Martin Perez #1 and only Ranger on BA's SAL Top 20

Fair or not, there seemed to be only one apt comparison for the SAL's youngest pitcher: Johan Santana. Everything from Perez's frame to his delivery mimic Santana. What's more, both are Venezuelan lefthanders who sit at 92-94 mph and touch 96 with their fastballs

"Projection-wise, this kid is special," Hickory manager Hector Ortiz said. "He has the potential to be the next Johan Santana. I'm not saying he is Santana, but it's in his hands. He has all the God-given talent."

By improving his changeup to a plus pitch, Perez took another step to support the Santana comparisons. He's confident enough to throw the changeup in any count and utilizes great hand speed to create deception. He also throws a sharp, late-breaking curveball at 75-78 mph. Perez made the most of his 80-pitch limit in each game and earned a callup to Double-A Frisco in mid-August.

"There's too much in that left arm for him to not succeed at higher levels," Lakewood manager Dusty Wathan said. "He was pretty good. A lot of times I wished he was pitching for us."

4 months ago Kinslerhomer 21 comments 0 recs |

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Yeah

I’ve already sent in a question asking what separates Knapp from Font…I can’t believe all the guys they placed over him.

by ramjam36 on Oct 2, 2009 10:40 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

And Knapp's arm already blow up.

The 2009 Texas Rangers offense: sigh...

by Kinslerhomer on Oct 2, 2009 10:41 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

huh?

the link sends me to an article rating Perez the league’s #1 prospect.

"You can probably stick a fork in the Rangers' playoff chances for 2009." - AJM on 7/26 with the team 4.5 games out

by tricer on Oct 2, 2009 10:44 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think he was talking about Font

Font is not on the top 20

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.

by bigsteve on Oct 2, 2009 10:51 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

ok, my bad

"You can probably stick a fork in the Rangers' playoff chances for 2009." - AJM on 7/26 with the team 4.5 games out

by tricer on Oct 2, 2009 11:00 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'd rather he fly under the radar for a bit longer

no need to have a high rating

"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"

by Walter Sobchak on Oct 2, 2009 2:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Perez the top is understood

they should have just had a ranking of all the non-Perez prospects. Font deserves to be on there.

G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....

by t ball on Oct 2, 2009 11:06 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Sexy.

"I love winning." - rockin_rangers, on May 16, 2009

by ghtd36 on Oct 2, 2009 11:15 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Font should be on there

but, honestly, it’s a ranking system and there are flaws in them, biases.

Just thinking about it, we are very lucky, as Ranger fans, to have a group of bloggers and writers that cover the Rangers completely, including such in-depth analysis of our prospects. I like seeing the prospects rated highly next to other prospects, but I’d rather see them perform better.

Boscan and Font are both very quality pitchers. We have a slew of arms in our system, and I hope they pan out. I love that I can think back to the DVD/H days and think all our hopes were in 3 arms. We still have the #1 arm in the SAL league in Perez. I’ll take that any day of the week, as well as Ross ranked #7 overrall and the top pitcher in his league. That is two #1 ranked pitchers in their prospective leagues. That’s incredible. Plus we have such a stocked system that any number of guys can impact the big club much like Hunter has this year. We have alot to look forward to in the coming years, and that is something I’m still getting used to as I watch others like Feliz and Holland.

A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings.

by NothinG on Oct 2, 2009 12:01 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

And

Kiker will probably be one of the top pitchers in the Texas League.

Elvis Andrus - 2009 AL Rookie of the Year
Mitch Moreland -Tom Grieve Rangers Minor League Player of the Year
Martin Perez - Nolan Ryan Rangers Minor League Pitcher of the Year

by RangerMad on Oct 2, 2009 12:30 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Age

What makes me happiest about this is that these kids aren’t even close to the average age of their competition. Perez was going up against guys that had already been through college or short season at least. Ross was going against either late signees from the year before or guys that wanted to get a head start and signed early this year.

"if daniels was fired today, he would almost be sure to get another shot somewhere else as a GM

i dont know if you can say the same thing abotu RW" - knockoutking

by hillcrest on Oct 2, 2009 12:51 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Amen, Brutha!

"Back on the scene, with a gangsta lean" RW
"When you have a weapon on your shoulder like he has, you can be cool." RW on Perez
And the little bastard threw it for a swinging strike three in a 3-2 count. He’s blessed. And ballsy.

by Rodney on Oct 2, 2009 2:08 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I get the feeling that the future is going to be even better than we expect...

hope I’m not let down.

"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"

by Walter Sobchak on Oct 2, 2009 2:16 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Perez is still the fricking man

was he just 18 turning 19 this year?

Really?

Feliz says his greatest thrill was striking out Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, one of his heroes. Yet, when he called to tell his parents, his mother had a request: Strike out New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, too.
"So when I did that," Feliz says, "I told my mom, 'There you go. There's your present. Don't ask me to strike anyone else out, OK?'

by blalock84 on Oct 2, 2009 4:39 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

He turned 18 in April

The 2009 Texas Rangers offense: sigh...

by Kinslerhomer on Oct 2, 2009 4:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Rangers depth in pitching is unbelievable

for next year, here are some rotations:

AAA: Kiker, Moscoso, Poveda, Kirkman, Beavan
AA: Perez, Bleier, Gomez, Hyatt, Tatusko
A+: Main, Font, Boscan, Murphy, Pimentel
A: Brigham, Weiland, Ramirez, Hurley, Ross, Tullis
SS: Alvarez, Rojos, Parra, Peralta, De Los Santos (the lefty reliever with 70 k’s in 32 innings with only 8 hits.)

There’s some talent there. ok, there’s HUGE amounts of talent there.

by iblum on Oct 2, 2009 5:00 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

You forgot

Tanner Scheppers, Danny Gutierrez, Chad Bell, Robbie Erlin, Andrew Doyle, Edwin Escobar, Nick McBride, Carlos Melo, Ezequiel Rijo, David Perez, Paul Strong…

The 2009 Texas Rangers offense: sigh...

by Kinslerhomer on Oct 2, 2009 5:05 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

And, hopefully, soon they'll add Kikuchi.

I think Nick McBride is my second favorite pick (behind Scheppers) of the 2009 draft. I just like the approach he’s taking at Instructs, per Jason Cole’s interview, not to mention his body size.

Wonderboy, what is the secret of your power? Wonderboy, won't you take me far away from the mucky-muck now. -- Tenacious D

by rooster on Oct 2, 2009 5:20 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

How bout this

AAA: Feliz, Kiker, Poveda, Moscoso, Harrison, Hurley (probably not till mid May)
AA: Beavan, Perez, Gomez, Bleier, Gutierrez
A+: Main, Font, Scheppers, Boscan, Murphy, Weiland
A-: NeRa, Ross, Tullis, Brigham, Doyle

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.

by bigsteve on Oct 2, 2009 5:24 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs