Outshined_One

Quick! Call Mark Grace!

Darrin Downs gets the start tonight for Mesa.

One thing I will point out...5 picks is rather arbitrary. Why not 4? 6? Is there something about the number 5 that gives it ultimate value? Anyways...Hitters taken in the Top 5: 1999 1. Braves Chipper Jones SS Pierson, FL 2. Tigers Tony Clark OF El Cajon, CA 3. Phillies Mike Lieberthal C Westlake, CA 1991 2. Braves Mike Kelly OF Arizona State U 3. Twins David McCarty OF Stanford U 4. Cardinals Dmitri Young SS Camarillo, CA 1992 1. Astros Phil Nevin 3B Cal State Fullerton 4. Orioles Jeffrey Hammonds OF Stanford U 5. Reds Chad Mottola OF Central Florida U 1993 1. Mariners Alex Rodriguez SS Miami, FL 1994 2. Athletics Ben Grieve OF Arlington, TX 4. Brewers Tony Williamson 3B Arizona State U 5. Marlins Josh Booty SS Shreveport, LA 1995 1. Angels Darin Erstad OF U of Nebraska 2. Padres Mark Davis C Malvern, PA 3. Mariners Jose Cruz, Jr. OF Rice U 1996 2. Twins Travis Lee 1B San Diego State U 1997 2. Phillies *J.D. Drew OF Florida State U 3. Angels Troy Glaus 3B UCLA 5. Blue Jays Vernon Wells OF Arlington, TX 1998 1. Phillies Pat Burrell 1B U. of Miami (FL) 3. Cubs Corey Patterson OF Kennesaw, GA 5. Cardinals J.D. Drew OF No School 1999 1. Devil Rays Josh Hamilton OF Raleigh, NC 3. Tigers Eric Munson C U. of Southern California 4. Diamondbacks Corey Myers SS Scottsdale, AZ 5. Twins B.J. Garbe OF Moses Lake, WA 2000 1. Marlins Adrian Gonzalez 1B Chula Vista, CA 3. Cubs Luis Montanez SS Miami, FL 2001 1. Twins Joe Mauer C Cretin-Derham Hall HS, St. Paul 5. Rangers Mark Teixeira 3B Georgia Tech 2002 2. Devil Rays B.J. Upton SS Greenbriar Christian, Chesapeake, VA 2003 1. Devil Rays Delmon Young RF Adolfo Camarillo HS 2. Brewers Rickie Weeks 2B Southern U A&M 5. Royals Christopher Lubanski CF Kennedy-Kenrick Catholic 2004 1. Padres Matthew Bush SS Mission Bay HS 2005 1. Diamondbacks Justin Upton SS Great Bridge HS Chesapeake, VA 2. Royals Alex Gordon 3B Univ. of Nebraska Lincoln, NE 3. Mariners Jeffrey Clement C Univ. of Southern Cal. Marshalltown, IA 4. Nationals Ryan Zimmerman 3B Univ. of Virginia Virginia Beach, VA 5. Brewers Ryan Braun 3B Univ. of Miami Granada Hills, CA

Honestly, I think the sample size for pitchers taken in the top 5 since 1990 is too small of a sample size to really make that kind of judgment. Stop and think about how many pitchers are taken in the first round each year of the draft. How many of them even make it to the majors? How many make it to the majors and are productive? How many go on to become stars? How many of those guys were signability picks in the Top 5? The MLB draft has a huge, huge number of players with so many factors coming into play that it's next to impossible to make that kind of solid judgment on taking a pitcher in the Top 5.

Billy Muldowney has finally returned from his hiatus, as he's currently pitching for Boise. They're not doing so hot, though.

I go by typical title rules for starting threads. The thread title almost always has all words starting with capitals save for stuff like "the", "and", "to" and so on. Just a habit of mine.

That's great news. Rundle seems to be figuring things out a bit, too. Rundle's IsoD: .175 Andersen's IsoD: .091 I wouldn't worry so much about either of the HS OF draftees, especially considering they're in Mesa. Both seem to have a good grasp of the strike zone (despite their seemingly alarming K numbers). Both have surprising patience at the plate and I wouldn't be surprised to see either or both start improving on their contact rates.

So a sacrifice bunt will not count against a streak, but a sacrifice fly will. When it comes to nuanced, confusing, detailed, and typically arbitrary rules, baseball beats all other sports by miles.

