ChiefsVoice

How do you figure? um lets see. 1. More wins 2. lower era 3. less walks 4. less hits allowed 5. lewss homers allowed 6. more ground ball outs 7. more team wins in his starts 8. much more consistent is that enough or should i keep going for you? oh and obviously our staff and the rest of the MWL must agree since Atkins was an All-Star and Veal wasnt even on the ballot.... and i strongly believe it was right to promote Veal and leave atkins here based on age and experience. i think both are veery even prospect wise though NO ONE talks about atkins like they do veal.

Dylan will be at least two weeks. He is in a walking cast now...then comes crutches...then putting full weight on it, then getting into game shape and then playing...

Atkins pitched better as a starter here in the first half than Veal did...So i'd pick him. Campusano was our best overall pitcher of the half but you guys arent to relievers yet! :D

Hitting in the .290s??? Today (july 9) is the first game ALL SEASON that will start wil Mark hitting under .300 and it has taken a 0-18 slump that has dropped him below .300. He was at .343 leading the league in hitting at the All-Star Break. This kid can hit and he will be a good hitting catcher at the MLB level.

awesome, awesome awesome...he and out pitching coach are terrific in every single aspect of the game. on the field and off.

Don't forget Jesus Valdez....this kid is always over looked and under-rated. he should have been a MWL all-star. He has a hit in 63 of 80 games played this year...does not have more than a 3 game hitless streak all-season....has some pop (4 hr, 2nd on team in RBI) and some spead (15 doubles, 8 steals)....doesnt draw many walks (11) but has just 44 K in 330 TPA. He also has 3 hit streaks of at least 8 games including a 19 gamer. I know he missed all of 2004, but last year he was .244/5/38 and this year he is .302 and on pace for 7 HR and 73 RBI...significant improvements for a 21 year old... Id rank our position prospects as follows: Reed (great defensive C with strong arm who can also play 3b and 1b) Carter (just learning the OF, best athlete ive seen in a long time in Peo.) Johnston (remember the kid is 19! great arm and range) Valdez (see above) Norwood (damn i wish he wouldnt have lost all of 2005) Reynolds (turning into a great defensive 3Bman) Of the guys we had last year I'd rank them this way: Garciaparra (ha!) Patterson (please keep doubting him, its hilarious) Fuld (having a great 2006. would be an ideal 4th OF) Harvey (too early to give up on that much power and great arm) and I don't see any other 2005 Chiefs making an impact at the MLB level. Just two cents worth from a guy who has actually seen these kids (and i stress the word kids!) play, practice and work hard every single day.

Carter had a grand slam and a sac fly.... JOhnston is now 0-for-4 with 3k and a double play. in 7 games he has played this half he is 1-for-27 with 18 K, 5 3k games...4 errors (one tonight led to 2 unearned runs)...and his average is at .191...

Not sure where this came from but we start at 5:00 Local time tonight (dont want anyone to miss the broadcast!)....then bus 5 hours to Wisconsin to arrive there about 2 am. all the thanks to Quad Cities for scheduling sunday night games this season....

50 pct chance tonight in the QC too. skies look threatening 90 minutes before game time but we are taking BP. since they decided to not have windows that open in the press box (and yes this will be a theme tonight) at least i wont get wet...

93 the highest I saw all season....

i sure hope not!!!!! send him straight to O'Brien Field.

radar gun wasnt on the the 1st inning....mostly 85-87 39 pitches, 25 strikes....3 hits, walk, 3 ks.... scheduled to start at Wisconsin for us on Tuesday...

