Friday Pebble Report: Drillers roll into first place tie, Nuts can't follow suit

by Rox Girl on Jun 19, 2009 10:31 AM MDT in Pebble Report

Colorado Springs: W 3-2

Dan Ortmeier's two doubles and two RBI and Adam Eaton's strong pitching were the difference-makers for the Sky Sox in their win over Fresno.

Tulsa: W 6-5

Tulsa's win puts the Drillers into a tie for first, which is very important as the first-half playoff picture is winding down in the minor leagues. Daniel Mayora had four hits and three RBI and Cole Garner continued his recent tear by adding two more hits. Over his last ten games Garner is batting .571/.600/.929, and has been the key offensive component to Tulsa's winning six of their last seven games to get into this playoff picture. The other part has been strong pitching, and Esmil Rogers' outing wasn't his best, but continued that string as he went six innings allowing four runs (two earned) and the bullpen held firm for the last three frames.

Modesto: L 10-8

The Nuts missed an opportunity to do the same as the Drillers and get into a first place tie by losing a slugfest with Lancaster. Nuts pitchers (Kenny Durst and three relievers) allowed nineteen hits to the Astros affiliate, and if you know the Astros system, you'll know that can't ever be a good thing. As is, Modesto remains one game behind Charlie Blackmon hit a bases clearing triple and had four RBI. Matt Repec, Michael Mitchell and Jay Cox each had a multi-hit game for the Nuts offense.

Tri-City:

Kent Matthes is getting some early hype among the Tri-City area media, and in case you missed it from the signing diary on the right, Oregon State's Joey Wong has signed. Being thrown right into the mix, he will start in Saturday's opener for the Dust Devils at shortstop and is excited about playing somewhat locally. He's an interesting player. I get the sense sometimes that the Rockies are trying to re-find the magic formula they struck gold with in Clint Barmes, a player that's capable of pushing his abilities well beyond what scouts see, and Wong seems to fall into this category. Asheville's Thomas Field seems to be another.

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Would counting on Joey too much be the Wong decision?

yuk yuk yuk

Seriously though, what more can you give me on him?

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by Andrew Martin on Jun 19, 2009 1:38 PM MDT reply actions

He's probably unrelated to

and better than this Wong. Other than that I’ve got nothing.

"We made too many wrong mistakes." ~Yogi Berra
"The ballplayer who loses his head, who can't keep his cool, is worse than no ballplayer at all." ~Lou Gehrig
JFK

by jrockies on Jun 19, 2009 1:59 PM MDT up reply actions

Gets up early in the morning, brushes his teeth, flosses and stuff.

Russ might be able to give you more.

It’s hard to say. You’ve got prospects who look like they should be MLB players, like Carlos Martinez, for instance. He’s got all the physical attributes without being too bulky and has decent swing mechanics and a great arm, every physical trait he has seems to point to this kid being a solid big league ballplayer. Wong, like Barmes, like Field, doesn’t have that. But they do have a work ethic that has them going all out, all the time, and an ability to be coached and learn and develop. As you know, to have a guy like Barmes learn and grow as a player at this stage of his career is a very rare occurrence, but that’s what he’s doing and you can’t separate that or the fact that he’s in the MLB in the first place from his personality. His drive has pushed him to this point.

Because of his work ethic and energy, Wong will be a better player than his physical attributes will lead you to suspect. How much better? That’s the big question. We’d like him to be Dustin Pedroia, but the most likely result is that he doesn’t even make the majors. He’s just not somebody to count out, though. I don’t know if that helps you any

by Rox Girl on Jun 19, 2009 2:41 PM MDT up reply actions

Yeah, but Pedroia=2nd round draft pick.

I see where you’re going with that analogy, but I really don’t like it. You need to have watched Wong quite a bit to appreciate him as a ball player, and I’ve seen him play numerous times. He’ got (grit + passion) x 1000. He’s got a lot of grission.

I wish I had more, but it’s hard to explain any further than that.

"If we never try, we shall never succeed." - Abraham Lincoln

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by Russ Oates on Jun 19, 2009 8:47 PM MDT up reply actions