Minor League Report

By Dan Strittmatter

 

Triple-A Reno:

 

LF Doug Deeds – July 6 & July 7 – 5-for-8, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 4 R, 2:3 K:BB.

Deeds responded well to being named Reno’s replacement for promoted pitcher Jordan Norberto on the Pacific Coast League All-Star Team, going on an offensive binge as the Aces lost a pair of high-scoring games to the Sacramento RiverCats due to some shaky pitching performances.  Yesterday’s 4-for-5 explosion drove Deeds’ batting average up to .310 on the year, hitting primarily in the leadoff spot for the Aces.

 

 

Double-A Mobile:

 

The Entire Lineup – July 6

Yes, everybody.  The BayBears collected 18 hits on Tuesday, easily routing the Jacksonville Suns 9-1.  Here are the numbers for batters 1-8, each of whom recorded at least one hit (and Jacob Elmore drew a pinch-hit walk in the nine-hole, so every position in the lineup reached base at least once):

·         1 – CF Evan Frey: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 R, 1 HBP, 1 SB.

·         2 – RF Collin Cowgill: 4-5, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R.

·         3 – 3B Kory Casto: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 R.

·         4 – C Konrad Schmidt: 1-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K.

·         5 – 1B Cyle Hankerd: 2-5, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 K.

·         6 – 2B Taylor Harbin: 2-5, 1 RBI, 1 R, 2 K.

·         7 – SS Jake Wald: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K.

·         8 – LF Ollie Linton: 3-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 K.

·         Overall: 18-37, 3 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 9 R, 6 K, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 1 SB.  BA/OBP/SLG line of .486/.513/.649, OPS of 1.162.

 

For comparison’s sake:  during Todd Helton’s best offensive year in 2000, Helton hit 216-for-580 with 103 walks, 59 2B, 2 3B, and 42 HR.  His BA/OBP/SLG line was .372/.463/.698, for an OPS of… 1.162, good for the 38th best single-season number in baseball history.  On Tuesday night, every hitter in the BayBears’ lineup was the Southern League equivalent of Todd Helton circa-2000.  Now that is impressive.

 

RHP Josh Collmenter – July 6 – 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R (1 ER), 5:2 K:BB, 0 HR, 8-8 GO-AO.

But in the midst of such impressive offense, let’s not forget about the once-again dominating work of Josh Collmenter, who lowered his Mobile ERA to a Josh Johnson-ian 1.59.  In three starts at Hi-A Visalia, four starts at Triple-A Reno, and now nine starts at Double-A Mobile, Collmenter’s overall ERA is 2.42 in 100.1 innings of work, striking out 95 batters while allowing 30 walks and six home runs.  Collmenter threw 102 pitches, 63 of which were for strikes.

 

 

Hi-A Visalia:

 

1B Paul Goldschmidt – July 6 & July 7 – 4-for-6, 2 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, 2:2 K:BB.

Goldschmidt has continued right where the middle of the lineup left off in the last update, and is now 8-for-14 with two doubles, four homers and a 4:3 K:BB ratio, for an OPS of — you might want to sit down — 2.218.  Goldschmidt now has a remarkable 26 home runs on the year in the cleanup spot for Visalia.  The only downside?  All four of his home runs in that four-game span were solo shots.

 

RHP Charles Brewer – July 7 – 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 5:1 K:BB, 0 HR, 7-9 GO-AO.

Since his first disastrous start at the Hi-A level, Charles Brewer has rebounded fantastically well in his two appearances since, hurling 15.1 innings and allowing just three runs.  What makes Wednesday’s start all the more impressive is the fact that it came at the home of Seattle’s Hi-A affiliate, High Desert, notorious for being one of the most hitter-friendly parks in professional baseball.  The fact that Brewer shut down the Mavericks over seven brilliant innings is very impressive.

 

 

Low-A South Bend:

 

2B David Nick – July 6 – 3-for-3, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP.

It hasn’t been a fantastic year for Nick, who is hitting just .243 with a .644 OPS, but Wednesday night he showed a glimpse of his potential at the dish by reaching base five times, highlighted by his second triple of the season. 

 

 

Short-Season-A Yakima:

 

RHP Andrea Pizziconi – July 6 – 3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 4:2 K:BB, 0 HR, 3-2 GO-AO.

