SB Nation - Curtis Thigpen

The Rookies Who Aren't

TheJay — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:00:16 -0000

A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club or clubs during the period of 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service and time on the disabled list).

The first part of the definition of a rookie in Major League Baseball is straightforward. Once a player reaches 131 at bats or 50 1/3 innings pitched, he's no longer a rookie. The second part is a little trickier. After all, service time numbers are hard to find. They generally come out once each year, in team media guides. Add in the fact that you have to subtract time in the major leagues after September 1st and on the disabled list and it's even harder to figure out who is truly a rookie.

It has already been mentioned this offseason that Mat Gamel eclipsed 45 days of service time before September. Gamel was recalled from Nashville on May 14th and optioned back on July 20th, giving him 67 days on the active roster during the "period of 25-player limit." So, even though he sits at 130 career at bats, the same number Scott Rolen had going into his Rookie of the Year season, Gamel cannot win the Rookie of the Year award (though that might not stop him from getting votes).

Gamel isn't the only such little-used non-rookie in the Brewers organization. Raise your hand if you realized Hernan Iribarren has 48 days of major league service time, all before September 1. Iribarren spent 20 days on the major league roster in April and June 2008, picking up 14 at bats. He spent 28 days in the majors in 2009, batting a mere 13 times. I'm going to go out on a limb and predict he wasn't going to win the 2010 Rookie of the Year Award anyway.

New Brewer George Kottaras also enters 2010 off the list of rookie players. He spent all of 2009 in the majors with the Red Sox, playing in 45 games with 93 at bats. Though he spent the month of August on the disabled list, he gave up his 2010 rookie status in mid-May.

Gamel, Iribarren, and Kottaras are not the only little-used rookies. Follow the jump for a list of all such position players to appear in the majors in 2008 or 2009. Please note it is lengthy and full of guys who have no chance at winning an award anyway. I will post a list of pitchers in the next few days.

Non-Rookies with 130 or fewer career AB:

Mat Gamel, 130 career AB
Joaquin Arias, 129 AB
Argenis Reyes, 127 AB
Jose Morales, 122 AB
Ivan Ochoa*, 120 AB
Michel Hernandez, 118 AB
Curtis Thigpen*, 118 AB
Ramiro Pena, 115 AB
Josh Whitesell, 115 AB
Luke Carlin, 112 AB
Chris Gimenez, 111 AB
Tyler Greene, 108 AB
Sam Fuld, 103 AB
Reid Brignac, 100 AB
Francisco Cervelli, 99 AB
George Kottaras, 98 AB
Freddy Guzman, 95 AB
Robinson Cancel, 94 AB
Guillermo Rodriguez, 92 AB
Steve Holm, 91 AB
Justin Ruggiano*, 90 AB
Nathan Haynes*, 89 AB
Diory Hernandez, 85 AB
Don Kelly, 83 AB
Dane Sardinha, 80 AB
Luis Maza*, 79 AB
Paul Hoover, 78 AB
Edwin Maysonet, 76 AB
Dusty Ryan, 70 AB
Clint Sammons, 68 AB
Tug Hulett, 67 AB
Drew Sutton, 66 AB
J.R. House*, 60 AB
John Mayberry, 57 AB
Gregorio Petit, 54 AB
Brian Myrow*, 51 AB
Chris Stewart*, 48 AB
Justin Christian*, 40 AB
Travis Denker*, 37 AB
Gustavo Molina*, 34 AB
Hernan Iribarren, 27 AB
Ryan Budde, 23 AB

* - last appeared in the majors in 2008

I warned you. If I missed anyone or included someone who should not be on the list, let me know in the comments.

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:51:36 -0000

Some things to read while making a parking space.

Ryan Braun could return to action in the major league portion of Brewer camp within the next day or two. Yesterday, he took Brian Fuentes deep in a minor league game with the Angels. Craig Counsell also went 3-for-4 in that game and should rejoin the team soon.

Trevor Hoffman played catch yesterday and is showing signs of improvement, but will still almost certainly start the season on the DL. Carlos Villanueva will be called upon to close until Hoffman is ready. The Brewers will also have an extra arm in the bullpen on Opening Day, as Dave Bush will get his work in as he makes final preparations for his start in the fifth game of the season.

