SB Nation User Blog: joltinjoe

What to make of Trevor Cahill's rookie season

joltinjoe — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:51:28 -0000

Coming into this season, Cahill was seen as one of the most exciting pitching prospects in baseball. He produced a lot of praise on this website (with many Brandon Webb comps) and then the predictable back lash.

The praise arose from his excellent k/9 numbers, his low ERA and his outstanding GO/AO ratio while pitching against competition several years his senior. He looked to be the rare bird that strikes out a lot of guys while also keeping the ball on the ground.

Despite only 6 starts at AA, he broke camp with the A's and has stayed in their rotation all year long. As a 21 year old, he has been brilliant at times and really struggled at other times. I remember doing some math during the first two months of the season and, taking away two horrific starts where he left very early, he had something like a sub-3 ERA and a WHIP around 1.15. I know I was cherry picking, but the idea was that he's going to suffer through some rough outings due to his youth and inexperience, but the other starts show a very talented pitcher.

However, since that time it appears he's regressed, at least in regards to his production. He has allowed a lot of hits and his control hasn't been very good. Additionally, his K rate has been very disappointing at 4.5 per 9.

Now I realize he's a very young pitcher having his first go around in the majors and bumps in the road are to be expected.

My question to everyone is, what kind of production do you expect from Cahill next year and in the next few years? Will he become that ace that many projected or will it take a few years for him to iron things out or will he never be that guy many thought he'd become?

Below are his numbers from the minors and this year, courtesy of baseballcube.com

Year	Team	Lg	Age	Org	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SH	GF	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WP	H9	HR9	BB9	K9	WHIP
2006	ATH	Ariz	18	Oak	Rk	0	0	3.00	4	4	0	0	0	0	9.0	2	4	3	0	7	11	3	2.0	0.0	7.0	11.0	1.00
2007	KAN	Midw	19	Oak	A	11	4	2.73	20	19	0	0	0	0	105.1	85	38	32	3	40	117	8	7.3	0.3	3.4	10.0	1.19
2008	STO	Calif	20	Oak	A+	5	4	2.78	14	13	0	0	0	0	87.1	52	29	27	3	31	103	9	5.4	0.3	3.2	10.6	0.95
	MID	Tex	20	Oak	AA	6	1	2.19	7	6	0	0	0	0	37.0	24	15	9	2	19	33	3	5.8	0.5	4.6	8.0	1.16
2009	OAK	AL	21	Oak	MLB	6	12	4.97	25	25	0	0		0	139.1	152	84	77	25	57	70	4	9.8	1.6	3.7	4.5	1.50

Is there any doubt Jason Heyward is the top prospect in baseball?

joltinjoe — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 06:47:06 -0000

Today is his 20th birthday and Jason Heyward continues to prove that he's the top prospect in baseball. After an impressive debut season, he's taken it to another level this year with his power really developing. Although it's only been 30 games at AA, Heyward has been out of this world at the level typically considered a proving ground for prospect legitimacy.

I dare anyone to find a prospect better than Jason Heyward.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=518792

Baseball loses a legend

joltinjoe — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 06:44:00 -0000

I know this is a minor league baseball blog, but I thought this recent piece of news deserved a thread. For those of you that don't know, Cincy Reds beat writer Hal McCoy is being forced into retirement at the end of this season. It appears the Dayton Daily News is following the lead of several newspapers across the country and will stop traveling with the Reds to save on money. And McCoy is being forced into retirement, likely with the same thought in mind.

Not only is the game losing a Hall of Fame reporter, but we are all being reminded of the disintegration of the newspaper business. So many people are losing their jobs and I forsee a lot of additional changes in the way everything, including sports, is covered. Pretty soon we'll be lucky to have more than one voice at any sporting event.

Today is a sad day for baseball and is likely just another sad day in a continous cycle that our nation is undergoing.

