Arizona Fall League -- Javelinas Win Championship

[battlekow]

Ben Badler on Mark Rogers:

The slow road back: Nearly every batted ball was scorched against Mark Rogers on Nov. 13, a common event for the Brewers 23-year-old righthander in the AFL. After a solid year in the high Class A Florida State League, Rogers allowed 18 runs in 10 2/3 innings in the AFL, walking nine and striking out seven. Rogers threw 92-94 mph and touched 95 against the Rafters, mixing in a hard slider in the mid-80s, a changeup with good sink and an occasional curve.

He throws across his body and is still working to improve his below-average command after missing the 2007 and 2008 seasons with a shoulder injury, but the 2004 first-round pick could be a solid reliever if everything clicks.

"Obviously guys here are working on things," Dabney said. "They want to have success while they're working on them, but most importantly, they need to develop and do some things that, when they go to spring training next year, that are cleaned up and fixed . . . For the most part with Mark, it's to be able to command the inner half, go in hard on hitters and be able to double up in for strikes. That's basically what he's here working on, and obviously being here with some of the better hitters sometimes when you're out there working on things you don't quite have the success that you have during the season. Our biggest thing is for him to clean some things up and be ready for spring training, and he's working on that."

Interesting that he still throws across his body. I thought trying to correct that was what possibly got him hurt in the place; did the Brewers just let him go back to his original mechanics after all the shoulder problems?

[battlekow]

Average and max fastball velocities for Brewers pitchers in the AFL, courtesy of Baseball America:

Name	Avg FB	Max FB
Mark Rogers	92.58	95.4
Zach Braddock	92.14	94.7
Omar Aguilar	91.19	93.8
Josh Butler	90.17	93.4
Rob Wooten	87.56	89.6

[TheCrew07]

I've been wondering how these velocities are done... with the stadium gun or with someone on a stalker? At any rate I'm pretty comfortable with all of the starting pitchers working 90+.

[trwi7]

It says pitch F/X data, so I'm guessing they get it from gameday.

[TheCrew07]

I know that, but I'm asking where those numbers come from. Is it just an automatic tie in to the stadium guns, or is there someone sitting there entering velocity data? My guess is that it's all taken from the stadium guns and as such in my experience the stadium guns can be as much as 4 MPH off from a stalker gun.

 

My ultimate goal is to determine the reliability of the information. I've always been into Pitch F/X, but after seeing the difference between the stadium gun and the stalkers this last season in Wi I've been curious how reliable the data really is. Not just the velocity but movement as well. Also will it be different by park then? Are some pitchers getting a more accurate assessment than others?

 

My mind goes off on all kind of tangents when I start thinking about this stuff.

[battlekow]

PITCHf/x is based off cameras.

[battlekow]

Adam Foster at Project Prospect notes that Cain's lost a significant amount of weight over the season.

[HiAndTight]

Average and max fastball velocities for Brewers pitchers in the AFL, courtesy of Baseball America:

Name	Avg FB	Max FB
Mark Rogers	92.58	95.4
Zach Braddock	92.14	94.7
Omar Aguilar	91.19	93.8
Josh Butler	90.17	93.4
Rob Wooten	87.56	89.6

I think Josh Butler's is the most encouraging.

 

With that good movement on his fastball resulting in a very nice GB ratio, throwing 91-92 can really make him tough. As for the others, Rogers just pitching still makes me happy, regardless of his numbers, same goes for Braddock.

 

Omar Aguilar is Luis Pena Jr. IMO which only means to me that we'll have to wait a very long time to get anything from him.

 

I expected Aguilar to throw a bit harder as well.

 

As for Wooten, next year is going to be very, very telling IMO. Is he going to be a Davis Riske type who can thrive despite realitively mundane, average stuff? And yes, David Riske DID thrive before coming to Milwaukee.

[TooLiveBrew]

I wish we could get some info on how Butler's work with his secondary pitches went.

 

*cough, TH/AW, cough*

 

And, you know, other stuff that we can't just read ourselves or in MH's awesome daily posts.

[colbyjack]

BA has their top 10 prospect list from the AFL. No Brewers, but Jonathan Lucroy did make the "stock rising" category:

 

Jonathan Lucroy, c, Brewers: Lucroy has made steady progress with his hitting and fielding since signing as a third-round pick in 2007. He was one of the more impressive all-around catchers in the AFL, showing improved footwork and quick pop times-as low as 1.8 seconds on occasion. A disciplined hitter who works both gaps well with a solid swing, Lucroy gets on base at an above-average clip, and he should become more dangerous as he gets stronger and grows into more power.

[TooLiveBrew]

The AFL announced its All-Prospect team on Dec. 9th. Here's the link to the .pdf file of the full squad.

 

C Nevin Ashley (TB)

C Buster Posey (SF)

1B Russ Mitchell (LAD)

1B Ike Davis (NYM)

2B Jemile Weeks (OAK)

2B Scott Sizemore (DET)

SS Starlin Castro (CHN)

SS Danny Espinosa (WAS)

3B Mike Moustakas (KC)

3B Josh Vitters (CHC)

OF Grant Desme (OAK)

OF Jose Tabata (PIT)

OF Bryan Petersen (FLA)

OF Chris Heisey (CIN)

OF Jordan Danks (CHW)

OF Domonic Brown (PHI)

DH Matt McBride (CLE)

DH Brandon Laird (NYY)

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SP Stephen Strasburg (WAS)

SP Donnie Veal (PIT)

RP Drew Storen (WAS)

RP Tanner Scheppers (TEX)