The Bears were off on Wednesday, but received another promising performance from the 6-foot-2, 18-year-old Italian prospect, making his first start of the season as he starts stretching out his arm and building his innings counts.  Pizziconi on the season has now thrown 12.2 innings, struck out 11, walked four, and given up three earned runs with two home runs for a fabulous 2.13 ERA.  This is all the more impressive when you take into consideration the fact that Pizziconi is going up against a lot of newly-drafted college players, as evidenced by the fact that the average age of batters in the NWL, according to Baseball-reference.com, is 21.4 years.

 

 

Rookie-level Missoula:

 

RHP Derek Eitel – July 7 – 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R (3 ER), 5:2 K:BB, 11-4 GO-AO.

The D-backs’ 17th-round choice in the 2010 draft, and the first player ever taken in a pro sports draft out of the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, has had quite an impressive start at Missoula, though this is expected from a 22-year-old in the Pioneer League.  Nonetheless, Eitel has thrown 20.1 innings, striking out 12 with seven walks, and doing a great job keeping the ball on the ground with a 2.83/1 GO/AO.  This has led Eitel to allow just nine runs in his four starts, for a 3.98 ERA.

 

 

Rookie-level Dominican Summer League:

 

RHP Jency Solis – July 6 – 3 IP, 1 K, 4-3 GO-AO, the rest zeros.

The 17-year-old Solis has been strong in his last three outings for the DSL D-backs, throwing nine innings without allowing an earned run (and just one unearned run).  In that span, he has struck out six, walked three, and allowed a mere three hits.

 

Others of note:

·         After being held hitless on Tuesday, first baseman Brandon Allen responded on Wednesday, going 2-4 with a double, a homer, two RBI, two runs, a walk and a strikeout.

·         Despite having one of the less-glimmering performances with the bat on Tuesday, Double-A Mobile catcher Konrad Schmidt  made up for it with a 1-2, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 BB performance on Wednesday.

·         Hi-A Visalia LF Marc Krauss’ hitting streak ended at 16 games on Wednesday, in the hitter-friendly confines of High Desert, of all places.

·         Speaking of streaks, Low-A South Bend 1B/DH Ramon Castillo‘s hitting streak is still alive, as he has now recorded a hit in each of his first 15 games in 2010.

·         More streaks: just as we noted Raywilly Gomez‘s streak of 14 games without a strikeout at Short-Season Yakima to begin 2010 on Tuesday, he K’d for the first time this season later that night.  However, Gomez also ended another streak by hitting the first home run of his professional baseball career.  Something tells us that Raywilly will be perfectly okay with the ending of his streaks.

·         The D-backs signed 16-year-old Venezuelan center fielder Yorman Garcia.

Minor League Report

 

Marc Krauss Visalia Rawhide 4634.jpg

Marc Krauss – Photography: Ken Weisenberger

 

By Dan Strittmatter

 

 

Triple-A Reno:

 

INF Ryan Roberts – July 4 & July 5 – 4-8, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 R, 1:1 K:BB.

 

Roberts put on a heck of a holiday fireworks display weekend at Reno, gathering an astounding 12 total bases in eight at-bats for the Aces. As shake-ups could occur on the Major League roster, Roberts is a strong candidate to receive some significant time in the big leagues later in the 2010 season.

 

 

Double-A Mobile:

 

LHP Wade Miley – July 4 – 7.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R (1 ER), 3 K, 3 BB, 0 HR, W (1-0).

 

Continuing his complete dominance of the Southern League, Miley finally received his first decision by picking up the win against Jacksonville. While the strikeouts-to-walks ratio doesn’t grab your attention, the key for Miley on Sunday — as it has been in his entire time at Mobile — was his ability to induce ground ball outs. Miley recorded 12 ground ball outs, including his fourth GIDP in three starts, against the Suns. His ERA now sits at 0.84 in 21.1 innings for the BayBears, with a 4.22 groundout-to-flyout ratio.

 

 

Hi-A Visalia:

 

CF Alfredo Marte – July 4 – 5-9, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 4 R, 1:1 K:BB (5-5, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 3 R on the fourth).

