SB Nation User Blog: Zephon

Samurai Baseball

Zephon — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 04:01:26 -0000

Samurai Baseball

This is so cool! Can't explain, you just need to watch it.

The Draft Pick Signing thread

Zephon — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 20:58:27 -0000

With the 2009 draft signing deadline approaching us on the 17th, I thought it'd be appropriate to list off those who have and haven't signed with us. Special thanks to the DBBP for the list.

Round Overall Player Position School State Team

1 16 Bobby Borchering 3B Bishop Verot HS, Fort Myers, Fla. Fla. -Missoula
1 17 A.J. Pollock OF Notre Dame Ind. - South Bend
1s 35 Matt Davidson 1B Yucaipa (Calif.) HS Calif. - Yakima
1s 41 Chris Owings SS Gilbert (S.C.) HS S.C. - Missoula
1s 45 Michael Belfiore OF/P Boston College Mass. - Missoula
2 60 Eric Smith RHP Rhode Island R.I. - Missoula
2 64 Marc Krauss OF Ohio Ohio - South Bend
3 95 Keon Broxton 3B Santa Fe (Fla.) CC Fla. - Missoula
4 126 David Nick SS Cypress (Calif.) HS Calif. - Missoula
5 156 Ryan Wheeler 1B Loyola Marymount Calif. - Yakima
6 186 Bradin Hagens RHP Merced (Calif.) JC Calif. - Missoula
7 216 Matt Helm 3B Hamilton HS, Chandler, Ariz. Ariz.
8 246 Paul Goldschmidt 1B Texas State Texas - Missoula
9 276 Chase Anderson RHP Oklahoma Okla. - Missoula
10 306 Tyson Van Winkle C Gonzaga Calif. - Yakima
11 336 Richard Allen RHP Lyman HS, Longwood, Fla. Fla. -Missoula
12 366 Charles Brewer RHP UCLA Calif. - Missoula
13 396 Patrick Schuster LHP Mitchell HS, New Port Richey, Fla. Fla. -Missoula
14 426 Brent Greer SS Western Carolina N.C. - Yakima
15 456 David Narodowski SS Kansas Kan.- Missoula
16 486 Ryan Robowski LHP Ohio Dominican Ohio - Missoula
17 516 Andrew Wolcott RHP Duke N.C. - Yakima
18 546 Roidany Aguila C Colegio Nuestra Senora de la Providencia HS, Rio Piedras, P.R. - Missoula
19 576 Randy Hamrick SS Brewton-Parker (Ga.) Ga. - Yakima
20 606 Adam Worthington RHP Illinois-Chicago Ill. - Missoula
21 636 Daniel Taylor RHP Central Michigan Mich. - Yakima
22 666 Evan Button SS Mississippi Miss. - Yakima
23 696 Christopher Odegaard RHP Minnesota State-Mankato Minn. -Yakima
24 726 Brad Gemberling RHP Princeton N.J. - Yakima
25 756 Taylor Wrenn SS Manatee (Fla.) JC Fla.
26 786 Daniel Kaczrowski SS Hamline (Minn.) Minn.- Yakima
27 816 Jake Hale RHP Ohio State Ohio -Yakima
28 846 Brian Budrow RHP Utah Utah - Yakima
29 876 Jacob Williams 1B Brophy Prep, Scottsdale, Ariz. Ariz.
30 906 Jack Marder SS Newbury Park (Calif.) HS Calif.
31 936 Keith Cantwell RHP Seton Hall N.J. - Missoula
32 966 Will Harvill RHP Georgia Ga. - Yakima
33 996 Brad Wilson RHP Cal Poly Pomona Calif. - Yakima
34 1026 Patrick Cooper RHP Des Moines Area JC Iowa
35 1056 Zach Morgan RHP Shasta (Calif.) JC Calif.
36 1086 Mike Freeman SS Clemson S.C.
37 1116 Chris Jenkins OF Westchester (Calif.) HS Calif.
38 1146 Trevon Prince LHP (No School) Calif.
39 1176 Ryan Jones OF Wichita State Kan.
40 1206 Tim Sherlock OF Duke N.C. - Yakima
41 1236 Cade Kreuter 3B Hart HS, Newhall, Calif. Calif.
42 1266 Zach Hendrix 2B Emerald Ridge HS, Puyallup, Wash. Wash.
43 1296 Brooklyn Foster C Walnut Grove SS, Langley, B.C.
44 1326 Zach Varnell C Arkansas-Pine Bluff Ark. - Yakima
45 1356 Beau Amaral OF Huntington Beach (Calif.) HS Calif.
46 1386 Matt Ozanne OF Notre Dame Prep, Scottsdale, Ariz. Ariz.
47 1416 Mario Gallardo LHP West Los Angeles JC Calif.
48 1446 Juan Avila OF Narbonne HS, Harbor City, Calif. Calif.
49 1476 Jordan Luvisi OF Notre Dame Prep, Scottsdale, Ariz. Ariz.
50 1506 Frank Abbl RHP Mesa (Ariz.) CC Ark.

