Monday, July 27, 2009
Daniel Hargrave
Congratulations to Daniel Hargrave, who yesterday was named as an Assistant Baseball Coach at UNCW. This is an indication that his professional journey as a player is at an end, but that he'll be able to continue his career in baseball, which seems like a great opportunity him.
Back On Track
Holt is back on track, and was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for the week ending July 20, where he won twice, throwing 13 2-3 innings with 14 K, 3 BB, 2 ER, and 10 hits. Very nicely done. He had a bit of a rough start on the 23rd, but overall is providing consistently good starts, and despite ugly AA statistics, is still (IMHO) likely to receive a September call-up.
Nate Hall is enjoying easily his greatest month as a professional. Windy City is now batting him cleanup, and he's gotten the averages up to .327/.397/.439, back to playing 3B every day. He still has only the 2 home runs, but if he can continue to hit the ball hard (he's got 13 doubles now), work lots of walks, keep the strikeouts down, and can push the average into the .370 range (and keep it there), my bet is he'll attract enough attention to get signed somewhere. He's certainly doing enough now to win himself another year in Windy City as one of the two 2-year players (along with Dylan Axelrod). Only Gilberto Mejia and J.T. Restko, the Windy City stars who both have "veteran" designation, have higher batting averages or on base percentages.
Nate Hall is enjoying easily his greatest month as a professional. Windy City is now batting him cleanup, and he's gotten the averages up to .327/.397/.439, back to playing 3B every day. He still has only the 2 home runs, but if he can continue to hit the ball hard (he's got 13 doubles now), work lots of walks, keep the strikeouts down, and can push the average into the .370 range (and keep it there), my bet is he'll attract enough attention to get signed somewhere. He's certainly doing enough now to win himself another year in Windy City as one of the two 2-year players (along with Dylan Axelrod). Only Gilberto Mejia and J.T. Restko, the Windy City stars who both have "veteran" designation, have higher batting averages or on base percentages.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Decking Hall
Nate Hall is clubbing the ball. He now leads all non-veterans (everyone except Restko and Mejia, who both made the Frontier League West All-Star team) with a .319 average (to go with .391/.431), and is hitting doubles like there's no tomorrow.
On Friday, July 10, Nate had his best game as a professional: 4 for 5, 3 doubles, with 2 runs and 2 RBI in a 12-2 win at home versus Travers City. At day's end, he stood at a career-high .331 mark. He's also back at 3rd base (he made his 8th error), but that's more promising than if he was over at first base.
After his HR binge, Wilson Matos is at .205/.286/.455, with more play in the outfield.
First-year player Dylan Axelrod made the all-star team (although pitched poorly there), but looks like a lock to be invited back for next year.
On the Bradley Holt front, just keep pitching, just keep pitching...
After missing most of June with a minor (non-arm) injury, and then enduring the worst back-to-back starts of his short pro career, Bradley has come back with two very good starts, striking out 17 against 2 walks in 12 innings on the road (giving up only 3 runs and 7 hits). At AA so far, he is 1-3, 5.73, but has quality peripherals: 26 K vs. 9 BB and 16 H in 22 IP. It's funny how the runs pile up when the hits are bunched together.
In any event, Holt appears to be back on track, and the dominance he's capable of is definitely in play at AA. With more consistency, further promotion just seems like a matter of time. As I've mentioned earlier, I expect Holt to finish the season at AA, but if he's red hot in August, to receive a call-up to the big club to get a taste of life in The Show in September. Very often, it's a wise move to give a top prospect some early exposure to the Majors without playing them much or in high leverage situations: it can really help them prepare mentally for what's next.
On Friday, July 10, Nate had his best game as a professional: 4 for 5, 3 doubles, with 2 runs and 2 RBI in a 12-2 win at home versus Travers City. At day's end, he stood at a career-high .331 mark. He's also back at 3rd base (he made his 8th error), but that's more promising than if he was over at first base.
After his HR binge, Wilson Matos is at .205/.286/.455, with more play in the outfield.
First-year player Dylan Axelrod made the all-star team (although pitched poorly there), but looks like a lock to be invited back for next year.
On the Bradley Holt front, just keep pitching, just keep pitching...
After missing most of June with a minor (non-arm) injury, and then enduring the worst back-to-back starts of his short pro career, Bradley has come back with two very good starts, striking out 17 against 2 walks in 12 innings on the road (giving up only 3 runs and 7 hits). At AA so far, he is 1-3, 5.73, but has quality peripherals: 26 K vs. 9 BB and 16 H in 22 IP. It's funny how the runs pile up when the hits are bunched together.
In any event, Holt appears to be back on track, and the dominance he's capable of is definitely in play at AA. With more consistency, further promotion just seems like a matter of time. As I've mentioned earlier, I expect Holt to finish the season at AA, but if he's red hot in August, to receive a call-up to the big club to get a taste of life in The Show in September. Very often, it's a wise move to give a top prospect some early exposure to the Majors without playing them much or in high leverage situations: it can really help them prepare mentally for what's next.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Wilson Matos, "1 Year Players", and Clay Zavada
While Mejia turns 27 later this year, Wilson Matos, who was signed by Windy City on June 24, is the same as age Nate Hall, 24 this year. This is old by minor league standards.
