While working on the next major piece, "Speed Kills" I came upon one of my favorite Minor Leaguers, Jai Miller. Jai is one of those freak athletes, he had committed to Stanford to play Wide Receiver and Point Guard (not baseball) before signing with the Marlins after being drafted in the fourth round in 2003. Jai has made the Majors twice, and struggled, but he is what I like to call the perfect bipolar statistical star. Especially here in 2011 where he is playing with the Sacramento River Cats.
On the surface his slashline .291/.396/.672 looks quite impressive. The issue is the 105 strikeouts in 247 ABs (42.5%). Contrast though to the fact that when he puts the ball in play he is (72/142) batting .507. YES, a BABIP of .507. And how about this fact, 44 of his 72 hits are for extra bases, a whopping 61.1%. Oh ya, he is also 11 for 11 at steal attempts.
Just a quick post, but I hope you enjoy these freakish numbers.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Summer Leagues
Well it has been a busy week, so I apologize for the delay. Tonight I'm just throwing out a proposal/idea for a future college summer league.
A little background, I know the area pretty well, and have a couple connections that helped me along the way.
Without further adieu, the Altitude Baseball League (sidenote, yes, the blog is AltitudeSports, but the leagues name comes from the state being "high-altitude")
College summer leagues are a popular diversion in the midwest (Northwoods League), New England (Cape Cod/NECBL), Southeast (CPL) and even Alaska. Yet one region that is really devoid of summer league baseball is Mountain West. Specifically speaking, UTAH is devoid of Summer League baseball.
Currently players from Utah who wish to play summer league baseball and stay in Utah wind up in the Wasatch Wood Bat League... which is essentially a twice a week adult league for college and future college players. Decent concept, awful execution. Utah plays right into the perfect summer league model. The state of Utah features some beautiful ballparks that go underutilized. So for the first season I'd target 4 teams playing a 45 game schedule (15 vs. each team). Now here is where Utah becomes beneficial...the distance between the majority of the population is no greater than an hour in any direction from the capital, Salt Lake City. As such here are some potential venues...
Kearns, UT (Gates Field) (2500 Capacity) (Designed specifically for high school/college level play, perfect facility).
Murray, UT (Ken Price Ballpark) (5000 Capacity) (Renovated in the mid-2000s for the Babe Ruth World Series, currently used for high school baseball).
South
West Jordan, UT (Cate Field) (1000's Capacity) (Cate Field was also renovated in the 2000s and is home to the Salt Lake Community College Bruins).
Provo, UT (Larry H. Miller Field) (2,710 Capacity) (Built in 2001 for the Pioneer League Provo Angels, who ultimately moved 15 minutes up the road to Orem. The stadium is now used as BYUs home field).
The benefits to a summer league is Utah extend well beyond the logistical simplicity. Growth for example would be easy. Many of the high schools in Utah have gorgeous ballfields with grandstands, and while they may not hold 1000 people they could certainly draw 250-500 with no issues. Even the ski-town of Park City (though it's field has no seating) could be the perfect draw for college kids looking to have a little fun and play some ball (at 7000' feet).
Furthermore, head six hours south of Salt Lake and you have St. George (90 minutes from Las Vegas), and easily could host a Southern division, with teams in locations like Mesquite, Henderson, Cedar City, St. George, and even Las Vegas. Head north and you could expand to Logan, Idaho Falls, and Pocatello. For now though, I figure the key is to keep the cost down. As such, the longest trip a team would have to make in 45 minutes at the moment. By doing this, you eliminate many major expenses (hotels, buses) and allow the players to return "home" nightly.
Primarily you would expect the league to draw players from six states, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada. Even if they only come from Idaho and Utah you will still be getting some decent talents. College of Southern Idaho is a former national champion for NJCAA, Salt Lake Community College was the #1 team this season, Dixie State is a former NAIA National Champion, Utah is a Pac-12 program, BYU is a WCC program. Currently, many of the states top players are either leaving the state or playing in low-level summer leagues. While certainly some of the best players will go to the Cape Cod League or Alaska or even the WCL, but on that same accord many players from those areas would love to come to Utah or see what it has to offer.
In talking with a coach from the top 5A program (largest high schools in Utah) that has produced 5 drafted players in the last three seasons, and put over 20 players onto college programs in the last four years, he agreed that Utah is the perfect market for a new summer league. The advertisers are out there, the infrastructure is there, the only thing missing is the teams and ultimately the community support.
Thoughts? Questions? Comments?
A little background, I know the area pretty well, and have a couple connections that helped me along the way.
