This is not my blog but I figured it should get some exposure. In this game Martin was unhittable going 5IP 3H 0R 0BB 9k.

A 2 way player in high school, last year was basically his first year pitching full time. It seems like the Dodgers might be taking the kiddie handles off him. Wouldn't be surprised if he makes it to AA by June.


http://socalprospectscene.blogspot.com/2010/04/minor-report-ethan-martin.html

saw this on mlbtraderumors.com...

http://www.scribd.com/doc/19216605/Rankings-082909

if the season ended today.....

Randy Wolf Type A

Orlando Hudson Type A

Manny Ramirez Type A

Vicente Padilla Type B (LOLzzz)

Will Ohman Type B

Mota Type B

We could potentially gain a decent amount of picks....

Personally, I think we will offer Wolf, Hudson and Manny arb. The rest....probably not. Padilla is not worth the risk with the money....I want more draft picks!

A couple years ago, there was a trio of Texas Ranger pitching prospects that got a lot of people excited. Then, all three of them faced their own unique hardships and then question marks began to form if any of the three would ever live up to their potential.

Now, I am not a Rangers fan, but the people who believed in the DVD trio should get some redemption now.

For those that don't remember, the trio was:

Thomas Diamond

Edinson Volquez

John Danks

Diamond is struggling in his return from injury but the other two are dominating their respective leagues at 23/24 years old. 

So the good news? Congrats Ranger fans, your org CAN develop pitching prospects into elite major league pitchers!

The bad news? They are putting up elite numbers for other teams...

That no one ever talks about. I remember 3 years ago when we were having that Billingsley/Cain/Verlander debate, a lot of people were skeptical of Billingsley for one reason or another.

Matt Cain ERA+

2006: 108

2007: 122

2008: 105

Justin Verlander ERA+

2006: 126

2007: 125

2008: 98

Chad Billingsley ERA+

2006: 118

2007: 138

2008: 134 (after today's start if lgERA remains constant)

Chad is also first in the majors among starting pitchers in K/9IP at 9.90. He turned 24 at the end of the month. How come he isn't talked about more? For example, Baseball Tonight before the Mets game didn't even do a recap of the Dodgers game with Billingsley striking out 13!!

He is breaking out At Inland Empire this year.

Some info on him.

age 22

Switch Hitter

listed at 5'11 170lbs from Santo Domingo in the DR.

Season numbers: 273 ABS 42 XBHs 53bb 44k  319/426/564

He is obliterating the California League in every way possible offensively. He is new to catching, a converted 3b (dodgers like doing this with athletic infielders). He has always shown very good plate discipline in his minor league career but this is the year he is putting everything together.

What are the thoughts of the community? Elite catching prospect? Potential offensive force? California League facade?

I thought prospect followers would enjoy this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2M0c6DxCMY

Its from today's red sox/dodgers ST game where a top pitching prospect made an appearance. Since any footage on prospects is incredibly hard to come by, i assume this would be a treat for some people.

Its only one pitch but...its one pitch I could watch over and over :)

http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080306&content_id=2409927&vkey=spt2 008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=la

he Dodgers don't want to rush Clayton Kershaw. But their fifth-starter job is up for grabs and left-handers with 97-mph fastballs don't grow on trees.

"I wouldn't be surprised," said Russell Martin, who caught Kershaw's inning against Washington on Tuesday night.

"For the first time in a big league game -- wow. He's got just a heavy, heavy fastball and an easy delivery. He's very deceptive. His curveball, it just drops off the table. I think it's the best curveball I've ever caught, to be honest.

Don't do it LA......

http://www.insidesocal.com/dodgers/archives/2007/12/kuroda_agrees_t.html

The deal is pending results of a physical examination, which Kuroda took this morning at Centinela Hospital, but it's done and believed to be worth between $36 million to $40 millon.

Kuroda's ZIPS projections:
http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/oracle/discussion/dodgers_reportedly_signed_kuroda/

2008. 180IP ERA+ 115
      
2009. 176IP ERA+ 112
      
2010. 172IP ERA+ 105

Penny
Lowe
Billingsley
Kuroda
Schmidt

With Loaiza as the 6th man and long man in the bullpen.

