points higher than his pre-ASB OPS, and he's been on quite the power surge as of late. This type of power is encouraging for someone who still believes that Borchering can translate his incredible raw batting practice power into games. Considering that Borchering was the 16th overall pick in a very important draft for the D-backs, he'll get plenty of chances.
Short-Season-A Yakima:
Talk about a guy on a tear at the plate. Walters has been phenomenal in the heart of the lineup for the Bears all season long, with an .847 OPS in 60 contests. While Walters is old for the level, at 20 years old, he's certainly not ancient and he's playing a premium defensive position. The ninth-round pick could very well be the starting shortstop for South Bend on Opening Day 2011. He could use a few more walks, particularly within this streak, though he did record a walk in each of the bookend games of the streak despite not recording a hit in either.
Rookie-level Missoula:
LHP David Holmberg - August 26 - 7 IP, 9 H, 5 R (4 ER), 9:0 K:BB, 0 HR, 4/6 GO/FO.
OF Adam Eaton - Last Nine Games (Since August 18) - 12-32, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R, 6:5 K:BB.
These names looking familiar? :)
The overall results from Thursday's game may not have been pretty, but it's certainly hard to argue with the rates. As a matter of fact, Holmberg's rates have been off-the-charts-good since he arrived in Missoula in the Edwin Jackson trade. A K:BB ratio of 34:5 in 29 innings of work, just one home run allowed, and a 56% GB-rate. 10.55 K/9IP, 1.55 BB/9IP, and a stunning 2.06 FIP. All I can say is that I'm very much looking forward to seeing Holmberg throw as a member of South Bend's rotation near the end of Spring semester.
As for Eaton, well... it must be nice for Missoula Osprey fans like, for instance, the 'Pit's very own Missoula Osprey Fan, to watch a guy who gets on base in half of his plate appearances. Yep, Adam Eaton is sporting a BABIP-influenced .500 OBP. But don't be too quick to discredit his numbers. His ability to collect plenty of extra bases, draw a walk, healthy 17.5% LD-rate, and low fly-ball tendencies mean that his luck-adjusted numbers on minorleaguesplits.com still come out to a .323/.461/.503 line and .964 OPS with a BABIP of .365. Darn impressive. Hard to imagine him going anywhere but Hi-A to start 2011.
Others of note:
- Brandon Allen keeps hitting homers - he now has 25 on the year after whacking one on Tuesday.
- Matt Torra missed a ton of bats in his last outing, striking out nine, though he also allowed two home runs and ended up getting tagged with five earned runs over 6 innings. Kevin Mulvey also had a strong start, throwing five shutout innings and lowering his post-All-Star Break ERA to 3.16.
- One of Reno's hottest hitters while there, outfielder Chris Rahl was sent to Mobile to help the BayBears as they make a push towards the playoffs. He has responded by collecting four hits in the last two games he has started, including a triple, to go with a stolen base in seven at-bats.
- While a low BABIP isn't helping his cause, it would be nice if Matt Davidson would collect himself an extra-base hit instead of keeping up this ISO of exactly zero.
- Paul Goldschmidt hit his 33rd home run of the year on Monday for Visalia. He was also named the MVP for the Cal League today, so congrats to him. Only fitting with his ludicrous home run binge and the fact that he has kept his OPS north of .950 for nearly the entire season.
- Right-hander Scottie Allen returned from injury to throw on Friday, going three innings and giving up a walk, a hit, and nothing else. Diogenes Rosario was moved back to the 'pen to accommodate Allen's return to the rotation. Rosario is apparently happy about the switch - South Bend radio said that Rosario high-fived pitching coach Wellington Cepeda when Cepeda told him the knews.
- Tyler Skaggs, the focal piece of the Dan Haren trade package, pitched well on Tuesday, giving up just one earned run in four innings. However, Derek Eitel, the D-backs' 2010 draft pick from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, stole the spotlight by striking out seven in five innings of relief, allowing just an earned run.
- David Nick also shined for the SilverHawks on Wednesday, clubbing both a triple and a home run as South Bend beat Dayton 7-4.
- Further proof of how lateral of a move the Missoula/Yakima promotion is, 20-year-old right-hander Teo Gutierrez has been phenomenal in his two starts spanning eight innings since joining the Bears' rotation. This came after he posted a 6.97 ERA in 20 2/3 innings for the Osprey. He has allowed just one run while walking two and striking out three. Andrea Pizziconi, on the other hand, has slumped since joining Missoula.
- In the four starts prior to Holmberg's outing, Kevin Eichhorn, J.R. Bradley, Robbie Rowland, and Patrick Schuster combined to allow just two earned runs over 21 2/3 innings of work, although with a few shady sets of rates. That entire rotation is a promising group filled with top-30 prospects in the D-backs system. MOF is a pretty lucky guy out there.
