Minor League Recap, May 9th – May 15th

Welcome to the first SoDo Mojo minor league recap of the 2010 season. For these first few weeks, I’m not going to be quite as thorough as I was with the two at the end of last year, as I’ve currently got a lot on my plate. Fortunately, though, 2 of the club’s 6 minor league affiliates don’t even get started until mid-June.

13-13 combined week for the teams, with 4 extra inning games, a whole lot of blowouts, and a second baseman pitching (and getting lit up).

Here’s the jump!

Tacoma Rainiers – AAA – 2-5 Week – 16-18 Season

Hitter of the Week: Brad Nelson, 1B

Weekly Stats: 6-for-24, 5 SO, 5 BB, 2 R, .379 OBP

It was a pretty bleak week offensively down in Tacoma, as evidenced by the fact that the best performance came from a guy who hit .250 without an extra base hit. Nonetheless, Nelson did have a pretty solid week, getting on base 11 times. If you aren’t familiar with him, Nelson is a big, slow, powerful left handed first baseman, who strikes out a lot and generally isn’t very good at drawing walks or getting on base. No, he isn’t really a prospect.

Pitcher of the Week: Steven Shell, RHP

Weekly Stats: G, W, 9 IP, 4 H, 6 SO, BB

Steven Shell is a 27 year old finesse pitcher who hasn’t been relevant as a prospect since he was with the Angels in 2005. He doesn’t have real good stuff, and he barely strikes anyone out.

Slump of the Week: Chris Woodward, IF

Weekly Stats: 5-for-26, RBI, R, 5 SO, BB, .222 OBP

I’m sure you all know Chris Woodward – mediocre, journey-man, veteran infielder who has never been able to hold down a major league job. Just another rough week for another non-prospect.

Bad Starting Pitcher of the Week: Chris Seddon, LHP

Weekly Stats: G, L, 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 HR, 4 SO, BB

Chris Seddon is very similar to Steven Shell, in the sense that he’s in his mid-to-late 20’s, isn’t very good, and isn’t really a prospect. He also walks too many guys, without striking very many out, and gives up a lot of home runs despite having decent luck on fly balls.

Other Players of Interest:

Ezequiel Carrerra, CF: 4-for-23, 2 R, 2 SO, 4 BB, .296 OBP

Mike Carp, 1B: 3-for-24, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, BB, 5 SO, .160 OBP

Jack Hannahan, IF: 3-for-15, 2B, RBI, R, 2 BB, 2 SO, .294 OBP

Greg Halman, CF: 1-for-3, HR, RBI, R, SO, .333 OBP

Garrett Olson, LHP: 2 G, 2 L, 14 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, HR, 6 BB, 12 SO

Luke French, LHP: G, 7 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, HR, 3 SO

West Tenn Diamond Jaxx – AA – 4-2 Week – 19-16 Season

Hitter of the Week: Carlos Triunfel, SS

Weekly Stats: 9-for-19, 2 2B, 4 R, RBI, BB, SO, .500 OBP

Oh yeah, for prospects that I’ve already profiled recently, I’m just going to link you guys to that post. So, if you don’t know Carlos Triunfel, here you go.

Pitcher of the Week: Steve Bray, RHP

Weekly Stats: G, W, 7 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 4 SO

Steve Bray is 29 years old and still in Double-A. Do you really need me to tell you anything else about him? He pitched a good game this week, but that doesn’t matter, because he doesn’t have very good stuff, he doesn’t strike guys out or miss bats, and he doesn’t get ground balls.

Slump of the Week: Johan Limonta, 1B

Weekly Stats: 5-for-18, 2 2B, 6 RBI, 2 R, BB, 7 SO, .315 OBP

Johan Limonta is actually a pretty decent hitter, but his biggest issue is that he plays a position where power is weighted heavily, despite not having very much power. He can draw some walks, he has some gap power, and he’s got decent speed, but he’s never hit more than 12 home runs in a season, and that was with High Desert. He also strikes out a fair amount, which is something that people tend to overlook more when you can hit the ball out of the park.

Bad Starting Pitcher of the Week: Michael Pineda, RHP 🙁

Weekly Stats: 2 G, W, 10 IP, 12 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 13 SO

Here you go.