Without further adieu, the Altitude Baseball League (sidenote, yes, the blog is AltitudeSports, but the leagues name comes from the state being "high-altitude")
College summer leagues are a popular diversion in the midwest (Northwoods League), New England (Cape Cod/NECBL), Southeast (CPL) and even Alaska. Yet one region that is really devoid of summer league baseball is Mountain West. Specifically speaking, UTAH is devoid of Summer League baseball.
Currently players from Utah who wish to play summer league baseball and stay in Utah wind up in the Wasatch Wood Bat League... which is essentially a twice a week adult league for college and future college players. Decent concept, awful execution. Utah plays right into the perfect summer league model. The state of Utah features some beautiful ballparks that go underutilized. So for the first season I'd target 4 teams playing a 45 game schedule (15 vs. each team). Now here is where Utah becomes beneficial...the distance between the majority of the population is no greater than an hour in any direction from the capital, Salt Lake City. As such here are some potential venues...
Kearns, UT (Gates Field) (2500 Capacity) (Designed specifically for high school/college level play, perfect facility).
Murray, UT (Ken Price Ballpark) (5000 Capacity) (Renovated in the mid-2000s for the Babe Ruth World Series, currently used for high school baseball).
South
West Jordan, UT (Cate Field) (1000's Capacity) (Cate Field was also renovated in the 2000s and is home to the Salt Lake Community College Bruins).
Provo, UT (Larry H. Miller Field) (2,710 Capacity) (Built in 2001 for the Pioneer League Provo Angels, who ultimately moved 15 minutes up the road to Orem. The stadium is now used as BYUs home field).
The benefits to a summer league is Utah extend well beyond the logistical simplicity. Growth for example would be easy. Many of the high schools in Utah have gorgeous ballfields with grandstands, and while they may not hold 1000 people they could certainly draw 250-500 with no issues. Even the ski-town of Park City (though it's field has no seating) could be the perfect draw for college kids looking to have a little fun and play some ball (at 7000' feet).
Furthermore, head six hours south of Salt Lake and you have St. George (90 minutes from Las Vegas), and easily could host a Southern division, with teams in locations like Mesquite, Henderson, Cedar City, St. George, and even Las Vegas. Head north and you could expand to Logan, Idaho Falls, and Pocatello. For now though, I figure the key is to keep the cost down. As such, the longest trip a team would have to make in 45 minutes at the moment. By doing this, you eliminate many major expenses (hotels, buses) and allow the players to return "home" nightly.
Primarily you would expect the league to draw players from six states, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada. Even if they only come from Idaho and Utah you will still be getting some decent talents. College of Southern Idaho is a former national champion for NJCAA, Salt Lake Community College was the #1 team this season, Dixie State is a former NAIA National Champion, Utah is a Pac-12 program, BYU is a WCC program. Currently, many of the states top players are either leaving the state or playing in low-level summer leagues. While certainly some of the best players will go to the Cape Cod League or Alaska or even the WCL, but on that same accord many players from those areas would love to come to Utah or see what it has to offer.
In talking with a coach from the top 5A program (largest high schools in Utah) that has produced 5 drafted players in the last three seasons, and put over 20 players onto college programs in the last four years, he agreed that Utah is the perfect market for a new summer league. The advertisers are out there, the infrastructure is there, the only thing missing is the teams and ultimately the community support.
Thoughts? Questions? Comments?
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Independent Outlook
In this series I'll focus on players from the Independent Leagues who could use a shot with an affiliate. Some of these guys have played affiliated ball before, but none will have MLB experience. The reason behind this is that I want to highlight players who you may not know about. I'll have another feature on former MLBers now in Indy Ball another day. There are five main independent leagues, the North American League, the Can-Am League, the American Association, the Frontier League, and the top league, the Atlantic League. To start we will look at a player from two of the leagues starting with the Atlantic League.
