By Scott Lucas
My selections for Texas’s minor-league position players of the “month” covering April 8th through May 9th. General requirements: minimum 70 plate appearances, limited to homegrown or traded-for prospects plus others who conceivably could help the Rangers this season.
1. Miguel Velazquez (22 years old as of 7/1/10, OF, Low-A) – Chad Tracy is the official Player of the Month for April, per the Rangers, but my selection for the season’s first full month is Velazquez (.331/.403/.593). Miggy leads the South Atlantic League in OPS (.996) and homers (7), is 3rd in RBI (26) and 6th in runs scored (22). He’s spent most of his time in center field, though sticking there isn’t likely.
2. Chad Tracy (24, 1B/OF, AAA) – Usually struggling at a new level and in April, Tracy bolted out of the gate with seven homers and a line of .286/.355/.554. Unlike Chris Davis, Tracy will never compensate for a slumping bat with his glove, so he’ll need to maintain this production if he wants to face big-league pitching.
3. Renny Osuna (25, IF, AA) – After Osuna’s woeful 2008 as a 24-year-old, I didn’t give a moment’s thought to him this spring. Pegged as Frisco’s backup infielder, Osuna has received ample playing time thanks to injuries to Marcus Lemon and Jonathan Greene and has made the most of it, batting an astounding.333/.407/.528. Osuna has hit for average before; what’s notable is the return of his line-drive power. He’s already surpassed last year’s eight extra-base hits in Frisco in less than one-third as many games.
4. Cristian Santana (21, OF, Low-A) – This selection comes with baggage, as Santana is deservedly three-peating low-A after making negligible progress in the preceding two years. That said, in the present we’re talking about a .274/.337/.516 performance from someone who doesn’t turn 21 until June. Santana has improved his pitch selection from non-existent to mediocre this season, resulting in his best batting average and walk rate since rookie ball.
5. Vin DiFazio (24, C, Low-A) – Intent on proving his startling 2009 was no fluke, DiFazio (.258/.383/.500) has largely continued his torrid paces of walks and extra-base hits. Temper the excitement with the knowledge that he turns 24 in a few days. I expect him to see plenty of high-A Bakersfield this season, whereupon we can adjust our viewpoint.
6. Cody Podraza (22, OF, Low-A) – Podraza (.311/.406/.411) is playing in April for the first time in five years and has solidified his position atop of Hickory’s order. As a rookie, Podraza had an 11% HBP rate, which would leave even Don Baylor reconsidering his chosen profession. Now, he’s reaching base with a career-best 11% walk rate. Walks hurt less.
7. Matt Lawson (24, 2B/OF, AA) – For the season’s first two weeks, only Lawson and Joey Butler prevented Frisco from being shut out every night. Lawson has improved in terms of patience and power even as he’s jumped a level. He’s already set a personal record with seven games in the outfield.
8. Brandon Boggs (27, OF, AAA) – Brandon Boggs would like to remind you that he spent most of 2008 in the Majors and requests another opportunity. Speedy Craig Gentry understandably earned the nod over Boggs when Nelson Cruz hit the DL, but Boggs has reentered the discussion by batting .282/.398/.526. Staying healthy will help.
And some underachieving position players:
Taylor Teagarden (26, C, MLB and AAA) – Teagarden doesn’t meet my list requirements but demands mention for his dumbfounding opening month. Between Texas and Oklahoma City, he’s batting .049/.149 /.049 and has fanned in a staggering 55% of his plate appearances.
Leonel de los Santos (20, C, Low-A) – Repeating low-A, de los Santos is hitting .125, has no walks or extra-base hits, and is firmly behind DiFazio in the pecking order.
Tommy Mendonca (22, 3B, High-A) – Texas has drafted a third basemen in the second round in three of its last four drafts (Johnny Whittleman, Matt West, Mendonca). All are struggling, and Mendonca completed the season’s first month as a power hitter with no homers and a .308 slugging percentage. Lately, he’s been batting 8th. On the upside, he’s displayed marginally improved patience and ability to make contact, though the latter hasn’t translated to a higher batting average (.209). Don’t think I’m writing off Mendonca already – far from it – but I’d hoped for better.
Next, my selections for Texas’s minor league pitchers of the month. The “FIP” stand for fielding-independent pitching. It estimates the pitcher’s ERA based on his rates of homers, walks, and strikeouts, and it assumes average-quality defense and an average number and distribution of hits allowed.
Rotation:
1. Derek Holland (23, AAA – 0.93 ERA, 2.47 FIP, 0.6% HR rate, 5% BB rate, 24% SO rate) – Don’t fault management for choosing Matt Harrison over Holland this spring. Harrison earned his rotation spot. Now, Holland has earned his shot. He was the best pitcher in the Pacific Coast League during the season’s first month. For someone with only 59 career minor-league innings above low-A, those six AAA starts provided much-needed seasoning.
2. Matt Thompson (20, Low-A – 2.27 ERA, 2.04 FIP, 0.8% HR, 5% BB, 29% SO) – Spokane’s top four starters from 2009’s Spokane squad are all pitching well in Hickory, but Thomson (last year’s least effective of the four) leads the pack in 2010. He’s evolved into a strikeout machine this season.
