Friday Pebble Report: Christian Bergman Throws Gem For Tri-City

by Russ Oates on Jul 29, 2011 8:01 AM MDT in Pebble Report

Colorado Springs, W 7-3
Mike Jacobs hit his 19th homer, a two-run shot of off John Van Benschoten. Scott Beerer singled and drove in a run, his first at Triple-A. Joe Mather collected three hits (two doubles) and scored twice.

Billy Buckner allowed two runs (one earned) in five innings, walking three and striking out two. Eric Stults surrendered a hit in 1-1/3 innings in his return to the minors.

Tulsa, W 5-1
Brian Rike went 2-for-4 with a double, a two-run home run (8) and four RBI. Mike Zuanich finished the night 3-forr-3 with a solo home run, his first at the Double-A level.

Joey Williamson allowed one hit in four innings of shutout ball to go along with five strikeouts. Dustin Molleken also kept Northwest Arkansas to one hit over four innings.

Modesto, W 5-1
Josh Rutledge's single in the bottom of the seventh extended his hitting streak to 21 games. He reached base on a hit by pitch earlier in the game. Jared Clark doubled, walked twice, and drove in a run.

Alan DeRatt allowed one run on seven hits to pick up the win. Kurt Yacko and Michael Marbry kept Bakersfield off the board for the final two innings.

Asheville, L 1-2 (10 innings)
Peter Tago's lone blip in the runs category came in the third inning. He started the inning off with a walk before allowing a single and a sac bunt to put runners on second and third. A ground out pushed the run across the plate. Tago allowed that one run in six innings, scattering four hits, walking three and striking out four.

Phil Negus allowed his one runs in the seventh inning, a solo shot by Cristhian Adames. Move ahead to the 10th inning, Bruce Kern allowed a leadoff single and saw the runner move to second on a sac bunt. After an intentional walk, Dan Black singled in a run to give Kannapolis the victory.

Tri-City, W 6-0
The Dust Devils came up with a six-spot in the fifth inning. It started with a wild pitch while Jared Simon was at the plate with the bases loaded and reached a high point with Jayson Langfels' two-run triple.

Simon had one hit and three walks in the game while Timothy Smalling came up with three hits. Juan Crousset also had a triple. Christian Bergman threw a complete game shutout on four hits and six strikeouts. He three batters over the minimum.

DSL Rockies, L 1-2
Seventeen-year-old RHP Angel Lezama picked up the loss after allowing two unearned runs in the fourth inning (he had an errant pickoff throw then). He kept the Reds to five hits in seven innings. Shortstop Jose De La Cruz went 2-for-4 with a double.

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Comments

Is there any info out there

on Tago? I am just wondering why his K totals seem to be so low. I remember reading his scouting report that he had a lot of life on a pretty hard fastball, yet he doesn’t seem to be striking a lot of poeple out at that level. Its very early, but it seems like he has been a bit of a disappointment so far.

"Whenever I see an old lady slip and fall on a wet sidewalk, my first instinct is to laugh. But then I think, what if I was an ant, and she fell on me. Then it wouldn't seem quite so funny."
Jack Handy quote

by smokinRox on Jul 29, 2011 8:11 AM MDT reply actions

Tago's the youngest pitcher in his league by seven months.

Much like you shouldn’t really rely on the stats of 17 year olds in the DSL to tell you the true story of their potential, you shouldn’t read too much into Tago’s stats in the SAL. The important thing is that he continues to show improvement, which he has been.

As for “disappointment,” I think you should be very careful throwing that word around too. I think some people’s expectations for him might be too high based on his ceiling rather than his most likely value. So far Tago’s very much on a path like Jake Westbrook, Aaron Cook, Jamey Wright and other contact oriented pitchers that were fairly young at Asheville (none as young as Tago) and to me, if we get that kind of pitcher out of him, it’s not a disappointment at all. If you’re looking for a high K pitcher, there’s also precedence of young pitchers in the league developing that potential as they mature. Javier Vazquez would be the model he’s most likely to follow if he would go that route.

Again though, he’s just too young right now for that level to read anything at all into his stats about what he’ll become. Next season will probably tell us a whole lot more.

by Rox Girl on Jul 29, 2011 8:22 AM MDT up reply actions

I did just look up his numbers more closely

and noticed that he just turned 19, so that is very young for the league. I don’t however remember him being labeled more of a groundballer. I thought he had a lot more run and upper level velocity than he had sink. I am by no means labeling a 19 yr old kid in his 1st full season a bust, I just expected he would rack up more K’s, even if he got hit around a little. I am still excited about his potential though.

by smokinRox on Jul 29, 2011 8:42 AM MDT up reply actions

I should correct myself about that seven months thing. Tago's the youngest in the league, but Cody Buckell is very close to his age.

Buckell gets misplaced on Baseball-Reference’s age list below older guys for some unknown reason, and I forget that he’s about as young as Tago.

At any rate, the lack of K’s isn’t a big concern yet given the ARL and the Rockies system. They teach young pitchers to pitch low in the zone almost exclusively and not worry about K’s. They try to develop command first and then the strikeouts can come later. The walks early on were/would be a concern if he didn’t cut back on them, which he has his last few starts. I’m hoping yesterday’s start is a sign he’s also cutting back on the HR’s allowed.

Again though, if he does turn out to be a contact GB type of mid-rotation pitcher, ala Westbrook or Cook, it’s not a disappointment.

by Rox Girl on Jul 29, 2011 9:02 AM MDT up reply actions

Consider me very happy to see his nice rebound game yesterday.

The BBs are still concerning, but hs seems to have turned that trend around in the past few games. He’s just looking like an inconsistent young player trying to find himself . . . which he is. I’ll waitt until next year to look into numbers and progress/lack-there-of too much.

by blooming rock on Jul 29, 2011 10:10 AM MDT up reply actions

It's too bad Zuanich hurt his ankle so soon after his promotion to AA.

I’m looking forward to seeing ho he produces during the rest of the season. I know he’s old for just starting AA, but he’s hit at every level and shown very good on-base and OPS skills.

If he finishes strong this year, I’ll likely have him above his current 30th position on my first PURPs ballot in the fall.

by blooming rock on Jul 29, 2011 10:04 AM MDT reply actions

Really nice game for him yesterday.

He was hitting as well as Matthes is at Modesto while he was there before the promotion. Like Matthes, he remains a very interesting older sleeper type that may turn out to be only AAAA, but at least there’s some substantial upside to hope on.

by Rox Girl on Jul 29, 2011 10:24 AM MDT up reply actions

The farm this season has given us quite a bit of hope that our lineup can be fixed, and maybe even thrive from within

Unfortunately it will probably take until the summer of 2013 to take full effect.

I'm pretty disgusted right now!

by RhodeIslandRoxfan on Jul 29, 2011 12:08 PM MDT up reply actions

Yeah, most of the top-line talent is at least 1-2 years away, IMO.

by blooming rock on Jul 29, 2011 2:02 PM MDT up reply actions

I realize the Rockies DSL park is pitching friendly, but man

Lezama, Payamps, Aquino . . . good young talent there. I get excited thinking about the next group of latin pitchers coming up through the pipe-line, a la Ubaldo, Chacin, Rodgers, etc.

Seems to be a bit of a gap between those groups . . . but then there is Cabrera and a few good looking relievers . . . not quite the same as far as top of the rotation projections, though.

by blooming rock on Jul 29, 2011 10:14 AM MDT reply actions