SB Nation - Francisco Samuel

Closers as synonym for Relievers

DanUpBaby — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 11:00:30 -0000

^^ is a closer.

The Matt Holliday Question—I like thinking of it that way, as though its ramifications for Singapore are about to be discussed in an unsigned piece in The Economist—has kept us from freaking out about the bullpen. In some ways this is a good thing; there's nothing less satisfying that worrying about The Bullpen Question, which is never answered to our satisfaction on a year-to-year basis. But with Holliday in Flux, we've got no choice. As a prompt, this headline from Ken Rosenthal: "Too many closers, not enough jobs":

For some closers, the free-agent game of musical chairs is not likely to end well...

Two more closers -- Pirates righty Matt Capps and Nationals righty Mike MacDougal -- became free agents when their respective teams declined to offer them salary arbitration.

The availability of the Padres' Heath Bell in trade only adds to the squeeze. Bell is more affordable than some of the closers on the open market...

Four teams already have found closers. The Braves signed left-hander Billy Wagner. The Orioles signed left-hander Mike Gonzalez. The Rays traded for righty Rafael Soriano and the Astros signed righty Brandon Lyon...

This article is why the term "closer" is worthless. I'm done trying to convince people any other way—no more decrying the overrated concept of "closing experience", of "the closer's mentality", of anything else that can be measured statistically. Mike MacDougal, Heath Bell, Billy Wagner, and Mike Gonzalez are all described here, by a well-regarded baseball reporter, as closers. If that is the case—then this term is completely without meaning.

Does labeling this set of relievers "closer" tell you anything more about them than labeling them relievers would? Just one thing: they have all pitched in the ninth inning for at least one season. This information is completely worthless.

That aside—this is not an extremely promising crop of relief pitchers. Jose Valverde is the best free agent, but as a Type A free agent who was offered arbitration he'd cost the Cardinals a draft pick. The Cardinals haven't been linked to Matt Capps's list of finalists, and that he's in such demand following a really ugly season—Jason Motte with fewer strikeouts and walks?—is condemnation enough of the remaining prospects. (Though, seriously, where are they on Kiko Calero? Where is everybody on Kiko Calero?)

For these prospects are, in grand La Russa/Duncan fashion, interesting-but. My favorite, and probably Duncan's favorite, is Mike MacDougal, but my interest is purely as a spectator; his fastball is awesome, his nickname is awesome, and he gets a ton of groundballs and doesn't give up any home runs, which would be awesome if he were still striking batters out. (Bizarre, possibly related Fangraphs fact: he almost totally stopped throwing his once-vaunted slider last year, going with the fastball more often than Jason Motte.) MacDougal's not likely to be a good reliever, and my taste in bad relievers aside he's of interest mostly as a Dave Duncan lottery ticket. But he's also a closer, so there's that.

What this means for the Cardinals is that barring a trade their improved bullpen will have to come from within. Is anybody here willing to nominate someone other than Motte as the bullpen savior in 2010? Relievers are so difficult to predict that I've almost stopped doing it; it's the last baseball territory in which my emotions are basically sovereign over my common sense, and it would definitely be my weakness if I were a GM. Francisco Samuel? Certainly this is the year he puts it all together, perhaps under the steady tutelage of a veteran closer like Mike MacDougal. Casey Mulligan? He's apparently got no stuff whatsoever, but he's dominated four levels in two years, so why not? Gary Daley? Well, he got to AAA, and he didn't walk 25 batters per nine innings this year.

I thought about ending this entry with a poll, but there are just too many choices, even though in the end my tastes run, conventionally, toward Mitchell Boggs, whose fastball looked nearly as good as Mike MacDougal's in the bullpen, and Eduardo Sanchez, the only blue-chip reliever left in the high minors. It's just that in the bullpen it's harder than any other corner of the roster to discount the possibility that someone who I was not counting on at all in March is carrying the team in July.

