Triple-A — Portland 3, Tucson 2
Matt Antonelli: 1-for-3, BB
Peter Ciofrone (3B): 1-for-3, BB
Chip Ambres (RF): 2-for-4, 2B
Brian Myrow: 1-for-3, 2B, BB
Will Venable (CF): 1-for-4
Nick Hundley: 2-for-4
Vince Sinisi (LF): 1-for-3, BB
Justin Germano: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 BB, 5 SO; 1-for-2, 2B
Joe Thatcher: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 HR, 0 BB, 1 SO
Double-A — San Antonio 2, Corpus Christi 0
Drew Macias: 1-for-3, BB, SB
Chad Huffman: 0-for-4
Kyle Blanks: 1-for-4
Seth Johnston: 2-for-3
Jose Lobaton: 2-for-3, 2B
Stephen Faris: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 HR, 0 BB, 6 SO (90 pitches, 62 strikes)
Jonathan Ellis: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 HR, 0 BB, 0 SO
Faris is on a roll. His last four starts: 25 IP, 18 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 27 SO. Yeah, that’ll work…
High-A — Lancaster 7, Lake Elsinore 3
Eric Sogard: 2-for-4, 2B
Keoni Ruth (DH): 1-for-4
Cedric Hunter: 0-for-4
Mitch Canham: 3-for-4, 2B
Javis Diaz: 0-for-4
Cory Luebke: 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 0 HR, 3 BB, 3 SO
Luebke’s ERA is an even 7.00 in 70 2/3 innings.
Low-A — Lansing 4, Fort Wayne 0
Luis Durango (DH): 2-for-4, 2B
Drew Cumberland (SS): 1-for-3, HBP, E (19)
Lance Zawadzki (2B): 0-for-4
Justin Baum: 0-for-3, BB
Felix Carrasco: 1-for-4, E (11)
Yefri Carvajal: 2-for-4, 2B, E (6)
Brad Chalk: 0-for-4
Jeremy McBryde: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 HR, 0 BB, 4 SO
Matt Teague: 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 HR, 0 BB, 0 SO, WP
Short-Season-A — Eugene 8, Boise 4
Jeudy Valdez (SS): 2-for-5, HR
Sawyer Carroll (RF): 0-for-4, BB
Logan Forsythe (3B): 2-for-4, E
Emmanuel Quiles: 0-for-4
Cooper Brannan: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 HR, 0 BB, 1 SO
A day after plating six in the ninth to win, the Emeralds scored four in the eighth and one in the ninth to do it again. This sounds like a fun team to watch…
Nice to see Antonelli finally hitting.
Unfortunately, he’s not young for AAA, nor was Headley, so we’d be wise to temper any expectations of stardom for either player.
I’ve also noticed some recemt comment noise regarding Venable, who I see as a fourth outfielder, at best. I hope I’m wrong, but…
From Aaron Gleeman’s weekly “Link-o-Rama”:
“Along with front-office staffer Paul DePodesta blogging, the Padres are considering opening up the Petco Park press box to bloggers. During a recent interview with longtime blogger Geoff Young, Padres chief executive officer Sandy Alderson said: “We’ve been toying around with allowing people like yourself into the press box. I know there’s a lot of controversy about that among mainstream media and so forth, but our attitude is, the more access the better.” Buzz Bissinger was unavailable for comment.”
Antonelli turned 23 in April. If he continues to hit like he has over the past two weeks (and the Padres continue to lose ground to ‘Zona and L.A.) he’ll get a September call up and get regular playing time in the bigs at 23. That’s kind of young, isn’t it?
Is it time to start edging Stephen Faris into the “prospect” column? His year has been particulary impressive when you realize that 13 of his 27 runs were scored and 8 of his 19 walks were issued in the first 6 of his 67 innings this year. Interesting that the 2006 draft, with 1 pitcher in the top 5, could potentially produce better frontline pitching (LeBlanc, Latos, Faris?) than 2005 with 3 in the top 5 (Carillo, Ramos, Geer).
Antolli was a normal Col. Jr. draftee… In his first full season of Pro-ball he dominated High-A and AA. In his second year, he’s struggling in AAA (though he’s turning it around)… MiLB.com called Antonelli the 27th best prospect in baseball (ahead of Headley @ 29). Antonelli is fine. Is going to be ready by the end of this season? I’m thinking probably not. But at some point in 2009 he should be here.
#3@Ryan: A September callup is not really getting regular playing time though, but I think 23 or 24 is about normal for a guy to start playing full time, so he’s on track in that sense even if he isn’t a regular this year but next. I think hitting AAA for the first time at 23 is a bit late though. Maybe that is what Lance was suggesting?
