Boise Starts Its Season Soon

[Outshined_One]

This year's crop of draftees aside (considering we don't know who will sign), who do you folks figure we can expect to be on Boise's roster when their season starts on June 17th?

[JGalt73]

[Randy] Bush said Vitters should be able to join Class A Boise when it opens its season June 17.

[Guest]

Trying to only use guys who are in the system:

 

C Carlos Perez

1B Bryan Jost

2B Jose Made/Dwayne Kemp might be a possibility

SS Marwin Gonzalez

3B Josh Vitters, I guess (I figure he'd go back to Peoria soon enough)

OF Kyler Burke

OF Nelson Perez

OF Drew Rundle - not a true CF in the group

 

SP Mark Pawelek

SP Marcus Hatley

SP Ryan Acosta??

SP Arik Hempy

CL Harol Tolentino

 

I figure guys like Bristow, Jackson, Carpenter and Schafer will be around once they sign.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Kemp, Gonzalez, and Vitters would make for an exciting infield, one that I imagine would be rounded out by a draftee like Ridling or Keedy(apologies if either of those are spelled wrong).

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I was hoping to see Ryan Harvey listed as a pitcher on Boise's roster

[craig]

Kemp, Gonzalez, and Vitters would make for an exciting infield, one that I imagine would be rounded out by a draftee like Ridling or Keedy(apologies if either of those are spelled wrong).

 

I may be misremembering, but I thought Kemp was on a short visa and would need to get sent out soon.

[Guest]

Kemp, Gonzalez, and Vitters would make for an exciting infield, one that I imagine would be rounded out by a draftee like Ridling or Keedy(apologies if either of those are spelled wrong).

 

I may be misremembering, but I thought Kemp was on a short visa and would need to get sent out soon.

 

Ahhh...you're quite right. He's going to the MLB European Academy after extended spring training.

[CubinNY]

He's going to the MLB European Academy after extended spring training.

That sounds very high-falutin', like going to Oxford or The Sorbonne .

 

I bet it's a cricket pitch with some batting cages. :wink:

[wvcbxl]

I bet it's a cricket pitch with some batting cages. :wink:

 

In Italy?

Unlikely. 8-)

[craig]

http://www.idahostatesman.com/sports/story/410788.html

 

Initial roster.

 

Vitters 3B, Flaherty SS, Harrison SS, Opitz and Marwin Gonzalez for utility, Rebel Riding and Keedy for 1B. (My interpretation of usage.) Some of those guys will need to do some OF, because the only listed OFers are Burke, Rundle, and CF Campana.

C: Flores, Brenly, and Carlos Perez.

 

A zillion pitchers from the draft, so hard to guess who will start and who will pitch relief. James O'Donnell in there, so he signed.

 

My first guess at the starters might be: Hatley, Jay Johnson, Coleman, Pawelek, and Jose Pina. Not sure if Pawelek or Pina have enough control or in Pina's case rehab progress to start though. The list has 14 pitchers, so it will be kind of chaotic spring-training-like or like how they do the rookie league team at first.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Macias, Jones, and Sontag could all be in that OF mix soon enough. I know Calvert is just roster filler, but it's strange he didn't make the initial roster, being a senior that's already signed on a team with barely enough OFs. If they do move someone to the OF, I hope it's Harrison, I'd like to see Flaherty, Gonzalez, and Opitz get as many of the middle IF AB's as possible.

[craig]

..If they do move someone to the OF, I hope it's Harrison, I'd like to see Flaherty, Gonzalez, and Opitz get as many of the middle IF AB's as possible.

I'd rather keep Harrison in the infield. He was drafted 6th round to Opitz's 12th, is a year younger, and was the Big East player of the year. He's got some very impressive BB/K ratios in college, and has been an outstanding OBP guy, with an OBP around .440 for his college career and an OPS around .960 or so. Opitz has been more a career .280 hitter (in college!) with an OBP more in the .370 range and OPS around .790. So I'd rather go with Harrison, and hope he has enough OBP/bat to be something in the Derosa/Theriot class of hitter as a 2B.

[Guest]

Official Boise roster (bolds are my guess for starters):

 

PITCHERS:

LHP Michael Bunton

RHP Casey Coleman

RHP Marcus Hatley

LHP Arik Hempy

RHP Jay Jackson

RHP Tommy Mejia

LHP James Leverton

RHP John Muller

RHP Jake Muyco

RHP Bubba O'Donnell

LHP Mark Pawelek

RHP Jose Pina

RHP Harol Tolentino - closer

RHP Josh Whitlock

 

CATCHERS:

Michael Brenly

Luis Flores

Carlos Perez

 

INFIELDERS:

Ryan Flaherty (SS)

Marwin Gonzalez

Josh Harrison (2B)

Ryan Keedy (1B) - platoon

Jake Opitz

Rebel Ridling (1B) - platoon

Josh Vitters (3B)

 

OUTFIELDERS:

Kyler Burke

Tony Campana

Drew Rundle

 

I think we'll see another OF called up soon (Macias?). The catcher position will be interesting - arguably the best hitter from the AZL squad last season vs a top-10 rounder who could be a bit advanced for short season.

