Which Players Are Going to Make the Leap in 07...

Post #1 » by **Basketball Jesus** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 12:50 pm

from lesser-known prospect a to premier blue-chipper?

bigboy1234 · Post #2 » by **bigboy1234** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 5:15 pm

Lorenzo Cain.

Post #3 » by **Basketball Jesus** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 5:33 pm

Werd. Him, Jeffress, and Inman...

bigboy1234 · Post #4 » by **bigboy1234** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 5:47 pm

Ok, seriously all players who aren't in BA's top 100, that will be in it next year:

Deolis Guerra
Angel Villalona
Kyle Drabek
Cedric Hunter
Lars Anderson
Hank Conger
Chris Marrero
Jeremy Jeffress
Bryan Anderson
Brett Anderson
Tony Butler

It's kind of cheating because all of these guys are young as hell and just destined to be at the top of the prospect charts just because of there raw talent. I'm sure only a couple of these guys will be "elite" prospects next year and my money would be on the first 3 listed.

On the Will Inman note, he had the stats to be a top 50 prospect this year, but supposedly he doesn't have the "stuff" to be front line starter, so I don't really know what to think about him, but again so far in Hi A he is dominating like usual so we'll see.

Post #5 » by **studcrackers** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 5:55 pm

id say fabio castillo for the rangers if he pitches enough

taylor teagarden was looking like it then he goes and lands back on the dl b/c of an arm or elbow injury to the arm he had tommy john surgery on.

Post #6 » by **Chach** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:02 pm

Ryan Braun's going to blow up. OH WAIT

.338/.423/.765 7HR in 68 ABs, more walks than strikeouts, and only one error in 20 games thus far. The kid is double uranium!

Michael Bowden of the Lancaster JetHawks (Red Sox Cal League affiliate) is pitching very well in the best hitter's park in a hitter's league.
4 games, 21 IP 1.71 ERA 19/6 and a .234 batting average against. Not the GREATEST numbers but he's doing this in possibly the worst envrionment for a young pitcher in all of baseball so this is a pretty impressive. mahalo
~Chach~

Post #7 » by **Basketball Jesus** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 12:41 pm

Aside from Tony Butler, the Mariners got a couple of guys that could end up being more household* names in '08: Carlos Truinfel and Chris Tillman.

Truinfel

Post #8 » by **Bleeding Green** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 7:22 am

Of guys not named: Jeremy Hellickson, Brent Fisher, Chad Huffman, Gorkys Hernandez, Adrian Cardenas.

Post #9 » by **Chach** » Sat May 12, 2007 12:48 am

Clay Buchholz
6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER (home run) 11K/1BB (7 in a row)

YTD 34 IP, 22 H, 7ER, 46K/4BB

Best pitching prospect in the minors. mahalo
~Chach~

cmaff051 · Post #10 » by **cmaff051** » Sat May 12, 2007 2:10 am

Chach wrote:Clay Buchholz
6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER (home run) 11K/1BB (7 in a row)

YTD 34 IP, 22 H, 7ER, 46K/4BB

Best pitching prospect in the minors. mahalo
~Chach~

After 34 innings?

I'm sure that declaration has nothing to do with you being a Red Sox fan.

BS007 · Post #11 » by **BS007** » Sat May 12, 2007 2:20 am

If all goes well Bucholz will never see the bigs this year

bigboy1234 · Post #12 » by **bigboy1234** » Sat May 12, 2007 8:36 am

Chach wrote:Clay Buchholz
6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER (home run) 11K/1BB (7 in a row)

YTD 34 IP, 22 H, 7ER, 46K/4BB

Best pitching prospect in the minors. mahalo
~Chach~

wooooo, you sure about that there? I would stay take Kershaw, Gallardo, and Bailey over him. Buchholz is a 22 year old in AA which isn't bad but when Gallardo and Bailey(disappointing so far though) are 21 in AAA and Kershaw is 19 in A ball that is better better. Also the Miller boys are still damn good.

The Rondo Show · Post #13 » by **The Rondo Show** » Sat May 12, 2007 11:09 am

bigboy1234 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

wooooo, you sure about that there? I would stay take Kershaw, Gallardo, and Bailey over him. Buchholz is a 22 year old in AA which isn't bad but when Gallardo and Bailey(disappointing so far though) are 21 in AAA and Kershaw is 19 in A ball that is better better. Also the Miller boys are still damn good.

I wouldn't call Clay the best pitching prospect in the minors yet (I think he is up there, though), but Buchholz was an outfielder almost his entire life and has not been pitching long so that makes his age and development room a little bit better than your typical 22 year old in Double-A.

