Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Lansing Lugnuts: April Review

"April review!" you wonder, "but Ryan, aren't we almost halfway through May already?" Well, yes. Yes we are. Any more questions?

The Lugnuts don't have many of the top prospects in the system, and their offense (or lack thereof) rivalled only the scuffling Fisher Cats. In fact, their only real advantage over the other affiliates, was in the numbers that count the most. That is, in the standings. That's right, it may be early but the Lugnuts were the only Blue Jays affiliate in first place in their division after April.

The Pitchers

Name	     W L  ERA  G GS CG SHO GF SV TBF   IP   H  R ER HR BB SO  AVG  BK WP HB
R Janssen    2 0 1.69  5  5  0	 0  0  0 113 32.0  18  7  6  0  3 29 .168   0  1  0
A Wideman    1 1 3.76  5  5  0   0  0  0 104 26.1  21 12 11  2  8 24 .226   0  0  1 
K Yates	     1 1 3.91  4  4  0   0  0  0  93 23.0  28 10 10  2  1 12 .282   0  0  2
C Cheng	     2 0 3.48  4  4  0   0  0  0  88 20.2  20  8  8  2  7 27 .247   0  2  0
J Perez	     1 2 6.48  5  3  0   0  1  0  72 16.2  22 14 12  3  4 15 .328   0  1  0
M Sopko	     0 0 3.95  7  0  0   0  2  0  60 13.2  15  7  6  1  4  9 .294   0  2  2
E Rico	     1 1 8.38  5  0  0   0  2  0  48  9.2  14  9  9  2  7  7 .285   0  1  0
J Templet    2 1 4.63  7  0  0   0  1  0  54 11.2  14  6  6  1  7 10 .304   0  1  0
D Harang     1 0 2.45  6  0  0   0  3  0  46 11.0   9  3  3  2  5 12 .225   0  0  0
D Hill       0 1 1.80 10  0  0   0  9  7  45 10.0  11  6  2  0	4  8 .282   0  1  0
P Keng	     1 1 3.86  3  0  0   0  0  0  32  7.0  10  6  3  2	0  6 .313   0  2  0
J McLaughlin 1 1 1.29  7  0  0   0  4  1  30  7.0   4  1  1  0  5  5 .160   0  1  0
A Martin     0 0 6.75  2  1  0   0  1  0  15  4.0   4  3  3  2  0  2 .286   0  0  0

The Prospects

Casey Janssen, 23, RHP
He's definitely more in the Josh Towers, Shaun Marcum mold than the Doc Halladay, Dustin McGowan one. High 80's stuff with outstanding command has baffled the Midwest League hitters to the point where the Jays front office took pity on them and promoted Janssen to Dunedin.

AJ Wideman, 19, LHP
In exchange for the rights to Ty Godwin, the Nationals sent over Aaron J. Wideman. We knew he didn't throw hard but the early reports have him topping out in the mid-80's. Keep in mind, he's lefthanded and only 19. Still, it would be nice to see him add a few clicks to his fastball as he matures because this Mississauga native knows how to pitch. Given his age, it's likely he'll last the whole season in Lansing.

Chi-Hung Cheng, 19, LHP
If there's any help coming out of the Blue Jays lower minors, it looks like it will be lefthanded pitching as both Dunedin and Lansing are packed with it. Despite being only 19, essentially skipping Auburn, and being exposed to an entirely different country and culture, Cheng is off to an excellent start. His outstanding curveball helped him earn 27 strikeouts in 20 innings, which is a very good sign. Even his walk, hit and homer rates were solid in the first month.

Po-Hsuan Keng, 20, RHP
The fact that both of the Blue Jays' Taiwanese pitchers are on the same team in no coincidence. Starting in Lansing is a big step for Keng but having his contryman Cheng, who's already been here for a year, on the same team has no doubt helped the transition to North America. Of course having his old teammate and classmate along, has likely also helped Cheng too as both pitchers have exceeded expectations thus far. Keng went on the DL on April 20th with some elbow tendonitis but has since returned and pitched well. Keng should stay in the relief role for the short-term but he may move into the rotation at some point this year.

Danny Hill, 23, RHP
Hill was primarily a starter in college but with his size and having only two strong pitches, he screamed relief prospect to many Bauxites on draft day. After a few injury concerns last season, that's exactly the role he's filling with the Lugnuts. He had one rough outing early in the season but has been next to untouchable ever since.

Juan Perez, 23, RHP
After a strong season last year at Auburn, Perez has dissappointed early in his first look at full season ball. He would have had to impress and move quickly to get a shot at being protected on the 40 man roster this fall but so far it doesn't look like the rule 5 draft will be an issue for Perez.