19 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
BAD AUTO TAG AND LINK
Not that Adam Eaton. This one plays in the outfield and is a better pitcher.
See what I did there?
http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=343580&title=spoiler-alert-human-centipede - Warning: NSFW... sorta
by Dan Strittmatter on Aug 27, 2010 7:39 PM EDT reply actions
do you think cowgill
is really better than allen, or did you just not include allen because he had some ML PA?
i really hope woodall can be a quality relief arm in the majors, and i still have a mancrush on brewer. i don’t understand why anderson is only getting 3 inning outings…do you have any insight on that? are we trying to convert him into relief, or is it just to limit his innings? why are we not doing that with other pitchers in his class?
i think we might need to trade goldschmidt to the AL….he seems to fit the big bopper DH mold better than the 1B mold from what i’ve read…i think we can get good pieces for him though
He's not better than Allen
I just totally spaced on this haha. You caught me – Allen is top-8 and Cowgill is more around top-15. I’ll find some way to fix this. : P
Anderson is being limited to three inning outings because we’re monitoring his innings workload. We need to do this with Anderson in particular because he was not a starter in college at Oklahoma – he was their closer. So we’ve got to tack 30 innings on top of that per season, which is going to make this a rather slow and tedious process.
The same kind of goes for Belfiore, who closed for BC, though we’re not limiting his innings yet because he A) threw a ton of innings in that one marathon game so he’ll get an extra start or two out of that and B) he got hurt for a bit this year, so he still has to catch up there.
Suffice it to say that there have been a lot of “E – Missed Catch” assigned to Goldschmidt this year… he’s got a lot of Adam Dunn in him.
http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=343580&title=spoiler-alert-human-centipede - Warning: NSFW... sorta
by Dan Strittmatter on Aug 27, 2010 11:50 PM EDT up reply actions
ah
you had me really worried…because i feel like cowgill is sort of expected to be like a 4th outfielder, and i was scared that our scouting is expecting less from allen
that’s good to know about anderson….his minor league stats look filthy
i feel like Anderson and Brewer have to be considered our top pitching prospects not named Parker
by blue bulldog on Aug 28, 2010 12:32 AM EDT up reply actions
Skaggs is our #2 pitching prospect.
Then there’s Pat Corbin and Wade Miley. Scottie Allen is also in that mix.
Amongst my ever-changing, flexible-ish Top Prospects List (it’ll be up sometime after the season once I’m comfortable with it), here is the current list of arms that fall in the top-25:
1) Parker (1)
2) Skaggs (4)
3) Corbin (7)
4) Miley (8)
5) Anderson (9)
6) Allen (10)
7) Belfiore (15)
8) Brewer (16) – if I had to choose one guy on this list right now that I’m undervaluing, it’s probably Brewer.
9) Holmberg (17)
10) Collmenter (19)
11) Smith (21)
12) Roemer (24)
13) Schuster (25)
Munson, Bradley, Woodall, Rowland, Green, & Perry fill six of the next seven spots (w/ David Nick @ 27).
http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=343580&title=spoiler-alert-human-centipede - Warning: NSFW... sorta
by Dan Strittmatter on Aug 28, 2010 10:15 AM EDT up reply actions
is this from a scouting perspective?
my opinion of the pitching prospects are also ever-changing haha. i also unfortunately have never seen video of any of them pitch, so i can only go off their stats
number 1 has to be parker. i think everyone agrees on that.
i say 2-4 are anderson, brewer, corbin, though i think these three could be largely interchangeable on a pitching prospect list with my current ever-changing opinion putting anderson as the slight favorite
i put skaggs fifth. the only reason i have him lower than the others (despite him having more upside than corbin, brewer, and anderson from what i’ve read) is that he’s simply too far away from the majors, and i guess i sort of give more weight to being closer to the majors than you do
i have miley sixth. i really love his groundball rates, but he’s just walking way too many batters even for a groundball pitcher (i’m not that concerned about his low strikeout rates). and his production was pretty mediocre prior to this year…..i hope i’m undervaluing miley, because he can also reach the majors pretty fast, but walking that many batters just doesn’t bode well for success in the majors, and i’m also worried this year is just a fluke
allen 7th, and holmberg 8th. both these guys have tons of upside i think. their peripheral rates are solid, and they are so young, but they are really far away from the majors
by blue bulldog on Aug 28, 2010 4:16 PM EDT up reply actions
It's a mix
Of scouting and stats. This crap is aggravatingly hard to get straight.
Jarrod Parker has the ability to be a #1 starter. Consensus agreed.
But where Skaggs comes in so high is the fact that he could be a #2 starter. This is mostly based off of readings from BP, BA, scouts, etc. but despite already throwing in the 90’s, he should be able to add 2-3 MPH to his fastball, making that a plus pitch. Further, merely by listening to the South Bend radio broadcasts, his curveball sounds absolutely devastating (and it is also currently his strikeout pitch, and a plus pitch).
