Stone Crabs vs. Miracle 4/6/12

Hey guys, totally new spin on this today. I'll be in Fort Myers for the next month or so, and as such i'll be catching as many Miracle games as possible. I keep detailed notes of all the games I attend, so I figured I might as well share them here.


Here they are as posted to TwinsDaily and RaysProspects.


I'd love to hear some thoughts if you have any!


STONECRABS (RAYS PROSPECTS)

4/6/12 Charlotte Stone Crabs Report.

Greetings, just wanted to throw up my thoughts on the game from last night (4/6). I do want to clarify, I am not a scout, I do not pretend to be an internet scout. Just a passionate fan, with an eye for detail. I watched this game, scored it, and took notes on various players.

Without further ado, the report.

Pitchers:

Enny Romero: 

Just by looking at him he has the size with ample room to grow (though I noted his body is slightly odd, he has a big behind but overall wiry frame, just looks out of place). Without knowing much of him you can tell this guy is special. He throws heat! That said he does have a long and slow delivery that could become an issue at higher levels. In the first inning he hit 93-96 pretty consistently, and touched 97 twice, 98 once, and 99 once. Impressive heat. Especially when it dawned on me he is left handed. He repeated his delivery really well in the first inning, but that fell apart in the second and third innings. When he nails the delivery he looks unhittable, but when he misses things get ugly. When he falls behind in the count he slows things down and throws 90-92, which is still fine for a LHP but I don't like the dramatic drop in order to throw strikes. 

He walked 3, allowed 2 hits, and struck out five in three innings, but what really impressed me was his ability to get ahead. He threw first-pitch strikes to 11 of the 15 batters he faced (73.3%), that said he only threw 42 total strikes on 72 pitches (58.3%). So eliminating the first pitch of a PA, he threw 57 pitches, and 31 strikes (54.3%). At the moment there is no reason to not think he won't continue to develop as a starting pitcher. I profile him as a potential #2 starter. If he cannot become more consistent with the delivery I still see him being a solid back-end of the rotation option, set-up reliever. Any lefty that can crank it up into the upper 90s I am a fan of!

Eliazer Suero: 

He caught my eye quickly because of the way he worked. I describe it as working backwards, in his first inning of work he threw primarily all breaking balls, with great success. His fastball only sits at 89-91 and as such isn't a plus pitch. His first inning was pretty, but in the second he reversed course and threw a ton of fastballs with little success. In the third he went back to the breaking stuff and again was successful. In the fourth inning of his work the wildness returned, as he went back to fastballs and change-ups with little success. Overall he threw four innings, struck out 5, walked 3 and allowed 1 hit. He only threw 54.3% of pitches for strikes throw, and this is troubling. I wish I had tracked balls and strikes by pitch, but he rarely threw his Change-Up or Fastball for a strike. That said his breaking pitch was almost always around the zone or swung-at out of the zone. Seems odd to me, and I suspect he will have to establish a fastball to succeed at higher levels.

Victor Mateo: 

Long, lean body. Works quickly. Was throwing 90-92 with the fastball. He kept the ball on the infield and was effective. Started his outing with a four pitch walk, but then threw strikes on 24 of his next 32 pitches over two innings.

Others

Luke Bailey:

Without knowing anything about him, I'd be scared. After reading up on his elbow reconstruction and his 40% CS rate last year as a catcher... I am down-right worried. I hope what I saw was an anomaly but boy was it ugly. Below average catching skills, but even worse, struggles with basic throws. During the throw-down at the end of warmups he overthrew second-base three times (as in soared the ball to centerfield). After a strike-out on an attempt to go around the horn he soared another well over the 3B and into left-field. At the beginning of the fourth inning he failed to get the ball back to the pitcher after a warm-up pitch. Finally the ninth was just comical. He nailed a perfect throw to second at the end of warm-ups, only for the second basemen to miss it completely as he was expecting a throw high. Then once a batter reached during the inning he blocked a pitch in the dirt, and proceeded to throw the ball a good 15 feet over the shortstops head who was covering on the steal attempt. SCARY. Good news is he is a solid hitter with a good frame, throwing up 3 quality ABs tonight. I hope the fielding issues were a mirage.

Mikie Mahtook:

Baseball America says his arm rates as "average" in CF... Well, it certainly doesn't rate as average in RF. I'm a big-fan of Mahtook the hitter, but Mahtook the outfielder not so much. His arm in my book would rate as below-average with weak lofting throws (Today was the third time I'd seen him in action after seeing him twice this spring).

Riccio Torrez: 

Just a quick thought, smooth, kinda sexy fielder. Really strong arm and fluid motions as a fielder!

MIRACLE (TWINS PROSPECTS)

PITCHERS

Pat Dean: 

Dean started the game and was quite efficient throughout the game. The lefty out of Boston College is making a return to the Fort after throwing 58 innings here last year. Tonight he was working between 87-92 with his fastball. He has a small frame and slight body but he pounds the strike-zone and fires strikes with his fastball. He needed only 67 pitches to get through 6 quality innings, and threw 50 strikes (74.6%). What I found interesting is that the first batter of the game, an eventual strikeout looking, started with an 11-pitch AB in which is took two balls, fouled off eight and then eventually went down looking. If you eliminate that first AB of the game, Dean recorded 17 outs in a span of 56 pitches. Throwing 41 strikes on those 56 pitches. He most likely tops out as a long reliever or 5th starter down the round.

Bruce Pugh: 

The righty is back for his third stint in Fort Myers, 2010 as a starter, and 2011 as an all-star reliever, was the first option out of the pen tonight. He throws hard, 94-95, with the occasional 85 MPH change-up mixed in. But his stuff is straight, and was ripped in four consecutive ABs to start his appearance. The box score will show he allowed four hits, and four runs, but only three were earned. In reality this could have easily been five hits and four earned. He was charged with an error on a chopped ball that he mishandled and couldn't get the out. He is only 23, but three consecutive seasons at one level is never a good sign.

Caleb Thielbar: 

The first player the Twins have ever signed from the St. Paul Saints, Caleb Thielbar came out of the pen for the 8th and 9th inning and was pretty effective. The lefty sits at 90-93 MPH (touching 94 to the second batter he faced) and throws a low 80s slider. He did hit two batters, but otherwise was pretty effective, throwing 70% of his pitches for strikes. He threw 7.1 innings at the end of last year for Fort Myers allowing only one hit over that time. At 25 he is not really a prospect, but if the Rock Cats need an arm at some point I wouldn't be surprised if Thielbar were given that opportunity.

OTHERS

Daniel Santana:

I'll get called crazy, but Santana reminds me somewhat of Alexi Casilla. He runs well (though he was caught 15 times on 39 attempts last year), and sets the table really well for the guys after him. He had three of the games four hits today, and also stole a base. All five of his at-bats today were quality ABs, and I was really impressed with him. He is listed at 170, but I suspect that's a stretch. He was the #20 prospect in the 2011 Prospect Handbook, but goes unlisted this season. He is a sleeper.

Oswaldo Arcia: 

I saw him a couple times this spring, and I love that he was the youngest player in Major League camp. I didn't see much from him at the plate today (he struck out twice, walked once and was hit by a pitch) but he has a cannon from Right Field. He should be able to reach double digit assists from RF.