LF Marc Krauss – July 4 & July 5 – 5-9, 3 2B, 6 RBI, 2 R, 1:0 K:BB.

1B Paul Goldschmidt – July 4 & July 5 – 4-8, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 4 R, 2:0 K:BB.

3B Ryan Wheeler – July 4 & July 5 – 4-9, 1 3B, 3 R, 1:1 K:BB.

 

The heart of the order was unstoppable for the Rawhide over the past two nights against the Padres’ Lake Elsinore Storm. Combining all of these lines, we have: 18-35, 5 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 13 R, 5:2 K:BB. That is a .514/.541/.971 BA/OBP/SLG line and a 1.512 OPS… from four consecutive hitters in the lineup. And the starting pitching on the mound for Lake Elsinore wasn’t too shabby, either. The Rawhide handed Juan Oramas (6-1) his first loss of the season, bringing his ERA up .62 points from 1.80 to 2.42, and battered Nick Schmidt (4.43 ERA) for five runs in two innings.

 

 

Low-A South Bend:

 

1B/DH Ramon Castillo – July 4 & July 5 (double-header) – 5-11, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 R, has recorded a hit in each of his first 13 games for South Bend.

 

Castillo continued to shine in his first exposure to the Midwest League. On the season, he is now 17-49 with six doubles, two homers, 13 RBI, 5 runs, a 4:3 K:BB ratio, and even added a stolen base. His BA/OBP/SLG line stands at .347/.385/.592 for an OPS of .976.

 

 

Short-Season-A Yakima:

 

C Raywilly Gomez – July 4 – 1-2, 1 2B, 1 BB.

 

What is present in Gomez’s line from Sunday, while nice, isn’t particularly noteworthy. But what is noteworthy is what is not in Gomez’s line: a strikeout. As a matter of fact, strikeouts have been missing from all of Gomez’s stat lines in his first 14 games for the Bears in 2010. In 36 plate-appearances, Gomez has drawn five walks, struck out zero times, and recorded ten hits including three doubles, for a BA/OBP/SLG line of .323/.417/.419 and OPS of .836.

 

RHP Miguel Pena – July 4 – 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R (1 ER), 4:0 K:BB.

 

RHP Enrique Burgos – July 5 – 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R (0 ER), 3:2 K:BB.

 

The Bears received a couple of solid starting performances the last two days from Pena and Burgos. Pena continued his strong season, lowering his ERA to 3.94. He worked around two errors behind him to limit the Tri-City Dust Devils to three runs, and induced eight ground ball outs, including a GIDP.

 

Burgos had been struggling with his command for Yakima over his first three appearances, walking 14 in 12.1 innings of work. So even though he didn’t record a ton of punch-outs on Monday, giving up just two free passes is a very encouraging step forward.

 

 

Rookie-level Missoula:

 

RHP Robby Rowland – July 5 – 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1:0 K:BB, 0 HR.

 

This year’s third-round pick, Robby Rowland, has gotten his professional career underway for the D-backs at their Rookie-league affiliate, and had an impressive second outing for the Osprey. He didn’t pitch very deep into the game, as the team is monitoring his innings count after he just finished a full high school season, but he certainly was effective.

 

 

Rookie-level Dominican Summer League:

 

CF Wagner Mateo – July 3 and July 5 – 4-9, 1 3B, 5 RBI, 3 R, 1:0 K:BB, 1 SB (0 CS).

 

Mateo, despite being just 17 years old, has been a man among boys in the Dominican Summer League. Despite generally being a very low-scoring league, Mateo has posted a solid .255/.359/.445 BA/OBP/SLG line and .805 OPS for the DSL D-backs. He is 28-for-110 at the plate with nine doubles, three triples, two homers, 23 RBI, 22 runs, and a 35:18 K:BB ratio. Mateo has also flashed his speed on the base paths, stealing ten bases in 13 attempts.

 

Others of note:

·         Mobile left-handed pitcher Leyson Septimo walked one batter in his inning of relief on Sunday, but didn’t allow a hit and struck out the side. Septimo now has an impressive 35 strikeouts in 26.2 innings of work at Mobile in 2010.

·         Outfielder Collin Cowgill has collected three hits for the BayBears in his last two games, including a three-run home run against Jacksonville on Monday.

