Heels On The Field: A Baseball Blog

Eastern League Preview 2012, Part Three: Indians, Mets, Tigers, and Twins

This will conclude the 2012 Eastern League report.

Please note that there might be reports or decisions about certain players already. There was an issue in part of the preview when one team's GM addressed where a player would start at an event that wasn't widely publicized.

Also, the preview isn't definitive. It's based on several factors, which include previous season's results, time spent at lower levels, projections, as well as reports from sources and my own research. If anything changes, I'll update on Twitter @heelsonthefield.

The preview focuses the spotlight on one to two players.

Akron Aeros - The Indians are rich with pitching prospects and Brett Brach is among those that impressed in 2011. His ability to make adjustments and stay the course were on display. He began the season at Class-A Kinston where he pitched 115 innings and finished with a 3. 60 ERA. His time with Akron consisted of 28 innings. He gave up four home runs and struck out 15, a number that reflects his fearlessness to pitch to contact. But his growth is still in the early stages. More time at the Double-A level would help him get acclimated to smarter hitters and give him time to develop confidence when attacking hitters. He won't overpower, but he'll need to keep from elevating the ball in the zone, something he had some trouble with.

Clayton Cook has some kinks to work out, but probably not in the Carolina League. There's a strong possibility he starts 2012  with Akron. Cook clocked 122 innings going 9-9 with a 4.56 ERA. His command was an issue in parts of the season, so it's possible he gets a bit more time with Kinston. But if he has a good start to the season, don't expect him to be there long.

Binghamton Mets - Of Mets prospcts Zack Wheeler ranked the highest on MLB.com's top 100 prospects coming in 28th. His 2011 season for Advanced-A San Jose concluded with 88 innings of work under his belt and 3.99 ERA. He struck out 98 batters. He lacks experience, but at 21 he's ripe for Double-A. If he doesn't start the season with Binghamton, he's a sure thing for a promotion. And if he can repeat the success of 2011, the Mets will likely have him with the big club in 2013.

Erie Seawolves - Drew Smyly, the Tigers 2011 minor league pitcher of the year, has made his way through the levels by impressing consistently. He's received a spring training invite, giving him a shot to show his progress early.

He spent part of the season with High-A Lakeland and was then promoted to Erie where he finished with a 1.18 ERA. The twenty-two year old could be writing a fast ticket to the big leagues if he can continue that progress in 2012.

New Britain Rock Cats - Switch-hitter Aaron Hicks development has been highly anticipated every step of the way since he was drafted in 2008. 2011 proved mostly successful, with Hicks playing a full season at High-A Fort Myers. He hit .242 in a 122 games, collecting 38 RBI. While there were some ups and downs, he's earned consideration after a good showing at the Arizona Fall League. Hicks appears ready to come out of the gate in the Eastern League.

 

Pinch-Hitting: Southern Maryland Blue Crabs Richard Giannotti

 

 

 

                                                  If You Don't Mind Me Being Honest...

                                                           By Richard Giannotti

“Richard, I want you to remember one thing – this is a marathon, not a sprint”.  These were the first words I heard as soon as I signed away my college eligibility to forgo my senior season at the University of Miami in order to pursue my dream of playing professional baseball.  I’m sure those exact words have echoed off many walls and kitchen tables across the country within the last fifty years, but who really cares…right?  I know I didn’t.

 

In 2004, I was a twenty year old who was told I had all the ability in the world and had four, potentially five tools if I put a few pounds on and developed my gap power into serious pole to pole power.  I don’t even think I was forty-eight hours removed from Omaha, NE playing in the College World Series, so to honestly answer the question about the above quote – I didn’t care one bit about what type of race I was entering.  All I could care about was what time my flight was leaving Ft. Lauderdale, FL.  I’m sure off the bat, you’re thinking you would be excited too getting your ticket to leave to play pro ball, but if I’m going to be completely honest with you all, I have to ask myself a few questions.  Was I in such a rush to escape the anger of not having our college baseball season end the way we all had imagined it? Was it because I was upset I fell in the draft due to my previous injuries I suffered my sophomore year?  Was I afraid to face the fact that the last three years of my life in college were closing and that if I boarded that airplane, they really weren’t going to end?  Or perhaps the most poignant question that best describes me as a person and how I was raised to compete.  Was I in such a rush to leave in order to prove everybody right that praised me and prove everybody wrong that doubted me?  It’s safe to say every one of those questions deserves an imperative YES. 

