Baseball America Chat -- Latest: BA's John Manuel Chimes In

[Mass Haas]

Kansas City third base super-prospect Alex Gordon was named Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year.

 

Chat is taking place as of 2:00 PM Central at BA:

 

www.baseballamerica.com/c...d=1#bottom

 

BA's John Manuel:

 

Frankly, four pitchers were in the hunt--Phillip Hughes, Homer Bailey, Yovani Gallardo and Matt Garza. For me, those were the four best seasons by minor league pitchers. They were pretty comparable to each other, while Gordon stood out more from most of the other batters. That was how I made my decision, and I think that argument rang true for other members of the staff.

 

Q: Joshua from Springfield, NJ asks:

Who would win Minor League Pitcher of the Year?

 

A: John Manuel: I would pick Garza slightly over Hughes.

 

Q: Matthew from Columbus asks:

Where does Yovani Gallardo grade out respective to Hughes and Bailey? He dominated hitters all season, and showed both high k9 rates and above average control (1.000 whip) and his numbers were certainly comparable to the two more highly toutes prospects.

 

A: John Manuel: Gallardo's year was ridiculous; I mean, I liked the guy coming in, I did our Brewers top 30 last year and like him a lot. But I was stunned at how good he was this year. I believe the difference, from the people I've talked to, is that (a) Hughes and Bailey have more velocity on their FBs and better pitcher's frames, and (b) they work off their fastball more often. Call me a sucker but I believe in Mark Rogers, and if the Brewers would let him long toss and do his tubing (come on, Jim Rooney!), I think Rogers can be the monster that he has shown glimpses of being.

[molitor fan]

Call me a sucker but I believe in Mark Rogers, and if the Brewers would let him long toss and do his tubing (come on, Jim Rooney!), I think Rogers can be the monster that he has shown glimpses of being.

 

 

What does this mean? Tubing? And is this a rip on Rooney and the Brewers minor league staff?

[DrugBust]

I'm assuming he means plyometrics.

[thumperden]

I thought he was talkin' about catchin' some waves, bro!

[Mass Haas]

One more got in from yours truly:

 

Q: Jim Goulart from brewerfan.net asks:

Is there a better one-two organizational pitching combo than the Brewers' Yovani Gallardo and Will Inman in terms of 2006 results on the field, particularly when you consider they are 20 and 19 years old, respectively, each with birthdays next February? Does their inclusion alone guarantee the Brewers a top-five spot in the organizational rankings next spring?

 

A: John Manuel: That's a good one. Again, I'll say don't ignore Mark Rogers when discussing their prospects. I believe in him. That said, Inman and Gallardo had monster years, and it would be nice if they could share some of their polish with Rogers. Inman in particular was impressive with his consistency, but he also is going to have to do it again. He's a bit unconventional, he's short, it's just going to be harder for him. The Brew Crew was a top 5 org last year, and I think it can be again, lots of young pitching in this year's draft, and a nice year by Ryan Braun, whom I consider a potentially elite hitter.

[wibadgers23]

This guy really likes Mark Rogers.

[colbyjack]

Nice job getting a question in Jim, and a good one at that.

 

He's a bit unconventional, he's short, it's just going to be harder for him.

 

The more I read comments like this the more I don't care for them. It makes it sound as though Inman's success was a fluke. Ben Sheets, Pedro Martinez, Roy Oswalt, Greg Maddux...I could go on and on. I'm not saying Will Inman will be as good, or anywhere close, to any of those guys, but big-leaguers come in all shapes and sizes, and just because someone is short doesn't mean it is harder for them, like they have more obstacles to overcome.

 

Sorry, a pet peeve of mine when talking prospects. And unfortunately Manuel didn't really answer your question either.

[brettac1]

Honestly, I love short pitchers. Maybe it's because of Hudson and Oswalt and others, but I just think they're cool.

[Prometheus ohm]

Short or tall, stout or lean, successful pitchers know how to get outs. That?s what Inman does and that?s all that matters.

[pogokat]

Inman can't be under 5' 10"---is that short?

[And That]

Inman can't be under 5' 10"---is that short?