The Hitters

Name            G AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB IBB HBP SO SH SF SB CS  AVG  OBP  SLG E
J Armstrong    13 35 12 13  3  0  0   7 16  5   0   1  6  0  0  0  0 .371 .463 .457 2
J Peralta      18 54  7	17  1  0  0  10	18  5	0   1  9  1  0  2  0 .315 .383 .333 0
J Wolfe	       14 41  7 12  2  0  2   5 20  3   0   0 10  0  0  0  0 .293 .341 .488 0
C Thigpen      21 78 10	20  4  0  1   8 27 11   0   0 13  0  0	3  0 .256 .348 .346 2
D Corrente	7 24  3  5  0  0  0   2  5  3	0   0  9  0  0	0  0 .208 .296 .208 0
E Nielsen      22 74 13	18  7  0  3   6	34  9   1   0 15  0  0  0  3 .243 .325 .459 0
C Snavely      20 66 10	15  3  0  1   5	21 12	0   0 12  1  0	0  1 .227 .346 .318 1
R Klosterman   20 63 10	14  3  1  3  15	28 15	1   2 16  0  0  4  2 .222 .388 .444 4
R Cannon       19 67  9	14  1  1  5  15	32  7   0   1 20  0  0  0  0 .209 .293 .478 1
D Hicks	       12 39  5  8  1  0  2   2 15  1	0   0  4  0  0	0  0 .205 .225 .385 0
L Hetherington 12 29  5	 6  2  0  0   2	 8  8	0   4  8  0  0  1  0 .207 .439 .276 0
Y Rodriguez    19 72  4	12  3  0  0   3	15  6	0   0 18  1  2	0  1 .167 .225 .208 2
P Patton       18 68  3	11  2  0  2   8	19  2	1   1 20  0  0	0  0 .162 .197 .279 3

The Prospects

Curtis Thigpen, 22, C
No draft pick was second-guessed around here more then this second rounder on draft day with names like Kurt Suzuki, Dustin Pedroia, and Mike Ferris still on the board. But his bat and surprising skills behind the plate at Auburn silenced the critics last year. This spring has not been as kind to Thigpen but in comparison with the rest of the team, his stats aren't all that bad. Hopefully we can write off this slow start as a byproduct of the cold spring weather in Michigan.

Yuber Rodriguez, 20, OF
�ber-toolsy Yuber had a rough month to say the least. However, it is his first shot at full-season ball and it's probably the first time he's even seen the weather as cold as what we would consider to be a mild spring day. He has plenty of time to work things out and hopefully that's all he needs at this point.

Chip Cannon, 23, 1B
Cannon has shown plenty of pop in his bat by leading the team in long balls. Though, it wouldn't hurt to see this Citadel grad display a little more discipline, at the plate that is.

Cory Patton, 22, OF
The General didn't play for Auburn last year after finishing the college season with a foot injury. As advertised, Patton has flashed some big time power but like everyone else has had trouble doing much else at the plate. Once again, hopefully his bat will warm up with the weather.

Ryan Klosterman, 22, SS
The shortstop hasn't had many singles fall in, resulting in his low .222 average. On the other hand, he still boasts a .832 OPS, which is the highest among the regular starters. His numbers should only rise from here on out and he could be the first position player to get the call up to Dunedin.

Next month we should have a little better data set to look at and we'll examine some other prospects like Kyle Yates, Eric Nielsen, Christian Snavely and Joey Wolfe. Until then, what are your thoughts on the 2005 Lugnuts?

Posted by Ryan01 on Thursday, May 12 2005 @ 11:05 AM EDT.

Lansing Lugnuts: April Review | 6 comments | Create New Account

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Ryan01 - Thursday, May 12 2005 @ 03:14 PM EDT (#116489) #

I'm certainly interested to see how the midseason promtions do in Dunedin this year. The past few years we've seen a few hitters actually break out after leaving the Sally leaugue and several pitchers struggle after making the jump. The Midwest League is known as much less of a pitcher's league than the SAL so it will be interesting to see what happens.

Mike Green - Thursday, May 12 2005 @ 03:24 PM EDT (#116494) #

Well worth the wait, Ryan. "Uber-prospect Yuber" particularly appeals to me.

Rob - Thursday, May 12 2005 @ 06:57 PM EDT (#116515) #

Just nosing through the stats and some things jumped out at me, namely regarding Juan Peralta. His BABIP is the highest on the team among regulars at .378, 81 points higher than second place Curtis Thigpen. No, that's not a misprint.

Turns out, his previous high in batting average on balls in play was in 2000 as a 17 year old in the DSL. He had .303 that year. Accordingly, his isolated power is way down this year, at .018, with only one double in 18 games. That ISO is his lowest ever, by far. How "by far" you ask?

Ag   ISO   Lvl
19  .106   Pio
20  .086   NYP
17  .060   DSL
21  .052   SAL
18  .047   Pio
22  .018   Mdw

I'll go with the easy answer -- the cold. Prior to this year, Peralta played in the DR for one year; June, July and August for three years; and nothing below 20 C last year in Charleston. Lansing in April could easily be ten degrees colder than anything he's experienced before.

