Minor League Discussion & Boxes 6-24-2008

[rawaction]

The 4-1 hitters in the Smokies lineup went a combined 20-35, with 11 runs scored and 11 RBIs. Matt Camp didn't get the memo as he went 0-5. Colvin was the only other hitter without a multi-hit game, going 1-4, with a walk.

[Ryno is God 23]

Rhee gets more and more intriguing with every solid outing.

 

Samarj with a pretty decent 1st start.

 

Nice to see Vitters off to a good start in Boise.

[tspain]

From our trip to Burlington to watch the Peoria Chiefs last night:

 

Rhee pitched 6 innings and I was greatly impressed. I talked to a Scout of the Florida Marlins after his 6 innings and asked him what his radar gun showed on Rhee. He told me Rhee was 90-91 all night, and hit 92 in the 6th inning. Gave up his only run in the 2nd inning. Single to left with a runner on 2nd. I thought no way he scores as Guyer had the ball before he got to third base. But Guyer's throw rolled to the plate and the run scored. The Scout said "you got to like him cause he throws strikes". Great control. Very good for an 18 year old.

 

Donaldson looked like a catcher. From what I had read, maybe he could catch, or have to move to first base. Well, he can catch. Now, if only he can get the bat going. Looked good at the plate last night with a couple hits.

 

Gian Guzman hit a triple. The man can fly. Was batting only .198 but I can see why they like him.

 

Clifford Anderson played a great right field. Ran down several warning track shots. But struck out again, and hit into a double play. Just don't see him having the bat to get to the majors.

 

The defense was outstanding. The hitting could certainly be better, although they scored 5 runs in the game.

 

Latham come into the game and faced 4 batters, a homer, 2 walks and a error. Blake Parker come in with bases loaded and none out, and got a rbi ground out to first, and then a double play grounder getting the runner from 3rd in a rundown and then the batter trying to reach 2nd. Parker was impressive too.

 

Chiefs won, and looked good doing it. Rhee is a keeper.

 

Pastor Tom Spain

[Jon]

Thanks for the report, Tom.

 

Do you know how efficient Rhee was?

[CUBZ99]

From our trip to Burlington to watch the Peoria Chiefs last night:

 

Rhee pitched 6 innings and I was greatly impressed. I talked to a Scout of the Florida Marlins after his 6 innings and asked him what his radar gun showed on Rhee. He told me Rhee was 90-91 all night, and hit 92 in the 6th inning. Gave up his only run in the 2nd inning. Single to left with a runner on 2nd. I thought no way he scores as Guyer had the ball before he got to third base. But Guyer's throw rolled to the plate and the run scored. The Scout said "you got to like him cause he throws strikes". Great control. Very good for an 18 year old.

 

Donaldson looked like a catcher. From what I had read, maybe he could catch, or have to move to first base. Well, he can catch. Now, if only he can get the bat going. Looked good at the plate last night with a couple hits.

 

Gian Guzman hit a triple. The man can fly. Was batting only .198 but I can see why they like him.

 

Clifford Anderson played a great right field. Ran down several warning track shots. But struck out again, and hit into a double play. Just don't see him having the bat to get to the majors.

 

The defense was outstanding. The hitting could certainly be better, although they scored 5 runs in the game.

 

Latham come into the game and faced 4 batters, a homer, 2 walks and a error. Blake Parker come in with bases loaded and none out, and got a rbi ground out to first, and then a double play grounder getting the runner from 3rd in a rundown and then the batter trying to reach 2nd. Parker was impressive too.

 

Chiefs won, and looked good doing it. Rhee is a keeper.

 

Pastor Tom Spain

 

Thanks for the first hand account. 90-91 with three pitches and plus control sounds very promising.

[tspain]

Can't give you a pitch count on Rhee, but only 1 base on balls, with several strike outs. They had to be hacking cause he was always around the plate. All his pitches that missed the zone were borderline pitches. No wild stuff at all.