On the field yesterday, Mark DiFelice pitched the first three innings of a 1-0 victory over the Giants and won a spot in the bullpen to start the season.

Mitch Stetter, who also pitched a scoreless inning yesterday, talked with Tom H. about how much he learned working with Brian Shouse, and his preparations for the 2009 season.

Alcides Escobar was also profiled over the weekend. He's likely headed back to the minors, and could be sent down as soon as today or tomorrow.

It could always be worse, though: Adam McCalvy is reporting that Omar Aguilar has joined the crowd at Obliqueapullooza and Alexandre Periard may require shoulder surgery.

On rankings/projections/predictions:

Mike Fahmie has the Brewers winning 78 games and finishing fifth in the Central. Crappy Brewer prediction aside, I can't imagine a world where four NL Central teams that aren't the Brewers win more than 78 games this season.
The Giants Baseball Blog predicts the Brewers will finish third in the Central.
The Toronto Star has the Brewers 14th in their power rankings.
The Daily Hick predicts the Brewers will win 72 games and finish fourth.
MLB FanHouse has...well, I guess this is a preview...right?
Sports Fan Goods expects the Brewers to "struggle mightily and finish towards the bottom of the NL Central."
Intellectual Thicket's Baseball Mogul projections have the Brewers winning 78 games and finishing tied for fourth in the Central.

Still looking for a summer job? The Brewers are hiring for a Community Relations Internship and a Stadium Operations Internship.

In other camps:

A's: Added two catchers over the weekend, trading for Blue Jays minor leaguer Curtis Thigpen and signing Eric Munson. Also, Justin Duchsherer will have elbow surgery but no one seems sure what doctors will find while they're in there.
D-Backs: He was healthy enough to pitch yesterday and will pitch once more before Opening Day, but the team is expected to hide Max Scherzer on the DL until they need a fifth starter.
Giants: Acquired C Ronny Paulino from the Phillies for lefty Jack Taschner, then traded him to the Marlins for catcher Hector Correa.
Mariners: Brandon Morrow is expected to be the team's long term closer, so Tyler Walker was released. They also acquired utilityman Chris Burke from the Padres for cash.
Mets: Released Ron Villone.
Phillies: Released Marcus Giles.
Rangers: Claimed Joe Koshansky off waivers from the Rockies.
Red Sox: Brad Wilkerson has left the team.
Tigers: Will place Dontrelle Willis on the DL to start the season with an anxiety disorder.
Twins: Worked out a deal with the Yankees to keep Rule 5 pick Jason Jones.

So yesterday both the Brewers and Giants held back their respective starting pitchers, Yovani Gallardo and Randy Johnson, an act of gamesmanship to prevent either pitcher from showing too much to their first regular season opponent. This move worked out relatively well for the Brewers yesterday but is it worth the effort? I'll go ahead and say no.

Holding back young talent to keep their arbitration clock from starting is always a bad decision, but it's even worse when you're trying to contend. The Braves, potential frontrunners in the NL East, may start center fielder Jordan Schafer in AAA, even though he's winning the competition for the starting job.

How much do April games matter, anyway? Baseball Analysts unveils Championship Leverage Index to answer that question and many others.

How much difference does it make when a pitcher's velocity goes up and down? Tangotiger says a 2.5 mph increase in velocity is good for a drop of about .25 in ERA. That's pretty significant.

A lot of factors have to be considered when designing a new stadium, but apparently the Yankees missed one. YES Network and ESPN are reportedly going to request changes to the ballpark, which is not conducive to TV cameras.

Oh, and sometimes you need to be more careful while pouring out a beer.

Drink up.

Weekly Poll

Tom Dakers — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:26:08 -0000

I was hoping to find some news worth talking about this morning but there really isn't anything today. I did have hopes for a moment when I saw that Richard Griffin had put up new questions and answers. A lot of fun can be had with those, most of the time. But this time? Boring simple questions with boring simple answers.