St. Louis Cardinals Top 20 Prospects for 2010

John Sickels — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 04:15:49 -0000

More photos » by Tom Gannam - AP

Blake Hawksworth, official winner of the 2009 Coolest Name In Major League Baseball Contest (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

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St. Louis Cardinals Top 20 Prospects for 2010.

All grades are EXTREMELY PRELIMINARY and subject to change. Don't get too worried about exact rankings at this point, especially once you get beyond the Top 10. Grade C+/C guys are pretty interchangeable depending on what you want to emphasize. Complete reports on these and over 1,000 other players will be in the 2010 Baseball Prospect Book, now available for pre-order, shipping on February 2^nd!

1) Shelby Miller, RHP, Grade B: I love the ceiling, but we need to see how he adapts to pro ball, if he can stay healthy, etc. etc.

2) Jaime Garcia, LHP, Grade B-; I like him and the Tommy John recovery looks like it went well, but I hope they let him build up his stamina rather than pushing him too quickly.

3) Lance Lynn, RHP, Grade B-: Projects as an inning-eater number three starter type. K/BB in the Texas League wasn't great, could use some Triple-A time.

4) Robert Stock, C, Grade B-: I preferred him as a pitcher in college, but letting him hit makes sense: if he makes it, you have a power-hitting catcher with good defense. If he doesn't hit, you just move him back to the mound. Could be one of the best catching prospects in the game by July.

5) Daryl Jones, OF, Grade B-: I keep expecting power to develop but there's no sign of it. Cutting him some slack on '09 numbers due to injuries.

6) Eduardo Sanchez, RHP, Grade B-: Underrated power arm needs more attention, could be a major league closer if command sharpens a bit more.

7) Allen Craig, OF, Grade B-: I really like the bat, just needs to play.

8) David Freese, 3B, Grade C+: Almost a B-, injury was badly timed, turns 27 in April, looks like a .270 hitter with 20 homer power, solid glove.

9) Jon Jay, OF, Grade C+: I just like the guy. Always seems to rip the ball when I see him. I'd love to have him as a fourth outfielder.

10) Joe Kelly, RHP, Grade C+: Nasty power sinking stuff, college results didn't match arm, this could/should change in pro ball but he was erratic in the NY-P, too, so maybe it won't.

11) Dan Descalso, 2B, Grade C+: He was great in the Texas League but went back to being mediocre after promotion.

12) Tyler Henley, OF, Grade C+. Similar to Jay....perhaps a bit more pop but a bit less speed, another guy who could be very good as a fourth outfielder.

13) Blake Hawksworth, RHP, Grade C: Deserves credit fighting back from injury. Can be a nice middle reliever.

14) Tyler Greene, SS, Grade C: Lots of speed, some power, good tools, still held back by spotty plate discipline. Could hit .280 with 20 homers some year, then .180 the next year.

15) Steven Hill, C-1B, Grade C: Remember Todd Greene? The short guy with tons of power who could play outfield, first base, catch a bit, but who couldn't draw walks? This is his clone.

16) Pete Kozma, SS, Grade C: If he'd gone to Wichita State, this would be his junior season. Too young to write off just yet.

17) Francisco Samuel, RHP, Grade C: Blistering stuff, with no idea where it's going.

18) Scott Bittle, RHP, Grade C: He could move through the system very quickly, if his arm doesn't disintegrate like the crew of the USS Exeter after being exposed to the Omega IV biological weapon virus.

19) Mark Hamilton, 1B, Grade C: Remember him? Looked like an injury-plagued bust but rebounded this year, got a place on the 40-man. Don't see how he fits in the lineup other than as trade bait.

20) Tyler Norrick, LHP, Grade C: Another 40-man roster addition, power lefty arm with a high strikeout rate.

OTHERS (All Grade C): Matt Adams, 1B; Nick Additon, LHP; Bryan Anderson, C; Adron Chambers, OF; Kyle Conley, OF; Roberto De La Cruz, 3B; Scott Gorgen, RHP; Trey Hearne, RHP; Virgil Hill, OF; Ben Jukich, LHP; Blake King, RHP; David Kopp, RHP; Casey Mulligan, RHP; Adam Ottavino, RHP; Tommy Pham, OF; Adam Reifer, RHP; Shane Robinson, OF; Fernando Salas, RHP; Scott Schneider, RHP; Niko Vasquez, INF; P.J. Walters, RHP.

