Chronicles of the Lads

It's been three weeks since I did this.

You should know that BB-Ref has all the organizational stats on one page, which I link in the POSITION and PITCHER headers.

I'll have you know that our system-wide performance has been terrible, at least in terms of top prospects.

POSITION PLAYERS

Michael Collins, 1B, AA Arkansas, BR/TR

When    AB  H  2B  3B  HR  BB  SO  SB  CS  AVG OBP SLG OPS+
Now    127  17  7   0   1   2  25   0   1  136 194 216  
5/1     75  12  2   0   1   2  16   0   1  160 203 227  

This is, um ... this is bad.


Hank Conger, C, A Cedar Rapids, BR/TR

When    AB  H  2B  3B  HR  BB  SO  SB  CS  AVG OBP SLG OPS+
Now    123  32  6   0   6   8  16   6   0  260 311 455
5/1     68  18  2   0   3   4   8   4   0  265 306 426  

Hank is showing some hammer, but not much else. Word is he's struggling behind the plate, too, especially with throwing out runners.


NEW ADDITION!
Terry Evans, OF, AAA Salt Lake, BR/TR

When    AB  H  2B  3B  HR  BB  SO  SB  CS  AVG OBP SLG OPS+
Now    156  50 13   3   6   9  42  11   4  321 355 558 

Truth be told, I'm not really sold on Evans, but if I'm gonna keep Nick Gorneault on here, I might as well put in Evans, who is better, younger, and plays better defense.

But at this point he's a .250 hitter at best with no sense of the strike zone. He has some pop when he hits the ball, but he's 25 years old and he's a 250/280/450 hitter, tops, in the majors right now. If he learns the strike zone a bit, he'll be a real prospect.


Nick Gorneault, OF, AAA Salt Lake, BR/TR

When    AB  H  2B  3B  HR  BB  SO  SB  CS  AVG OBP SLG OPS+
Now    151  36 10   0   3  18  34   8   2  238 327 364
5/1     81  15  4   0   3   9  17   5   2  185 283 346

If you look at his season line, it appears that Gorneault may be stagnating at AAA. He may be, but his last 70 AB have gone fairly well for him, as he's put up a 300/380/386 line. Not much, but more than he was doing before.


Jeff Mathis, C, AAA Salt Lake, BR/TR

When    AB  H  2B  3B  HR  BB  SO  SB  CS  AVG OBP SLG OPS+
Now    135  35  9   0   2   8  25   2   0  259 301 370
5/1     81  24  6   0   2   5  13   2   0  296 333 444

Sigh. Nothing happening here. Trade bait?


Kendry Morales, 1B/DH, AAA Salt Lake, BB/TR

When    AB  H  2B  3B  HR  BB  SO  SB  CS  AVG OBP SLG OPS+
Now     94  27  5   0   1   2  11   0   1  287 302 372 
5/1     73  21  2   0   1   2   9   0   1  288 307 356

Yeah, he's in the majors now, but I assume he'll be returning to AAA soon, as he's not getting any playing time with the big club, despite looking good in his few games thus far. His line at Salt Lake has been ugly, but I would expect him to turn it on later this summer.


Sean Rodriguez, SS, AA Arkansas, BR/TR

When    AB  H  2B  3B  HR  BB  SO  SB  CS  AVG OBP SLG OPS+
Now    143  36  9   0   6  19  35   6   3  252 374 441
5/1     81  25  6   0   4  12  21   3   3  309 423 531

Can this organization catch a break? Rodriguez started off great, surpassing Brandon Wood's 2006 performance in the same league. But then: ca-rash. At least Sean's keeping his strikeouts down, somewhat (everything's relative). He's never been or projected to be a high-average guy in the minors, but he'll have to do better than .252 at AA to even project to a reasonable batting average. I'd like to see him bring it back up north of .300; it won't stay there, but if he can sustain a .250 average in the majors, his secondary skills will be more than enough to make him a contributor.


Mark Trumbo, 1B, A Cedar Rapids, BR/TR

When    AB  H  2B  3B  HR  BB  SO  SB  CS  AVG OBP SLG OPS+
Now    117  27  6   0   3   5  30   1   2  231 266 359
5/1     49  10  1   0   1   2  16   0   2  204 245 286

Trumbo started off slowly last year, built up toward respectability, had a good month and crashed. He's hitting 250/282/412 in May, which is a tiny step in the right direction. But the fact of the matter is he won't go anywhere striking out that often. Will a return to the mound be in order?


Brandon Wood, SS, AAA Salt Lake, BR/TR

When    AB  H  2B  3B  HR  BB  SO  SB  CS  AVG OBP SLG OPS+
Now    131  31  8   0   5  18  38   3   0  237 331 412
5/1     84  22  6   0   3  11  28   2   0  262 351 440

Yes, that 191/296/362 this month (47 AB) is ugly. But:

1. His walk-to-strikeouts are 7:10, a vast improvement, even though he's still striking out too much.

2. If you add 100 points of average to that, it's 291/396/462.

3. Brandon's BABIP dropped from .358 in April to .200 thus far in May.

There is room for improvement, and signs of improvement. Let's see if he can put it together.

