MLB Prospect Watch

Winter League Recap - 11/4

Arizona Fall League

• Ivan DeJesus, Jr. had five hits, but it wasn't enough offense for the Desert Dogs who fell to the Saguaros 11-4 on Thursday.  Chris Parmelee cranked out four hits in the win, three of which went for extra bases.  Alex Cobb recorded his fourth win of the AFL season, striking out six batters in four innings of work.
• Justin De Fratus pitched a scoreless inning of relief to pick up his first AFL save of the season and keep his fall ERA at 0.00.
• It was a rough outing for Danny Duffy as the Royals lefty surrendered six earned runs in just one inning of work and didn't get much better for Braves prospect Randall Delgado, who relieved Duffy and gave up two earned runs in as many innings.  The Scorpion offense was led by Charlie Culberson who had three more hits and is now batting .424 on the AFL season, reports Danny Wild of MLB.com.

Venezuelan Winter League

• Henderson Alvarez had his second rough start in a row after three solid outings to begin the VWL season.
• Alexander Torres made the most of his first VWL start, as the Rays prospect tossed five innings of shutout ball, striking out five and picking up the win.
• Wilson Ramos had a perfect day at the plate, recording two hits and drawing two walks in the Tigres 6-0 win.
• Dan Cortes recorded his fifth save, which ties him for the VWL lead, nailing down the Cardinales 3-1 victory.

Puerto Rican Winter League

• Kasey Kiker was inconsistent in his start, giving up just one run in 3 2/3 innings, but walking three and giving up three hits as well.

 

 

Rangers Pitching Prospect Placement

T.R. Sullivan offers up some interesting information on his MLB.com blog regarding where the Texas Rangers plan to start a number of their pitching prospects, and in what roles they will be pitching.  The information is coming courtesy of Rangers' farm director Scott Servais.

• It appears Neftali Feliz will remain with the big-league club in a set-up role after some speculation that he could be sent down to work on his secondary stuff, which he will need to one-day be a starter.  Feliz showed the Rangers that he still has his 100-mph fastball as he blew away Rockies' hitters yesterday in a relief outing.
• Kasey Kiker will return to a starting role after making a few relief appearances toward the end of last year, but that could be in either Double or Triple-A.
• The Double-A Frisco rotation will feature Martin Perez and Blake Beavan.
• Michael Main will be in the rotation in High-A Bakersfield.
• Neil Ramirez will be in the rotation at Low-A Hickory.
• Tanner Scheppers, who impressed in big-league camp this spring, will begin the 2009 season in a relief role in Double-A, but only to monitor his innings, according to the organization.  He could still start at some point during this season, but given his domination in short stints this spring, the Rangers may be considering him a late-season boost to their major league bullpen, much like Feliz was last season.

Best and Worst from 6/6

BEST

• Josh Reddick (BOS) - 2-4, 2B, HR, batting .274
• Rolando Gomez (LAD) - 3-4, 2B, HR, batting .286
• Derek Norris (WAS) - 2-4, 2B, HR, batting .317
• Kasey Kiker (TEX) - 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 5 K/3 BB, 2.79 ERA
• Tim Melville (KC) - 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 7 K/2 BB, 4.11 ERA

WORST

• Scott Elbert (LAD) - 4 2/3 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 4 K/6 BB, 5.74 ERA
• Andrew Brackman (NYY) - 1 IP, 4 H, 6 ER, 2 K/4 BB, 6.01 ERA

OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

• Eric Hosmer (KC) - 2-4, HR, batting .253
• Andrew Lambo (LAD) - 2-5, 2B, batting .277
• Austin Jackson (NYY) - 2-3, HR, batting .319
• Alex Liddi (SEA) - 2-5, HR, batting .356
• Buster Posey (SF) - 3-4, batting .320
• Jhoulys Chacin (COL) - 5 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4 K/3 BB, 3.43 ERA
• Jason Knapp (PHI) - 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 5 K/1 BB, 3.40 ERA