[Guest]

Mesa:

 

PITCHERS:

RHP Francisco Acosta

LHP Jeffrey Antigua

RHP Eric Allen

RHP Israel Camacaro

RHP Rogelio Carmona

RHP Manolin DeLeon

RHP Yohan Gonzalez

RHP Chris Huseby

LHP Leon Johnson

RHP Tarlandus Mitchell

RHP Dionis Nunez

RHP Julio Pena

RHP Mike Perconte

RHP Andres Quezada

RHP Carlos Rojas

RHP Jose Severino

RHP Miguel Sierra

LHP Luke Sommer

 

CATCHERS:

Matt Cerda

Robinson Chirinos

Jose Guevara (DL)

Roberto Sabates

Alvaro Sosa

 

INFIELDERS:

Bryan Jost

Starlin Castro

John Contreras

Sean Hoorelbeke

Dwayne Kemp

Junior Lake

Jose Made

George Matheus

Jeffrey Rea

 

OUTFIELDERS:

Kurt Calvert

David Macias

Nelson Perez

Cesar Salazar

Kevin Soto

TeWayne Willis

 

Acosta and Severino are back from the DSL - they had been sent down for about a month as punishment for fighting each other.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Raisin, what made you pick Whitlock over Coleman for the rotation?

 

And Craig, I'm really down on Harrison as a pick. He strikes me as a slap hitter who won't advance very well, especially since he played against pretty subpar competition. I'm not sure where you're getting Opitz's OPS from, he hit .339/.434/.568/1.002 last year, with a better walk rate and only slightly worse K rate than Harrison, while playing much better competition in the Big 12.

[craig]

Raisin, what made you pick Whitlock over Coleman for the rotation?

 

And Craig, I'm really down on Harrison as a pick. He strikes me as a slap hitter who won't advance very well, especially since he played against pretty subpar competition. I'm not sure where you're getting Opitz's OPS from, he hit .339/.434/.568/1.002 last year, with a better walk rate and only slightly worse K rate than Harrison, while playing much better competition in the Big 12.

 

Heh, my mistake, I checked BB-cube, which doesn't include 2008. So Opitz hadn't hit over .300 previous years, with no power, and with a lot more K's than Harrison.

 

Yeah, that's a pretty good 2008 for Opitz. (Was he a senior, just a really old junior, I don't remember?)

 

Is the Big East that bad of a conference? I know it's not SEC good, but being conference player of the year there, it's not like it's a bad conference.

 

Obviously Garrison may be a total fiasco, and may not hit at all. Most 6th rounders don't pan out. And obviously he's not going to hit many HR's. And I know it's obvious that the Cubs can make some pretty dumb picks sometimes. And I also know this isn't thinking for myself, it's just trusting the Cub scouts who have no track record of deserving trust; but I still think if they took him in the 6th and Opitz in the 12th, the Cubs at least think he's much better, and the odds are they are correct.

 

I like him better because he's been a consistent contact hitter every year, and I think contact hitters/slap hitters can progress pretty well. Contact hitters who lack HR power but have no holes can be better able to handle improved pitching, whereas the boom-or-bust stronger guys have a harder time handling promotions. If you are a contact guy at one level who consistently takes a lot of walks and has very few K's, that impresses me as perhaps having the most fundamental hitting tool, the ability to see pitches well, and to respond to them accurately. That Harrison can respond accurately but still not hit the ball over the wall is a major limitation, but Opitz hasn't power either, and if I could get a good-average good-OBP disciplined 2B in the 6th round, that would be a good value even if he doesn't hit for power. We'll see how it goes.

[Outshined_One]

I thought Kemp was being shipped back to Europe due to his visa? Interesting that he's listed on the Mesa roster.

[Guest]

Raisin, what made you pick Whitlock over Coleman for the rotation?

 

 

Couldn't decide between the two so I went with Whitlock since he seems like your older college pitcher (a la Ashwood and Sasser last year). I would like to see Coleman start since he seems a better prospect. Of course I am just guessing on a lot of this so we'll see.

[Guest]

Add RHPs Israel Camacaro and Mike Perconte to Boise's roster.

[CubinNY]

For those in the know:

 

Does Vitters stay in Short Season or does he go to Peoria after he gets in "game shape"?

[Guest]

For those in the know:

 

Does Vitters stay in Short Season or does he go to Peoria after he gets in "game shape"?

 

I hope it's the latter but I don't know. It's not really a big deal if he finishes the season at short season (doing well) at age 18.

[wvcbxl]

I thought Kemp was being shipped back to Europe due to his visa? Interesting that he's listed on the Mesa roster.

 

There was never any mention of visa restrictions on Dutch sites, so I assume that could just have been a rumour.

To my knowledge, young Dutch players turning pro (and there have been several in the last few years) have never had any visa problems.