Sure, the change-up is a work in progress, but it has the chance to be a legit third pitch, and two plus offerings with some impressive control for a just-turned 19-year-old is remarkable. And, really, though he is just 19, he may not take all that long to get to AZ. He’ll start next year in Hi-A, and if his domination in Low-A this year is any indication, he could make a mid-season jump. In the majors at 22 years old wouldn’t be a total stretch.
Anderson is nice, with three pitches, but just one of them rates out as truly plus – his change-up. Corbin works with three pitches, though none of them is plus, as he is a “greater than the sum of its parts” guy. Brewer… I still need to find out what he throws, for crying out loud. I should know this. But here, there’s in all likelihood just one plus offering if any, so they all profile more in the back end.
Miley’s control has certainly been worse as of late… it’s disappointing, really. But he has a plus pitch (slider), and three big-league pitches and could probably be a #5-caliber starter at Chase Field tomorrow if we needed him to be. Maybe I’m a bit hyped up on him, but at the same time I also have fairly low expectations of #5 guys.
Allen is going to take some time (a year per level sounds about right), though Holmberg could be a rocket up the system. He’s already got a good feel for above-average off-speed pitches (curveball and change-up), though he also does not have much projection left in his arm, particularly given his body type (already being compared to David Wells). He’s demolished the PL since arriving at Missoula (FIP just a tick over 2, K-Rate over 10 per 9 IP), and is about 99% likely to take one of the five Opening Day South Bend rotation slots, despite there being a ton of competition for those – Kevin Eichhorn, Patrick Schuster, Cody Wheeler, Enrique Burgos, Miguel Pena, Robbie Rowland, J.R. Bradley, Jeffrey Shields, Blake Cooper, & Andrea Pizziconi.
My bets are: Eichhorn, Holmberg, Schuster, Wheeler, and Bradley, with Rowland being the first to join the rotation @ S.B. out of Extended Spring Training once one of Eichhorn/Holmberg/Wheeler gets promoted (like the team did with Scottie Allen this year). We also could see Blake Perry / Tyler Green come into play.
http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=343580&title=spoiler-alert-human-centipede - Warning: NSFW... sorta
by Dan Strittmatter on Aug 28, 2010 4:45 PM EDT up reply actions
it's great to be able to hear
scouting reports on these guys since i’ve only been able to go off the stats
i would like to just temper the expectation a little. i think parker COULD be a 1, but that his median expectation is like a number 2 right now. still, that’s a great median expectation for pitching prospects. just saying that most analysts don’t have him rated as highly as tommy hanson and jeremy hellickson when they were on the brink of the majors
if skaggs can make it to the majors in 2013 and does end up being a 1/2/3 i’d be really satisfied. i’m just worried because the farther away you go, the more variability ends up in the projection. right now, i would say his median expectation is to be a number 3
i’m really glad to hear that chase anderson has a plus changeup. i think if there is one pitch you want to have as a plus pitch (out of the four bread and butter pitches of fastball, slider, curveball, changeup) it would be the changeup. it’s why kennedy has had some success this year, even though he only has one plus pitch (according to fangraphs stats).
one thing that does worry me about anderson, corbin, and brewer, is that recently i think their gaudy numbers are a bit skewed. anderson and corbin are essentially pitching to guys one and a half times through the order, which means we should be expecting them to put up good numbers. brewer dominates the first time through the order. the few games i’ve followed him, the majority of his strikeouts are racked up through the first time, and batters seem to get used to his stuff later on (though his overall numbers shows he can still be effective). it’ll be good to see them get a full year in AA, and hopefully i’ll still be high on them at the end of next year
by blue bulldog on Aug 28, 2010 6:38 PM EDT up reply actions
Of course
We always tend to speak of prospects in terms of their ceilings. It’s… kind of strange, admittedly.
The reason Parker wasn’t as raved-about was strictly the TJ. If he makes a full recovery from TJ (a significant if, of course), he’ll be just as good of a prospect as either of them.
That’s a true point, but the same can really be said about the Brewer/Anderson/Corbin group. Their ceilings probably lie in the back of the rotation, but they could easily wind up in the ’pen.
Anderson was doing just fine earlier in the year when throwing lots of innings. And Corbin’s numbers with the Angels were still nice. That obviously is a good point that needs to be taken into consideration, but it’s all in the process of building up these kids’ arm strength.
And heck, all of these guys could wind up fizzling out in three years and we’d be screwed. : P
http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=343580&title=spoiler-alert-human-centipede - Warning: NSFW... sorta
by Dan Strittmatter on Aug 29, 2010 1:35 AM EDT up reply actions
Goldschmidt Happens
All I can say is Paul is the real deal. I really look forward to what he does next year in AA or AAA. Maybe we’ll be fortunate to see him in Spring Training? Until then, MVP/ROY and tied for the league lead in HRs is pretty darn good!
