Batter's Box Interactive Magazine

A BB regular and avid follower of the Jays' farm system has stepped in as a volunteer pinch-hitter with this update. Thanks, Gerry.

By Gerry McDonald

The minor league season ends on Labour Day. That makes for 13 days left in the season. Some teams are just playing out the string, some are home and dry, and others are in a fight. As this is the first minor league update in a while, I will look at the last few days in my comments.

Syracuse

The SkyChiefs are tied for bottom spot in the North division, 13.5 games back of Pawtucket. Syracuse were in Ottawa over the weekend where they dropped the first three before winning the last game of the series yesterday. Several contributors to Batters Box attended games in Ottawa and their comments are spread through the last few day’s posts. The starting pitching has not been good. Pete Walker was bombed (8 runs in 2.2 IP) and Mike Smith struggled (4 runs in 5 IP). Jason Arnold had mixed reviews, looking good for a few innings but he did give up a three run home run to Luis Lopez and was not helped by sloppy fielding behind him. John Wasdin (3 IP, 3 hits, no runs) and Doug Linton (4.2 IP, no runs) provided good pitching in relief.

In yesterday’s game the SkyChiefs were down 4-0, but scored six runs in the last four innings for the win. Wasdin got the win, Tam the save. Gary Burnham has been carrying the only hot stick for the Chiefs and had a home run, his seventh, and scored two runs. Sequea and Pond also scored twice.

Gabe Gross went 1 for 11 in Ottawa. In four games he walked 6 times and had 4 K’s. Syracuse made two roster moves calling up Brian Patrick from Auburn and Scott Dragicevich from Charleston. I think both moves are to fill holes at Syracuse rather than being an indication of a bright future for both players.

New Haven

New Haven are in first place, five games ahead of Portland. These two teams play each other in the last seven games of the season. The Ravens lost 4-3 to Binghampton last night. Jordon DeJong lost it in the ninth on two walks, an infield hit and a sac fly. Russ Adams led off the game with a home run. Rios and Quiroz also had a hit each, but New Haven only had five hits on the night. Cam Reimers pitched well for New Haven giving up three runs on 9 hits in 8 innings. He allowed no walks and had 4 K’s.

New Haven beat Binghampton 8-7 on Monday and split a doubleheader on Sunday. Pistol was there on Sunday and filled a report. McGowan won game one and has really settled in at AA. Bush gave up three runs in the first inning in the nightcap and lost 3-2. Dominic Rich had the hot bat on Sunday and Monday but was 0-3 last night. Rich on Saturday, and Adams last night, had the only home runs in the last 4 games as Rios and Quiroz are a little quiet these days.

Dunedin

Dunedin are 1.5 games ahead of Clearwater for the second half title. Dunedin lost to Clearwater last night. Jamie Vermilyea’s bubble burst as he gave up three runs in the eighth to break a 3-3 tie. Dunedin scored 2 in the ninth but fell short 6-5. Brandon League pitched the first 5 innings, conceding 3 runs on 4 hits, 3 BB and 5 K’s. Dunedin out-hit Clearwater 14-6. Hill, Waugh and Tablado had 2 hits each as did several others.

Dunedin also lost to Clearwater in the eighth inning on Monday. Torres gave up 1 run in the eighth to break a 3-3 tie in that game. Hill, Davenport and Tablado had multi-hit games. Vince Perkins started that game, 5 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 5 BB, 3 K. Dunedin have 11 games left, 2 next week home to Clearwater where they will be looking for some revenge.

Charleston

Charleston are 16 games out of first. Charleston lost 1-0 to Lakewood yesterday. Charleston won 1-0 on Monday. They had 12 hits, in both games combined. Rivera and Medina with 3 hits each accounted for half the hits. With such low scoring games the pitching was strong. On Monday DJ Hanson pitched 7 innings, allowing 4 hits, one walk and 5 K’s to get the win. Charles Talanoa was the hard luck loser last night allowing one run on 5 hits and a walk in 6 innings. He also had 6 K’s.

Auburn

Auburn has already wrapped up the NY-Penn title with a 17.5 game lead. The Doubledays beat Jamestown 9-2 last night behind Kurt Isenberg who allowed one run in 5 innings but had only one K. Jamestown had 3 hits and a walk. Kratz had 2 doubles among his three hits and Ryan Roberts had a triple and home run and 4 RBI’s.

