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AFL
My apologies for interrupting, but it was nice to see baseball in Arizona yesterday. I thought the Tiger prospects showed quite well. Based upon the one game I've seen of these guys, I think Drucker's possible peak is Zach Miner-level. His stuff is not special, and he had trouble with location. Oliver threw hard, and was, in my mind, wild in the strike zone. His body was not under control as he threw, and he went off balance fairly often. He overpowered the hitters, but his delivery needs some tuning - he'll be in the minors this spring, but I won't be surprised to see him in a Tiger uniform in 2010. Household demands caused us to switch to football, so I missed Weinhardt, and that's a shame, because reportedly he was the best.
Wells and Iorg both looked good on defense. At the plate, Wells is not Markakis, but he holds the bat similarly - straight up and down, close to the chest. In the bigs, if he makes it this spring, they'll give him the hammer, high and tight, til he adjusts. Iorg surprised me the most. He's got a wide open stance, which he closes on delivery. Both of these hitters will have timing problems, but most definitely Iorg. During my one-game glance, it was my impression that both of these guys are ready defensively, but both will need hitting adjustments - Wells a small one - I'd have him cocking the bat back a bit more in his stance. Iorg needs his approach revamped.
Otherwise, it was a pretty good game - a nice sac bunt, alert baserunning, nice drag bunt, not bad situational hitting, pretty fair pitching. Regardless, it was nice to see something other than Charlie Weis struggling with Notre Dame.
AFL
I have seen Scott Sizemore up close and personal in Lakeland. Got nothing against the kid. Heck, I hope he turns into Rogers Hornsby in his tenure with the Detroit Tigers. Seems like a good enough young player. However, I have seen him kick ground balls all over the infield. My eyes were not lying to me.
I have also seen Polanco up close and personal for the past five years. A total and complete major league player. I have seen him take batting practice and hit 20 or more consecutive line drives, calling his field on each one. I have seen him go a whole big league season with no errors. None. He should take more walks and be more selective at the plate, but that is his only drawback. He is still a very productive player, and I am sure that will continue in the 2010 season.
To cast off Polly like yesterday's garbage after everything he has done for the team is a total travesty.
AFL
The AFL season was abbreviated by a week this year....another fallout from the WBC I think....so there was less time for prospects to work on skills and get evaluated by scouts/personnel-types. But besides having their club win the AFL Championship, the Tigers prospects had some good moments and some setbacks.
Robbie Weinhardt was one to watch. He ended up leading the AFL in strikeouts w/33 in 20.1 IP versus only 9 walks. He was smacked around in his first few outings but then caught a groove over the final 5 or 6 weeks and was consistently tough. He combines a good K-rate w/a good Groundball Percentage...this is a nice combo of skills. He probably has a shot at seeing DET next year. (A fair note is that Casey Fien had a nice AFL last year and did see DET the following the year...however not with great results. Fien may still contribute in DET though)
Andy Oliver also pitched 2 scoreless IP in the Championship Game and followed Weinhardt by struggling early in the AFL but pitching well from there. He pitched primarily from the bullpen after being a starter in college. I assume he goes back to starting in Spring Training...but we'll see. He could be a fast riser in the Tigers' system. Before struggling a tad as a Senior at OSU, Oliver was a Top 10 Draft prospect by many evals...so the talent is there. He ended up striking out 18 batters in 18 IP against 9 BB. His ERA was around 2.6.
Scott Drucker faded as the AFL season went on. He probably had the biggest regular season workload of all the pitchers though, so this is no shock. He's not a huge prospect...not all AFL pitchers are...they need arms to fill the league. Drucker did have a few good outings. He'll probably be back at Toledo next year biding his time.
Thad Weber is a medium prospect who had a good year in the minor. He only pitched a dozen innings in the AFL w/a 4.50 ERA. Not bad since there are plenty of good sticks and hitter's parks in the AFL. His WHIP was elevated but his K/BB was 13/2 which is good. He's worth watching next year to see what he does in a full year at Erie. He did pitch a no-hitter last year in the minors.
Scott Sizemore was crushing everything he saw at the beginning of the AFL. He was the Player of the Week in week 1 and was hitting .368/.462/.947...but he got taken out turning the double play and had to have surgery on his leg. He should be okay...we'll see. He had proven he could play well in the AFL the previous two autumns....I'm still irked they had him there again with nothing to prove. (btw...its laughable when the Polly-Pollyannas go on about Sizemore being a butcher in the field. Total joke...none of these boobs know anything more than an error total. He gets good remarks from scouts...minor league E-totals tell us little)
Casper Wells took advantage of the AFL as a good complement to his injury shortened regular season. He did a lot of good things. He showed some patience at the plate working some walks and he played all three outfield positions and that versatility should help him win a job in DET one day. He ended up at .351/.433/.662 and was second in RBI in the league. He did continue to strike out a fair bit when he did record an out.
Cale Iorg did nothing to quiet his legions of doubters. He posted an OPS of .616 and committed 8 errors. Next year will be a big year for him...will it click? If not then, then when? Hopefully the tools that the scouts loved will show through in the next year. If nothing else Iorg did play a role in winning the AFL Championship game. He had a sacrifice that chipped into a rally....he also was hit-by-pitch and then flashed some good speed beating a throw to second base that allowed a run to score. Nothing sexy but "the little things" that many here hold so dear. (personally I'd rather see him do the "Big things"...but we'll take what we can get! LOL)
So another AFL Season in the books!
AFL
Drucker had pretty good movement, but the location sure needed work. 2 homers.
AFL
The game is also on
mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?topic_id=7617858
AFL
Thanks, Yooper. Was that Iorg who just beat that throw to second, allowing the Javelinas run to score?
AFL
The AFL Championship Game is being played right now and being shown on MLBN.
Wells and Iorg are both in the starting lineup today.
AFL
Jerry...yes they did. AFL stats can be a little like The Steroid Era was for homer-totals though. So take that into account. But there is no question that those two guys are the cream of the crop in the Cubs' system right now along with Andrew Cashner and Jay Jackson.
I did see a note by Joe Sheehan today that he believes a club with better prospects than the Cubbies will be after Granderson if he's truly on the market. We'll see....
AFL
Yooper
I looked up the Cubs AFL prospects this afternoon. Vitters and Castro both had outstanding AFL seasons.
AFL
The Javelinas are losing their regular season finale' so far, 9-7 in the 7th. They'll have one more game on Saturday in the AFL Championship Game.
Casper Wells is 2-4 w/1 2B and 2 runs.
Cale Iorg is 2-3 w/1 2B and 1 E.
Thad Weber pitched one inning allowing 2 hits and 1 ER.
AFL
Exactly my point.
AFL
Iorg isn't a prospect.
AFL
None of the six Tigers' prospects played today.
What about Iorg... did he play?
AFL
The Javelinas coughed up 6 runs in the bottom of the 8th to lose 7-6 to the Phoenix Desert Dogs in a preview of Saturday's AFL Championship Game that the two clubs have already qualified for.
None of the six Tigers' prospects played today.
AFL
A javelina is a pig, and a saguaro a cactus, right?
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