SB Nation User Blog: geeves

Community Projection: Andrew McCutchen

geeves — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:57:07 -0000

Seems only fair to do one now that he's finally arrived...

First the official lines (taken times 2/3 since that much of the season is gone):

ZiPS - 367 PA, .261/.333/.377, 17 2B, 6 HR, 44 R, 28 RBI

CHONE - 330 PA, .261/.337/.362, 17 2B, 6 HR, 47 R, 38 RBI

I personally am going to be more optimistic than either and say 400 PA, .265/.345/.405 with 25 2B, 3 HR, 55 R, and 25 RBI.

(I know just taking 2/3 of the projections is pretty rough math, just trying to create a jump-off point.

A Different Option For Snell

geeves — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:46:16 -0000

I hate to bring the topic up again, since it was discussed much recently, but perhaps now that we've pored over Nate's deal Snell can be discussed in a fresher light...

We have exactly two relievers who have approached consistency in terms of getting swings and misses, not walking batters, and generally not making us fret when they walk in from the 'pen. Jesse Chavez and Sean Burnett. If you had told me during ST that would be the case come beginning of June, I would have to assume that we were still struggling for our 10th win. Not saying that (in spite of recent falterings) Burnett and Chavez haven't been pleasantly surprising, just pointing out that our bullpen has been weak of late.

With that in mind, instead of sending Ian down to the minors for anything, why not put him in the bullpen? I know Bob Walk isn't Einstein, but he is a former pitcher, so I reasonably trust his judgement when he says that, in spite of his recent shortcomings, Snell's slider is still nasty enough that he could get swings and misses if he had any other pitch as reliable. We also know that Ian can crank his fastball up to 94-95 MPH when he feels like it, but can't locate it.

I personally think that if he goes to the bullpen and can iron out his fastball location with Kerrigan - which is certainly a possibility considering the work he did on the hot mess Capps was a short while back - then I think a guy with that combination, a mid 90's locatable FB, a good hard slider would be very valuable in late innings. He could even put that F* you attitude to good use.

I vaguely remember folks who talked about Snell's effectiveness being stretched as a starter, and I'm not saying they were right, but him moving to the 'pen really seems like it could be a win-win for Ian and the team.

Go ahead commenters. I'm insane, right?

Lynchburg (King of the) Hillcats

geeves — Fri, 29 May 2009 21:18:26 -0000

Thought I would go ahead and flesh out the tale of Lynchburg a bit, since some expressed a little intrest into what I didn't cram into the update...

There are three types of players on the Hillcats roster, one of which (less common) is embodied by Matt Hague and Pedro Alvarez. Another is a lot like what you'll find when you look at Miles Durham.

Miles was always a bit old for whatever level he'd been at since he was drafted in '06, but he became a small blip on the radar last season when he used a .348 avg, a .979 ops, 24 2B, 14 HR and 57 RBI in only 72 games to make the Sally League All-Star team. Unfortunately, Durham was promptly promoted to Lynchburg and pretty much faceplanted, putting up a .220/.619 line in the season's remaining 57 games.

This season, after starting a very chilly .247/.717 in April, he has come on strong to the tune of .337/.940 in May, bringing his season line up to .297/.827 and putting him on pace for 45 2B, 15 HR and 90 RBI for the season.

All of this is nice to look at, but it is completely meaningless. Durham is now 26 years old, which makes him really old for the level, so he should have months like this all the time if he's worth his weight as a hitter. Unfortunately, he's going to keep being too old, because he's now behind Pedro in the pecking order and will have to move off third base defensively to even be in a position to hit his way to Altoona.

The team is filled with guys like this: Alex Presley is repeating the level - he didn't hit for power or average or walks last year, and isn't this year either, and is now almost 24...Kent Sakamoto is almost 26, posted a .259/.735 line last year, and is even worse so far this year...Harrison Bishop was pretty good with Low-A Hickory last year, but should have been given his age (almost 25 now) and hasn't continued that success with the Hillcats. Same with RJ Rodriguez...Chris Castorri is lucky he's still on the roster at 25...Michael Felix is still only 23, but had a pretty sloppy '08 at Low A and hasn't been any better in high A this year. He's only appeared in seven games and has an ERA of 7.71 and a 5:9 K:BB...Ray Chang is hitting .383/.910 on the year, but much like Durham it doesn't matter because he's almost 26.