*players signed in bold

I would say the Dbacks have done well, signing 10 of their first 11 picks, and 34 out of their 55 picks signed. I wouldn't worry too much about Borchering not signing yet. From what I hear, Borchering is more than likely going to sign once the deadline gets closer.

Nick Piecoro / The Arizona Republic

Diamondbacks scouting director Tom Allison would like nothing more than to have news on his top pick, third baseman Bobby Borchering but instead said negotiations are in a holding pattern.

"It's kind of been 'hurry up and wait' so far," Allison said. "It's a matter of wait and see."

The Diamondbacks have offered Borchering, the No. 16 overall pick out of a Fort Myers, Fla., high school, a deal that includes a $1.5 million signing bonus. The club gave outfielder A.J. Pollock, the No. 17 overall pick, a $1.4 million bonus last month.

Allison noted that waiting to sign until the deadline - which this year is Aug. 17 - has become the rule rather than the exception.

"It's the process more than the player or the adviser," he said. "Only 12 guys in the first round have signed and it's July 24. That's the reality. And the guy it hurts the most is the high school position player."

Allison would like Borchering to be getting experience in rookie ball in advance of his first full season next year in Class A.

DFA Augie Ojeda

Zephon — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:14:00 -0000

Why?

Augie is hitting 220/314/299 this season, to the tune of a 613 OPS

His career batting line is 232/318/308, 626 OPS

He's 34, he sucks, and is on the decline. He's dead weight.

DFA him, and call up a guy like rusty ryal.

That is all.

Fangraphs: Chris "K" Young

Zephon — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:48:06 -0000

Fangraphs: Chris "K" Young

An interesting article on Chris Young, basically suggesting that Chris Young has been very unlucky. Worth a read.

A rough analysis of Brandon Allen

Zephon — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:51:10 -0000

As per Skin's suggestion, i'm reposting this.

Brandon Allen was born in Conroe, Texas on February 12, 1986. He throws right and bats left handed. He’s 6’2 236 pounds. Drafted out of high school by the Chicago White Sox in the 5th round of the 2004 draft, Allen was considered a very raw prospect, but with a lot of offensive potential.

Allen was assigned to rookie level Bristol in the Appalachian League. He had a very difficult transition to professional level baseball, batting .205/.280/.314 in 185 at bats, with 38 hits, 9 doubles, a triple, and three home runs with 60 strike outs to 16 walks.

In 2005, Allen was assigned to Great Falls in the Pioneer League and fared better, boosting his batting line to a much more respectable .264/.366/.472 in 231 abs, with 11 doubles, 2 triples, and 11 hrs. His plate discipline improved, striking out 69 times, while drawing 32 walks.

2006 was Allen’s first taste of full season leagues and he struggled. Assigned to low-A Kannapolis in the Sally League, Allen struggled in his 427 at bats, hitting .213/.257/.380 with 17 doubles, 2 triples, and 15 home runs. His plate discipline vanished, striking out 126 times while drawing only 22 walks.

Allen’s second go at the Sally League was much better. In 516 abs, Allen hit .283/.337/.483, with 39 doubles, 5 triples, and 19 home runs. His plate disciple was still pretty bad, but 124 strike outs and 39 walks was an improvement.

He was assigned to Hi-A Winston-Salem in the Carolina League for the beginning of the 2008 season, and improved on his 2007 season on every level: in 319 ABS, Allen hit .279/.372/.527 with 26 doubles, 4 triples, and 15 home runs. His plate discipline was even better with 41 walks to 83 ks.

