Minor League Discussion & Boxes 4-17-10

[Outshined_One]

Box Scores

 

Iowa lost 7-1 Box Score

 

SS D. Barney 0/5, E (2, fielding)

2B M. Camp 1/4

1B M. Hoffpauir 0/4, RBI, 2 K

LF J. Dubois 0/1, 3 BB

RF/3B B. Scales 1/4, Assist (3B)

3B M. Smith 0/4

CF B. Snyder 2/4, 2 K, E (1, fielding)

C C. Robinson 1/3, BB

RF J. Adduci 0/1

SP M. Parisi 4 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 2/1 K/BB, WP, 2 HBP, 4-4 GO-FO

RP M. Atkins 3 scoreless, 3 H, 1/0 K/BB, HBP, 4-4 GO-FO

RP J. Stevens 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO

 

Tennessee won 8-6 Box Score

 

CF T. Campana 2/4, CS (2), PO (1B), HBP

2B T. Thomas 1/5, 2 K, E (2, fielding)

LF T. Wright 1/5, R, SB (1)

C R. Chirinos 1/2, BB, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR (3), PB (1)

RF B. Guyer 0/2, 2 BB, 2 R, SB (3)

3B/1B R. Canzler 2/3, BB, RBI, 2B (3), K

SS N. Samson 1/3, 2 RBI, K

SP HW Chen 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 4/1 K/BB, HR, 12-5 GO-FO

RP R. Buchter .2 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 1/3 K/BB, 0-1 GO-FO

RP J. Muyco .2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, HR, 2-0 GO-FO

RP M. Mateo .2 scoreless, 2 H, 1/0 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO

 

Daytona won 9-0 Box Score

 

CF B. Jackson 1/5, R, K

SS M. Gonzalez 3/5, R, K

DH K. Burke 0/5, K

3B J. Vitters 3/4, BB, R, 2 RBI, 2 2B (5)

RF N. Perez 0/5, R, RBI, 3 K

SP B. Raley 4.2 scoreless, 2 H, 7/2 K/BB, 5-2 GO-FO

RP D. Patton 1.1 scoreless, 1 H, 1/0 K/BB, 2-1 GO-FO

RP A. Shafer 2 scoreless, 2 H, 4/0 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO

 

Peoria won 7-6 Box Score

 

SS HJ Lee 2/5, R, RBI, K, SB (3)

2B L. Watkins 3/5, 2 R, 2 K, CS (1)

DH M. Cerda 1/4, BB, R, 2 RBI, 3B (1), K

3B G. Rohan 1/4, R, RBI

LF R. Jones 1/4, 2 RBI, 3B (1), K, E (1, missed catch)

CF J. Valdez 1/4, R, 2 K

SP SM Jung 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 5/4 K/BB, 3-6 GO-FO

RP J. Leverton 2 scoreless, 0 H, 1/1 K/BB, 3-0 GO-FO

 

OVERALL: 3-1

[Guest]

Probable Starters

 

Iowa: RHP Mike Parisi (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 IP, 2 BB, 2 K)

Tennessee: RHP Hung-Wen Chen (1-0, 1.80 ERA, 5 IP, 1 BB, 2 K)

Daytona: LHP Brooks Raley (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 5 IP, 1 BB, 5 K)

Peoria: RHP Su-Min Jung (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 4 IP, 2 BB, 1 K)

[Guest]

Tennessee went up against old friend John Koronka tonight. Good outing for Chen, and with no Castro in the lineup there's not much to pay attention to.

 

Vitters doubled in his first AB for Daytona, and Raley has 3 K's in 2 perfect IP to start.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Koronkas all the way back in AA? Hes got to be at least 30 by now.

[Guest]

Koronkas all the way back in AA? Hes got to be at least 30 by now.

 

Yep, 30 this year.

 

 

Vitters is 2 for 2 with a pair of doubles and a walk, raising his OPS by 132 points. On the mound, Raley continues to deal. 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 5/0 K/BB, 5-2 GO-FO.

[davell]

Vitters wound up going 3-4 with 2 doubles and a walk. Has his average up to .273 anyway. Raley wound up only going 4.2, allowing 2 hits, K'ing 7 and walking 2. I'm hoping he ran into his pitch count and isn't hurt.

 

Su Min Jung gave up 5 unearned runs in the 3rd inning, but pitched 5, getting the win without ever giving up an earned run. Maybe Nate can give us some insight on him possibly?

[Guest]

Raley left with the bases loaded, so I think it's reasonable to assume he didn't leave because of injury.

[davell]

Raley left with the bases loaded, so I think it's reasonable to assume he didn't leave because of injury.

 

Cool. I didn't look at the play by play of the game.

[Guest]

Vitters is 2 for 2 with a pair of doubles and a walk

Another walk? Is the apocalypse upon us?

[craig]

Vitters is 2 for 2 with a pair of doubles and a walk

Another walk? Is the apocalypse upon us?

 

Heh, of the big four position prospects, Vitters is one of the better walkers! With two walks in only 44 AB, his 4+% walk rate is much better than Castro (1 walk/38 AB) or Lee (1 walk/39 AB). Watkins has only two.

 

Will be interesting to see whether Lee does take some walks. Would be nice to see these singles-hitting no-power middle infielders do something to add to their offense, rather than just live on their BABIP.

 

Obviously 40 AB is a small sample, so anomalies of any kind can appear.

 

Chen is off to a good start. By most accounts his fastball is doubtful for mlb, and he doesn't throw K's. So not sure what he's winning with or how sustainable it will be. By recall he started well last year too, before some negative stuff evaluations came in.

 

But IIRC, over his last fifteen starts last year he had about thirteen of them where he'd allow 2 runs or less, so other than an occasional really bad game, he was somehow getting a lot of guys out. His July-Aug-Sept WHIP's were 1.18, 1.35, and 0.75. Seems to be picking up.

 

I'm surprised Raley's been so good. The scouting reports had confused me somewhat; they liked him, but never suggested he had any exceptional pitch or stuff. They described him somewhat as a developmental guy, always mentioning the split focus and only a sophomore; but also somewhat contradictorily spun him in other ways as somewhat advanced as regards control.

 

I'm guessing all of those can be harmonized. Developmental guy physically, could get stronger (he's college but he's only 21) and without working out to be a speedy CFer, maybe he can rebuild his body somewhat to optimize his fastball. Two-year guy with fastball control and offspeed stuff. Perhaps with focus the command of each of those could be sharpened a bit? Whatever, I'm very encouraged. I wasn't sure he'd be A+ ready vs A-, and all the peripherals (K/BB, GB/FB) have been very attractive. I'd thought he'd be more in the Coleman/Chen style of stats (modest K's). So the K's thus far are really nice.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Was Hung Wen Chen ever a guy worth following? I remember hearing his name when we first got him, but last year he was pretty bad. Seems off to a good start this year.

[craig]

Was Hung Wen Chen ever a guy worth following? I remember hearing his name when we first got him, but last year he was pretty bad. Seems off to a good start this year.

 

When signed, he supposedly touched up to 90-92. He had some arm trouble thereafter. He's scouted as a good control pitcher, but hasn't seemed to throw hard enough to get taken seriously. He was 23 last year in full-season, moved up pretty quick, and a 4.0 ERA isn't eye-catching (none of his numbers were), but it isn't bad, either. He was much better 2nd half.

 

If we got some reports next week that Chen is now throwing 90-92, I'd be all buzzed. Not likely. But most outs are made with movement and command more than velocity.