Wednesday Pebble Report

by Rox Girl on Jun 28, 2006 7:00 AM MDT in Rockpile

Colorado Springs: The Sky Sox won eight to four over Salt Lake. Chris Iannetta had his first AAA hits, a single and a double in four at bats and Jeff Baker hit his seventh homerun on the season as one of his two hits. Sunny Kim only allowed six hits and a walk in seven innings, but he only struck out one and didn't seem particularly dominating so it might have been as much a function of luck than anything else.

Tulsa: Jud Thigpen started things off with a solo homerun in the bottom of the second and Ian Stewart finished it with solo homerun in the bottom of the ninth -without anything in the middle- in Tulsa's two to one victory. Steven Register pitched seven solid innings allowing only five hits and one walk while K'ing six. Register didn't pick up the win, leavng that to Joshua Newman who pitched two scoreless innings of relief. As we mentioned last night, the promotions of Ubaldo Jimenez and Manuel Corpas will be made official today.

Update [2006-6-28 21:0:51 by Rox Fan in NY]: Koshansky quiets critics.

Modesto: Though his team lost, Matt Miller went one for three and scored a run in the California/Carolina League all-star game, he also tied for the win in the home-run derby.

Asheville: The Tourists split a pair in a double header yesterday. In game one, Zach Simons had another rough outing, giving up eight runs on eleven hits in five innings. Michael Paulk had a huge two games, going two for three in the first with a double and driving in all four Asheville runs in the second with a grand slam. The final of the second game was four to two, Asheville.

Tri-City: Daniel Mayora continues to have the brightest start of our Tri-City position players. He hit a three run homerun yesterday and drew a pair of walks, bumping his opening week OPS to .942. The Dust Devils lost -in part because of an error of Mayora's, so it's not all roses- by the final score of six to five.

Casper: The Casper Rockies won six to three. Logan Wiens went four for four Steven Suarez had a big triple, and Riquy De Los Santos and a trio of relievers held Idaho Falls in check in the win.

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Casper Rockies

I attended two Casper Rockies games over the weekend.

Casper's offense was pretty dismal (overly aggressive / swinging at everything). With the talent in the lineup, I guess I expected a lot more offense. Although, with the youth of the team, I think that this is just a brief slump or phase. They're bats will probably heat up soon.

Individual Notes:

Kevin Clark: Looked very raw. I can see why he was assigned to Casper, while other JC draft picks like Banda, Nagy and Ferrante were assigned to Tri-City ahead of him. He has a lot of power, but looked like he was prone to swinging at off-speed pitches in the dirt and outside pitches in general. Obviously not a contact hitter.
David Christensen. Like Clark, he had trouble laying off breaking balls and outside pitches. He had great bat speed and was able to turn on inside pitches easily. Looked great in the outfield, as he showed good speed and got great jumps (good range and quick reads) on balls hit to him. He also made a diving web-gem the 1st game. Overall, I really liked what I saw from Christensen.
Hector Gomez: Only saw him play in one game, but looked pretty good from what I saw (2 for 3). He committed an error, but also made several nice, rangy/athletic plays. Has fantastic arm strength. Also, he is very "fidgety" at the plate (think Nomar), clapping his hands, talking to himself / cursing in Spanish and smearing his hands in the dirt after each pitch (Christensen and Gomez do not wear batting gloves). Definitely the most "entertaining" and "electric" player on the field.

-Everth Cabrera: Has great speed, works counts well and plays good defense at 2B.

-Brandon Hynick: Best pitcher I saw on the trip. Good movement on fastball and located his off-speed pitches well. A lot of swings and misses.

-Esmil Rogers: Was surprised by his performance. Didn't throw overly hard and had erratic control, but had a ton of movement on his pitches and threw a wicked change-up.

I didn't see enough of other players like Silano, Shetrone, Gibbs, Rauch, Lopez, Strop, Velazquez or Arnold to give any real meaningful commentary on.

