People, sorry I haven’t posted in a few days. I have been real busy with work and parenting (wife was out of town).

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Hitter(s) of the Day

Dan Robertson (Low-A): 2-4, 2B, 2 R, BB, SO

Vince Belnome (Low-A): 2-5, HR, 2 R, RBI, SO

Cole Figueroa (Low-A): 2-3, HR, R, 2 RBI, 2 BB

Pitcher(s) of the Day

Wynn Pelzer (High-A): 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 SO, 0 HR

Will Inman (AA): 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR

Evan Scribner (AA): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR

Commentary

I am certain we will see Evan Scribner in big league uniform at some point. That said, Pelzer and Inman have higher upsides. It is good to see productivity in playoff situations from all three hurlers.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Hitter of the Day

Eric Sogard (AA): 3-5, R, 2 RBI, SO

Cedric Hunter (AA): 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI

Pitcher of the Day

n/a

Commentary

Eric Sogard’s numbers took a hit this season (in an extreme pitchers’ park) but he still hit .293/.370/.400 with more walks than strikeouts (road: .320/.406/.436, home: .267/.335/.366).

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Hitter of the Day

Dan Robertson (Low-A): 2-6, 2B, R, RBI, SO

Jaff Decker (Low-A): 2-5, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 SO

Vince Belnome (Low-A): 2-5, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI, BB, SO

Pitcher(s) of the Day

n/a

Commentary

Good to see Decker with a big game for the playoff TinCaps.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Hitter of the Day

Vince Belnome (Low-A): 2-4, 2B, 2 R

Allan Dykstra (Low-A): 2-4, 2 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI

Pitcher(s) of the Day

Stiven Osuna (Low-A): 4.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR

Commentary

Dykstra came on strong to end the season. It will be interesting to see if he reverts to his ugly 75% of season numbers or if he builds on his fantastic final month.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Hitter of the Day

Vince Belnome (Low-A): 2-4, 2B, R, RBI, 2 SO

Pitcher(s) of the Day

Simon Castro (Low-A): 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO, 0 HR

Brad Brach (Low-A): 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR

Commentary

Castro is a stud (Midwest League strikeout king).

Hitter(s) of the Day

Blake Tekotte (Low-A): 2-4, R, BB

Cedric Hunter (AA): 2-3, 2 2B, 2 BB – hat tip: Bob

Pitcher(s) of the Day

Simon Castro (Low-A): 6.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO, 0 HR

Brad Brach (Low-A): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR  

Ernesto Frieri (AA): 6.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO, 0 HR

Commentary

Fort Wayne won 3-1 and San Antonio and Lake Elsinore each lost by one 1-0 in 11 innings for San Antonio, and 6-5 for Lake Elsinore.

Simon Castro and Brad Brach and two other pitchers combined for a 2-hitter.

Frieri get zero love as a prospect. He has only allowed 125 hits in 147 innings (regular season plus Wednesday’s playoff game) and has a 7.6 K/9. On the down-side, he has a 3.97 BB/9. I’m not sure he’s a future starter, but I like him a lot as a reliever.

Unfortunately, the Padres AAA affiliate, Portland Beavers, finished the minor league regular season tied for the worst the ninth worst winning percentage (.417) of any team in the minors…

Baseball America has the top and bottom 10’s.

Hitter(s) of the Day

Everett Williams (SS): 2-4, HR, R, RBI, BB, 2 SO  

Eric Sogard (AA): 2-5, 2B, R, RBI, BB, 2 SO

Cedric Hunter (AA): 3-6, 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI, SB

Logan Forsythe (AA): 2-5, 2B, 3 R, RBI, BB, SO

Luis Durango (AA): 2-3, 2 R, 2 BB, SB

Pitcher(s) of the Day

Jorge Reyes (SS): 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR

Simon Castro (Low-A): 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO, 0 HR

Wynn Pelzer (High-A): 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR

Commentary

There are three of the top minor league pitchers in the organization. Others deserve to be in the discussion (Poreda, Bass, Luebke, Portillo, Sampson, and Sullivan deserve to be in the discussion).

Saturday, September 05, 2009

Hitter of the Day

Nathan Freiman (SS): 2-5, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, SO  

Pitcher of the Day

Erik Davis (Low-A): 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 0 HR

Commentary

How awesome is it, that these two players are as good as they are and they will be outside the top organizational top 25.