2005, so far, is also a career high in batting average for Peralta as well as OBP. He won't keep up this pace, but I noticed that his batting average has been very consistent throughout his career, as well as his ISD and ISO. Keeping this in mind, and just for fun, I'll predict a final line of .235/.320/.305 for Mr. Peralta.

Juan Peralta has the most professional experience of any regular on the Lugnuts at five years through 2004, but four other players have multiple years of statistics. Thigpen and Nielsen each have three college years and half a pro year, Snavely has 3 and 1.5, and Chip Cannon has 3.5 college, 0.5 pro. I might take a look at them later, see what (if anything) I can find.

Lugnut Fan - Thursday, May 12 2005 @ 07:26 PM EDT (#116519) #

Here are my impressions on the team in the first month. The thing about playing in cold weather is a good observation. Even now that things are warming up, some of the kids look like they are still cold. I will be at a game in t-shirt and shorts when it is 60 degrees out and most of the guys will be playing in sweatshirts and the pitchers charting pitches typically have on a sweatshirt and Janssen would even wear gloves. Wideman will have to teach them how to deal with the cold weather.

1) Yuber Rodriguez: Yuber has struggled at the plate and hasn't really shown the plate discipline to be an effective lead off hitter. He is a solid CF though and seems to be able to track the ball off the bat very well. Recently, he has started to hit the ball hard, but they are typically either at someone, or someone makes a great play and robs him. The fact that he is hitting the ball hard though shows me he is about to come out of his slump and his average should rise.

2) Curtis Thigpen: Curtis's bat has started to heat up recently. He is starting to display some power and he has a very good, compact swing. I would like to see his percentage in throwing out would be base stealers go up though.

3) Eric Nielsen: Here is another kid that I think has alow of power potential He plays RF with reckless abandon. On Monday, he made a catch and ran all out into a wall. He has alot of heart.

4) Chip Cannon: Probably the most powerful hitter on the team and a very strong defensive first baseman. He is very aggresive swinging the bat early in the count and when he catches it on the sweet spot, there aren't many people that can hit the ball farther, but he needs a little plate disciplne.

5) Christian Snavely: Christian's average needs to rise. He is hitting in the low .200's right now. He is a very good third baseman though, especially for this being his first year doing that professionally.

6)Cory Patton: Cory is coming off a foot injury and is a little behind in his development. However he does show some power potential and has a fairly decent arm. I know that he was in the process of moving his wife to Lansing from Texas for the remainder of the season, so once that stress is over with, I look for him to settle down, focus on baseball and have a solid season.

7) Joey Wolfe: If anyone is getting robbed of playing time on this team, it is Joey. He always seems to come up with the big hit (and it's usually a home run to tie or win a game). His catching statistics are pretty impressive too. I know the numbers are limited, but he is 2 for 3 in throwing out would be base stealers. I'm not saying he should start, but I think he should get some more innings.

8) Juan Peralta: His offensive numbers have been the best on the team to date. Juan typically bats 9th for the Lugnuts, but if his offensive numbers stay high, he is fast enough where he may get some sniffs at lead off.

9) Ryan Klosterman: Probably the best defensive short stop I have watched in Lansing. His offensive numbers were starting to pick up too prior to an eye infection he got last week and had to sit out a few games. He is a definite canidate for a mid-season promotion and with the emergence of Jason Armstrong at short, could easily be moved up when the time comes.

10) Jason Armstrong: The Lugnuts mister everything. The Lansing State Journal did a feature on the kid, and did a very good job introducing fans to him. A very good kid, but has struggled a little at the plate. He has gotten a couple of hits over the last couple of games though and looks to be coming on. Could replace Klosterman at short, or possible Snavely at third if his numbers don't pick up.

I watch all the players and would like to comment on all of them, but I fear I would have a never ending thread, so I will stop here. I left out all of the pitchers, but in a nut shell, the good: Janssen (who is no longer in Lansing), Yates, Wideman, Hill, Harang, and Cheng when he throws strikes.

The bad: Cheng when he struggles throwing strikes and the bullpen outside of Hill and Harang.

Anything else?

Ducey - Friday, May 13 2005 @ 12:06 AM EDT (#116537) #

keep the comments coming Lugnut Fan. They are appreciated!

Sneeps - Friday, May 13 2005 @ 04:01 AM EDT (#116542) #

thanks a lot lugnuts fan. you gave me exactly what i was asking for... keep it coming, as i for one wouldn't mind it if that was a never ending thread. i literally can't get enough out of the development of the minor league system. following the players from day 1 and keeping close tabs on how they are fairing is such a cool hobby.

here's hoping to see a similar report on the pitchers in the near future. cheers.

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