Wednesday 6/27/2012 Minor League Updates

[mace]

Originally Posted by texasdave

Great Falls isn't too shabby. Their first six hitters go as follows: .333-.429-.375-.444-.333-.357. Expect some runs tonight.

You might also expect some unearned runs tonight. Amezcua just got socked for 5 of them in the fourth. 9-4 Great Falls.

Just wait . . .

[RedsFanInBama]

Hamilton went just 1 for 5 but did walk once and stole two bases to put him at 94 in Bakersfield's win. Defensively, he made two more errors.

For those who keep up with this more than me, what are we looking at from a future defensive standpoint? How has he progressed as a defender? Is he going to stay in the middle of the infield or is it just a matter of time before he gets a big glove and heads for the grass?

[Scrap Irony]

Originally Posted by RedsFanInBama

Hamilton went just 1 for 5 but did walk once and stole two bases to put him at 94 in Bakersfield's win. Defensively, he made two more errors.

For those who keep up with this more than me, what are we looking at from a future defensive standpoint? How has he progressed as a defender? Is he going to stay in the middle of the infield or is it just a matter of time before he gets a big glove and heads for the grass?

That's a key question.

As a SS, he's a difference-maker.

As a CF, his value takes a hit.

I understand why the Reds really want him to stick at short.

But there are two schools of thought here:

1) Most of Hamilton's problems defensively come from stone hands (not cradling the ball and receiving it into his body, but just holding his hands in place and trying to make the ball stick right there) and errant throws to 1B.

The stone hands are, at least in part, fixable. With more instruction and practice, he'll learn. (Playing three sports at such a high level didn't do him much service in this area-- he needed the practice time.) Over the winter, he told about how talking with big league SSs like Omar Vizquel in the Winter League helped him think how he was receiving the ball and his footwork.

Throwing the ball is also fixable, but it takes much more work. Hamilton has a history of throwing a little side-arm to first base, slinging the ball to put more oomph on his throws. (He doesn't need to-- his arm strength is fine for the position.) As a result, these throws tend to sail or dive into the runner, toward home. (Think of a screwball thrown from 120 feet or so.) He can fix this as well-- and has, to some degree.

You can't take stock in many of the errors in the lower leagues, as the field are notoriously poor, the lighting is bad, the 1B generally don't help much, and the scorekeepers are questionable. I generally look at the number of throwing errors-- that tells me whether he'll stick. Since they're going in the right direction, I'm fine with wait and see mode.

[texasdave]

Travis Mattair is picking up steam as the season rolls along. He OPSed .599 in April, .826 in May and .921 in June so far. Whatever he did during the All-Star break needs to be bottled. In 7 games since then his slash line is .517/.588/.966/1.554. In his last two games he has gone 7 for 9 with 2 doubles and a home run. En. Fuego.

[texasdave]

It seems young Master Cingrani is making good progress with his off-speed pitches under the steady tutelage of Tom Brown. Patience, grasshopper. Good to read.

http://www.pnj.com/article/20120628/...ws|text|Sports

[lollipopcurve]

It seems young Master Cingrani is making good progress with his off-speed pitches under the steady tutelage of Tom Brown. Patience, grasshopper.

Exactly. The development of his secondary stuff is a work in progress. He's going to need some time. It's tempting to want to airlift kids like Corcino and Cingrani straight out of AA after you see them have dominating outings. Got to resist that.

[mace]

Hadn't noticed that Donald Lutz was back in the Bakersfield lineup last night. Playing LF (with Dominic D'Anna at 1B). He was 0-4 and fell under .300.

Blaze won 8-6. Mattair was 4-5 with two doubles. Kyle McMyne got the save by striking out the side in the ninth. Blaze pitchers fanned 12, including 7 by Walczak in 5 IP.

[RedsFanInBama]

Thanks Scrap. Do you think his defensive issues will slow his progression through the minors, or is offense going to completely dictate his pace?