Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Gustavo Pierre Big Fly

It's playoff hunting season in the minor leagues. Dunedin are in the playoffs and three other teams are chasing a spot. There was mixed news for the affiliates on Friday. Vancouver won to put them a game ahead for the last playoff spot. Lansing won but five teams are within a game of that spot, they likely need to run the table. Buffalo lost are on life support.

Sean Nolin was decent for Buffalo but the hitters were held to two runs. Gustavo Pierre had a big, ninth inning, two run home run for the Fisher Cats. Lansing scored eight more runs as they are red hot right now. Brad Allen pitched well. Vancouver had a big win and Bluefield won their last game of the season.

Buffalo 2 Rochester 3

Sean Nolin started and allowed all three runs Two of the runs came on a home run, the third and winning run came around on two wild pitches. Nolin's line was 5.2 6 3 3 2 7. Brandon Morrow is allegedly in Buffalo but he did not pitch, Rob Rasmussen and Ryan Tepera held Rochester at bay.

The Bisons got off to a good start, Dalton Pompey and Anthony Gose singled. But Gose was caught stealing and Cole Gillespie got out, although Pompey did score so Buffalo were held to one run. AJ Jimenez drove in the second run in the fourth. Gillespie was the only hitter with 2 hits.

New Hampshire 4 New Britain 3

New Hampshire trailed 3-2 headed to the ninth and that was when Gustavo Pierre hit his first AA home run, a 2 run shot to put the Fisher Cats ahead. KC Hobson drove in the other two runs, one on a double and one on a groundout. Hobson was the only hitter with two hits.

Mike Lee went seven innings and was tagged for the three runs.

Dunedin at Brevard County - postponed, rain

Doubleheader on Saturday

Lansing 8 Dayton 1

Lansing are finishing strong after a disappointing season. Brad Allen gave up a run and a hit in the first inning but then didn't allow another hit through six innings.

The Lugnuts loaded the bases many times on Friday and they found ways to bring in runs without hits. Four runs scored on groundouts with errors, two on sac flies, one on a regular groundout. Just one run was singled in. Chris Schaeffer had three hits. Jason Leblebijian and DJ Davis each had two.

Vancouver 4 Eugene 2

Jonathon Wandling made the spot start and did well, he just allowed two runs in 5.2 innings. Michael Kraft and Phil Kish were solid at the back of the bullpen.

Richard Urena doubled in the first run, Mike Reeves singled in Urena. Franklin Barreto was hitless but he drove in the third run with a ground out. Ryan McBroom homered in the ninth to provide some insurance. Roemen Fields and Tim Locastro each had two hits.

Pulaski 2 Bluefield 5

Bluefield finish the season on a winning note. Grayson Huffman started and pitched four shutout innings. In four starts for the Jays he pitched 11 innings, allowed 11 hits 7 walks and had 11 K's. He only gave up one run despite the high'ish WHIP, he was good at leaving runners on base. Carlos Ramirez pitched 2 innings in relief and finishes with a 2.62 ERA, not bad for a player who was an outfielder in Lansing to start the season.

The Jays scored all five runs in the fourth inning, Jesus Gonzalez finished it with a 2 run home run. Kevin Garcia had three hits, Gonzalez, Rolando Segovia and Lane Thomas had two hits each. Thomas finishes the season hitting .323 for Bluefield, having hit .260 in the GCL. Josh Almonte also finished the season with a BA over 300. Thomas was a fifth round choice this year but has hit much better than that. I decided to compare Thomas to all the high school hitters selected in the first round this year:

                  DOB       2014
  Name           (M/YR)     Level       BA    OPS   K Rate

Nick Gordon       10/95   Appy         .297  .705    19%
Alex Jackson      12/95    Complex     .274  .801    31%
Derek Hill        12/95  NYPL/Complex  .204  .599    24%
Cole Tucker       07/96    Complex     .267  .724    21%
Michael Chavis    08/95    Complex     .269  .772    28%
Braxton Davidson  06/96  Appy/Complex  .226  .691    28%
Lane Thomas       08/95  Appy/Complex  .281  .767    25%

Thomas stacks up well with all those hitters. His BA is top tier, as is his OPS. His K rate is middle of the pack. Thomas is one of the oldest of these seven though.

