A Drumright Update 6-20-2010

Our single A affiliate at Drumright has fared slightly better than the affiliates at the upper levels to this point. The Tornados are hovering just 2 games under the .500 mark and just 6 games back in the division.

Much like the affiliates at the upper levels, this is a team loaded with speed. The Tornadoes are second in the league in stolen bags with 97 to this point in the season.

There is not a whole lot to get excited about with the Drumright rotation. Most of them are unlikely to ever be prospects, and as an organization we need at least one more draft concentrated on pitching to shore up the pitching depth in our organization.

Last year's third round draft pick, Juan Valdés, 19 , has recently returned to the rotation after missing 11 months with a torn back muscle. We are waiting to see how well he has recovered, but our scouts are somewhat pessimistic about his control at this point.

Timothy Wright is a 20 year old who was recently called up to Drumright and has made just 3 starts. But he opened some eyes with a complete game 2 hit shutout in his first outing, and pitched 8 innings in each of his next two outings, allowing just 3 and 2 runs respectively. He's not a hard thrower; he relies on his offspeed stuff to keep hitters off balance. Our scouts are not terribly high on him, but he has two years under his belt at the short season level and we hope that we can baby him along for the next 4 or 5 seasons and maybe turn him into a back of the rotation type starter.

Loren Hartley was signed in the offseason as filler, but has shown enough of late that he'll continue to get a look. He spent two years in the Guadalajara Chivas Rayadas system, but never pitched an inning in professional ball. We figured it might take some time for him to get back in the swing of things, and his first 6 outings went about as expected, 2-4 6.46. He has posted a 2-1 2.64 in his last 6 starts however, and included in that was a complete game 5 hit shutout. He's already 23, and our scouts are not very high on him, so he'll need to take huge strides forward rather quickly.

The next most interesting starter at Drumright is Bo Hancock. He missed all of last season due to outrageous salary demands. Desperate for starting pitching in the offseason, we gave into his demands and signed him to a $400k contract in the hope that he might turn into something. He is just 20 years old, and has a 90 mph fastball, good size, a good work ethic, and good intelligence. After several early season poundings, he has improved of late and won his last three starts. It might be awhile before we know what we may or may not have in Hancock, but as of yet our scouts are not terribly impressed.

Sergio Sousa, António Téllez, and Brad Myers have all bounced out in and out of the rotation depending on who is nursing what ailment on what day. None are particularly impressive, unless you consider Sousa's uncanny ability to stay on the roster. Each time we prepare to release him someone goes down with an injury, forcing us to keep him around.

The bullpen may have a little more promising talent. We tried to rush Ángel Sánchez to AA after barely 24 innings in the low minors, with disastrous results. We brought the 22 year old southpaw back to A ball, and he has been lights out. He's 3-0 0.00, with 15 k's in 12.1 innings. He's a left handed reliever with 6 pitches and he bumps 90 on the gun. We feel he could someday be one of the more effective left handed specialists in the game if he harnesses the control. We're hopeful he can get in 35-40 innings this season at A ball, and maybe make the jump to AA more successfully next season.

Bob Page is a 20 year old righthander we acquired in the recent deal that sent Scott Moss to Manchester. Page is just 2 years removed from high school, so we have to be patient with him. He can spot 94 on the gun now and then, and after two seasons at ss-A Wasilla while with Manchester, he appears to be making the jump to A ball with moderate success. We are pleased with his improved k per ip ratio this season, as he has struck out 14 in 13.1 innings. We still think he has a long ways to go with his control, so he'll likely spend at least two seasons closing for Drumright before moving along to AA.

Bill Hill is another 20 year old righthander who is making positive strides at A ball after two seasons of short season ball. Hill is 1-0 1.99, with 25 k's and 8 bb in 22.2 innings so far this season. The tall righthander barely nips 90 on the gun, but has 4 pitches and a deceptive motion that keeps hitters off balance. He has good endurance for a reliever and we could see him being a workhorse middle reliever down the line. Or a feature character in a Dr.Suess children's book.

José Aguirre is a 19 yr old southpaw who we have been nursing along in our system since he was 16. He throws in the high 80's, and has a six pitch arsenal. He has a well above average sinker that induces a lot of ground balls. Despite a tough record so far this season, 1-3 6.48 in 7 appearances, we still see some things to like about Aguirre. He has walked just 1 batter while striking out 6 in 8.1 innings so far this season, and despite his ugly record his whip is just 1.32. He's being called in the toughest situations, and as he gains experience we think he'll make huge strides.

The final member of the bullpen is 20 year old Rafael Salazar. We signed him as a minor league free agent in the offseason, and with no professional experience under his belt we really wanted to start him at short season Taku. But injuries left us with little choice to make him a sacrificial lamb at the A ball level. He's been beaten like a drum in his first five outings, and we're not convinced the youngster will survive the ordeal.