The continuing Saga of Kris Davis

joltinjoe — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:19:33 -0000

I, like many people on this board, were VERY high on Kris Davis coming into the year. Although his K numbers were high, the mighty bat and long track record of decent or better averages made me think he'd be able to put up big numbers this year.

Instead, he's hitting right around .200 with a a record-setting-pace of K's. Granted he is showing power but when you're hitting .200, that just won't cut it.

The Rangers finally had enough and demoted the Human Fan to AAA last night to make room for Josh Hamilton.

Supposedly they just want him to go down and work on "things" and then they will call him right back up.

What does the community think? Is he going to end up a perpetual bust? Or is he going to revamp his swing and return better than ever, terrorizing balls and exciting the hearts of many fantasy owners?

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090706&content_id=5721028&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

What's wrong with Travis Snider?

joltinjoe — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 18:40:22 -0000

So I got swept up in the hype and jumped aboard the Travis Snider train to start this season. After a decent start, he suddenly forgot how to hit a baseball and promptly got sent down to the minors. After posting a .686 OPS in the majors, he's managed to do worse in AAA (granted it's only eight games but a .614 OPS is just stupid). Not only is he hitting in Las freaking Vegas, he's in the PCL. He isn't hitting for average or for power and has a 9-35 bb-k ratio this season between the two levels. So what's going on with him? Is he hurt? Did the Blue Jays rush him? Is he just not that good?

Slightly OT: How bad are the Pirates?

joltinjoe — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:30:53 -0000

The Pirates, who have averaged 89 losses since 1993, sank to the deepest part of Pittsburgh's Three Rivers on Thursday after one of its split squads lost to Manatee (Fla.) Community College during a fundraising exhibition game.

In some ways, the top of the box score says it all: Manatee C.C. 6, Pittsburgh 4.

The Sarasota Herald-Review, however, ran a very detailed story — almost 1,000 words, for your Bucco masochists — about how the Lancers did the unlikely at McKechnie Field in Bradenton.

It's only fair to point out that the Pirates lineup was filled out by guys who missed the cut in spring training. Several of the team's best players, including Nate McLouth, Ryan Doumit, the LaRoches and Stewcast guest Freddy Sanchez, did not play in the game.

Yet several guys who have logged big league minutes — like Mets' killer Steve Pearce, Brian Bixler andRobinzon Diaz — were in the no-win situation lineup, as was prized prospect Jose Tabata. Virgil Vazquez, who contended for Pittsburgh's fifth starter spot this spring, started the game for Pittsburgh on the mound.

OK, so your aunt was in contention for that fifth spot, too, but that's not the point. These were real, live Triple-A (perhaps even Class 4A) players.

And these junior college Manatees managed to beat ‘em!

Whatever excuse you want to drum up for the Pirates — spring training's almost over, the scrubs played the final five innings, the juco players wanted it more — we still say it's not good enough. Get ready Pirates, we'd like for you to take on our office softball team.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Manatee-Community-College-forces-Pirates-to-walk?urn=mlb,152646

Thoughts on Gordon Beckham

joltinjoe — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:42:24 -0000

As a White Sox fan and Beckham fantasy owner, I'm very interested in what kind of a player he could develop into.

BP has his upside at Chase Utley and I've also heard Michael Young comps.

I asked John during his Q&A hour and he said Beckham could be like Chase Utley at SS or M. Young.

With Alexei Ramirez moving to SS, it appears that Beckham will be playing 2B. It was generally assumed that he would start the year in the minors (probably AA) and maybe make the majors next year.

However, Beckham has played pretty well so far, or at least better than Getz and Lillibridge, and it appears the Sox are considering breaking camp with him starting at 2B.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/chi-09-white-sox-chicagomar09,0,2643671.story

My question for the community is what kind of production can I expect to see out of him during his peak and what about this year if he makes the team?

Remember, opinions are like noses...... (they all blow) --- sorry, couldn't resist. I see that put at the bottom of so many posts and I find it stupid and redundant.

