Giants infield prospect Eugenio Velez is making a strong impression on manager Bruce Bochy this Spring, writes John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. It appears that Velez not only has a good chance to make the 25-man roster, but also to slide into the starting lineup occasionally in a utility role. His speed on the basepaths has been phenomenal, but recently it has been his glove and bat that are drawing attention. After replacing Ray Durham in the bottom of the first inning on friday, Velez had two hits, including a home run off Diamondbacks’ ace Brandon Webb, and made a diving stop on a ground ball that he turned into a double play. The 25-year-old has a league-leading 9 stolen bases and a .357 batting average this Spring.
Archive for the ‘3B’ Category
Giants Prospect Watch: Eugenio Velez
Monday, March 17th, 2008Prospects Getting the Ax: Player Cuts
Saturday, March 15th, 2008Earlier this week we listed the top prospects getting cut from the Rays, Indians, Pirates, Nationals, Rockies, Rangers, Red Sox, Twins, Angels, and Orioles. We’ve listed below a handful of prospects who have been cut since then.
- Beau Mills, 3B/1B, Indians
- Trevor Crowe, OF, Indians
- Matt LaPorta, OF, Brewers
- Phillipe Aumont, RHP, Mariners
- Robinzon Diaz, C, Blue Jays
- Charlie Morton, RHP, Braves
- Tyler Flowers, C/1B, Braves
- Brett Sinkbeil, RHP, Marlins
- Lance Broadway, RHP, White Sox
- Rick Porcello, RHP, Tigers
- Dexter Fowler, OF, Rockies
- Chris Nelson, SS, Rockies
- Jeff Samardzija, RHP, Cubs
- John Bowker, OF, Giants
Longoria’s Future Still In Question
Friday, March 14th, 2008Nobody seems to know whether Rays third baseman prospect Evan Longoria will start in the majors this year, not even manager Joe Madden. Madden said on February 13 that he would make a decision in a month, so one would expect to hear the news soon. In terms of performance, Longoria has done everything the Rays could have asked for. In eleven games he’s batting .318 with 2 doubles, a triple, a home run, with five RBIs, 5 walks, and a .464 on-base percentage.
According to Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com, the Rays have been known to take their time in developing youngsters and will ultimately do what is right for Longoria. At this point, fantasy managers should assume he makes the team and draft Longoria as a rookie sleeper with major upside.
Daily Pepper: Maybin, Fukudome, Price, Velez & Blackburn
Thursday, March 13th, 2008- After hitting two long balls yesterday, Cameron Maybin came through with another home run today. Looks like the youngster is making a push for that CF job. Maybin had come into the game as a pinch runner earlier in the game.
- Kosuke Fukudome wowed fans with his defense today, making a spinning acrobatic catch to save an extra base hit. Piniella also batted Fukudome in the 5 hole today, wanting to put a solid bat behind Aramis Ramirez.
- As we reported a few days ago, David Price has been cut from the big league squad. It was announced today that Price will be starting the season at Class A. This is pretty standard for first year players, but Price proved this spring that he isn’t a standard prospect. It had been speculated that Price might start a little higher than Single-A ball. Regardless of where he starts, Price should end up at the big show in no time.
- Jonathan Mayo of MiLB.com released his list of the top five farm systems. Mayo had the Rays at #1 (no surprise there), the A’s at #2 (okay, that’s surprising), the Rangers at #3, the Reds at #4, and the Red Sox rounding it up at #5.
- The Giants are trying speedster Eugenio Velez at 3B. Two weeks into March and the Giants still don’t really have a leading candidate for the 3B spot, so Velez definitely has a shot. The Giants have been reported to be surveying the trade market for a third basemen, but if Velez wins this job, look out. With a little bit of playing time Velez is definitely a fantasy sleeper to watch for his SB totals.
- Twins RHP Nick Blackburn finally gave up a run. The youngster hadn’t given up a run this spring, until surrendering 3 ER in 3 IP today.
Straight West Coast: Andy LaRoche, Clayton Kershaw, Nate Schierholtz, Greg Smith
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008- Andy LaRoche had surgery on his right thumb and is expected to be out for 8 to 10 weeks. The third baseman injured the thumb when a pickoff throw ricocheted of a runner and hit him in the hand. Not great news for a Dodgers infield that is already down a starter (Jeff Kent, although his injury is considered minor) and struggling to find healthy replacements.
- Clayton Kershaw got a few pointers from legendary lefty Sandy Koufax.
- Nate Schierholtz hit a two-out, two-run homer in the 7th to pull the Giants ahead of the A’s on Friday. Although Schierholtz has made excellent progress in San Francisco organization, Rick Eymer of MLB.com writes that the 24-year-old might find himself the low man on the outfield totem pole. Barring a trade of some kind that frees up a spot, the Giants are likely to use Schierholtz last minor league option and have him start the year at Triple-A Fresno.
- In other Giants news, four players were sent down to Minor League camp: Clay Timpner (who hit .301 at Triple-A Fresno last season), outfielder John Bowker, and pitchers Osiris Matos and Kevin Pichardo.
- The competition is heating up for the fifth spot in the Oakland A’s rotation. Greg Smith, acquired from the Diamondbacks in the Dan Haren trade, has had a great spring, including Tuesday’s four inning outing: 2 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, and no earned runs. Also in the running are Dana Eveland (also acquired in the Haren deal), Lenny DiNardo, Gio Gonzalez (acquired from the White Sox in the Nick Swisher trade), and Kirk Sarloos. Further complicating the starting pitching situation for the A’s is the injured Chad Gaudin, who is likely start the season on the DL. Thus, there would be two vacancies in the rotation, at least for a while.
