The Oakland A’s called up outfielder Chris Carter this afternoon. He will make his major league debut tonight in Seattle, batting seventh and playing left field. The 23-year-old Carter was hitting .262 with 27 homeruns and 89 RBI for Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento. He has long exhibited ridiculous power, with 145 career homeruns, including 25-39-28-27 the past four seasons. He also strikes out a lot (676 in 2471 at-bats). Carter was the Texas...
Since he was selected by the Phillies in the 20th round of the 2006 draft, Domonic Brown has made a slow, steady climb up the minor league ladder. Witness the games played at each level from 2006-2009: (I’m ignoring brief three-game stints in 2007 at High A and 2009 at the Rookie level) 2006 – Rookie (34) 2007 – Short Season (74) 2008 – Low A (114) 2009 – High A (66), Double-A (37)...
The Rays promoted Matt Joyce from Durham yesterday and sent down former all-star catcher Dioner Navarro. Since I am a huge fan of “Southern Thunder” Matt Joyce, I wrote a song. Actually, I didn’t write it, it’s kinda a Garth Brooks song. I just changed the words. Sing along if you want. It’s a three loss streak And the team ain’t well The Trop’s lookin’ like a ghost town No one’s ringin’ their bell...
Two years ago, the Indians swindled the Dodgers, sending Casey Blake to the Left Coast for a couple of prospects. One of those prospects? Switch-hitting catcher Carlos Santana. I like the way The Ghost of Moonlight Graham broke down the situation: The Dodgers also threw in RHP Jonathan Meleon, who was ranked as the eighth best prospect in the Dodgers’ system prior to 2008 by Baseball America. That is a lot to give up...
Two years ago, I wrote about Jose Tabata. Then a nineteen-year-old outfielder with the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate in Trenton, Tabata got frustrated one night, left the team, and picked up a three-game suspension. Less than three months later, just before the 2008 trade deadline, the young prospect was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a six-player deal that included Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, and Daniel McCutchen. He continued to progress through the Pirates’ farm...
Mike Stanton makes his major league debut for the Marlins tonight after a two month stint at Jacksonville in which he hit .311 with 21 homeruns, 52 RBI, and a 1.167 OPS in 52 games. Over 130ish games, that works out to about 52 homeruns and 130 RBI. I’m kinda sad that the Marlins aren’t going to be cheaper and keep him in the minors a little longer. Fun fact: over the weekend, I...
Buster Posey was finally called up by the San Francisco Giants yesterday and arrived in time to make his season debut against Arizona. Playing first base and batting sixth, he went 3-4 with the first three RBI of his major league career. Unlike last season, when he was a September call-up who played sparingly, Posey is expected to see plenty of action at first and behind the plate. The real reason I’m excited about...
Sometimes I’m a bit behind on the stuff that happens on the field. Many nights, I don’t get a chance to look at box scores before going to bed, and realize the next day that somebody somewhere did something impressive. Yesterday, I saw that 20-year-old shortstop Starlin Castro had been called up by the Cubs and made a mental note to do a Now Batting For post for him sooner rather than later. Stuff...
Two years ago at our old place, I did one of these posts for Chris Davis, the Texas Rangers farmhand who had a monster 2007 offensively in High- and Double-A before earning a big league call-up in late June 2008. Davis hits for power, but he strikes out, how you say, a LOT – 150 in 391 at-bats last season, 17 in 48 at-bats this year. It was last summer, if I recall, that...
Mets fans haven’t had a lot to look forward to the last couple years. Injuries highlighted a disappointing 70-92 season in 2009, and a 4-8 start hasn’t offered much hope for a better 2010. Still, there is reason to rejoice in Flushing. His name is Ike Davis. Davis entered this season as New York’s fourth-rated prospect, second only to Fernando Martinez among position players. Unlike Martinez, however, who made his major league debut last...
2012 05 14 Scranton Wilks Barre/ Empire State Yankees vs Pawtucket Red Sox
