I hate computers. Bought an external modem, so now I’m able to connect to the Internet again. But when I disconnect, I cannot reconnect. So basically I have one shot to do what I need to online (and hope I don’t get kicked off), and then it’s time to reset the machine. Not the most practical approach. So I’m thinking of trying something more radical, like wiping my hard drive, installing Linux, and starting from scratch. Honestly, where was the Internet revolution when I was in college and had ridiculous amounts of free time on my hands?

Ah well, this isn’t the last you’ll hear of my whining, but for now, we’ll try to be more productive.

Down at Elsinore, Tagg Bozied has missed four games due to an unspecified hand injury. Jake Gautreau is in the midst of a 17-game hitting streak that has driven his numbers to .309/.363/.455.

At Mobile, it’s almost time to get on the Vince Faison bandwagon. He’s up to .256/.356/.427, with 17 walks in 32 games. Not spectacular, but encouraging.

Finally, and I know I’ve beaten the Sean Burroughs drum practically to death, here’s a little something I posted over at Baseball Primer which you may find interesting. We were discussing the development path of hitters who showed good plate discipline and doubles power at a young age. The assertion that Burroughs is one of those players who starts hitting homers around age 25 was (rightly) questioned.

I went back and looked at John Sickels’ top 50 prospects from his 1996 and 1997 books, and here are the six players I found that were most comparable to Burroughs. I looked for guys who were similar in the categories listed, and who were at the same level within a year of each other. Stats are raw (i.e., not MLEs).

            Age    Lvl   BA  ISO BB/PA* BB/SO HR/BA
Beamon, Tr   20     AA .323 .117  .071   .623  .012
Beamon, Tr   21    AAA .334 .120  .079   .709  .011
Beamon, Tr   25    AAA .243 .090  .096   .627  .010

Cedeno, Ro   18 AA/AAA .286 .091  .090   .516  .008
Cedeno, Ro   19    AAA .321 .105  .118   .895  .010
Cedeno, Ro   20    AAA .305 .117  .126   .946  .005
Cedeno, Ro   25     NL .282 .116  .142   .915  .023

Hidalgo, Ri  19     AA .266 .168  .061   .421  .029
Hidalgo, Ri  20     AA .294 .156  .054   .527  .027
Hidalgo, Ri  25     NL .275 .180  .095   .505  .037

Jeter, De    19 AA/AAA .363 .141  .123  1.129  .020
Jeter, De    20    AAA .317 .105  .112  1.089  .004
Jeter, De    25     AL .349 .203  .127   .784  .038

Renteria, Ed 19     AA .289 .099  .059   .376  .014
Renteria, Ed 25     NL .260 .111  .073   .534  .020

Young, Dm    20     AA .272 .134  .074   .600  .018
Young, Dm    25     NL .300 .204  .074   .423  .038

Burroughs, S 19     AA .291 .110  .129  1.289  .005
Burroughs, S 20    AAA .322 .145  .086   .685  .023

*For the sake of simplicity, BB/PA is BB/(AB+BB)

It’s a small sample, but this at least gives an idea of how some players who hit like Burroughs in the minors developed.

Beamon was a year behind Burroughs in terms of development and appears to have peaked early. Cedeno’s not a horrible statistical comp, although I don’t recall scouts expecting him to hit for much power. Hidalgo showed more pop and less plate discipline than Burroughs, and has shown erratic development as a hitter. Renteria was pushed more aggressively than Burroughs and never controlled the strike zone as well. Young is very similar to Beamon, with a shade more power. Interestingly, the most comparable player, in terms of pedigree and stats, is Derek Jeter.

I’ve always liked to compare Burroughs with Chipper Jones but I’m now willing to concede that that kind of power production might be unrealistic. But check this out:

 AB   H 2B 3B HR  BB SO SB CS  AVG  OBP  SLG
567 181 41  1 45 126 94 25  3 .319 .441 .633
614 191 35  3 21  56 99 27  3 .311 .377 .480

These are the age 27 lines of Jones and Jeter. Yeah, expecting Burroughs to hit 45 homers in a season is probably a bit much. But that Jeter line looks well within his reach. In fact, it wouldn’t shock me at all to see him peak somewhere between the two.

And you know what? That’d still be one heckuva ballplayer.