·         Visalia right-hander Justin Mace was impressive in relief for starter Dan Taylor on the Fourth of July, throwing 2 2/3 no-hit innings, striking out two and walking just one.

·         South Bend center fielder Keon Broxton has recorded four hits in the first three games of their series against Great Lakes, including a double and a pair of triples.

·         Third baseman Raoul Torrez has gotten off to a strong start for Yakima, with three hits in his last two games–a double, a triple, two RBI, a run scored, and a strikeout.

·         Richie Rowland, Robby Rowland’s brother, is also playing for Missoula, and the 21-year-old catcher/DH has 22 hits in his first 46 at-bats, with three homers, four doubles and a 1.281 OPS.

·         2010 44th-round pick Eric Groff has also been impressive for the Osprey. He is 7-for-14 in his last three games, with two doubles, a homer, three RBI, four runs, and just one strikeout.

·         Yiomar Camacho has been arguably the best starter for the DSL D-backs, with a 3.08 ERA in six starts spanning 38 innings, including four straight starts in which he has thrown seven or more innings. He is second on the DSL D-backs with 28 strikeouts.

Enright Gets the Call

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Photography: Jordan Megenhardt

By Dan Strittmatter

One of the many subplots of the 149-pitch Edwin Jackson no-hitter was how the team would give Jackson some extra rest to compensate for the fact that Jackson threw so many pitches in one outing. So when the news broke on Sunday that manager A.J. Hinch had decided to push back Jackson’s next start two day, it came as a surprise to nobody.

 

However, this opened up a hole in the rotation for Wednesday’s game in St. Louis, when Jackson was originally slated to start. The team did not have a day off between Jackson’s no-no and the Wednesday game, so any of the other members of the Arizona rotation would have had to pitch on short rest if they were to fill Jackson’s spot. Add in the fact that the D-backs rotation has already been heavily taxed in 2010, and it was clear that an alternative solution was needed.

 

So the team instead looked to the minor leagues, announcing that it will purchase the contract of Double-A Mobile right-hander Barry Enright, who will bring his fantastic command of his four-pitch mix to St. Louis for his Major League debut in Jackson’s place.

 

Enright was selected by the D-backs in the second round of the 2007 draft following his junior year at Pepperdine University, where he was a third team All-American. He threw 15 innings that year, split between Short-Season Yakima, Single-A South Bend, and Single-A Advanced Visalia. Enright then started 2008 back at Visalia, where he went 12-8 in 29 starts with a 4.44 ERA (3.34 FIP), a 143:35 K:BB ratio, and 17 home runs allowed in 29 starts spanning 164 1/3 innings.

 

Enright then moved up to Double-A Mobile in 2009, where he had a solid basic production – a 3.98 ERA in 27 starts spanning 156 innings. But he saw his impressive strikeout rate from Visalia dip, recording just 103 punch-outs, a rate of just 5.94 per nine innings. He remained effective by continuing to be stingy in allowing free-passes, keeping his FIP at a solid 3.82.

 

In 2010, the team invited Enright to Major League camp for Spring Training, and the club got an extended look at their polished right-hander, who put on an impressive display, with his overall numbers spiked by an unfortunate string of singles in his final appearance. There is video available of Enright’s fourth Spring appearance, when he walked just one and struck out four Cubs, including Ryan Theriot, Derrek Lee, and Alfonso Soriano, video here.

 

Due to upper-level depth of starting pitching in the system — with Kevin Mulvey, Bryan Augenstein, Cesar Valdez, Kris Benson and Billy Buckner then manning Triple-A Reno’s Opening Day rotation slots, subsequently followed by Matt Torra and Wes Roemer — Enright was assigned to Mobile again to begin 2010 and try to resurrect his strikeout rate.

 

The results have been everything the team could have hoped for, as Enright has struck out 83 in 93 2/3 innings over 14 starts, while still allowing just 15 free passes, giving him a D-backs’ system-best 5.53 strikeouts per walk. His ERA is a shiny 2.88, his FIP an equally-impressive 3.06, and his WHIP is a spectacular 1.02.

