Crooked Pitch

It hasn’t been decided who will be manning first base when the Yankees begin play in 2009. Cuban prospect Juan Miranda is trying to convince the Yankees that it should be him with his early play in the Arizona Fall League.

In four AFL games Miranda is 9 for 16 with slash stats of .563/.588/1.125. Of his nine hits, five were doubles and two triples. He also has four RBI.

In 356 Triple-A at-bats in 2008, Miranda batted .287 with 22 doubles, 12 home runs, and a 79:55 strikeout to walk ratio.

Cleveland Indians prospect Wes Hodges played the 2008 season at Double-A Akron in 2008 and put up decent numbers. He hit 18 home runs in 504 at-bats and batted .290/.354/.466 along the way. His 29 doubles to go along with 97 RBI show that he’s got a little more power to come and that he likes base runners. He did strike out 105 times last season, which is something that’ll need to be worked on before he gets a full time job in Cleveland, but in the first week in the Arizona Fall League, Hodges is impressing everyone.

He’s tied for the AFL lead in home runs with two. He also has six RBI and slash stats of .300/.385/.846.

You may want to keep your eye on this kid. He was a second round (#69 overall) pick in the 2006 First-Year Played Draft by Cleveland, and many feel that he will be ready for the Indians at some point in 2009. A hundred or so at-bats of hitting like this could hasten his approach to the big leagues.

Playing in the Arizona Fall League is an honor most major league prospects cherish and look forward to. Usually, it’s just prospects that are close to the big league level who get a shot to play in the AFL. And while the AFL isn’t quite as much of an audition as Spring Training is for securing a spot on the big league club, if you excel in Arizona you can increase your chances for promotion.

Here are five outfield prospects that opened the eyes of scouts in the AFL and might have unlocked the door to a promotion in 2008.

1. Caleb Stewart | New York Mets - Stewart had a very unique fall season playing for the Scottsdale Scorpions. He came barreling out of the gate with 4 home runs in his first 4 games. Then an oblique injury caused him to miss nearly two weeks of play. Upon his return he belted two more home runs to share the lead in AFL home runs with 6. His numbers in the AFL were .318/.400/.773 with 2 doubles, 6 home runs, 11 RBI and a 12:6 strikeout to walk ratio in 12 games and 44 at-bats. Those power numbers are impressive even with the limited playing time he received. Stewart popped 16 home runs for AA Binghamton in 2007 while hitting .252/.314/.400. He’s going to need big time spring numbers to go along with his AFL performance if he’s going to crack the already packed Mets OF.
2. Sam Fuld | Chicago Cubs - Fuld had some amazing slash stats in the AFL producing a line of .402/.429/.626 with 3 home runs, 11 doubles and 2 triples with 14 RBI and 10 stolen bases. Whew! Take a breath. That was one long sentence, but some pretty powerful numbers. Now that Jacque Jones, Craig Monroe and Cliff Floyd are no longer on the Cubs roster, there are two outfield spots available with 4 players competing for them. In addition to Fuld, Felix Pie, Matt Murton and Ronny Cedeno all hope to secure spots next to Alfonso Soriano guarding the ivy covered walls of Wrigley. Fuld “wowed” people in the AFL and needs to keep that up this spring and playing time a plenty will be his reward in 2008.
3. Nate Schierholtz | San Francisco Giants - Schierholtz bopped 16 home runs for AAA Fresno in 2007 while hitting .333/.365/.560 with 31 doubles and 10 stolen bases. He was called up late in the season and flourished there, as well, hitting .304/.316/.402. With his left handed bat and strong arm, Schierholtz has been called the Giants right fielder of the future. Well, if his performance during his 23 games and 89 at-bats in the Arizona Fall League has anything to say about it, the future may be now. Schierholtz hit 4 home runs and 8 doubles while posting slash stats of .348/.363/.596 in the AFL and will surely get many opportunities to earn playing time in the Giants ‘08 outfield.
4. Jordan Schafer | Atlanta Braves - Just for the record, let’s get the negatives out of the way first. Prior to 2007, Schafer struggled massively, never hitting above .240. However, 2007 was a breakout year, and remember he’s only 21 years old. Schafer hit .312/.374/.513 with 15 home runs and 49 doubles while splitting time between Hi A Myrtle Beach and Lo A Rome. He also stole 23 bases. His AFL experience lent more evidence that Schafer was ready for a promotion. In 105 AFL at-bats Schafer hit .324/.395/.429 with a home run and 6 doubles with 10 stolen bases. Many are asking to see Jordan Schafer replace free agent Andruw Jones for the beginning of the 2008 season. However, Schafer’s path may be blocked, temporarily, by Josh Anderson, who the Braves acquired in a recent trade from Houston. Schafer should see MLB time in 2008. Spring training could reveal just how soon he’s going to make it.
5. Andrew McCutchen | Pittsburgh Pirates - McCutchen did fine as a 20 year old in AA Altoona and even raised his numbers during his short promotion to AAA Indianapolis. His complete minor league line read as .265/.329/.388 with 24 doubles, 11 home runs and 21 stolen bases in 2007. His batting average and on-base percentage rose while playing in the AFL where he hit .286/.381/.378 with 5 doubles and 8 stolen bases in 98 at-bats. Even more encouraging is that his 12:14 strikeout to walk ratio was much better than the 94:48 K:BB ratio he posted in minor league action. Baseball America lists McCutchen as the top prospect in the Pirates organization and with his strong finish at AAA Indianapolis and the improvements he’s made in the AFL there is no reason he won’t enter Spring Training as a candidate for an Pirates outfield spot in 2008.