Not sure what to make of this

joltinjoe — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:36:48 -0000

So I was reading an article by Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports and came across this.

OK, so Arizona doesn’t want to get stuck with Adam Dunn next season at the $15 million or so he’d get through arbitration. Fine. It’s a short-sighted maneuver not to offer arbitration – he’s bound to get a multi-year deal somewhere – but with the Diamondbacks offering arbitration to Orlando Hudson, Juan Cruz and Brandon Lyon, one scouting director wondered whether it was to avoid a glut of draft choices and the signing bonuses that accompany them.

While two sources dismissed the idea, one pointed out that with Dunn, Hudson and Cruz all Type A players likely to sign elsewhere, it would have left the Diamondbacks with seven high picks, including their own first-rounder, and eight if Lyon doesn’t accept arbitration. According to Baseball America, Arizona spent only $4.49 million on its draft choices last season, the seventh-lowest number in the game.

Still, the specter of high draft picks, which most teams consider extremely valuable, did not scare off the Brewers or Dodgers. Each is in position to have six top picks if they cannot re-sign their eligible free agents, all of whom are unlikely to accept arbitration.

It seems odd that a team wouldn't want a bunch of high draft picks, since young players that suceed are much more cost efficient than veterans. Granted, many high draft picks end up busts, but I'd think the risk/reward ratio would end up favoring the team. Maybe the D-Backs have some financial limitations that are forcing their hand on this, but it seems awfully short sighted to me, especially with the current state of their minors.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-arbitrationroundup120208&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Will Rickie Weeks ever live up to his "potential"

joltinjoe — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:51:01 -0000

Hi Guys,

So here's the deal. I'm the owner of a pretty successful baseball keeper league team that allows us to keep 12 players. The categories are AVG, OPS, R, HR, RBI, SB and 6 pitching categories (that part doesn't really matter).

My offense is stellar and my only real question mark is 2b. I have Rickie Weeks, who I've held onto the last three years after trading a couple of pretty good players for him. I keep waiting for him to bust out and live up to his potential. However, he's about to finish his fourth full year and is batting around .230, which would be the the third year he's done so with one .270 a couple years back.

I like to think I have a lot of patience (I'm still giving Delmon Young the benefit of the doubt). Anyway, what I wanted to ask the community is how much more patience should I use with Weeks?

I'm starting to question whether he'll ever live up to that potential that I've heard so much about. I see him hit and he seems to the bat speed that would make him a star. Yet all he's done is struggle, get hurt and it looks like lose his job down the stretch to Ray Durham.

So should I continue to hold onto him or is it time to cut my losses and work on finding a new 2b for my team? Is he ever going to live up to his potential or is this what he is, a low avg, decent power and speed guy?

I appreciate any thoughts any of you may have.

LaPorta takes one to the head

joltinjoe — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:47:59 -0000

http://www.cleveland.com/olympics/index.ssf/2008/08/laporta_has_concussion_after_t.html

Matt LaPorta, playing in the Olympics, got beaned in the head by a pitch from a Chinese pitcher. The various photos on the web show a guy in a lot of pain and he was diagnosed with a mild concussion.

Now he was all ready struggling since being traded to the Indians, granted it has been a small sample size. I would assume that he is simply pressing in an attempt to justify being the 'cornerstone player' who was traded for C.C. Sabathia.

However, combined with this injury/incident, it makes me wonder if he'll live up to the superstar slugger projection that many in the baseball community have labeled him with. Based on his journal he does for milb.com, he seems like a nice guy and I hope he does well.

However, I'm starting to wonder if he might not be any better than a Pat Burrell-type (which isn't anything to sneeze at, but certainly not superstar level) and I can't imagine that sustaining a concussion from a ball to the head can help. While I'm not saying this will have a long-lasting effect, many players have had their careers altered by concussions.

What do the rest of you think about his potential career, the incident and how the bean ball might effect his career.