Arizona Fall League - season over - Brewer, Palmisano & Welch finish strong

[Hammer]

I've see Cain referred to as Eric Davis, Jr. a couple of times here at BFan...is this pretty accurate?

[colbyjack]

I've see Cain referred to as Eric Davis, Jr. a couple of times here at BFan...is this pretty accurate?

 

I personally think Cain is more like Randy Winn, as Davis is a pretty ambitious comparison. Cain is a similar athlete to Davis, but Davis was a career .269/.359/.482 hitter, as I don't see Cain developing that kind of power.

 

The Javelinas faced Brian Matusz today, the 4th overall pick in last year's draft. Lou Palmisano got the start behind the plate and went 1-4 with a double and a run scored, while Brent Brewer started at third base and went 1-3 with a run scored, a walk and a K. David Welch continued to pitch well by only giving up 1 hit in 2 innings of work with 4 punchouts. I mentioned this earlier this week, but Welch's numbers would look a lot better this fall (it would be around 2.5 now) if it weren't for one lousy inning.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/s...008_11_15_perwin_surwin_1

[Mass Haas]

RHP Alex Periard was rocked again today -- eight hits and four walks led to six ER in 3.2 IP.

 

In nine appearances (four starts), his line is 0-3, 10.50 ERA in 18 innings, 30 hits including five HR's, 15 walks, 17 K's.

 

Lorenzo Cain doubled and walked in five plate appearances out of the leadoff spot.

 

Box Score

[DHonks]

Keep in mind that the AFL is generally VERY offense friendly. It seems that way again this year, although I'm not following it too closely

[biedergb]

Despite a very offensive league, looking at the league leaders in hitting/OPS, a lot of K's for the hitters. That's what so impressive about Lo Cain -- only 7 K's in 60 AB. Sure he's walk are low, but he has 5 HR. Only Daniel Murphy and Matt Young have OPS > 1.000 and K/AB of < 1:8. A lot of the league leaders have 1:4 K/AB ratios. Still, he needs to draw more walks, but if he's hitting and not striking out much that is a huge milestone. Obvious small sample size disclaimer here.

[Never Outhustled]

I've see Cain referred to as Eric Davis, Jr. a couple of times here at BFan...is this pretty accurate?

The player Doug Melvin and a few other members of Brewer brass have compared Cain to is our own Cory Hart. The one difference between the 2 is Cain seems to have more of a sense of urgency to his game. That desire might allow him to develop defensively into a player capable of playing CF, something that hasn't happened for Hart.

 

As for Periard, his results have never really matched his stuff, when you consider what good pitchers leagues the FSL and the SL are. He's still young, so hopefully he can work that ERA down at Huntsville this year.

 

My guy Brent Brewer has an OPS of 770 as 20 year old in the AFL. Thats will be real impressive if he can maintain that over a larger sample. He is my breakout player for 2009. Think Lo Cain with the ability to play SS.

[colbyjack]

Keep your fingers that it isn't anything serious, but Lorenzo Cain was replaced during an AB in today's 10-4 loss to the Solar Sox by Drew Stubbs. Stubbs ended up striking out in that AB, which was credited to Cain, who technically went 0-3, even if he had only 2 full ABs while hitting out of the leadoff spot today.

 

Brent Brewer continues to hit extra bases in Arizona, hitting his 3rd double in a 1-3 effort. He also walked and stole a base.

 

After getting out of a 2-out, bases loaded jam in the 8th, Omar Aguilar gave up his first runs this fall in the 9th after a hit, a hit batter, two walks and an RBI groundout. His ERA soared to 1.54, and ended up striking out a pair in 1.1 innings of work.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/s...008_11_18_msswin_perwin_1

[pogokat]

"My guy Brent Brewer has an OPS of 770 as 20 year old in the AFL. Thats will be real impressive if he can maintain that over a larger sample. He is my breakout player for 2009. Think Lo Cain with the ability to play SS."

 

I agree that brewer is a candidate to break out in a huge way...but i think brent brewer could be like jhony peralta with the bat...he's not going to be an obp guy...or really an average guy, but he's got crazy kinds of power potential, so i bet he hits 25 a year if he pans out...