I'd take Buchholz over Kershaw personally since Buchholz has some of the best command in the minors and Kershaw well...does not. At this point, I'd take Gallardo and Bailey over him but that could change if Buchholz keeps up anything close to this for the rest of the year and when he is promoted to Pawtucket. I'd take him over Andrew Miller (not a fan of his, always thought he was overrated and that Lincecum was the much better pick) and call Adam Miller a toss up. I'm a bit biased, though.

Post #14 » by **Chach** » Sat May 12, 2007 3:22 pm

Nope, statement still stands. Lincecum is the majors now otherwise he's be the top dog but my homerism takes Buchholz over those three. Several reasons:
1)He has command of four pitches and all can be plus pitches at times. His curve is his best pitch, plus plus and I would call his and Bailey's curves the best two in the minors. That change is disgusting as well.
2)He has limited pitching experience. Most of these guys have been full time pitchers for years, Buchholz has been for three years and that last year in JUCO he split time pitching and playing OF. So the fact that he has this great stuff with limited development makes me smile.
3)Partly due to #2, he has very limited wear and tear on his arm. Gallardo has been lights out but he JUST turned 21 this year, threw 155 innings as a 20 year old and has already thrown 42 innings this year. Pedro has made me extremely cautious when it comes to limiting young pitchers innings. They need to pass that injury nexus and if I were to pick one guy out of the top crop coming through to have injury issues, Gallardo is the one I'd pick because of that workload.
And Kershaw is in low A and while he is a bit young for the league, it's not uncommon for teams to start their top prep players in low A their first full year. If he pitches this well in the Cal League this year, then we will talk.

Gallardo is probably the better prospect (but that workload scares me) and a case could be made for Bailey but I am standing by my hyperbole and heading the bandwagon crew. mahalo
~Chach~

bigboy1234 · Post #15 » by **bigboy1234** » Sat May 12, 2007 5:33 pm

kobeSTOPkobeDONT wrote:I'd take Buchholz over Kershaw personally since Buchholz has some of the best command in the minors and Kershaw well...does not.

Woo, thats a false statement.

Kershaw had one bad control game and that was the first game of this year when it was freezing outside and he never played in conditions like that. Other than that one game he has had great control his whole life and its never been a problem for him. I wouldn't say his control is as good as Buchholz's yet, but it's very close, don't forget last year during Kershaw's debut he only walked 5 in 37 IP compared to Buchholz walking 4 in 34 IP this year.

Chach wrote:Gallardo is probably the better prospect (but that workload scares me) and a case could be made for Bailey but I am standing by my hyperbole and heading the bandwagon crew.

Post #16 » by **studcrackers** » Sat May 12, 2007 5:46 pm

what are peoples thoughts on eric hurley so far? he's been tearing up AA since he got there and will probably get called up to AAA soon.

The Rondo Show · Post #17 » by **The Rondo Show** » Sat May 12, 2007 5:48 pm

bigboy1234 wrote:Woo, thats a false statement.

Kershaw had one bad control game and that was the first game of this year when it was freezing outside and he never played in conditions like that. Other than that one game he has had great control his whole life and its never been a probably for him. I wouldn't say his control is as good as Buchholz's yet, but it's very close, don't forget last year during Kershaw's debut he only walked 5 in 37 IP compared to Buchholz walking 4 in 34 IP this year.

You're right, I mixed up Elbert and Kershaw. Kershaw has excellent control, Elbert's is atrocious.

That definitely makes it a much tougher choice for me between Buchholz and Kershaw.

bigboy1234 · Post #18 » by **bigboy1234** » Sat May 12, 2007 5:51 pm

studcrackers wrote:what are peoples thoughts on eric hurley so far? he's been tearing up AA since he got there and will probably get called up to AAA soon.

He really hasn't been "tearing" it up. He does have a WHIP of .98 but he also only has a K/9 of 6.33. Thats K rate is not gonna get him called up. Another worry with him this year has been giving up too many flyballs. I would expect him too stay in AA all season although I could be wrong. He is only 21 in AA, so theres really no need to rush him up.

Post #19 » by **studcrackers** » Mon May 14, 2007 1:49 pm

i have to comment on taylor teagarden again, he's absolutely raping HighA despite missing the majority of last year w/Tommy John surgery. he wasnt even known for being that great a hitter but his major league ready defense.

right now his elbow's bothering so he's still just dh'ing but he's hitting .391/.576/.761

Post #20 » by **lpsevier** » Mon May 14, 2007 2:41 pm

Does anyone have any thoughts on Matt Harrison?