Then there's one more group of guys, ones that are still young enough that they could be relevant, except that they aren't producing.

Obviously the top of that list belongs to the most recent additions, Jordy Mercer and Justin Wilson. Mercer is more trapped by fate than anything else since, as you all know, he's at Lynchburg to allow both he and Chase D'Arnaud ample playing time, not because he was in any way deemed ready for the level (as his .250 avg and .697 OPS illustrate). Given the way things look right now, if I were in charge I would have Jordy and Chase trade teams, since Chase doesnt seem to have anything left to prove at WV and Jordy is clearly overmatched in Lynchburg.

Justin, Mr. "I Want More Money 'Cause My Team Won the World Series" (remember that?), has been...underwhelming is a good start. After posting an ERA of 5.00 and WHIP of 1.28 in four April starts that spanned only 18 innings, he's been even worse this month (9.37 and 2.38) including 13 ER on 21H in only 11 2/3 IP his last three outings. Perhaps a bit surprising for a pitcher getting 54% GB, but I can't vouch for the infield defense.

Jose De Los Santos is young-ish and can hit a little, but not enough, so he has to be an above-average defensive SS to have a shot...Maiko Loyola hit .280/.728 last season with Class A Columbus to go along with 45 SB in 62 attempts. This year he's needed a .306/1.052 month of May jus to get his season line up to .213/.702 and a month like that would be worth talking about if he wasn't almost 24...Joel Collins is only(?) 23, but has fewer AB's than the Hillcats have games played...Eddie Prasch is also "only" 23, but put up a .271/.723 line with the 'Cats last year and last night he got his first hit since April 29th... Tom Boleska could be a solid relief prospect once he's healthy.

One last interesting piece to this roster: Paul Mildren. Paul spent last season getting jerked around by the Royals. Literally. He started the year in AA and was decent as a reliever for three weeks, then went to AAA and made four more strong relief appearances in the next two weeks. He then went back down to AA for a month and was a respectable reliever, then was moved to the rotation and was only marginally good. He was then sent down to the High-A rotation, where he was absolutely terrible, and then sent back up to AA as a reliever for the last three weeks of the season.

What a frickin roller coaster for the poor guy. He's actually been marginally interesting this year too. After a rather blah April, May has been a strong month for him, as he has now posted three consecutive quality starts and has walked two batters in his last 35 IP. Sure, he's 25, so it isnt anything other than a neat story, but still worth sharing.

Minor League Update

geeves — Thu, 28 May 2009 23:05:19 -0000

Sure, it isn't quite the end of the month yet, and close supposedly only counts in horseshoes and handgrenades, but I'm diving in anyways, if only to save Charlie some hassle:

Indianapolis:

McCutchen - Obviously Charlie is of the opinion that his time is now, and I don't entirely disagree, but also feel there need to be some MLB moves made to give himself and the other productive players adequate playing time. A .307/.840 May (including his just-finished 8 for 18 romp in Gwinnett) has Andrew at .296/.840 for the season. His game, in terms of offense, appears about as rounded as it's going to get for the time, and any power increase is likely to come with age, not "extra seasoning" in AAA (he's not Mrs. Dash, for crissakes). Is it still to early to worry (in terms of sample size) about his rather severe platoon split?

Virgil Vasquez - I know he isn't particularly young or exciting, but the guy is getting it done. May has seen improvements across the board, from K:BB (up from 13:4 to 29:2) to FIP (5.49 to 3.72) to his ground ball and home run numbers. He is obviously improving at working down in the zone, and it's paying off. Watch your back, Ian "I'll Probably Screw Up Again" Snell.

