May in Bakersfield
by t ball
on May 30, 2008 10:56 AM CDT
Team Overview The Blaze are 31-23, in 3rd place in the North Division, 3.5 games behind the San Jose Giants (and half a game back of the Stockton Ports of the hated A's). The league is scoring 4.98 runs per game, with Bakersfield at 5.15. 4th in avg. (.271), 4th in OBP (.342), 6th in slg.(.392), team OPS is about league average at .734. The bats are in the middle of the pack in most counting stats.
Pitchers are pretty close to league average, allowing 4.92 runs per game, with a team WHIP of 1.38 and an ERA of 4.24, good for 4th. The staff is in 2nd place with 406 K's, but in the middle of the pack with 185 BBs in 468.2 IP.
Hitters
- Julio Borbon OF April - .282/.305/.346; May - .362/.427/.495 Borbon is 5th in the league in batting avg. at .330. His walk rate doubled in May, and he hit 11 doubles and his first HR to go along with a 83% SB success rate in 23 attempts. May be on his way to Frisco soon. Now those who are skeptical of his value can see for themselves. I'm on the fence right now, but it's been an encouraging month.
- John Whittleman 3B April - .261/.358/.457; May - .287/.408.416 Whittleman consistently walks 15-18% of his PA's which is nice. But few think he's going to stay at 3B and I don't see enough power to move to a corner OF position. Not sure what we've got here, a future Mike Simms?
- Manuel Pina C April - .213/.290/.262; May - .313/.470/.438 Future backup Pina had probably his best month ever as a pro.
- Marcus Lemon SS April - .293/.431/.366; May - .289/.426/.447 I like a middle infielder who has 25 BB's and only 16 K's. And, not much power, but his ISOP has ticked gradually upward over the last year and two months. And he's still one of the youngest players in the league. Plenty of time for his defense to come around. Out of all the position players in Bakersfield right now, I might put my money on Lemon as the one who has the best chance of reaching the big leagues as at least a role player.
- Grant Gerrard OF April - .308/.365/.471; May - .230/.264/.437 I got slightly hopeful about Gerrard in April, but he slid a bit this month. At 24 in high A-ball he needs to do very well this year to be considered a prospect.
- Jose Vallejo 2B April - .333/.379/.500; May - .255/.323/.464 After a torrid April, Vallejo slumped badly in early May, but has picked again of late. In addition to solid plate discipline (18/24 BB/K) he is 19 of 22 in SB attempts.
Pitchers
- Evan Reed 6-2, 3.86 overall; 4-2, 5.15 in Bakersfield. Reed has been inconsistent, allowing too many walks and a .303 BAA. The hitter-friendly Cal league has something to do with this but we'd like to see more ground balls and fewer walks.
- Kasey Kiker 3-1, 5.09 These numbers aren't sexy but I'm not real worried. His walk rate is a solid 5.1%, and his K rate nearly doubled in May. Put him in a less hitter friendly environment and that ERA is probably in the mid 4's. I think we'll see his number gradually improve this year, with some bumps along the way.
- Zach Phillips 4-3, 4.99 Phillips also pines for Clinton. His walk rate is up a bit, and he's allowing extra base hits at twice the rate as 2007. The ground ball rate is still strong, though, and I doubt he'll continue to allow HR's at 3 times the rate of his last two seasons.
- John Bannister 2-4, 4.41 overall; 1-4, 3.72 in Bakersfield. Good news: A stellar 2.06 GB/FB ratio overall, and not many extra base hits. Bad news: 40 BB in 49 IP thus far (23 in 36.1 Cal league innings).
- Ryan Falcon 3-2, 3.38 Bullpen lefty Falcon has maintained a solid K/BB ratio (4-1) though not quite as good as 2007 in Spokane, where he K'd 1 out of every 3 batters faced. Not bad for a 29th round pick. Anyone know what he throws?
- Omar Poveda 0-0, 4.11 Still on the DL, get well soon.
- Beau Jones 1-3, 5.30 Also still on the DL.
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Bakersfield
outside of bourbon and lemon, none of the position players really excite me much. Gotta say though, i was never real high on lemon but he’s really impressing me.
I’m getting ready to start seeing some promotions between clinton/bakersfield and frisco
"When we're mad we'll use our words. Then the rest of the world will play nice with us. And the only boom-booms will be in our pants." - Ralph Wiggum
by rentz on May 30, 2008 11:05 AM CDT 0 recs
I think
Vallejo and Pino will continue to rise up the org and eventually have roles in the ML.
by clark on May 30, 2008 11:39 AM CDT 0 recs
Whittleman
I like a player who walks.
The Simms comp is interesting, but Whittleman was in A+ earlier, and should reach AA this summer as well. I remain bullish. At 21, he’s still got time to mature physically.
Borbon will be moving up with Whittleman. I bet the org wants to see May repeat itself in June, and then he’ll be ticketed for north Texas. Likewise Vallejo, whose power spike has already been discussed by Lucas.
Of course it’s a shame Lemon’s blocked…
Go Strangers.
by hightowersmith on May 30, 2008 11:57 AM CDT 0 recs
Lemon
does he have the arm to move to 3B? Speed to play CF? Because his future is most likely a utility man
by FirebatM3 on
May 30, 2008 12:03 PM CDT
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Lemon has zero power
so third base is really not a great option. I have heard that he is semi-fast, but I have never heard any talk of him moving to CF. I agree that he is a second baseman/utility player in the big leagues.
by uthornfan on
May 30, 2008 3:42 PM CDT
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I wouldn't say
he has zero power, but you’re right in saying it’s not enough for a corner position.
