Minor League Diary: April 22

As those of you who have been reading Notes in a Minor Key know, I’ve signed up to score games for Baseball Info Solutions this year. I was at the DBAP last Saturday, at Five County Stadium for all five games of the Carolina/Jacksonville series, and at the DBAP again last night. Some observations from those games:

B.J. Upton can play shortstop, despite his error rate. It seems to me from watching him that his biggest problem is overthrowing (usually that’s something you say about a pitcher) - he’s got enough arm to make the throws from anywhere, but when it’s likely to be a close play he tries to put something extra on it, and when he does that there’s no telling where the ball will go. He did that last Friday night against Toledo and wound up throwing the ball 10 feet over Kevin Witt’s head. There is no question that he has the range to make plays, and his footwork is very good; he’s not throwing off balance or anything like that. He just needs to relax and realize that he doesn’t have to put everything he has into every throw.

Delmon Young can play defense in the majors right now. His arm is strong AND accurate; there was a play in last Friday’s game where he grabbed a liner in medium right field and unleashed a bullet throw that reached the plate on the fly - AND was right on the corner of the plate as well. Last night, there was another play where Delmon got to a ball in RCF on which he had no chance to get the runner from first going to third, but his throw was dead on line and right where the cutoff man (Upton) was playing. There are very, very few players who are both that strong and that accurate. The kid can hit a little, too.

Dustin Pedroia played SS for Pawtucket last night. It’s only one game, and I know the dangers of making assessments based on one game, but I honestly don’t think he has the arm for shortstop. My co-scorer first made the observation that he looked like David Eckstein out there, and I more or less concur. His two throws to first base were a one-bounce throw from the normal SS position and a throw with some air in it (a la Eckstein) from a position closer to 2B. At the plate, he chokes up about two inches or so from the bottom of the bat (unusual in this day and age) and has a nice, compact swing which will generate a lot of line drives when he makes contact. I don’t see him as being able to generate a lot of power with that swing, but he’s not going to be a Punch-and-Judy hitter, either; he’ll get his share of doubles in the gaps and down the lines. He doesn’t look like he’ll get cheated very often; he didn’t take a bad swing last night.

Sleeper guy: Steve Green, closer for Toledo. He was on Team Canada in the WBC, and saved Canada’s 8-6 upset win over the US. Green was a 10th-round draft pick by Anaheim in 1997 out of Fort Scott CC, and has kicked around the minors, getting one start with the Angels in 2001. He missed all of 2002 after TJ surgery, and after a horrendous 5-17, 7.66 season with Salt Lake in 2004, Anaheim released him. He hooked up with Cleveland and later Detroit, pitching garbage relief mostly (3 saves in 50 games spilt between AA and AAA in 2005), but he did fan 41 in 32 1/3 innings with
Toledo in 2005. He made quality pitches against the Bulls to save the 3-2 win last Friday, and while he’s 28 and a non-prospect, I think he’s got a chance to contribute in relief for someone.

Andy LaRoche is going to be a very good player. I wasn’t impressed with him when I saw him last year, but five games this week made a believer out of me. He made four legitimately outstanding plays at 3B during the series, has good range going to his left and an accurate arm. His strike zone could tighten up a little, but he makes solid contact.

Matt Kemp is playing CF for Jacksonville, although he has also played RF in the past. He does have a good power stroke, hitting two longballs out to the deepest part of the ballpark at Five County during the series (not an easy feat, especially with no winds), but it’s a long stroke, and it could be exploited at higher levels.

Of the pitchers: Joel Hanrahan, whose career was on the fast track after he posted a 10-4, 2.43 ERA at Jacksonville in 2003, but who (a) was unable to negotiate the Las Vegas landmines and then (b) got hurt, pitched extremely well and looks to be 100%. Greg Miller, the other oft-injured pitcher on this staff, is pitching in relief, and that might be the way he’ll be used from here on out

I also liked the effort put forth by Carolina’s James Russ, who fanned 10 in a seven-inning start. Russ is a bit old to be a good prospect, and except for one start last year hasn’t pitched above A-ball, but he’s been very good so far this year. Carolina lefty Ben Julianel, a former Cardinal and Yankee prospect, also has been pitching extremely well, although three errors behind him cost him a loss on Thursday night. Julianel isn’t a real prospect, either; he’s 27 and this is his third go-round at AA. He’s had good strikeout numbers and hits allowed numbers in his career. Julianel was acquired for Ron Villone in the offseason, and has also been traded for Sterling Hitchcock. All I’ve read about him suggests that everyone looks at him as a lefty specialist (that’s certainly the way the Yankees used him), but I don’t see why he can’t have a Jamie-Moyer like career.

I’ll be posting observations from the games I attend on a (more or less) weekly basis, and hope that others will as well. If you send them to me directly, I’ll post them as articles within the blog rather than in the comment threads - although you can certainly do that, too.