Neil Walker - His numbers still aren't anything to throw a parade over, but after an absolutely pathetic April, he's had a...notably mediocre May. A .263/.800 month is not starter material, but he IS still on pace for 42 2B, 18 HR and 78 RBI, which is certainly closer to what we hope for from Neil.

Daniel "The Other" McCutchen - He has also seen some improvement in May. He'll probably be a hot mess tomorrow just to ruin this paragraph, but he has maintained his K's while cutting down his BB's and also his HR (only two in four starts this month). He too is succeeding at keeping the ball down (GB% up from 27 to 38) and is certainly working his way back into any future rotation conversations.

Also: Steve Pearce is trapped in a 4-32 slump over the last nine games,but is still putting up solid power numbers and a commendable K:BB...after a terribly April, Shelby Ford has been even worse in May...Bixler and Garrett Jones have also fallen off respective cliffs in May with their offense.

Altoona:

Jim Negrych: Negrych has been hot recently, posting a .416/.916 line in the last eight games. Unfortunately, due to a terrible slump earlier in the month, his May line is still only .214/.537. Negrych still has no power (which is slightly more o.k. now that he's shifted from 3B back to 2B) but let's hope that was just a slump earlier this month.

Brian Friday - After finally returning from injury, Friday isn't smoking the ball like he did the first week of the season, but it isn't like we expected him to maintain a 1.47 OPS. Still, his .283/.825 line is nice, and if he can continue it beyond the current small sample size while maintaining decent defense, we can finally have an answer to "is there anyone to eventually take jack's job?"

Brad Lincoln - Has been a monster of late, and has now allowed three runs and posted a 29:6 K:BB in 33 IP this month, and for the season lefties are hitting a pathetic .190 against him. Obviously one doesn't want to count eggs before hatching and whatnot, but he should probably enjoy a warm Indianapolis summer.

Michael Crotta - In spite of a rough start against Akron a couple weeks ago, Crotta has been solid and, if nothing else, has only had two bad starts in two months. He also has a strong K:BB (31:7). He's only faced four teams, which is a little odd, but he's still putting up strong numbers that might get better with some real defense (according to his 2.82 FIP)

Also: So much for Jamie Romak. He's been a hot mess for two whole months now, as his 46:9 K:BB and .481 OPS will tell you. As far as I'm concerned, he can now be removed from any prospect discussions... Lincoln Holdzkom, a pickup from the Red Sox system, has somehow managed to not give up a run in 17 innings despite allowing 15 hits and 10 walks in that span.

Lynchburg:

Matt Hague - After an atrocious April, a .307/.837 May has brought Hague's overall season numbers up to a very respectable total, even if there's a lack of the power you'd want from a 3B. In Hague's defense (perhaps?) he's still losing occasional playing time to Eddie Prasch.

Pedro Alvarez - After five at-bats last night produced an RBI triple, a two-RBI single, and a strikeout with the bases loaded, Pedro is now up to a decent .261/.885 line for the month of May and appears to gradually be gaining ground towards the bonafide hitter the Pirates drafted.

Matt McSwain - After a rough April in his first season as a full-time starter, McSwain pitched eight innings of one-run ball tonight to finish with a 2.65 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and 20:5 K:BB in 37 1/3 IP for the month of May. He hasn't been talked about a lot, but after a month like this he may be worth keeping an eye on.

Also: Ronald Uviedo has struggled recently, but barring an implosion Friday he'll may two successful bullpen-to-rotation transitions for the Hillcats...After missing a chunk of time due to injury, Jared Keel is back and hitting to a respectable .269/.905 line thusfar...Chi-Hung Cheng is giving up fewer runs, but that may not last, since he has also stopped striking hitters out (12K in 30 IP in his last six outings)..."free" talent Michael Dubee now has 21 K's to only 10 baserunners in 16 1/3 IP this month...Dustin Molleken seems to have hit a middle-relief groove, with only four earned runs and a 25:3 K:BB in 22 IP his last nine outings...Michael Colla has pitched 11 2/3 shutout innings his last eight times out, but has only 10 K's to 8 BB's - is he bound for a drop-off?...