Box Scores Iowa won 10-5 Box Score CF F. Pie 2/4, BB, 3 R, 2B (23), SB (12), K RF B. Coats 2/4, BB, R, 3 RBI, 2 K 2B M. Fontenot 0/4, 2 K LF M. Restovich 2/3, BB, R, RBI, 2 2B (23) 1B M. Hoffpauir 0/3, BB, R, RBI, K 3B C. McGehee 2/4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B (20), K C J. Reyes 2/4, R, 2 RBI SP R. O'Malley 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2/3 K/BB, 4-10 GO-FO RP A. Shipman 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1/1 K/BB, HR, 2-2 GO-FO RP C. Rapada .1 IP, 1 ER, 0/2 K/BB, 0-1 GO-FO West Tenn lost 6-3 Box Score CF C. Walker 2/4, CS (16) 2B E. Patterson 1/5, R, RBI, 3B (9) C J. Fox 2/5, R, 2 RBI, 2B (9), HR (5) 3B S. Moore 1/4, BB, 2B (24), K 1B B. Dopirak 1/3, BB LF/RF M. Negron 2/5 RF/1B B. Sing 0/4, BB PH/LF R. Lewis 2/2, R SP I. Pavlik 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 4/1 K/BB, 8-6 GO-FO, 2 E (throw x2) RP T. Atlee 2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 0/1 K/BB, 3-3 GO-FO Daytona won 3-1 Box Score DH N. Spears 1/4, 2B (10) 2B J. Simokaitis 0/4, K 1B M. Craig 0/4, R, 2 K RF R. Harvey 2/3, R, SB (4) SS J. Mota 0/3, 2 K, E (13, throw) SP R. Bicondoa 7.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 12/0 K/BB, 9-1 GO-FO Peoria lost 7-4 Box Score CF D. Gregg 2/4, R, 3B (2), 2 K 2B R. Malone 0/3, BB, R, RBI LF J. Valdez 1/3, BB, R, 2B (22) 1B R. Norwood 0/3, BB, 3 K, E (8, fielding) SS R. Chirinos 0/3, BB, RBI, K, E (11, fielding) DH M. Reed 0/3, RBI, 2 K, HBP RF Y. Carter 1/4, 2 K PH A. Garcia 0/1, 1 K SP M. Atkins 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1/5 K/BB, HR, 2-4 GO-FO Boise lost 10-1 Box Score CF M. Camp 1/3, 2B (6) LF DJ Lewis 0/1 LF/CF T. Colvin 0/4, R DH J. Lansford 1/4, RBI, K 1B R. Canzler 0/4, K RF A. Joseph 0/2, BB 2B S. Clevenger 0/3, K 3B E. Puello 0/3 SP M. Pawelek 3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4/3 K/BB, WP, HBP, 2-3 GO-FO RP B. Muldowney 2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4/1 K/BB, WP, 1-1 GO-FO Mesa lost 9-3 Box Score 2B V. Heredia 0/4, 2 K SS N. Samson 1/2, 2 BB, R CF D. Rundle 2/4, R DH C. Gilbert 1/4, R, 2 RBI, 2B (5), 2 K RF C. Andersen 2/4, RBI, K 3B F. Tirado 0/3 1B L. Murphy 1/4, K LF W. Inoa 0/4, 2 K, SB (4) SP D. Downs 1.1 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1/1 K/BB, HR, 3-0 GO-FO RP D. Walters 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3/1 K/BB, 2-1 GO-FO RP O. Bernard 1 perfect, 2-1 GO-FO OVERALL: 2-4

Yet he still managed to reach, steal a base, and score a run. :P

I think it's helped him out significantly, though. He's showing power, patience, some defensive prowess, and, most importantly (imo), the ability to play CF. Everyone was ripping on the pick figuring he'd be a LF. However, as a CF, his value as a prospect goes up by an immense degree.

Am I seeing things on milb.com or is Dylan Johnston pitching for Peoria?

Link Should be fun to monitor how well he does in September.

A few things happened to him. In his last season with the Cubs in Daytona, his stuff and performance were decidedly not up to par for a guy with his level of talent. Secondly, there was a much-rumored confrontation he had with Jae-Kuk Ryu over who had a larger signing bonus (side note: it was Ryu), which resulted in Sisco taking a swing at Ryu with his right hand, missing, and hitting a wall, breaking his hand. Finally, he was massively out of shape when he wasn't rostered. Reports had him weighing in at over 300 pounds. According to interviews done with Hendry and Fleita, they wanted to send a message to Sisco by not placing him on the 40 man. The thought was that it would get him in line. Unfortunately, the Royals jumped on him in the Rule 5 Draft.

Looks like Nate was on the money with this one!

