Chronicles of the Lads

WATCH LIST UPDATE
I last did this nearly three weeks ago, on July 27th.

Erick Aybar
SS, AA Arkansas

When?  AB   H   2B   3B   HR   BB   SO   AVG  OBP  SLG
Now   450 132   24    7    7   23   45   293  338  424
Then  383 106   22    7    4   19   41   277  325  402

Erick bounces back a bit from a little tiny slump. For the record, his line now isn't far off of Alberto Callaspo's when he was promoted to AAA (297/346/409), so, with Brandon Wood's demolition job on California League pitching, why hasn't Aybar re-joined Callaspo in Salt Lake? The answer must be Brian Specht's 315/388/495 line at AAA. Aybar and Wood are both young for their leagues, so there's no need to rush.

Alberto Callaspo
2B, AAA Salt Lake

When?  AB   H   2B   3B   HR   BB   SO   AVG  OBP  SLG
Now   130  36   12    2    0    6    8   277  307  400
Then   51  11    2    2    0    4    2   216  268  333

Callaspo is trying to make a quick study of PCL pitching, and hitting .316 with 10 doubles over the last three weeks is a good sign. Still, you'd like to see some more walks, because one base on balls per week isn't really gonna cut it.

Nick Gorneault
OF, AAA Salt Lake

When?  AB   H   2B   3B   HR   BB   SO   AVG  OBP  SLG
Now   411 116   21   10   19   44  102   282  350  521
Then  345  99   18    9   18   38   85   287  356  548

A bit of a power outage for Gorneault, accompanied by a slight raise in an already-high strikeout rate. Still, very much in the range of what we should expect from him.

Howie Kendrick
2B, AA Arkansas

When?  AB   H   2B   3B   HR   BB   SO   AVG  OBP  SLG
Now   109  38   12    1    3    3   11   349  368  560
Then   41  14    5    0    1    0    4   341  341  537

Blah blah hits, blah blah free swinging, blah blah power, blah blah he slumped a bit and has been hot since, but maybe he's slumping if he's not hitting .370.

REMOVAL: Baltasar Lopez
I hadn't intended to remove anyone, but when you start the season suspended for PED use, then end up a Cal League backup, I don't need to watch you anymore. Sorry.

Warner Madrigal
OF, A Cedar Rapids

When?  AB   H   2B   3B   HR   BB   SO   AVG  OBP  SLG
Now   346  84   15    1   12   17   76   243  281  396
Then  292  68   14    1   12   15   67   233  273  411

Oh, good, now he's even losing the power.

Jeff Mathis
C, AAA Salt Lake

When?  AB   H   2B   3B   HR   BB   SO   AVG  OBP  SLG
Now   355 100   23    2   15   34   74   282  343  485
Then  307  88   21    2   14   32   65   287  354  505

On a down curve in his roller coaster. If the Angels elect to give him the catching job next year, I think having a reliable backup is going to be paramount. Keeping Mathis well-rested should be a big help to his production.

Kendry Morales
1B, AA Arkansas

When?  AB   H   2B   3B   HR   BB   SO   AVG  OBP  SLG
Now   200  48    8    0   10   13   32   240  290  430
Then  135  32    5    0    4    8   23   237  280  363

The power's starting to come, he's gaining a few more walks, but the average is still stuck in neutral. Still, he's making progress all-around.

Mike Napoli
C/1B, AA Arkansas

When?  AB   H   2B   3B   HR   BB   SO   AVG  OBP  SLG
Now   364  84   18    1   25   77  114   231  370  492
Then  315  76   18    1   19   67   99   241  380  486

He had been 15-109 (.138 average) over the previous month, and going 8-49 gets him to 23-158 (.146) going back to early July. He can still hit the ball over the bence, but, as you see, he has many more strikeouts than hits, which is not a good recipe.

Sean Rodriguez
SS, A Cedar Rapids

When?  AB   H   2B   3B   HR   BB   SO   AVG  OBP  SLG
Now   372  93   22    3   10   65   69   250  371  406
Then  310  81   20    3    6   57   58   261  388  403

Last year, in 196 AB at Cedar Rapids, S-Rod hit 250/333/393. So, we have 568 at-bats at A that tell us the guy is a .250 hitter at that level, with a SLG around .400. The plate discipline is encouraging, and he is very young, but he'll have to drag that average up to get noticed in the crowded Angel middle infield prospect picture.

But, for encouragement, Brandon Wood at Cedar Rapids last season, at age 19: 251/322/404 in 478 AB. Rodriguez is 20, but still, clearly, has a lot of room to grow.

