Heels On The Field: A Baseball Blog

Triple-A Time Serves Several Purposes

Phillies reliever Ryan Madson knew that time at the Triple-A level helped him and he knew that he needed that experience.

"I felt I needed it," he said two years ago

Trenton Thunder third baseman Justin Snyder felt the palpable difference between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton - and it wasn't just in the pitching he faced.

"You notice that everything is a little more business-like as you move up," he said. "They come in and get the job done and they don't have to be told."

The maturation process for players isn't textbook. Every player has his own path. But learning to approach the game in a more business-minded way is a key point that some players take their time appreciating. Triple-A  has taken on a repuation as one that can be skipped, or that it's roster-full of older guys who can't quite make the big league jump. That's only partially true. Yes, there are plenty of those, but there are also many who are there for the same reason Madson was. It's often necesarry and extremely helpful.

With Triple-a players there's more of a plan when they step to the plate or make a pitch. HItters are going to hit any mistakes they make. Pitchers can figure out the holes in a guy's swing and his weakest points a lot quicker. Players would be foolish to mistake older for less effective.

In Madson's case he logged a ton of innings at Double-A Reading and Triple-A Scranton (then a Phillies affiliate) before the Phils brought him up for good in 2004. He spent 2002 in Reading and finished with a 3.42 ERA in 171 innings pitched. He started 2003 at Class-A Clearwater, but logged 157 innings at Triple-A Scranton. He completed his regular-season time there with a 3.50 ERA.

His time with the Phillies in 2004 was a success and in 77 innings of work he had a 2.34 ERA. He followed that with his first full season with the Phillies, finishing 2005 with 4.14 ERA.

While arm strength and sharpening skills at that level are a major bonus, it goes back to what Snyder said about his brief time there. Being at that level is solid preparation for being a big league player and learning even more about approach and focus.

By contrast, Yankees reliever (still, right?) Joba Chamberlain pitched only eight innings at Triple-A before making his Major League debut. Chamberlain spent parts of 2007 at Class-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton, before his brief stint with Scranton and his Yankees debut.

While Madson's stint as a starter for the Phillies was disastrous, Chamberlain's situation has played out very differently and is far more complex. And although Chamberlain's first two full seasons with the Yankees were a success, consistency and reliability has been a glaring problem. The questions still continue about whether or not he should have been moved permanently (he has right?) to the bullpen. But Chamberlain's career has always felt like a rush-job to me.

When Yankees minor league outfielder Edwar Gonzalez went from Double-A to Triple-A for the first time in his career, and finished the season there, he observed the same things Snyder did.

"They do it because they're more experienced and don't need people telling them how to get things done," he said.

It's hard to pinpoint which players will benefit from the top level of developmental league and which players will do fine without it. There are a number of players in 2010's crop whose 2011 starts are uncertain. Two examples are Red Sox prospect Casey Kelly, who struggled in 2010 for Double-A Portland, and Blue Jays prospect Kyle Drabek, who made his debut with the Jays at the end of 2010, going 3-0. Both pitchers have high expecations on them. 20-year-old Kelly's difficulties have partially been blamed on rushing him through the system. I've previously praised the careful hand the Jays have used with Drabek on this blog.

Time for both players in Triple-A seems smart and even necesarry.

In this year's World Series there are two young players who saw some good top-level time. Texas Rangers rookie first baseman Mitch Moreland  played 95 games for the Triple-A Oklahoma City Red Hawks. And San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey had two stints for the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies. He played in 82 games for Fresno.

For his part, Moreland hit a three-run home run in crucial Game 3 of the World Series.

Not saying the trip to Triple-A had a lot to do with it.

But, hey, it couldn't have hurt.

 

 

 

Swagga: An Un-Phillies Tradition

In April of 2003 Chase Utley hit a grand slam in his Major League debut at Veteran's Stadium and a new Phillies era was born.

It was an era that had been gestating for years. They were slow burning years of developing players that would become some of the most successful and popular in franchise history.

The Phillies who won the 2008 World Series, returned to the Fall Classic in 2009, and are considered front runners to win the National League crown again this year, have a core of players that were bred in the team's farm system. It's easy to take it all for granted now. It's easy to hate the Phillies now.

But when guys like Utley, Cole Hamels, and Ryan Howard were honing their craft in the bus leagues, the Phillies were a joke in baseball. They were meaningless. No one feared them, no one had reason to.

In 2004 when the Boston Red Sox were on the road to historic destiny, Hamels was still two years away from making his Phillies debut. The Red Sox team that went onto win the World Series was made up of guys such as Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon, but while the majority weren't farm grown, they inspired Red Sox Nation's imagination. They were loved for their personalities, as much as for their play. Baseball fans tend to put a lot of stock into the idea of liking their players. They have to represent the city's spirit.

The current Phillies team are guys that had to have a lot of that Philadelphia-type spirit and don't think Phillies fans aren't aware.

Brett Myers (now a starting pitcher with the Houston Astros) notched 21 saves in 2007 and roared like a wild animal coming off the hill upon winning the NLE title. He was a scrapper, notoriously hard to tame early on and known for being particularly macho. He also wanted desperately to be a flame-thrower. He wanted to throw hard and he wanted to throw fast. That desire needed some focus. Then there he was, the unlikely closer pre-Brad Lidge, with an also unlikely battery mate in Chris Coste, celebrating what had been unreachable since 1993.

The Phillies were knocked out in the opening round by the Colorado Rockies , but there was something there. Something had happened in that gestation, first in developmental league, then in the process of piecing together a winning team. Fans imagination was being captured.

And hate Jimmy Rollins now for his unwavering confidence, but remember that confidence was fostered in a losing town, on a losing team (in 2001 Larry Bowa managed them to within two games of the division title). If you think he behaves entitled, understand that's the same guy he's always been. He believes in himself.

In an interview I did with Rollins two years ago, he recalled in animated fashion the first time he met his idol Rickey Henderson at a gym. When you grow up idolizing Rickey Henderson, you probably learn a thing or two about showmanship and carrying yourself as a winner, even when there's a lot of losing happening.

And that guy behind the plate? Catcher Carlos Ruiz, who has been to two World Series with the Phillies, was a AFA sigining in 1998. When doing a story on him at Triple-A Lehigh in 2005, he had already played five years in the minors. There wasn't any big buzz around him. Now he has a legacy.

There are players you watch grow in the minors, who get their confidence crudely tested. Many have moments of failing all their, and the team's, expecations. Those young players with a bloated gut of self-assuredness, that got injured or slumped so badly along the way, have to take some tough medicine. They hold onto the good stuff and let go of what they need to. They don't all play for teams that are competitive. Those guys have to keep their confidence and focus intact. They have to believe in themselves. They have to believe that when they go up with the big club, perhaps they'll be part of a new era that changes the team's identity.

Many of the best players on the Phillies team going to this year's NLCS know what that's like.

 

Jayson Stark Missed These!

To be clear, Jayson Stark is one of my favorite baseball writers on earth. But after reading his list of the three funniest baseball tweets (http://es.pn/a10ifB) this year, I must say, he's missed out on some solid comedy. He needed to expand that list! I was kind enough to do it for him. And to answer the obvious question, yes, I am gunning for his job.

Top Ten Funniest Baseball Tweets Of The 2010 Regular Season:

 @ballssticksstuff My mother-in-law: "Is this the Phillies usual pitcher?" May 27th

@jedleyq Pirates fire Matt Walbeck after he wins a title at Altoona. No wonder this team hasn't won in 1,000 years. October 1st

@PatGallen_PN Joe West will now set himself on fire. (Reference unknown. But...) April 14th

@MikeVooss Jerry describes the positives of the club the same way I'd describe a bar I'd hang out at - but mine would have pitchers. (Mike describing Mets manager Jerry Manuel)

@EricStangel BREAKING MLB NEWS: The Washington Nationals just retired Stephen Strasburg's number... June 8th

@BattingStanceG Gonna assume I'm only person to have their book reviewed by Penthouse & SI for Kids. June 28th (I want to be the second.)

@keithlaw Someone should explain this to Papelbon in language he can understand: "Fastball go boom." May 17th

@YankeeMegInPHL The end of the world is coming. Not because of #hcr, but because it was just suggested on FB, that I become friends with Curt Shilling. March 21st

@philliesfever Part of me is mad at losing a 2-1 game to the Pirates with Halladay on the mound. But then another part of me is really, really mad. May 12th

@JayJayUberFly Game. Blouses! Who wants pancakes? #Mets #Cardinals April 17th (If you remember that game, you weren't there.)