Ranger Minors (8/24): A rebuttal from the right

by spurdynasty on Aug 24, 2008 2:19 PM CDT

Three 21 year old left-handers were in the spotlight yesterday, with Derek Holland (6IP, 3H, 1ER, 2BB, 5K), Zach Phillips (6IP, 6H, 0ER, 3BB, 3K), and Tim Murphy (5IP, 5H, 0ER, 1BB, 4K) combining for three outstanding starts.

The Ranger minor league right-handed pitching contingent will look to respond today with four of their best (and youngest):

Wilfredo Boscan - 18 yo righthander who is dominating the Northwest League (3.02 ERA, 9.5K/9IP, 1.5BB/9IP, 1.16 WHIP) will take the mound at TriCity at 9:15 PM CDT. Boscan has been the best of the Spokane triplets (Boscan/NeRa/Perez) and looks to be among the most likely young players in the Rangers farm system to shoot up national prospect lists in 2009.

Blake Beavan - 19 yo righthander who has been among the best (and youngest) pitchers in the Midwest League (2.50 ERA, 5.3K/9IP, 1.5BB/9IP, 1.03 WHIP) will face Kane County at 2:00 CDT. For those of you who are concerned about Beavan's velocity and K-rate this year, both appear to be on the rise with his fastball now apparently sitting comfortably in the low 90's and his K's increasing to 6.5K/9IP during his last ten games.

Omar Poveda - 20 yo righthander whose 4.78 ERA is inconsistent with his peripherals (9.5K/9IP, 3.7BB/9IP, 1.33 WHIP) will face Lake Elsinore at 9:15 PM CDT. Statistically, Poveda's last 7 games in the Cal League look very similar to what he posted last year in the Midwest League (2.85 ERA, 3.3BB/9IP, 8.3K/9IP, 1.12WHIP in Bakersfield vs 2.79ERA, 2.3BB/9IP, 8.6K/9IP, 1.00WHIP in Clinton).

Neftali Feliz - 20 yo righthander who is posting some of the best pitching numbers in the minors (2.68ERA, 11.1K/9IP, 3.62BB/9IP, 1.08WHIP) will face Midland at 6:00 PM CDT. Feliz' AA numbers look very similar to those of the A's top prospect, Trevor Cahill (35.1IP/25H/19BB/12R/12ER/38K for Feliz vs 37IP/24H/19BB/15R/9ER/33K for Cahill).

If you don't like quality pitching, then check out these prospects who are locked in at the plate in August:

Johnny Whittleman - 500/600/1125/1725 in Frisco; 262/378/408/779 overall

Mike Bianucci - 351/435/635/1070 in August; 311/387/538/924 overall

Mitch Moreland - 367/429/608/1036 in August; 317/394/530/924 overall

Tim Smith - 349/378/547/924 in August; 302/362/438/800 overall

Julio Borbon - 363/392/516/908 in August; 314/353/417/769 overall

Jose Vallejo - 348/372/449/822 in August; 294/348/426/774 overall

Chad Tracy, Dustin Majeski, and Chris Gradoville are as hot as Texas August heat as well.

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Engel Beltre...

Does anyone know why Engel Beltre is already out of the Clinton game? According to the box score, it’s the second inning and Kyle Murphy has already replaced him.

Jonathan Greene's up to 34 HPB's in 503 PA's. Thinking about getting hit 34 times over four months really conjures up memories of ex-wife number three. I guess Greene must be an absolutely HORRIBLE COOK!!!

by YourNameHere on Aug 24, 2008 2:45 PM CDT 0 recs

maybe he got yanked

for swinging at the first pitch in every at bat…

by Goyogringo on Aug 24, 2008 5:30 PM CDT up 0 recs

He was 0-7

a night ago too. Not sure what to make of the kid. Seems his aggressive nature at the plate is killing his prospect status.

by gamerabcd on Aug 24, 2008 7:41 PM CDT up 0 recs

No it isn't

He’s just got the “You can’t walk off the island” sort of mentality common in LA hitting prospects. He’s got a good shot to grow out of it and a good shot to still succeed even if he can’t.

