Player updates

[colbyjack]

Updates from the past week, the usual group of pitchers:

 

Tim Stauffer: CG win over the weekend, with 9 K, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB. ERA now 2.03.

Brad Sullivan: 10 shutout innings, 12 K, 0 BB, 9 H. Threw 133 pitches-ick. 1.93 ERA.

Kyle Sleeth: 5 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 6 K, 2 BB. 80 pitches on cold night. 1.75 ERA.

Kyle Bakker: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 8 K, 0 BB. 102 pitches, 2.40 ERA.

Chris Ray got hit hard last Wednesday against Richmond. His ERA jumped to an even 3.00.

 

Adam Loewen didn't pitch for some reason. Not sure if he's experiencing more problems or if his start has been bumped back due to rain. He DH'd all week and hit quite well.

 

A new name popping up on the scene is Florida International's Josh Banks. Banks pitched a CG shutout over the weekend striking out 10 while not allowing a walk. On the year Banks has tossed 51.1 innings with 56 Ks & a 1.75 ERA.

[colbyjack]

I decided to add up Adam Loewen's numbers from the box scores so far. No cumulative data on the Chipola site...

 

68 ABs, 16 hits, .235 batting average, 5 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 11 runs, 13 RBIs, 2 SBs.

 

16.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 16 K, 3 BB.

 

No word on why he didn't pitch over the weekend, but he is scheduled to throw again tomorrow.

[colbyjack]

Some stats for high school players are starting to leak out...

 

Lastings Milledge: .429 BA, 25 AB, 10 H, 1 2B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 17 SB

Jarrod Saltalamacchia: .550 BA, 20 AB, 11 H, 2 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 4 SB

Robert Lane: .458 BA, 24 AB, 11 H, 1 2B, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 5 SB.

Ian Stewart: .500 BA, 12 AB, 6 H, 1 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI.

 

Big power numbers for both Milledge & Stewart so far this year.

 

Jared Hughes: 1-0, 1.40 ERA, 1 GS, 5 IP, 4 H, 7 K, 1 BB.

Andrew Miller: 3-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 GS, 21 IP, 5 H, 8 BB, 47 K

 

Miller certianly is mowing 'em down, but those 8 BBs in 21 IP doesn't look too good, especially for a high schooler.

[Highroller720]

Lastings Milledge: .429 BA, 25 AB, 10 H, 1 2B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 17 SB

 

17 stolen bases. Is that a typing error or has he had a ton of walks.

[colbyjack]

I noticed that too, he obviously has to be getting on base an awful lot. He's probably getting pitched around a lot, so many to most to all of his walks are probably coming by default.

[colbyjack]

Adam Loewen was back on the mound last night. He picked up his 3rd win while going 6 innings, allowing only 1 hit & 2 walks, 0 runs while striking out 8. He has now pitched 22.2 scoreless innings allowing only 3 hits, 5 walks while striking out 24. While he is at the JC level, he is playing against some of the better JCs in the nation.

 

Through 3/17 Rickie Weeks is hitting .478/.581/.971. He has 9 2B, 2 3B, 7 HR & 13 stolen bases in 13 tries. In 69 AB, his BB to K split is 16 to 7. Like Loewen, Weeks doesn't play against the best D1 talent, but his numbers are still too good to ignore.

 

Kyle Sleeth picked up another win last night against North Carolina, going 8 deep allowing only 1 run off 4 hits with 10 Ks.

 

Brad Sullivan had 13 Ks last night. No word on the rest of his line.

[OhioScout]

Those SB totals for Milledge are correct. The coach at Lakewood Ranch has him and another kid committed to U of Florida stealing a lot of bases.

[colbyjack]

Southern's website does a pretty good job now updating their stats once a week, usually on Mondays after the weekend series.

 

Weeks added 13 ABs in 3 games last week, boosting his line to .512/.602/1.012. In those 13 ABs he added 2 2B, 1 3B & 1 HR along with 2 more SBs, 2 walks & a K.

 

Weeks' statistical production gets questioned because of the level of competition Southern plays in the SWAC, but it's hard to deny his dominance not only this year, but during his entire collegiate career.

[colbyjack]

Loewen pitched again last Wednesday, and did something he hasn't done all year: He allowed a run. 2 runs at that, both earned. He did strike out 7 while walking 3 & allowing 2 hits.

 

On the year, Loewen has tossed 28.2 innings while allowing only 5 hits, 8 BBs & 2 ER while striking out 31. He has been walking a few too many in his past 2 outings, but without a doubt, on the year, he has dominated. 5 hits total in 28.2 innings of work is rather impressive.

 

Kyle Sleeth set a D1 record by winning his 26th consecutive game on Friday. Details to come on Monday...

[clancyphile]

Any word on nogeotiations between Loewen and the Orioles?

[MikeRizzo]

Any word on nogeotiations between Loewen and the Orioles?

 

There are no talks going on all they can do now is watch and chit chat . I know this because that is what the Brewers are doing to us with Dana . They will not start the numbers talk till after the season they want to get as many looks as possible before they make an offer.I would assume that Baltimore will make every effort to sign him.

 

FYI Jack Z will be out at Danas game tommorrow to watch as they have had someone at almost every game so far I think he will end up bieng a Brewer before the draft would be my guess at this point.He is pitching very well topped out at 95 and working at 89-93.

 

More fyi Parra has hit 97 this spring !!!!!!!!!

 

The future looks bright ( in a couple of years)

 

Mike

[MassBrew]

There are no talks going on all they can do now is watch and chit chat . I know this because that is what the Brewers are doing to us with Dana.

 

Just a note that the "Dana" who Mike speaks of here is Dana Eveland, a LHP the Brewers drafted in the 16th round last year.

 

Here's what colbyjack wrote about Eveland in his fine draft-and-follow feature from a couple of weeks back:

 

16th round pick Dana Eveland-LHP. College of the Canyons (California-transferred from Hill JC in Texas). 6'1" 215, L/L.

 

Eveland recently pitched an exhibition game against the University of Southern California & highly touted RHP Anthony Reyes, a pre-season All-American both this year & last year. Eveland pitched 4 strong scoreless innings against a tough USC lineup, allowing only 1 walk & no hits while striking out 3 while touching 90 mph with his fastball & showing a good curveball & overall movement. The Brewers are very interested in signing Dana this spring, and it likely will come down to a matter of giving him what he deserves. The Brewers drafted Eveland in the 16th round last year with every intention of signing him. Fortunately, they still hold his rights to do so this spring.

[Katuluu]

MassBrew's pimp hand is mighty strong.

[colbyjack]

Thanks for the updates Mike!

 

Here are some performances on the week as it pertains to our #2 overall selection:

 

Tim Stauffer-CG, 9 Ks, picks up the loss. 4th CG this season, now has 2.00 ERA.

Kyle Sleeth-as noted won his 26th consecutive game going 8 innings, allowing 7 Hs, 1 ER, 1 BB & striking out 12. ERA on the year is 1.56.

Brad Sullivan went 7 innings, allowing 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB while striking out 12. His ERA on the year is 2.04.

Michael Aubrey is now hittign .487/.549/.800 on the year with 12 2B & 8 HR in 115 ABs for Tulane.

 

Southern hasn't updated their statistics since last week, so no Weeks update.

 

And I'm sure PrimeTimeHater is rather pleased with his surging Mississippi State Bulldogs. They are now ranked 5th by BA, led by an extremely strong pitching staff & LHP Paul Maholm. Maholm is now 4-1 on the year (should be 5-0, as he had lost a tough one in his debut), with a 1.56 ERA after another strong performance last Friday (8 shutout innings). In 48 innings he has allowed only 29 hits & 10 BBs while striking out 43. Maholm probably isn't a candidate for our #2 pick, but you never know...he certainly won't last until our 2nd rounder.

 

Kat will be happy to know that Kyle Bakker could slide as he continues to struggle with Georgia Tech.

[Katuluu]

Kat will be happy to know that Kyle Bakker could slide as he continues to struggle with Georgia Tech.

 

Happy that he could potentially be our 2nd round pick. Not happy that it is due to his struggles. You'd think a kid that big would be able to throw harder. Is there any word on why exactly he seems to top out at about 90 mph? Could it be his mechanics?

[colbyjack]

There really isn't a direct correlation between stature & velocity. I've read about big, hulking pitchers that can't throw harder than the mid-80s, yet still draw interest because of their size. They are at an immediate advantage given the physics of how & where the ball is released from someone 6'9" as opposed to someone 5'9" as we talked about last year on the minor league forum.

 

Jeff D'Amico is a pretty good example of this. Jeff is something like 6'7" in the mid to upper 200s, but I don't believe he ever threw harder than 90-91. He relied on changing speeds & command.

 

I haven't heard anything wrong with his mechanics, but that doesn't mean there isn't something there. Georgia Tech is a pretty big & prestigious D1 program and you would think that if there was an issue with his delivery, they would have the experience & knowledge to locate it & try to correct it.