West Virginia:

Chase D'Arnaud - Chase has struggled of late, going 8-for-32 over his last eight games, but still has a solid .307/.848 line for the season. Perhaps it's just a slump, and if so, he's starting to look a bit better of a prospect than his draft-mate Jordy Mercer.

Robbie Grossman - His plate discipline is a bit rough - 60 K's already (including 11 in 19 AB's over the past five games) - but he has still had a solid May with an OPS over .800 and he's obviously still young and developing.

Jeremy Farrell - Another player who got bit by the injury bug early, Farrell has now put up a .284/.823 line in 22 games since his return (due in large part to his .400/1.100 line the last seven games). Another possible draft win? At least worth tracking now.

Quincy Latimore - Ignored early on in large part due to his .169 average in April, Latimore has been on fire in May (.333/.888).

Calvin Anderson - The resident BMOC of the minors has actually had a down month in May, posting "only" a .280 average and .837 OPS. Still, Anderson is roughly on pace for 30 2B, 20 HR and 90 RBI, so if he can work on that ghastly 42:9 K:BB he may well be moving East to Virginia sooner than later.

Also: After a rough first outing in May, Rudy Owens has given up only four runs in 14 hits in 21 IP while posting a 25:5 K:BB, and he seems to be improving on what was a fairly strong April...Kyle McPherson also struggled to start the year, but is showing some signs of life with a 2.71 ERA, 0.78 WHIP and 11K's in 16 2/3 IP his last three outings.

* * *

I think that about covers everyone of consequence...unless anyone was truly dying to know how Duke Welker is doing.

Vote (of Confidence) for Pedro?

geeves — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:42:35 -0000

Nice to have these fanposts to toss ideas out there to the masses for consumption - and i promise, it has nothing to do with craig monroe.

I had discussed with pat recently (whygavs pat, that is) the fact that alvarez's numbers arent too fabulous right now. a rash of strikeouts and his numbers look shoddy.

then i started reading through things more, and i can't help but wonder if some of pedro's struggles are beyond his control. The Lynchburg roster is basically Pedro, Matt Hague, Jordy Mercer, and 11 other guys who are either very old for the level or slightly old and repeating. And Mercer and Hague aren't doing much.

Perhaps some of Pedro's struggles are attributable to opposing pitchers getting to face people like kent sakamoto for the other 8 at-bats instead of hitters to truly be concerned about? (i know, watts and presley are hitting, but i dont think opposing pitchers are exactly trembling at the sight of an org filler catcher)

My gut tells me that perhaps come months end, if they're still cruising at West Virginia, we promote Calvin Anderson and/or Chase D'Arnaud and see a boost in Pedro's numbers since he'd no longer be the only threat in the lineup?

Pat mentioned some rumblings about his sitting on fastballs and missing all else, but that strikes me as very odd, because he didn't do that at Vandy, and I don't think Class A+ ball is <i>that</i> far advanced from college.

This is all just speculative, but perhaps i'm at least marginally educated in my guessing?

Some Perspective. Maybe.

geeves — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 08:11:27 -0000

Decided to respond to DK's latest Q&A, since his comment seemed a bit silly. This is the letter I sent into him. Hoefupply I be not insane and rambling?

"It is difficult to label any franchise future-minded when it gives a 33-year-old first baseman platoon time at third with someone management was saying had a chance to be part of the future"

Normally, I would agree with you. However, you and I both know a few things here. First of all, it is definitely true that any new management team will eventually try to fill an entire organization with "their people" - from the best player in the majors to the 25th man on the roster in Hickory, and all the office positions to boot. Much can be said for proverbial clean slates, especially a long-failing team like ours.

The Pittsburgh situation is made different by the fact that the previous management filled all of the square and round holes at all of the various organizational levels with pegs that any reasonably educated baseball fan, let alone baseball employees and personnel, knew didn't really belong at that level.

I have followed this team much more closely over the last couple of years than at any other point - partly because I have become a much more educated fan. In the process of watching the team, I know that Jose Bautista was certainly, as you mentioned, miscast as an everyday player, because he simply cannot produce offensively to be considered a regular starter at any position, let alone third base, and is not defensively versatile enough to compensate.