Allen was then promoted to AA Birmingham, and hit .275/.358/.614 in 173 abs, with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 13 HRS, and a 19:41 k:bb ratio.

Allen started out in AA Birmingham this year, and in 241 ABS he hit .290/.372/.452, with 12 doubles, 3 triples, 7 HRS, with a 30:47 k:bb ratio.

He was promoted to AAA Charlotte, and in 61 abs he hit .262/.262/.377, 4 doubles and home run. He had 13 strikeouts and no walks. I wouldn’t make much of judgement on Allen based on his 61 ABS with Charlotte, since we’re only halfway through the season, and there’s always that small sample size problem.

If you look at Brandon Allen’s Walk%, K%, and Isolated slugging, you should notice something. You’ll see a walk percentage that’s doubled, 5.3% in 2006 to 11% the last two years. You’ll see a K% that’s improved from 31% to 21%. You’ll see that his ISO in the last 3 years has jumped a 100 points each year. I see a player that’s obviously very raw, but his numbers show that he is still improving and growing as a player. He’s not a sure thing, but there’s a chance that he can be a first basemen that’s above average offensively. I see a player that could regularly put up an OPS over .800 on regular basis. Maybe higher.

I really dislike my writing at the moment, but eh, it gets my point across. Allen is trending upwards, and Pena isn’t. Also, 6 years of a possibly above average first basemen is worth a lot more in terms of value than 3 years of an above average relief pitcher, which Tony Pena isn’t.

What it's like to face Randy Johnson

Zephon — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:37:40 -0000

What it's like to face Randy Johnson

Struggling Mets Combine To Form Carlos Voltron

Zephon — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:01:22 -0000

Struggling Mets Combine To Form Carlos Voltron

Maybe the dbacks should have tried this in July and August?

Cheesecake pictures of Jessica Alba

Zephon — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 01:38:57 -0000

As requested, my mom's recipe for cheesecake.

Candy's 20 Dollar Cheesecake

Filling
3 Large Eggs
2 packages of Cream Cheese, softened
8 oz container of ricotta cheese
8 oz container of sour cream
1 cans sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon Vanilla

Crust
1 14 ounce box of graham cracker crumbs
1 and 1/4 sticks of butter, melted.
1/2 cup sugar

Combine graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar. Press into the bottoms and sides of a spring form pan.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Add condensed milk and continue mixing.
Combine softened cream cheese, sour cream, and ricotta cheese and mix until well blended. Add Cream cheese mixture to the egg mixture, and blend thoroughly. Add sugar and vanilla. Continue blending until the mixture is light and foamy.

Pour batter on top of crust.

Place the spring form pan in another baking pan, and fill with water about half way up. (I'd suggest wrapping the sides of the spring form pan with aluminum foil to prevent leaking)

Bake at 350 for about an hour, or until the filling has set.

Let cool, and enjoy!

Wes Roemer + Barry Enright

Zephon — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:41:20 -0000

Before I begin, I must say that I’m rather disappointed with the lack of commentary on my last article on Peter Clifford and Evan Frey. I understand that it was a bit long, and perhaps a little too in depth, and that might have scared some people off. I do put a lot of time and effort into writing these articles, and even if you have nothing to add, a simple "nice article" or "keep up the good work" would be greatly appreciated. Or hell, if it’s too long and lengthy, let me know. I did get some much needed constructive criticism from Baseball Musing's David Pinto. I think his advice should really help me improve my writing, so I thought I'd just give his site a plug.

Today I'm going to look at two pitchers who you'll often find right next to each other: Wes Roemer and Barry Enright.

Physical Description and Background

Wes Roemer was born on October 7, 1986 in Glendora, CA. He's listed at 6'0 in height, and weighing 205lb. He throws and bats right handed. He attended Cal State-Fullerton for three years before being selected by the Diamondbacks in supplemental 1st round with 50th overall pick in the 2007 draft.

Barry Enright was born March 30, 1987 in Stockton, Ca. He's listed as 6'3, weighing 220 Lbs. He throws and bats right handed. He attended Pepperdine University for three years before being selected by the Diamondbacks in 2nd round with the 73rd overall pick in the 2007 draft.

Pitch Selection and Stuff

Roemer is a command-and-feel right-hander who fires fastballs in the 89-90 mph range, though he can reach back for 91-92 on occasion. Roemer has excellent command of his slider and can back-door it, making it an excellent out pitch for left-handed hitters. He commands his changeup well, keeping it down in the zone. Roemer is an extremely good competitor and goes right after hitters.