[clancyphile]

They are at an immediate advantage given the physics of how & where the ball is released from someone 6'9" as opposed to someone 5'9" as we talked about last year on the minor league forum.

 

Is that thread still around? A quick refresher might be in order, if it isn't.

[colbyjack]

A taller pitcher's release point is closer to the plate. First of all, you take in the height of a pitcher, as a pitcher's body will extend towards home plate when releasing the ball. Not only will his legs & torso project such a pitcher to be closer to the plate than someone shorter, but his arms are naturally going to be longer as well. This difference may only be a few inches if that in most cases, but is probably significant between someone like Shane Nance, who is 5'8" I believe, to someone like Kyle Bakker at 6'9". Since home plate is only 66'6" away from the pitching rubber, the pitcher puts himself at an advantage over the hitter by shortening that distance with his stature.

 

So, a fastball coming from a guy like Kyle Bakker may look faster than one coming from a little guy like Shane Nance.

 

Of course, there is a lot more that factors into it, such as natural deception, arm speed, etc., but this is the basic reason why taller pitchers are considered to be at a natural advantage.

 

On top of that, taller pitchers with a stronger frame are often thought of to be able to handle the physical stress of pitching more so than smaller guys, since smaller guys are often "max-effort" types that put everything they have into their delivery to throw the ball as hard as possible. Bigger bodies are often thought to have better endurance which is why you hear terms such as "workhorse."

[clancyphile]

Thanks, colby.

 

It might be interesting to have a section on a few of those items under the draft coverage.

[BrewDude]

Hey guys since we are doing these great updates that you are providing do any of you know how Justin Barnes is doing, and what about Adam Mannon?

 

These two are both players that we may very well end up with before the draft.

 

Thanks!

[colbyjack]

Thanks for your interest in our DFEs BrewDude. I would definitely post the stats of these players if they were easy to access. Unfortunately, they're not, as the schools they attend just don't have the stat & info pages the bigger D1 programs do.

 

I am currently working on a DFE recap story to let everybody know how these guys are faring so far this year, so keep your eyes open for that coming up in the next couple of weeks.

 

And if I had to guess, I'd say Dana Eveland & Justin Barnes will end up in the Brewers organization before May is over.

[colbyjack]

Southern updated their stats today, here's your Weeks update:

 

.500/.597/.989 in 94 ABs (12 ABs in the past week). 11 2B, 4 3B, 9 HR, 21 BBs, 9 Ks, & 16 for 16 in SBs.

[WonkoTheSlershBorb]

I think I'm part of the ever-shrinking minority that just doesn't quite trust the Rickie Weeks bandwagon. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is something about "toolsy" being associated with a college player that just doesn't jive with me. It is very hard to look past the stats, but I'd much rather take my chances with Milledge or Young, or even better, Loewen. Whenever I think about drafting college hitters in the first round, well, you all think the same thing when you think about the Brewers and drafting, Chad Green and Antone Williamson. Not that I'm comparing Green/Williamson with Weeks as hitters, but the spectre is still there. Just like how the Brewers have no luck with their 3rd round selections, the college hitter thing isn't working out for them either.

 

From a totally non draftnik point of view, my top two guys on the board are Milledge and Sleeth. If Loewen becomes available, my two guys would be Loewen and Sleeth. Still a long time to go, I know. Not to get ahead of myself, but Parra and Loewen. Whee.

[clancyphile]

But Green and Williamson were both "bargain" signings, IIRC, and I'm a little leery of laying it all down on college hitters.

[MassBrew]

Normally deferring to the all-powerful colbyjack on this forum, but I thought I'd chime in with an update on the one New England draft-and-follow from the Brewers' 2002 draft, 42nd round pick Neil Avery, an 18-year-old LHP now in his first year at UConn-Avery Point, a two-year Div. II school.

 

Avery's team went 10-0 on their Florida swing and is now 14-0. Avery was the Opening Day starter and has now pitched 21 innings, allowing only three runs (only one earned), eight hits and four walks while striking out 20.

 

Avery pitched high school ball in the town next door to my own, and I hope to speak with him (or his dad) in May, prior to the draft.

 

Here's my question for Ohio Scout or others -- at what point does level of play get factored into evaluation? Most high school phenoms will naturally dominate their competition -- so is it strictly a matter of tool evaluation, radar guns, and stop watches at all levels but Division I, perhaps, where level of competition may have a greater effect? Thanks.