 

Mobile catcher Konrad Schmidt offered his scouting report of Enright when the news broke that Enright would be called up to the majors:

 

“He’s really a competitor on the mound,” Schmidt told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. “He’s got good stuff and he’s really fun to catch. He’s got great command, throwing four pitches for a strike right now. There’s been some pretty potent lineups he’s gone against in this league and he’s done well. He’s like a bulldog.”

 

Eyes on Omaha

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Photography: TCU Athletics

By Greg Salvatore

 

The last week has been a whirlwind for Sam Demel at the professional level – being traded from Oakland for Conor Jackson, joining his new club, making his big league debut at Fenway Park – so you could excuse him if he were a little cut off from the outside world.

 

He isn’t though… at least as far as his alma mater is concerned.

 

Demel, who played college ball at TCU, is one of only two D-backs whose teams are currently competing in the College World Series. Stephen Drew’s Florida State Seminoles are also alive after beating rival Florida in an elimination game Monday afternoon.

 

Demel’s Horned Frogs won their first game against those Seminoles and it appears that they’ll be a tough out in this tournament.

 

“Those guys are looking good,” Demel said. “We’ll see how they do tonight (against UCLA).”

 

The Horned Frogs made it into the CWS by beating Texas in the Super Regional, winning on Friday and Sunday in Austin. Texas was the No. 2 team in the country behind only Arizona State at the time, so the win was not only a big one for TCU’s program, but one that sent shockwaves throughout college baseball, and certainly sets up TCU as a team that can take on anyone.

 

“(TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle) said, ‘Once you beat Texas, it’s kind of like everybody else is — well, not easy — but you know you can do it,'” Demel said. “That’s the main thing for the confidence.”

 

TCU is where they are in large part because they have the pitcher who looks like the best in the tournament, left-hander Matt Purke. Purke was the No. 14 pick in the 2009 draft by the Texas Rangers, but chose to attend TCU and re-enter the draft later.

 

After Purke put on a show in the Austin Super Regional, he turned around and dominated Florida State on Saturday allowing one run (unearned) on four hits over seven innings.

 

“He’s got some power stuff, man,” Demel said. “He’s got really good stuff and he’s really blossomed, from his first outing to his last outing. I saw him a couple times early in the season and the stuff he had in his last outing, and the way he controlled it on both sides of the plate was impressive. He’s really maturing.”

 

Demel won’t be able to see much if any of the TCU/UCLA game live tonight (first pitch is at 6 p.m. Arizona time, an hour before the D-backs take on the Yankees at Chase Field), but you can bet he’ll be watching it later.

 

The Next 15

 

The D-backs continued with the pitching trend in rounds 6-20, at least in the beginning with a pair of high school arms and one college arms in the 6-8 picks.

 

 

Round

No.

Player

Position

Coll/HS

6

181

Blake Perry

RHP

HS

7

211

Jeffrey Shields

RHP

Coll

8

241

Tyler Green

RHP

HS

9

271

Zachary Walters

SS

Coll

10

301

Kawika Emsley-Pai

C

Coll

11

331

Michael Freeman

SS

Coll

12

361

Blake Cooper

RHP

Coll

13

391

Kevin Ziomek

LHP

HS

14

421

Ty Linton

CF

HS

15

451

Michael Bolsinger

RHP

Coll

16

481

Westley Moss

CF

Coll

17

511

Derek Eitel

RHP

Coll

18

541

Jimmy Comerota

1B

Coll

19

571

Adam Eaton

OF

Coll

20

601

Michael Hur

LF

Coll

 

A couple of notes about the D-backs’ earlier picks, from Baseball America:

 

James Bradley – Second Round

A lanky, projectable righthander at 6-foot-4, 180 pounds, his fastball ranges from 88-92 mph, but sits at 89-90 and he can touch 93-94 a couple of times in a game… He has outstanding control for a high school arm. He reportedly has walked just two batters in the last two seasons.

 

Robby Rowland – Third Round

At 6-foot-6, 210 pounds, Rowland looks the part of a young Josh Johnson. He is one of the top basketball players in California and could have accepted scholarships to small Division I programs as a shooting guard. Rowland’s father Rich is a former big league catcher (Tigers and Red Sox from 1990-1995), and his older brother is a college catcher.