Other Players of Interest:

Dustin Ackley, 2B: 4-for-20, 2 2B, 4 R, 4 BB, 4 SO, .333 OBP

Alex Liddi, 3B: 4-for-21, 3B, 3 R, RBI, 3 BB, 7 SO, .291 OBP

Joseph Dunigan, OF: 4-for-22, HR, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R, BB, 10 SO, .217 OBP

Dan Cortes, RHP: G, W, 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, HR, 4 BB, 4 SO

Josh Fields, RHP: 2 G, S, 4.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO

Mauricio Robles, LHP: G, 5.2 IP, 5 H, ER, 6 BB, 8 SO

High Desert Mavericks – High A – 3-3 Week – 20-16 Season

Hitter of the Week: Nate Tenbrink, 3B

Weekly Stats: 7-for-22, 3 HR, 2B, 6 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, .375 OBP

Before you see these stats and freak out, just consider the environment. The entire California League is a hitter’s paradise, and a ton of numbers are going to be inflated. That being said, Nate Tenbrink is at least fairly interesting. Last year with Clinton, at the age of 22, he OPS’d .788 with 10 HR, and 14 SB. However, he does strike out a lot and his ability to make consistent contact is questionable. For now, he’s not that exciting, but he might be someone to monitor over the next year or so.

Pitcher of the Week: Jacob Wild, RHP

Weekly Stats: G, 7 IP, 5 H, BB, 5 SO

Jacob Wild isn’t a name you hear a lot, but to be fair, that’s because he isn’t very interesting. He’s been okay over the last year despite pitching in High Desert, but he still isn’t real good. He can strike a decent amount of hitters out without walking too many, but he lacks command and leaves a lot of pitches over the plate, causing him to get hit fairly hard. And at 25, he probably isn’t getting much better any time soon.

Slump of the Week: Rich Poythress, 1B

Weekly Stats: 4-for-24, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 4 SO, .259 OBP

Here you go.

Bad Starting Pitcher of the Week: Ryan Feierabend, LHP

Weekly Stats: G, 4.1 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 HR, 2 BB, 2 SO

Ryan Feierabend doesn’t really excel in any aspect of the game – he has okay command, doesn’t miss very many bats or strike very many guys out, and all in all just isn’t very interesting.

Other Players of Interest:

Kyle Seager, 2B: 8-for-26, HR, 6 R, 2 RBI, BB, 3 SO, .333 OBP

Johermyn Chavez, OF: 6-for-24, HR, 2B, 5 R, RBI, BB, 7 SO, .280 OBP

Denny Almonte, CF: 5-for-20, HR, 2 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI, 8 SO, .250 OBP

Maikel Cleto, RHP: G, 2 IP, 4 SO

Clinton Lumberkings – A – 5-2 Week – 18-19 Season

Hitter of the Week: Mario Martinez, 3B

Weekly Stats: 8-for-24, HR, 2B, 9 RBI, 5 R, BB, 5 SO, .360 OBP

Mario Martinez is an okay third base prospect who’s still extremely young and nowhere near major league ready. At only 19 years old, he posted solid numbers down in Everett last year, though he doesn’t hit for much power and he’s never been real good at drawing the walk. In short, he’s still got a ton of developing left to do.

Pitcher of the Week: Anthony Vasquez, LHP

Weekly Stats: G, W, 6 IP, 3 H, ER, 6 SO

Anthony Vasquez is a 23 year old lefty, who gets by on his excellent command, and really nothing else. With his low strike out rates and ability to avoid the walks, he’s kind of like a left handed version of Doug Fister. He’s nothing special, but he might have a future in the big leagues, even if only for the fact that he throws strikes.

Slump of the Week: Steven Baron, C

Weekly Stats: 1-for-11, 3 SO, .090 OBP

Here you go.

Bad Starting Pitcher of the Week: James Gillheeney, LHP

Weekly Stats: 2 G, W, 11.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, HR, 7 BB, 11 SO

Gillheeney really didn’t pitch that badly (in fact, aside from the walks, it was actually pretty good), but there really wasn’t much to choose from, as Clinton got some excellent pitching performances this week. The walks are Gillheeney’s biggest problem, anyway, though, as he’s consistently had high BB rates. He can strike out a decent number of hitters, but he absolutely need to iron out the command if he wants to go anywhere.

Other Players of Interest:

Nick Franklin, SS: 6-for-29, HR, 3B, 2B, 4 R, RBI, 9 SO, .206 OBP

James Jones, OF: 7-for-21, HR, 3 2B, 6 R, 4 RBI, 4 BB, 6 SO, .440 OBP

Dennis Raben, 1B: 3-for-19, HR, 5 RBI, 4 R, 3 BB, 6 SO, .272 OBP

Gabriel Noriega, SS: 2-for-13, 2B, 2 R, RBI, 3 BB, 3 SO, .312 OBP