Longoria Hits First Home Run of Spring
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008Rays prospect and anticipated starting third baseman Evan Longoria took the Twins’ Juan Rincon deep on Tuesday for his first jack of the spring. He was pinch-hitting in the top of the eighth inning.
Although the Rays have not made a decision on whether Longoria will be the starter, by all accounts he seems ready. He is batting .389 with a HR and 5 RBIs in 9 games this spring and it is pretty obvious that he is mentally prepared for the Bigs.
“Honestly, I’ve been comfortable since Day 1,” Longoria said. “Coming into the clubhouse, we have a pretty different look this year. There’s a lot of leadership in the clubhouse and it’s a totally different feel. I’ve been pretty comfortable since I got here.”
Evan Longoria remains our top offensive rookie sleeper for this year’s fantasy draft.
AL Quick Hits: Ellsbury, Longoria, Price, Neimann, Gomez
Tuesday, March 11th, 2008- Jacoby Ellsbury ran down a deer. In related news, The Boston Globe reports that the Cubs are interested in Coco Crisp, although the Red Sox are not enamored by Cubs’ offer of pitcher Jason Marquis or minor league outfielder Sam Fuld. If Crisp does get traded it could obviously have huge implications for Ellsbury’s upcoming fantasy season.
- Bill Chastain of MLB.com writes that Evan Longoria has done enough to earn the starting job at third base, and batting him further down in the order would allow him to settle in at the beginning of the season with less pressure.
- Lisa Winston of MiLB.com reports that 2007 #1 overall draft pick out of Vanderbilt, David Price, hit the first batter he faced, then struck out the side in the left-hander’s first appearance with the Rays. Tampa manager Joe Maddon and pitching coach Jim Hickey are all about this kid:
“He’s handled himself so well that regardless of what he does on the mound, we just want him to get out there and enjoy himself in his first ‘big league’ game,” Maddon said Friday. “He’s got a lot of self-confidence, he’s very motivated and directed and has a tremendous amount of poise about him. We just want him to pitch and be a Ray.”
“He’s extremely well-armed with a plus-plus fastball and an extremely sharp slider,” Hickey said. “[He has] a very good feel for a good changeup and a nice delivery, but to me, the thing that is most impressive about him is the type of person he is. He’s a first-class citizen, he’s an extremely hard worker, he’s very coachable. He comes early, he stays late.”
- Rays rookie Jeff Neimann, their first pick in the 2004 draft, went 3 no-hit innings with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts; he has a 0.00 ERA so far this spring. Neimann was 12-6 with a 3.98 ERA with Triple-A Durham last year and could be considered for a spot in Tampa’s rotation.
- Updating an earlier post: the Twins’ Carlos Gomez, acquired in the Johan Santana trade, went 2 for 5 with an RBI triple, a stolen base, and 2 runs scored. He’s got plenty of speed, and confidence to go with it.
Gammons Wrap: Longoria, Kershaw, Hu, Rodriguez
Sunday, March 9th, 2008As always, some good prospect news from an article by ESPN’s legend Peter Gammons:
- Evan Longoria has lived up to the hype this spring, impressing everyone with not only his bat but his stellar glove work as well. Gammons notes that scouts believe Longoria could go for 30 HR in his rookie season if he’s allowed to play all of it. But as Gammons notes, there is still speculation that the Rays might delay his call-up to avoid super-two status. For fantasy sake, we all hope they just let him play.
- A few people in Dodgers camp think that phenom Clayton Kershaw should be with the major league team now. Russell Martin was quoted saying that Kershaw is going to help the Dodgers this year, in line with a similar quote by Joe Torre a couple weeks ago. That the Dodgers are even discussing bringing Kershaw up so early (remember he’s only 19) is testament to his uncanny skill. There was word today that the Dodgers have decided to keep Kershaw at the big league camp through the rest of spring training, but Joe Torre said there is almost zero chance he makes the big league rotation.
- Gammons also notes that Dodgers coach Larry Bowa is very impressed with SS prospect Chin-Lung Hu. His quote was “He can really play defense.” Don’t look for Hu at SS in Los Angeles as long as Furcal is healthy. But Furcal’s contract expires after this season, so the Dodgers would love for Hu to be ready to take over at short next year.
- Check out this gem of a quote Gammons pulled up from one of the Scouts in Arizona this spring: “The best young pitcher I’ve seen in two years out here is Oakland’s Henry Rodriguez. He throws 98 with a devastating breaking ball.” Gammons notes that Rodriguez will not start the season with Oakland, but given these comments and the abundance of opportunity for young players in Oakland this year, it could only be a matter of time before we see this 21-year-old with the big club. That’s pretty interesting stuff, considering Rodriguez isn’t on many people’s radar as a top prospect. He is the #8 prospect in the A’s system according to BaseballAmerica.
Injury Update: Andy LaRoche
Saturday, March 8th, 2008Horrible news for the Dodgers and fantasy sleeper seekers today: 3B Andy LaRoche will miss at least 2 months with a torn ligament in his right thumb, according to ESPN. In a strange series of events, first Nomar Garciaparra went down in the 4th inning after being hit by a pitch. LaRoche entered the game for Nomar as a pinch runner, and only a half-inning later injured his thumb on a pick off attempt to third. Apparently the ball deflected off of the runner rushing back to the bag, and hit LaRoche on his throwing hand. LaRoche will have surgery on his finger in the next day or two, and is expected to miss 8-10 weeks. Clearly this means Nomar will be starting the season at 3B, and LaRoche will now be in a position where he’ll have to steal the job when he gets back. LaRoche’s draft day value just took a huge plunge.