No. Oneri told me today he is going to Boise tomorrow. I asked if we would see Jeff in peoria before he goes back to South Bend and Oneri said, Maybe, we'll See. I hope so.

ha i did that in the 1st inning. Just multi-tasking in the booth! we are back playing again. Up 7-4 in the 6th

so you'd rather they lose? that makes a lot sense. Why even have Low A and High A then if you are just gonna discount everything the players do here and just go off potential? Wins are a poor metric to rate a pitcher by anywhere, but especially in the low minors where pitchers don't go as long and relievers aren't always the best. Kc wasn't talking about wins or losses as a team stat but just that they are an incomplete and poor stat to judge a pitcher with. I'd rather judge a pitcher based on peripheral stats involving walk and strikeout rates, WHIP, BAA, etc. At the lower levels of the minor leagues, scouting and "potential" is still very important since the players haven't played professionally for long and have a ways to reach a finished product. Also at the lower levels, prospects can be playing against far less advanced competition which will allow them to rack up the stats. I completely disagree. You pay a pitcher to win. While it shouldnt be the only stat used to judge it MUST be used. Especially in this league. It shows that a pitcher has the ability to go 5 innings and pick up a win. More importantly it shows the ability to keep a team in the game and get a win. my bigger point to start with is that on one hand you have Sean Gallagher who as a 19 year old started in the MWL and was 14-5 and is now 20-5 as a 20 year old....on the other hand you have Pawelek who is 19 years old and for various reasons NOT EVEN in the MWL yet. There is no way he will win 20 by this point next season. So you cannot possibly say Pawelek is better or even has more potential than Gallagher at this point. Who knows if Mark will even get to AA...Sean has already won there.... For some reason everyone likes to take shots at Sean and I don't get it. He threw 91-92 here last season so moving up to 94-95 by adding muscle isnt that big of a jump.... He'll be at Wrigley by September 2007

so you'd rather they lose? that makes a lot sense. Why even have Low A and High A then if you are just gonna discount everything the players do here and just go off potential?

Until he actually throws a pitch above rookie ball, let alone posts 20 wins in his first 25 decisions, I don't know how anyone in their right mind could have Pawelek ahead of Gallagher. Sean has proven he already knows how to pitch AND win at two levels and if last night is any indication he can hold his own at a 3rd level too.

The nominees were due May 9th. On that day, Teasley was 1-0 with a 2.23 ERA and 16 K in 14.1 innings while Veal was 2-2 with a 3.31 ERA and was coming out aof a stretch of three starts where he didnt get past five innings. Veal also had 26 walks in 35.1 innings at the time. Do i think Donnie is an all-star pitcher in the MWL? Absolutely but its tough to put a stuggling starter at 2-2 on the ballot in early May...

Reed and Valdez were snubbed. Veal wasn't snubbed as he was not put on the ballot by Jody. You could only nominate 4 pitchers and were are the only MWL team to have 4 pitchers on the ballot. Johnston was also on the ballot and didnt make it.

Jody told me he is an outfielder period. thats all i know now. CF and RF are in his at least very near future.

I had alberto as an infielder all year cause thats how is listed in the Cubs media guide. Carter will not catch here at all/ He is strictly an OF at this time. I could see him behind the plate, if and only if, Reed DH's and Muyco has to be taken out of the game...

we start game 1 at 4:00 Thursday with Scott Taylor (scheduled starter) on the hill. Game 2 starts at 7:00 with Illini jerseys and Coach Bruce Weber. Game 2 will be a bullpen game and i "think" that Estrada or Billek will start. The other one will probably start game 2 vs. Ft Wayne on Friday...

One of those 4 was an inherited runner that Matt Avery allowed. and another was thrown out at the plate but the replacement ump was either A. blind B. incompetent C. watching another game D. All of the above Veal pitched really well...again tonight. Having him and Atkins back to back in the rotation is a lot of fun to watch.

:( 1 out double in 6th...runner out at 3rd...still faced minimum through 6....6ip, 1h, 0r, 3bb, 5k. 1 caught stealing (1-3-6), 1 pick off

Any other thoughts on Atkins? And has Veal thrown anything outside of the FB and curve? How hard have both of these guys been throwing this year? Atkins changes speed nicely. Keeps the walks down. hasnt been hit hard at all. I really like watching him pitch. Veal has a Fastball, Curve and change. Veal has been 90-92 and i honestly can't remember on Atkins. The radar was down when he threw at home last. I'll look Thursday on the sheet in Clinton.