Drew Toussaint
2B/OF, A Cedar Rapids

When?  AB   H   2B   3B   HR   BB   SO   AVG  OBP  SLG
Now   338  89   23    2   17   40  108   263  346  494
Then  281  79   20    2   16   31   86   281  356  537

As he comes down the stretch in his first full pro season, Drew's numbers have been in a big tailspin. His strikeouts, which have haunted him all season, have ballooned: over the last three weeks, he has K'd in 38.6% of his at-bats. Whether this is fatigue, regression to the mean, or the league catching up with him, I don't know.

Mark Trumbo
1B, R Orem

When?  AB   H   2B   3B   HR   BB   SO   AVG  OBP  SLG
Now   209  57   20    0    4   15   51   273  320  426
Then  142  39   15    0    3    7   38   275  307  444

He lost some power, but the 8:13 BB:K ratio he's posted over the last three weeks is a huge improvement over what has come before. He's still raw.

Reggie Willits
OF, AA Arkansas

When?  AB   H   2B   3B   HR   BB   SO   AVG  OBP  SLG
Now   410 122   19    4    2   49   63   298  372  378
Then  343 102   16    4    0   43   52   297  376  367

Consistent.

Brandon Wood
SS, A Rancho Cucamonga

When?  AB   H   2B   3B   HR   BB   SO   AVG  OBP  SLG
Now   464 145   41    4   35   42  112   313  377  644
Then  391 126   35    3   34   36   83   322  386  688

He had gone on a 491/542/962 tear for a few weeks, so it was unlikely he was going to keep that up. There is still little to complain about here.

Nick Adenhart
SP, Arizona League

When?   W   L   SV   G  GS    IP    H   HR   SO   BB   ERA
Now     1   1    0  10   9  28.0    27   0   32   19  4.82
Then    0   1    0   7   7  16.0    15   0   16   17  5.63

There we go! 16 K's against only 2 BB's in 12 IP is totally sweet, and I'll let him give up a hit per inning while he manages that. Looks like his recovery is coming along nicely.

Steve Andrade
RP, AA New Hampshire (Blue Jays org)

When?   W   L   SV   G  GS    IP    H   HR   SO   BB   ERA
Now     3   2    3  28   0  40.7   20    3   58   15  2.43
Then    1   2    3  22   0  31.7   12    2   43   10  2.27

FREE STEVE ANDRADE!

Daniel Davidson
SP, AA Arkansas

When?   W   L   SV   G  GS    IP    H   HR   SO   BB   ERA
Now    12   5    0  24  22 136.3  147   13   97   37  4.03
Then    9   5    0  21  19 113.3  124   11   84   34  4.53

He's on fire, and is offsetting a somewhat high hit rate with fantastic control (only three walks in his last 23 innings). Maybe you'd like to see more strikeouts, but he's a finesse kind of guy, and has really settled in at AA.

Gustavo Espinoza
SP, Arizona League

When?   W   L   SV   G  GS    IP    H   HR   SO   BB   ERA
Now     4   2    0  11  10  58.0   56    2   60  10   3.72
Then    3   1    0   7   6  38.7   28    0   34   6   1.63

Gustavo's had a couple of rough starts of late (in one, he fell apart in the fifth after four good innings; in another, he got beat up in the first before settling down a bit), but he still has healthy peripherals. There's nothing wrong with his line so far.

Abel Moreno
Stuck in the Dominican thanks to visa problems, and has not played.

Steve Shell
SP, AA Arkansas

When?   W   L   SV   G  GS    IP    H   HR   SO   BB   ERA
Now     9   7    0  24  24 140.7  153   16  120   53  4.35
Then    7   7    0  20  20 114.7  122   16   94   45  4.40

Shell, like Davidson, has really settled down after some shakiness threatened to make his year at AA something of a relative loss (much like his initial year in the Cal League). A twenty-two-year-old having that kind of success at AA is no bad thing.

Von Stertzbach
RP, AA Arkansas

When?   W   L   SV   G  GS    IP    H   HR   SO   BB   ERA
Now     3   5   10  40   0  44.7   51    8   40   21  5.24

On the DL.

Jered Weaver
SP, AA Arkansas

When?   W   L   SV   G  GS    IP    H   HR   SO   BB   ERA
Now     1   1    0   4   4  19.0   23    4   20   10  5.68
Then    0   0    0   1   1   4.0    7    1    2    1  6.75

Home runs and walks will kill you, and Jered has met with too many of these in the Texas League. He's a bit of a flyball pitcher, so hopefully he'll learn to get the ball down a bit and keep it in the park.

Bob Zimmerman
RP, A Rancho Cucamonga

When?  W   L   SV   G  GS    IP    H   HR   SO   BB   ERA
Now    6   7   13  45   0  51.3   43    3   59   24  3.68
Then   5   7   10  35   0  40.3   37    2   48   18  3.57

That newest win came on a blown save, so don't get too excited. Still, the strikeouts are nice -- too many walks, though.