The 40 Trumps All!!!

by thedirkatron on Aug 24, 2008 11:26 PM CDT up 0 recs

Beavan after 3

2h 0r 0er 0bb 1k

by Houston27 on Aug 24, 2008 2:47 PM CDT 0 recs

4ip

4h 0r 0er 1bb 1k

only one pitch speed has been mentioned (91mph)

by Houston27 on Aug 24, 2008 3:06 PM CDT up 0 recs

5ip

4h 0r 0er 1bb 2k

finally another k

by Houston27 on Aug 24, 2008 3:25 PM CDT up 0 recs

Sweet

A bunch of midgets with no arms could pitch better than us. -iorange555

by boomer1 on Aug 24, 2008 3:28 PM CDT up 0 recs

6ip

7h 1r 1er 1bb 4k

not sure if he is done, according to the radio guys nobody is warming in the pen

it would be interesting to see how he bounces back in the 7th

6 of the 7 hits have been singles

by Houston27 on Aug 24, 2008 3:46 PM CDT up 0 recs

Worth noting about the 6th inning

Two of Beavan’s four strike outs today cam in the 6th when he was trying to get out of a jam.

by spurdynasty on Aug 24, 2008 3:50 PM CDT up 0 recs

Gotta like that

A bunch of midgets with no arms could pitch better than us. -iorange555

by boomer1 on Aug 24, 2008 3:53 PM CDT up 0 recs

He may be done

said that there is somebody warming now

good point about the k’s

it seems that he is able to do that when he really needs to

by Houston27 on Aug 24, 2008 3:56 PM CDT up 0 recs

It's hard not to get excited

about the young pitching in the minors.

A bunch of midgets with no arms could pitch better than us. -iorange555

by boomer1 on Aug 24, 2008 3:18 PM CDT 0 recs

Yuppers

And the good part is that we have great talent at all levels of the system.

AAA/Majors: Hurley, Harrison, Hunter
AA: Holland, Neftali, Diamond
A+: Poveda, Kiker
A-: Beavan, Main, Murphy, Gomez
Rookie/SS: Perez, NeRa, Robbie Ross, Joe Weiland, Font, Boscan

There’s really no level where we’re weak right now.

The 40 Trumps All!!!

by thedirkatron on Aug 24, 2008 3:35 PM CDT up 0 recs

Man what a line-up that is...

I don’t the the Rangers have ever had this much pitching talent at one time in there system.

A bunch of midgets with no arms could pitch better than us. -iorange555

by boomer1 on Aug 24, 2008 3:39 PM CDT up 0 recs

We're weak at AAA

by LiamP on Aug 24, 2008 3:48 PM CDT up 0 recs

AAA rotation

Without the injuries to the major league rotation, Oklahoma’s rotation would be Hurley, Harrison, Hunter, Mathis, and Ramirez. That would be among the more talent-rich AAA rotations.

by spurdynasty on Aug 24, 2008 3:53 PM CDT up 0 recs

True

I didn’t think of it that way.

by LiamP on Aug 24, 2008 3:56 PM CDT up 0 recs

To quote Adam

Can someone tell me why every well-regarded young pitcher the Rangers bring to the majors ends up either sucking, getting hurt, or both?

That is why it’s hard for me to get excited yet.

"Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states" - Barack Obama

by DaheelzCM on Aug 24, 2008 4:31 PM CDT up 0 recs

just replace ' the rangers bring' with 'any team brings'

to me, abortion is not a religious issue, it's a common sense one...

by Longhorn on Aug 24, 2008 4:48 PM CDT up 0 recs

I can't wait for

WilBo and Feliz to pitch tonight.

A bunch of midgets with no arms could pitch better than us. -iorange555

by boomer1 on Aug 24, 2008 3:29 PM CDT 0 recs

Rangers Farm Probables

by shroomer on Aug 24, 2008 3:34 PM CDT up 0 recs

Thanks Shroom

A bunch of midgets with no arms could pitch better than us. -iorange555

by boomer1 on Aug 24, 2008 3:36 PM CDT up 0 recs

Beavan gets lost in the shuffle a bit cause of the velo concerns and low K rate

But the guy is gonna be a stud. Studly stud.

Captain Wonderful indeed.

The 40 Trumps All!!!

by thedirkatron on Aug 24, 2008 3:29 PM CDT 0 recs

I agree

I think Main will be a stud also.