Enright can touch 91 mph, but sits comfortably at 88-89 mph. Enright features a slider at 79-80 mph that has late bite. It's not a plus pitch, but it's enough to keep hitters honest. Enright has a good feel for a changeup. Pitchability is Enright's best tool. He locates his fastball to both sides of the plate. He pounds the zone, down in the zone when he's on, and pitches to contact. Enright is a good competitor who’s not afraid of tough matchups and goes right after hitters.

College Statistics

Unlike my previous article, I won’t go into nearly as much detail on each individual season in college; instead I'll look at their overall statistics.

Wes Roemer pitched very well in college, showing great control. In 389 innings pitched he struck out 344 while walking only 44 batters with a cumulative ERA of 3.40. If you look at just his overall performance, you'll miss his outstanding 2006 season: 13-2 with 2.38 ERA with a .86 WHIP and 145 strikeouts to just seven walks in a career high 155 innings pitched. He had 3 complete games, two of which were shut outs. He had 9 complete games throughout his collegiate career. It's worth noting his increase in strikeouts per nine innings from 7.10 to 8.42 to 9.38.

Barry Enright had 211 strike outs to 62 walks in 352.2 Inning pitched with an era of 3.44 ERA. If you look at just Enright's overall performance in college, you'll over look the clear improvement that he made each year in ERA, WHIP, Inning pitched, BB:K, K per 9, and BB per 9. His last year in college was outstanding: 12-5 with 1.99 ERA with 91 strike outs to 14 walks with a 1.00 WHIP.

Minor League Statistics

Roemer made his professional debut pitching for rookie ball Yakima in the Northwestern league. Although he only appeared in 8 games and pitched 12 innings, his results were kind of mixed. His strike out to walk ratio was excellent: 18 k's to just 2 walks. He gave up 11 hits, one HR, and 6 earned runs. His ERA was 4.50 with a 1.08 WHIP.

Enright made his professional debut with Yakima, pitched eight innings, was promoted to South Bend where he pitched for two innings, and was then promoted again to Visalia where he pitched for 5 innings. Overall he pitched 15 innings, giving up 8 hits, an unearned run, struck out 17 batters while walking 5. His ERA was 0.00, with a .87 WHIP.

This year both players have been assigned to Hi-A Visalia in the California League.

In 121.2 innings pitched, Roemer has a 4.51 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, and has stuck out 87, while walking 28. He's given up 147 hits, 18 HRS, and 64 earned runs. He's also hit 9 batters and uncorked 3 wild pitches.

In 121.1 innings pitched, Enright has a 4.75 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, and has struck out 103 batters while walking 29. He's given up 146 hits, 11 HRS, and 64 earned runs. He's hit 2 batters and uncorked 6 wild pitches.

The two players aren't that far from each other in innings pitched, ERA, BBs, Hits, and earned runs. However, Roemer has a better ERA, but Enright has more strike outs, a better K:BB ratio, and has given up fewer home runs.

Once you look at Batting Average On Ball In Play (BABIP) and Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP), you get the whole picture. Enright has a FIP of 3.38 and a .364 BABIP which indicates that his ERA has largely been the result of bad luck and poor defense. Roemer's 4.68 FIP and .289 BABIP suggest that he's actually pitched worse than his ERA would suggest, and that he's been a bit lucky.

Wrap Up

Obviously the results aren't as exciting as the team's front office would have hoped, but you do have to take in account that the California League is a hitter's league with some of the most hitter friendly parks in all of baseball. Neither player has logged a lot of time in the minors yet, nor has either pitched at the higher levels. It'll be interesting to see how they do in the much more pitching friendly environment of AA Mobile in the Southern league.

If I had to pick which pitcher I think is more likely to succeed, it'd be a rather tough call. If we were to judge the two players based on their performance in college, Wes Roemer would be the obvious choice. He struck nearly twice as many batters as Enright did in college. Outside of Enright's fabulous 2007 year in college, Wes Roemer out pitched Enright by every statistical measure.