3. Michael Kirkman (23, AAA – 1.82 ERA, 3.40 FIP, 0.7% HR, 11% BB, 22% SO) – During 2006-2007, Kirkman walked 88 batters in 75 innings. Since June 2008, Kirkman has ascended form short-season Spokane to the cusp of the Major Leagues. Although his assignment to AAA wasn’t surprising, his ability to handle the higher competition without an adjustment period is. Kirkman has been walk-prone but is otherwise pitching as well as ever.
4. Martin Perez (19, AA – 2.45 ERA, 2.87 FIP, 0.9% HR, 13% BB, 26% SO) – I can quibble with Perez around the margins. He’s struggled with his control. He’s used his pitch allotment inefficiently. He didn’t pitch that weekend I visited Frisco. Still, we’re talking about a 19-year-old – the youngest of 26 appearing of these lists – with a legitimate 2.45 ERA and a strikeout rate 40% above the league average.
5. Robbie Ross (21, Low-A – 2.93 ERA, 3.02 FIP, 0.0% HR, 7% BB, 18% SO) – Ross hasn’t dominated the Sally League as he did the Northwest last summer, mostly a function of a lower-than-average strikeout rate. Ross is still generating grounders at an absurd rate (66%) and has yet to allow a homer.
6. Joe Wieland (20, Low-A – 3.41 ERA, 3.10 FIP, 1.3% HR, 6% BB, 23% SO) – Wieland took his lumps last year and needed to return ticket to Hickory. In 2010, he’s shown across-the-board improvement, reducing his walks, increasing his strikeouts, and generating more grounders.
7. Blake Beavan (21, AA – 3.57 ERA, 3.07 FIP, 1.9% HR, 5% BB, 17% SO) – Beavan fanned a meager 12% of opposing batters last year in his AA debut. Very few AA pitchers with such a low SO rate reached the Majors, and fewer still stayed for long. That’s just how the world works. In 2010, Beavan has quietly ramped his rate up to nearly the league average while maintaining his superb control.
Relievers:
1. Tanner Scheppers (23, AA and AAA – 1.20 ERA, 2.02 FIP, 3.5% HR, 5% BB, 45% SO) – Scheppers lorded over AA and was quickly promoted to face hitters that might actually challenge him. Two homers in 15 innings are the sole blemish on his record. In AA, 40% of batters’ opposing swings drew nothing but air. The team average is 22%.
2. Zach Phillips (23, AA – 0.00 ERA, 0.72 FIP, 0.0% HR, 4% BB, 38% SO) – Phillips doesn’t cook with Scheppers’ gas but has been equally effective. After years in the rotation, Phillips has adapted easily to the bullpen. He’s not a LOOGY. Phillips has never generated a substantial platoon split; indeed, lefties have often hit him better than righties.
3. Cody Eppley (24, High-A – 0.00 ERA, 1.42 FIP, 0.0% HR, 2% BB, 34% SO) – As a 43rd-rounder with a vanilla collegiate record, an immediate conversion to relief as a professional, and an ordinary fastball, Eppley hasn’t received much ink here at the Newberg Report. So, now, let us praise him here. In 111.1 pro innings, he’s allowed fewer than one baserunner per inning, walked 12 and struck out 134. He’ll be in Frisco as soon as one of the current pitchers gets a hangnail.
4. Trevor Hurley (22, Low-A – 0.49 ERA, 1.22 FIP, 0.0% HR, 4% BB, 37% SO) – Of its 13 pitchers, Hickory has 10 who could fill the rotation. Hurley couldn’t crack the top five but has made the most of his long-relief appearances.
Note: Josh Lueke has been superior in relief, but he’s also four days from being the oldest pitcher in the entire South Atlantic League.
Ogandos:
1. Alexi Ogando (26, AA – 1.15 ERA, 1.98 FIP, 1.8% HR, 9% BB, 38% SO) – Ogando hasn’t played a traditional role but demands inclusion for his often dominating AA debut. He has allowed only nine baserunners in 15.2 innings and struck out 21. His fastball tops out at 98, and his offspeed pitches are highly promising, if still in the formative stage.
And some underachieving pitchers:
Kennil Gomez (22, High-A – 7.27 ERA, 6.44 FIP, 2.2% HR, 14% BB, 11% SO) – Gomez compensates for modest fastball velocity with ferocious movement. So far in 2010, that darting fastball has either completely missed the zone or connected with the bat’s sweet spot. While repeating high-A, Gomez has allowed 40 baserunners in only 17 innings.
Kasey Kiker (22, AA – 5.22 ERA, 4.54 FIP, 0.8% HR, 20% BB, 23% SO) – During 1992-2009, pitcher Ryan Creek of Houston-affiliated Jackson leads the Texas League in walks issued in a season with 121. Kasey Kiker is on pace to match that number and hit 28 batters for good measure. He’s still striking out hitters at a prodigious rate, but really, this can’t go on.
Ryan Falcon (25, AA – 17.36 ERA, 11.76 FIP, 7.1% HR, 21% BB, 11% SO) – Falcon was Texas’s least effective reliever in the opening month, but “underachieving” is a deeply unfair description of Falcon, who advanced to AA with an 80-MPH fastball and glacial changeup. Unfortunately, a combination of very hard hits and loss of control forced an April release. Texas selected Falcon in the 29th round of 2007. Only five of the 30 selections from that round are still playing in affiliated ball, and only one has reached AAA. For the 890th pick out of UNC-Greensboro, Falcon achieved quite a lot.