Trades and graduations thinned this system out fast compared to last year, however, I actually like it better than these grades imply.

Shelby Miller and Robert Stock could both be B+ or A- prospects a year from now, once we get a full season of data to look at. Garcia and Lynn could both be in the starting rotation in 2011 and both have a reasonable chance to be very good pitchers. Sanchez has closer potential. Jones, Craig, and Freese could all develop into regular players under the right circumstances and at worst could be good role players, while Jay, Descalso, Henley, Greene, and Hill could all be useful if deployed properly. Jon Jay remains a personal favorite for reasons that I find hard to quantify.

There is a large batch of arms who could be very good relievers if they throw strikes (Kelly, Samuel, Norrick, King, Reifer) as well as an assortment of pitchability types.

The system needs more impact talent, but Miller and Stock should help provide that, and there's a huge batch of Grade C depth. There were about 10 other guys I could easily have written up as Grade C prospects with potential.

Rule 5: You do talk about the Rule 5 draft

DanUpBaby — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:00:18 -0000

Nothing exemplifies the Hot Stove season quite like worrying about the Rule 5 draft. Most of the players don't stick it out all year; most of the ones that do are eventually traded for Ronnie Belliard or Blaine Boyer; and most of the time it would be completely absurd to spend time thinking about this. Fangraphs won't return my calls, but according to my new WARP/seconds-in-your-limited-lifespan converter most of these guys peak around fifteen, twenty seconds. (Brian Barton, simply because his nickname was briefly "Enunciate It", broke the curve at forty-five.)

But it is November, and I already did a VEB Theater, and though it kills me to say it there is no baseball going on at Busch Stadium. So let us take solace in the dim light of this good news: the Cardinals will probably not lose a useful player to the Rule 5 draft this year. In approximate order of near-term usefulness:

ALLEN CRAIG
WHY WE SHOULDN'T BE THINKING ABOUT HIM: He doesn't really have a position; he's a minor league slugger who played in the PCL, so his numbers are vaguely suspicious; he strikes out too much and doesn't walk enough.
WHY WE WILL ANYWAY: He's looking more likely every day to spend significant time in left field in 2010, and there's a non-zero chance that he has a hot month while David Freese burns and Tony La Russa is suddenly convinced he can play third. He's never crushed a league, but he's also been extremely consistent level to level—in his three full seasons he's always hit .300, always hit 20 home runs, and always managed an OBP over .365. If the Cardinals find a left-handed outfielder they're comfortable with he is the ideal short side of a platoon.

JON JAY
WHY WE SHOULDN'T BE THINKING ABOUT HIM: He might be the platonic representative of the Cardinals' more conservative draft inclinations—he's almost guaranteed to be a likable fourth outfielder, but he's almost guaranteed not to be a likable third outfielder.
WHY WE WILL ANYWAY: He cowrote the Federalist Papers, and every dollar the Cardinals don't have to spend on a fourth outfielder who can play great defense and get on base a little is a dollar they can spend on the player who is consigning him to the bench. If pressed into service on a full-time basis he probably wouldn't hit much worse than Harold Ramis did last year, although the only thing we have to suggest his defense would be as good—I have the distinct impression that he was drafted as a defensive "tweener"—are a year and a half of minor league numbers.

ADAM OTTAVINO
WHY WE SHOULDN'T BE THINKING ABOUT HIM: His career minor league ERA is 4.15, and his career minor league BB/9 is even higher. In the high minors he's basically been Todd Wellemeyer.
WHY WE WILL ANYWAY: He's a first rounder, so we have to think about him, up to and including the moment in which he crushes our dreams. We were only allowed to stop thinking about Chance Caple last June. In addition to that, Ottavino's always been a Stuff Guy, and not a Results Guy; this is good for him, and bad for us. lboros's expert scouting report set me back about three years, as far as forgetting about him as a front-line guy goes.

