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=== #10 Eric O'Flaherty ===
Had looked good in short innings at AA and got a quick callup to Seattle, where he posted a 4.09 ERA with lousy sabermetrics.
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Baseball America: Missed out on a college WS championship after skipping to pros rather than Oregon STate... no regrets; made the majors quickly...
When fresh, throws 90-94 "that darts all over the place" and hard 85 slider... deceptive delivery...
Moxie for late innings...
Had lost velo by the time he got to the majors... struggles physically with starting...possible lefty in bullpen in bigs.
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Three Years On: Pitched effectively in 2007 for the Mariners, though Dr. D never cared for the tiny MPH separation between his slider and fastball...
Did indeed have some issues holding velocity, on and off, which is weirdly a trait of M's lefthanders recently.
Hit the AL windshield in 2008, was waived by the Mariners moved on to the Braves org, and was quite effective in relief in the National League... right now, is a fringe ML pitcher on the rise.
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=== #11 Carlos Triunfel ===
Was going to do ten of 'em. How could we resist #11? :- )
In 2006, had just been signed internationally. No American experience.
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Baseball America: Mariners a major playa internationally ::coughAroldiscough:: ... other clubs offered more $$$$, but Trifunel was most comfortable with Seattle's people ::coughChapmancough:: ...
Potential 5-tool (AVG, PWR, SPD, FLD, THRW) shortstop, he looked so good that the M's will consider letting him play class A ball at age 17. Above-average runner, good hands, strong arm, accurate arm...
As natural strength, already (at 17) driving balls with backspin, which will carry out of the park as he matures...
Advanced approach to at-bats, hung in well against older pitchers in the instructional league. Mariners can't wait to see what he'll do in 2007.
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Three Years On: Triunfel is in exactly that period of his career, where the fans kind of forget him to some extent, but the loss of luster is a false one.
Showed the speed potential as an 18-year-old in 2008, swiping 30 bases in high-A in 108 games (which pro-rates to 45 in a full ML season).
.........
High Desert is arena baseball, of course, and his good stats in 2008 came at home. But 18-year-olds are supposed to be playing high school baseball, not A+ baseball, and Triunfel laced hits around the field like Edgar Martinez.
Had a broken tibia in 2009 and will return ... oops, just did return!, thanks Jason ... when his leg is ready to go.
With his footspeed, athleticism, and arm, it says here that nobody should be writing Triunfel off of shortstop right now, any more than we should have been writing Tuiasosopo out of the infield two years ago.
Triunfel has lost some of the sparkle dust in the minds of some, but for me it's him and Ackley way ahead of the pack. Triunfel could be Hanley Ramirez or something.
Cheers,
Dr D
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