Box Scores Iowa won 6-0 Box Score CF F. Pie 2/4, R, 2B (22), K LF L. Montanez 0/4, K 2B M. Fontenot 0/4, K RF M. Restovich 3/3, BB, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR (21), Assist (2B) 1B M. Hoffpauir 1/4, R RBI, HR (11), K 3B C. McGehee 0/3, K C G. Soto 1/3, 2B (17), K SP A. Guzman 7 scoreless, 3 H, 6/1 K/BB, 4-11 GO-FO West Tenn lost 8-7 in the 11th Box Score CF C. Walker 1/6 LF R. Lewis 0/5, R, K, HBP 1B B. Dopirak 2/3, 2 BB, 2 R, 2B (12), K 3B S. Moore 2/5, BB, R, 2 K C J. Fox 4/6, R, 3 RBI, 3 2B (8), 2 K, PB (9) RF/1B B. Sing 2/4, 2 BB, R, 3 RBI, HR (4), 2 K PH M. Negron 0/1 PH/2B E. Patterson 0/0, BB SP C. Shaver 5.1 IP, 11 H, 6 ER, 2/1 K/BB, HR, 7-7 GO-FO RP E. Campusano 1 scoreless, 2 H, 0/1 K/BB, 1-2 GO-FO RP L. Holdzkom 1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1/0 K/BB, 2-1 GO-FO Daytona won 11-2 Box Score 2B N. Spears 2/5, 2 R, K, E (9, throw) SS J. Simokaitis 1/3, BB, R, RBI PH/SS J. Mota 0/1 1B M. Craig 1/1, 4 BB, 3 R, 2 RBI, HR (12) RF R. Harvey 2/3, 2 BB, R SP D. Veal 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 7/1 K/BB, 7-5 GO-FO Peoria lost 4-2 Box Score 2B R. Malone 1/5, R, 2 K, SB (5) RF J. Valdez 0/4, BB 1B R. Norwood 0/3, BB, SB (4) LF A. Garica 0/3, BB, K SS K. Reynolds 1/3, R, K, SB (8) SS R. Chirinos 0/1, K CF Y. Carter 1/4, RBI C M. Reed 1/2, 2 BB SP W. Miller 4 scoreless, 1 H, 4/3 K/BB, 3-5 GO-FO RP J. Santo 4 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 5/4 K/BB, HR, 2 WP, HBP, 4-3 GO-FO Boise won 7-2 Box Score CF M. Camp 1/5, 2 K, CS (8), PO (1B) SS P. Lopez 1/5, R, SB (1), E (2, throw) LF T. Colvin 0/5, R, 5 K, SB (7), E (2, fielding) (Reached on strike 3 WP) 3B J. Lansford 1/4, BB, R, RBI, HR (4) 1B R. Canzler 3/4, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR (8) RF A. Joseph 2/4, R, RBI, 2 2B (12), K, E (2, fielding) 2B S. Clevenger 1/3, BB, R, RBI DH DJ Lewis 1/3, BB, K SP M. Billek 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3/3 K/BB, 1-10 GO-FO RP A. Francisco 3 scoreless, 1 H, 3/0 K/BB, 3-3 GO-FO Mesa won 12-2 Box Score 2B L. Rosario 1/5, 2 BB, 2 R, K, 2 SB (6) SS N. Samson 1/4, B, 2 RBI, 2 K CF D. Rundle 2/5, BB, 3 RBI, 2B (3), K LF C. Andersen 1/4, 2 BB, 3 R, 2B (2), 2 K 3B F. Tirado 1/3, 3 BB DH W. Inoa 1/3, BB, 3 R, SB (3), 2 HBP SP C. Huseby 2 scoreless, 1 H, 4/0 K/BB, 0-1 GO-FO RP M. Carrillo 3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2/0 K/BB, HR, 4-3 GO-FO RP J. Ceda 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 0-2 GO-FO OVERALL: 4-2

http://static.flickr.com/71/175995088_335e48aa95_o.jpg

Are you comparing Harvey to Dubois or am I missing something here?

What lesson would that be, out of curiosity?