In any case, he's too good a Rule 5 pick to not put him here. He's exactly the kind of starter who gets drafted, pitches fifty innings for a non-contender in the Brad Thompson role, and spends a third of the season on a rehab assignment for Rule 5 Syndrome. In fact, if he were playing for another team, we would be including him on a list of players for whom the Cardinals should dump Brad Thompson on the eve of the Rule 5 draft.

TYLER NORRICK
WHY WE SHOULDN'T BE THINKING ABOUT HIM: The Cardinals have Trever Miller and the Diner signed through 2010, so for once we don't need to worry about LOOGY free talent. He walked nearly seven batters per nine innings last year.
WHY WE WILL ANYWAY: He's probably better than Carmen Cali. Against lefties, his strikeouts-to-hits ratio was 2.5, which is awesome. His first name is Floyd, which is awesome, too.

DARYL JONES
WHY WE SHOULDN'T BE THINKING ABOUT HIM: He followed up 2008's breakout campaign with a breakdown campaign, treading water in AA Springfield. He's not a good 2010 option, even though we were hoping he would be.
WHY WE WILL ANYWAY: He's DJ Tools! He runs like a gazelle! He leaps like a gazelle! He no longer hits like a gazelle! He's the top hitting prospect on a team that doesn't have any, and he's got a skill-set that's become more popular in the outfield corners in recent years. He's not nearly as MLB-ready as Brian Barton was, but somebody might grab him anyway.

BRYAN ANDERSON
WHY WE SHOULDN'T BE THINKING ABOUT HIM: I don't think anybody's thought about him since last March.
WHY WE WILL ANYWAY: You remember Charles Cutler, who we all watched fly up the prospect lists this year with a great high-average low-power season in the low minors? Bryan Anderson is five months younger than Charles Cutler. Anderson was rushed through the system, but until going down with injuries this year he had displayed his one tool, hitting for average, at every spot. So far he's stuck at catcher.

He probably shouldn't be Molina's back-up this year, if the Cardinals have any long-term plans for him—because he's still only 23—but he's interesting enough at a position where offense is at such a premium that if keeping him on the roster were contingent to, ah, keeping him on the roster, some club would do it.

FRANCISCO SAMUEL
WHY WE SHOULDN'T BE THINKING ABOUT HIM: Adam Ottavino's career walk rate, which is a concern, is a little more than half of Francisco Samuel's walk rate. I have nothing else to say about that.
WHY WE WILL ANYWAY: It takes exactly two good weeks for our opinion to change about middle relievers, and the Cardinals traded every single righty relief prospect who was ahead of him on the depth chart before 2009.

MARK HAMILTON
WHY WE SHOULDN'T BE THINKING ABOUT HIM:

WHY WE WILL ANYWAY: After threatening to join Mike Ferris in the annals of great college sluggers who didn't do anything in the Cardinals system he was nearly as impressive as Allen Craig in an abbreviated season spent between AA and AAA. It seems like we've been thinking about Hamilton a lot longer, but they're the same age, and Hamilton's hitting prowess is less BA dependent. He might be the most underappreciated player in the Cardinals' system.

If something were to happen to—no. No. For the Cardinals Hamilton will never, ever, ever, ever play regularly, ever, don't even consider the possibility, but for another team in the Rule 5 draft he could be Chris Shelton.

2009 MLB Futures PITCHf/x

Harry Pavlidis — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:00:12 -0000

The kids were out to play Sunday night in St. Louis. Some live arms and hard to classify breaking stuff a'plenty (slider? curveball?).