Once you look at actual minor league performance, Enright is clearly the winner. This year he has a lower walk rate, higher strike out rate, better K:BB ratio, and has given up home runs at a lower rate. In addition, he throws harder and has a bigger frame. With Roemer's success in college, I wouldn't be surprised if he turns things around. But as of now, Enright is the better pitcher.

Not much to add here, but I would like to thank Emily once again for proof reading. I'd also just like to thank you for reading. I'll be back again on Wednesdays and Saturdays with my scouting reports statistical analysis reports on the players in the Arizona Farm System.

-Wesley "Zephon" Baier

Sources: (all links open in new window)

Wes Roemer @ BB-REF

Barry Enright @ BB-REF

Wes Roemer @ Thebaseballcube

Barry Enright @ Thebaseballcube

Wes Roemer @ Fangraphs

Barry Enright @ Fangraphs

Poll

Who do you think is more likely to succeed at the major league level?

Wes Roemer

12 votes

Barry Enright

15 votes

27 votes | Poll has closed

Prospect Smackdown! Pete Clifford versus Evan Frey

Zephon — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:45:15 -0000

I'd like apologize for the two week hiatus of any articles being published due to illness, work, and a lot of distractions. But I'm back again today with a two for one special.

Today we're going to compare and contrast two left handed outfielders that were drafted out of college last year. The first one is a guy I've been keeping my eye on since early this season, Pete Clifford. The other one is Evan Frey, who I honestly hadn't paid that much attention to until Nick Piecoro named him the Dbacks #7 prospect (He's moved up from #8 after the Bonifacio trade)

I really liked the commentary that resulted from my prospect article that compared and contrasted Emilio Bonifacio and Rusty Ryal, so I'm going to try and do something similar with the next couple of articles by looking at two prospects who share the same position or pitching role.

I'd like to first look at each players basic biographical make up e. g. date of birth, height, weight, school, draft position. Once we've got that done, we'll look the player‘s performance at the high school or college level (if applicable, of course). Then we'll look at how they've performed in the minor leagues. Then we'll wrap it up by making our final analysis, where we'll make an estimate on when they should be ready for the majors, what areas they need to improve to get there. I‘ll pass my own judgment on who I think is the better prospect, and then leave it up to you guys(and gals) to vote in a poll in who you think is better. Then we can all argue in the commentary. .

Background, Physical Makeup and Tools

Pete Clifford was born on December 20, 1983 in Jacksonville, Florida. He's listed at an even 6'0 and weighing 195LBs. He bats left handed, and throws right handed. He attended Jacksonville University, and was drafted by the Diamondbacks as a senior in the 20th round with (as) the 613th overall pick. Clifford's strengths offensively are hitting for average and drawing walks. And even though he doesn't hit a lot of homers, he does have some pretty good power.

Clifford is an above average outfielder defensively that makes very few fielding errors. In the minors he's played 54% percent of his games in left, 17% in center, 12% in right field, and the remainder as the DH. 75% of his starts have been in left field, and that will be his primary defensive position through out his career, especially if he's going to succeed in the majors with the Dbacks. I can't say with much certainty that he's capable of playing right field since I don't have any information or scouting reports that talk about his throwing arm. He's not going to see any time in center this year with the newly promoted Evan Frey holding down the position for Visalia.

Evan Frey was born on June 7th, 1986 in Edwardsville, Illinois. He's listed at 6'0 in height, and weighing 170lbs. He bats and throws left handed. Attended the University of Missouri Colombia, and was drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 10th round of the 2007 draft as the 313th overall pick. Like Clifford, Frey has good speed on the base paths, makes a ton of contact, and has good strike zone judgment. He hits the ball on the ground a little over 50% of the time, suggesting that he's a slap hitter. Frey's biggest negative is the fact that he's displayed essentially zero home run power throughout his college and professional career.

Frey is an excellent defensive center fielder with outstanding range, speed, and very few errors. Frey will have to stay at center field if he's going to be a major league ball player. He just doesn't have the power to be an every day starting left or right fielder on winning major league ball club.

Physically the two players are quite similar. Obviously both bat left handed and are an even six feet in height. I haven't seen either player play in person, nor do I have access to any advanced scouting reports, so I can't comment on either player's speed, throwing arm, Clifford's heavier frame gives him more power, but Frey's youth gives him the advantage in age.

Performance in College

College statistics are really hard for me to include in these prospect comparison. As I've said before, it's really hard to make any sort of real evaluation based on college statistics due the differences in equipment (aluminum bats), competition (which can range greatly from conference to conference), and schedule.

