Minors - 08/16
by LiamP on Aug 16, 2008 6:30 PM CDT
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PrintSpokane - Ramirez (!!!!!!!) - 7pm (All times CST)
Clinton - Main (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) - 7pm
Bakersfield - Kiker (!!!!!!!!!!) - 9:30
Ramirez ended up with a line of 2.2ip/3h/1r/1er/5bb/2k.
Main's finished with a line of 6.2ip/5h/4r/3er/0bb/8k. He was good through 6. For some reason, they kept him out there for the 7th and he gave up 2 solo HR's. Still a good performance.
Per the pre-game show, Justin Smoak will be joining Clinton. He should be a pretty nice addition for their playoff run.
To fill some space, here's Scott Lucas' Rule 5 Draft Eligibility List. http://rangers.scottlucas.com/
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Well then.
Looks like I do need more exclamation points.
Good night to listen to baseball
catch some football on the tube too.
that is
one handsome future all-star
by Smoakin in the Boys Room on Aug 16, 2008 7:08 PM CDT up reply actions
He was in the booth during 3rd inning
Headed to Clinton tomorrow, should fit in nice with a winning ball club there.
Main down 2-0
One on Hr, and other due to error.
Hot Sheet Action
No. 9 DEREK HOLLAND, LHP
RANGERS
Team: Double-A Frisco (Texas)
Age: 21
Why he’s here: 1-0, 0.00, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 SO
The Scoop: It’s easy to love pop-up prospects—guys who come from off the radar to become legitimate talents. It’s hard to find a better example of a 2008 pop-up prospect than Holland, a 2006 draft-and-follow who signed in ‘07 for $200,000. He was a nice lefty coming into the year, with a 90-92 mph fastball but little feel for secondary stuff. His secondary pitches have sharpened some, as he now has an average slider and changeup, but he’s gained strength and velocity this year, which has turned his once solid fastball into a plus pitch. He now pitches at 91-97 with late life, which is why he’s been able to make the jump from low Class A Clinton to Double-A in his first full pro season.
This is the Texas Rangers, professional destroyers of hope, we're talking about. - BAC
It speaks volumes about the Rangers farm system
When 3 pitchers move up 2 levels or more through a year in the minors. IE, Feliz, Holland, and Hunter.
Ramirez gets 2 quick outs
and then loses control and hits a batter, yet Ks to end inning.
Main update.
4ip/3h/2r/1er/0bb/4k
Sexy stuff so far (apart from that solo homer)
Didn't think he'd go back out there for the 7th.
He hasn’t been past 6 yet this year.
You know...
At this point, is it alright just to not mention Steal Home until he inevitably enters this thread and fucks shit up?
Good point
Or maybe he’s the anti-Beetlejuice. If you say his name three times, he won’t appear.
by Adam J. Morris on Aug 16, 2008 8:22 PM CDT up reply actions
Steal Home, Steal Home, Steal Home
The true question is whats worse, Josey or Steals Home?
At least Josey can make some sort of lucid argument
Good day for hitters tonight
Arias 2-4
Beltre 2-3
Borbon 2-3
Andrus 1-2 BB
May get your chance...
in a couple weeks.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
You think he will be called up 9/1
even if he can’t play SS full-time? I bet if the rangers don’t keep him on the 40 this off-season that they have concluded his shoulder is fucked…but yeah I hope to see him too.
last 10 games without tonight
.390 hitter with 3 doubles, 3 hrs, 2 bb, and 2 ks.
he makes it for his defense
not his offense (as a util guy); that is why the long-term health of his shoulder is so critical. I want to see him dazzle us with D so we can see what we have been missing….
2009 2B
after they trade Kinsler for pitching.
Nevermind, just feeling mischievous.
Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.
Beltre ended up with 4-5 night
to break out of recent funk.
Yep...
and he went 2-4 with a jack last night.
He’s making a push for a September call up.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
Kiker
Going against Jhoulys Chacin tonight.
2ip/1h/0r/1bb/2k so far.
I think he's making a claim for the 3rd best pitching prospect spot.
Not saying he fell too far, but he’s been stuck/hurt in that hellhole all year. He’s seen Feliz skip Bakersfield altogether, Holland just breezed by in a month and he has Beavan and Main hot on his tail. From everything I’ve read/heard, the guy’s super competitive, so you figure that might figure into it a little bit.
Even though the other 2 have passed him
He has the most polish on 3 pitches in this system with #2 stuff. Your right about what would have happened if he wasnt in Baks. Seems that is black hole for pitchers. The ones that stayed for a month have not been effected, ie. Hunter, Holland. But stay longer and trouble comes looking for you.
That's my concern about Beavan and Main next year.
If there’s any way for the Rangers to get the hell out of Bakersfield, that would be awesome.
remember
he did have a brief stint on the DL with arm fatigue which I think played a big role in Holland leapfrogging him. I hink ideally what the Rangers wanted was to promote Kiker to Frisco and let Holland get a little more seasoning in Bakersfield before a possible playoff promotion to Frisco.
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
Holland
leap-frogged him because he’s a bad-ass and Kiker is having a mediocre season (and because he was hurt).
Kiker in the Cal League
With a decent game tonight, Kiker has now placed himself among the Top 10 qualifying Cal League pitchers in ERA (4.19) and WHIP (1.35) and is among the Top 15 in strike outs with 95 K’s in 107 innings. Not bad for a guy who had a rough start to the season and then battled arm fatigue. Over his last nine games, Kiker has posted a 2.71 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, and 9 K/9IP.
by spurdynasty on Aug 16, 2008 11:15 PM CDT up reply actions
No
He only had 2 relief appearances this year.