 

At that moment in time, if you were to tell me that at the age of twenty-eight I would be entering my fifth year of Independent baseball, I would have laughed and said “Yea right man, I’m smarter than that.  If I don’t make it to the Bigs or close to it by twenty-four, I’d hang em’ up and go get a real job.”  That’s how we’re programmed to think.  As soon as you let negativity creep in, the entire house slowly crumbles unless you figure out how to balance the good and the bad and remain consistent.  I find it unfortunate that when we are young, we don’t see things for what they truly are because of ignorance and inexperience.  I was no different from any other twenty year old learning life lessons, with one exception, I was doing it on a ball field vs. a cubicle.

 

As first year players in pro ball, we don’t think about getting released, traded or retirement.  What we really worry about is “time”.  The bus time, stretch time and the time change to talk to our families and girlfriends back home.  Fast-forward to the present and the “time” concept is still in full effect, except it’s more like I’m running out of time.  The older I get, the smaller the window of opportunity gets to get back on track to the big leagues.  But if I’ve learned anything along my journey, it’s that you can’t fully enjoy the sweet without tasting the sour.  So when people ask me why I continue to play professional baseball in the Independent Leagues at twenty-eight, I tell them because they still pay me to play a kid’s game that I love and every successful businessman that I know and respect has told me to play as long as I can because I can work the rest of my life.

 

You can follow Richard on Twitter @JustMeGee.

 

 

Eastern League Preview, Part Two: Red Sox, Blue Jays, Giants Prospects Spotlighted

Two week's ago the focus was on several teams in the Eastern League Preview, that included the Pirates and Yankees. This week, we finish the preview focusing on the Red Sox (Portland SeaDogs), Blue Jays (New Hampshire Fisher Cats), and Giants (Richmond Flying Squirrels).

Please note that there might be reports or decisions about certain players already. There was an issue in the last preview when one team's GM addressed where a player would start at an event that wasn't widely publicized.

Also, the preview isn't definitive. It's based on several factors, which include previous season's results, time spent at lower levels, projections, as well as reports from sources and my own research. If anything changes, I'll update on Twitter @heelsonthefield.

The preview focuses the spotlight on one to two players.

 

Red Sox - There's a ton of talent heading to Triple-A Pawtucket, as well as the lower levels. Double-A Portland has hosted some of the organization's best prospects the last couple of years, Will Middlebrooks, Jose Iglesias, Ryan Kalish, and one-time Sox prospect Casey Kelly, now with the Padres, have come through the Eastern League. Middlebrooks and Iglesias are likely ticketed for Pawtucket.

At the lower levels, top shortstop prospect Xander Bogaerts will work on developing more power, and at nineteen he'll likely get a full season at Class-A Greenville, with a possible promotion to Class-A (Advanced) Salem. But Portland will have to wait. Maturity, both mental and physical, are key to moving up a level in 2013.

Anthony Ranaudo should be ready to go for Portland to start the season, though a bit more time with Advanced-A Salem might've done him some good. The RHP pitched for Class-A Greenville before being promoted to Salem with mixed results. There's issues of command and developing his secondary stuff. A full season at Portland would give him the chance to face more challenging hitters as he works that out.

 

Blue Jays - Count on seeing centerfielder Anthony Gose with New Hampshire to start 2012. 2011 was a success for the Jays top outfield prospect. There's a strong possibility he could also spend some time in Triple-A later in the season, but he can use some extra at-bats in Double-A to cut down on strikeouts. He played in 137 games, striking out 154 times. His run production improved as did his patience at the plate. There's a lot to like about Gose and at 21 he's getting closer to his potential. With more repitition at the Double-A level, he can improve some of his weaknesses. I wouldn't count on him being there long.

Also, look for Justin Jackson to start the season with New Hampshire and likely stay there for most of it. He played in 28 games for the Fisher Cats, spending the majority of the season with Advanced-A Dunedin. The 23-year old is a five-tool player with good defensive skills that still need sharpening.

If you see the Jays good kind of problem here, you're paying attention. Both offensively talented outfielders, Gose has developed quicker than Jackson, but giving Jackson a full season with New Hampshire could be key. If he can be consistent in both areas of his game, he'd put himself in a position to start 2013 in Triple-A.

 

Giants - Tommy Joseph is young for Double-A, at twenty he'd be one of the youngest players on the Richmond roster. But he showed improvement from 2010 to last season, spending all of 2011 with High-A San Jose. There's a lot to decide about Joseph with Buster Posey staying put in San Francisco & expected to behind the dish for the Giants on opening day. A position change is a possibility, but regardless, he's a right-handed bat developing at a solid pace. Keeping him around is a good idea and what he does in Richmond could fast-track him to Triple-A in 2013 for a major league debut in 2014, at the earliest.

