Minor League Discussion & Boxes 7-21-12

[Little Slide Rooter]

In case anyone had forgotten that Casey Coleman's bad, he gave us a nice little reminder this evening.

[davell]

Jumbo, what did you think of Geiger and Rademacher?

[El Duderino]

has Soler had an AB yet? how the hell do you follow an azl game?

[Vinestal]

So the AZL game started 40 min ago but there hasn't been any updates to the score on milb.com. Why? *sigh*

[Guest]

So the AZL game started 40 min ago but there hasn't been any updates to the score on milb.com. Why? *sigh*

It was postponed due to a haboob and rain.

[Guest]

has Soler had an AB yet? how the hell do you follow an azl game?

 

You can follow the box scores and they are updated after every half inning.

[Vinestal]

So the AZL game started 40 min ago but there hasn't been any updates to the score on milb.com. Why? *sigh*

It was postponed due to a haboob.

Dust storm? So will they play or cancel?

[Guest]

So the AZL game started 40 min ago but there hasn't been any updates to the score on milb.com. Why? *sigh*

It was postponed due to a haboob.

Dust storm? So will they play or cancel?

 

Yeah, a dust storm. It says postponed, not cancelled, so I assume they'll make it up. The problem with the AZL Cubs is they don't have their own web site or any ticket sales or anything, so information about their games is very limited.

 

http://p.twimg.com/AyXdRbVCIAATujD.jpg:large

[scarey]

Jumbo, what did you think of Geiger and Rademacher?

 

Geiger looked lost up there. I don't think he made solid contact all night and it was almost like he was just guessing on pitches. I was pretty disappointed.

 

Rademacher was the complete opposite. Pretty good plate coverage and was driving the ball. He also looks like a pretty solid fielder. He made a play in the first inning that would have otherwise turned Cates first two runs into earned runs. Matt Helm hit the ball deep in the power alley and Rademacher made a quick read, sprinted back, and made the catch on the move on the warning track above his head with his back to home plate.

 

Other observations and photos to follow.

 

Cates: as Jumbo pointed out, he has an effortless delivery. His breaking ball looked really good and got some awkward swings. His fastball was getting hit around though. There were a couple of really hard hit outs and Baez made some fantastic plays for him too. I was pretty disappointed.

 

DeVoss: I liked his approach, I just wish he had better contact skills. I get the feeling that he beats out a lot of infield singles for his hits. His stolen base was almost a gimme. The Silverhawks had no chance to get him. His defense was definitely shaky. The first inning error was something you would see on a high school field. He just took his eye off for a moment as the ball was going in the glove and he heeled it. Popped right back out. He did give ground and range to his left later in the game to make a decently difficult play.

 

Chen: In his first PA, the right fielder for the Silverhawks made a very good play in the right field corner to keep Chen from a double (too bad he couldn't do anything on the ensuing Baez dinger). His actual triple should have only been a single, but the left fielder tried to dive to catch a ball that was landing just in bounds. If he pulled up, Chen would have stayed on first. I was extremely disappointed in Chen's defense. His arm is not too strong and he made a mistake fielding a single. He tried to make a play at the plate, but threw the ball too high and Hoilman was unable to cut it off and keep a runner at first. Runner ended up advancing to second and an errant throw from Burruel caused the base runner to reach third.

 

Suarez: Looked good. Was consistently at 94, but was a little wild.

 

Baez: I can't say enough about Baez. He truly looked head and shoulders above anyone else from either team. He made a play deep in the hole and made a perfect throw with his hips still turned towards third. He was max effort all game, especially on defense. He raced into center field to make a catch that Chen really should have had. He had a dribbler that he picked up and fired over to first for an out. He also ran into the Chiefs bullpen at one point and also looked like he bumped his knee, but not even a trainer showed up to check him out. I will be very curious to see how the experts judge him on his defense after this year.

[scarey]

Lots of pics here. I'll post in groups of 3-5 in spoiler boxes.

 

 

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g109/scarey23/peoria%20chiefs/IMG_0474.jpg

Hoilman throwing grounders

 

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g109/scarey23/peoria%20chiefs/IMG_0473.jpg

DeVoss fielding practice

 

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g109/scarey23/peoria%20chiefs/IMG_0495.jpg

Baez fielding practice

 

 

 

Zach Cates throwing motion:

 

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g109/scarey23/peoria%20chiefs/IMG_0478.jpg

 

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g109/scarey23/peoria%20chiefs/IMG_0477.jpg

 

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g109/scarey23/peoria%20chiefs/IMG_0479.jpg

 

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g109/scarey23/peoria%20chiefs/IMG_0481.jpg

 

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g109/scarey23/peoria%20chiefs/IMG_0480.jpg

 

 

 

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g109/scarey23/peoria%20chiefs/IMG_0512.jpg

Schafer

 

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g109/scarey23/peoria%20chiefs/IMG_0516.jpg

Suarez

 

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g109/scarey23/peoria%20chiefs/IMG_0500.jpg

Darvill

 

 

 

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g109/scarey23/peoria%20chiefs/IMG_0506.jpg

Rademacher

 

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g109/scarey23/peoria%20chiefs/IMG_0488.jpg

DeVoss

 

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g109/scarey23/peoria%20chiefs/IMG_0489.jpg

More DeVoss

 

 

 

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g109/scarey23/peoria%20chiefs/IMG_0482.jpg

Zapata at the plate

 

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g109/scarey23/peoria%20chiefs/IMG_0484.jpg

Zapata on base

 

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g109/scarey23/peoria%20chiefs/IMG_0499.jpg

Baez right before stealing 2B

 

 

Also, I got videos of Baez' single and Rademacher grounding out.

 

Baez:

 

Rademacher:

[scarey]

BTW, have mercy on me on my flinch in the Rademacher AB. The ball looked like it was on a line for us in the camera shot.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Those are very cool, thank you.

[Gilby]

Great pics and video, scarey.

 

Baez' movement in his swing doesn't bother me as much from the side as it does from behind, for some reason.

[scarey]

Those are very cool, thank you.

 

Glad I could share.

 

Speaking of sharing, I'll tell you about the Baez homer that was absolutely crushed (I would guess almost 450 feet). After the inning ended a family came in and sat in the seats next to us in the front. The wife, talking to someone else, exclaimed "Yeah, we parked and were walking up to the park and saw a ball coming at us. We got the home run ball!"

 

I look at their 6ish year old son holding a baseball. They had no clue who hit it and just how cool it was to have that ball. I told them, but I don't think they cared much. Hopefully, Mom or Dad keeps it in their mind and when Baez is a perennial all-star, they can remind their son who's home run ball he has.

[jumbo]

Jumbo, what did you think of Geiger and Rademacher?

Responding to this a little late -

Rademacher: Very athletic and strong, some of these guys look lanky, but he is filled out. Hits the ball hard, ran well and had good defense. Didn't get a chance to see him throw much, but he generally looks like he should be up a level to me.

 

Geiger: DH'd tonight, so I didn't get to see him in the field. At the plate, I didn't see anything out of his at bats. I wouldn't have said he looked lost, but that may be a decent way to put it. He just didn't do anything. Maybe it's just a 'blah' game for him. Hopefully I'll see him be more active the next couple days