A bunch of midgets with no arms could pitch better than us. -iorange555

by boomer1 on Aug 24, 2008 3:36 PM CDT up 0 recs

Didn't he say in a recent interview...

that since they’re limiting his pitch count, he’ll be pitching to contact even more now?

by LiamP on Aug 24, 2008 3:43 PM CDT up 0 recs

k rate

very porcelloish.

to me, abortion is not a religious issue, it's a common sense one...

by Longhorn on Aug 24, 2008 3:58 PM CDT up 0 recs

gb rate isn't though

The Eagle has landed....

by Lonerangers on Aug 24, 2008 7:55 PM CDT up 0 recs

Beavan has impressed

durable – first pro season and he has taken the ball every fifth day. approaching 120 ip. may not sound like much, but it is impressive IMO, indicating a guy whose body shouldn’t fall apart when he starts pitching to more advanced hitters – a real positive sign.

command – as advertised, which isn’t always the case with HS arms.

coachable – by all reports has been a good and willing learner

changes speeds – he has something that works pretty good against lefties, his hr rate and gb rate are both better against lefties, so I’m assuming the change must be coming along.

Warner Madrigal makes Ezequiel Astacio look downright handsome.

by tricer on Aug 24, 2008 4:18 PM CDT up 0 recs

Very good points

Todd.

Let’s hope the lefty-owning is due to his change…that would be ~~great~~ wonderful!

"...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

by Rodney on Aug 24, 2008 5:25 PM CDT up 0 recs

He also likes to run his 4 seamer

in on lefties.

Joey Butler Interview

by jparks77 on Aug 24, 2008 6:49 PM CDT up 0 recs

Not to be argumentative

but I really don’t think that he gets lost in the shuffle. You can’t talk about him in the same way you do the two Frisco guys because of what they are showing and how much closer to the majors they are. But for a system with a good number of promising arms, I can’t think of anyone else who is more talked about than Beavan these days.

Here’s to that velocity coming back next spring.

Offense doesn't doubt me, but my first and primemost thing is defense and punt return and kickoff return

by zywica on Aug 24, 2008 4:19 PM CDT up 0 recs

Couple of things

First there’s that Micheal Main guy who is pretty consistently rated over C1. But that’s just a personal pet peeve since I like C-Wun so much.

Although to an extent I think his successes really are lost in the shuffle, so to speak, because so much of the focus in on the “lost” velocity. Plus there always seems to be a pitching-prospect-du-jour (at different times this year it’s been Martin Perez, Tommy Hunter, Main, Font and his near death experience, Poveda, Tim Murphy, Handsome Matt Harrison, etc.) getting mad love while c1 just plugs along throwing quality start after quality start. Maybe lost in the shuffle wasn’t the best choice of words, but you see where I’m coming from I hope. It’s more of a tortoise and the hare type of deal, imo. His success this year has been so steady as to be a little boring. Never really Neftali-style lights out, but always effective and always really good.

And, yah, everyone is lost in the shuffle behind what Neftali and Dutch are doing. That shit is just criz-nazy.

The 40 Trumps All!!!

by thedirkatron on Aug 24, 2008 5:04 PM CDT up 0 recs

Well

Almost 10 innings of no hit ball for the stud Feliz.

by gamerabcd on Aug 24, 2008 7:37 PM CDT 0 recs

Borbon, Andrus, Vallejo

all have walked tonight. Beau Jones is doing well again.

Offense doesn't doubt me, but my first and primemost thing is defense and punt return and kickoff return

by zywica on Aug 24, 2008 8:38 PM CDT 0 recs

Now Beau Jones..

is a guy who gets lost in the shuffle.

by tyd3311 on Aug 24, 2008 9:08 PM CDT up 0 recs

The RoughRiders with another huge game in Midland

Borbon 1-3 with a BB and HR. His OPS in AA is now north of 820.
Andrus 2-4 with a BB and a double. His OPS in AA is now pushing 725.
Vallejo 2-4 with a BB. His OPS in AA is now over 770.
That’s not bad offense from your up-the-middle defense.

Beau Jones with another outstanding relief appearance. 2 IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 3K. His AA ERA is now 2.51 and his K rate is almost 9/9IP. Contrast that with A’s super-prospect Henry Rodriguez who has posted an 8.17 ERA in his first ten games in the Texas League.

by spurdynasty on Aug 24, 2008 9:22 PM CDT 0 recs