#5@Peter Friberg: Wouldn’t a normal college junior be 20? Seems like he was probably old for his grade. Regardless, he needs to do a LOT more this season to regain my confidence. I’m a long way from saying he is fine based on a hot week. Still, I hope you’re right.
#1@Lance Richardson: It’s not like you to temper anything, is it Lance?
In this case, I agree that tempered expectations are fully appropriate … had Antonelli charged thru AAA like he did at Hi-A last season, I’d have had Utley-like expectations … I’ve calmed down … still, hoping for an above-average 2B-man … perhaps a season or 2 where we’d be able to hope he’d get selected for an All-Star game, but knowing in our hearts that he’s really just a solid contributor to our winning team …
Does Felix Carrasco really have 11 errors this year while playing 1B? Yikes! If so, I’m going to cut Cumberland some slack for his 19 errors because he’s throwing to a pretty bad defensive 1B
Even though Antonelli’s had a rough season in the PCL this year, there are some markers that are encouraging. He’s walking as much as he strikes out (43 BB to 44K’s). Even though his batting average is below .200, his OBP is still .318. As others have mentioned, his BABIP is pretty low right now. If he can even get his average to .270, we might have a .380-.400 OBP guy on our hands. That’s a very valuable player.
#1@Lance Richardson: Agree on both points. Stardom is unusual. It’s hard sometimes, but even if Antonelli turns out to be Chuck Knoblauch without the 900 OPS peak, that’s a good player to have. Venable doesn’t look like a starter on a first-division club to me unless there’s a lot more talent at other positions.
#3@Ryan: I found a website that charted this, but I fear the link monitor. Basically, 23 would be on the young end for a debut compared to most players since 2000. The chart can be found at junkcharts DOT typepad DOT com SLASH junk_charts SLASH 2005 SLASH 09 SLASH baseball_rookie DOT html.
#4@Jonathan: Probably. His line from last year is so strange; only 58 Ks in 103 innings against Low A, and how he’s striking out almost 1 per in AA. Worth watching.
#5@Peter Friberg: Some organizations almost prefer that their prospects face some adversity in the minors (besides the bus travel and sleeping two to a room at Motel 6). If Antonelli is still having problems in August, I’ll be worried. Since his problem now seems to be making hard contact, something he hasn’t struggled with in the past, I’m not that concerned. His BABIP is insanely low. That might mean he’s overmatched, but it’s probably more luck than a lack of skill. His defense worries me more than his bat.
#6@Pat: 21 at the end of your junior year, when you get drafted, seems right to me. Wouldn’t that be anyone with a birthday after November (isn’t that the cutoff) and June would be 21 before their junior year ended.
#8@Paul R: It’d be interesting to ask the Ft. Wayne sportswriter what he thinks of those two. Are Carrasco’s errors coming when he ranges too far for balls that should be fielded by someone else? Can he not throw? Or are his hands simply made of concrete?
Scott Miller, who may have a little more insight into the Padres than many national writers, thinks that Kouz is likely to be moved this summer. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him moved, but it seems like the Padres would want to give him a shot at 285/20/90 numbers to make him more attractive. Headley’s not going to forget how to play 3b in the next four months, is he?
I’m glad Faris is finally starting to get some credit. The kid works hard and his numbers are comparable to the other starting pitchers on his team who are pretty much all considered top prospects…
#10@Tom Waits: I was in the middle of responding to better than half those comments, then I got to yours and you’d said it all better.
#12@Tom Waits: I wonder how much insight he has into the Padres when in the same article he seems unaware that the Alderson has stated he won’t allow the Mariners to speak to Towers.
Future major league stars aren’t typically at AAA at the age of 23 or 24. Usually, they are playing well at the MLB level. I suspect both prospects will be MLB regulars for a number of years, which is nothing to sneeze at, but there probably aren’t a lot of All Star game appearances in their collective future.
I simply wanted to temper expectations that Antonelli would be the next Sandberg or Biggio, or that Headley might grow into a David Wright or Chipper Jones. Granted, such expectations are not nearly as prevalent in the Ducksnorts commentor community as they are in the local media and call-in shows.
#14@Richard Wade: Unlikely, but thanks.
Jeremy McBryde’s having a weird season. He’s got good K numbers (24.1% K/PA), excellent BB numbers (5.1% BB/PA), isn’t giving up too many homers (6 in 61 innings) … and has a 6.16 RA.