2006 Peoria Chiefs Q&A with Nathan Baliva

[CaliforniaRaisin]

On the injury side, Lee Gwaltney, Aaron Krawiec, Phil Norton and Alberto Garcia were among the ones rehabbing when I was visiting our 2005 trainer Matt Johnson.

 

Did you see Chadd Blasko or Billy Petrick around?

[ChiefsVoice]

no i didn't

[treebird]

On a side note, it appears that our 2005 catcher Oscar Bernard is now a pitcher. He was throwing 97-98 on the gun with his fastball and will likely either start in Mesa or Boise.

 

WHERE'S SERENA AT!?

 

i always loved oscar, and she always hated him

 

she better not jump on the bandwagon

[NCCubFan]

What's Hagerty's status? I haven't seen any mention of him, but I never read anything about him being released. Is he in minor league camp?

[Laura]

On a side note, it appears that our 2005 catcher Oscar Bernard is now a pitcher. He was throwing 97-98 on the gun with his fastball and will likely either start in Mesa or Boise.

 

WHERE'S SERENA AT!?

 

i always loved oscar, and she always hated him

 

she better not jump on the bandwagon

 

I wish him well in his new position.

[ChiefsVoice]

What's Hagerty's status? I haven't seen any mention of him, but I never read anything about him being released. Is he in minor league camp?

 

He's in camp. I only saw him stretching and running. I believe he is now too old for Boise so he would either have to be here or Daytona....

[cubsrams1]

Does anyone know the status of Bo Flowers? There are a few rumors I'm hearing about him possibly playing college football. He was a top QB prospect in 02.

[ChiefsVoice]

Bo was playing on Monday in Mesa on Daytona's field when I was there. Didnt talk to him too much other than to shake hands, say hi how are you and best of luck this season. I hadn't heard anything else. I'll see if I can get some more info this week.

 

FYI: Quan Cosby who was a freshman wide reciever for the National Champion Texas Longhorns this year played against us in Cedar Rapids in 2003 and 2004....and Tim Lemon who was on the Chiefs from 2001-2004 is currently heading into his soph season at Colorado so it is possible...

[Joe_Cub]

Where do you think Gallagher will start out this season?

 

When do they announce the rosters?

 

Thanks.

[ChiefsVoice]

probably start in Daytona but I wouldn't be surprised to see Sean in West Tenn this season.

 

we get the final rosters Monday April 3rd when they arrive in town. Hopefully we will get some kind of heads up, preliminary roster the Friday before, but who knows?!

[treebird]

how are ticket sales going for this season in peoria?

 

i had a ticket package for something like 15 games last year, but elected not to do it again due to the need to have a little more flexibility with what days I go to games due to my irregular work schedule. i hope to make it out to closer to 20 games this year.

 

also, when is myron noodleman going to be there again; i have to make sure to not show up, that dude thought that my sister and i were boyfriend and girlfriend.

[ChiefsVoice]

how are ticket sales going for this season in peoria?

 

i had a ticket package for something like 15 games last year, but elected not to do it again due to the need to have a little more flexibility with what days I go to games due to my irregular work schedule. i hope to make it out to closer to 20 games this year.

 

also, when is myron noodleman going to be there again; i have to make sure to not show up, that dude thought that my sister and i were boyfriend and girlfriend.

 

I believe we are right about the same pace we were last year 3 weeks ahead of the season starting. Always tough selling the April May "cold games" and then things usually start to pick up quite a bit around Memorial Day Weekeend.

 

You can always opt for th Build Your Own Package which has a minimum of 10 games and no MAX and then you can pick and choose any games you want around your work schedule. Its on the season tickets page of our website.

 

Your good friend Myron will be here June 3 and August 25!

[UK1679666180]

Please tell me that Beloit decided to put the visiting teams somewhere else besides the Econo-Lodge? :)

 

At least, Peoria sends the visiting team to the Holiday Inn.

 

Top prospect Joel Zumaya in '03 thought that Phil Regan (frmr Cubs PC) was punishing the team for lackluster play and sent them to the Econo Lodge rather than a nicer Hotel.

[ChiefsVoice]

Please tell me that Beloit decided to put the visiting teams somewhere else besides the Econo-Lodge? :)

 

At least, Peoria sends the visiting team to the Holiday Inn.

 

Top prospect Joel Zumaya in '03 thought that Phil Regan (frmr Cubs PC) was punishing the team for lackluster play and sent them to the Econo Lodge rather than a nicer Hotel.

 

nah i think we are back in the Econo Lodge. And actually we moved the visiting players this year from the downtown Holiday Inn to the East Peoria Super 8 just across the river.

 

and all those are better than the hotel in Clinton

[kalarmac]

Oh man! We missed you by one day. Karenmac & I We were in Mesa @ the practice field on the 16. Saw some practice, but everyone was floating from field to field. We were back on Saturday the 18 again and they had some division done. Talked a lot with Mark Reed and he was pretty sure he'll be up our way. Carter was working out on the same team. Talked with Matt (last year's trainer) as well as Tom Pratt. All were excited about the new season coming up, and all seemed to think we would have a great group in Peoria once again. Like you said, the pitching this year looks like it should be good. Most of the guys had only started throwing a couple of days before we saw them, but they still looked really promising.

 

Sorry, I am horrible with names, so I can't remeber all I saw.

 

Looking forward to seeing you soon Nate.

[karenmac]

Hey Nate!

 

We'll be there, but was curious if you were planning on broadcasting the exhibition game the Chiefs are doing with Bradley on 4/4?