Dodgers also have reinforcements with most likely Jon Meloan (good chance being moved back to starter), James McDonald, Scott Elbert and Clayton Kershaw in that order.

If that isn't enough depth for Colletti, then he is most likely a troll; a troll that lives under a bridge that hordes everything

There seems to be an arms race in the NL West...I could see the Rockies going hard after Bedard actually.

Billingsley.... 7IP 4H 0ER 1bb 9K

Billingsley's season totals:

122.2IP 106H 14hr 50bb 118k 3.30era

Billingsley as a starter this year:

87.2IP 77H 13hr 37bb 78k 3.39era

Billingsley after the all star break:

68IP 62H 8hr 28bb 60k 3.04era

This is also his age 22 season in the bigs so his control is only going to get better. I remember alot of people were down on him last year because of his krates and k/bb ratios but has progressed wonderfully over the past year.

The NL west is going to be hell for hitters with all the solid young pitching blossoming in that division.

AA Jacksonville!
------------------------------------------
Ace pitcher Clayton Kershaw was promoted Monday to the Jacksonville Suns, the Los Angeles Dodgers' Double-A affiliate

Parrish realizes that Kershaw, who the Dodgers have on the fast track to the major leagues, is ready for the new challenges that Double-A ball will bring.
"Obviously, (the Dodgers') goal was to get him out of here and give him a taste of Double-A before the season was over," said Parrish. "I think he is ready for that. (Is he) completely ready? I don't know. He still needs to get better command of his pitches.
"He certainly has the stuff. Maybe moving up to a team in first place and being able to pitch against Double-A hitters will help him focus a little better," added Parrish.
Loons' pitching coach Glenn Dishman agreed.
"At this level, he knew that he could sit there and throw fastballs by people, and (he) sometimes didn't have command of his fastball the way he needed to," said Dishman. "(At Jacksonville), he will rise to the challenge and know that he needs to hit his spots and still throw a 96 mile-per-hour fastball when he needs to."
------------------------------------
http://www.ourmidland.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18670011&BRD=2289&PAG=461&dept_id=576269& amp;rfi=6

i dunno what they are doing but whatever.

He is blowing away the Mets. Really impressive stuff in my opinion. That curveball looks excellent and he comes back with 94mph heat. His delivery is really clean too.

consider me on notice.

Kershaw is on the fast track to the Major Leagues, having been promoted recently from Class A Great Lakes to Double-A Jacksonville

http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070716&content_id=2089949&vkey=news _la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la

thats a pretty huge jump if true. The Dodgers are pretty notorious for slowtracking their pitchers after the jackson/miller debacle so I really cant believe this is true.

i went to his start tonight, inland empire vs san jose. Mcdonald currently leads the CAL League in strikeouts and is one of the better starting pitching prospects in the Dodgers system.

His line was:

5.1IP 8H 4ER 1bb 13K 2hr

Scouting Report

Physical Characteristics:

Mcdonald is long and lanky, listed at 6'5 195lbs. From my observation, he was very bit the 6'5 and as skinny as 195lbs; maybe even a bit less. Really skinny waist and stands tall on the mound. He has a short, quick arm action throwing from the high 3 quarters angle. he breaks his hands a little later then most and sqaures up to home plate a little later then most which adds nice deception and hitters have trouble picking up the ball. If the dodgers get him on a weight training program and he can gain 15-20lbs or so, he could definitely add velocity to his pitches.

Fastball: 60-65

Fastball velocity was a tick above average for a right hander, between 89-92 on stalker guns around me with 90-91 consistently. What makes it a 65 grade at times is the control and deception he gets to it. He was getting consistent swings and misses with his fb in fb counts and the only thing i can attribute that too is that he hides the ball well before he releases it. The fb is fairly straight, no extreme movement to it.