Interestingly, the Frontier League has some sensible policies:
* Only 3 veterans are permitted per team. Mejia, slugging first baseman J.T. Restko, and a pitcher are those 3 veterans, and are top, top performers.
* Two 2-year players are permitted per team.
* Seven 1-year players are permitted. Nate is one of these players.
* The other 12 slots on the 24 man roster must be rookies. Talk about turnover!
Each team has a salary cap of $60,000, with a minimum of $600 per month (a rate of $7,200 per year), which causes most players to live with host families. No wonder Jason Appel retired!
Finally, players cannot be older than 27 as of January 1. This means this season is Mejia's last chance in the Frontier League, as he turns 27 this year, and will be 28 on January 1 of next year.
Wilson Matos is still a rookie, and at age 24, would be eligible to play in the league a couple more years.
For Nate Hall, all this means that after this season, he will be considered a "2-year player", so 5 of the season current "1-year players" will not be eligible to return. In terms of performance relative to the other "1-year players" in the lineup, Nate is slightly behind shortstop Guillermo Martinez (.292/.391/.396, but at a premium position) and ahead of slugging catcher Dan Jordan, who almost never walks and thus gets few at bats these days. The other four 1-year players are pitchers Brandon Garner (1-1, 6.58), Steven Flake (0-2, 5.54), Dustin Pease (5-2, 5.59), and Dylan Axelrod (1-0, 3.38). This puts Nate in decent position to be allowed to return for another Frontier League season in 2010 if he continues to improve.
One last thought. There are seven Frontier League alums in the Majors right now, the most recent being Clay Zavada, he of the Rollie Fingers lookalike mustache, pitching very well for the D'backs. Zavada was a 30th round draft pick by Arizona in 2006, performed well in Rookie ball in Missoula, but then did not pitch in 2007 (injury?) In 2008, Zavada signed with Southern Illinois in the Frontier League, and was completely unhittable. Arizona re-signed him, and Zavada finished 2008 in dominant fashion in A-ball. This year, he pitched very well at AA, and Arizona called him up in late spring. So, take heart, Nate, it can happen!
Interestingly, the Frontier League has some sensible policies:
* Only 3 veterans are permitted per team. Mejia, slugging first baseman J.T. Restko, and a pitcher are those 3 veterans, and are top, top performers.
* Two 2-year players are permitted per team.
* Seven 1-year players are permitted. Nate is one of these players.
* The other 12 slots on the 24 man roster must be rookies. Talk about turnover!
Each team has a salary cap of $60,000, with a minimum of $600 per month (a rate of $7,200 per year), which causes most players to live with host families. No wonder Jason Appel retired!
Finally, players cannot be older than 27 as of January 1. This means this season is Mejia's last chance in the Frontier League, as he turns 27 this year, and will be 28 on January 1 of next year.
Wilson Matos is still a rookie, and at age 24, would be eligible to play in the league a couple more years.
For Nate Hall, all this means that after this season, he will be considered a "2-year player", so 5 of the season current "1-year players" will not be eligible to return. In terms of performance relative to the other "1-year players" in the lineup, Nate is slightly behind shortstop Guillermo Martinez (.292/.391/.396, but at a premium position) and ahead of slugging catcher Dan Jordan, who almost never walks and thus gets few at bats these days. The other four 1-year players are pitchers Brandon Garner (1-1, 6.58), Steven Flake (0-2, 5.54), Dustin Pease (5-2, 5.59), and Dylan Axelrod (1-0, 3.38). This puts Nate in decent position to be allowed to return for another Frontier League season in 2010 if he continues to improve.
One last thought. There are seven Frontier League alums in the Majors right now, the most recent being Clay Zavada, he of the Rollie Fingers lookalike mustache, pitching very well for the D'backs. Zavada was a 30th round draft pick by Arizona in 2006, performed well in Rookie ball in Missoula, but then did not pitch in 2007 (injury?) In 2008, Zavada signed with Southern Illinois in the Frontier League, and was completely unhittable. Arizona re-signed him, and Zavada finished 2008 in dominant fashion in A-ball. This year, he pitched very well at AA, and Arizona called him up in late spring. So, take heart, Nate, it can happen!
Gilberto Mejia Add
I just checked this. Gilberto Mejia was signed by the Tigers as a 19 year old out of the Dominican Republic in 2002. After a reasonable A-ball debut in 2002, he struggled mightily in 2003, and was sent down to rookie league and short-season A ball, where he righted the ship. Mejia spend 2004 to 2006 bouncing between Advanced A and AA, OPSing .527 in AA in 2005. After being released by the Detroit organization at the end of 2006, he is in his third season as Windy City's second baseman, OPSing .720, .794, and now suddenly over 1.000. Mejia is 26 this year, and I'll bet that before the year is done, an organization will give him a shot, stick him in AA, and see what he can do. Middle infielders who can hit for average, line doubles all over the place, and steal 30+ bases are nice commodities.
