It's a big week for debuts. D.J. Peterson just made his pro debut, and now, on Friday, get ready for the long-awaited appearance of the International Man(-Child) of Mystery Luiz Gohara (Talk40 #21).
Gohara is just 16 (won't turn 17 until July 31), but he's huge, left-handed, throws hard, and, most interestingly, comes from the unique Japanese-Brazilian baseball culture.
So it's sort of like a teenage C.C. Sabathia tutored by Japanese coaches in Latin America. And, reportedly, scouts have been "blown away" every time they've had a chance to see him.
There's more at the "Talk40 #21" link, but since it hasn't been on the "Big Blog" before, let's go ahead and put up the Portuguese-language news report that provides plenty of insight even if you don't understand the words:
But Gohara is not the only interesting temporary Pulaski-ite.
Edwin Diaz (Talk40 #36) will be the opening night starter Thursday. Diaz had a slower adjustment than Tyler Pike (Talk40 #14), who has zoomed past him, but he was taken earlier in the draft, and still has plenty of upside.
Also on the mound, the 9th, 10th and 15th picks from this month's draft: lefty Jacob Zokan (Fear the Zokan!), righty Emilio Pagan and lefty Eddie Campbell. Campbell had a short trip after playing his college ball in nearby Blacksburg at Virginia Tech.
Another guy from our Watch List is Gabe Saquilon (Watch List). He put up some interesting numbers in Arizona splitting between starting and relief.
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At the plate, third baseman Joe DeCarlo (Talk40 #22) will be under the gun to support my high ranking. (OK, he doesn't really care about my high ranking, but I do.) I thought his Arizona stats were much better than they appeared on the surface (.236/.368/.401), but not everyone agreed.
Same goes for Isaiah Yates (Talk40 #39). I loved his high walk rate and production for a center fielder who was just 17, but no one else cared. We'll see where he goes.
The third guy who showed up high on my list is shortstop Gabrial Franca (Talk40 #30). Franca stuck at short while fellow 2012 draftee Timmy Lopes (Talk40 #20) moved to second, but the club clearly prefers Ketel Marte (26intheMix), who moved quickly up to Clinton with Lopes.
But Franca showed excellent plate skills, indicating his bat will hold up in the long run. So we'll see. It could have been a flukish start, and they clearly like Marte's glove.
Kristian Brito (Watch List) got off to a slow start in 2012, but he'll get another chance to prove himself. He's big (6-5, 240) and has upside.
One guy that's hard to figure is Jesus Ugueto. As a general rule, the really talented guys will show strong stats in the foreign leagues at an early age. Ugueto waited till he was 21. But he really blossomed: .388/.458/.554. As good at that looks, though, it's heavily singles-driven (only .166 ISO), so I'm not expecting too much.
Finally, an interesting 2013 draftee is Ian Miller of northern mid-major Wagner. He'll join crowd favorites Daniel Paolini (Talk40 #26) (Siena) and Dario Pizzano (26intheMix) (Columbia) in that category. Unlike those two, Miller is a classic leadoff type: .329 AVG, 46 SB vs. 8 CS.
It can't hurt that Wagner's nickname is the Seahawks, can it?
This is exactly the type of player I wish the M's had more of. Good eye, lots of walks at first stop last year. Has some speed with 6 triples and 6 SB. Yates is definitely one to keep an eye on! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qyqgTnCeSU
It's interesting to me, after looking it up, that not only is he 5-foot-9 like Abe Almonte, his stats are very similar as well (at least this year's version). He's not as "thick" as Abe, though.
Maybe his height kept his draft position lower. I like to think of a Shane Victorino type, we could use a few of those. Moderate extra base power, some walks, some steals. Hopefully score lots of runs! Had a knock and a walk last night.