 

He is shorter than a pitcher with an "ideal frame." Those guys have frames north of 6'2+.

[pogokat]

He is shorter than a pitcher with an "ideal frame." Those guys have frames north of 6'2.

 

Bleh...i guess Inman's just gonna have to deal with the fact that guys like Phillip Hughes are better than him because the yankees drafted him...and for no other reason...

[TheEndless7]

Yea well, hopefully Hughes will turn out ot be the next Ben H. and Yo and Innman will become the next Oswalts.

[endaround]

Scott Kazmir sucks because he's short which is why the Mets were lucky to dump him.

[clancyphile]

I do to. I figure that is he stays healthy, Rogers is the next Turnbow as a worst-case scenario.

[Katuluu]

A pill-popping waiver wire pickup? Seems remarkably pessimistic of you Harold.

[dadofandrew]

There are very few successful RHP's under 6-0 tall...that's a fact.

[Two Fisted Slobber]

Only five RHPs under 6' have started 150 games over the last 20 years: Pedro Martinez, Mike Boddicker, Tom Gordon, Cory Lidle and Ricky Bones.

[pogokat]

but how many have been drafted?

 

I wonder this becuase i think some of the hysteria about height is related to the fact that there are not many pitchers (or baseball players) under 6 foot..

 

also, Inman is listed as 6-1, so he's not under 6 foot..

[colbyjack]

There are very few successful RHP's under 6-0 tall...that's a fact.

 

True enough, but as mentioned we're not talking about a guy that is sub-6' here. As pogo alluded to, I'm sure you could extend that comment past pitchers as there aren't too many players, htiters or pitchers, listed under 6' tall.

 

And the key word is listed. I've stood close to Ben Sheets and I would question that he's 6'1" as he's listed, and I've heard Roy Oswalt is no taller than 5'10" despite being listed at 6' as well. Again as pogo pointed out, Inman is listed at 6'1" (actually 6'0" on MiLB.com) and BA is still calling him short with more factors going against him. Someone else brought up Rich Harden as an example, and if you go and look at the top 10 active leaders in ERA at baseball-reference.com, four of them are 6' tall or shorter, and Tom Glavine is listed at 6'1". That list doesn't include Roy Oswalt, Ben Sheets, Rich Harden, Johan Santana, etc. because they don't have enough innings to qualify yet.

[filthyfrog]

I've never understood why there's a discrepency between a player's real height and their listed height. Why do the programs always exaggerate?

 

If we can list Prince Fielder as 6' tall, why can't we list him as hitting .300 with 30 HRs?

[biedergb]

Didn't we just draft a guy who was listed as 6' 0" (Jeremy Jeffress) in the first round?

 

Athletes are athletes, and while size helps, it's not all. How many guys have ideal size or "body type" who never make it? And in terms of height, the difference between 5' 11" and 6' 1" isn't a lot when judging height from a distance.

 

Wasn't the knock on shorter pitcher the fact that they have maximum effort to reach top velocity. Well if you can hit 94-97 mph on the gun at 5' 11", you've overcome that hurdle, and then your success is probably as good as the next guy. The second knock is that smaller frames tend to "wear down". But a guy like Inman is listed as 200-210 lbs, which is not small.

[pogokat]

inman's build is similar to sheets' in 2003-2004

[JohnBriggs12]

This whole focus on height by BA is ridiculous. Oswalt and Pedro are both under 6' and easily among the top 5 pitchers in the game the last 5 years.

 

In the past, there was Tom Seaver (6'1") and Catfish Hunter who was 6'0". Both were first ballot Hall of Famers.

 

Sure I can't think of too many 5'8" great pitchers, but even if he's fudging a little I doubt Inman is shorter than Oswalt or Pedro.

 

By the way, check out Inman's photo on his player profile page. Notice the thick neck. The guy is well put together.

[brettac1]

Yeah, the "only five pitchers" thing is misleading, since there are so many guys that are listed at an even 6' that aren't. Oswalt, Hudson, Sheets, etc. aren't 6', but for some reason there is a stigma when a guy is listed below that height, or something. It's like football players who are 280 or something being listed at 300, because it's more intimidating or something.