Watch Out:

Who       Lvl  AB  H  2B  3B  HR  BB  SO  SB  CS  AVG OBP SLG OPS+
Bourjos    A   91  25  3   2   1   9  22  12   3  275 346 385
ClyFuller                has not played
Mount      A  111  24  2   0   1  12  21   8   1  216 288 261
Ortiz                    has not played
Peel       AA 146  32  7   1   3   4  20   0   0  219 255 342
Pettit     A  135  46 16   0   4  10  24  11   3  341 407 548
Phillips   A  117  26  2   2   3   2  46   6   1  222 248 350
Rivera                   has not played
Sandoval   AA 141  45  8   1   2  23  21  11   4  319 410 433
Statia     A+ 168  47 10   2   1  20  22  12   2  280 360 381
Sweeney    A  124  34  5   1   3  11  20   0   4  274 343 403

Have you noticed how bad everyone is doing? Some of our teams, such as Rancho, can't do anything. There's not a whole lot to like out of these guys, either, so far. Peter Bourjos is actually on the upswing. Clay Fuller is waiting on his first 2007 appearance. Ryan Mount continues to struggle. Norberto Ortiz has also yet to debut. Aaron Peel is treading water. I've added Christopher Pettit; he's a bit old for the league (22), and could draw some more walks, but leads the team in OPS by quite a bit. He's primarily a left fielder, but has appeared at the other two outfield positions this season. He hit 336/445/566 in Rookie ball last year, so it will be interesting to see if the Angels are more aggressive with him; I would doubt it, but Rancho is almost devoid of prospects. P.J. Phillips is mired. Luis Rivera also hasn't played. Freddy Sandoval has always had nice control of the zone, but his average is a very nice surprise in the early going. Hainley Statia started slow and is getting his average up; a shortstop, 21 years old (quite young for the league), he is only bettered in OPS on the team by 24-year-old Bradley Coon. Third baseman Matthew Sweeney is having a tough, tough month; he was hitting .349 at the end of April.


PITCHERS

Nick Adenhart, RHSP, AA Arkansas

When  W  L  SV  G  GS  IP    H  HR  SO  BB   ERA  
Now   3  2   0   8  8  47.3  43  0  35  21  2.68
5/1   3  1   0   5  5  33.7  24  0  27  10  0.80

I guess no one stays perfect, huh? The loss of control is a bad thing, but, remember, this kid is 20; the average Texas League pitcher is 24.4, the average hitter 24.7. Adenhart's the youngest pitcher on the team by roughly two years. This kid is a hero. I expect him to turn it around.


Jose Arredondo, RHSP, AA Arkansas

When  W  L  SV  G  GS  IP    H  HR  SO  BB   ERA
Now   0  1   6  16  0  19.0  12  2  22  10  3.32   
5/1   0  1   2   8  0  11.0   8  1  14   5  1.64

Jeez, is this whole organization struggling? Well, not the big team, obviously. But it seems like nearly everyone is on the downswing this month.


Gustavo Espinoza, LHSP
Placeholder.


Stephen Marek, RHSP, A Rancho Cucamonga

When  W  L  SV  G  GS  IP    H  HR  SO  BB   ERA
Now   3  2   0  7   7  38.7  34  2  23  15  3.52
5/1   1  0   0  3   3  15.0  12  1   7   6  2.40

Can you survive in the California League with that kind of strikeout-to-walk ratio? At least it's getting better.


Tommy Mendoza, RHSP
Has not played.


Sean O'Sullivan, RHSP, A Cedar Rapids

When  W  L  SV  G  GS  IP    H  HR  SO  BB   ERA
Now   2  3   0  8   8  48.0  56  2  36  13  3.00
5/1   1  2   0  4   4  23.0  26  2  13   6  3.52

He's giving up a lot of hits, but is demonstrating some good control and upping his strikeouts.


Steve Shell, RHSP/RP, AAA Salt Lake and AA Arkansas

When  W  L  SV  G  GS  IP    H  HR  SO  BB   ERA
Now   1  0   0  5   1  12.0  18  3   4   2  3.75 AAA
5/1   0  0   0  2   1   7.0   9  1   3   1  1.29 AAA
Now   0  0   0  5   0  13.3  10  1  19   1  0.69 AA
5/1   0  0   0  4   0  10.3   8  1  14   1  0.87 AA

I still don't know if there's a compelling reason he's not in Salt Lake's rotation, and I think we can close the book on him at AA, his recent struggles in the PCL notwithstanding.


Watch Out:

Who       Lvl  W  L  SV  G  GS  IP    H  HR  SO  BB   ERA
Bell       A   0  2   0  3   3  13.0  18  0   8   2  4.85
Bulger    AAA  1  1   0 15   0  18.3  17  1  25  12  3.00 
Green      AA  3  2   0  9   9  54.0  51  4  34  10  4.83
Madrigal    A  1  2   2 15   0  16.0  22  2  15   5  4.50 
Rodriguez  AA  0  4   0 14   0  21.0  30  1  14  13  3.97

Trevor Bell only has one start this month, so we can't really say anything. In addition to not getting arrested for beating up a spouse, Jason Bulger is actually having a nice month. Nick Green has his ERA going in the right direction, down from 5.00 at the end of April. Warner Madrigal pulled the opposite trick. Rafael Rodriguez has had a terrible month, completely losing the strike zone and getting battered all over the place.

Labels: prospects, Watch List