Pitch types and some stats after the jump...click the headers to sort,

pitcher	cfx	#	vs LHH	vs RHH	MPH	PFX_X	PFX_Z	DEG	RPM
Brad Lincoln	Curveball	2	1	1	82.3	5.5	-9.8	29.5	2,053.2
Brad Lincoln	Fastball	12	8	4	94.7	-5.4	7.0	217.9	1,881.2
Brian Matusz	Change	5	0	5	84.0	4.8	6.1	141.7	1,466.6
Brian Matusz	Sinker	4	0	4	93.3	5.9	7.7	142.4	2,029.2
Brian Matusz	Fastball	4	1	3	94.4	2.9	9.5	163.5	2,072.5
Casey Kelly	Curveball	2	2	0	82.9	4.9	-5.8	40.6	1,413.5
Casey Kelly	Sinker	1	1	0	93.4	-8.7	3.3	249.4	1,931.1
Casey Kelly	Fastball	6	5	1	94.1	-6.5	7.5	221.0	2,087.7
Chia-Jen Lo	Curveball	4	0	4	74.7	5.5	-10.0	29.2	1,877.0
Chia-Jen Lo	Fastball	16	5	11	94.0	-4.6	7.9	209.9	1,915.9
Chris Tillman	Change	3	1	2	82.2	-7.7	7.2	226.8	1,937.8
Chris Tillman	Curveball	4	0	4	80.1	1.2	-10.1	6.8	1,805.4
Chris Tillman	Fastball	18	1	17	94.7	-5.6	8.2	214.0	2,092.8
Danny Duffy	Change	1	1	0	84.1	9.4	4.9	117.5	1,986.5
Danny Duffy	Curveball	2	1	1	74.2	-6.6	-8.6	322.5	1,772.7
Danny Duffy	Fastball	6	3	3	93.3	2.3	9.7	166.6	2,081.5
Francisco Samuel	Fastball	9	6	3	97.0	-8.5	5.8	235.1	2,247.5
Francisco Samuel	Slider	5	0	5	89.4	0.1	1.6	156.3	483.8
Jarrod Parker	Curveball	1	0	1	83.2	1.7	-2.8	31.0	598.1
Jarrod Parker	Fastball	3	0	3	96.4	-7.4	7.2	226.1	2,210.2
Jhoulys Chacin	Change	4	3	1	85.9	-5.4	3.0	242.3	1,191.8
Jhoulys Chacin	Curveball	4	3	1	81.7	6.1	-3.6	60.7	1,329.9
Jhoulys Chacin	Sinker	4	3	1	91.6	-7.6	0.1	270.0	1,585.5
Jhoulys Chacin	Fastball	4	4	0	94.0	-3.7	5.4	213.9	1,367.2
Juan Carlos Sulbaran	Change	5	3	2	82.9	-11.3	5.7	243.2	2,314.8
Juan Carlos Sulbaran	Sinker	12	11	1	91.0	-8.4	5.8	235.1	2,078.6
Juan Carlos Sulbaran	Fastball	2	0	2	92.2	-3.2	8.7	199.5	1,926.1
Kyle Drabek	Change	1	1	0	84.5	-6.5	0.5	265.5	1,221.2
Kyle Drabek	Curveball	2	1	1	82.7	-0.7	-5.5	349.4	1,024.5
Kyle Drabek	Fastball	6	2	4	95.9	-6.3	7.5	220.1	2,079.9
Leyson Septimo	Change	3	0	3	86.7	8.8	1.9	102.4	1,727.9
Leyson Septimo	Sinker	1	0	1	95.6	7.1	3.1	113.3	1,655.0
Leyson Septimo	Fastball	6	1	5	95.9	6.4	6.5	135.4	1,948.5
Leyson Septimo	Slider	5	3	2	84.0	-2.5	0.3	258.1	512.5
Luis Perez	Change	2	0	2	83.1	7.3	1.0	98.5	1,363.5
Luis Perez	Curveball	4	2	2	81.0	-4.3	-3.1	309.2	1,019.8
Luis Perez	Sinker	6	4	2	91.9	9.6	1.5	99.3	1,979.0
Luis Perez	Fastball	5	1	4	92.2	8.0	4.6	120.0	1,894.6
Mat Latos	Curveball	1	0	1	83.4	0.7	-3.8	10.0	708.1
Mat Latos	Fastball	7	2	5	96.4	-4.8	9.2	207.6	2,226.8
Neftali Feliz	Change	3	3	0	89.7	-10.5	2.7	255.1	2,167.5
Neftali Feliz	Curveball	2	0	2	80.6	3.0	-2.9	45.9	749.2
Neftali Feliz	Fastball	17	12	5	99.4	-9.0	7.2	230.9	2,544.1
Trevor Reckling	Change	3	0	3	82.5	7.0	4.4	122.1	1,526.6
Trevor Reckling	Fastball	9	2	7	91.4	6.5	7.2	137.7	1,962.5
Trevor Reckling	Cutter	1	0	1	90.2	2.0	7.5	165.3	1,550.0
Trevor Reckling	Slider	5	2	3	82.2	-3.3	-2.9	308.0	833.1
Yohan Flande	Change	1	0	1	85.8	2.5	8.5	163.9	1,673.6
Yohan Flande	Fastball	6	2	4	91.4	1.3	6.3	168.7	1,332.0
Yohan Flande	Slider	5	0	5	84.1	-1.5	1.3	225.3	493.2