 

Cody Wheeler – Fifth Round

Wheeler’s best trait, aside from being a southpaw, is his athletic ability. It allows him to add and subtract from his fastball, repeat his delivery, field his position and hold runners well.

 

Keith Law of ESPN.com called fourth-round pick Kevin Munson, “the top pure closer in the draft.”

 

We’ll be back in a bit to wrap up the day’s picks.

2010 Draft – Live Coverage

 

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We’re live here at the D-backs draft room, in an upstairs conference room at Chase Fi

 

D-backs scouts and cross-checkers are here with members of the D-backs’ front office, ready to draft the next wave of D-backs prospects.

 

The D-backs will pick sixth. Here is the draft order for the Top 10:

 

1. Washington Nationals

2. Pittsburgh Pirates

3. Baltimore Orioles

4. Kansas City Royals

5. Cleveland Indians

6. Arizona Diamondbacks

7. New York Mets

8. Houston Astros

9. San Diego Padres

10. Oakland Athletics

 

Once the D-backs make their selection we’ll get D-backs Scouting Director Tom Allison’s view on the pick, and get an interview with him as soon as he’s free for a few minutes.

 

——————-

Television coverage has started. Tune into MLB Network on your local cable outlet for live coverage.

 

Representing the D-backs at the draft are D-backs Special Assistants to the President and CEO Roland Hemond and Luis Gonzalez.

 

——————-

The Washington Nationals are on the clock…. Unless something completely insane happens in the next five minutes, it will be junior college catcher Bryce Harper. The real excitement begins with Pittsburgh at No. 2.

 

——————-

Fascinating part of the draft, as they’re discussing on TV – the Nationals selected outfielder Bryce Harper. Interesting. He’s been a catcher to this point in his career, but it seems like that may be no more.

 

——————-

The Pirates selected Texas high school pitcher Jameson Tallion, so we’re getting closer. The Orioles are on the clock, with four picks to go until showtime.

 

——————-

We’re three picks away as the Orioles select high school shortstop Manny Machado.

 

 

——————-

Got this text from Gonzalez: “It’s a big day for a lot of kids with big league dreams.” Two more picks to go, as the Kansas City Royals select shortstop Christian Colon.

 

——————-

The Cleveland Indians selected Ole Miss lefty Drew Pomeranz. The D-backs are on the clock!

 

——————-

With the No. 6 pick in the 2010 MLB Draft, the D-backs select Texas A&M right-handed pitcher Barrett Loux. Loux’s team will play in an elimination game tonight for the chance to play in the NCAA Super Regional.

 


Loux.jpg 

Photo from aggiesports.com

 

——————-

Tom Allison on Loux:

“We’ve scouted Barret since high school and have seen him grow as a pitcher and as a person at Texas A&M, where he was the team’s Friday night starting pitcher this season. He had a successful season this year and is now in the midst of leading his team in a must-win game against the University of Miami tonight to advance to the NCAA Super Regional against Florida this weekend. We believe Barret has all of the physical and mental ingredients to be a starting pitcher in the Major Leagues and look forward to him joining the D-backs soon.”

 

——————-

A few notes on Loux:

Loux, a 6-5, 225-pound right-handed pitcher, was named a Louisville Slugger NCAA Division I Third-Team All-American, First-Team All-Big 12 and is a semifinalist for the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award for his season at Texas A&M University. The junior is 11-2 with a complete game and a 2.60 ERA (30 earned) over 104.0 innings pitched in 16 starts this season. He has limited opponents to a .197 average with 33 walks and 136 strikeouts. Loux also led the Big 12 with 126 strikeouts.

 

Here is the MLB Scouting Bureau video on Loux:

 

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12380838&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=8f001a&fullscreen=1

D-backs General Manager Josh Byrnes on the D-backs’ pick:

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12381045&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=8f001a&fullscreen=1

Draft Coverage — 2009 Recap

Eric Smith – Second Round – No. 60 overall

 


Eric Smith.jpg 

 

By Dan Strittmatter

 

The D-backs are well-known for their propensity to select college arms over high school arms in the upper rounds of the draft. Looking over the last five years of drafts, the only high school arms selected by the D-backs in the top three rounds are Jarrod Parker (1st round, 2007), Brett Anderson (2nd round, 2006) and Kevin Eichhorn (3rd round, 2008).