Box Scores Iowa lost 4-1 Box Score CF F. Pie 1/4, R, SB (12) 2B M. Fontenot 0/4 RF M. Restovich 0/3, BB, 2 K DH M. Hoffpauir 0/3, RBI, K 3B C. McGehee 0/3, E (9, fielding) SS B. Coats 0/3, E (6, fielding) LF L. Montanez 0/2, K, HBP C J. Reyes 1/2, 2B (5) SP L. Walrond 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4/2 K/BB, HR, 10-3 GO-FO RP A. Shipman 2 scoreless, 1 H, 3/0 K/BB, WP, 1-2 GO-FO RP C. Rapada 1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 1/2 K/BB, HBP, 0-2 GO-FO West Tenn lost 6-5 in the 13th Box Score CF C. Walker 2/6, RBI, K 2B E. Patterson 0/6, 3 E (fielding x2, throw) LF R. Lewis 1/4, 2 BB, R, 2B (13), E (6, fielding) 1B B. Dopirak 0/3, BB, R, K 3B S. Moore 3/5, BB, R, 3 RBI, HR (17) RF M. Negron 1/6 1B B. Sing 1/2, RBI, PO (1B) SP S. Gallagher 3 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 2/2 K/BB, 5-2 GO-FO RP T. Atlee 1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2/2 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO RP L. Holdzkom 2 perfect, 2/0 K/BB, 1-3 GO-FO (Stranded 3 inherited runners!) RP E. Campusano 1 perfect, 2/0 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO Daytona won 7-4 Box Score 2B N. Spears 2/4, BB, R, 2B (9), K SS J. Simokaitis 4/5 1B M. Craig 1/4, BB, RBI RF R. Harvey 1/3, BB, 2 R, RBI, 2B (20), K SP B. Petrick 5 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 5/0 K/BB, 4-6 GO-FO RP G. Johnson 1 scoreless, 1 H, 2/1 K/BB, 0-1 GO-FO RP M. Phelps 1.1 scoreless, 1 H, 3/2 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO Peoria won 3-2 Box Score CF D. Gregg 0/3, BB, R, K 3B R. Malone 2/4, R, E (7, fielding) LF J. Valdez 2/4, R, K 1B R. Norwood 0/2, BB, RBI, K 2B A. Garcia 1/3, 2 RBI, 2B (17), 2 K SS K. Reynolds 0/2, 2 K RF Y. Carter 0/3, 2 K DH M. Reed 1/3 SP J. Yepez 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3/3 K/BB, WP, HBP, 10-3 GO-FO RP M. Avery 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO Boise lost 1-0 Box Score CF M. Camp 1/4, 2B (5), K C M. Mercedes 1/4, 2B (6), 2 K 3B J. Lansford 0/4, K 1B R. Canzler 0/4, K RF A. Joseph 1/4, K LF DJ Lewis 2/4, 2B (10), K, CS (1), Assist (2B) DH E. Puello 0/3, 2 K 2B P. Lopez 1/2, 2B (1) PH/2B S. Clevenger 0/0, HBP SP J. Pina 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5/1 K/BB, WP, 2-6 GO-FO RP A. Maestri 3.1 scoreless, 2 H, 3/0 K/BB, 3-4 GO-FO Mesa with an off day. OVERALL: 2-3

34th rounder SS Nathan Samson apparently signed, as he played tonight in Mesa.

Matt Murton's capable of leading off, but this organization is looking for speedy guys who can beat out infield hits, steal bases, and hit .300 without much in the way of power. I don't think they'll look in his direction. I have a feeling Pierre gets signed to a two year deal. Can't say I'd too thrilled with that.

Exactly. He's a fantastic LOOGY. Problem is, he's faced 112 righties this year as compared to 79 lefties. What the hell Dusty's thinking with this guy is anyone's guess. His numbers against lefties this season have been really, really good. Against righties...things get ugly. Cripes, he has a .72 WHIP against lefties and a 1.04 WHIP against righties. This is like Mike Remlinger all over again. Ugh.

I like his potential and everything, but I feel like this is the wrong organization for him to truly become the Carlos Beltran-like player we've been dreaming of since he exploded onto the scene a number of years ago. It's weird. I've been looking at the BB rates and IsoD numbers of a lot of the highly-touted position prospects in this organization. With a lot of the guys, there has not been much of a deviation year-in, year-out when it comes to their walk rates. While it's positive that they are able to keep up a stable rate as they ascend through the minors, it's also worrisome to see a number of guys in this organization who have their offensively value based so heavily on their batting average. It's really hard to predict a guy's offensive success in the majors based on his batting average. At least things such as IsoD, Secondary Averages, and so on give better indicators than AVG, RBIs, and K rates, you know? For that reason, I worry about guys like Ryan Harvey, Brian Dopirak, Mark Reed, Ryan Norwood, Yusuf Carter, Russ Canzler, and so on. They will continue to face more advanced pitching as they move through the minors, but their plate discipline seems quite worrisome based on those numbers. Pie's managed to make it this far and could still improve. However, I'm skeptical given this organization's track record.

I could see the Cubs adding a top name via trade/FA and an innings-eater to help supplement the rotation. Guys like Hill, Marshall, Marmol, and Guzman will get their chances next season. With the injury problems this team has had in recent years, it's pretty much a given, even if they don't win a rotation spot out of ST.