Doug Mientkewicz wasn't brought to this team to play third base. He was brought in as a first baseman. However, the team also played him at third base and in right field, and obviously now feels that he is a more consistent - and versatile - option on offense and defense, while also having the perk of being a very passionate and vocal veteran teammate.

The fact that a 32 year old (Michaels), or a 34 year old (Mientkewicz), or a 35 year old (Chavez), or a 37 year old (Gomez), is situated on the current bench is not in any way a reflection on the new management's ability to be forward thinking, nor is that ability - or lack - reflected in a younger player not being given regular playing time over an older one.

This is simply management doing their best to fill in the cracks, the fringes of the 25 man roster, with the most versatile and inexpensive putty they can find, which just so happens - at the moment - to be low-priced, older free agents instead of any younger talent currently in the organization.

This move with Bautista is probably one that the team should have made sooner (though it was likely delayed by his homerun binge earlier this year) so that they could have him playing second base or center field and increasing his versatility, instead of running out a matt kata/josh wilson organizational filler platoon in Indy.

Secret Code

geeves — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:42:06 -0000

Wonder what John Russell thinks of Pearce's struggles at the plate? (emphasis mine of course):

"He needs to start making adjustments,'' Russell said. "He's always been a very aggressive hitter. [Opposing pitchers are] not giving him a lot of great pitches to hit and he needs to make adjustments to lay off those pitches.

"We've talked to him about that. It's a process. He's a very aggressive hitter. He loves to swing the bat. Sometimes that will hurt you more than help you because you try to do too much.

"He's got to start learning how to manage the strike zone, manage his at-bats, be a little more in control of what he's trying to do.

"You don't want to take away the aggressiveness. You want him to be aggressive but under control - put himself in a better position to be aggressive.

"We're all about aggressiveness. We're all about swinging the bat with a purpose. But it's more a situation of being in a position to be aggressive - to be in a position to see the ball well and put an aggressive swing on it. Right now he's not quite there. He's taking aggressive swings at too many pitches.''

I guess he want's Pearce to channel his passiveness? Not sure. I don't speak manager-ese.

Where To Now?

geeves — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:50:10 -0000

Since you can't share an idea without someone snatching it instead of collaborating, it was time for a fanpost...

So the Pirates made some deadline dealing. They got rid of their franchise player, their career-year veteran, and their stud lefty specialist, and brought in eight total prospects - four for the immediate major league roster, two for AAA, and two others well down the food chain. However, not all of the players we expected to be dealt wound up leaving, although their services arent any less in need by the teams that are still in contention this year. Here's what I figure might happen between now and the beginning of next year.

First off, a recap of the Waiver Trade Deadline (Aug 31) rules just in case any of these guys actually goes.

1) Any player who is placed on waivers and claimed by another team, the team that put him there can:

a) let that team have him for a waiver fee (and then the team that got him pays his remaining salary)

b) agree to a trade with the team that claimed him

c) pull that player back off waivers. this can be done one time. if a player is placed on waivers a second time before September 1st, he can't be pulled back

2) If one team claims the player, the waiving team deals with only that team. If multiple teams claim a player, the team with the worst record gets priority, and a team in the same league gets priority.

Obviously, the worse teams in the league (Cleveland, Seattle, Washington) are the least likely to try and claim any of these guys. Except maybe Ed Wade.

John Grabow - He was being talked about as the fallback plan if the Pirates were somehow unable to find a home for Marte. He hasn't been dealt yet, but he could still be extremely useful to a team looking to shore up their bullpen for the stretch run. I had heard a couple mumblings of his heading to Los Angeles (either one). I doubt that he would fall all the way to the Angels,, but I wouldn't be surprised if he wound up going to the Dodgers straight-up for someone like Cory Wade, Scott Elbert, or Travis Schlichtling .