 

His breaking balls were just as good as his fastball. And got strike outs.

 

As you can tell, I was impressed, and excited, by what I saw of Rhee.

 

Pastor Tom Spain

[Outshined_One]

Donaldson looked like a catcher. From what I had read, maybe he could catch, or have to move to first base. Well, he can catch. Now, if only he can get the bat going. Looked good at the plate last night with a couple hits.

 

I had the same thoughts after seeing the Chiefs not too long ago. The dude just looks like a catcher and plays the position well for someone with his limited amount of experience. I have a feeling he'll get his bat back on track in the second half of the season since his BABIP has been unusually low.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Bad thing about Donaldson's BABIP is that it's not out of line with his LD%. 13% and .244

[craig]

Pastor Tom, thanks much for the game report. Sounds really good. A 3-pitch control pitcher whose fastball has some sink/run and can work in the 90-91 range, that's a good package.

 

Glad to hear that Donaldson looked good behind the plate. That way if he ever does start to hit, we'll be comfortable that his defense is fine.

 

Two questions/comments: Latham and Parker both have some very impressive numbers. Latham, 21, is around 2.0 ERA, has a K-per-inning, has only 12 walks in 47 innings, and until the bad outing you saw had a WHIP under 1.0. So obviously the bad outing you saw was the exception, not the rule. I know you only saw him for a couple of ineffective batters faced. But just from looking, if he made any impression, did his fastball look major-league fast? Or did he look pretty average?

 

Same question for Parker. You mentioned he looked impressive. His numbers are also fantastic, not as good walk-control as Latham, with 18 walks in the same 47 innings, but with a 1.3 ERA, 51 K's, a WHIP barely over 1. His results have been great, especially lately (only 4 walks in his last 21 innings). Did he look like he threw pretty hard and would have a good big-league fastball? Or more like a good average fastball and a good slider that probably makes him excel in A-ball?

[Outshined_One]

Bad thing about Donaldson's BABIP is that it's not out of line with his LD%. 13% and .244

 

Yeah, but I always figured Donaldson for a decent power guy. I get the feeling that LD% will be higher by season's end.

[tspain]

Pastor Tom, thanks much for the game report. Sounds really good. A 3-pitch control pitcher whose fastball has some sink/run and can work in the 90-91 range, that's a good package.

 

Glad to hear that Donaldson looked good behind the plate. That way if he ever does start to hit, we'll be comfortable that his defense is fine.

 

Two questions/comments: Latham and Parker both have some very impressive numbers. Latham, 21, is around 2.0 ERA, has a K-per-inning, has only 12 walks in 47 innings, and until the bad outing you saw had a WHIP under 1.0. So obviously the bad outing you saw was the exception, not the rule. I know you only saw him for a couple of ineffective batters faced. But just from looking, if he made any impression, did his fastball look major-league fast? Or did he look pretty average?

 

Same question for Parker. You mentioned he looked impressive. His numbers are also fantastic, not as good walk-control as Latham, with 18 walks in the same 47 innings, but with a 1.3 ERA, 51 K's, a WHIP barely over 1. His results have been great, especially lately (only 4 walks in his last 21 innings). Did he look like he threw pretty hard and would have a good big-league fastball? Or more like a good average fastball and a good slider that probably makes him excel in A-ball?

 

Craig, I didn't think Latham looked very good. Of course, giving a home run to the first man, might make you walk the next two, then the error followed. But his stuff did not impress me. I was real impressed by Parker however. His stuff looked real good. I would say he has good stuff. That he is having a good year for good reason, with good stuff, and I expect good things from him in the future. I have Rhee and Parker down as good guys to watch in coming years.

 

I was going back to Burlington this evening, but didn't get to go. Would have been nice to see Krier. I really wanted to see Chen last night but couldn't go then either. Maybe I can get to Peoria soon, it is only 80 miles up there. Burlington is about 60 miles up. Not much difference.

 

Pastor Tom Spain