 

lo cain reminds me of carl crawford...though i like the randy winn comp...he's hard to project because there have been moments where he could do everything...i think the basement for him is something like (this is at peak of course) .280/.340/.460/.800...which would be good for a center fielder...he could be so much more than that, but its hard to project whether he'll develop the power in a huge way and be a superstar, or if he'll just be a major league regular type like Winn...hence the Hart comparison earlier...he's a better defender than Hart in my experience though...and he's much more intense that Huck

[colbyjack]

Cain fouled a ball off of his knee. No word on how serious the injury was. He didn't make it into today's game, but my gut tells me we'll see him in a game as early as tomorrow.

 

Lou Palmisano was the only Brewers farmhand to make it into today's game, as the Javelinas got to kick back and watch an impressive 2-hit, 10 K performance by Phil Hughes over 5 innings of work. Palmisano caught Hughes in the 4th and 5th innings, which includes 5 of his 10 punchouts. At the plate Cap'n Lou had a K and a BB in two plate appearances.

[colbyjack]

Brent Brewer and Lou Palmisano were both big parts of today's 13-6 thumping of Phoenix. Brewer hit a pair of solo home runs, going 2-4 in total, while Palmisano went 3-4 with a solo shot of his own. They are now hitting .300 and .370 respectively this fall for the Javelinas. Six of the nine hits Brewer has had have gone for extra bases.

 

David Welch came into the game with two on and one out in the 8th and didn't allow either runner to cross the plate by striking out both batters he faced. He pitched 1.2 innings today, allowing only a walk with a pair of Ks. His ERA finished at 4.24.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/s...008_11_20_pddwin_perwin_1

 

Today is the final day of the regular season of the AFL. Despite seeing so many key prospects fall to injuries, it's nice to see Brewer in particular give us something to be excited about over the winter, and Lou may have re-claimed his Cap'n status. Welch continues to pitch well at every level he has played despite not having overpowering stuff. Somewhere LouisEly is smiling.

 

Mesa and Phoenix will face each other on Saturday as part of the league championship game.

[LouisEly]

Somewhere LouisEly is smiling.

 

 

I'm somebody! Things are going to start happening to me NOW!!

[sheetskout]

Baseball America article about Brewer's strong finish. Sorry if this was already posted.

 

http://www.baseballameric...om/blog/prospects/?p=1807

[Mass Haas]

Within this Lisa Winston Thanksgiving list at MiLB.com, Lisa reflects on Lorenzo Cain. If you click his name below, you'll see the oringinal 2006 interview which she refers to.

 

L. Lorenzo Cain: One of the great joys of my job is watching players blossom and bloom. When I met the Brewers outfield prospect in 2006 in West Virginia, he shyly told me I was the first interview he'd ever done. Now, after his AFL campaign, he is a superstar in the making and still the same wonderful down-to-earth kid he always was.

[Never Outhustled]

I agree that brewer is a candidate to break out in a huge way...but i think brent brewer could be like jhony peralta with the bat...he's not going to be an obp guy...or really an average guy, but he's got crazy kinds of power potential, so i bet he hits 25 a year if he pans out...

The game logs over the last 2 months of the season showed Brewer consistently hitting to the opposite field, whereas Peralta is a dead pull hitter. Brewer will also pick up hits with his blazing speed that Peralta doesn't have. I think that will alow Brewer to be a worthwhile batting average/OBA guy.

 

The question with Brewer now is will his fairly solid production in July and August, combined with his brief but awesome AFL experience ( 1.044 OPS and 0 errors) be enough to earn him a bump to AA to open next season? I predict it will. I think its a decision that could be influenced by the fact that theres not a good SS alternative at AA.

[colbyjack]

Brewer IMO is at a difficult spot. He hasn't flourished yet, outside of his brief appearance in the AFL. While I don't think he deserves a bump to AA, I almost would rather see him there then open the season at Brevard County given how that level and overall league seems to surpress offense as much as it does, which can't be good for one's confidence.

 

Ben Badler of Baseball America has a pretty neat breakdown of OPS+ of the AFL hitters. It's a blog entry, so it's free to all to view, but the quick take is that Palmisano finished 12th at 154, Brewer finished 16th at 142 and Cain 21st at 139:

 

http://www.baseballameric...om/blog/prospects/?p=1810

[colbyjack]

No Brewers finished among the AFL's top 20 prospects according to BA:

 

http://www.baseballameric...om/blog/prospects/?p=1815