Jack Wilson - As has been discussed ad nauseum by most of us, the Dodgers need a shortstop (since Nomar is back on the DL, Furcal is still hurt, and Berroa and Maza combined can't hit it if it isn't on a tee). I wouldn't be surprised if Jack wound up packaged together with Grabow and the MacDonald and Hu concept weren't reignited, or heck, even Matt Kemp all over again.

I should mention here that this is based on the fact that all of the teams ahead of Los Angeles in waiver priority are out of contention, so they are trade candidate numero uno. Again, unless Ed Wade continues to be, well, Ed Wade. (Even if they pass Arizona, the Dbacks are unlikely to try claiming either of these two)

Ronny Paulino - We all know that we have no use for the boy, since Ryan Doumit is playing better and there are a dozen Raul Chavez' in the world. However, he is sure hitting the ball well since he got demoted, and if he can show that he's no longer injured, the Marlins could sure use a catcher, and perhaps we could sell them on Ronny's career .318 AVG and .781 OPS in September. What does it mean for us? Perhaps we could steal someone like John Raynor, Chris Coghlan, or Chris Mobley.

It would be nice to write about Chris Duffy here. Perhaps we could have talked some team into believing that he's due for a Ryan Ludwick (minus the homers of course) type resurgence next year. Also, maybe our bench hitters might be of interest to a contender, someone like Malphabet, CGz, or 0-3vas for a depth prospect or two.

But this is just an idea, a jumping off point, so let me know what you guys think.

Minor League Intrigue

geeves — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:20:33 -0000

Well, I figure it's been about three weeks, time to give another progress report about how the pirates minor league world is turning. One month is a nice chunk of time, but I don't feel like waiting til then, so 19 days later will suffice (wasnt that a movie or something?)

Indy (AAA) - Andrew McCutchen finished June on a continued slump, and wound up finishing the month with a .257 average and .642 OPS (yikes). He's been better so far this month, but his .370/870 line shows the complete absence of power that has been going on for a while now. I won't worry about it. Yet?

Brian Bixler has continued his good hitting, finishing June with a .294/.837 line and starting July off hot with a .292/.969 line through the first eight games. This good showing by Bixler certainly makes me feel a little less bad about possibly losing He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named-So-As-Not-To-Jinx-It.

Ty Taubenheim got lit up for 8 runs on 7 hits in 3 2/3 innings in his first start after being sent back to Indy. Hopefully It's a blip and not a trend. Jimmy Barthmaier also struggled a bit in his first start back at Indy, not pitching poorly, but only making it through four innings. He came back strong Monday night, throwing six shutout innings against Columbus.

Altoona (AA) - Our two lone bright spots at Altoona, Shelby Ford and Derek Hankins, have nothing to shout about as of late. Hankins has gone only 15 1/3 innings in his past three starts, giving up eight runs in that span. Ford is 2-for-28 in his last eight games, and has started sharing playing time with Melvin Dorta at 2B.

Lynchburg (A+) - Now to the reason I couldnt wait to write this post. Down in Lynchburg, Jim Negrych and Jamie Romak are still absolutely killing the ball. Romak went 2-for-4 with two home runs for the second night in a row, and is now hitting .375 with a 1.37 OPS over his past ten games. He is now up to a .306 average and 1.023 OPS for the season, and his AVG, SLG< and OPS have gone up every month so far. Think it's time for him to finish solving his deficiancies in Altoona. Negrych went 2-for-4 for the second night in a row after ending his 16 game hitting streak, and is now up to a .365/.920 line for the season.

Mike Crotta has righted his ship after getting pounded by Kinston on Ju8ne 19th, posting a 1.89 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in 19 innings over his last three outings.

Hickory (A-) - Albert Laboy continues to hit reasonably well, going 2-4 with a solo homerun tonight to bring himself to a .312/.891 line since his demotion at the beginning of June. Good to get that confidence rebuilt, hopefully.

Matt Hague also went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, and is now hitting .413 with a 1.26 OPS in his first 14 games as a Crawdad after a .333/.844 line in State College.

Brad Lincoln, unfortunately, has been roughed up for 19 runs on 25 hits in only 16 innings in his last three starts, with the one bright point being 13 strikeouts and no walks. Have to keep an eye on this one.

