Minor League Discussion & Boxes 6-4-2008

[Outshined_One]

Box Scores

 

Tennessee won 10-6 Box Score

 

SS M. Camp 1/4, BB, R, RBI, PO (1B), E (4, fielding)

CF T. Colvin 3/5, R, RBI, 2B (11), PO (1B)

1B M. Craig 0/2, 3 BB, R

DH J. Fox 0/4, BB, 2 K

2B N. Spears 3/4, R, 3 RBI, 2 2B (9)

RF D. Deeds 2/4, BB, RBI, SB (4)

3B M. Matulia 0/4, BB, 2 K

SP M. Atkins 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4/3 K/BB, HR, 7-6 GO-FO

 

Daytona lost 5-4 Box Score

 

2B T. Thomas 1/3

SS D. Barney 1/4, BB, R, 2 K

LF T. Wright 0/4, 3 K, HBP

DH S. Clevenger 3/4, BB, R

RF Y. Carter 3/5, 2 R, SB (4)

1B R. Canzler 3/4, 3 RBI

C M. Reed 0/5, 3 K

3B J. Lansford 3/4, RBI, 2B (9), K, CS (2), E (13, throw)

CF J. Wyatt 1/2, 2 BB

SP M. Mateo 4.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2/0 K/BB, HR, WP, HBP, 8-3 GO-FO

RP T. Blackford .1 hitless/scoreless, 0/1 K/BB, WP, 0-1 GO-FO

RP C. Lambert 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2/1 K/BB, HR, 1-0 GO-FO

 

Peoria lost 6-1 Box Score

 

SS N. Samson 0/5, 2 K

2B M. Smith 0/3, 2 BB

LF B. Guyer 0/4, BB, K

3B J. Rosa 0/3, BB

RF D. Johnston 0/4, K

DH E. Lara 1/4, RBI

CF L. Johnson 3/4, 2B (3)

SP C. Siegfried 3 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 2/2 K/BB, WP, 4-3 GO-FO

 

OVERALL: 1-2

Edited June 5, 2008 by Outshined_One

[Guest]

Probable Starters:

 

Tennessee: RHP Mitch Atkins (4-5, 4.30 ERA, 67 IP, 55 K/15 BB)

Daytona: RHP Marcos Mateo (Daytona & Peoria: 2-1, 3.24 ERA, 33.1 IP, 35 K/13 BB)

Peoria: LHP Chris Siegfried (1-3, 5.40 ERA, 40 IP, 18/15 BB)

 

DSL Cubs 1 at DSL Yankees 2, 10:30 am

DSL Cubs 2 vs DSL Dodgers, 10:30 am

[Guest]

Tennessee up 5-3 after 7. Colvin 2/4 with 2 singles. Atkins: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 K/1 BB.

 

Peoria getting beat 6-1 in the 8th. Siegfried gave up all 6 in 3 innings. It's a shame Acosta was sent down; heck, Cabrera was doing better than Siegfried has been this season.

[craig]

Cal or anybody, what do we know about Nate Spears's defense? Is he a Fontenot-like liability, or is he viewed as a good-fielding 2B? I've kind of completely forgotten about him after he started slow at Daytona two seasons ago. But his OPS in AA last year was over .800 and he's up around .800 now, with OBP in the .380's. He's been a consistent IsoD guy in the .080+ range, and he's 20BB/18K this year.

 

No power, but he bats LH, so I'm wondering whether down the road he might be a candidate to be a LH Theriot-style hitter who might compete for the Fontenot-type LH reserve infielder role.

 

Spears opened the season at age 22, so it's not like he's too old for his level.

 

Obviously utility infielders are supposed to be good defensively (Fontenot notwithstanding), and utility players are normally expected to play more than one position (Fontenot notwithstanding.) Spears has played almost nothing but 2B. I wonder if he's just a bad fielder and as such is a long shot for any big-league service or contribution? Or is it possible that he's reaching the stage where Fleita will say, "Heh, Spears is doing pretty well, he's getting close enough to the majors where we need to start moving him around in preparation for big league utility jobs"?

[Chris]

Good to see the Smokies in person, but yikes to the bullpen.

[Guest]

AZ Phil at Fitch

 

• Oneri was there again.
  
• Gooz looked good in a simulated game.
  
• Manolin DeLeon just joned extended spring training from the Dominican Academy in Baseball City.
  
• Oneri went ballistic at Jeffrey Rea (for not being in uniform) and Kyler Burke (for not signalling to Vitters whether to stand or slide at home).
  
