Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Weekend Odds and Ends

There was only one game on Easter Sunday, a loss by Buffalo, so here are some notes from around the system.

Rowdy Tellez had an oh-fer on Sunday and his batting average is down to .206. Tellez's only extra-base hits are his two home runs on opening day. Rowdy has eight K's in 34 AB's, not a terrible number. It's still early, it's his first exposure to AAA, and he is one of the youngest players in AAA, so there is lots of time to see what happens. Just don't expect to see him in Toronto any time soon.

The sixth starter competition just became a little more relevant. Matt Latos pitched five innings on Friday. He struck out seven while allowing four hits and three walks. TJ House pitched 6.2 innings on Saturday and also had seven strikeouts. House conceded three hits and two walks. Brett Oberholtzer went five innings on Sunday, giving up one run with just three K's. Mike Bolsinger came on in relief and was hit around a bit.

Anthony Alford was 1-4 with a walk on Friday and 2-4 with a double, a home run and a walk on Saturday. Alford is hitting .464 and in 28 at-bats he has seven walks and six punchouts. The one quibble is that the double and home run on Saturday were his first extra base hits of the season.

Jon Harris made his second start on Saturday and got the win. He did give up four runs in 5.1 innings including two home runs. On the positive side he had six strike outs.

Tim Mayza was pounded in his first appearance but since then he has appeared in three games without allowing a hit.

Angel Perdomo had a better start on Friday as compared to his first start of the season. However he just struck out two hitters over four innings.

Danny Jansen picked up four hits over the weekend to keep his batting average over .400 but he still does not have an extra base hit.

TJ Zeuch hadn't pitched in a week but he dominated on Saturday. Zeuch went four shutout innings with just one hit allowed. Zeuch had seven K's.

Ryan Hissey continues to hit and now has an OPS over 1100. Hissey has a good bat and if his catching can develop he could be an interesting player to watch over the next couple of years.

With only one game there are no three stars today.

Boxes

Posted by Gerry on Sunday, April 16 2017 @ 10:16 PM EDT.

Weekend Odds and Ends | 8 comments | Create New Account

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

Mike Green - Monday, April 17 2017 @ 10:07 AM EDT (#340798) #

Elsewhere, Ian Happ leads the minors with 6 home runs. He's in triple A at age 22. Great, that's just what the Cubs need- another power bat. He's the same height and weight as Josh Donaldson, who also wasn't considered to be a major power threat by scouts...

Watching Alford's development is a lot of fun. You've got this little dance between power, speed, balls in the air vs. balls on the ground and contact ability. Finding the right balance is key, and it isn't easy (as Anthony Gose's experience illustrates).

jerjapan - Monday, April 17 2017 @ 01:31 PM EDT (#340804) #

A Kevin Pillar type longshot rookie emerging would be nice right about now given how trying it's been to follow the big league team.

Bradley Jones might be that guy - so interesting to see him getting reps at 3B and 2B. If he could be a Steve Pearce, that would be a great result for an 18th round pick. he's not a big guy for 1B - 6ft 1, 180 pounds - so perhaps he can handle the different positions. Jay Blue at Jays from Away notes that he has to get his K% down, but I'll be following the guy. He's only 21 so he's not quite as far behind the average age for A ball as some other later-round college picks. Matt Dean certainly isn't blocking him in Dunedin.

Any other sleeper types you guys are following? OF turned reliever Carlos Ramirez?

Gerry - Monday, April 17 2017 @ 04:35 PM EDT (#340811) #

Josh Palacios has joined the Lugnuts. Nick Sinay to the DL.

Mike Green - Monday, April 17 2017 @ 05:09 PM EDT (#340812) #

Palacios' return is definitely good news. Any good news is appreciated at this moment.

Nigel - Monday, April 17 2017 @ 08:07 PM EDT (#340815) #

It's interesting that they've chosen to put Palacios in LF and Woodman in CF. They are comparable defensively (both have the potential to be above average, at least, defensively) - based on their time in Vancouver I would have leaned Palacios over Woodman in CF. Woodman is probably slightly more toolsy but Palacios seemed to have better natural instincts and game sense. I'd like to see them both rotate through CF. Palacios has a really interesting blend of offensive skills but may need to play a premium defensive position to have a major league future.

dan gordon - Monday, April 17 2017 @ 10:53 PM EDT (#340819) #

Looking at range factor from last season, Palacios was 1.25 as a RF and 2.21 as a CF. while Woodman was 1.53 as a RF and 2.36 as a CF, so, at least last year, Woodman showed slightly better range. For a comparison from the farm system, D.J. Davis, who has excellent speed, has a career range factor as a CF of 2.11.

GabrielSyme - Monday, April 17 2017 @ 11:28 PM EDT (#340820) #

I'm not sure I understand where optimism for Woodman comes from. He's struck out in nearly a third of his plate appearances in Vancouver and Lansing, and hasn't shown the kind of power necessary to even start to offset that.

I'm happy to see Palacios get out of extended Spring a little early. Starts his year with a 2-4, BB, HBP, K.

John Northey - Sunday, April 23 2017 @ 05:10 PM EDT (#341038) #

An 18th round pick should be super-excited if he just gets a cup of coffee in the majors. The Jays have drafted 1867 players with just 250 reaching the majors so far. Cut down to pre 2010 and you get 236 out of 1606 = 14.6%, remove the non-signers and you get 175 of 940 = 18.6% Cut down to 10th round and later and it is down to 62 of 639 - 9.7%. 18th round only gets you 3 of 22 - 13.6% playing a total of 618 games, 100 pitching (2 players) 518 hitting (1 player).

11 18th rounders didn't sign and 2 made it with other clubs Kris Bryant and Dave Haas.

So yeah, I'd agree if an 18th rounder can develop into a Steve Pearce type that would be fantastic.

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