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Happy Birthday Austin! Sunday was my oldest son’s 8^th birthday…

Hitter(s) of the Day

Nathan Freiman (SS): 3-4, HR, R, 4 RBI, BB

Vince Belnome (Low-A): 3-5, 3B, R, 3 RBI  

Cedric Hunter (AA): 3-4, 2B, 3B, 2 R, 2 RBI,

Pitcher(s) of the Day

Chris Fetter (Low-A): 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR

Brandon Gomes (AA): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR

Commentary

Where do you rank Chris Fetter? He has pitched in short-season Eugene and Low-A Fort Wayne and has a combined 1.66 ERA. He throws in the low-90’s (legit but not “write home” velocity) and he’s taller and thus pitches at that downward plane that pitching experts love… On the other hand, he’s older (turns 24 this December) and will have to move through the system quickly. The system has gotten a lot deeper this year (with the addition of 2009 draftees, and development of 2008 draftees and 2008 international free agent acquisitions, and trade booty). Last year I rated Anthony Bass 23. I would argue that Fetter is comparable this year to Anthony Bass last year but because of increased depth, Fetter will not rank that high…

Monday, September 07, 2009

Hitter of the Day

Cedric Hunter (AA): 3-4, 2 R, RBI

Pitcher(s) of the Day

Stiven Osuna (Low-A): 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO, 0 HR

Cesar Ramos (AAA): 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO, 0 HR

Commentary

Cedric Hunter hit well last week (14 for 31 – .452).

Un-surprisingly, hot-hitting Chad Huffman ranked 10^th on the list. “With a two-run shot on Wednesday, Huffman clubbed his 20th homer of the year—and he’s taken just 524 PAs to get there.” BA fails to mention that Huffman got hits in 9 straight at-bats.

Unfortunately, Mitch Canham made the “Not-So Hot List” portion of the list.

Dan Robertson (Low-A): 2-4, 2B, 2 R, RBI, BB

Jaff Decker (Low-A): 2-4, R, RBI, BB

Brad Chalk (High-A): 2-5, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, SO

James Darnell (High-A): 2-4, 2B, R, RBI, BB

Sawyer Carroll (AA): 2-4, 3B

Chad Huffman (AAA): 4-4, 2 2B, R, RBI, 2 BB

Pitcher of the Day

Keyvius Sampson (SS): 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR  

Commentary

Chad Huffman went 3-4 on Tuesday (hits in last 2 at-bats), 3-3 on Wednesday, and 4-4 on Thursday with 4 doubles and a home run (combined). Yesterday I said Huffman had 49 XBH, I was wrong, he had 50, tonight’s double was #51. Huffman is now hitting .273/.366/.478.

Keyvius Sampson’s professional debut season consists of 6 innings so far. Thus we cannot conclude anything. However, the fact that he has only allowed 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 6 is definitely encouraging. Fourth round pick? I’m excited.

Allan Dykstra (Low-A): 2-4, HR, R, 3 RBI, SO

Brad Chalk (High-A): 2-5, 2B, 3B, R, RBI

Eric Sogard (AA): 2-3, 2B, 2 R, BB

Cedric Hunter (AA): 2-5, 2B, R

Logan Forsythe (AA): 2-2, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB

Sawyer Carroll (AA): 2-4, 2B, 2 R, BB

Lance Zawadzki (AA): 3-4, 3B, R

Chad Huffman (AAA): 3-3, HR, R, 3 RBI, 2 BB – 20^th HR; 49^th XBH

Pitcher(s) of the Day

Steve Garrison (AA): 5.0 IP, 4, H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR

Brandon Gomes (AA): 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR

Commentary

So one night after I talk about Huffman, he brings his OPS up an additional 16 points. Doing that in the last week of the season is impressive.

About this time last year, we were suggesting that the “throw in” in the Scott Linebrink trade, Steve Garrison, was the top prospect of the bunch (traded with Will Inman and Joe Thatcher). Then with just a few games left in the season, we learned that he had a shoulder injury. Wednesday night he returned all the way to Double-A. Garrison has been pitching (20.1 innings in the AZL and 7.2 innings in the CAL) and has been better than I would have expected (combined Rookie, High-A, and AA stats):

1-0 with 4.36 ERA in 33.0 IP allowed 31 H and 1 HR and an 8/32 BB/SO ratio

Sawyer Carroll (AA): 2-4, 2B, 3B, R

Chad Huffman (AAA): 3-4, 2 2B, R,  

Pitcher of the Day

n/a

Commentary

The AZL Padres season has concluded. The Midwest League had a night off. And not a lot of good happened in the other levels.