Here are the 14 fastest pitches from the Futures Game, all courtesy of Neftali Feliz.

Yikes. And his change-up is about 90 mph.

I'll leave you with some stats.

pitcher	#	Swing	Whiff	B:CS	In Wide Zone	Chase	Watch	SLGCON	GB
Brad Lincoln	14	0.5000	0.1429	2.5000	0.7857	0.0000	0.3636	1.3333	0.3333
Brian Matusz	13	0.5385	0.2857		0.3846	0.2500	0.0000	0.0000	1.0000
Casey Kelly	9	0.4444	0.0000	1.5000	0.6667	0.0000	0.3333	0.0000	0.3333
Chia-Jen Lo	20	0.2000	0.2500	14.0000	0.4500	0.0000	0.4444	0.0000	0.5000
Chris Tillman	25	0.4400	0.0909	5.5000	0.4800	0.2308	0.3333	0.5000	1.0000
Danny Duffy	9	0.3333	0.3333	4.0000	0.5556	0.0000	0.2000	0.0000	1.0000
Francisco Samuel	14	0.3571	0.4000		0.3571	0.2222	0.4000	2.0000	0.0000
Jarrod Parker	4	0.2500	0.0000	2.0000	0.7500	0.0000	0.6667	0.0000	0.0000
Jhoulys Chacin	16	0.5000	0.7500	7.0000	0.3750	0.3000	0.1667	0.0000	1.0000
Juan Carlos Sulbaran	19	0.3684	0.2857	11.0000	0.3158	0.2308	0.3333	0.0000	0.0000
Kyle Drabek	9	0.4444	0.2500	1.5000	0.5556	0.5000	0.6000	0.0000	0.5000
Leyson Septimo	15	0.4667	0.7143	1.6667	0.4000	0.3333	0.3333	1.0000	1.0000
Luis Perez	17	0.4706	0.3750	1.2500	0.7059	0.4000	0.5000	1.2000	0.2000
Mat Latos	8	0.5000	0.2500	1.0000	0.6250	0.3333	0.4000	0.0000	0.6667
Neftali Feliz	22	0.5000	0.3636	2.6667	0.5000	0.4545	0.4545	0.0000	0.0000
Trevor Reckling	18	0.5000	0.1111	2.0000	0.4444	0.4000	0.3750	1.0000	0.7500
Yohan Flande	12	0.6667	0.2500	3.0000	0.6667	0.2500	0.1250	0.5000	0.5000

Up next, New Arms of the Week, big league style.

Monday Pebble Report: Chacin and Young impress at Futures Game, Arenado debuts

Rox Girl — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:39:09 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

Tip your cap and take a bow, EY2, you did good.

