Minor league update

[mark1]

Both the Sidewinders and Diablos are off to 3-0 starts. The Sidewinders beat Edmonton 25-11 yesterday. It was the most runs scored in the PCL since 1994. Brian Gordon has 12 RBI's already with 2 homeruns. Chad Tracy is 7 for 12. What have they been feeding Gordon? Hurry up and send some to Colorado

 

[AZZenny]

"Hurry up and send some TO THE DIAMONDBACKS in Colorado." - I think we need to be very specific! Those tricky baseball gods, you know. I'll pay for same-day FedEx, no problem. Have some of whatever it is waiting for our guys in LaLa Land, too.

 

[AZZenny]

btw - Cintron is definitely a Major Leaguer - he is looking great all around and running roughshod over the minor-leaguers - so is Donnels.

 

[adbacksfan]

I had heard the Sidewinders won 25-11 the other day and left 15 on base, is that hitting or what! I was very impressed with some of the minor league players during ST.

 

[mark1]

Chad Tracy is 11 for 22 so far this year. This kid can really hit. I don't think the minor leagues are going to hold him for long. He's mainly a singles hitter so far in his career, but, he is young (23 in May) and could develop some pop. He's listed at 6'2 200 lbs, so he has good size.

 

[Moose Lady]

Originally posted by mark1
Chad Tracy is 11 for 22 so far this year. This kid can really hit. I don't think the minor leagues are going to hold him for long. He's mainly a singles hitter so far in his career, but, he is young (23 in May) and could develop some pop. He's listed at 6'2 200 lbs, so he has good size.

Yep and he's also a RED head which ought to give us some fire & brimstone.

 

[mark1]

Alex Cintron is tearing it up. He had 4 more hits last night. He's hitting 469 with 7 RBI's hitting in the 2 hole. The D-Backs would be smart to trade Wohack for some bagels and cream cheese, and bring Cintron up.

 

[AZZenny]

Boy, I agree! Cintron needs to be here, NOW.
Bringing up their hitting coach might not be a bad move either.

They were talking about Cintron on their radiocast the other evening - how he clearly feels more like a major leaguer than a minor leaguer; that finding himself playing in places like Yankee stadium "grew him up" - and when the "kids" are screaming and all revved up in the dugout, he sort of looks over at Donnels and smiles, and thinks "that's what you do in a college game."

 

[schillingfan]

Interesting news about Cintron. Back in 2000 or thereabouts when the D-Backs seemed to be 30th out of 30 in prospects Cintron was rated up there with Overbay, Cust and Patterson as a top prospect. He sort of got lost in the shuffle, being not too impressive in his brief stints with the big team. His play in the NLDS separating Scott Rolen's shoulder didn't really help that impression. It would be nice to see him back up there.

I'd have said he should take Matt Williams place on the roster, but Matty's been hitting pretty well (I notice nobody is talking about that much). So okay, take the tire iron out on Womack's knees then.

 

[DWKB]

Originally posted by schillingfan

I'd have said he should take Matt Williams place on the roster, but Matty's been hitting pretty well (I notice nobody is talking about that much). So okay, take the tire iron out on Womack's knees then.

Well let me say something about Matt's 2003 performance up until now:

By Breakdown	AB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
vs. Left	8	0.625	0.600	1.125	1.725
vs. Right	13	0.154	0.267	0.154	0.421

Use his bat correctly and you see huge dividends pay out.

 

[mark1]

Cintron bulked up during the offseason. He hit two spring homers with the big club and has 1 homer already with Tucson. It is so nice seeing our minor leaguers knocking on the door to the majors. Even if there is no place right now for people like Terrero (381) Tracy (481) or Cintron (469) it's nice to know that when the D-Backs retool, they have some people to take over and still be competitive.

Unless the big club gets a solid 3 hole hitter and straightens out a shaky bullpen, I fear they are going to struggle all year. From what i've read, Villarreal would rather pitch out of the bullpen, and I hope they put him there. Although Patterson hasn't pitched real well his 2 starts for the Sidewinders, he is probably their best option for the 5 hole if Villarreal goes to the bullpen full time.

THIS TEAM NEEDS A CONSISTENT RUN PRODUCER!! GO GET ONE JOE JR

 

[mark1]

DWKB is right. If the Diamondbacks would play Matty against lefties only, he would probably put up pretty good numbers. Matt can't hit righties. He goes fishing for breaking pitches constantly that he can't hit, let alone drive. Brenly needs to get his head out of his a$$ and realize that his buddy Matty is a situational player at best.

 

[schillingfan]

Originally posted by DWKB
Well let me say something about Matt's 2003 performance up until now:

By Breakdown	AB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
vs. Left	8	0.625	0.600	1.125	1.725
vs. Right	13	0.154	0.267	0.154	0.421

Use his bat correctly and you see huge dividends pay out.