 

Pinch-Hitting: Cardinals Prospect Chris Swauger Finds The Funny In All His Jobs

A minor league baseball season lasts about five and a half months from start to finish.  Add in anywhere from a month to six weeks for Spring training and playoffs, and the total time playing adds up to about seven months.  Seven months of grinding out games, bus rides, and late-night meals.  Days are filled with early work, extra work, batting practice, bullpens, conditioning lifts, rehab, pre-hab, post-hab, and so on.  Free time is a precious commodity and soreness is an epidemic.  However, when September rolls around all of us are left with five months to do...absolutely nothing.  After days upon days planned to the minute, what am I supposed to do when I don't have anything planned for months?

 

I have worked the part-time jobs (Team Sports Associate and near-Employee of the Month at Dick's Sporting Goods).  I have worked the awful jobs (landscaping). I have worked the desk jobs (best receptionist ever at Sportscenter Tampa Bay). I have done the internships (at the University of Tampa). I have given batting lessons.  I have coached AAU teams.  In all my experience trying to fill the time between the end of the season and Spring Training, I have done some crazy things and met some strange characters.  Still, the two things that I have enjoyed the most in the off-season are playing winter baseball in Latin America and substitute teaching.  I have played two seasons in Colombia for Los Caimanes de Barranquilla and one season in Panama for Los Caballos de Cocle.  In the interim between seasons I have substituted grades K-8 in my hometown of Tampa, Florida. These are two very different activities, but they both have some interesting similarities.

 

The strongest bond that winterball and substituting share is they are both utter chaos.  Be it a locker room full of fired up Latinos or a classroom full of sugar crazed 3rd graders, some one or some thing is bouncing off the walls. Not that I am the calmest person in the world, but these people make me look like a Zen master on adderall.  It takes one bikini clad chica to walk across the television screen (which happens about twice every second on Latin American TV) to send every native player into a fist-pumping, chest-bumping, eardrum-thumping frenzy.  It takes just the mention of recess, lunch or PE to whip a room full of elementary school students into gymnasts; chairs are flipped, tables are hurdled and cartwheels are performed.  I can honestly say if the world was filled with my teammates and students I would rule it with a Maxim and a jungle-gym.

 

Not far beyond the realm of complete disarray are the absolutely absurd questions, answers, and statements I have heard in winterball and in class.  This past season in Panama we were short an infielder on our team because of an injury.  Our coach came to the cage and asked, "Hey [nameless player], can you play third base?" He responded "Oh yeah!" I responded, "Dude, you're left-handed."  He replied, "Well yeah, but if I was a righty I'd be better than like, Derek Jeter."  I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe and ended up with the hiccups. This same player also told his teammates that a pregnant waitress would not be serving tonight because she was on "fraternity leave."  Once again, I couldn't breathe.  I also busted out laughing this year when I opened up the floor to questioning in front of a group of 8th graders.  I said they could ask any question they wanted. The first question I got was "Do you have a girlfriend?" The second was "How much do you bench?"  Such simple minds and I love it. 

 

One question I got from a 5th grader was "If you are a baseball player, how come I've never seen you on TV?"  Yeah...about that...well I am just a minor leaguer right now so I don't play with the big league Cardinals yet.  "Oh so you suck?" was the response.  Leave it to an 11 year old to give me a nice dose of reality just when I thought I'd gained some status around the elementary school campus.  However in all seriousness, he was right.  I have only begun to prove myself and in the big scheme of things, I am still just an Internet-streaming broadcast minor league player.  It is great motivation to get better and stay humble.  The same can be said for winterball.  Taking an 0 for 4 or making an error can give a quick ego check and a nice reminder that I still have a lot to prove.  There is much work to be done in my career.

  

The one thin that has been consistent throughout my career is that I have loved every minute of it.  The pure joy that I get out of playing this game is only matched by the happiness that I get seeing a student light up when he solves a problem or a concept clicks.  When they get excited about learning, I am reminded out how I feel when I get a hit or make a good play.  It's that feeling that keeps me gong.  I have come to thing of professional baseball as a roller coaster and I am just enjoying the ride so far in season and out of it.  The journey has been the reward.

Follow Chris on Twitter @cswag8

 

 

Reviews For 'The Beat'

I recently self-published my short story 'The Beat: A Baseball Short Story' on Smashwords.com. Here are two reviews that have come in.

Thank you to everyone for reading.