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Futures Game:

While Rockies prospects tend to underwhelm at their league All-Star contests, the Futures Game often seems to bring out their best. This was the case yesterday as the only chink in Jhoulys Chacin's inning of work was organization-mate Eric Young Jr's walk. Chacin struck out two of the other batters he faced and got his standard groundout for the third. EY2, for his part, also hit a home run off of Francisco Samuel. Chacin's world team wound up winning 7-5 over Young and the U.S. team.

Colorado Springs: L 0-5

No Matt Murton and no EY2, makes Sky Sox lineup sad. Sad Sky Sox.

Brandon Hynick had a start that was somewhere in the borderlands between meh (only 75 pitches to record 17 outs) and bleh (eight hits, four runs), so let's just call it mleh and leave it.

Tulsa: L 4-5

On the morning of Independence Day, Darin Holcomb had a slash line of .245/.300/.318 for the season. One seven game hit streak since, wherein he's gone 14 for 25 with three doubles and three home runs, the third of which he hit in last night's loss, has him now at .273/.349/.394. It's going to be interesting to see where he goes from here, as when he's on, his bat is one of the best in the Rockies minor leagues. It's just been dormant so long, since late last summer, really, that like a lawnmower engine left idle over the winter, it seems like it might be tricky to keep it running at first.

Chaz Roe gave up three dingers.

Modesto: W 3-1

Cory Riordan must have been grateful he held out for those eight solid innings last night as his Nuts teammates finally got his back with a three run rally right after Riordan finished his work for the evening, earning him the much deserved W. In that bottom of the eighth with the Nuts trailing one nil and one out, Maikol Gonzalez singled, Wilin Rosario followed with a double. After an intentional walk to Rhadames Nazario to load the bases, Michael Mitchell did what the opposition wanted with a grounder to short, but apparently the needed DP was not in order and the Mavericks could only retire Mitchell at first. Gonzalez scored and Rosario and Nazario moved up, setting up a duel between pitcher Donald Hume and the Nuts best hitter, Charlie Blackmon. Blackmon won by lining a two run triple to center. Craig Baker came on and struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 23rd save of the season.

Scott Beerer gets a spotlight on his transition from the mound back to the field in this article at MiLB.com. The article's an interesting read as it casts the Rockies organization as a sort of Mephistopholes who control the very souls of their minor league players:

The fact that the Rockies refused to release Beerer put him in limbo, as he wasn't able pursue a hitting career with another organization. So he joined the "real world," training to be an EMT in his native California while working nights as a bartender and bouncer. But, of course, he didn't give up his dream.

Mwahaha... I'm glad that Beerer's back and getting more of a challenge now at Modesto. It will be interesting to see what he makes of it.

Asheville: Did not play

Tri-City: L 1-2

The Dust Devils are still adjusting to prohibition, err... life without Beerer, and without Mike Zuanich. They got a lot of walks yesterday, but didn't have the muscle to drive the runs home. Pitchers Josh Hungerman, Kyle Walker and Craig Bennigson did well.

Casper: L 3-7

Kyle Hancock really is pitching better than his 0-3 record and 8.84 ERA indicates, his last two starts have seen him give up two and three runs respectively, rather than the eight and six he put up in his first two starts. He's still having mostly clean innings with one blow up thrown in somewhere, in yesterday's case a three run second wherein he gave up all four of his allowed hits and one of his two walks. The blow-ups still count, but this should be a lot more fixable than a pitcher that's just consistently bad. I'm actually somewhat optimistic with him.

Edwar Cabrera, in the meantime, is a bit more perplexing. Somewhere in his journey from the Dominican to Casper in each of the last couple of years he's transitioned from Roger Clemens to Roger Rabbit (that was a Woody Paige type of joke in case you didn't notice, see anybody can make them) as last night in his second 2009 stateside game he retired just one batter in relief of Hancock, but gave up three hits including a home run, a walk and two runs in total.

Second round draft selection Nolan Arenado made his debut as DH and got a single. Arenado probably supplants David Kandilas (who hasn't been getting much playing time in a sign of how raw he still is, so is the 1 for 18 start. This one's going to take a couple of years before we really start seeing a return) as the top position player prospect with the Ghosts.