Chris Davis, MaxRam, Big Cheese Feliz have all gone from very solid prospects to truly elite ones this season. I get the feeling that Beltre might be about to do the same thing.

Homers in each of his last three games.

Interesting slate of pitching if Holland winds up debuting, plus a rehab for Hurley, and I’ll crane my neck a little to see if Hyatt manages well in AAA. And, of course, the mighty Martin Perez looking to bounce back from a rough one.

Also, that’s shroom’s site, not Z’s.

When I said “Big Z” I got zwica confused with shroomer who actually runs the farm probables site.

Did not mean to give props to the wrong person there.

As pleased as I am to see his offense coming around I am curious how his defense in CF is looking? Just like with Andrus in Frisco I can excuse some errors because of age and maturity concerns but if they are showing the ability to get to balls that most wouldn’t thats something you just can’t teach. How is Engels jump on the ball? Hows his arm? Does he take good routes on balls?

The fact he is more than holding his own at his age in Clinton shows me he will improve and be a good offensive player. But if he already has good defense that just bumps him up a notch in my book.

Engel Beltre (Midwest League, Age 18) (not including today):

86 Games / 382 ABs
.285 / .309 / .424 / .733 (league OPS .693)
19 doubles
8 triples
6 homers (hit his 7th today)
8 walks / 66 strikeouts (struck out again today)

Ruben Mateo (Sally League, Age 18):

134 Games / 496 ABs
.260 / .297 / .401 / .698 (league OPS .664)
30 doubles
8 triples
8 homers
26 walks / 78 strikeouts

Note:
At age 19, Mateo moved up to high A and hit .314 / .351 / .509 with 22 BB and 55 strikeouts in 385 at bats.
At age 20, Mateo moved up to AA and hit .309 / .354 / .522 with 30 BB and 56 strikeouts in 433 at bats.

Miguel De Los Santos. Turned 20 last week. Went on the D.L. right at a year ago and had [IIRC] elbow surgery. Maybe a decent comp would be a lefty Wifredo Boscan – smallish, good K/BB rates, good groundball rates. He’s never got much love from the Tony Newberg Set or other Ranger sexperts, but he’s a decent arm. I’m a fanboy. He might turn out handy some day if his health returns. Now the Font watch is on full blast. Where are you Wilmer?

He’s quietly having a nice July.

I don’t know much about this Flores character, but he is listed at 6’7” and 230, and over his last ten appearances, including today, he has gone 11.1 innings with 3 walks, 7 hits, 13 Ks and 0 ER. For the year he sports a 3.76 ERA with 45 Ks, 32 hits, and 14 walks in 40.2 innings. Given his size, he intrigues me.

Also, LHP Beau Jones has gone from middling starting pitching prospect to legit reliever prospect. In his 11 relief appearances this year, spanning 21.1 innings, he has allowed 15 hits and 7 walks (WHIP around 1) to go with 26 Ks and a 1.27 ERA.

I would love to see him log some innings in Frisco before the year is over.

Does anyone know why he was removed from yesterday’s game? He was pretty erratic, judging solely by the boxscore, he had 3 BBs in like 2/3 of an inning. I haven’t heard anything on the injury front. I saw this question asked in yesterday’s minors thread, but no one knew what happened. Any new info?

Right here:

tvu://54715/

Get the software here:

http://pages.tvunetworks.com/downloads/player.html

OKC on TV tonight vs Roundrock on FSNSW.

Rehabbing in the Frisco lineup tonight…

In the first inning the Visalia announcer said he was sitting in the mid-90’s and hit 96.
zing!

nice bounceback

Butler’s drawn a few LSB mentions for his nice start for Spokane. Here’s an article from the Spokane newspaper about him …

Tireless worker

Hard work, extra practice paying off for Indians’ Butler
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Perhaps the single biggest adjustment a ballplayer must make when going from college to pro is one simple fact: He is no longer the big star.
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Generally, the baseball players who get drafted are the ones who turned heads during college; they were the big fish in the small pond. But once they’ve step onto the professional field, they’ve become a guppy in the ocean. Everyone in the pros is good.
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Few players have handled the transition as well as Joey Butler of the Spokane Indians. The first-year minor leaguer batted .528 in the month of June and had an average of .389 going into Sunday’s game in Vancouver, B.C.
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In Spokane, Butler is still the big star.
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“He’s been amazing,” Indians hitting coach Luis Ortiz said last week. “Since the first day he came to Spokane, he’s been my most consistent student.”
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As college stars, many players develop bad baseball habits because they can get away with it, Ortiz said. When they move into the pros, it’s up to the coaches to break those habits and get the kids to play the way the baseball organization wants.
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So Ortiz has been teaching Butler how to play Indians style, which, when it comes down to it, is the style of the Texas Rangers, the major league team with which the Indians are affiliated.
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Butler has been one of Ortiz’ most diligent students, working on loosening up in the batters box, waiting for the best pitch, timing his swing to the perfect millisecond, and having “quiet eyes – allowing the game to come to him instead of him forcing the game,” Ortiz said.
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Butler takes extra time in batting practice to work on Ortiz’ advice.
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“He puts them in action right away, he trusts it,” Ortiz said. “And I think the results speak for themselves.”
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Indians fans, not surprisingly, voted for Butler as the team’s June MVP. He is the Northwest League’s No. 2 hitter.
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Before Sunday’s game, he had 28 hits including six doubles. He had the league’s best on-base percentage at .500.
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“It feels great for me. This is probably the highest I’ve batted this deep into any season,” Butler said last week. “But I think that has a lot to do with, once again, my hard work combined with the smartness of my hitting coach, Luis.
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“And, like I said, man, it takes practice, it takes a lot of hard work. I don’t just show up every day and play, you know. I’m here early, I’m hitting the cages early. It takes work.”
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The 22-year-old was drafted in the 15th round this year as a senior out of the University of New Orleans. As a Privateer this past season, the outfielder batted .345 and led his team in hits with 92.
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The Moss Point, Miss., native started playing baseball at age 5, encouraged by his parents and grandparents.
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That’s where Butler’s mantra, “hard work,” comes in. Hard work is how he’ll ultimately play in the big leagues, he said.
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And he learned a lot from his older brother, Enrico Jones, a Mississippi State standout who didn’t quite make it to the pros.