Sunday, May 23, 2010

Down on the Farm: 05-23-2010

AAA Fresno Grizzlies edged the Nashville Sounds 4-3 in 11 innings:

Jesus Guzman- 2 for 5, BB. BA= .260.
Tyler Graham- 1 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .405.
Madison Bumgarner- 6.2 IP, 12 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K's, GO/AO= 12/2.

Guzman is hitting .360 over his last 10 games. Bum gave up a ton of hits, but he managed to keep them from scoring. I am convinced, from the GO/AO over several games now that he has incorporated a 2 seam/sinker pitch into his repertoire as well as a a cutter. I actually really like the 4 seam/2 seam/ cutter combo as it gives hitters 3 different looks off the fastball, so it's like 3 pitches in one!

AA Richmond shut out the Reading Phillies 6-0:

Darren Ford- 1 for 3, 2 BB, SB(14). BA= .253.
Conor Gillaspie- 3 for 5. BA= .243.
Andy D'Alessio- 4 for 5, 2 2B, HR(2). BA= .268.
Roger Kieschnick- 0 for 5. BA= .240.
Daryl Maday- 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 1.36.
Tony Pena- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.01.

Roger Kieschnick has cooled off considerably. A big day for Big Andy. Wish he had more of those! Maday has been lights out this season. I haven't ever thought of him as a top pitching prospect. This is his second season at AA, so that may partially explain his success this year, but give him credit for improvement. Pena continues to impress in relief.

High A San Jose Giants downed the Modesto Nuts 7-5:

Wendell Fairley- 2 for 5. BA= .278.
Francisco Peguero- 2 for 5. BA= .275.
Jose Flores- 2 for 4, BB, SB(2). BA= .415.
Charlie Culberson- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .285.
Drew Biery- 2 for 3, 1 HR, 1 BB. BA= .276.
Craig Westcott- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 1.13.
Jason Stoffel- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 5.02.

Culberson has had a sustained period of hot hitting to raise his BA into the high .200's. Fairley still isn't hitting for any power to speak of, but at least he's maintaining an acceptable BA and a very nice OBP. Flores' numbers are likely due to sample size.

Low A Augusta Greenjackets blanked the Greenville Drive 5-0:

Evan Crawford- 2 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .278.
Nick Liles- 2 for 4, 2B, BB, SB(7). BA= .298.
Chris Dominguez- 1 for 4, HR(6). BA= .272.
Dan Cook- 2 for 4, SB(4). BA= .245.
Jeremy Toole- 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K's, GO/AO= 8/5. ERA= 1.35.
Chris Gloor- 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.25.

Crawford is hitting .410 over his last 10 games with an OBP of .531. His overall season line is .278/.357/.370 with 8 SB's.
This was Toole's longest, and by far his best, appearance of the season after missing nearly a month from April 19 to May 12. Toole is a big guy who, if I remember correctly, has a mid-upper 90's fastball.

4 comments:

  1. This is a description of a cutter given on Wikipedia:

    "A common technique used to throw a cutter is to release a two-seam fastball with slight pressure from the tip of the middle finger. When a batter is able to hit a cutter pitch, it often results in a ground ball leading to an easy out."

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  2. Maday is a little old for AA, 24, but his success does seem to suggest development, rather than age, contributed to the improvement. But his low K/9 means that he'll have to continue to get the high groundball rate at higher levels to continue to be successful.

    Wow, Fairley is already 22 YO! That is a little young for Advanced A as the best prospects are usually in AA by age 22, but he could get promoted. However, with no power at all and a high strikeout rate, he's probably there for the season. The good news is that his numbers are much better on the road, as his home park is an extreme pitcher's park in a good hitter's league. Even then, still extremely bad power in terms of ISO. Plus, his May is worse than his April.

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  3. Maday put up nice numbers last season. I was surprised to see him repeat AA (although, according to Sabean, he must be a top prospect since he is in AA).

    I have never seen him pitch, though, so my assessment was purely based on stat lines...

    As far as that vaunted 2007 draft...

    Oh boy :(

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  4. Ah, Wikipedia! The authority on baseball pitching! Here's another article expaining what a cutter is and how to throw it:

    www.thecompletepitcher.com/how_to_throw_cutter.htm

    It seems there are several variations on the pitch and perhaps it can be gripped off the 4 seam or 2 seam fastball, or it can be gripped more like a slider on top while maintaining the thumb position like a fastball.

    Out of curiosity, I looked up Mariano Rivera's GO/AO ratios. Since he relies on the cutter almost exclusively, it should be the best indicator of whether it is a GB pitch or a flyball pitch. Indeed, Mariano's career GO/AO is close to 2 making him an extreme GB pitcher, so that's probably what Bumgarner is throwing.

    I wouldn't give up in the 2007 draft quite yet. Maybe I'll do a 2007 draft retrospective soon.

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