Heels On The Field: A Baseball Blog

Paul Molitor, Roving Instructor, Talks Minor League Baseball And The Brewers

Please check BaseballDigest.com for a story on New Britain Rock Cats pitcher Tyler Robertson later today or tomorrow.

Here are quotes from a post-game chat with Hall Of Famer Paul Molitor. He is a roving instructor, and, after working with the kids in the Little League World Series, he's working this week with the still young, but closer to the majors Rock Cats.

Here is what he had to say about the minors, the Cats, and the Brew Crew.

"I've been doing this a number of years. I mostly try to catch our clubs at home. First time here at [Waterfront Park]. You know, it's a good fit for me in that I try to monitor the progress of all the players in our system. I emphasize base running and work with the hitters too. I just try to evaluate how these guys are coming along and help them find their way to get to the big leagues. Being part of the developmental staff works out well for me."

When asked if he'd like a more permanent role in minor league baseball at this point: "No, the role I'm serving fits me well. I've coached in the majors. You get to have more personal flexibility and still teach the game, so it works out well."

"I've seen a lot of these guys for a number of years. Naturally the guys that stick out are [Joe] Benson or [Chris] Parmelee. Guys that get on your radar screen are [Yangervis] Solarte, who has had a nice year. [Chris] Hermann has done a nice job since he's been called-up. I concentrate more on the position players, but these guys are in their second year of Double-A and they've made the adjustment."

When asked by a reporter if he keeps track of the Milwaukee Brewers: "I can't help it! Still...a lot of history there for me. I don't have a lot of connections personally to the organization anymore, except for Bob Uecker maybe, but it's nice to see them doing what they're doing."

When asked by a reporter about the differences in minors today: "Well, for one, the instruction is much greater and the amount of personnel that each club carries is much more specific to development. But back in the day, you had a manager and that was pretty much it. Now with the hitting coaches and pitching coaches and the roving instructors coming through on a fairly regular basis, these guys are getting a lot of attention and every chance to develop into a good player. A lot is still the same. You have to play, you have to learn, you have to develop your character as well as your ability to play the game."

Notes: Molitor was originally drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1974 Free Agent Draft out of Cretin-Derham High School (also where Twins catcher Joe Mauer attended). He decided to attend college at the University of Minnesota and was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers after his junior year. He made his professional debut playing for the Class-A Burlington Bees of the Midwest League. He made his major league debut in April of 1978.

 

 

 

New Britian Rock Cats @ Trenton Thunder: Managers Jeff Smith And Tony Franklin

Rock Cats manager Jeff Smith on first baseman Chris Parmelee:

He's a repeat in the league. He struggled a little bit last year. He went to Fort Myers, came back and had a really good season. He went to Arizona Fall League and did really good there. He's been pretty much consistent from the start of the season until now. He's very durable and played every game. He's been DH, but basically played his position every game. He's played 100 games at first and about 25 in right field.

He played about fifty games in right last year and it's good for him to have some flexibility with Justin Morneau with the big club. He needs to have that flexibility be it at first, right or DH.

He's really rediscovered his swing this season. He's always been a line drive hitter and has great hand-eye coordination, and one thing he's really been able to drive the ball more this season. As he keeps going higher, I think his home run totals will improve.

 

Trenton Thunder Manager Tony Franklin:

On Jeff Marquez: He is on his way to pitch for us. If his rehab assignment is over, we will have to make a move. It's no big deal. When they call me and they tell me then we'll make that move. As far as knowing what's going to happen, I don't know. Am I interested? To a degree. But I've got to worry about how we're going to play today.

On the team's performance: Not good...not good. It's pretty simple stuff to me. And as I told them last night, it's about the ability to go out and be productive. We've done enough over the season to make that very clear.I think they work hard enough. I think we prepare well enough. But it gets down to performance.

 

 

Preview: Ten Categories For Baseball Digest Minor League Awards

At the end of the regular season, I'll make selections for Minor League Awards for Baseball Digest.

Here are the ten categories:

Most Impressive Pitcher and Position Player

Most Impressive Team

Best Team Website

Best Coach

Best Manager

Most Improved Pitcher and Position Player (based on 2010 results to 2011, as well as the start of the season to the end of the regular season)

Best MILB Team Affiliated Blog or Column

Best Minor League Player Twitter Account

 

*Most Impressive might sound a bit strange. Here's why I decided to use that term. Throughout the course of a season, a minor league player is battling daily for a job. He might be one of the guys who got a big bonus. But his chances of making it to the majors are still uncertain. And even when he does, there are no guarantees he stays healthy or turns out as the team that drafted him hoped.

I don't believe in 'Best' in the minor leagues. I believe that they have to prove their physical abilities, but more than anything, they have to prove their ability to overcome any obstacles. Similar to how I select 'Five Players To Watch' every month, I'll be looking at players that did many things impressively. Players who might not have been consistent every part of the season, but did not fall far when they struggled and came through it with a solid season.

Most Impressive Team will be decided the same way.

*Best Coach and Manager will be decided based on a more traditional factor: results. Team pitching and hitting, as well as the challenges they faced throughout the season. The truth is, these guys are less secure than their own players. The numbers have to be there at the end of the year and the big club has to see that their prospects are in good hands.

*Other categories need less of an explanation. I decided to add Minor League Player Twitter Account after the amazing number of guys joining the social network. Many of them use it as a way to connect with fans, but they also vent their frustrations and show their sense of humor about the lows. It's been entertaining and interesting to get to see them expressing themselves on that level, so I felt there needed to be a tip of the cap.

Check my Twitter account @heelsonthefield for a link to the story and read BaseballDigest.com.

 

 

 

 

 

Eastern League Report

Standings as of August 22nd:

Eastern Division:

New Hampshire*

Reading Phillies 4.0

New Britain 5.0

Trenton Thunder 5.5

Binghamton Mets 13.0

Portland Sea Dogs 16.0

 

Western Division:

Harrisburg Senators*

Bowie Baysox 0.5

Richmond Flying Squirrels 1.5

Akron Aeros 5.0

Erie Seawolves 8.0

Altoona Curve 13.5

 

* Senators Tyler Moore leads three offensive categories: Home runs, 27; Extra basea, 60; Total bases, 242. Bill Rinehart is third in home runs with 21. Moore and Rinehart participated in the EL All Star Game; Moore went 0-5 but Rinehart got an RBI and scored a run.

*The Senators and Reading Phillies are neck in neck in home runs hit, with Reading hitting 125 and Harrisburg with 124. For all their troubles and injuries, the Binghamton Mets come in third with 115. The B Mets Josh Satin is also the only EL player to hit for the cycle, which he accomplished on June 24th.

*The R-Phils have three players with five-hit games. Codey Overbeck did so on April 11th and two weeks later Steve Susdorf did the same. On July 24th Juan Legares joined the club.

 

*Richmond's Eric Surkamp has dominated the league with 161 strikeouts and his 9-4 record is also tops. Reading's Austin Hyatt has 157 strikeouts and the Fisher Cats Joel Carreno 152.

*Akron's Cory Burns has been solid out of the Aeros bullpen. He leads the league in games finished with 46 and in saves, notchng 31.

*The Reading Phillies J.C. Ramirez leads the league in complete games pitched with 3.

 

Trenton Thunder Focus: Thunder @ Harrisburg Senators, Tony Franklin, Graham Stoneburner

The Trenton Thunder (60-60) fell to the Harrisburg Senators (68-53) 4-2 on Sunday night. Starting pitcher Graham Stoneburner pitched 4.2 innings, gave up 6 hits, 4 runs, 2 earned, with 4 walks and 2 strikeouts. He was tagged for the loss.

Thunder offense managed just 6 hits. They committed 4 errors. It is the second time in five games they've committed three errors in one inning.

Graham Stoneburner:

"I felt like I just really didn't attack hitters as much as I should have. I wasn't being as aggressive in the strike zone as I needed to. I found myself in a lot of 2-1 3-1 counts and I think that was a big problem."

"I had four walks tonight. I feel like I shouldn't have four walks. Next time I need to try and not be as fine."

"I just didn't execute my last two starts, as well as I did my first two since I got back."

Manager Tony Franklin:

"Offensively there was nothing. [Erik] Arnesen did a pretty good job. The strikeouts combined with the amount of errors we made, that's bad. Tonight we reverted back to our old ways. It's not going to happen for us unless we do something more concrete."

On Stoneburner: "When you come back after pitching in rookie league and Class-A, it's not the same as when you come up here. There's more experienced hitters here. You may get away with a few more things at the lower levels than here. You have to throw more strikes and get ahead better. He didn't put a lot of hitters away tonight. HItters contributed to his plight out there, becaue sometimes pitchers throw more pitched than they have to or should be."

 

Tony Beasley Helps Guide Bryce Harper To The Big Leagues

Reading, Pennsylvania - Tony Beasley's job is to manage the Harrisburg Senators, but with the addition of Bryce Harper to his roster it suddenly seemed like he was there to manage only one guy.

But Beasley has kept it as even keel as he possibly can, for his team and the top prospect in baseball.

"He's fit right in with our guys. he's a great kid and that's the first thing I noticed," Beasley said. "He's a really good individual and he's played really hard. He's come here and tried to relax to just play baseball. He's starting to really get acclimated to this league. He's just fitting in inside the clubhouse. It's a joy to have him around."

Harper's development is one of the biggest stories in baseball. Never mind that he's never played an inning in the major leagues. The media attraction at a minor league park is usually reserved for big leaguers on rehab. It's an oddity in the usual structure of the minors. But expectations and hype aside, Harper has to be able to just play baseball. The Nationals have rules in place for him and how much he meets with the media. The media might not like it, but without those rules Harper would likely never get a break.

"I understand it, because the bottom line is him playing baseball. And a lot of times the media is a little bit of a distraction when it's too a large degree. It can be overwhelming if he's doing too many interviews, when he could be doing something on the baseball field. So it's been somewhat of a distraction, but he's handled it well. It's died down a little bit. We've got a good grasp on when he's going to talk and when he's not going to so that he can focus on coming to the ballpark and enjoying playing baseball."

In 26 games he's hitting .230 with 5 doubles, 9 walks, and a home run. The position change from right to left field has been mainly positive. While Harper likely needs a bit more time to improve jumps and routes, as well as seeing the ball from a different angle, Beasley observes that the defensive bumps have been small.

"He's never played left before. He's adjusted to that pretty good. There's been some balls that were tough for him to get a read on. That's going to happen. That's to be expected. He's made adjustments. At the plate he's competed really well. He hasn't been over matched. He's hit the ball pretty good. His numbers don't really indicate how he's played offensively."

The baseball lessons are being learned. Harper is getting the hang of it each step of the way. Armed with exceptional natural talent, he's way ahead of many of the guys he's playing alongside. But that is not evident in his conduct as a teammate.

"The guys have been great and they received him well. The extra attention hasn't bothered us at all. What it actually does is give the other guys more exposure as well. They've fed off of it, so it's been a good thing."

As Harper slugs his way toward his Nationals debut, Beasley gives the young man what he needs to be prepared when the time comes. HIs door is open and Harper has shown that it matters to him. He knows he has a lot to learn.
 
"We actually have conversations daily. We put aside a little time slot where we just sit down and talk. It's just basically him getting to know me and me getting to know him, what's important to him, what he likes, who he is as a man and things of that nature. And we talk baseball, baseball 101: the do's and dont's, when to do something a certain way on the field, and he's been very receptive to that. We've built a great relationship that's open and he knows he can come to me and express his concerns, as well as receive the things that I have to say."

Originally ran August 2011