So let's put up a poll. It is a bit early but I'm curious to see who you all think will win the AL East this year. It should be an interesting season, I don't think there is a concensious choice for who will take the division. We've profiled 3 of the 4 other teams, with the Red Sox preview coming next week.

Last week most of us picked Michael Barrett as the best choice for backup catcher. I'll admit I was surprised at the support for Curtis Thigpen. I guess we'll find out soon if JP and Cito agree with us.

Poll

Who will finish first in the AL East?

Baltimore Orioles (hey, we had a worst to first last year)

9 votes

Boston Red Sox

73 votes

New York Yankees

23 votes

Tampa Bay Rays

19 votes

Toronto Blue Jays

47 votes

171 votes | Poll has closed

Not So Weekly Poll: Backup Catcher?

Tom Dakers — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 22:52:02 -0000

Last time we asked who you thought should lead off against right-handed pitchers and you guys agreed with Hugo and I and picked Lyle Overbay. Not that I imagine Cito will and try him in that role but it interests me that as a group we are willing to try a pretty non-conventional player in that spot.

Today I was wondering what your thoughts were about who should be the backup catcher, since it's on Cito's mind at the moment. I'm going to include a couple of players that have been sent down to the minors already, even though they are no longer candidates to win the spot that doesn't mean that some of us don't think they still would be the best choice.

Poll

Who should get the backup catcher job on the Jays?

JP Arencibia

11 votes

Michael Barrett

99 votes

Raul Chavez

12 votes

Brian Jeroloman

1 votes

Curtis Thigpen

44 votes

Someone Else? Let us know who....

2 votes

169 votes | Poll has closed

Spring Game Recap, Jays Lose To Astros

Tom Dakers — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:49:17 -0000

Astros 9 Jays 7

We've been giving up a few runs lately as the Jays try to stretch out their starters. Halladay pitched 5 good innings and then gave up 5 run in his 6th inning of work. So I wouldn't worry much about him. He does have to get to the point where he can pitch late into the game by the start of the season. BJ Ryan and Brian Tallet each pitched a good inning. Scott Downs gave up 3 runs in his inning of work on two hits, one a homer and a walk. But he did settle down after the 3 runs. Again I wouldn't be too worried.

Some of our regulars had a good day at the plate. Overbay homered. Rios went 2 for 3 with a double. Scott Rolen was 1 for 3 with a triple. Vernon Wells was 1 for 3. Lind went 1 for 2. Jose Bautista was 1 for 1 playing against a team that might be looking to pick him up in a trade. And even Johnny Mac went 1 for 3 with a double.

Notable ofers: Joe Inglett, Aaron Hill and Curtis Thigpen all went 0 for 3. Tomorrow the Jays play the Twins, Matt Clement and Scott Richmond are both to pitch. Both pitchers have a shot at the starting rotation so they will want to show well.

MLB.com has a story about the Jays options for backup catcher, listing Raul Chavez, Micheal Barrett and Curtis Thigpen as the three possibilities. I'm surprised that Thigpen is still listed as having a shot, he hasn't impressed over the last couple of years. I'm really hoping it isn't Chavez because with our offense we really can't afford to have a guy that can't hit his weight playing 50 games. Barrett would be my choice, his bat seems to be coming around and he really isn't all that bad behind the plate.

Something I thought was interesting:

Ricciardi mentioned that the Jays talked to veteran catcher Ivan Rodriguez before he signed a one-year pact worth $1.5 million with the Astros that included $1.5 million in performance bonuses. Ricciardi said the Jays simply couldn't match that offer in their current financial state, but they at least attempted to add him to the mix.

"Yeah, we inquired about him," Ricciardi said. "But, I think with the package he got, we had financial limitations. I think we could've maybe matched or bid a little lower on what he was going to get from a base, but I don't think we could've touched the incentives."

It is good to see that they considered the idea of signed Rodriguez. He isn't what he used to be but he would be a step up from what we have. JP also mentioned that that JP Arencibia would catch in Triple-A Las Vegas and Brian Jeroloman would be at Double-A New Hampshire.

