Seattle Sports Insider

In other news . . .

Posted by

Spectator

8/12/10

--- Draft standings ---

1. Pittsburgh 39-74 4 GB Ms

2. Baltimore 40-74 3-1/2 GB Ms

3. Seattle 44-71 --

4. Arizona 46-69 2 G ahead of Ms

5T. Cleveland 47-67 3-1/2 G ahead of Ms

5T. KC 47-67 3-1/2 G ahead of Ms

7. Cubs 48-66 4-1/2 G ahead of Ms

8. Houston 48-65 5 G ahead of Ms

9. Washington 49-65 5-1/2 G ahead of Ms

Well, Baltimore has crawled out of the cellar with its hot streak under Schowalter. AZ has also been hot, giving it some space ahead of the Ms, but the rest of the pack -- which was a full 6 games in front of the Ms just a couple weeks ago -- has been inching back as the bottom-feeders except Pittsburgh have been winning some. Last time the range for the Ms was pretty much 2-4. Now, in theory anyway, it could be anywhere from 1-9 depending on how they respond to Brown. Somewhere in the top 6 still seems almost certain, though.

--- College arms (& bats) ---

Wrapping up the world tour of Team USA Collegiate National Team at the World University Championships in Japan:

Semifinals vs. Team Japan:

Sonny Gray (Vandy): 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K -- USA 4, Japan 2

Finals vs. Team Cuba:

Gerrit Cole (UCLA): 7.0 IP, 10 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K -- Cuba 4, USA 3

Heartbreaking loss in the final. 1-1 after 9, USA scored 2 in the 10th (using the bizzaro international overtime rules where two men are on base to start the inning), only to have Cuba hit a 3-run walkoff HR in the bottom of the 10th.

Both Gray and Cole ended the tour with sub-1.00 ERAs, and Gray (as noted here after it happened) struck out every living baseball player in the nation of Sri Lanka -- 14 K in 5.0 IP. Both are expected to go in the top 5.

The top college hitter, Anthony Rendon of Rice, dropped off the tour after fracturing his ankle, but two other hitters considered to be top-10 picks were on the team:

George Springer (OF, UConn): 21-for-72, 7 dbl, 2 HR, 4 BB, 14 K, .292/.342/.472

Jackie Bradley Jr. (OF, SoCar): 21-for-66, 2 dbl, 1 HR, 8 BB, 17 K, .318/.395/.394

Both of them had much better eye ratios during the college season (Springer: 60 BB/70K; Bradley: 41 BB/37 K).

--- Bullpen arms in the minors ---

Don't mean to rehash what said elsewhere, but these are pretty impressive:

Josh Lueke in the Ms org (AA/AAA): 11.1 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 0 HR, 0 BB, 20 K

Dan Cortes as a reliever (AA): 12.2 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 0 HR, 4 BB, 20 K

Brian Moran the loopy loogy (A-/A+, not missing a beat after moving up to dreaded High Desert): 58.2 IP, 49 H, 9 ER, 0 HR, 8 BB, 67 K

Stephen Pryor (5th rd of this year's draft and already has crushed short-season Everett and low-A Clinton): 23.1 IP, 11 H, 2 ER, 0 HR, 8 BB, 36 K

Comments

Couple other sleepers

Good list. When you include guys like Varvaro who are also knocking on the door, we've got several really good internal candidates to boost the pen next year.
Couple other sleepers a little lower:
Matt Bischoff - 22.1 IP, 15 hits, 7 ER, 29K/6BB. He a righty who struck out 9 per 9 and walked basically nobody (1.3 per 9) in his last year of college, and is better than the App League by a lot. He's a short dude who muscles it up there, and reminds me of Hasegawa a bit. I expect him to make a climb shortly (no pun intended).

Also, I wouldn't sleep on Gillheeney. I don't think he's destined for the rotation, but he's been great in Clinton and High Desert as a starter, and if we move him to the pen at higher levels I think he could be another LH arm we could really use.
~G

Forrest Snow - 33.1 IP, 13 hits (!!!), 2 ER, 37K/10BB. He's not really a powerhouse pitcher. He's a deceptive righty, which doesn't usually work for right-handers, but FB/slider pitchers can make it work if they CAN hit the black, and so far he really has. Because he's not a flame-thrower, he's gonna have to prove his breaking stuff works against AA hitters. Lovin' him, but we'll see what happens in a couple years against hitters who can expose junkballers.

Lueke...11.1 IP, 20 K???

Holy flying death on a stick, Batman!!
Can we please have us some Lueke in Seattle?

Actually, Matt . . .

I didn't have yesterday's game in there.
It's really 13.0 IP, 22 K ----
and still 0 walks and 0 HR since the trade.

Thanks, G! My sleeper is . . .

Tom Wilhelmsen, the guy who took 6 years off after a substance abuse suspension.
True, he's several years older than the guys he's facing, but he doesn't actually have any more professional experience than they do.
He's been dominating, with 48 K in 42.2 IP vs. 8 BB, and only 1 ER in his first two starts at Clinton. He's a 6-6 guy who throws low-90s, so I assume he's a bullpen option if he doesn't cut it as a starter.
How do you evaluate him, G?

Wilhelmsen has a fabulous

Wilhelmsen has a fabulous arm, always has. He's found more control in his absence, actually, and has no mileage on his arm.

I expect him to move fast and for us to shove him in the bullpen as soon as he falters as a starter. High Desert could slow him down, but I don't think it will. If he's not at AA before the mid-way point of next season I'll be shocked, and we'll see how he does from there.

I'm rootin for him. ;)

Rendon please... Make me

Rendon please... Make me happy that we sucked so bad in '10.
If you're going to suck, at least benefit from it long-term.

We're looking good this morning, G

Wilhelmsen carried a perfect game through 6.2 last night, before giving up a hit and a walk and finishing with this line:
7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K
Wilhelmsen has given up 1 ER in his first 20.0 IP at Clinton.
And G's guy Forest Snow closed it out with 1 K in the 9th. Snow has 12 K vs. 1 BB in 9.0 IP in 7 relief outings since coming up from Everett (where he had a 0.00 ERA in 25.1 IP).

Wilhelmsen - FB only

It looks like Wilhelmsen is predominantly a FB pitcher without much in offspeed offerings, ergo he may be destined for the pen.
From milb.com
Wilhelmsen relied almost entirely on his fastball in the outing.
"The fastball was definitely working," he said. "I had trouble throwing my curveball. It didn't have as much break. I probably got only one or two over. I don't know if I threw a changeup for a strike. Luckily the fastball was there and that was enough to not let any runs come in."
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100812&content...

College SS

Taro, G, etc.
Are there any college short stops this year that you guys see coming in and making a Tulo type splash? Or at least would shorten the 3-4 year void we have in shortstops on the farm?
What do you guys think of Troy Channing out of Saint Mary's? He looks like a guy that might be hand in a later round, but looks like he can really play. It looks like this draft is full of toolsy HS SS so maybe a guy like Channing will drop to our 2nd or 3rd round pick.

Not true

TAD,
That's not what that says. It says only one of his 3 pitches was working and he still destroyed his opponents. His curve is also impressive. Dunno about his change. I do expect him to wind up in the pen, but he's not a one-pitch pitcher. His fastball is just good enough to own the low minors all by itself, that's all.
For example:
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20100801/SPORTS/708019903
Wilhelmsen, the most-recent addition to Everett's starting rotation, is showing the type of form that made him a hot prospect a generation ago. His fastball is registering in the mid-90s, and his curveball is already considered major-league average.
He's got some growth left to do, but he's definitely got the stuff to stick in the rotation for a while if we want him to.
And the more innings he gets to refine his stuff, the better right now.
~G

There may be some precedent.

We already drafted him once, 40th round back in '08.

I thought that name looked a bit famliar.

Wilhelmsen update

No controversy or hot water for Tom Wilhelmsen, the 26-yr-old coming back after six years off following a substance abuse suspension. For Clinton in the Midwest League playoffs:
7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K
Prior playoff outing:
5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER (HR), 3 BB, 7 K
That's the kind of lines that Robles was putting up in the A-ball playoffs last year. Hard to tell from this level if he'll stick as a starter, but it seems increasingly likely. Walks might be a concern. He was at 1.2 BB/9 in the lower minors, then up to 3.0 BB/9 at Clinton (and he was at 2.8 in his last go-around in the Midwest League in 2003).
He'll be going to the Peoria Javelinas of the AFL (as will Lueke, for that matter), and it will be interesting to see how he does against higher level hitters.

Always exciting from the standpoint of the DL

You'd think a guy like that has zero wear and tear on the arm. If he's throwing strikes right off the bat, that *is* an interesting watch.
Thanks as always Spec.