By the way, he will get better at 1B. Probably won’t be a gold gover, but I think the offense he could provide will out weigh any slacking on the flield.
by Mizzoula Osprey Fan on Aug 28, 2010 1:05 AM EDT up reply actions
While his rates have been phenomenal lately
Particularly considering his K:BB ratio was at one point, IIRC, 66:11, it wouldn’t really be all too surprising to see him hit .240 next year and never get past Double-A. It’s the unfortunate nature of prospects, especially prospects who have holes in their swing like Goldschmidt does. Then again, so does Mark Reynolds.
http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=343580&title=spoiler-alert-human-centipede - Warning: NSFW... sorta
by Dan Strittmatter on Aug 28, 2010 10:16 AM EDT up reply actions
Close than can of doubt-r-raid my friend
I look at Goldschmidt as a Mark Reynolds type of hitter except for one thing: Paul doesn’t actually swing at every pitch under the sun. Last year in Missoula he started that way. But half way through the season he began walking much more often and being smarter when he was in an off-speed type count. I doubt he’ll be a perennial .300 hitter however it wouldn’t suprise me in the least if he materialized into a .280-.290 hitter. With his power potential definitely transferable to the Bigs, I would say he’s well on his way to challenging for a 2012 roster spot.
by Mizzoula Osprey Fan on Aug 28, 2010 11:20 AM EDT up reply actions
goldschmidt's strikeout rate
is even higher than reynolds’ was at the same point in their careers….
i just don’t think that bodes well. i also feel someone always overpays for home runs, so we could probably get someone good back in a trade
by blue bulldog on Aug 28, 2010 4:02 PM EDT up reply actions
From Zephon's blog
Back on July 18:
Someone on the DBBP pointed this out, but in april/may, paul goldschmidt had a 62:11 K:BB ratio. Since then, his K:BB ratio is 37:24, a big improvement.
To update this, his current ratio is 150:52. So back in April/May, it was 62:11, and since, it is 88:41. Not a horrible ratio at all for someone with as much power as Goldschmidt has.
http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=343580&title=spoiler-alert-human-centipede - Warning: NSFW... sorta
by Dan Strittmatter on Aug 28, 2010 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions
Until last night
This Missoula pitching staff had been pitching phenomenally. The only reason why we’ve lost is because our infield has sooooooooooooooo many holes in it. I think we’re averaging around 2 errors a game! It’s sad since our SPs are dealing but poor play in the field isn’t getting it done at the end of the night.
Eichhorn was lit up last night. However I’m not sure this was entirely his fault. What the box score doesn’t tell you is that the Osprey spent almost 3 hours sitting at a stand still due to road contruction in Wyoming (I believe). I heard they didn’t role into Casper until almost 500am so they didn’t get much rest at all. Feel kinda bad for the tall kids we have on the team this year. I’ve seen their luxury bus (ROFLOL) and it wouldn’t be comfortable for anyone over a long course of time. Just crazy stats in the box from last night. 26 runs allowed on 27 hits! I would expect a much better showing from the O’s tonight.
I’m trying to figure out why Eaton didn’t play last night. Could have been a day off but I noticed he was lifted from the previous game in about the 6th inning.
by Mizzoula Osprey Fan on Aug 28, 2010 11:35 AM EDT reply actions
How about that game last night though?
Hahaha torched. But BABIP and HR/FB were both also at play. On balls in play, Eichhorn allowed more hits (10) than outs recorded (9)! Not sure if I ever have seen that one. I don’t care if you’re Randy Johnson, if you’re sporting a BABIP north of .500, you are not going to be successful.
http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=343580&title=spoiler-alert-human-centipede - Warning: NSFW... sorta
by Dan Strittmatter on Aug 28, 2010 4:52 PM EDT up reply actions
Update
Well it’s lookin’ like the Osprey are gonna miss out on the playoffs this year after another dissapointing loss in Casper.
I honestly would think you could eliminate the stats from the shelacking we took the other night. Turns out the sat for 5 hours at a road closed sign since they were doing contruction at night. Guess they spent from 11pm till 9am the next day on the bus. They made the most of it (some pretty funny pics and vids on FB) but that had to have been rough as far as preping and playing that night.
by Mizzoula Osprey Fan on Aug 29, 2010 2:00 AM EDT up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
Baseball Nation Recent Stories
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- The Cardinals Hall of Fame can now be found at Bill Clinton’s library in Arkansas (Huh?)
- Will Bryce Harper start the season with the Nationals?
- Mitch Mustain puts football behind him, signs reported rookie deal with White Sox
- Robinson Cano and Denzel Washington face off in Jay Leno’s Yankees trivia contest
- Shane Victorino lands role on ‘Hawaii Five-0′
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