I'm In Love With That Song: Game Recap - Jays 5, Reds 4

hugo — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:22:44 -0000

The Jays beat the Reds 5-4 this afternoon in Dunedin when Curtis Thigpen lead off the 10th inning with a home run. Nothing better than an extra-inning game winning HR, which made me think of the great song Alex Chilton, by the Replacements, from whence comes the title.

Brad Mills started today, and did a decent job. He gave up 2 runs in 4 innings on 4 hits and an unfortunate 4 walks. He wasn't helped when Joe Inglett, playing SS, was unable to turn a ground ball into a double play in the 4th inning. Mills had some trouble after that and ended up walking in a run. Mills was supposed to go 5 innings but ran out of pitches, so it wasn't an entirely successful outing. That said, Mills blanked the Reds until the 4th, and did limit the damage that inning, so it wasn't too bad. Torgen hypothesized that Mills will get sent to the minors after this start, and that wouldn't surprise me. As rince reported, the options for the rotation are paring down and it is looking like it's down to Casey Janssen, Matt Clement, and Scott Richmond, which to me it always did.

Dirk Hayhurst followed Mills and had yet another great inning, striking out the side around a Joey Votto double. In 7 innings, Dirk has given up 5 hits and no runs, and even better, has struck out 12 while walking no one. A great performance thusfar.

Jason Frasor came in after Hayhurst and wasn't good at all, giving up two runs on a couple of hits and walk. After Frasor, things got better. Shawn Camp, Brandon League, Jesse Carlson, and Adrian Martin all pitched scoreless innings. They were all good - Camp got two groundouts and had a K and no hits or walks, League walked one in his inning but struck out the side, Carlson gave up no hits/walks and had two strikeouts of his own, and Martin pitched the 10th inning for the win. Good to see League and Carlson out there and pitching effectively.

At the plate, Rince will be thrilled that his man Jason Lane hit yet another home run for his 4th of the spring. We already mentioned Thigpen's home run, but he also singled in the game. With Michael Barrett having another 0-fer, Thigpen could be making his case. Pitchers like throwing to him and he certainly hits better than Raul Chavez. I don't see the Jays going in that direction, though. Russ Adams had another hit and walk day, Travis Snider had a double, Jose Bautista had three hits, and Scott Campbell had a quality day at the plate with two singles, including his 7th RBI of the spring.

On defense, of course I didn't see it, but Barrett stopped an attempted larceny. We talked about Joe Inglett's difficulties at short, but they were nothing compared to Angel Sanchez, who made 3 errors, ugly.

Lord Knows I've Paid Some Dues Getting Through, Tangled Up in Blue: Spring Training Week 2 Report, the Hitters

hugo — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 20:56:10 -0000

The plot thickens and things get more tangled as spring training continues and guys keep competing against one another to get through to the major league roster - made me think of the line from the Dylan song.

Game Recap Rays and Jays

Tom Dakers — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:44:10 -0000

Jays 4 Rays 11

Well, it was getting boring talking about our great pitching. So today we get to talk about bad pitching. Matt Clement pitched 4 innings 2 doubles, walked 3, struck out 2 and gave up 2 runs. The 3 walks worry me more than the hits, it suggests to me that he was afraid to throw across the plate, he didn't trust his stuff. Brian Wolfe was terrible, getting only 1 out, giving up 3 hits, a walk and gave up 5 runs, 4 earned. You'd have to think he isn't going to make the team. Bryan Bullington pitched 1.2 innings, gave up 3 hits, 3 runs only 1 earned, 1 walk. Bill Murphy pitched the final 2 innings, gave up a solo homer, a walk and struck out 2.

Offensively Curtis Thigpen hit a homer. Moonraker (Travis Snider) went 1 for 4, the 1 being a 2 run double. Russ Adams was 1 for 1 with a double. Angel Sanchez, Ryan Patterson, Joe Inglett and Brian Dopirak each had a single.

Three Jays made errors Scott Campbell, Joe Inglett and Dopirak had one each.

Doc starts tomorrow against the Pirates tomorrow.

In other new, it looks like Dustin McGowan might not be back as early as we hoped. His recovery has been slowed by some 'soreness'.

Toronto indicated that McGowan might be ready to return to the rotation by May, but the team has since changed its stance, noting that his recovery might last deep into the season.