Pete Clifford played four years in the NCAA for Jacksonville University. That's actually very uncommon. Most college players, including Evan Frey, enter the MLB draft as juniors. This gives the players more leverage in signing negotiations, since the player can always go back to college and play their senior year. Peter Clifford, instead of entering the draft as a junior, stayed in college to finish his education. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree, majoring in management. The fact that he had no problem finishing his education while hurting his draft status, IMHO, adds a lot to his character and makeup.

Although Peter Clifford didn't put up jaw dropping home run totals in college, he did put up excellent numbers all four years in college.

In his 188 at bats as a 20 year old freshmen, he put up a .346/.399/.468 overall line, with 12 doubles, a triple and a home run. He walked 15 times while striking out 35 times. He also stole 5 bases, but was caught stealing 3 times; a 62.5 success rate, just under the 67-70% break even point.

In his 203 at bats as a 21 year old sophomore, Clifford hit .325/.413/.493 with 13 doubles and 7 Home Runs. He walked 29 times while striking out 25 times. Once again he stole 5 bases, but was caught 4 times. Although his batting average went down and his success rate on the base paths went down slightly, Clifford improved every facet of his game.

In his season the next year as a 22 year old junior, Pete Clifford continued improving his offense game. In 262 at bats he hit 317/.394/.477 with 21 doubles, 3 triples, and 5 home runs. He walked 31 times and struck out 40 times. The real break out for Clifford was on the base paths, where he stole 21 bases while getting caught only 3 times. It's interesting to note the decrease in his slugging percentage, which is odd, considering he put up career bests in doubles and triples, but had only 2 less home runs.

In his final season as a 23 year old senior, Clifford hit .351/.455/.623 with 17 doubles, 2 triples, and a career high 14 home runs. He drew 43 walks while striking out 30 times. Once again he swiped 21 bags, but was caught 5 times. Clifford ended his college career posting career highs in batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, walks, and home runs.

Now that we've gone over Clifford's performance in college, let's look at Evan Frey.

As a 19 year old college freshman, Evan Frey's performance in 55 abs is statistically insignificant, but I'll go ahead and talk about it any way. He hit .164/.242/.200 with 4 walks and 11 strike outs. Of his 9 hits, 2 went for doubles. He stole one base and was caught stealing once. 55 abs is just way too small of a sample to really discuss, so let's move on to his sophomore year.

In 190 at bats as a 20 year old sophomore, Frey hit .337/.457/.389 with 64 hits, but only seven extra base hits: four doubles and three triples. He walked 29 times while striking out 33 times. Frey stole 9 bases while getting caught twice. Frey also got hit by pitches 14 times. Ouch.

In his 224 at bats the next year as a 21 year old junior, Frey hit .348/.447/.496 with 78 hits, this time 20 going for extra bases; 11 doubles, 5 triples, and a still personal best 4 home runs. Frey drew 39 walks and struck out 41 times. He stole 10 bases but was caught 7 times of 58.8% success rate, well below the break even point. All though he wasn't plunked quite as many times as the year before, Frey still got plunked 8 times.

So what kind of insight and analysis can we get looking at the two players college careers? Clifford's college career is outstanding. Every year he was productive, hitting for average, getting on base, and slugging the ball. He showed good plate discipline, and also really turned on the speed the last two years of college.

With Evan Frey we obviously don't have as large of a sample size to work with, since he was drafted after his junior season. Not to mention that his age 19 season is pretty much irrelevant, and can be thrown out. However, I think we have enough of a sample with his age 20 and 21 seasons that we can cast some judgment on his college performance. In those two seasons, Frey showed excellent contact skills and plate discipline. I'd like to mention that although Frey had a higher on base percentage than Clifford in those two seasons, if you remove the high amount of hit by pitches in his age 20 season, his excellent .457 on base percentage drops down to a still quite good 364. I’m pretty sure this isn’t a Craig Biggio or Carlos Quentin repeatable skill, and it’s clearly just a statistical outlier.

Minor League Production and History

Now that we've looked at each player's performance in college, we can now look at their performance in the minors since being drafted last year.