Breaking ball: 55-60

He threw some sliders but mainly curveballs. They were inconsistent but when he snapped them off, they were above big league average. When he gave up his first homerun, he had the hitter down 0-2 on 2 great curveballs, one looking and the second one swinging. Bad location and pitch selection on the fb lead to the homerun. It seemed he wasn't feeling his curveball that much because it was his third best pitch and third most used pitch in the night behind his fb and change up. the cb was coming in around 77-80 with the slider coming in a bit harder.

Change up: 65

In my opinion, it was his best pitch of the night. Plenty of swings and misses (about 5 Ks) on it and only one from my notes that was hit for a base hit. the CU was disguised well with the same tempo and arm action as his fastball with velocity around 78mph. The pitch had some sink and dive to it but his ability to command it and throw it in any count was impressive. I distinctly remember a 3-2 count where he pulled the string and got the hitter to swing and miss.

Control and Command: 60-65

As you can tell by the one walk issued, he was around the plate the majority of the time. He seemed to spot his fastball well and had confidence in his cu. he was iffy with his cb and had command of it depending on the inning. The homers given up were fastball with bad location that the hitters just tattered.

The Bad:

from my notes, i wrote down that he was inconstent from the stretch. He rushed his delivery sometimes to compensate from being so long and lanky with some inconsistent release points. Other then some badly located fastballs, he looks really good as evidenced by the 13:1 K:bb ratio. alot of the hits were bloopers and dribbles so he was a bit unlucky with his BABIP; i only remembered 3 hard hit balls- a double down the right field line and the 2 homeruns.

The flyball tendencies might be a concern, but i think he pitches different at home then away. his GO/FO ratio away is 1.35 compared to .47 at home. The Inland Empire home park plays pretty neutral so compared to other CAL league parks, maybe he realizes he can get away with pitching up in the zone alot more at home then on the road.

hopefully this report was helpful to some people. I saw in the other thread that Drgiantsfan was at the game too so maybe he can lay down some more insight.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/0530scherzer-ON.html

Dbacks give a 4mil, major league deal for a future reliever.

                                                                                                      all the top Draft and follow players have signed. Last year I think Bryan Morris was the only draft and follow to not sign and be picked in the first round. why is this relevant? its not, but i needed to fill the space.

here are some players i like at #20. Some have a good shot of being there, some might probably be picked earlier in this mock then in real life (due to mock GMs not having to worry about signability, readiness vs upside, etc).

1. Kevin Ahrens INF PREP

Pros: Polish bat, quick hands, good batspeed, switch hitter.

Cons: Future position uncertain, power is only projection right now, below average running speed.

2. Tim Alderson RHP PREP

Pros: excellent command, plus fb, plus slider, great frame.

Cons: Unorthodox delivery, lands stiff on front leg, does not get full extension at release point, some scouts see his future as a reliever.

3. Matt Dominguez 3b PREP

Pros: excellent defensive tools and reputation, protypical size for the hot corner, plus power, quick hands, good batspeed

Cons: doesnt trust his hands, lunges at pitches too much, hitting mechanics need to be adjusted by team that drafts him.

4. Todd Frazier SS/3b Rutgers

Pros: excellent makeup and instincts, plus power, knows how to draw walks, XBH machine, smart basestealer, basically 5 tool player.

Cons: Strikes out a little too much, probably will not stay at SS in the pros, competition wasnt exactly elite.

5. Matt Harvey RHP PREP

Pros: excellent heavy fb, chance to have a plus spike cb. big and physical, excellent build.

Cons: inconsistent this spring especially with command at times, delivery tempo needs to be increased, advisor is an asshole.

6. Josh Smoker LHP PREP

Pros: long positive history of excelling in showcases, excellent pitchability, fierce competitor on the mound, above average velocity.

Cons: Not much projection, doesnt project as a #1 more like a 2 or 3. Because he has so many pitches, can lose command sometimes.

okay, those 6 players are a little bit different from one another but they all offer up their own pluses as well as their own negatives. Now, at pick 20, assuming all of them are available, who would you pick? If you do participate in the poll, please reply with who you picked and the reason(s) for that player.