Chad Huffman has been conspicuously absent from this report far too often. So how many of you are surprised to find out that he has 49 XBH and a .353 on-base percentage? I spoke with him briefly Tuesday night and admitted surprise that he was having as good of a season as he is – when he doesn’t make my list I fail to look deeper than the current batting average listed in the box score. His .262 batting average is not impressive. But any stathead worth his pocket protector will remind you that batting average is only one component for a hitter (and arguably not that important of one). Overall Huffman is hitting .262/.353/.459 (with 27 2B, 2 3B, and 19 HR). Those numbers don’t pop out at you, but they are respectable. I still think Huffman will have a Major League career but he will likely be back in AAA for 2010.

Edinson Rincon (SS): 3-6, 2 R, 4 RBI

Nathan Freiman (SS): 3-4, 2 2B, R, 4 RBI, 2 BB

Jaff Decker (Low-A): 3-5, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, SO

Allan Dykstra (Low-A): 2-3, R, RBI, 2 BB

Cole Figueroa (Low-A): 2-4, 2B, RBI  

Vincent Belnome (Low-A): 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, SO

Eric Sogard (AA): 2-3, 2B, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB

Chad Huffman (AAA): 2-4, 2B, R, RBI, SB

Pitcher(s) of the Day

Chris Fetter (Low-A): 4.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR – back in Ft. Wayne

Will Inman (AA): 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO, 0 HR

Commentary

Nathan Freiman is coming along nicely, after a slow start (.633 OPS in June & .775 OPS in July) Nate has an .810+ OPS in his professional debut. What is really interesting however is that the big right-hander has struggled against left-handed pitching (.207/.281/.293).

Chris Fetter now has a combined 1.80 ERA over 60 innings between Eugene and Fort Wayne.

Allan Dykstra hit .319/.432/.505 in August.

Hitter(s) of the Day

Nathan Freiman (SS): 2-4, 2B, SO

Jaff Decker (Low-A): 2-4, 2B, 3B, R, RBI, BB

Vincent Belnome (Low-A): 3-4, R, RBI – welcome to Low-A

Lance Zawadzki (AA): 2-4, 3B, R, RBI

Pitcher(s) of the Day

Jerry Sullivan (SS): 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 8 SO, 0 HR

Anthony Bass (High-A): 5.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR

Craig Italiano (High-A): 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO, 0 HR

Commentary

Jerry Sullivan has been up and down since beginning his pro career… On the good side of the ledger: 53 strikeouts in 46.2 innings and .220 BAA… On the bad side: 5 HR and 23 walks. You cannot walk hitters and give up a lot of home runs and expect to succeed.

How about the combined night Bass and Italiano had?

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Hitter(s) of the Day

Everett Williams (Rookie): 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 SO

Rymer Liriano (Rookie): 2-5, R, 2 RBI, SO, 2 SB

Jorge Minyeti (Rookie): 2-4, 2B, 2 R, RBI, SO, 2 SB

Edinson Rincon (SS): 3-5, 2B, 2 R, RBI, BB

Nathan Freiman (SS): 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI, SO

Jason Hagerty (SS):  3-5, 2B, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB, 2 SO

James Darnell (High-A): 2-5, 3B, SO

PitcheR of the Day

Brandon Gomes (AA): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR

Commentary

Hagerty has been MIA from this list for awhile, good to see him back.  

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Hitter(s) of the Day

James Darnell (High-A): 3-4, 2B, 2 R, RBI, BB

Eric Sogard (AA): 2-6, R, RBI, SO, SB

Lance Zawadzki (AA): 3-4, 2B, 3 R, RBI,

Pitcher(s) of the Day

Jorge Reyes (SS): 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO, 0 HR

Simon Castro (Low-A): 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 0 HR

Jeremy Hefner (High-A): 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO, 0 HR

Evan Scribner (AA): 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO, 0 HR

Commentary

Two gems to start Reyes’ professional career…

Simon Castro had two disaster starts in August (4 ER in 3 IP on 8/8 and 6 ER in 5 IP on 8/13) and even so, in his last 10 starts he has a 3.20 ERA. Is Castro the Padres best non-Latos pitching prospect?