• Vitters: 0/1, 2 R, BB, HBP, throwing error.
  
• Dwayne Kemp and Nelson Perez each hit a triple.
  
• 17-year old Jeffry Antigua: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 K/1 BB, 7 GO-2 FO.

[tfarks]

Is that 2 errors for Vitters in 3 games at 3b? both throwing?

[E.J.]

Is that 2 errors for Vitters in 3 games at 3b? both throwing?

 

Sounds about right. I don't understand how it's that difficult to make a throw to 1st base.

[Guest]

Is that 2 errors for Vitters in 3 games at 3b? both throwing?

 

Yes, that's his primary defensive problem. AZ Phil hypothesized that he was ok unless he had time and thought about the throw. If that's all it is, it's not a big deal imo.

[rawaction]

Not a good day for Mark Reed. Colvin did alright though.

[karenmac]

Is that 2 errors for Vitters in 3 games at 3b? both throwing?

 

Yes, that's his primary defensive problem. AZ Phil hypothesized that he was ok unless he had time and thought about the throw. If that's all it is, it's not a big deal imo.

 

I would call this Dylan Johnston syndrome...he had the *exact* same problem at SS...the powers that be tried to fix it for 2 years, then gave up an moved him to the outfield.

[biittner77]

Is that 2 errors for Vitters in 3 games at 3b? both throwing?

 

Yes, that's his primary defensive problem. AZ Phil hypothesized that he was ok unless he had time and thought about the throw. If that's all it is, it's not a big deal imo.

 

I would call this Dylan Johnston syndrome...he had the *exact* same problem at SS...the powers that be tried to fix it for 2 years, then gave up an moved him to the outfield.

 

Sounds more like David Kelton.

[biittner77]

Cal or anybody, what do we know about Nate Spears's defense? Is he a Fontenot-like liability, or is he viewed as a good-fielding 2B? I've kind of completely forgotten about him after he started slow at Daytona two seasons ago. But his OPS in AA last year was over .800 and he's up around .800 now, with OBP in the .380's. He's been a consistent IsoD guy in the .080+ range, and he's 20BB/18K this year.

 

No power, but he bats LH, so I'm wondering whether down the road he might be a candidate to be a LH Theriot-style hitter who might compete for the Fontenot-type LH reserve infielder role.

 

Spears opened the season at age 22, so it's not like he's too old for his level.

 

Obviously utility infielders are supposed to be good defensively (Fontenot notwithstanding), and utility players are normally expected to play more than one position (Fontenot notwithstanding.) Spears has played almost nothing but 2B. I wonder if he's just a bad fielder and as such is a long shot for any big-league service or contribution? Or is it possible that he's reaching the stage where Fleita will say, "Heh, Spears is doing pretty well, he's getting close enough to the majors where we need to start moving him around in preparation for big league utility jobs"?

 

Did Spears come over from the Orioles org.? If he's the guy I'm thinking of he was blocked at Delmarva by another SS "prospect" who also played for Tenn last year.

 

As far as Spears' defense, if its the guy I'm thinking of I saw him play about a half dozen times and saw nothing particularly noteworthy about his defense good or bad. I thought he filled in a little at 3rd at Delmarva but I only saw him play 2nd.

[craig]

Did Spears come over from the Orioles org.? If he's the guy I'm thinking of he was blocked at Delmarva by another SS "prospect" who also played for Tenn last year.

 

As far as Spears' defense, if its the guy I'm thinking of I saw him play about a half dozen times and saw nothing particularly noteworthy about his defense good or bad. I thought he filled in a little at 3rd at Delmarva but I only saw him play 2nd.

 

Thanks for the observations.

 

Yes, Spears came from Baltimore in the corey Patterson trade. Your observation fits with what I recall reading and hearing: that he's an average minor league 2B, not horrible but nothing special either, and would likely be below average relative to big-league 2B's. (The same might be said for Fontenot or Patterson, more or less.) At present, Fontenot works because DeRosa plays 3rd, so even though Fontenot can't play 3rd, essentially he can replace either DeRosa or Aram, so Lou's OK with that.

 

But on most teams, it's hard to make the roster as a one-position rookie sub. If Spears could show the ability to play 3B as well as 2nd, I think he'd have a better chance of eventually accumulating some big-league service time.

[CubinNY]

My wife and I had some business in Jackson so we stopped by the game. Atkins pitched very well after the first inning. Colvin hits the ball hard whenever he makes contact. Matt Craig has a good eye at the plate. Nate Spears does not stand out in anyway. I got a sunburn because I refused to put on sunscrean.