Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Good Start, Bad Start(s)

Marc Rzepczynski bounced back from a bad start to deliver a good one yesterday. Brett Cecil came off a good start and had a bad one. The Ryan's, Page and Koch, did not put their teams in a position to win. New Hampshire had the only win and are leading their division. Brian jeroloman stayed hot while the bats of David Cooper and Brian Dopirak appear to be warming up.

Colorado Springs 9 Las Vegas 4

Brett Cecil looked good for two innings but he collapsed in the third. The crafty vet, Sal Fasano, led off the third with a single and finished it with a strikeout by TJ Beam. In between Cecil gave up three doubles, another single and two walks leading to six runs allowed and bumping his ERA to 10.80. Beam then allowed two runs in the next inning. After that it was cruise control to the bottom of the ninth when the score was 9-0. Las Vegas scored four mercy runs highlighted by extra-base hits from Brett Harper, Jason Lane and Buck Coats.

New Hampshire 7 New Britain 2

Marc Rzepczynski made his third start of the season, the first was very good, the second not so much. Zep had the good stuff back on Saturday. Zep allowed a single in the first inning and then ran into trouble in the second, two ground ball singles and a walk loaded the bases with two outs. A third single in the inning drove in two runs. But thereafter Zep did not concede a hit until he was pulled after six innings. Zep's line was 6IP, 4H, 2R, 4W and 8K's.

New Hampshire took the lead in the second, Brian Dopirak and Brian Jeroloman singled in front of a three run home run from Nick Gorneault. In the third New Hampshire made it 4-2 on doubles by David Cooper and Dopirak.

The Fisher Cats put it away with three more in the eighth, Brad Emaus singled, Cooper had an RBI double, Dopirak walked, Jeroloman singled to load the bases. Gornault walked to drive in a run, then Luis Sanchez singled in the third run.

Cooper and Dopirak had two hits each, their bats appear to be waking up with the warmer weather. Both now have batting averages around .280. Jeroloman had three hits and it is early in the season but there is a pattern emerging that should it remain will be very good. Jeroloman has reduced his walk rate and increased his hit rate. Four of his hits have been for extra bases. Jeroloman has been passed by Arencibia because Jeroloman has been perceived as a singles hitter who walks too much. In this small sample it appears that Jeroloman has got the message.

Dunedin 2 Brevard County 9

Dunedin scored twice in the first inning but it was all downhill from there as starting pitcher Ryan Page gaveup eight runs over three plus innings. Dunedin loaded the bases in the first on an error, a walk and a single by Eric Thames. Dunedin's first run came on a bases loaded walk and the second on a double play.

Page walked the lead-off hitters in both the first and second innings and both scored. A combination of walks and singles led Page to give up five run pver the first two innings. In the third, Page avoided the lead off walk and instead gave up the lead-off double followed by a two run home run.

Dunedin had just six hits, Manny Rodriguez and Raul Barron had two hits each. Jackson and Ahrens went hitless.

West Michigan 9 Lansing 6 - 10 innings

This game was a real back and forward affair as West Michigan scored in seven of the ten innings and Lansing in four. West Michigan has 19 hits, Lansing 13 but Lansing's downfall was four errors leading to three unearned runs.

West Michigan scored four runs, only one earned, over five innings from starter Ryan Koch. Lansing scored a run in the second, two in the fourth and two in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead. The teams exchanged runs in the seventh before Michigan tied it in the eighth off Jonas Cuotto. Michigan put it away with three runs off Michael Barbara in the tenth.

Yohermyn Chavez, who had made a costly error in the first inning, hit a two run home run in the fourth inning and ended with two hits and three RBI's. Brian Van Kirk had two hits including a triple, Jon Del Campo had three.

3 star selection

3rd star - Nick Gorneault
2nd star - Brian Jeroloman
1st star - Marc Rzepczynski

Records

Las Vegas 2-7
New Hampshire 7-3, first place
Dunedin 4-5
Lansing 1-7

Posted by Gerry on Sunday, April 19 2009 @ 08:41 AM EDT.