After being drafted and signing with the Diamondbacks, Peter Clifford was assigned to the Missoula Ospreys, Arizona's rookie ball affiliate in the Pioneer League. In his 225 at bats with the Ospreys, Clifford hit .280/.378/.502 with 16 doubles, 2 triples, and 10 home runs. He drew 36 walks, while striking out 51 times. He stole 8 bases while getting caught only once for a 89% success rate. Overall I'd say his debut season in the minor leagues was a successful one. Not exactly jaw dropping numbers of course, considering his age relative to the rest of the league, but all of his numbers - his BA, OBP, SLG%, and his BB:K ratio are definitely positive signs. The ten home runs are nice sign too. Compare his .880 OPS to the overall .701 OPS of his team, and to the .760 overall OPS of the Pioneer League, and you find yet another positive.

After his solid debut season in rookie ball, the Diamondbacks had Clifford skip their low a ball affiliate, South Bend, and assigned him to the Hi A Affiliate Visalia Oaks to begin 2008. Clifford has thrived, and he's been the Oaks' best hitter this year, and leads the team in OPS, doubles, triples, and walks. In 336 at bats he's hitting .307/.416/.503 with 29 doubles, 5 triples, and 9 home runs. He's drawn 59 walks to 88 strike outs. He's stolen 10 bases while getting caught 6 times for a 62.5% success rate, a bit under the break even point.

Looking further into his statistics this year, specifically his batting splits, I found that he's struggled against left handed pitching, at least this year. Since I can't seem to find his batting splits from last year, I'm not sure if this is a trend, or just the result of a random fluctuation in his BABIP (.303 vs. LHP, .432 vs. RHP). Either way, in 99 at bat Bs vs. LHP he's hitting .242/.361/.384, as opposed to .333/.439/.553 vs. RHP. Out of his 103 hits this year, only 24 have come against LHP. Of his 43 extra base hits, only 10 have come against left hand pitching - seven doubles, two triples, and one home run. Compared to his results against RHP, the rate that he hits the ball on the ground drops, his line drive rate drops, and his fly ball percent shoots up. I'm not exactly sure what to make all of that, but I'm sure some of you can make more sense of those numbers than I can. Now that we've taken a thorough look at Pete Clifford‘s offensive production in the minors, we can shift our focus back to Evan Frey, and see what his production has been like in the minors so far.

After being drafted by Arizona and signing in June 2007, Evan Frey was assigned to the Diamondbacks' short season a ball affiliate in the North Western League, the Yakima Bears. In 246 at bats, Frey hit .309/.384/.390 with 76 hits, but only 14 going for extra bases, consisting of 8 doubles and 6 triples. He took 27 walks while striking out 42 times. He had 13 stolen bases, but was caught stealing 10 times for a 57% success rate. As always, comparing his OPS (.774) to his team's OPS (.713) and the league's OPS (.713) puts his numbers in to the context of the quality of the competition he's playing with, in addition to telling you about the hitting environment he's playing in.

Evan Frey began this year with a promotion to full season A Ball South Bend in the Midwestern League, before being promoted to Visalia. In his 309 at bats with South Bend, Frey hit .327/.401/.417. He had a lot of hits, 101 to be exact, but only 24 were extra base hits. He didn't hit any home runs, but he did have 16 doubles and 6 triples. Frey drew 39 walks and struck out 38 times. I think the most important improvement is his much better results on the base paths. Frey stole 20 bases, and was caught 6 times, giving him a 77 percent success rate.

After a nice run in South Bend, Evan Frey was promoted on July 2 to Hi A Visalia. He's played in 20 games, and in his 84 at bats he's hitting .262/.367/.417 with three doubles, two triples, and two home runs. He's walked 12 times and has struck out 20 times. He's also stolen three bases, but has been caught twice. Frey has really struggled against left handed pitching since his promotion. He has a .894 OPS in 53 at bats against right handed pitching, but only a .588 OPS in 31 at bats against left handed pitching. In addition, he's struggled hitting away from home. In his 32 at bats at home, he's hitting.469/.528/.688 for a 1.216 OPS. In his 52 at bats away from Visalia he's hitting just .135/.274/.250 for a .524 OPS. Since we're dealing with such a small sample size here no matter how you look at it, I can't really say how significant any of his numbers for Visalia are. We'll just have to come back and re-visit his numbers in a month or at the end of the season to make some real analysis.