On Monday Auburn won 3-0 as Tom Mastny pitched five shutout innings with 7 K’s.

Pulaski

Pulaski are 2.5 games out of first on an improving team. Pulaski beat Danville 8-7 last night thanks to six runs in the eighth and one in the ninth. Jayce Tingler had 3 hits and 3 runs.

Posted by Coach on Wednesday, August 20 2003 @ 11:15 AM EDT.

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The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

_Cristian - Wednesday, August 20 2003 @ 01:09 PM EDT (#94122) #

Thanks Gerry,

We often get caught up analyzing individual performances at the minor league level. This is not wrong in itself but it is also nice to hear how the teams are doing. That the Jays have so many teams close to championships says a lot and hopefully instills a winning attitude that will permeate to Toronto as these players push up the system.

_Jordan - Wednesday, August 20 2003 @ 01:15 PM EDT (#94123) #

Great report, Gerry.

Check out some of these near-season's-end pitching lines from Auburn.

Josh Banks (2nd '03)
5-2, 3.02, 12 GS, 53 IP, 54 H, 9 BB, 62 K, 28.1% KBG, 1 HR
Bubbie Buzachero
1-1, 1.57 ERA, 12 Sv, 25 G, 0 GS, 28 IP, 20 H, 6 BB, 42 K, 37.5% KBF, 1 HR
Kurt Isenberg (4th '03)
5-2, 1.78, 11 GS, 50 IP, 32 H, 17 BB, 47 K, 23.0% KBF, 2 HR
Shaun Marcum (3rd '03)
0-0, 1.85 ERA, 6 Sv, 16 G, 0 GS, 24 IP, 13 H, 6 BB, 36 K, 38.7% KBF, 0 HR
Tom Mastny (11th '03)
8-0, 2.47, 12 GS, 54 IP, 47 H, 11 BB, 56 K, 26.0% KBF, 2 HR
Brian Reed (27th '03) -- nice steal
1-2, 2.14 IP, 23 G, 0 GS, 27 IP, 13 H, 10 BB, 41 K, 29.4% KBF, 0 HR
Davis Romero
3-0, 2.36, 25 G, 0 GS, 34 IP, 26 H, 7 BB, 45 K, 32.8% KBF, 0 HR

And this doesn't include Jamie Vermilyea (9th '03). The sample sizes are teensy, and short-season A-Ball numbers have limited value (call it the Justin Maureau Rule), but this sure does look awfully nice.

_Brent - Wednesday, August 20 2003 @ 01:25 PM EDT (#94124) #

I think we can expect to see all of those guys at Dundein next year, no? And if so, what will be the rotation?

Craig B - Wednesday, August 20 2003 @ 02:14 PM EDT (#94125) #

Brent, I expect half those guys to go to Dundein and half to Charleston; probably Banks, Isenberg, and Marcum in Dunedin along with Jamie Vermilyea.

Craig B - Wednesday, August 20 2003 @ 02:26 PM EDT (#94126) #

Oh yeah, on the Vito Chiaravalloti Watch : he is still leading in all three Triple Crown categories, and looks to be assured of the RBI crown at least (he leads by 12 with few games left). He leads 10-7 (over four other players) in home runs. The closest fight is for the batting title, he leads Nyjer Morgan of Williamsport .344-.338 right now.

Morgan, incidentally, was a 33rd-round pick by Pittsburgh in 2002 (out of Walla Walla JC)... he's a centerfielder, so he looks to be a darn good pickup for a 33rd-rounder. But the most interesting thing about him is his Canadian connection; he spent four years living in British Columbia, playing hockey - he made it as far as the WHL (major junior) where he played for the Regina Pats. There's a good interview on the Crosscutters' website.