I'll be acting as the new scouting director but I wont stray from the paths of the previous men who have held this position. I will be taking high ceiling, high impact caliber players. Depending on how the first 19 picks shape out, our first pick is most likely going to be a prep player since the college class is a bit lackluster. I do feel there will be some 3-5th gems from the college class though.

If you have a sleeper player that you dont want other  teams finding out about (when they peak in this diary), you can email me at npurcell@email.arizona.edu

I also frequent dodgerthoughts.com, huzzah.cc/dodgers and the dodgers scout.com page frequently if you need to find me.

that said, lets get to the draft. I have a rough idea of what types of players will be available around 20 but i any input from anyone is welcomed.

Marlon Arias, a 22yr old RHP pitcher in the dodgers system threw a no hitter for the Inland Empire 66ers tonight. It was the first no hitter in the California League in 4yrs I think. I dont think Arias is ever going to jump into top prospect consideration but its still an impressive feat.

9IP 0H 0ER 2bb 10K

Congrats Marlon.

http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070424&content_id=1927791&vkey=news _la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la

there is some pretty good info in here on the dodgers top prospects, and some sleeper prospects.

this is what i gathered from the chat..

- loney has been focusing hard on improving his OF defense and he seems to have made significant progress in that regard.

-Meloans is really close to being MLB ready

-Miller's delivery is still a work in progress and they continue to make minor adjustments to get him to consistently repeat his arm slot. but it seems they are focused on him as a SP.

theres a lot of other info there and i'll just let you guys read it and come up with your own analysis.

ill start it off. Kershaw took the mound today, he did decent.

5IP 4H 1ER 2bb 6k 0HR

some notes from listening to the game

-fb was consistently 91-94

-fb has a ton of sink to it, GO-FO ratio of 5-1

-curveball has a 11-7 tilt to it, coming in around 78-79mph

-he was getting to a lot of early 1-2 or 0-2 counts but it seems he couldnt put them away. Maybe he needs to develop a harder breaking pitch or develop that change up.

-all and all, decent outing, hopefully he continues to progress considering it saddens me everytime i see lincecum dominating in AAA.

____________
Left-handed pitcher Greg Miller will become a starter as long as he remains healthy, Little said. Miller is a top prospect who missed the 2004 season because of shoulder surgery and pitched primarily in relief the last two seasons.

Miller probably would begin the season in the rotation at triple-A Las Vegas along with Hong-Chih Kuo, D.J. Houlton, Eric Stults and Scott Elbert.

"If I had a chance to make the [major league] team as a reliever, that's definitely something I'd be interested in," Miller said. "But if they want me to get some starts under my belt in the minor leagues, that's fine too."
_________________

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-dodrep27feb27,0,6440890.story?coll=la-home-sports

diary title isnt meant to be serious, just a little humor :)

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/dodgers/la-sp-dodgers20nov20,1,982219.story?coll=la-headl ines-sports-mlb-dodger

The 33-year-old gets a two-year deal for $18 million after L.A. refuses to match Cubs' offer to Soriano of $136 million for eight years.

thoughts? seems like in this free agency period this winter, nomar could have probbably gotten more on the open market if he waited it out some more.

as a dodger fan i dont know if i like this or not. Nomar had a flaire for the dramatic last year and when healthy, hes still a very very good hitter but i dont want him taking ABs away from Loney, who has shown he is clearly ready for at least 400PAs next year.

we'll see what happens.

right now. hes starting and has looked awesome so far.

wow, fastball velocity consistently 94-98 on the espn gun. Showing 2 different sliders and changing speeds very well on all his pitches.

anyone else watching this? he is certainly displaying #1 stuff right now.

______
_______

Meloan has been dodger fans' little known secret. But Goldstein of BP gives him some pub.