...and curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid git.
by t ball on
May 30, 2008 3:53 PM CDT
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A .400+ obp is enough for ANY position, imo
If he can keep reaching first base safely 40% of the time, I’d have zero problem putting him at 3b, hr power be damned.
That’s of course assuming he has the arm for 3b, which is something I couldn’t even begin to comment on.
The 40 trumps all!!!
by thedirkatron on
May 30, 2008 7:20 PM CDT
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And given his youth
and his 25 doubles in the Midwest league last year, it’s not out of the question that he could gain a bit more power as he matures. Let him finish this year in Bakersfield and next year, he can move up to Frisco as Andrus moves up to OKC.
...and curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid git.
by t ball on
May 30, 2008 8:19 PM CDT
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He looks noticeably bigger
in those pictures that shroom posted of the Blaze a while back. He’s so young that I don’t see any reason why he can’t fill out more and improve his power.
"Chase. Dominguez is not really your liking" - Mr Santos
by Chase Irwin on
May 30, 2008 10:20 PM CDT
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He has
decent power, and he’ll probably do a better job of growing into his frame. I don’t think we can make a definative statement on his power yet.
Also, if everything turns out well, and you’re getting power from your 1B, C, LF, RF, DH and above-average power from your 2B, having a high OBP guy like Lemon in there would be beneficial, regardless of where you play him.
by FirebatM3 on
May 30, 2008 4:02 PM CDT
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Um
How is he not blocked at 2b?
The 40 trumps all!!!
by thedirkatron on
May 30, 2008 1:51 PM CDT
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This team
has a glut of middle infield prospects who are blocked. If they continue to perform, they could be as valuable as catchers in the trade market.
by clark on
May 30, 2008 3:04 PM CDT
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I'm two hours from Bakersfield
I think I really need to head over there to catch a game or two this year, and take my camera with me. (It’s a still camera with video capability)
Is flash photography allowed in minor-league games?
by Inkara1 on May 30, 2008 12:55 PM CDT 0 recs
2 hours from bakersfield?
I really hope you are in north LA, because there is nothing else two hours from there….
by JBImaknee on
May 30, 2008 1:07 PM CDT
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Atascadero
Head up north to Paso Robles, take the 46 through Wasco and it’ll drop you off at the 99 at Famoso… probably 20 minutes or so from there to the middle of Bakersfield.
Last time I was there was the first of March to cover the state wrestling tournament (a wrestler from the high school I cover for my job made it that far).
by Inkara1 on
May 30, 2008 1:44 PM CDT
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Video capability?
So it’s digital… probably with brightness correction… why would you need a flash?
by NoNameOnCard on
May 31, 2008 2:34 AM CDT
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I just checked with my camera...
it doesn’t brighten up videos any, so if it can’t get a picture light enough it can’t get video light enough either.
I’d thought of taking my work camera (five-year-old Nikon D100 with a cheap lens) to get zoom shots, etc. I normally need a flash for night games, because the lens is cheap and the widest f-stop it will go to is 4 (as opposed to 2.8 like good lenses). But usually, night games I cover are football or soccer in a typical high school football stadium. I covered a football game once in Chukchansi Park in Fresno (where the Fresno Grizzlies, the Giants’ AAA team, plays) and the lighting was good enough there that I didn’t need the flash. I would wonder if the park in Bakersfield would have similarly good lighting.
by Inkara1 on
May 31, 2008 3:10 PM CDT
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I wouldn't count on it in Bakersfield.
What I meant on the camera was that since it has video capability, it probably also has software that will auto-brighten still images (a feature not typically carried over to video since the processing is already pretty intense). Judging by your response, either that didn’t come across well or you mis-typed.
It’s been a while since I worked with digital cameras, but most of them a couple years ago were already doing this. Heck, my 2 year old RAZR phone did it. Now, they don’t work miracles, but they seem to do a fair job in low to moderate lighting.
by NoNameOnCard on
May 31, 2008 6:05 PM CDT
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+1
Out of all the position players in Bakersfield right now, I might put my money on Lemon as the one who has the best chance of reaching the big leagues as at least a role player.
"Chase. Dominguez is not really your liking" - Mr Santos
by Chase Irwin on May 30, 2008 1:38 PM CDT 0 recs
I hear Lil' Lemon, but I'll take The Shot
Bourbon is too good defensively to not have a pretty darn good chance at sticking as at least a 4th/5th OF.
As long as he can keep his BA respectable, someone will take take a chance on his speed.
The 40 trumps all!!!
by thedirkatron on
May 30, 2008 1:59 PM CDT
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I listen to a fair few
BAK games and if I hear one more Jake Stevens Show promo, I’m gonna go crazy…And the Blaze promotion adverts have gotten so very old…NO I don’t want a special present from Peter the Dragon! It’s almost as bad as the Taylor Hicks car commercials between EVERY half-inning back in 2006…I’m still scarred…
Clinton has a much better ad rotation than Bakersfield..oh wait they actually have ads in Clinton…
by Hypo-Luxa on May 31, 2008 8:11 PM CDT 0 recs
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