 

But Arizona adhered to this rule even more-so in 2009 than usual, taking no high school arms in the first 10 rounds. This included their second-round selection, and their second-straight pitcher selected, Eric Smith from the University of Rhode Island. Smith is precisely the type of pitcher the D-backs are known for developing — a ground ball inducer with a good sinker and solid control.

 

Smith was originally assigned to Rookie-level Missoula to get his first taste of professional baseball and he had mixed results. He was superb at inducing ground balls, with a 2.6/1 GO/AO ratio and just one home run allowed in seven starts and two relief appearances spanning 25.2 innings, while also striking out 21. However, his typically-good control had some slip-ups, as he also walked 16 batters, leading to a 4.21 ERA and 3.91 FIP.

 

Nonetheless, the organization demonstrated its confidence in Smith and sent him to Single-A South Bend near the end of the season to gain some experience at Low-A while helping the Silver Hawks in their playoff push. Smith’s overall numbers looked much better for South Bend, as he maintained a 2.76 ERA in three starts (16 1/3 innings), and while his control was much better, as he walked just six, his other rates turned for the worse. He allowed two homers, had just a 1.47/1 GO/AO ratio, and only struck out 10, culminating in a 4.55 FIP.

 

So, to start 2010, the organization kept Smith at South Bend to try to improve his peripherals. Smith has done that and a lot more. His GO/AO ratio has rebounded to a marvelous 2.50/1, he has given up just two home runs, and he has a 39:15 K:BB ratio in 51.2 innings. All of this had added up to a superb 2.79 ERA and 3.03 FIP for Smith at South Bend.

 

This includes a stretch of 22 innings that began in the fifth inning of his first start, through his next three starts, and two innings into his fifth start where Smith did not allow a single earned run. During this stretch, Smith struck out 17 batters, had a 2.21/1 GO/AO ratio, and did not walk a single batter. He carried an FIP of 1.65 and a WHIP of 0.55, and his season ERA had dropped to 0.69.

 

One thing worth noting, though, is that the organization is carefully monitoring Smith’s innings, as is typical with young pitchers. Nonetheless, with Smith’s college resume and polished sinker, it’s not too hard to imagine that Smith could be a meteorically-fast riser through the Arizona system.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12218373&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=8f001a&fullscreen=1

Live Bloggin’ the D-Train’s D-backs D-ebut

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Photography: Jordan Megenhardt

Haven’t done one of these live blogs in a while, so here goes… live bloggin’ Dontrelle Willis’ first start with the D-backs.

 

— Dontrelle’s pitching music – “Paper Planes” by M.I.A., which you may remember from 2008 Best Picture Slumdog Millionaire. So he’s already scoring some points here on D-blog. Good tune.

 

— First batter, Carlos Gonzalez, flies out to left to start the ballgame.

 

— After a walk to Ryan Spillborghs, first baseman Jason Giambi grounds into a 3-6-1 double play. Willis gets through the first inning scoreless and relatively unscathed.

 

— Stephen Drew gets the D-backs going with a single up the middle, polishing off an excellent nine-pitch at bat.

 

— With a 2-2 count on Adam LaRoche, Drew steals second and takes third on a throwing error by Rockies’ catcher Chris Iannetta. LaRoche goes down swinging on the next pitch though, so it’s still scoreless here after one.

 

— Willis goes upstairs to strike out Brad Hawpe swiging, one down here in the second.

 

— It looked like Willis had Troy Tulowitzki – who singled to lead off the inning – picked off at first, but a good jump and high throw over to first gets Tulowitzki into second safely with a steal.

 

— A little bit of trouble in the second, with two on and one out after a walk to third baseman Melvin Mora, but Iannetta flies out to right and second baseman Clint Barmes lines out to Chris Young, so we’re still scoreless in the middle of the second.

 

— Little bit of trouble again in the third, but no biggie, as Tulowitzki grounds out to Drew with runners on first and second to end the threat.

 

— Didn’t take Willis long to remember what it was like in the National League. In his first at bat, he takes a fastball to right field for a single, and then advances to second on a Kelly Johnson groundball that Giambi fielded and threw into left.

