Junior Arias
Tyler Cline
Kevin Coddington
Matt Fairel
Mariekson Gregorius
Evan Hildenbrandt
Jacob Johnson
Sam Lecure
Kyle Lotzkar
Carlos Mendez
Logan Ondrusek
Henry Rodriguez
Enerio Del Rosario
Dave Sappelt
Mark Serrano
Mace Thurman
Daniel Tuttle
Philippe-Alexandre Valiquette
Humberto Valor
Pedro Viola
Other - Name him
I'm pretty surprised by Viola's showing here. I understand that he's left-handed and throws hard, but that's all I see (along with the strikeouts that go with the package). By all appearances, his command must be fairly awful: He walks way too many and his last two WHIPs were 1.506 (Chattanooga, '08) and 1.642 (Louisville, '09). He'll turn 27 in June. I could maybe see it if there were no other pitching options in the system, but out of the bullpen you could make better cases for Ondrusek and Del Rosario, to start with, and then Thurman and Joe Krebs (both lefties); maybe even Daniel Corcino . . . The best, by far, that Viola has consistently pitched in the last couple years was when he made seven starts in AA in '08. He was sharp. Not sure why they broke off that experiment.
Last edited by mace; 12-30-2009 at 01:44 PM.
I'll be adding Daniel Corcino to the next poll. I'll probably vote for him somewhere in the next five polls. I love his scouting report, he sounds a lot like Johnny Cueto a few years ago.
I'm reluctant to request guys that I'm not ready to vote for . . . but Joe Krebs is chronically overlooked. He had an outstanding '09 season, and finished it, successfully, in Louisville. I also think Jeremy Horst should be added soon, in spite of a disappointing last season.
My secondary list, roughly in order: Ezequiel Infante, Nathan Driessen, Alexis Oliveras, Byron Wiley, Jordan Hotchkiss, Efrain Contreras, Alexander Smit, Cody Puckett, Miguel Chacoa, Josh Ravin, James Avery and Chris Denove.
My feeling on Viola is that he still has a chance to be a back of the pen, high leverage arm from the left side, with his stuff if he can get the control issue resolved he could be closer material with 2 very plus pitches. The reason I am still giving him time at this juncture is because he's only been pitching since '03 IIRC.
"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."
--Woody Hayes
http://www.redszone.com/forums/showt...t=76398&page=2
Mark Serrano, RHP, Oral Roberts University- A darling of results-oriented analysis, Serrano has put up some of the most impressive numbers this side of Strassburg. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the same kind of stuff, and so isn't in for the same kind of payday.
Serrano has a fastball that sits mostly in the upper 80s, though he has hit as high as 93 at times, and he commands the pitch remarkably well. He has a nice curveball, and shows the makings of an average changeup. If he sounds generic, it's because he sort of is. Lost of pitchers with similar repertoires; Serrano faces weak competition and does much more with his stuff than most. Not a sexy pick, by any means, but could be a good have in the later rounds.
"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."
--Woody Hayes
Well that's a given but how good is his stuff? The point is his stuff isn't TOR is it? And if so he's really no better asset than Fairel, at least Fairel is a LH, that is something. The OP tried to make it sound like Serrano's stuff is much better than Fairel's I don't know that it is.
"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."
--Woody Hayes
While the system doesn't have many sure fire studs, the depth of interesting names (especially pitchers) is very intriguing.
I wasn't arguing that he doesn't get guys out, but the arm that a pitcher throws with should be absolutely meaningless in terms of his value. Its like saying a right hander or left hander should get more value as a hitter. It just doesn't make sense. There is no real advantage of being a lefty or a right. No team is full of one or the other at the plate so your platoon advantage doesn't really benefit you.
"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."
--Woody Hayes
Does him being left handed give him an advantage in getting major leaguers out more than it would a right handed pitcher? If the answer is no, and it is a no, then there should be no advantage given. In fact, being a lefty means the league is likely to hit you harder than being a righty. So we should actually deduct something small from lefties. (I only went back to 2003, but lefties were hit harder over that time span).
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