Good Start, Bad Start(s) | 16 comments | Create New Account

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

youngid - Sunday, April 19 2009 @ 11:35 AM EDT (#198573) #

Jeroloman and Arencibia are really starting to remind me of Mathis and Napoli, on the Angels. Not a bad thing, or a great thing, really.

katman - Sunday, April 19 2009 @ 01:38 PM EDT (#198577) #

"Jeroloman has been passed by Arencibia because Jeroloman has been perceived as a singles hitter who walks too much."

slitheringslider - Sunday, April 19 2009 @ 04:42 PM EDT (#198583) #

I'm trying to understand how that's bad. Wouldn't I rather have a catcher with a really high OBP, than a catcher whose average and OBP are only so-so, but who hots for more power? A singles and walk guy near the bottom of my order should be conducive to lots of runs scored, when my 1-2-3 come up, no?

Singles hitter that relies on OBP for his value doesn't really exist in the majors. Unlike the minors, major league pitchers can usually find the strikezone if they have to. And if they are not worried about you hurting them too much with the bat they will go right after you. I think Jeroloman is going after the Kevin Youkilis model, who was the Greek God of Walks when he first came up, but last year when he became more aggressive at the plate, look what he did with the bat. Jeroloman obviously has a good batting eye, his discipline would not disappear with the new approach, but the new dimension would make him more dangerous as a hitter.

Mylegacy - Sunday, April 19 2009 @ 06:16 PM EDT (#198590) #

Sunny Dunedin has two of my favorite guys...

Tiny "Tim Bits" Collins, 19 years old this year, 5' 7" 155 pounds, has pitched 9 innings with 4 hits, 1 walk and wait for it...16 strikeouts giving him a WHIP of .56!! What a MAN!

Robert "Ding A Ling" Bell, 23 this year, 6' 3" 190 pounds, has pitched 5 innings with 4 hits, 1 walk and 10 SO's for a WHIP of 1.00.

I'm gonna start the chant..."BRING UP TIM BITS! BRING UP TIM BITS!!!!

92-93 - Monday, April 20 2009 @ 12:35 AM EDT (#198598) #

"Singles hitter that relies on OBP for his value doesn't really exist in the majors."

Slithering, meet Ichiro Suzuki. Or Tony Gwynn.

I really don't want Jeroloman to lose his good approach at the plate. If he keeps working on his eye and his defense, he'll be one helluva MLB backup C, and can provide similar value to what Zaunie was doing over here.

Mike Green - Monday, April 20 2009 @ 09:22 AM EDT (#198602) #

It is true that in general scouts prefer power to strike zone control. Many scouts felt that Dustin Pedroia would not amount to much for this reason...

I suspect that Gerry didn't literally mean that "Jeroloman walked too much". Rather, I suspect that he meant that scouts believed that his skills would not translate well to the major league level.

Rich - Monday, April 20 2009 @ 11:21 AM EDT (#198608) #

Slithering, meet Ichiro Suzuki. Or Tony Gwynn.

That's a bit unfair - those 2 guys were practically once-in-a-decade hitters. There probably aren't 5 players in baseball right now who create a lot of offensive value simply by hitting singles.

I'm not knocking Jeroloman, but I think the assertion that his current approach may not work as well at the big league level is fair.

Mike Green - Monday, April 20 2009 @ 11:41 AM EDT (#198611) #

Ernie Whitt had a similar profile to Jeroloman as a minor league hitter. Scouts didn't care much for him either.

vw_fan17 - Monday, April 20 2009 @ 02:58 PM EDT (#198630) #

Slithering, meet Ichiro Suzuki. Or Tony Gwynn.

I agree, those are a little "exceptional". But, wasn't even David Eckstein considered "ok" because he had OBP/SLG something like 350/360 (for a shortstop). Catcher is a defensive position. Assuming Jeroloman can hold his own defensively, I think he'd survive in the majors with a line like 270/350/375.

Last year, there were 29 catchers who had 300+ ABs. 10 were > 750 OPS, 19 below. Max: 896, Min: 593

A 700-750 OPS as a catcher puts you right in the "average" category - something I'm sure he'd be happy with.