 

Figured some of these folks might be interested if you were... :D

 

Thanks,

Karen

[ChiefsVoice]

Hey Nate!

 

We'll be there, but was curious if you were planning on broadcasting the exhibition game the Chiefs are doing with Bradley on 4/4?

 

Figured some of these folks might be interested if you were... :D

 

Thanks,

Karen

 

nope. i think BU might broadcast it but ill be roaming around the ballpark doing anything but work! ha!

[craig]

Nathan, what can you tell us about Blackford, Sotologo, and Campusano, all of whom pitched well in yesterday's game. A friend who was at mesa late in spring mentioned Campusano as one of the most impressive guys he saw; and his debut yesterday K'ing the side in his first inning would seem to jive with that. Is he a big-league prospect with a major-league arm, or more of a guy with an average arm who'd need to have above average control or above-average breaking pitch to be an above-average big-league reliever?

 

Sotolongo sounds like a big dude. Does he have a big power arm? Or is his fastball really good, or no faster than what 3-5 guys on any Midwest League team can do??

 

And how about Blackford? 2-seam Sinker/curveball guy with enough velocity on his sinker to get it in the 88-91 kind of range?

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I'm going to preemptively ask this since I can't listen to the game today. How did Yepez look? I know he's primarily a ground ball type of pitcher, does he throw a sinker? How hard does he throw and what type of pitches does he throw?

[ChiefsVoice]

Nathan, what can you tell us about Blackford, Sotologo, and Campusano, all of whom pitched well in yesterday's game. A friend who was at mesa late in spring mentioned Campusano as one of the most impressive guys he saw; and his debut yesterday K'ing the side in his first inning would seem to jive with that. Is he a big-league prospect with a major-league arm, or more of a guy with an average arm who'd need to have above average control or above-average breaking pitch to be an above-average big-league reliever?

 

Sotolongo sounds like a big dude. Does he have a big power arm? Or is his fastball really good, or no faster than what 3-5 guys on any Midwest League team can do??

 

And how about Blackford? 2-seam Sinker/curveball guy with enough velocity on his sinker to get it in the 88-91 kind of range?

 

Campusano looks better this year than he did on the mound last year. Looks to be throwing harder and looks a lot more confident. His numbers were good with us last season but his control was too shaky to be a closer. Not so this year, at least so far! I think he is a prospect, not as high as Phelps but the 2nd best in our pen.

 

Sotolongo, I'll have to hold judgement on until I see him throw more than 27 pitches but he did look good Friday night. He is a big guy. I don't remember the radar numbers, but I didn't say Wow thats a great fastball.

 

Blackford looked great Friday. Keeps the ball low, mixes it in and out and up and down. Watching him pitch was fun on Friday night. He was 89-91 with the Fastball

[ChiefsVoice]

I'm going to preemptively ask this since I can't listen to the game today. How did Yepez look? I know he's primarily a ground ball type of pitcher, does he throw a sinker? How hard does he throw and what type of pitches does he throw?

 

Yepez was great yesterday. no hits through five. mixed in all over the soze. he doesnt throw as hard as some of the other guys ( i think he was 85-88 if the radar on the scoreboard was accurate) but is somewhat deceptive from the left side. it looked like lefties had trouble picking him up yesterday. some of that had to do with the positioning of the sun but he took advantage of that. everyting was either popped up or on the ground so his sinking fastball was obviously effective. also had a nice breaking ball and changeup working yesterday. good control as well.

[craig]

Nathan, having you give reports on these pitchers is great!

 

What's your report on Atkins and Avery? My old notes on Avery is that when he's on, he's got an excellent, heavy sinking fastball, and in past got up around 89-91 or so for velocity.

 

Atkins as a solid-framed guy who's fastball can max out in the 91-93 range, and has a change and curve that don't look bad but none of the three pitches was very refined in terms of location or consistency last year. The scoop I'd gotten is that he's kind of a work in progress, and part of his future depends both on getting more consistent with his location but also his fastball velocity (hitting 91-92 one day, next game perhaps no faster than 87-89), but also on the projection that given his size and youth, he might end up throwing quite a bit harder in future than he did last year. I've gotten no feedback on whether he's more a 2-seam sinker/GB guy with a lot of fastball movement, or not so much movement on the fastball or perhaps more of a flyball guy. Appreciate any early thoughts or observations!

 

Thanks a ton.

[ryguy]

Looks like Brandon Taylor had a nice 10th. Are the chiefs planning to archive the radio broadcasts in the future, so you can listen to a game later if you miss it?

[ChiefsVoice]

Looks like Brandon Taylor had a nice 10th. Are the chiefs planning to archive the radio broadcasts in the future, so you can listen to a game later if you miss it?

 

Yep. We are ready to do it now but it will be done through Minorleaguebaseball.com's multimedia page and the email I received today indicated it would be Late this week or early next week before their system is ready to archive.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I'm going to preemptively ask this since I can't listen to the game today. How did Yepez look? I know he's primarily a ground ball type of pitcher, does he throw a sinker? How hard does he throw and what type of pitches does he throw?

 

Yepez was great yesterday. no hits through five. mixed in all over the soze. he doesnt throw as hard as some of the other guys ( i think he was 85-88 if the radar on the scoreboard was accurate) but is somewhat deceptive from the left side. it looked like lefties had trouble picking him up yesterday. some of that had to do with the positioning of the sun but he took advantage of that. everyting was either popped up or on the ground so his sinking fastball was obviously effective. also had a nice breaking ball and changeup working yesterday. good control as well.

 

Wonderful, thanks!