On June he gave up 8 ER in 4.1 innings. Take that one start out and his stats are even more impressive. 3.75 ERA overall in almost 100 innings.
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
Only 2 of the 9 games were as a reliever
When he returned from time on the DL a couple of weeks ago, he pitched twice in relief (one at Lancaster and one vs Lake Elsinore). His last two games and the 5 prior to being disabled were all starts.
by spurdynasty on Aug 16, 2008 11:28 PM CDT up reply actions
Another Catcher to put on the map
Chris Gradoville, in hell hole Baks, but still throwing amazing stats up.
2-2
.330 avg in 57 games.
anyone have a petralli
scouting report? There has got to be one or five floating around out there seeing that he’s been drafted 5 times….
Not to be confused with
Frisco backup Tim Gradoville. Chris Gradoville is doing ok, like to see improvement in the K/BB ratio.
Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.
More on Gradoville
Good news: He’s hitting .338/.373/.484. Bad news: Hitter’s park, .382 BABIP, and that on base percentage is leavened by 6 HBP’s. He’s been hit by a pitch one less time than he’s walked this year. Still, promising production from a 24th round pick.
Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.
Meh
24 year old in high-A in a hitter’s league.
by Adam J. Morris on Aug 17, 2008 10:42 AM CDT up reply actions
Devil's advocate
Catchers sometimes come late, though that is certainly pushing it.
Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.
MJH appears to like him:
And it’s high time we give a shoutout to C Chris Gradoville (.338 / .371 / .484). The Creighton alum went 3-for-4 last night to extend a 12-game hitting streak, during which he’s delivered multi-hit performances on eight occasions.
"...my balls are really like a veiny flesh color" blueballlefty on Jun 4, 2008 7:44 PM EDT
"you gonna lose your horse. seriously." FX2
"If you ain't got no money, ain't nobody calls you honey," Bo Diddley
Rangers Top 5 pitching prospects at AA or below
The discussion about whether Kiker is the Rangers’ #3 pitching prospect made me consider if he could be that high. Personally, I don’t see it but would be interested in hearing how others rank their favorite Rangers minor league pitchers. To minimize the difficulty in comparing lower level and upper level prospects, I arbitrarily placed the cut-off at AA and eliminated considering Hurley, Harrison, Hunter, and Madrigal. For me, the remaining prospects shake out as follows:
(1A) Feliz
(1B) Holland
Hard-throwers with great control and low homer rates.
(3) Main – Very good fastball and curve with makings of a good change-up. For me he’s clearly #3 among the lower level pitchers.
(4) Kiker – Lefty with 3 average to above average pitches. I think Kiker is #4 but IMHO there isn’t a lot of difference between he and the next 3 guys on this list.
(5) Beavan – Outstanding stats despite having a fastball that is only recently sitting in the lower 90’s.
(6) Boscan – Despite getting roughed up against Boise a few days ago, seeing the movement on his fastball/curve/change-up combo made me understand why he has dominated the older hitters he is facing in Spokane.
(7) NeRa – Like Boscan, I was really impressed watching Ramirez via the Boise telecast. His fastball/curve were fantastic. If he can reduce his walks in Clinton next year, Ramirez can shoot up this list.
(8) Martin Perez – Lefty holding his own against players that are 5 years older than him. Three pitches including a fastball that could move up to mid-90’s as he matures.
(9) Poveda – When he is on, his fastball/change-up combo has befuddled Cal League hitters. Despite being hurt and putting up a disappointing ERA, he’s still K’ing more than a batter per inning. It sounds like his curveball has really come along this year which gives him that all-important 3rd pitch. If he’s healthy next year, Poveda could really put himself on the map as a 21 year old in AA.
(10) Tim Murphy – A lefty with 4 solid pitches who understands how to use them. He posted an ERA of 3, WHIP <1, and almost 11K/9IP in Spokane.
At his best
Kiker has three plus pitches…
Also, if you want to really gauge Kiker's season
Cahill is the one to measure him against. He has a ways to go by comparison.
Why Cahill?
Because they are both 20 years old?
For what it is worth, Kiker and Cahill had numbers in the Midwest League last year that were very similar to each other and both were within reach of the numbers that Clayton Kershaw posted. Cahill has been clearly superior to Kiker this year, but it is possible that the disparity between the two boils down to health and Cahill’s strong groundball tendencies. Given a choice, I would much rather have Cahill right now but I don’t think that means that Kiker doesn’t have a very good shot at being a productive ML pitcher.
by spurdynasty on Aug 17, 2008 12:40 AM CDT up reply actions
hm.
Blake is actually throwing harder than Main.
by god allah star on Aug 17, 2008 9:06 AM CDT up reply actions
Well...
If Beaven is still sitting at 89-91, then it’s not only a surprise, but a disheartening shock. Main was supposed to sit in the mid-90’s and touch 98.
I propose a 5-year moratorium on trading any young Ranger pitchers who throw over 90 mph.
Main and Beavan fastball velocities
Based on radio broadcasts from the past month:
Beavan – 89-92 with a high of 95
Main – 90-94
I'm not down on Kiker
and yes I made the comparison because they are the same age and because thy had similar years last year. I was just using Cahill’s year this year to show that Kiker still has quite a step to take before he can be considered a cant miss type and what cant-miss #s look like. Though a step behind Cahill, i hope he makes that jump next year so that we are as excited about him as we are this yr about holland and Feliz who have taken that next step.
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