The Fremulon Insurance Prospect of the Week

I knew that eventually we would come to this. The big name players had relatively quiet weeks and an unknown prospect jumped into the spotlight. The Keys’ Pedro Florimon, Jr. spent the week spraying extra base hits everywhere, ending up 12 for 27 with 6 doubles, a triple, and a home run to match 3 walks and six strikeouts (a .557 wOBA). The 22 year old (maybe?) switch hitter from the Dominican is pretty far down on the depth charts for the Orioles, having struggled with a tendency to strikeout and not take walks. But in 2009, the slender shortstop is striking out less (22.6% of the time down from 36.1%) and walking a little more (10.9% from 9.1%) to go along with some developing power (.600 slugging percentage) and strong scouting marks on defense despite already having 11 errors. I’m not ready to call Florimon a real honest-to-God prospect, but he has had an outstanding first quarter of the season.

Norfolk Tides (28-14 1st IL South)
The Tides are preparing to say farewell to their cleanup hitter and another pitcher in the next week or two, as the Orioles continue to pillage the roster of one of the best teams in the so-called International League. Matt Wieters had a rough week, actually, with no walks and seven punchouts to match just two extra base hits. Worse, Chris Tillman tweaked his groin (he was removed as a precaution and shouldn’t miss his next start), but Radhames Liz of all people filled in admirably, pitching 6 strong innings with no walks or homers and four Ks in two games.

Bowie Baysox (21-20 4th EL Southern)
Another ho-hum week for Bowie: Brandon Snyder hit a bunch (3 HR, .439 wOBA), Jake Arrieta pitched really well (6 IP, 9 K, 1 HR, 1 BB), Troy Patton keeps pitching pain-free. Consistent and great, if only the rest of the Baysox were this good.

Frederick Keys (22-22 4th CL Northern)
Brian Matusz (7 IP, 1 BB, 9 K, 1 HR) continues to just overpower hitters that simply aren’t in the same class as him. I’m really very happy to see our pitching depth being so lights out, and I know I should just enjoy it while I can, but it seems so hollow when I knew this was how Matusz was going to treat the Carolina League.

Delmarva Shorebirds (22-18 3rd SAL Northern)
Xavier Avery has really turned his season around. In week 4 I sadly, quickly mentioned Avery and his 25:1 K to BB ratio. Since then, Avery has 8 walks and 11 strikeouts – not a good ratio but a huge improvement. For the week he got on base at a .424 clip, and I have become very intrigued by the 19 year old and his potential. Meanwhile, Rick Zagone continued his excellent pitching, making a case for promotion with 6 IP, 10 K, 3 BB, 0 HR.

(photo via flickr)