Minor League Discussion & Boxes 4-6-12

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

Vitters with another walk.

 

:-s

 

Breakout year a'comin.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I really want to get excited about a potential breakthrough by Vitters. Too bad he can barely field 3B.

 

Sadly or not, he's improved. I remember seeing him a few years back, and he was pretty dang awful. I think you could probably get away with him at 3rd for a tiny bit, but in the end, his bat needs to play.

 

Moving a third baseman to the OF reminds me of the David Kelton situation for some reason. Ugh ... talk about a guy who was just not meant to play OF.

 

I always over glorify David Kelton as a prospect. For some reason it's etche in my mind that he was this blur chip guy, but in reality, he had that one good year in AA and was only on the top 100 (#45) once in '01/'02. Probably because that's right around the time I started somewhat following the minor leagues, the time of Prior/Cruz/to a lesser extent Zambrano-mania and he was one of the first that caught my eye aside from the future of our rotation.

[toonsterwu]

Wasn't only you WSR. A lot of Cubs fans were giddy about Kelton, more because of what his bat potential was perceived to be (strangely, his perceived bat potential reminds me of a poor man's Josh Vitters from what I recall).

[Guest]

"A swing too pretty to touch"

[UK1679666180]

McNutt's pitch count seems pretty high ... 72 pitches.

 

Liria's in for Francescon. Curious if this is piggybacking or regular relief work.

 

I had the same question. To some degree, it really doesn't matter early in the year. The starters rarely go 5 innings, so there are gobs of innings for a reliever. If a guy is pitching half-way well, he can pick up 2 or 3 innings at a crack in relief, and by May 15 you can hardly differentiate the starters from the relievers in terms of innings.

 

It almost matters more as a reflection of how the org projects a guy.

 

Good outing for Jokisch, nice to see Zych and Antigua and Cabrera and Beliveau do well.

 

My guy Cruz was bad.

 

Will look forward to UK's scouting on Francescon.

 

I was impressed by him, size-wise there's not too much projection but he hides the ball well and has good command a good feel for pitching.

 

He was 88-91 FB, 75-77 CB (1/7 break), and 80-82 CH. All but two strikeouts were on his breaking ball (the others were on his change), he did have swings and misses on FBs that were hittable, which is encouraging.

 

His curve projects to ML avg., he doesn't have a feel for his change-up but has good arm action.

 

Liria was 89-92, his slurve was 77-79, no change. Was on the side of the ball too much on the breaking ball, didn't show command or feel.

 

Cruz was 86-89, flashed a plus breaking ball but never consistent.

 

Shafer was 86-88 with a flat breaking ball (its not hard to jam Sano on Beloit and Shafer was able to not jam him and that ball is still going).

 

I'll get to the position guys once I stop throwing up.

 

The position guys, I'm a toolsy fan, for that I love Golden. Physical-wise he reminds me of Sosa with that shorter-stocky frame. He's a plus runner, didn't get a good read on arm strength, has plus bat speed, and can hit for power. He's very raw, didn't react well to breaking ball or jumps in the OF. He's going to be a boom or bust type.

 

Devoss has a gap to gap type of approach, likely won't hit power, good eye at the plate, plus runner.

 

There wasn't much there as far as position guys, Darvill has way too movement in his swing and needs to stronger, I see him ending in a utility type of role ala DJ Lemahieu.

 

Hernandez has tools, plus runner, good range and actions, didn't make any poor throws. If he's able to bulk up and work on his approach, he could a utility type of guy.

 

Hoilman has plus power and shorter swing for someone his size, there's some uppercut there. He's not athletic enough to play a corner OF spot. He's going to have to hit for power.

 

For me, the only one I seen with a legit shot of becoming an everyday regular from Fri night was Golden. There are a bunch of guys that project to marginal roles but Golden was the one if everything pans out that he could be a starter. He'll have to learn how to hit off-speed stuff though.

[craig]

Thanks much, UK. Very helpful, and thanks for the detail.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I like Francescon a bit, but admittedly, at that level, a polished older arm like Francescon should do well. Not taking anything away from success, though. That said, with a plus change-up, that's something a lot of batters at that level just aren't prepared to handle.

 

I'd be curious, if Nate was around, to find out how Francescon's slider looked. AzPhil thought it was fairly average in Arizona.

 

This guy just caught my eye. He was a 2010 40th round pick but it looks like last year, he was somewhat of a K machine with minimal walks, 44/8 in 38 IP. Impressive.