Overall Thoughts on Each Player

Now that I’ve gone in to both players’ offensive production from their freshmen year in college all the way up to their current numbers with Visalia, I feel that I can make a more insightful analysis in to what kind of player they are right now.

I’ll be honest; I’m a bit biased towards Peter Clifford over Evan Frey. Peter Clifford may not have the advantage of age that Frey has, but if you over look that, Clifford, in my opinion, is clearly the better player.

Throughout his four years of college and into his professional career, Peter Clifford has been an extremely productive hitter. Throughout his career he’s been hitting for average and getting on base at a good clip He’s shown that he has some good speed on the base paths, especially with his back to back 21 stolen base seasons. Although he doesn’t have a ton of home run power, he’s shown that he could hit 15-20 homers if given a full season’s worth of at bats. He should be a very good left fielder defensively.. Throughout his career, he's built on his performance the year before by improving in every facet of his game offensively. He's also proven the quality of his character and make up with his decision to stay in college so he could finish his education, even though it would clearly affect his draft position and his leverage in contract negotiations.

Clifford in all likely hood will never be a Hall of Famer or a superstar, but he certainly could have a few all star caliber years. Of course there's always the chance that he won't pan out, but at the very least I think could up the left handed half of a platoon or possibly serve as a left handed 4th outfielder.

If everything goes right I can see Peter Clifford having a batting average right around the .300 mark, with an on base percentage normally in the .400s. I think his slugging percentage would fall in the high .400s to mid .500s in most seasons. I calculated what I think would be Peter Clifford's peak by taking his current career highs and projecting what he would have done given a full season of at bats. It's not a very scientific method, but the end result is 34 hrs, 8 triples, 45 doubles, and 50 stolen bases. I thing we'd all like to see that.

Even though Evan Frey has flashed very little power, I still think he could have some success in the Majors. He has a very high contact rate, doesn't strike out a lot, and is quite skilled at getting on base. Although it will never completely make up for his lack of power, his speed and aggressiveness on the base paths are a very good asset. He's an excellent center fielder defensively with a ton of range and he's very reliable and sure handed at the position. Frey may never be every day starting center fielder, but at the very least, he could serve as a left handed 4th outfielder, pinch runner, and defensive replacement.

If everything goes right I can see Evan Frey regularly hitting .300 or higher, with an on base percentage above .400. His power is by far the biggest question mark surrounding him though. He's still young, so his power has the potential to develop some more, but I honestly can't see him hitting more than 5 HRs in a season. The thing I worry the most about is the lack of doubles and triple. In his best season, he had 16 doubles and 6 triples in 306 ABs. If he doesn't develop any more power than what he currently has shown, that works out to about 25 doubles and 10 triples in a full season worth of at bats. How ever, seeing Frey stealing >35 bases a year wouldn't be all that surprising.

Wrap Up

As usual I’ll wrap things up by asking my usual questions to promote some commentary and discussion about these two players. Who do you think is the better prospect? Who has the best/most upside? Which player's downside is the most detrimental to their chances at making the big leagues? Who do you think is more likely to make it to the big leagues? When do you think each player will make it to the big leagues if every thing goes right? If either player reaches their full potential, what kind offensive performances do YOU expect?

As always, I'd like to thank everyone for reading. You guys are the reason why I do this. I'd also like to thank Emily for proof reading for me. Please let me know what you think of this article and my writing, I'd certainly appreciate it. Let me know if you have any suggestions for future articles.

-Wesley "Zephon" Baier.

(I made a few changes to a couple of sentences just to clarify things a bit, in addition I cleaned up the spacing in between the paragraphs. And yes, I changed the name of the article to better reflect the content. If I notice anything else I may make a few additional edits, that I'll either make note of here or in the comments.)

Sources

Peter Clifford MILB.com Official Player Page

Evan Frey MILB.com Official Player Pare

Peter Clifford Baseball Reference Page

Evan Frey Baseball Reference Page

Peter Clifford @ TheBaseballCube

Evan Frey @ TheBaseballCube

Pete Clifford @ Fangraphs

Evan Frey @ Fangraphs

Peter Clifford @ Minorleaguesplits.com

Evan Frey @ Minorleaguesplits.com

Poll

Who has a better chance at succeeding in the big leagues?

Peter Clifford?

26 votes

Evan Frey?

16 votes

42 votes | Poll has closed