Now, mind you, if you end up REALLY skewing towards OBP like: 225/395/330, then I'm guessing you wouldn't last too long, as pitchers would start challenging you instead and you'd have to prove you CAN hit the ball (and more than just singles).

Gerry - Monday, April 20 2009 @ 03:24 PM EDT (#198635) #

Players for whom walks make up a big part of their OBP do not translate well into the majors, as Mike Green said. Major league pitchers are not as wild as those in the minors and in addition advance scouting is better in the majors. If you can hit .300 and have an OBP of .375 in the minors that's is fine but if you hit .250 with a .375 OBP that's not so good. Scouts believe that the .250/.375 player will be roughly a .230/.300 player in the majors. Also if a player doesn't have much power the pitchers will challenge them rather than walk them so to get a good walk rate in the majors you need to have the pitchers be a little bit afriad of you.

The point I was making in the write-up is that Jeroloman would be a higher valued prospect if in 2009 he has a slightly lower walk rate in the minors with a higher batting average and more power. He would be a more complete player and more likely to survive in the major leagues.

Mike Green - Monday, April 20 2009 @ 03:52 PM EDT (#198637) #

It unfortunately goes a little further than this. Scouts often believe that players who have difficulty with strike zone control (like Arencibia) are more likely to develop that skill than players who have relatively little power (like Jeroloman) are to develop that skill. There is no empirical evidence that I am aware of supporting the truth of that view.

Jeroloman's lack of power is perhaps a little overstated. He's 5'11" and 200 lbs. He hit 15 doubles and 6 homers in 279 at-bats in New Hampshire last year. Admittedly this park is favourable for left-handed hitters, but he several times hit line drives off and over the right field wall in games I was listening to. What he isn't is impressive, but neither was Ernie Whitt, whose bat seemed to take a decade travel through the strike zone. It didn't stop Whitt from being a very valuable contributor after he developed a little more power as he got older.

MatO - Monday, April 20 2009 @ 04:28 PM EDT (#198644) #

Yeah, Ernie had a pretty unique swing. It looked like he was dragging his left knee along the ground when he was swinging.

I certainly doubt Jeroloman will still be in the Jays system if he follows Whitt's path. He didn't really get a shot until he was 28 and really wasn't much of a contributor until he was 30 but then reeled off 8 good years in a row. Whitt benefitted from an expansion team's lack of depth and the failure of Brian Milner to develop.

Rich - Tuesday, April 21 2009 @ 11:52 AM EDT (#198717) #

I think he'd survive in the majors with a line like 270/350/375

I respectfully disagree. If he doesn't show any power whatsoever major league staffs will challenge him more and he's not going to see enough balls off the plate to post a .350 OBP. I'm not saying he can't possibly develop a bit more pop - my point is that if he doesn't I doubt he can maintain the type of OBP he's shown thus far.

Eckstein in his prime was really an Ichiro-lite IMO - a rare player who contributed offensively by hitting singles.

Ryan Day - Tuesday, April 21 2009 @ 12:15 PM EDT (#198719) #

Jeroloman added some pop last year, so that's good. And he's supposed to be quite good defensively, so that's probably a ticket to the majors.

He's the opposite of Arencibia in many ways: JP has to learn to lay off pitches out of the strike zone, while Jeroloman has to show he can hurt pitchers who think they can just throw hard stuff across the plate. Assuming they don't both completely flame out in AAA, I'd expect both of them to get lots of chances to earn a job in Toronto.

John Northey - Tuesday, April 21 2009 @ 12:22 PM EDT (#198720) #

Jeroloman and JPA are an interesting pair. Is it better to have a catcher mix with two guys who hit completely differently or is it better to have two guys who are interchangable?

JPA: Right handed power with few walks
Jeroloman: left handed walks with little power

If they both make it the Jays will be set for 6 years behind the plate. If not...

Mike Green - Tuesday, April 21 2009 @ 01:25 PM EDT (#198732) #

It would be nice if the club gave both the opportunity to platoon. I am skeptical that it will happen that way. Rather, it is more likely that the club will give Arencibia a long trial at the full-time role.

Good Start, Bad Start(s) | 16 comments | Create New Account

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