State College (SS) - Short season has kicked into gear since the last update, but not everyone can shoot through State College like Mr. Hague. Of course, there's still some hitters to talk about. OF Cole White went 3-for-4 with a double tonight and has now posted a .410/1.09 line in his first 11 games as Spike.

3B Matt Payne has also looked respectable, posting a .333/.808 line in 17 games in spite of a three-game hitless streak.

Bradenton - Lastly, the results arent up from this afternoon's game, but even so, 18th round draft pick and SS Jarek Cunningham looks not too terrible so far. He has notched a .412/.1.15 line in his first ten games as a Pirate, so we'll see what happens.

It would seem that it is about time to bump Negrych and Romak up to Altoona, and Negrych being replaced in Lynchburg by 3B Hague probably wouldnt be far behind. I know small sample sizes and whatnot, but it seems at this particular moment, third base has suddenly gone from devoid to somewhat deep.

Pitching Is Confusing

geeves — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:05:29 -0000

Roaming around MiLB.com, namely the Indy site, I stumbled across this strange article. The basic premise is that JVB and/or Bullington can't figure out why they pitch so well at AAA and so terribly in Pittsburgh. I'm fairly sure most of you are capable of answering that question for them, but I'd like to take a look at this anyway...

"Even right-hander John Van Benschoten is perplexed by how he implodes in the majors with Pittsburgh yet dominates in Triple-A with Indianapolis."

I think "only John VanBenschoten" might be a better word choice. When you can't get your BB/9 below 3.3, and your K/9 gradually starts dropping to 7.0 and lower...something is bound to give.

"I don't know. I don't know what happens up there. No one knows. A lot of people think they know, but they really don't have a clue because I don't have a clue. All I've got to do is pitch well here and if the Pirates don't want me, someone else might."

Jonny Boy, the fact that you don't understand the concept I just mentioned (when you get promoted and continue to nibble, you get burned more frequently) doesn't mean that nobody else fails to grasp the same concept. And I think your track record shows that merely pitching well at AAA is not enough.

The difficult final minors-to-majors adjustment is as common as it is historic. Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds barely treaded water in their first call-ups. Look around the major leagues today. The Cincinnati Reds' Homer Bailey, a first-round pick with a rocket arm, struggled so mightily -- he was 0-3 with an 8.76 ERA -- he was sent down again to Triple-A Louisville. The New York Yankees' Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes are a combined 0-7 with a 7.98 ERA. Tampa Bay's touted third base prospect Evan Longoria is hitting .249.

Bonds: .223 avg, .746 OPS in 413 AB (at age 21)

A-Rod: .224 avg, .611 OPS, 62:9 K/BB in 196 AB's (at age 18/19)

Homer Bailey: still only 22, also posted 63 BB in 130+ innings at Louisville this year and last. Plus his home park is a bandbox.

Hughes and Kennedy: 22 and 23 years old, respectively, and with a total of 24 and 20 career starts above AA. I think they're still developing, probably, and came up when they did more out of the Yankee's need than of their own readiness to do so.

Longoria: actually now a .262 avg, and an .855 OPS thanks to 19 2B and 14 HR in only 245 AB's (at age 22)

JVB: made his second appearance at the major league level at age 27.

Great comparison choices, Mr. Article Writer Man.

Though, Bailey isn't a terrible choice. They both have been tagged at the major league level, and neither is surprising given their peripherals at AAA. Though, again, Bailey has the extra qualifiers of still being young and spending half his time in a horrific pitcher's park.

"The biggest difference between the majors and Triple-A is those couple mistakes, you don't usually get away with them up here." ...

The biggest difference Jewett sees is when Van Benschoten is in Indy, he attacks the strike zone more aggressively as opposed to throwing pitches based on adverse situations.

Exactly, this is how 7 K's and 3.5 BB/9 in AAA turns into 6 K's and 6 BB/9 at the majors. And when you aren't unhittable, those are extra baserunners you can't afford to allow.

Still confused, John? Cause I think everybody else has you figured out.