Most impressive player(s): David Christensen, Hector Gomez
Most surprising player: Brandon Hynick
Most disappointing player: Austin Rauch

Some pictures from the trip (sorry, image quality and positioning are poor):
http://rpollock2.photosite.com/Album1/?page=1
Video of Christensen striking out:
http://s58.photobucket.com/albums/g263/rpoll87/?action=view&current=cd722264.flv

by malakian on Jun 28, 2006 10:13 AM MDT reply actions

Wow, thanks for the rundown

It pretty much falls in line with what we've been expecting. Why was Austin Rauch so disappointing? Was it just that he's over his head right now at 18, or should we be concerned that he'll always be over his head?

by Rox Girl on Jun 28, 2006 10:36 AM MDT up reply actions

Rauch

He's either not ready for the competition or just badly slumping. He looked like he had a lot of difficulty just making contact.

by malakian on Jun 28, 2006 1:57 PM MDT up reply actions

Thanks for this info

I was also wondering what you saw, if anything, from our fifth round pick Helder Velazquez. The only thing I know about him is what I've seen on the mlb.com scouting video, and he looked pretty promising in the field, with a quick bat at the plate. Did anything about him stand out to you?

by David "ohno" on Jun 28, 2006 2:29 PM MDT up reply actions

Velazquez

He didn't play in either game I went to. I didn't see him take any batting practice either, so I can't really say anything about him.

I talked to him before one of the games though.
He looks like he's about 14 years old, with braces and acne.

by malakian on Jun 28, 2006 2:39 PM MDT up reply actions

During the High School All-American game

I noticed Christensen didn't wear any batting gloves. I was expecting the announcers to question whether or not he uriantes on his hands, like Posada Alou.

by Russ Oates on Jun 28, 2006 2:32 PM MDT up reply actions

that should read

"urinates."

by Russ Oates on Jun 28, 2006 2:33 PM MDT up reply actions

Ugh...

I need to spend more time revising my posts.

by malakian on Jun 28, 2006 10:23 AM MDT reply actions

Cute Matt Miller anecdote

From today's Daily Dish at BA.

Modesto right fielder Matt Miller also had travel issues, which resulted in him wearing pants with dirt stains on the back of his left leg and all over the front of his left thigh and shin for his all-star appearance--which also included the home run derby contest. His uniform hadn't been washed since the Nuts' 1-0 loss at Inland Empire on Saturday. "We got done playing that game on Saturday, drove home and got in at like four o'clock in the morning," Miller said. "I slept in the training room for about an hour and a half and then I was on a plane here. I was told that I'd get my pants washed, but it kind of slipped my mind and no one was really pushing me to do it. I had other concerns, I guess. I actually put them in the sink of my hotel room this morning to get out some of the stains and then got a couple blow dryers and was blow-drying them. But then I blew the power circuit in my room at the hotel. These pants have caused a little bit of trouble along the way." But they still helped Miller win $250 bucks after he finished in a 1-1 tie with Salem catcher Lou Santangelo in the home run derby contest. The two players split the $500 winnings.

by Rox Girl on Jun 28, 2006 11:00 AM MDT reply actions

Jered Wever dominating Sky Sox

He has seven K's in three innings so far and has a llowed just three hits. Chris Iannetta has one of those. Luckily for the Sky Sox, Jose Acevedo has been just as effective, throwing a one hitter through four and heading into the bottom half of the fourth the game remains scoreless.

by Rox Girl on Jun 28, 2006 1:25 PM MDT reply actions

I hope I don't jinx him

But Marc kaiser has become an unhittable machine in his past few starts. Through two innings tonight these are his stats for the last three games:

20 IP

10 H

2 R

0 BB

9 K

And here is the kicker:

38/12 GB/FB ratio!

I mean, something has definitely clicked there.

by Rox Girl on Jun 28, 2006 6:46 PM MDT reply actions

You jinxed him....

by sg8335aa on Jun 28, 2006 7:42 PM MDT up reply actions

through 6 IP

5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 2 HR

He's definitely made himself into more than just an organizational prospect.....If he keeps this up, I suspect he will crack our Top 30 list next year.....

by sg8335aa on Jun 28, 2006 7:43 PM MDT up reply actions