Hold Yer Horses!
The usual story of our two protagonists, one struggling, and one dominating, only there's a twist!
Nate Hall is raking it, hitting singles and doubles all over the park, now batting .298 with OBP of .383 and SLG of .395. That means his OPS over the last 20 games is probably over .950. He's now third on the team in average and OBP, and is maintaining a level K:BB ratio, which is promising.
Today is the first day that I can write this: if Nate continues to improve at the rate he has been improving, it is possible that he can find his way into affiliated ball. I don't know about his defense, and with a team-leading 7 errors and my memories that he was just an average college 3B, the difficulty for Nate is the lack of a position. A corner infield prospect generally needs to hit home runs, or play great defense. Because Nate does neither, his ticket to the top will come from using his exceptional batting eye and hitting lots of doubles, but hey, if he can hit .330 or .340 at this level, that could translate to a .950+ OPS, which is possibly enough to get him signed somewhere.
The bad news for Nate: Wilson Matos has started to play some third base, and homered in 3 straight games from July 3 to July 5. However, despite the power surge, Matos is hitting only .222/.317. Hall has played a couple of games at first base now, which doesn't speak well of his defense. It just means he's going to really have to improve both offensively and defensively to have a chance to get noticed. He'll need to work to become an above-average infielder, and a really exceptional, high average, high walk rate hitter. Or, he might develop some decent power in the next couple of years, which would not be unusual for a player of his age.
Now, Brad Holt, on the other hand, has gotten absolutely killed his last 2 starts, after skipping a couple of starts with an injury. Giving up 9 ER in his last 3-2/3 innings may wreck his stats for the rest of the season, or at least to the point where we can be pretty sure he'll finish the year in AA. He's young and still has some developing to do, so that's not the end of the world. The last thing anyone wants to do is to rush him up to a level where he won't be encouraged to 1) keep his confidence, and 2) refine and add offspeed pitches.
One last tidbit: Gilberto Mejia is the second baseman and leadoff hitter on the Windy City Thunderbolts, and looks like the best player in the league. He's hitting .390/.452/.573 as a second baseman, with 31-38 stolen bases and a level K:BB ratio. I'm planning to follow him a little on this blog, if only to see what one must do to get noticed in the Frontier League. It's hard to believe one of the major league teams won't notice a performance like this and send a contract his way. And if one does, that sets the bar for what Nate Hall can do to get a contract shipped his way as well.
Nate Hall is raking it, hitting singles and doubles all over the park, now batting .298 with OBP of .383 and SLG of .395. That means his OPS over the last 20 games is probably over .950. He's now third on the team in average and OBP, and is maintaining a level K:BB ratio, which is promising.
Today is the first day that I can write this: if Nate continues to improve at the rate he has been improving, it is possible that he can find his way into affiliated ball. I don't know about his defense, and with a team-leading 7 errors and my memories that he was just an average college 3B, the difficulty for Nate is the lack of a position. A corner infield prospect generally needs to hit home runs, or play great defense. Because Nate does neither, his ticket to the top will come from using his exceptional batting eye and hitting lots of doubles, but hey, if he can hit .330 or .340 at this level, that could translate to a .950+ OPS, which is possibly enough to get him signed somewhere.
The bad news for Nate: Wilson Matos has started to play some third base, and homered in 3 straight games from July 3 to July 5. However, despite the power surge, Matos is hitting only .222/.317. Hall has played a couple of games at first base now, which doesn't speak well of his defense. It just means he's going to really have to improve both offensively and defensively to have a chance to get noticed. He'll need to work to become an above-average infielder, and a really exceptional, high average, high walk rate hitter. Or, he might develop some decent power in the next couple of years, which would not be unusual for a player of his age.
Now, Brad Holt, on the other hand, has gotten absolutely killed his last 2 starts, after skipping a couple of starts with an injury. Giving up 9 ER in his last 3-2/3 innings may wreck his stats for the rest of the season, or at least to the point where we can be pretty sure he'll finish the year in AA. He's young and still has some developing to do, so that's not the end of the world. The last thing anyone wants to do is to rush him up to a level where he won't be encouraged to 1) keep his confidence, and 2) refine and add offspeed pitches.
One last tidbit: Gilberto Mejia is the second baseman and leadoff hitter on the Windy City Thunderbolts, and looks like the best player in the league. He's hitting .390/.452/.573 as a second baseman, with 31-38 stolen bases and a level K:BB ratio. I'm planning to follow him a little on this blog, if only to see what one must do to get noticed in the Frontier League. It's hard to believe one of the major league teams won't notice a performance like this and send a contract his way. And if one does, that sets the bar for what Nate Hall can do to get a contract shipped his way as well.
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