Promotions, Rehabs, and Beginnings
The Fremulon Insurance Prospect of the Week
Baysox Ace Brian Matusz
Putting an exclamation mark on the recent wave of promotions throughout the farm system (that have not all gone swimmingly) is Brian Matusz and his gem debut for the Baysox: 6 IP, 1 BB, 10 K, 3 H, 0 ER. The quality that strikes me so loudly when I read about Matusz is his big-league mentality for in-game adjustments. Listen to him, talking about his start for the Sox: “I was pretty nervous, I’m not going to lie…I was trying to overthrow in the first two innings. I feel like I’ve hit that groove when I’m able to throw strikes when I need to, move it in and out with the fastball and use the off-speed pitches effectively.” I honestly think Matusz is going to be the best of Tillreitusz. What do you all think?
Norfolk Tides: 39-29 (1st IL South)
- This is what I wrote about Brandon Snyder during Spring Training: “He really needs [his power and plate discipline] to develop if he is going to be a long term DH/corner infielder”. We already know that Snyder’s power has come on (he’s just 3 away from his career high), but let’s consider that plate discipline. In ’08, Snyder walked 6.1% of the time and struck out 17.4% of the time. So far this year, he’s walking way more – 11% is roughly 12 more walks – but also striking out a little more – 19.5% is just 5 more Ks. That’s some real improvement, but he still has a long way to go.
- Just-recalled Chris Ray was lights out for the Tides: 4.1 IP, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 H, and 77% of his pitches were strikes. If his problems were mechanical or mental, I would think those problems are gone. On the other hand, lots of guys seem dominant at AAA and can’t tie a major leaguer’s shoes…
Bowie Baysox: 36-32 (4th EL South)
- There aren’t any hitting prospects at Bowie right now (sad but true), but the pitching depth is very impressive. In addition to Matusz, you have Tim Bascom re-establishing himself (7 IP, 2 BB, 7 K) and don’t overlook relievers Ryan Ouellette and Chad Thall, who combined for 5.1 innings with 1 walk and 4 Ks this week.
- The Disappointing Career of Radhames Liz has turned into a real mystery with his demotion to Bowie this week. To recap, Liz spent last year between Norfolk and Baltimore as a starter. He was horrendous in the bigs but actually not half bad in AAA. The Warehouse decided enough was enough and decided to turn Liz into a high leverage reliever (which was, honestly, his career path anyway). As a reliever, he was decidedly mediocre (1.40 WHIP, 4.66 ERA) before he was pressed back into the rotation, where he was worse (1.80 WHIP, 7.56 ERA). Now he’s a starter for the Baysox. Why? I have no idea, except to say that Liz is now an “organization player” and his time as a prospect is over.
Frederick Keys: 31-38 (4th CL North)
- How is it possible that Billy Rowell has taken a step backwards? The kid is just 20 years old, so I do not expect much in the way of power numbers, but his on-base percentage in his second full year at Frederick is a full 27 points lower than in his first try (and sits at .288). This week is his season in a frustrating nutshell: 2 for 18, 7 strikeouts, 3 walks.
Delmarva Shorebirds: 36-33 (4th SAL North)
- I’m pretty much on record as thrilled with Xavier Avery and his .336 OBP (although, let’s not go crazy – 95% of his worth is in his projectability), but as happy as I am with that high school bat in Salisbury, I am just as disappointed in another. L.J. Hoes, the kid from Bowie, is just not getting it done and might be a candidate to head over to Aberdeen soon (he can double up with recently demoted, similarly aged Garabez Rosa). Hoes has a .282 OBP and a whopping 50 strikeouts in 227 at-bats (and just 14 walks). This is after he led the GCL in walks and nearly in OBP last year.
Aberdeen Ironbirds: 1-1 (2nd NYPL McNamara)
- Just two games into the season, so there isn’t much to talk about except the return of Blake Davis and Brandon Erbe. I’m not a fan of Davis at all, but it is still nice to see him come back. I am, however, a big fan of Erbe, who wasn’t any good in his first rehab start (1 IP, 0 BB, HR, K, 4 H, 2 WP). Of course, the results don’t matter – just the arm strength.
(photo via)
Liz is back at Bowie? As a starter? Ouch.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
In a way, it’s a good thing. Such a shaky arm is no longer firmly part of the future, and gone are the days of hoping the Beau Hales and Richard Stahls of the world will get it together as reclamation projects.