Well I said this a couple of days ago on another message board, so I guess we have something we agree about:

I would platoon Matty against lefty pitchers to replace Lyle Overbay. In the past three years he has batted almost .50 higher against lefties (.306 v. .257). His OPS is .915 v. .709.

It makes no sense to platoon him with CC as CC hits lefties and righties almost equally.Or alternatively, against lefties play CC at SS in place of Tony Womack, who has a huge lefty righty split.

But put Matty on the bench against righties. He really doesn't hit them well and hasn't in a while. We have tons of left handed hitters on the team who do hit righties.

 

[DWKB]

I would much rather have Counsell, Williams, and Womack play merry-go-round on the left side of the IF than to have the sort-of 3-way 1B solution that we've had before. Overbay and Grace should be able to take all of the 1B starts this season.

 

[AZZenny]

Anyone besides me think we ought to call JPatt back up, prepare to ride out some rough spots, and let him mature and polish? We know he is able to pitch well and win at this level. Maybe show some faith in him.

 

[mark1]

With Oscar returning to the bullpen fulltime, I think they have no other choice than to bring Patterson back up.


Brenly said the report from Tuesday's game said that Patterson was consistently throwing 90 to 91 mph, hit 94 mph four times and other than an inning in which he surrendered four two-out hits, “his outing was real strong.”


BTW....Cintron and Tracy had 2 more hits a piece last night

 

[mark1]

Does anybody know why Alex Cintron has been out the last several games?

 

[AZZenny]

"The game also marked the return of shortstop Alex Cintron, who had missed most of the four-game series against the Rainiers with a pulled left hamstring.

Though he went 0 for 4, Cintron was able to play the entire game in the cold weather that manager Al Pedrique feared would limit the shortstop's availability."


Meanwhile, pitcher Chris Cervantes is the most recent dominating starter. Heh heh.

 

[mark1]

14 plus innings no runs. he seems a liitle wild with 8 walks

 

[AZZenny]

I'm a big Chris Capuano fan - really impressed me in ST 2002 - but he's unlikely to be called up until he's had more of a chance to prove his arm is all the way back from TJ surgery last May. But he pitched great tonight, and has been solid so far this season.

The Sidewinder's announcers were saying "yet another new pitcher may be called up" due to Curt's surgery, but at that moment my audio feed pooped out. Aaarrgghh.

Listening to Oropesa blowing Capuano's 7 fine innings (and the Sidewinder's 6-2 lead), it occurred to me that EO is able to come up here May 1. Sigh.

 

[Moose Lady]

Originally posted by AZZenny

The Sidewinder's announcers were saying "yet another new pitcher may be called up" due to Curt's surgery, but at that moment my audio feed pooped out. Aaarrgghh.

Gosh, I wonder if that means BB will consider starting Andrew Good?? As much as I would love to see him get the opportunity, I don't think he's ready yet. He did great with the 1 batter he faced Fri. nite but having been just this year promoted to AAA Tucson, he probably doesn't have the confidence yet. I wouldn't want to see him get ruined by starting too soon. I wonder if they will have to bring up Patterson again?

 

[AZZenny]

Brandon Webb has been called up. He's pitched more innings than anyone except Cappy - and his ERA isn't stellar, although Opp BA isn't too bad, about like Good's. Curt is now on the 15 day DL.

Also, rumor is Andrew Good MAY get a start Tuesday; that RJ's knee is not quite yet making the head trainer happy. If he has a rough spot under the knee cap, doesn't it make sense to slip a little polisher in there NOW and actually fix it rather than go through this all season off and on?? (I have a similar condition, and it's really easy to re-aggravate, because it's like having pebbles or a grater between the moving kneecap and the under-parts.)

Swindell signed with the Winders - I think we are no longer one of the oldest teams, but they may soon be! LOL

 

[mark1]

Chad Tracy is second on Baseball America's hot sheet. We need to find a spot for this guy. His fielding has improved, only 1 error so far.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minors/hotsheet042103.html

 

[AZZenny]

Chad Tracy suddenly turned butterfingers - in the last week he went from 0 errors to 6 - apparently three of them last night. His BA has dropped from over .400 to about .370 as well in a matter of 2-3 games. That's OK, but the sudden glut of Es is not pleasing, since that was the knock against him before and he was looking good. Since both things coincided, maybe he's just not feeling up to par or something. Meanwhile, Cintron and Terrero keep chugging along very well. Tim Olson was bumped (I guess by the addition of Swindell maybe) to El Paso to get daily play, and they are trying to make him also a super-utility guy rather than just 2nd Base. Robby Hammock sits up here getting splinters in his butt. Play the kid! He can't hit worse than the regulars.

 

[moviegeekjn]

Originally posted by AZZenny
Robby Hammock sits up here getting splinters in his butt. Play the kid! He can't hit worse than the regulars.

heh True enough! Even though Moeller has been one of the few hitters who have connected consistently the past several games, he can use an occasional breather. AND Robby can play the outfield, so it's not hard to find someone (besides Gonzo) that can use some days off.... Robby needs some PT!