3 Stars

3rd star: KC Hobson

2nd star: Brad Allen

1st star: Gustavo Pierre

Boxes

Posted by Gerry on Saturday, August 30 2014 @ 09:10 AM EDT.

Gustavo Pierre Big Fly | 11 comments | Create New Account

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

greenfrog - Saturday, August 30 2014 @ 09:24 AM EDT (#292703) #

Has Nolin stalled as a prospect? People used to talk about him as a potential #4 starter. His stats aren't bad this year, although the walks are up a bit and the K's are down a bit. Is he destined to become the next Brad Mills?

bpoz - Saturday, August 30 2014 @ 10:21 AM EDT (#292704) #

As far as S Nolin becoming the next Brad Mills. At the moment he does not seem to be getting a similar opportunity as Mills IMO.
One similarity is that they both managed to burn their 1st option very fast. Mills, I think got more ML work while using up his 2nd option. Injury to S Nolin this year is probably the big reason he has not pitched in the Majors this year. Hopefully Nolin gets more value out of his 3rd option than he has got from his first 2 options.

PeterG - Saturday, August 30 2014 @ 11:14 AM EDT (#292706) #

Nolin's stats are misleading. His ERA was under 2 the first 2 months before the groin injury. Then, he came back prematurely and had 3 poor starts which drastically alterered he numbers.. After the second DL stint, he was closer to the earlier numbers......Have not made calculations, but I would think his ERA for the season would have it been in the mid 2's, were it not for he 3 ill advised starts between the disability time. I hope he get's a September call-up. He could be useful depth at AAA next season or even a long man in the show. I would like to see if Redmond can be converted to short relief.

ramone - Saturday, August 30 2014 @ 11:50 AM EDT (#292707) #

Having watched Nolin this year I feel like his velocity is down overall. I recall some 92-93 before and I even remember AA saying he'd hit 95 the odd time. Now when I watch he's constantly high 80's and when I've watched never above 90. Could be the stadium guns I suppose.

PeterG - Saturday, August 30 2014 @ 12:10 PM EDT (#292708) #

Ramone, what pitch is he using for he K's? Still like to get a look at him in TO.......

ramone - Saturday, August 30 2014 @ 01:07 PM EDT (#292710) #

In the few times I've watched him this year, and I have no data to back this up, I seem to remember a fair amount of K's on righties came from his fastball, often up and away, I recall he reminded a bit of Happ when he did that, and to lefties I think it's often soft stuff away, slider.

Not sure if any can confirm this but I think he was throwing a cutter last time which came in around 86, but not sure.

Mike Forbes - Saturday, August 30 2014 @ 07:33 PM EDT (#292727) #

Pompey looks like a top notch prospect. I have a good idea about what kind of hitter he is, but can anyone here share a scouting report on his defense in center?

dan gordon - Saturday, August 30 2014 @ 08:19 PM EDT (#292728) #

OK, I just did the calculation on Nolin - his ERA without the 3 starts between the 2 DL stints is 2.97. Last year he was 3.01 in AA. I would say that if you can move up a level, and maintain the same ERA, that's good progress, although I guess you could say it's cherry picking a bit to not count those 3 starts. One bad sign is his K/BB ratio, which fell to approx 2 to 1, after being approx 4 to 1 in 2012 in Dunedin, and also in 2013 in New Hampshire. He is only 24, and with another half season+ in AAA, he could be a useful addition to the big league roster at some point next year.

Richard S.S. - Saturday, August 30 2014 @ 08:50 PM EDT (#292730) #

Does calling Sean Nolin up constitute burning his last option? If not, I'd call him up after Buffalo's season is done. Having an extra Starter available might be necessary. It's time we found out what he's learned so far. If it does waste his last option prematurely, leave him down until next season.

PeterG - Saturday, August 30 2014 @ 09:13 PM EDT (#292733) #

Nolin's option for this season has been used. Nothing changes if he is called up in September. He has one option year remaining.

Richard S.S. - Saturday, August 30 2014 @ 11:09 PM EDT (#292734) #

Good, Nolin will make a good backup. How good, we'll have to find out.

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