Friday Pebble Report: How good is Chris Balcom-Miller?

by Rox Girl on Aug 21, 2009 10:04 AM MDT in Pebble Report

Chris Balcom-Miller pitched a complete, seven inning game, allowing just two hits and a run (his season ERA actually went up because of that single run) one walk, and struck out nine. He had eleven groundouts to just one in the air. The question we've been having to deal with this Summer is that here's a guy that's running rings around the Pioneer League at 20 years old, having the most dominant season by a starter the league has seen this decade, with only Aaron Poreda's 2007 and Jonathan Figueroa's 2002 coming close (if you consider the context of what Chad Billingsley did as an 18 year old in 2003, that's also probably right there) but doing it as a sixth round draft choice and without the big time pedigree those other guys had.

What do you do with that? What has to be clear right now is that CBM is a quality prospect. He may even be an elite prospect. The Pioneer League by it's high altitude nature will expose flaws in pitchers you didn't know were there. So far with Balcom-Miller, there hasn't been any such exposure. I'm about ready to put him as high as my third best RHP prospect behind Chacin and Rogers, and I'm seriously contemplating whether he's not #2. We're not talking about a really good season like Brandon Hynick had at Casper, we're looking at something exceptional, and you've got to account for that.

I look for cautionary tales of other prospects that have done this well (under 2.00 ERA's as starters in significant innings) in the Pioneer League and not pan out at all, and the two I can come up with is 2003 Jim Paduch, a twefth round selection of the Cincinnati Reds who never had the stuff (and a look at the 11 unearned runs he racked up that season and other peripherals shows that) to go along with his command, and Figueroa, who had the stuff but lost it due to poor offseason conditioning and shoulder woes. Other than that, there's not much showing that CBM can't make the majors and there's quite a bit showing that he should have a pretty big impact there.

Nolan Arenado had two more hits, including a double, in the win.

Colorado Springs: W 6-3

Alan Johnson picked up his tenth win of the season for the Sky Sox. Dan Ortmeier helped lead the charge for the offense.

Tulsa: W 4-2

Next I'll have to write a column about what to do with Chaz Roe, a great start for him last night as well. Michael McKenry had two hits and two walks in the win for the Drillers. Cole Garner had an ofer for the first time in a long time as a starter.

Modesto: W 4-3

Solid work by Kenny Durst and the Nuts bullpen and a four run second inning capped by a two run Charlie Blackmon double were the keys to this victory.

Asheville: W 7-3

Rex Brothers still hasn't given up a run in Asheville, Thomas Field had a pair of doubles and a three hit night by Scott Robinson were among the highlights from this contest.

Tri-City: L 4-8

The only loss in the system was suffered by one of the better teams as a bullpen collapse let this game get away. Bo Bowman and Joey Wong each had two hits.

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Oops, in my excitement over CBM's performance...

I didn’t mention the first game of the double-header for Casper yesterday, won by the Ghosts 3-2 as Juan Gonzalez also pitched a complete seven inning game and gave the Casper bullpen the entire evening off. Jared Clark homered and Nolan Arenado added another hit. David DiNatale had two hits for the Ghosts.

by Rox Girl on Aug 21, 2009 11:26 AM MDT reply actions

Hmmmmm....

How much did CBM give you to hype him up so much the day the all-important purps-list voting starts? With the Purp’s-list being the premier talent gauge in the industry, this kind of hype could be worth millions in the endorsement deals alone.
Actually, I sort of had him hovering around the top 10 in my mental list just because I believe I heard you (or somebody) say he is putting these great numbers up due to the sink on his pitchs. Is that true? What’s all in his arsenal? If it is a sinking movement in his pitches, is this something that came to him after the draft? Could we have little Cookie on our hands, and if so do we refer to him as Morsel?

by IowaRockie on Aug 21, 2009 12:56 PM MDT reply actions

Yep, he's a sinker ball pitcher...