"The Beat" is a touching short story that intertwines so many struggles.  It represents the struggle between New and Traditional Media well.  It also finds a way into the reader's heart and mind, causing many of us in the industry to reflect on what we do with information as it is presented.  The struggles of a ball player, a female reporter in a man's world, New Media journalists struggling for a foot hold, and traditional journalists struggling to keep up with a new game are all well depicted and spun together effortlessly by Ms. Quiroli.  If you are looking for a short read that truly gives you a glimpse behind the curtain of baseball, this is a bargain of a price for such a story." - Bill Ivie, Baseball Digest Editor/Writer

And a link:

This one by Susan Lulgjuraj, a writer for The Atlantic City Press and author of a new blog: http://www.wordsbysooz.com/2012/01/review-beat-baseball-short-story.html?spref=tw

 

Eastern League Preview 2012, Part One: Nationals, Pirates, Yankees Highlighted

The 2011 story of the Eastern League can easily be summed up with the name Bryce Harper. The Nationals top prospect, and possibly the most anticipated prospect in baseball history, was the one to watch when he was assigned to the Eastern League Nationals team, the Harrisburg Senators.

But the EL was brimming with top talent in 2011. The Yankees, San Francisco Giants, and the Nationals featured top pitchers that saw major league time late in the season. Manny Banuelos (Ban-YOU-WAY-los) and Dellin Betances - known as the Killer B's- (Andrew Brackman is the other) both came through the EL in 2011 and the Giants  Eric Surkamp, arguably the best pitcher in the league last season, pitched his way in Richmond (to be featured in Part Two) to a spot in the Giants rotation in August. Yankees catching prospect Austin Romine also made his major league debut after spending two seasons in the league.

There may be a few repeats, but there will be a lot of highly anticipated talent for a several teams that boast excellent depth at the minor league level. For this year's report, one or two players are highlighted that are likely to make their Eastern League debut to begin 2012, or receive a promotion later in the season.

Nationals - After putting up good numbers for High-A Potomac in 2011, Sammy Solis could start the season in Double-A. With 96 innings under his belt at that level, he's the kind of highly developed pitcher the Nats might want to fast-track. He's shown his ability to be consistent and efficient at two levels, and performed well in the Arizona Fall League in 2010 and 2011. His 93 strikeouts in 2011 are impressive. The lefty has battled problems with his elbow, but his AFL stint allowed him to work through that. It'd be surprising to see him not at least play part of the season with the Senators.

The recent trade that sent catcher Derek Norris, and pitchers A.J. Cole, Tom Milone and Brad Peacock to Oakland marked the end of a hot prospect watch in the Nationals system. Solis is important.

Orioles - Manny Machado might be a bit of a long shot to start the season with Double-A Bowie, but he had excellent results at the plate in 2011. The speedy shortstop finished the season hitting .257 in 101 games with the High-A Frederick Keys. He's projected to make his major league debut in 2013, so at least a jump to Bowie mid-season would make sense. He also gets high marks at his position. All around, his skills are developed enough to make the transition to the next level.

Phillies- Trevor May is a certainty to begin the season with the Reading Phillies. May at 22 is at the Double-A-ripe age. The RHP pitched a career high number of innings for High-A Clearwater, logging 151 innings and striking out 208 batters. A full season in Reading would allow him to challenge hitters (and himself) with the fastball. His velocity increased, so he'll need to show consistent command with it against more advance hitters.

Jesse Biddle's name won't be on the Reading roster to start 2012, but he could be there for a mid to late season promotion.  2011 was his first real professional season (just 43 IP in 2010), pitching 133 innings for Class-A Lakewood. In 2010 he level-jumped, starting in rookie ball and finishing with Low-A Williamsport. The Philadelphia native and first round pick is highly anticipated by fans, but the team is smartly moving him through the levels.  If projections are correct, he'd make his major league debut in two years. More time with Lakewood is neccessary.

Pirates - Pitching prospect Jameson Taillon is too important to rush, but look for him to spend all or part of 2012 with the Altoona Curve. The 2010 number two overall pick played all of 2010 with Class-A Virginia, pitching 92 innings and finishing with a 3.24 ERA. It might do him good to spend some more time there, but the challenge of Double-A might be right if he starts the season strong. He has more to prove and requires more innings to do so. Definitely not a sure thing to start 2012 in Altoona's rotation, but a good possibility for a mid-season promotion.

Yankees - There's a good chance Gary Sanchez will start the season in Trenton. And that's no small thing. There's a wealth of attention paid to the Yankees catching prospect, with the crowded field of catching prospects in the organization. Sanchez is a power-hitting catcher with similar concerns about him as there are about Jesus Montero. Defense. While Sanchez needs to improve his skills behind the plate, he hit .256 in 82 games for Low-A Charleston, getting a full season at that level. In 2010 he jumped from the GCL to Low-A Staten Island. Chances are he won't start in the big leagues for another two years. With that in mind, he'd be best served getting a solid amount of time in Trenton in 2012. Best guess is he's ticketed to begin in a Trenton Thunder uniform or High-A Tampa with a late season promotion.