On an unrelated note, how nice will it be to have baseball back tonight? I felt starved, and had no defense against my wife watching Jon and Kate Plus Eight. Aside, of course, from taking a book to bed.
Which is precisely what I did.
Miles, I couldn’t agree more. I kind of didn’t know what to do with myself last night. Hooray beisbol!
The Liz thing is kind of depressing. I mean, he used to at least be effective in the minor leagues – now he can’t even seem to find success down there. But I agree… the time of fringe-y prospects being over-projected as legit prospects is over. What’s been up with Hoey? I know he was injured, but is he back and throwing yet? Liz, Hoey, and McCrory are three nice power arms who all can’t seem to be able to take that next step. If they do at some point, it’ll be a nice bonus.
I’m scared of the Marlins. You kind of automatically think they suck, but then they’ll jump you if you’re not careful. Let’s make no mistake about tonight: it’s not Koji starting, it’s Koji and Bass piggy-backing the start in 95 degree humidity. But as long as we continue to pitch well and stay patient at the plate, I like our chances.
And Andrew, I agree – I think Matusz will be the best of Tillrrietusz. Seems like he’ll be the most consistent, have the best control, and be the smartest on the mound. I feel like he’s a lefty Greg Maddux waiting to happen, but that’s getting way ahead of myself.
How about Tim Bascom? He really stunk it up last year, but he’s bounced back nicely. Dark horse prospect for sure. He was picked before Arrieta, right?
Hoey is pitching in relief at Bowie. He’s rehabbing from arthoscopic shoulder surgery. I don’t know about velocity, but the numbers (for what they’re worth) aren’t encouraging – lots of walks and fly balls (and, to be fair, more than a K per inning). I’m keeping my eye on him, but there isn’t really much to say.
Miles, are you reading anything interesting? Since I graduated last month I’ve found a ton of more time for going through books – my pile is shrinking daily. Right now I’m about halfway through The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (should finish it today), but I’m not sure what the next book is going to be.
Ok, I’m bored and I love trying to write scouting reports (although I’m not sure anyone else likes them…but I don’t really care), so let’s look at the Marlins and tonight’s pitchers, Koji and Andrew Miller.
Florida has a -32 run differential (the Orioles are up to -48), so you would think these are some evenly matched teams (or, based on opposition, the O’s are a slight favorite). The offenses are basically the same middle of the pack, and the pitching is basically the same lower end of the pack – literally. The Marlins are one place above the O’s in both categories. Interesting.
Miller is another young lefty (just like freaking everyone we saw in Philly) who strikes out a lot of guys but also walks a lot of guys. He holds an advantage over the Phils’ young guns in that he keeps the ball on the ground (you could call him Bergesen-esque, I suppose, but only in the ball in play category). His WHIP and ERA are unimpressive at best, and that’s because the Florida defense is generally bad and Miller hasn’t been lucky at all in stranding runners.
This is a very good pitcher, especially considering his big flaw – walks – are down this month. So this game, like Sunday’s, is going to be more about Koji Uehara than the bats, which could be bad. I like Koji a lot, but if he can’t pitch into the sixth there’s just not a lot of faith I can put into him.
Luke Scott absolutely needs to sit in this game, especially since there’s no DH. Nick and Huff should be the only lefties in the lineup and damnit, Reimold should bat 5th. But if that doesn’t happen (it won’t), Mora has at least been hitting for average lately, if not for power.
Any guesses on what happens when Sarfate is ready to come off the DL? I can’t imagine the O’s cutting Hendrickson because they need 2 long guys.
@Andrew – I’m rifling through books at an alarming rate these days. Right now I’m working on Tom Davis’ 39 Years of Short Term Memory Loss. I have a life-long fascination with Saturday Night Live that isn’t quenched by merely watching it. It’s a mess as far as memoirs go, more just a pile of memories shaped into paragraphs and told in a seemingly structure-free way. But I love all the nuggets about, well, everything. Especially the genesis of the Coneheads from Davis and Dan Aykroyd’s trip to Easter Island.
