Prospect Watch 6/23/2008

Fresno was shellacked by Colorado Springs 13-1.

LF Eugenio Velez: 1 for 3, 3B, BB
Velez’s slash stats are .312/.363/.488 with a 9/5 SB/CS rate. The power is a tick more than I expected, but everything else is about where it should be. How significant is the fact that Matt Downs played 2B over him?

2B Matt Downs: 2 for 4, 2B
A good way to start his AAA career. At 24 years old, he is finally age appropriate to his league.

Connecticut lost to Portland 5-3.

Antoan Richardson: 2 for 2, 2 BB, SB (23)
The speedster is hitting .219/.348/.292. At 24 years old, he is old for AA. He’s always had a good walk rate, but it looks like that hole in his swing has finally caught up to him.

Joey Martinez: 1.2 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 2 SO, 4 ER
According to Greg’s Defenders blog, Joey took a liner off his arm. Hope he’s okay.

San Jose is in the middle of an All-Star break. They won their division in the first half with a 43-27 record. I went to the last game before the break and will post a report of it tomorrow.

Augusta defeated Asheville 8-3.

2B Nick Noonan: 3 for 5, 2 2B, SO
His season line is .300/.331/.456. He needs to improve his BB/SO rate, but otherwise his performance has been great.

DH Thomas Neal: 2 for 5, 2B, SO
He is hitting .253/.332/.404 for the season. A slight disappointment thus far.

RP Waldis Joaquin: 1 IP, 1 SO
In his last four appearances, he has struck out 13 batters in 8.1 innings without allowing any hits or walks. Has he finally turned a corner? Some magical wondrous corner that gives him impeccable control?

Salem-Keizer lost to Tri-City 3-1.

RF Jeremiah Luster: 0 for 1, 3 BB
He has 6 BB and 4 SO in only 19 AB’s (.158 BA). I am curious to know if his patience at the plate will translate to a higher batting average.

The AZL Giants lost to the AZL Rangers 12-4.

CF Wendell Fairley: 0 for 3, 2 SO
Looks like the Giants sent Wendell to Scottsdale rather than Salem-Keizer. I can’t say I disagree with that decision, as he has struck out 5 times in six at-bats thus far.

Prospect Watch (Week Review)

Due to my week on the road, I will review the aggregate prospect performances of the past week rather than just yesterday’s results.

Fresno

OF Mike Mooney
Mike seems to be making the most of his AAA call-up, hitting .345/.406/.690 in his first 29 AB’s. In that time, he smacked three homers all of which came against Portland. He also played some CF, which will help out his prospect status if he acquits himself well. One problem is that he has struck out ten times in eight games. He has done well thus far against advanced pitchers, but I expect his slash stats to be more pedestrian by the month’s end.

RP Geno Espineli
In his last two outings, Geno has put up an aggregate line of 3IP 5H 2BB 4K. He also allowed 3 ER, raising his total to 8 ER for the season. His overall numbers are still fantastic, and in his last seven games, he has struck out eleven batters in ten innings, a K/9 ratio that is uncharacteristic of him and his high eighties (edit because I had written high 90s velocity which would have obviously made no sense whatsoever, or if it did then you must be as drunk as I was, because drunks operate on similar wavelengths, right?) stuff. His greatest strength statistically has always been his strong groundball tendencies and excellent control. Perhaps he is trying to reshape himself as a strikeout pitcher?

Connecticut

SP Joey Martinez
On June 18th, Joey pitched excellently, going 7 innings for the win. A 25 year old RHP, his greatest strength is his tendency to induce groundballs (2.27 GO/AO, 1 HR allowed in 78 IP). Unfortunately, his questionable velocity does not bode well for future success at the MLB level. I wonder if the Giants will convert him to a RP pitcher next year like they did with Geno.

San Jose

C Pablo Sandoval
Pablo resumed his hitting ways after a small slump, going 10 for 26 in his last six games with 3 2B and 1 HR. He should be challenged at a higher level.

2B Matt Downs
Matt has been on fire, going 10 for 27 in his last 6 games with 4 2B and 3 HR. I would also like to see him promoted soon.

SP Henry Sosa
In his five games at San Jose, Henry has struck out 23 in 23 innings with only 7 BB. Before the knee surgery, he was rumored to start in Connecticut. How many more starts he will make in San Jose? I will be at the game tomorrow, so I hope to catch him in person.