Injuries have played a huge part in the makeups of the pitching staffs at every level of our organization. In addition to some of the injuries mentioned previously, we lost Júlio Zapata for the season after just 3 starts at Drumright to begin his career. It's sort of a tough blow for Julio as he spent two years in the Zapopan Torrenas organization without getting a chance to pitch, and now he will have to wait another year before being able to show what he can do. He will be 23 years old next season with just 3 games of pro ball under his belt, so his clock will be ticking away quickly. We have a hard time seeing him pitching another game in the Calzones organization.

Checking out things on the offensive side of things....

Rubén Rivera was recently shopped by us, as we really wanted to give Gustavo Gálvez a chance and were having trouble finding a spot for Ruben. But recent injuries cleared the way for Rivera to stay AND for us to promote Galvez. And all Rivera has done in the last week is win a player of the week award and be selected to the single A all-star team. Rivera is batting .307 with a .401 obp for the season, with 16 doubles, 6 hr, and 37 rbi in 53 games. Rivera shows good agility in the field for a big man, and we are intrigued by the numbers he has put up in his two seasons at Drumright.

Galvez, meanwhile, is a former 15th round draft pick by Manchester who was released after fracturing his list in his first pro season in 2009. Our scouts liked the speed/power potential of this hulking first basemen, so we picked him to add some depth. He managed to return to the field at the very end of 2009 for 10 games, batting .313 for Taku in 32 at bats. We were planning to let him play a full season at Taku this year, but he was ripping the cover off the ball through the first two weeks, batting .429 with 3 doubles and 2 triples. He filled in at A ball earlier this season when Ibarra was injured for two weeks, batting .261, so we are convinced he can make the jump to A ball with little difficulty. Galvez won the player of the week award at short season ball for the week of June 14th.

Ralph Murray was called up from Taku to replace McGinnity after the young second basemen was promoted to AA. Murray is not much of a prospect, but he can play decent defense at both corner infield positions. Third base will be a position of need for us in the near future, as our offseason trades of Watts and Young have left the cupboard at the hot corner somewhat bare at the lower levels of the organization.

Versatile Rod Stewart is moving over to second base to replace McGinnity. Stewart had played mostly at third base to this point in the season. We love Stewarts speed and versatility, he can play anywhere on the infield. He's also a hard working player whose head is always in the game. Our only concern is whether he will ever hit enough to make it to the PEBA level, but he's only 20 so he has plenty of time. He has taken a big step forward this season, batting .296 with a .377 obp, and has swiped 21 bags. He will also replace McGinnity in the leadoff spot.

Rounding out the infield at Drumright at this time are Rubén Encarnación and Ricardo Ramirez. Ramirez is a big man who works hard and plays terrific defense anywhere on the infield. The problem is he probably couldn't hit his way out of a wet paper bag. Encarnacion is another versatile glove man, he also has some speed. Scouts doubt he will ever be much more than a singles hitter, but there is some outside possibility if the stars align right and he falls into a pit of fairy dust that he might make it to the PEBA level someday as a utility infielder.

The alignment of the Drumright infield should change again in a few weeks when 3B Randy Blake returns from injury. Blake is another good glove man, and as a former second round pick he'll get every opportunity to show he can handle the bat. (And a certain scouting director's job may hinge on that.....)

In the outfield, we are somewhat excited about the progress of CF José Dávila. A 6th round draft pick in 2009, Davila played well enough at Taku to get promoted to Drumright for the final month of the 2009 season. This season, Davila has continued to progress and is batting .265 with 4 hr and 33 rbi, and he has swiped 21 bags. We love his speed and his above average defense, but he still has some work to do on the plate discipline. Just 22 years old, so there is some likelihood that he will spend another season at Drumright.

Gustavo Correa is another 22 yr old drafted last season, in the 11th round, who has continued to make progress this season. Correa has shown a bit more plate discipline than Davila to this point, posting a .355 obp, but he doesn't have quite the speed that Davila possesses.

We have been less excited about Tyrone Miller, a San Antonio native and third round pick in 2009. He's batting just .234 and just 2 of his 34 hits have gone for extra bases. We're starting to pare down his playing time a bit and give some other guys a few more at bats until we see Miller begin to take a step forward.

The outfield is rounded out by 20 year old Jorge Rivas and 22 year old José González. Rivas was the 41st overall pick in the PEBA inaugural draft in 2007, but had a very bumpy ride in the Tempe system. We are slowly trying to resurrect his career. He still has very good speed, plays above average defense, and projects to hit for average power. What remains to be seen is if he can ever master the plate discipline needed to progress as a hitter. Gonzalez is another speed/defense type who might be a useful fifth outfielder someday. Drafted in the 13th round in 2009, he has received very limited playing time to this point in the season, and that is unlikely to change unless injuries strike.

We'll be back shortly with our final organizational update, the short season Taku Winds.