I’m plowing through Michael Olesker’s Tonight at Six – A Daily Show Masquerading as Local News. The Olesker book makes me angry as I worked in Baltimore TV news, and arrogant jack-asses who made miserable the lives of lowly-paid producers like myself complained bitterly about everything we did and promptly cashed their six-figure paychecks never sat well with me. Olesker’s entire hypothesis seems to be that TV is bad because it isn’t newspapers. It’s frustrating.
I recently finished Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods which had been on loan to me for roughly two years and languished at the bottom of my stack o’ books; it was hilarious. I also plowed through Tim and Tom, a memoir by the self-proclaimed first and only interracial comedy team of Tim Reid and Tom Dreesen. Tim Reid I grew up watching on WKRP and Frank’s Place, Tom Dreesen stuck to stand up and spent 14 years as Frank Sinatra’s opening act. It was quite hilarious and poignant. I’m a late twenty-something who grew up in a racially integrated Baltimore suburb. My, how far we’ve come.
Oh, and on someone’s endorsement here, I picked up Stuart O’Nan’s Last Night at the Lobster. Such a charming novella. Made me yearn for my fleeting days at the soon-to-close Phillips Seafood in White Marsh Mall.
Way back in my first quarter at school (we use quarters instead of semesters, and I have a long rant about how insanely difficult, rewarding, frustrating, and pleasing the quarter system is….but that’s another show) I read a book similar to what it sounds like Olesker’s book is. I can’t remember the title, but it was long and boring and full of Back-In-My-Dayitis about how our attention span and mental capacity has diminished because television has apparently replaced written word.
soon we will rise up
AND THE WORLD SHALL KNOW OUR NAME
ok, not us, the orioles actually
@Miles – That was me on the O’Nan recommendation. I absolutely loved that book. I think if you’ve ever worked in a restaurant it’s particularly good, but it seems like anyone could relate.
I started reading up on O’Nan after watching the movie Snow Angels, adapted from one of his books. Highly recommended for anyone who hasn’t seen it (and it didn’t get much of a release).
Right now I’m about 1/4 of the way through Strokes of Genius: Federer, Nadal, and the Greatest Match Ever Played
and I’m enjoying it quite a bit. Tennis is a game every bit as rich in detail and nuance as baseball. It’s great to read about it through the eye of someone who understands it on a deeper level.
I usually get so caught up in political, economic, historical, and philosophical books that I forget to read any non-fiction. So starting this past Fall I’ve been reading a ‘classic’ for every 3rd book, my last one was Oscar Wildes’ “Picture of Dorian Grey” and am currently reading Cervantes’ “Don Quixote”.
If anyone is even slightly interested in Dante’s works, pick up The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl. It’s a pretty good historical fiction revolving around a series of murders in 1840′s Boston styled after the different circles of Dante’s Hell.
@Tomás – I don’t know how much you’d be interested, but the documentary about how Terry Gilliam and Johnny Depp could not make a movie regarding Quixote is Excellent – Lost in La Mancha.
The strange thing about Dante’s Divine Comedy is that so much of it is political satire, really, but it gets just grouped into religious fiction (hold your jokes) because it takes place in the afterlife.
This is going to be a dumb question, but does anyone know anything worth reading at around a 5th grade reading level in German. Ich habe Deutsch seit vier Jahre studiert, aber ich will mehr ueben.
My high-school German comes back to me…let’s see…”I’m studying German this year, and I’ll need…?”
It’s been awhile.
@Andrew – No, I’m definitely interested in it, already added to my Netflix queue; so I should be watching it approx. 2 years from now. LOL
Yeah, that was actually stressed a lot at my catholic high school. I recall my teacher was really frustrated that many failed to realize that Dante used religion as a smokescreen to attack the Medicis and the other powerful Italian political families of the time. Have you ever heard of the theory that Machiavelli’s Prince too may have been satire, and not a literal endorsement of the strategy proposed? Makes sense when you consider how truly ruthless it is and the surroundings he wrote it in.
Ich bin nicht sprechen Deutsch sehr gut, aber haben Sie versucht “Schrödinger die Katze im Hut”?
@Tomás – Is that quantum physics by way of Dr. Suess? Sign me up!
@neal s – Heh. “I’ve been studying German for four years, but I want to practice more”.
@Andrew – Damn it, I totally missed “vier”.
@Andrew – Lost in LaMancha is sadly brilliant; a reminder that there is such a thing as bad luck – and that Terry Gilliam has it in spades. Not even genius can overcome forces that we don’t understand.