 

— Dontrelle gets dirty and gets a great reception by the D-backs bench as he charges around third base and slides hands-first into home to score on a Drew single to left putting the D-backs ahead 1-0 here in the third.

 

— Another couple reach base, and another couple are stranded on a groundout to Drew. We’re still 1-0 D-backs into the middle of the fourth.

 

— Young gets things going with a lead-off single to left field here in the fourth. Young steals second with Conor Jackson up, and CJ walks. It’s runners on first and second with nobody out for Chris Snyder.

 

— On a 2-0 count, Dontrelle puts a charge into one for a deep fly ball to center field, as Jackson moves to third. Some pitchers move runners along with seven-foot bunts, some with 395-foot fly balls.

 

— For the fourth consecutive inning, the Rockies put two guys on base. And for the fourth consecutive inning, they strand ’em both as Willis strikes out Giambi and Brad Hawpe (with a Tulowitzki flyout in the middle of the two Ks).

 

— Dontrelle gets the D-backs through six with a groundout to Reynolds ending the inning. At 106 pitches and with activity in the bullpen, that’s probably it for Dontrelle. The D-backs have to be happy with their first look at their new lefty, six shutout innings. The Rockies had their share of baserunners, so you’d like to see that cut down as the season goes on, but it kind of looked like a Livan Hernandez circa 2007 game, in and out of trouble all night. Still 1-0 D-backs.

 

— Another steal for Chris Young, his sixth of the year and second of the night.

 

— Ryan Roberts does it again. With runners on second and third — Young stole third after stealing second, Jackson moved to second on a wild pitch — last night’s hero lines a double down the left-field line to triple the D-backs’ lead, it’s 3-0 here at Chase.

 

— On the first pitch from Rockies reliever Randy Flores, Kelly Johnson hits a ball as far as you can possibly hit it in Chase Field without it leaving the ballpark, just to the right of the overhang in left-center field. It goes for a double, driving in Roberts to put the D-backs ahead 4-0. Upton was then intentionally walked, so Drew now bats with runners on first and second and two outs.

 

— Drew goes down swinging and with that, D-blog is going to hit the showers and enjoy watching the rest of this ballgame. Good night all, and go D-backs.

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Photography: Jon Willey

 


 

Draft Coverage — 2009 Recap

Marc Krauss – Second Round – No 64 overall

 

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Photography: Ken Weisenberger

By Dan Strittmatter

 

With their second pick of the second round of the 2009 Draft, the D-backs chose outfielder Marc Krauss from Ohio University.

 

There were some concerns about Krauss, a sub-par defender who made a career of hitting unknown pitching in the Mid-American Conference with aluminum bats. In other words, scouts saw that Krauss would need to make his way to the majors with his bat, and that he would have to adapt quickly to more advanced pitching and still maintain his power with wood. Essentially, it’s those types of questions that differentiate a first-round pick from a second-rounder.

 

But Krauss was also a polished college hitter who many thought could be a quick riser if his bat translated well to professional ball. And that indeed has proven to be the case with Krauss, whose power translated immediately to professional ball after being assigned to full-season South Bend right after signing.

 

There, Krauss compiled an .855 OPS in the pitcher-friendly Midwest League, where the average OPS for 2009 was .702. Krauss had a .304/.377/.478 line with 12 doubles, a triple, and two homers in 115 at-bats, with a solid 21:14 K:BB ratio, and was the best hitter for the Silver Hawks down the stretch and into their playoff run.

 

To begin 2010, Krauss was assigned to Single-A Advanced Visalia, in the hitter-friendly California League. Krauss started the season on fire, maintaining an OPS over 1.000 well into the season, but has slumped of late, with his OPS falling down to .815. Still, it’s a respectable overall number, considering the fact that Krauss is right about league-average in terms of age, where he was a month ago, and that the current average OPS is .749.

 

Because of the slump, Krauss has fallen behind teammates Paul Goldschmidt and Kyle Greene for the team’s OPS lead. However, Krauss’ 45:23 K:BB ratio is still solid, and he has 18 extra-base hits on the season amongst 54 hits overall, so he certainly is still producing for the Rawhide.

 

If he can regain his powerful stroke at the plate, he could continue his quick ascension through the system, possibly filling a hole in left field on the Major League club in a few years.

 

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