I’ll quote Franchise 26’s Scouting the Ghosts FanPost from a few weeks ago:

Chris Balcom-Miller: I didn’t see Aaron Cook pitch when he was 20, but I imagine it looking a lot like what I saw out of CBM on Sunday. The kid ought to be after the Casper grounds crew to water down the dirt in front of home plate because just about every batted ball went straight down into the dirt and turned into a big hop. CBM’s sinker was running 87-93 on the gun and coming in to righties, and it was frankly hilarious watching Orem’s big swings turn into batted balls that nosedived into the ground and turned into two-hop outs. CBM racked up five strikeouts, three of them on off-speed pitches. It looked like he was throwing a straight change to good effect, even though I’ve read that pitch is a work in progress. His slider was pretty sporadic both in use and effectiveness, mostly thrown against righties, about 75-77 on the gun. He worked out of a couple of really tough spots and only one ball was really hit hard against him all game. There were times he would look to be in a rhythm and then go 3-0 on a hitter, which probably just means he needs to tighten his focus a bit. Overall, I’m very impressed – I saw a lot of poise, a lot of strikes, and a LOT of groundballs, and CBM looks like a legit prospect to me.

by Rox Girl on Aug 21, 2009 1:40 PM MDT up reply actions

I don't know much at all about CBM or his background, but those numbers are insane.

Why was he a 6th rounder? He’s obviously a sinker-ball pitcher with that 3.22 GO/AO ratio, but 56 K’s in 52 innings? That’s a lot of swing and miss going on there. Is that just because he’s so dominant in Casper? And if so, is there any chance he’ll get bumped to Asheville like Brothers before the end of the season?

by blooming rock on Aug 21, 2009 3:00 PM MDT reply actions

I think in most organizations, he would have been bumped already...

I think even in the Rockies organization he would be moved up if he had been taken earlier in the draft. I just don’t think anybody was expecting him to be this good, and my guess is that there’s still a little skepticism within the FO about him. I think he might follow the Friedrich path and start next season at Asheville but with a relatively quick bump to Modesto in mind.

by Rox Girl on Aug 21, 2009 3:34 PM MDT up reply actions

That sounds about right

I think there are quite a few of us that are skeptical until we see it over a longer period of time. While he has pitched well so far, it still has only been 50 innings pitched. Due to his low draft slot, he probably needs to prove in Ashville next year that this wasn’t a fluke before he starts to move up the rankings.

by sg8335aa on Aug 21, 2009 3:39 PM MDT up reply actions

"quick" bump

meaning what, 15 starts this time?

The management seems so intent on leaving guys too low in the minors, almost to the point of stagnancy. Am I missing something here?

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by Andrew Martin on Aug 21, 2009 3:42 PM MDT up reply actions

Do the Rockies need CBM right away?

Would you rather have him walk away in free agency after 2015, or 2018? Which seasons with him in the MLB are more valuable to you, 2010-2012, when he’ll be a bottom of the rotation starter, or 2016-2018, when he should be in his prime? Sometimes pushing a guy up too fast just means you miss out on the best parts of his career if you’re a mid-market team. Some elite players like Upton or Matzek (I hope) still give high WAR value when they are relatively young, with others off that tier you’re better off waiting a little. I think that’s what the Rockies are doing here.

by Rox Girl on Aug 21, 2009 4:02 PM MDT up reply actions

The other thing....

There is also the argument that you can ruin a young player pretty easy by pushing them too fast. That said I too actually think the Rockies are a bit overly conservative when advancing players, but I’d rather they error on the side of caution and won’t argue with the results. You have to admit they’ve had a pretty good track record of developing youngsters since the “R” generation philosophy took hold. I think that philosophy change can be summed up with the word: Patience.

by IowaRockie on Aug 21, 2009 4:44 PM MDT up reply actions

2018

You’re dizzying me with your forward thinking there. I haven’t thought of the state of the Rockies once I’m in my thirties – I just graduated dammit.

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein

by Andrew T. Fisher on Aug 21, 2009 11:15 PM MDT up reply actions

Also worth mentioning...

The University of Colorado’s own Brennan Garr pitched the final two innings against Tulsa.

by LawrenceDavis on Aug 21, 2009 3:17 PM MDT reply actions

Christopher Balcom Miller

Chris is an all round athlete, he was a first team all ccs in football as a widereciver in high school and could have started for most D1 teams. He benched 350 as a seinor in high school.Chis played shotstop most of his life and some third base, he is a good hitter and has good speed,but the best thing Chris has going for him is his mind,he knows the game like the back of his hand,and is mentally tuff,hard to ruffel him and knows how to pitch.Chris will be a great pro in the near future!!!!!! The Old Man

by 2husker on Sep 2, 2009 8:03 PM MDT reply actions