Augusta

SP Oliver Odle
In his last outing, Oliver went seven innings, striking out ten and allowing seven hits and two earned runs. Oliver’s has had excellent control this season, striking out forty seven batters and allowing only four walks in sixty nine innings. Unfortunately he has also allowed seventy eight hits which has contributed to his 4.13 ERA. I like that he is willing to challenge the hitter (the Giants pitchers could learn something from this) but if he keeps giving up hits at this rate, the batters at the upper levels will crush him.

Salem-Keizer

C Michael Ambort: 9 AB, 3 H, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 BB, 0K
Ambort was drafted last year, and split time between the Rookie League and the Northwest League, putting up a combined .276/.340/.448 line with 23 strikeouts in 87 at bats. If he reduces his strikeouts this season, the Giants may have another catching prospect on their hands.

SP Wilber Bucardo: 5 IP 2H, 1HB, 4K
Wilber features a very good 93 mph sinker with a fritzy change and curve. In his first start, he induced eight groundouts to three flyouts.

RP Kelvin Marte: 1 IP, 2 K
Kelvin, here’s me keeping my eye on you.

RP Brian Irving: 2 IP, 5K
A 17th round draftee from Yale. Prospect mavens shouldn’t get too excited from one outing. But man, how exciting!

Sleepers

Well, I’m back in SF and will be here for a couple of weeks before I start on back to the Midwest. While I’m here, I plan on seeing some Fresno and BabyGiants games. It’s been a fun week on the road, but very taxing physically, so I’ll resume regular posting with Prospect Watch and the Minor Survey tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some players that just missed my June top prospect list (in order of prospecty-ness by level).

AAA
Clay Timpner

AA
Adam Witter
Paul Oseguera
Joey Martinez

A+
Dan Griffin
Sharlon Schoop
Kevin Pucetas

A
Francisco Peguero
Charlie Culberson
Daryl Maday

ssA
Wilber Bucardo

Prospect Watch 6/12/2008

Fresno lost to Colorado Springs 4-2.

2B Eugenio Velez: 2 for 4, CS(4), PO
The hitting is encouraging, but Velez getting picked off negates any of his offensive accomplishments in this game. Eugenio MUST refine his SB skills in order for him to be a viable major leaguer. Moderated update: stop getting picked off dammit.

Connecticut defeated Trenton 3-0

DH Travis Ishikawa: 2 for 4, 2B, HR
Reputed to be excellent defensively, Ishikawa’s offense has stalled the last couple of years in AA. This year, however, he has hit to the tune of .292/.383/.472 while maintaining an excellent 32:41 BB:K ratio. Is this improvement for real? Probably. But he is still hitting a terrible .154/.297/.192 in 52 AB (SSS) against lefties. If he doesn’t improve against lefties, Travis may find his major league future short lived.

SP Joey Martinez: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Joey also had an 8:3 ground out to fly out ratio, which raises it to 2.39 for the season. He also struck out 47 batters in 71 innings. If he builds on todays performance and raises his strikeout ratio to a more respectable rate, he may have a future in the majors as a back of the rotation pitcher.

San Jose lost to Lancaster 8-4

SP Jesse English: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K
Another standout pitcher of the little Giants’ excellent rotation, Jesse has struck out 66 batters in 68.1 innings this season. He will turn 24 in September. It feels like Jesse’s been around forever, but that’s because he was reportedly kept in extended spring training due to anger issues. Jesse has always had the ability to strike people out on less than stellar velocity (I’ve heard high 80s/low 90s heat), but I have doubts as to whether he will be able to keep his walk rate down in AA. But because of his age, Jesse is another prospect who I’d like the Giants to promote aggressively.

Augusta defeated Asheville 4-3

1B Thomas Neal: 1 for 3, BB, K
An athletic first baseman (he was converted from the outfield), Neal followed up a terrific April with a terrible May in which he hit .217. It looks like he is raking again in June, as he boosted his season line to .265/.351/.429. He is still relatively young– he will turn 21 in August– and he has shown a propensity to take walk in a system that doesn’t seem to teach that skill very well. If his power develops and he continues his solid hitting in San Jose, he will rocket up prospect lists. As it stands right now, he is a top twenty prospect in the system.

RP Andy De La Garza: 3 IP, 0H, 0BB, 7k(!)
San Francisco seems to be very adept in finding pitching talent in the later rounds of the draft. Andy was drafted last year in round 18. A lefty at 6’4, he has struck out 49 batters in 45.2 innings this year while only walking eight. It’s only low A and Andy is already 23 years old, so take these results with a grain of salt. I’m going to wait to see how he fares in AA before I tag him as a legitimate prospect.

Comment starter: Who would you consider to be the superior prospect, Joey Martinez and his GB tendencies or Paul Oseguera who is slightly younger and left-handed? Or is it the secret special answer… neither?