I promise tons of AFL content over the next week, but until that happens I, at least, wanted to share the leader boards with you. Here are the home run leaders from the Arizona Fall League.

1. Nolan Reimold | Baltimore Orioles AA | 6 Home runs
2. Matt LaPorta | Milwaukee Brewers A | 6 Home runs
3. Caleb Stewart | New York Mets AA | 6 Home runs
4. Juan Miranda | New York Yankees A+/AA | 5 Home runs
5. Sergio Santos | Toronto Blue Jays AA/AAA | 5 Home runs
6. Michael Aubrey | Cleveland Indians A+/AA | 5 Home runs
7. John Mayberry | Texas Rangers A+/AA | 5 Home runs

I am back for my second installment about hot pitchers in the Arizona Fall League.

1. Matt Harrison | Surprise Rafters (Texas Rangers AA) - [tag]Matt Harrison[/tag] is 3-0 in 4 starts with a 1.93 ERA in Arizona this fall. He’s sporting a 2.00 K:BB (8:4) ratio and batters are hitting .216 against him.
2. Sean Thompson | Peoria Javelinas (Colorado Rockies AA) - In two starts and two relief appearances [tag]Sean Thompson[/tag] has a 4.66 K:BB (14:3) ratio and hitters are batting .121 against him in 10.0 innings pitched. After bouncing between 3 different organizationsin 2007, Thompson may remainwith the Rockies if these numbers continue.
3. Calvin Medlock | Scottsdale Scorpions (Tampa Bay Rays AAA) - [tag]Calvin Medlock[/tag] has pitched 11.2 innings in relief in the [tag]Arizona Fall League[/tag] keeping hitters struggling to hit .154 against him. He also has a 7.00 K:BB (14:2) ratio.

Once again, here we are for my weekly update on the Arizona Fall League hitters who are having a good showing.

1. Chris Dickerson | Surprise Rafters (Cincinnati Reds AA/AAA) - [tag]Chris Dickerson[/tag] is enjoying some nice power numbers as he’s hit 4 home runs in 15 games and his slash stats look like .294/.345/.608. One of the knocks on Dickerson is his strikeout rate as he’s struck out 13 times in 15 games and only walked 3 times, which was a problem he showed in AA Chatanooga and AAA Louisville striking out 162 times in 134 games.
2. Sergio Santos | Scottsdale Scorpions (Toronto Blue Jays AA/AAA) - Also showing some power in Arizona is [tag]Sergio Santos[/tag] one of the Blue Jays top shortstop prospects. Santos has 4 home runs and is hitting .286/.308/.612. Santos belted 20 home runs this year in the minors, but looked overmatched after his promotion to AAA. He will need to cut back on strikeouts and prove he can hit AAA pitching before he’s moved above third on the organizational depth for the Blue jays at shortstop.
3. Sam Fuld | Mesa Solar Sox (Chicago Cubs AA/AAA) - [tag]Sam Fuld[/tag] is enjoying and making the best of extra playing time in the [tag]Arizona Fall League[/tag]. He is second in the league in hits and batting average (24 hits in 18 games and .369/.481/.646).

Here are a few of the early pitching leaders for the Hawaii Winter Baseball league.

1. Takashi Kamoshida| North Shore Honu (Orix Buffaloes Japan) - In 19 innings pitched, [tag]Takashi Kamoshida[/tag] 29 strikeouts and 10 walks with an ERA of 1.42.
2. Bud Norris | North Shore Honu (Houston Astros High A) - [tag]Bud Norris[/tag] has a strikeout:walk ratio of 3.00 (24:8) in 14.2 innings pitched. His record is 1-0 with a 3.68 ERA.
3. Yutaka Tamaki | Waikiki BeachBoys (Hanshin Tigers Japan) - [tag]Yutaka Tamaki[/tag] is 2-0 with a 3.12 ERA, but what’s more impressive is his 8.66 strikeout:walk ratio (26:3) in 26 innings pitched.

Did anyone else notice that two of the three pitchers listed above play in Japan while not participating in [tag]Hawaii Winter Baseball[/tag]?