Spectator - Org Recap
As it happens, I had been doing some updates on some of my favorites, many of whom you mention.
Triunfel: not just out for the year, but Churchill says he may DH all of next year to protect his ankle. Not good.
Saunders, May: 99 AB, 5 HR, 11 BB, 34 H, 1.023 OPS
Saunders, June: 74 AB, 3 HR, 11 BB, 14 H, .639 OPS. Power and patience still showing, despite struggles, which I take as a good sign.
Clement: also struggling in June, and striking out more this year. He may be running out of patience with AAA?
Ackley in Omaha: 8-for-16 in 3 games. Commentators raved. It was noted that most of his 35 strikeouts were on called strikes, and the reason -- he knows the strike zone better than the umps. Orel Hershiser said he would be a Robin Ventura .360-.370 OBP guy (Ventura was also in the booth), but I think that forgets his speed potential. I nominate this comp: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/o'neipa01.shtml
Oh, and don't forget the name of Ackley's once-and-future teammate, 3rd-round pick Kyle Seager: 6-for-14 in Omaha with 2 doubles and a HR. Guess he'll be staying in Ackley's shadow, but the dude hit .393 (2nd to Ackley), had 45 walks (2nd to Ackley), OBP of .487 (you get the picture). Not a ton of power, but bats L and is expected to stick at 2B, so just the kind of guy JZ likes.
Greg Halman: 101 strikeouts in 240 PA. And all those SB last year? Also up in smoke: 4 SB, 3 CS. Yikes. He's now down in Peoria on "rehab" assignment.
Moore: I don't know that he was ever considered a glove-first C, and my understanding is that he has a passed-ball problem that will keep him from being promoted too quickly. Bat looks good, though.
Eziquiel Carrera: tiny -- 5-11, 175 -- lefty OF throw-in from the JJP deal (after F-Gut, after Carp, after Vargas, after Cleto, etc. etc.) has 54 hits and 35 walks in 149 AB at AA. That's a .484 OBP if you're scoring at home. Also 14 SB, but 6 CS. 2 triples. Just turned 22. Exactly the kind of guy JZ would target for his bench.
Cleto, BTW, finally got his visa business worked out and is reporting to A ball, per Churchill.
Speaking of F-Gut: .517 SLG in June (6 xbh in 60 AB, 4 of them HR). The Adam Jones curve and the F-Gut curve are heading toward an intersection if the trends keep up. (Jones had 11 HR on May 26, but only 1 in the last month.)
Josh Fields in June: 6 G, 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K. Looks like he's finding the groove.
Aumont is now at AA: 2 G, 1.1 IP, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K. This after 35 K in 33.1 IP in dreaded High Desert (.195 BA against).
Dunigan is interesting, but also 23 and has not shown a ton on the road. Liddi, on the other hand, is an "athlete" who is not yet 21 and still learning (grew up in Italy). Definitely one to follow his progress.
High Desert rotation: hard to judge whether its conditions or not, but the crew is clearly not striking out as many as they did last year in Wisconsin. But Ramirez and Adcock have held their own, and Pineda looked pretty good before going down with an injury.
RRS: just depressing.
But I want to keep flogging my new Tacoma favorite: 6-foot-8 Doug Fister. Apparently he just woke up in 2009 and decided not to walk anyone anymore. 63.1 IP (mostly AAA), 53 K, 5 BB. In four June starts: 18 K, 1 BB.
-Spectator