Saturday Morning Pebble Report:

by Rox Girl on Apr 5, 2008 7:29 AM MDT in News

Colorado Springs: W 7-6

Ian Stewart's was the only slot in the Colorado Springs lineup to not get a hit last night, as even John Koronka made payback for Randy Johnson's two hits the night before with a single, double and two RBI. Humberto Cota had four hits and drove in three, and Omar Quintanilla a pair of doubles in the win.

Tulsa: L 15-5

If any ten run blow out could be considered not as bad as it looks on paper, this one probably qualifies. Brandon Hynick had a bad outing true and his fabled command was off, but the contact against him was weak for the most part, with a lot of bloop singles and soft liners falling in front of the outfield contributing the biggest chunk of the damage off of him last night. Offensively, Dexter Fowler was impressive, with three singles, a stolen base and a long out to left center that would likely have been a homerun in Whataburger Stadium the night before when the wind was blowing out instead of in. Chris Nelson also had a pair of hits, and Neil Wilson three, including a double. Eric Young Jr. broke up his zero for 2008 with a one for five performance. EY also stole a base for the 200th time in his professional career. Daniel Carte followed his two HR performance the night before with a three strikeout performance last night, as Corpus Christi pitchers fed him a steady diet of high heat (often too high) that he couldn't lay off of.

Modesto: L 9-1

The Stockton Ports rotation was dubbed the best in the minors by BA's Ben Badler in a chat yesterday, the performance Henry Rodriguez came up with last night against our beloved Nuts gives an indication why, as he pitched five innings, striking out eight while allowing just three hits and three walks. Our own Rodriguez, Aneury, couldn't match him -unless this was a poker game- lasting only three innings with a pair of sixes (hits and runs allowed) and a pair of jacks. Anthony Jackson continues to impress playing with the home team, walking three times, stealing two bases, and getting a single in five AB's. Mike McKenry and Jay Cox each had their first two hits of the season for Modesto. One of McKenry's was a double off Rodriguez.

Daniel Mayora played shortstop and Nick Haley second for the Nuts, as Hector Gomez was held out as a matter of precaution after x-rays on his shin came back negative according to Brian VanDerBeek at the ModBee's Nuts blog. Gomez is expected to miss a couple of games, but the good news is that it's nothing serious.

Asheville: Postponed

Rain across the Atlantic seaboard forced many games into postponement last night, the game will be made up tonight as part of a shortened double-header. Jason McGill predicts Darin Holcomb will go for the cycle.

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Power hitters

Sorry I missed yesterday's Pepple Report. Interesting top ten list for minor league power guys. I recall from last year how high you are on Hector Gomez. That's fine. I hope he lives up to your hype one day. Let's see now, 534 AB's in '07 and 11 HR's. About half of those were hit at McCormick Field to right field. Hmmmm. Jay Cox, also listed as a possible top ten name, had 437 AB's and 8 HR's (he's also a lefty hitter, BTW). Both of these young men are good ballplayers. But power hitters? Apparently, one of the perverse criteria for making this list is that you need NOT have demonstated any power. That way, you have "raw" power, a label that then enables one to engage in pure speculation rather than actual results. BTW, when do actual results get factored into such lists?
Hey, it's a blog and you can say anything you want. But, like last year, I think it's important to calibrate Purple Row's world with a more realistic view of Gomez. Putting him on a top ten power list merely perpetuates the inflated expectations created last year. Next thing you know, he'll be on a top ten pitching list. Based on his "raw" skills, of course...
Players from last year's Tourist team worth watching in this category are McKenry, Matt Repec, and possibly Victor Ferrante.

by hobfan on Apr 5, 2008 4:16 PM MDT 0 recs

Thanks, I actually appreciate the counterpoint

But you can't just ignore scouting projections altogether either. Production does start to mean more as these guys climb the ladder, but for nineteen year olds competing and impressing scouts and coaches almost universally in the South Atlantic League, I don't put much into it. If you were going purely by Asheville production, you would have taken Derrick Gibson in a heartbeat over the weak and pathetic Todd Helton in 1995. In 1993, you would have been unimpressed by Richard Hidalgo's 10 HR's and written him off as overrated.

Production's important, but at the low A level it's also important to take age and a variety of other factors into account. Gomez still projects to be more powerful than most in the Rockies system. Keep in mind that's in part a criticism of the Rockies lack of power in the system.

I think the criticism is very valid for Cox, however, and really, I don't know if he deserves the power reputation he seems to have. I made the list on the fly in response, I'd probably be more inclined to include Ferrante in the group of "power" prospects within the system.

by Rox Girl on Apr 5, 2008 5:47 PM MDT up 0 recs