____________
Sleeper alert! A fifth-round pick in 2005 out of Arizona, Meloan missed the first five weeks of the season with a sore elbow, and has been treated with kid's gloves since returning, pitching in short stints every five days or so. The thing is, nearly every time he goes out, he's untouchable. On Friday it was no different as Meloan whiffed five over a pair of hitless innings, giving him 21 strikeouts in 9.2 Double-A innings and 89 punchouts overall in 51 frames across three levels. This is not a nifty, tricky pitcher fooling hitters with marginal stuff. Meloan is sitting at 92-94 mph, touching 97, and his curveball has morphed into a plus-plus spiking monster. 2007 could be a coming out party for him when the Dodgers take the reigns off.
_______________

Just a heads up on a possible really good pitching prospect you could grab in the late rounds of your minor league draft.

He was simply awesome tonight against the Marlins.

His fastball wasn't his fastest, sitting 90-93 but his slider was absolutely money. With his build and his slider tonight, it really reminded me of Bonderman out there on the mound.

7IP 3H 0ER 1BB 9K

all the hits were singles and the walk came in the 7th on a 3-2 pitch.

on the season he has a 3.16era although its pretty remarkable how he has such a low ERA with such a high walk rate.

Maybe this is the game that will get Chad rolling along and help the Dodgers win the NL West!

http://insidethedodgers.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/2006/07/dodgers_acquire.html#comments

There will be more on this to come, but I wanted to break the news here that we've re-acquired Elmer Dessens in exchange for Odalis Perez, Single-A right-handers Blake Johnson and Julio Pimentel and cash considerations.

I wonder how much of the contract the Dodgers had to eat? Blake Johnson has potential. He has very good control but is very hittable right now. His fastball hasn't developed like the Dodgers thought he would. He is only 21 though so he might break out next year in AA. Pimentel has regressed and is now in the bullpen.

What I have seen from prep pitchers who first enter professional ball is that their control goes haywire and they walk more guys then they should. So far in the GCL, Kershaw has been pretty good. I know its only rookie ball, but the control he is showcasing to go along with his great stuff he was touted to have before the draft is really encouraging to me. Who knows, he might be the best pitcher Logan White has drafted.

stats so far:

Clayton Kershaw 16 IP 12 hits 2 ER 1 BB(!!!) 23 K 1.12era

*The only walk came in the his first very professional inning, so hes had 15 walkless innings since then. What were everyone's thoughts on Kershaw? I don't remember if he was getting alot of love on this board or not. Does he belong in top 100 prospects for next year?

1b James Loney
2b Willy Aybar
3b Andy Laroche
LF Joel Guzman
CF Matt Kemp
RF Delwyn Young

A lot of firepower there right now. Would be disapointing if they didnt average 7/8 runs a game from here on out.

_____________
_______________

PCL Batting Watch:

Loney: .383
Kendrick: .369

Hairston is a distant third at .340, but I think he's hurt.

who wins the title at the end of the year!?!?!

________________

________________

_______________

I think hes in relief right now, but hes in AA Corpus Christi for the Astros org and his K numbers are just filthy.

in 58.1IP, hes struck out 96 batters.

that comes out to a K/9IP of 14.81!!!

hes only walked 19 batters as well, so his K:bb ratio is over 5:1!!!

the only thing disturbing is that hes given up 9hrs but you can't ignore the strikeouts and strikeout ratio.

He looks like a sleeper here, a potential late inning elite arm. He's only 23 yrs old too, so being at AA is a normal development curve for him. thoughts on him from anyone?

final line for tonights game

7.2IP 1H 1ER 4bb 13k 0hr

his season total numbers:

2.49 ERA
6.2 H/9
10.5 K/9
4.3 w/9
.45 HR/9

he has really been unhittable in June:
IP    27.2
ERA    0.99
h9    4.30
k9    13.90
hr9    0.00
w9    4.63
whip    0.99
k:bb    3.00
gb out:fb out    1.44

Reports Ive read from a scout who has attended his last 10 or so games say his fb is consistently 93-96 with good command of his change up and hes throwing two different breaking balls, a slider and a curveball that is about 5-7mph slower then the slider that comes in about 80mph.

So question to the community, thoughts on Scott Elbert? Should he be promoted to AA? It seems he has flat outstanding stuff and still might have a little trouble harnessing it (high walk rate as evidence) but he has been pretty much unhittable with great athleticism and makeup. He is a top 30 propsect in baseball?