Tuesday Pebble Report: Greg Smith roughed up in rehab at Tulsa, Tri-City wins again, Casper set to open season.

by Rox Girl on Jun 23, 2009 8:57 AM MDT in Pebble Report Comment 8 comments

One of the Rockies better hopes for internal pitching help later in the season, Greg Smith, lasted just three and a third innings in a rehab outing and gave up eight hits, including two home runs, and five runs in total as the Drillers were taken to the old Ozark woodshed by the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. Besides Smith, Xavier Cedeno was equally ineffective on the mound, allowing six more runs in two innings, so it looks like the Naturals have a keen liking for LHP's. Good thing RHP Esmil Rogers gets the call tonight, and let's hope Keith Weiser comes up with a better plan of attack against them later in the series.

Michael Paulk and Anthony Jackson were the two Drillers with two hits in the loss. Tulsa's now tied for first with Springfield and this NW Arkansas team is just one game back, so the series is pretty crucial for first half playoff implications.

Tri-City (3-0, 1st): W 7-5

Another multihit game for Scott Beerer as the man among boys came up with four for five performance with two doubles and four RBI. He's definitely not going to stay at this level long, the question is how far the Rockies will push him for the next stop.

Casper:

The Ghosts season starts today at Idaho Falls. Prospects that I'll be keeping a particular eye on include outfielders David Kandilas, Avery Barnes and Juan Crousset, and several of our Latin American pitchers, including and perhaps particularly Alejandro Barraza, Vianney Mayo and Juan Gonzalez. I'll write more about these guys as the season goes along.

Other storylines to follow:

The Rockies have had several prospects come into the system via Puerto Rico and Jorge Posada's dad, including the aforementioned Cedeno, but so far none have really panned out in a big way. Infielder and 23rd round selection Jose Rivera is the latest to make an attempt.

Probably the most intriguing storyline for me of all is this one. RHP Kyle Hancock's comeback attempt starts again with Casper, Hancock got cold feet and decided not to pursue a professional baseball career after being drafted, signing with the Rockies and arriving at ironically, Idaho Falls with the then Casper Rockies in 2005. You can read more about him from Jack Etkin here. He made it through Spring without getting cut and is on the Ghosts roster, it will be a very interesting story to see what becomes of him at this point.

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For future reference

I wanted to say that I like having the game box scores linked in the Pebble Reports. Sometimes I forget to check or I fall asleep before the Modesto and Tri-City games wrap up.

Re: Kandilas – was he the kid that was signed out of Australia?

Staying on the sunny side of Blake Street since 1993.
The Shawn Chacon Experience - Life as a Rockies fan, one day at a time: Because we're all still recovering from those nine blown saves.

by Franchise26 on Jun 23, 2009 9:05 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Yep, strong arm, good speed

Really good contact skills. He’s probably Casper’s best position prospect.

by Rox Girl on Jun 23, 2009 9:43 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pioneer League road trips

So…I assume the teams get around by bus? Do they ever fly? Those look like some long drives.

Free Seth Smith!

by FooMan on Jun 23, 2009 9:12 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Tri-City

I was bummed – I was in Pasco on business last week and learned that the Dust Devils started the season on the road instead of home. It is a fun place to watch our young talent get started on their professional careers.

by Fos on Jun 23, 2009 12:35 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Hancock

It sounds like there is a LOT more to the Hancock story. Is anyone aware of the details (i.e. are there previous articles somewhere on the web?) Hope the kid is able to get back on track.

I gotta get a Ghosts shirt. Love the name. I assume that their coverage in the Casper newspaper is handled by a ghost writer?

Reviews of some great baseball sites and other cool stuff on my web magazine @ The Casual Observer

by kosmo on Jun 23, 2009 2:15 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

There's a lot we don't know, still...

The basic background can be found in this diary here at Purple Row, where you’ll learn that basically he just left for Arkansas and tried to get his NCAA eligibility reinstated. My thought on this is that there will always be 18 year old kids like this, who get in over there heads before they really have an idea of what they want out of life and take drastic measures to get out. If you ever get the opportunity to teach freshmen at college, you will see it happen quite frequently. It definitely was a makeup issue at the time, but it could be that going back to Arkansas saved the Rockies some considerable trouble with Hancock down the road. His head must be on straight now, or else I doubt he’d be with the Ghosts, but the question is where his arm’s at. There must be something worth looking at on that front as well, or again, I doubt the Rockies would have kept him around through the Spring.

I am curious to hear his side of the story of these last four years, and to hear what scouts/coaches think of him now.

by Rox Girl on Jun 23, 2009 2:33 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Rox Girl fails again at sixth grade grammar!

…in over their heads…

sorry..

by Rox Girl on Jun 23, 2009 2:34 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

I forgot to mention this the last couple of days,

But one of the names earlier connected to the Rockies in the International market, Victor Payano, has actually agreed to terms with the Red Sox. Today Kiley McDaniel has a quote from an unnamed International scouting director:

“The Red Sox have all that money they were set to spend on Teixeira left over on top of an already big international budget. I have some money to spend, but if they want to get in a bidding war with me, they’re going to win every time. And they like a bunch of the guys we like.”

I wonder if that was Rolando Fernandez. At any rate, one more reason for the Rockies to hate the Red Sox.

by Rox Girl on Jun 23, 2009 5:24 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs