Wednesday 5/30/2012 Minor League Updates

[dougdirt]

Poor Brett Tomko. 0-6, 3.12 ERA. When he has been on the mound, the Bats have now scored 9 runs in his 10 starts. He drove in one of those runs.

[mace]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

Poor Brett Tomko. 0-6, 3.12 ERA. When he has been on the mound, the Bats have now scored 9 runs in his 10 starts. He drove in one of those runs.

I didn't realize he had pitched that well. Could we be mistaken in focusing on Francis?

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by mace

I didn't realize he had pitched that well. Could we be mistaken in focusing on Francis?

We would be mistaken by focusing on any of those guys aside from Pedro Villarreal. He is the only guy on that staff, as a starter, with actual MLB stuff. Francis has had some results in the past, but he simply doesn't impress me at all with his 'fastball' and offspeed stuff. Tomko isn't really an upgrade from Francis. Walking 4.5 guys per 9.

Just go with Villarreal who has two above average pitches and can pound the strikezone.

[mace]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

We would be mistaken by focusing on any of those guys aside from Pedro Villarreal. He is the only guy on that staff, as a starter, with actual MLB stuff. Francis has had some results in the past, but he simply doesn't impress me at all with his 'fastball' and offspeed stuff. Tomko isn't really an upgrade from Francis. Walking 4.5 guys per 9.

Just go with Villarreal who has two above average pitches and can pound the strikezone.

Admittedly, I've only seen Villarreal pitch one time, and anyone can have a bad day. But in the game I witnessed, this year for Pensacola (at Jacksonville), his stuff was

1. mediocre
2. up
3. crushed.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by mace

Admittedly, I've only seen Villarreal pitch one time, and anyone can have a bad day. But in the game I witnessed, this year for Pensacola (at Jacksonville), his stuff was

1. mediocre
2. up
3. crushed.

Must have been pretty good in his other starts then. 3.62 ERA this year between AA/AAA with 44 strikeouts and 8 walks in 59.2 innings.

Fastball in the 91-95 range, really good slider, pounds the strikezone.

[mace]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

Must have been pretty good in his other starts then. 3.62 ERA this year between AA/AAA with 44 strikeouts and 8 walks in 59.2 innings.

Fastball in the 91-95 range, really good slider, pounds the strikezone.

Those are certainly good numbers, especially the K/BB ratio. But that's not the guy I saw. It was April 25, and as I reported in the game thread that night, I saw him reach 90 only once. He was mostly around 86-88. He walked two and struck out two in five innings, giving up six hits and five runs. He presented no discernible problem for Jacksonville.

Obviously, by the numbers, that's not his typical start. It's just all I have to go on from an observational standpoint. When you see a guy and are not impressed, it's kind of hard to erase that from your system.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by mace

Those are certainly good numbers, especially the K/BB ratio. But that's not the guy I saw. It was April 25, and as I reported in the game thread that night, I saw him reach 90 only once. He was mostly around 86-88. He walked two and struck out two in five innings, giving up six hits and five runs. He presented no discernible problem for Jacksonville.

Obviously, by the numbers, that's not his typical start. It's just all I have to go on from an observational standpoint. When you see a guy and are not impressed, it's kind of hard to erase that from your system.

True.... that is why I try and watch guys as much as I can, so I can typically see the good and bad.