Trevor Bauer was the subject of yesterday’s Prospect A-Z feature. The former UCLA standout raised his draft stock throughout his junior season with complete game after complete game and strikeout after strikeout. His stuff improved, and he was no longer a solid prospect with an odd routine, he’s a top talent. The Diamondbacks took Bauer third overall, two picks after UCLA teammate Gerrit Cole was taken by Pittsburgh, the first time since 1978 that...
Yesterday, we reviewed one of the Rockies’ top prospects, third baseman Nolan Arenado. He’s been a solid, above average hitter throughout his minor league career so far, and his defense on the hot corner is improving. In an ideal world for the Rockies, he develops into a middle of the order slugger to complement Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez. While that’s probably a couple years away, today’s player could reach the majors sooner than...
Over at Rays Prospects, the great staff will soon be wrapping up a great offseason feature, Prospect A to Z. Every day, one writer covers a prospect for each letter. For example, Chris Archer was the representative for A. It’s a great opportunity to talk about some different players, so I’ll be ripping off their idea and doing it leaguewide. They’re not necessarily the best prospect for each letter, just a guy I preferred...
The season ended about a month ago with the Lake Elsinore Storm being crowned champions. It was just their second outright championship in the team’s 18 year history. They defeated the Stockton Ports, the team that owns the most championships among active Cal League teams. For anyone that started following the league recently like me, it’s a surprise that honor doesn’t belong to San Jose. The championship series didn’t have the drama of last...
Joe Savery. I had this posted at Philly Sports Central last week, but I thought this audience would like to see it too. Savery is an intriguing player and to me, unfortunately only came in 7th place on our relief pitcher of the year ballot last week. May 23rd, 2011. This was a great day for the Phillies. Chase Utley made his return to the lineup after missing nearly two months with a knee...
After getting both predictions wrong in the semi-finals, I’ll dust myself off and try again in the Championship. Game One, Thurs. 9/15, 7:05 PM PT: Stockton Ports v. Lake Elsinore Storm (Smith/De Paula) Game Two, Fri. 9/16, 7:05 PM PT: Stockton Ports v. Lake Elsinore Storm (TBA) Game Three, Sat. 9/17 7:05 PM PT: Lake Elsinore Storm v. Stockton Ports (TBA) Game Four (if necessary), Sun. 9/18 TBA: Lake Elsinore Storm v. Stockton Ports...
Game One, Sat. 9/10, 6 PM PT: Stockton Ports v. San Jose Giants (Gilliam/Westcott) Game Two, Sun. 9/11, 5 PM PT: Stockton Ports v. San Jose Giants (Brown/Heston) Game Three, Mon. 9/12, 7:05 PM PT: San Jose Giants v. Stockton Ports (Marte/Griffin) Game Four (if necessary), Tues. 9/13, 7:05 PM PT: San Jose Giants v. Stockton Ports (Reichard/Straily) Game Five (if necessary), Wed. 9/14, 7 PM PT: Stockton Ports v. San Jose Giants (Murphy/TBA)...
On Wednesday, the Cal League playoffs will kick off. It’s the first round which pits the second half division winners against the wild card winners. It’s a brief three game series, and the winner moves on to face the first half champions. Game One, Wed. 9/7, 7:05 PM PT: Modesto Nuts @ Stockton Ports (Cabrera/Griffin) Game Two, Thurs. 9/8, 7:05 PM PT: Stockton Ports @ Modesto Nuts (Straily/Bettis) Game Three (if necessary), Fri. 9/9,...
Last week, the Cal League announced their award winners and postseason All-Star team. The league has had a nice mix of prospects and non-prospects having good seasons, and for the second straight year, they defeated the Carolina League in the All-Star Game. One interesting note is that there are no relievers on the team. Last year, the league’s Pitcher of the Year was a closer (Brad Brach), but this year they chose none despite...
Baseball America did something that I really liked this year with the Prospect Handbook: they included 20-80 scouting grades in five categories for each team’s top prospect. (I wish they did it for everyone in the book, but I’ll take what I can get at this point.) I love that we can look at Bryce Harper’s profile and see that both his power and arm project as 80s (two of only four tools in...
2012 05 14 Scranton Wilks Barre/ Empire State Yankees vs Pawtucket Red Sox