Ricky Romero and Jesse Litsch are to pitch 4 innings each in a Minor League spring game on Friday, because of all the pitchers in camp the Jays are using minor league games to get everyone work. Apparently BJ Ryan had a 6 pitch inning of work in one on Monday.

And I'm not the only one unhappy wiht Ernie Whitt's managing, Jeff Blair takes a run at it.

Game Recaps: Canada Loses to USA, Jays Beat Reds

Tom Dakers — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 23:18:35 -0000

Canada 5 USA 6

That was one great baseball game. It ended with us having the tying run on second and Jason Bay up. Bay flied out on the 8th pitch of the at bat. There were lots of home runs today; for Canada Joey Votto and Russell Martin each hit solo homers. For the US Kevin Youkilis had a sole shot and Brian McCann and JP's friend Adam Dunn had two run homers.

Mike Johnson started for Canada and pitched pretty good for the first 3 innings but gave up three runs in the 4th. Chris Begg came after him and gave up 2 runs in 1.1 innings. Chris Leroux, Phillippe Aumont and David Davidson pitched the last 2.2 without giving up a run. Aumont had an interesting inning, he gave up a double to Dustin Pedroia, a single to Jimmy Rollins and then walked Chipper Jones to load the bases, but he got out of it with a lineout from David Wright and strikeouts from Youkilis and Curtis Granderson.

Our offensive heroes were Votto who went 4 for 5 with the homer and Martin 2 for 3 and a walk, 3 runs and a homer. Jason Bay took 3 walks too. Less good were Matt Stairs 0 for 3 with 2 k's, Pete Orr was 0 for 4 (it rhymes) and Chris Barnwell 0 for 4.

All in all a good effort by Team Canada. We play the loser of tonight's Italy-Venezuela game on Monday. Scott Richmond will likely start that game. Great crowd at Skydome by the way, over 42,000 loud fans.

The big upset today was the Netherlands beat the Dominican Republic 3-2 early today.

Reds 2 Jays 7

Once again we got good pitching. I'm trying not to read too much into spring games, but does anyone else get the feeling our pitching isn't going to be so bad after all? Today, Jesse Litsch pitched the first 3 innings, gave up 3 hits, a walk, a run and struckout 2. Ricky Romero also went 3, gave up 3 hits, 2 walks, a run and struckout 5(!). Much beter than his first two times out there this spring. Dirk Hayhurst pitched 2 perfect innings striking out 4. Dirk still hasn't given up a run this spring. In 5 innings he's given up 3 hits and has struck out 8. If he keeps this up the rest of us are going to have jump on the band wagan with Hugo. Brian Wolfe pitched a perfect 9th.

Offensively, Jason Lane went 3 for 3 and is now hitting .500 this spring. Hugo would want me to mention, in the interest of fairness, that Kevin Millar hit a home run. I'd prefer to mention that he was 0 for 2 in his other at bats. Actually Millar has been good this spring too, hitting .364 so far. At least Lane is going to make it hard for the Jays to send him down.

Another favorite of ours, Scott Campbell was 2 for 4 with a 3 run triple. Travis Snider went 2 for 3 and has had a good spring so far with a .462 BA. Joe Inglett played short today and was 2 for 5. Since we didn't see the game I have no idea how he looked at short but he was part of a 1-6-3 double-play.

On the bad side our two catchers who played today each went 0 for 2, JP Arencibia still doesn't have a hit this spring and Curtis Thigpen is hitting .091 so far. Other posibles for the backup catcher spot Michael Barrett and Carlo Ruiz haven't had a good spring, so far, either. I'm not sure who is winnnig the battle at this point.

Jays play the Reds again tomorrow, David Purcey and Brett Cecil are to throw.

I Was Meant for the Stage: Spring Training Week 1 in Review, Position Players Version

hugo — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:17:33 -0000

So yesterday we took a look at the hurlers that the Jays invited to Spring Training and their competition for spots on the Jays and their various minor-league affiliates. Today, we'll focus on the position players and their progress thusfar. Again, I didn't include every single spring invitee, but I included most of them.