_Jordan - Wednesday, August 20 2003 @ 02:31 PM EDT (#94127) #

Dunedin's going to be an interesting place in '04, isn't it? Here are the noteworthy pitchers already on the D-Jays roster:

SP
Jesse Harper
Brandon League
Vince Perkins
Chad Pleiness

RP
Justin Maureau
Jamie Vermilyea
Derrick Nunley ('99 draftee reliever who's having his first decent season)

Also, down at Charleston, there's:

SP
DJ Hanson (who's really come on lately)
Sandy Nin
John Wesley
Charles Talanoa

RP
Tracy Thorpe
Ismael Ramirez

From the current Dunedin squad, I expect to see Jesse Harper and Chad Pleiness pushed up to AA; they need the challenge. Vince Perkins needs to refine his control (and start striking out more batters) before he gets near the Eastern League. And Brandon League is simply too young to be anywhere but A-Ball for at least a year. Of the Alley-Cats, Hanson's late-season surge and a good minor-league spring-training may get him assigned to Dunedin, and I think Sandy Nin could benefit from a push. Ramirez looks like a reliever at best, and Talanoa needs more time in Low-A. John Wesley may be the odd man out; he needs to stay in the rotation, but he's not good enough to bump anyone ahead of him. So my guess for a Dunedin Starting Five next season would be:

Brandon League
Vince Perkins (or Wesley if Perkins goes to the pen)
Josh Banks
Tom Mastny
DJ Hanson

In the bullpen, I can't imagine Vermilyea will be in A-Ball very long, the way he's pitching; like Adam Peterson, he may get moved up in a hurry. Maureau may actually go back down to Charleston to start the year, but if he pitches decently at all, he'll also get pushed up; a LOOGY career may be in his future. Tracy Thorpe is still recovering from surgery and may need another half-year or so in the Sally before he's ready to go higher. So my guess at a Dunedin bullpen would look like this (alphabetically):

Bubbie Buzachero
Shawn Marcum
Justin Maureau
Sandy Nin
Derrick Nunley
Ismael Ramirez
Brian Reed
Davis Romero

Of course, off-season developments (trades, injuries, AFL, etc.) will affect this projection dramatically.

Pistol - Wednesday, August 20 2003 @ 02:51 PM EDT (#94128) #

The sample sizes are teensy, and short-season A-Ball numbers have limited value (call it the Justin Maureau Rule), but this sure does look awfully nice.

The way I look at it is this: If they dominate rookie ball it doesn't mean a whole lot. But if they don't dominate rookie ball then it's a bad sign.

So far they aren't many bad signs with this draft class.

What I would like to see the Jays do is what I believe the Rangers do in their minor league system (it may be some other team, but I remember reading some team doing this). They go with a 4 man rotation with limited pitch counts (75 I think) pairing up 2 pitchers to pitch on the same day.

The goal is to get pitchers to learn to conserve their pitches (can't get the win if you don't go 5 innings) and get them throwing more often (as most believe pitch counts are more risky than innings). It seems as if the Jays have enough pitchers to pull this off, and eventually they could develop them so they could have a 4 man rotation in Toronto.

Ask JP!!

Pistol - Wednesday, August 20 2003 @ 03:16 PM EDT (#94129) #

http://www.dickiethon.com/~eczajka/nmlr_special_part_1.htm
As luck would have it, I ran into a Grady Fuson interview where he discusses the tandem 4 man rotation.

Click on my name to read it, it is in the bottom half of the section - interesting reading.

_Jonny German - Wednesday, August 20 2003 @ 04:05 PM EDT (#94130) #

They go with a 4 man rotation with limited pitch counts (75 I think) pairing up 2 pitchers to pitch on the same day.

I like the sound of that, and I'd also like to see a team try taking it one (huge) step further... A staff of 9 pitchers who nominally throw 3 innings every 3 days, with 2 or 3 traditional relievers to pick up the slack when necessary. There has to be an advantage to be gained by the pitchers by not having them same batter 3 or 4 times in a single day. Intuitively, to me at least, it also makes sense that this would be less taxing on a the pitching arms.

_Rich - Wednesday, August 20 2003 @ 04:56 PM EDT (#94131) #

I see one disadvantage to your suggestion: if pitchers don't see the same hitter more than once in a game then they don't get the experience of figuring out what to throw to a hitter through multiple at-bats. If you get a guy to chase a 2-2 slider in the dirt, what do you do next at-bat at 2-2? Pitchers will develop the mental game of setting up hitters more quickly if they have to face the same guys multiple times in a game.

Craig B - Wednesday, August 20 2003 @ 05:46 PM EDT (#94132) #

4-inning / 75-pitch stints do let pitchers see every batter twice, but the third time is, of course, pretty crucial.

It beats making your 6th through 10th pitchers pitch in relief.

_StephenT - Wednesday, August 20 2003 @ 09:08 PM EDT (#94133) #

I saw Lidle (#19) warming up Sunday during the 1st inning of the SkyChiefs game in Ottawa. It was strange to see someone throwing long-toss on the 1st-base side while a game was on. Then he got on the bullpen mound and threw some pitches. The curve looked flat but the sinker looked great.

Starters' pitch counts: Evan Thomas threw 98 pitches on Saturday night, Walker threw 65-70 on Sunday (I missed a couple batters), and Arnold threw 90 on Monday. All 3 were removed mid-inning while they were getting bad results.

Gerry - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 09:21 AM EDT (#94134) #

Update from Wednesday night...

Cory Lidle started for Syracuse and pitched four innings followed by Corey Thurman for four. Their lines were very similar. Both gave up 5 hits and zero walks. Lidle had 3 K's and Thurman 5. Gabe Gross hit a home run and Gary Burnham had 3 more hits. The Jays took a 3-0 lead into the ninth. Then Bob File gave up 3 runs and Kevin Frederick gave up a three run HR to Earl Snyder to lose the game 6-3.

New Haven won 4-3 while Portland lost. Dave Gassner pitched 8 innings for the win. His line was an impressive 8 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 7 K. Alex Rios, Anthony Sanders and Kevin Keene had two hits each.

Dunedin were rained out.

Charleston lost 4-0. Ramirez had a good start, 5 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 5K. Cahrleston could only manage three hits, and David Smith (15th round 2002) had two of them.

Auburn had the night off.

Pulaski won again 7-1. Berroa got the win. Joey Reiman (16th round 2003) had three hits.

Craig B - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 09:54 AM EDT (#94135) #

Does Pulaski play in some sort of uber-hitter's park? Maybe at altitude (in the Appalachians and all that...) or something? A huge outfield? The discrepancy between the hitting and pitching is really huge...

Craig B - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 09:55 AM EDT (#94136) #

Wow, Calfee Park looks really beautiful.

Craig B - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 10:01 AM EDT (#94137) #

I love answering my own questions.

Calfee Park's dimensions are normal, but there's a "short porch" in RF... it's just 301' down the line, and there's a 19-foot-high fence there.

I also note that it opened in 1935, and was built by the WPA. Who says government-funded stadia are always boondoggles? :)

Craig B - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 10:06 AM EDT (#94138) #

And yes, Pulaski is 2000' up a mountain. Wow, no wonder the pitching numbers look bad.

Gerry - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 10:07 AM EDT (#94139) #

The top picture almost looks like a jail entrance.

The price is right if you own the house over the right field fence.

Gerry - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 10:13 AM EDT (#94140) #

Info on DJ Hanson from Monday. It looks like he is ready for a promotion.

D.Hanson (W,9-10) 7.0 4 0 0 1 5 2.82 - 0.50 ERA in last 6 GS

_Simon - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 10:58 AM EDT (#94141) #

Is there any truth to the argument that HS pitchers have higher potential? I mean, once you draft a college pitcher is it basically what you see is what you get? It's something that I've been wondering for a while.

_Spicol - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 11:39 AM EDT (#94142) #

This doesn't quite answer your question Simon, but this is a pretty good explanation regarding how you never really know.

You have to be a subscriber to see the whole thing but Baseball America did a study of most of the drafts in the 1990's and determined that a higher percentage of college player drafted in the first 10 rounds become MLB regulars (6.4% vs 4.1%) but a slightly larger percentage of high school picks become big league stars (1.1% vs. 0.9%). But again, that's not specific to pitchers.

_Simon - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 12:17 PM EDT (#94143) #

Thanks Spicol. For a while my only reservation about drafting so many college players was that they might have a lower ceiling than HS pitchers. I guess it's really not a bad thing because most of the players don't even get to the majors, and to say that just because a player went to college he has a lower potential (or can't throw hard) is kind of silly. Many players mature and become the players they are today IN college so I guess I've been convinced (or I've convinced myself :S)

Pistol - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 12:36 PM EDT (#94144) #

There's more uncertainty with HS players. You're certainly going to know more about a player when he's 21 than when he's 18.

I think the big advantage with college pitchers over HS pitchers is that you have 3 less years of them possibly getting injured while they're in your organization. And those 3 years are probably the highest risk for injuries.

The other advantage is that they'll make the majors 2-3 years quicker. Bush was drafted in 2002 and will likely be in Toronto in 2005. A HS pitcher taken in 2002 won't likely make it to the majors until 2007 or 2008.

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