Mike Loree
Position: RHP
Team: Long Island Ducks (Atlantic League)
Age: 24
Height/Weight: 6'6"-220
MLB Draft: 2007, 50th Round (SFG)
Loree is not the typical "prospect" but that's what this series is about. He was one of the final draft picks of the 2007 draft coming out of Villonova University where he won 20 games over four years, graduating as a 20 year-old (yep, you read that right, a September 1987 birthday graduated in 2007). As such he was young coming up, but was still pushed by the Giants after signing. He posted great numbers for the Giants Rookie ball team in 2007, and great numbers as a 21 year old in the Northwest League (SS-A) (4-3, 2.44 ERA, 15 Starts). In fact in his first two seasons Loree walked a whopping 8 guys in 97 innings while striking out 95. Yeah 11.875 K's per 1 BB, and he was only 21. At one point during his 2008 campaign Loree started the year by recording outs on 62 of the first 63 batters he faced. His manager during that time was Tom Trebelhorn (a Major League vet) who was quoted as saying:
"It's the most phenomenal pitching I've ever seen in my life. I don't know if anybody's ever pitched this good. I don't care if you're talking about the Northwest League, the Gulf Coast League or the Major Leagues. He has good command of his fastball, he pitches ahead in the count. If someone exposes a weakness, he exploits it. I don't know that anybody's ever pitched this good." --Tom Trebelhorn
So 2009 rolls around and Loree arrives in Augusta for Low-A ball. He goes 8-9 in 21 starts and posts a 4.67 ERA, but still strikes out 70 to 26 walks (so not quite as impressive) but he is only 22 years old, yet during spring 2010 he is released by the Giants and latches on with the Newark Bears of the Atlantic League (widely compared to between AA-AAA). While things were not pretty, the team was 53-86 and Loree went 6-9 (quite impressive actually) but overall was hit hard, in 130 IP he allowed 170 hits, 21 HR and walked a career high 43. But the positives were still there, despite allowing 108 runs, 20 were unearned meaning he was frequently hurt by his defense. Furthermore, he struck out 119 (also a career high), and keep in mind he was only 23 playing at a level much higher than he had in the past.
For 2011 he signed with the Long Island Ducks and has flourished. Thus far after starting primarily as a reliever, Loree has transitioned back to the rotation where he has dominated. He has won 7 starts in a row, and is 9-1 overall. He has posted an incredible 1.73 ERA, and has a 1.09 WHIP. He has struck out 68 over 62.1 innings and walked only 15. He is also only 24 years old, and seems to have perfectly adjusted to the Atlantic League. At only 24, Loree is in the perfect position to join a team at the AA level now, and test the waters. If he performs well I suspect he'd be able to adjust to the AAA-level and potentially be a Major League contributor by 2012.
Mike Loree
Position: RHP
Team: Long Island Ducks (Atlantic League)
Age: 24
Height/Weight: 6'6"-220
MLB Draft: 2007, 50th Round (SFG)
Loree is not the typical "prospect" but that's what this series is about. He was one of the final draft picks of the 2007 draft coming out of Villonova University where he won 20 games over four years, graduating as a 20 year-old (yep, you read that right, a September 1987 birthday graduated in 2007). As such he was young coming up, but was still pushed by the Giants after signing. He posted great numbers for the Giants Rookie ball team in 2007, and great numbers as a 21 year old in the Northwest League (SS-A) (4-3, 2.44 ERA, 15 Starts). In fact in his first two seasons Loree walked a whopping 8 guys in 97 innings while striking out 95. Yeah 11.875 K's per 1 BB, and he was only 21. At one point during his 2008 campaign Loree started the year by recording outs on 62 of the first 63 batters he faced. His manager during that time was Tom Trebelhorn (a Major League vet) who was quoted as saying:
"It's the most phenomenal pitching I've ever seen in my life. I don't know if anybody's ever pitched this good. I don't care if you're talking about the Northwest League, the Gulf Coast League or the Major Leagues. He has good command of his fastball, he pitches ahead in the count. If someone exposes a weakness, he exploits it. I don't know that anybody's ever pitched this good." --Tom Trebelhorn
So 2009 rolls around and Loree arrives in Augusta for Low-A ball. He goes 8-9 in 21 starts and posts a 4.67 ERA, but still strikes out 70 to 26 walks (so not quite as impressive) but he is only 22 years old, yet during spring 2010 he is released by the Giants and latches on with the Newark Bears of the Atlantic League (widely compared to between AA-AAA). While things were not pretty, the team was 53-86 and Loree went 6-9 (quite impressive actually) but overall was hit hard, in 130 IP he allowed 170 hits, 21 HR and walked a career high 43. But the positives were still there, despite allowing 108 runs, 20 were unearned meaning he was frequently hurt by his defense. Furthermore, he struck out 119 (also a career high), and keep in mind he was only 23 playing at a level much higher than he had in the past.
For 2011 he signed with the Long Island Ducks and has flourished. Thus far after starting primarily as a reliever, Loree has transitioned back to the rotation where he has dominated. He has won 7 starts in a row, and is 9-1 overall. He has posted an incredible 1.73 ERA, and has a 1.09 WHIP. He has struck out 68 over 62.1 innings and walked only 15. He is also only 24 years old, and seems to have perfectly adjusted to the Atlantic League. At only 24, Loree is in the perfect position to join a team at the AA level now, and test the waters. If he performs well I suspect he'd be able to adjust to the AAA-level and potentially be a Major League contributor by 2012.
Sign me up as a believer in Mike Loree, I can think of a ton of organizations that could use a Triple-A or Double-A starter that could mature into a MLB Back-end rotation guy.
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