Rex Hudler

A note on Honel....... He never hit 90 in his two starts last year for the Barons. A scout told me he saw him 4 times last year and rarely saw him hit 90. Honel told me earlier this year that he used to get up to 95 in HS. That and 75 cents will buy you a coke in some places, but I thought I would share.

Brando, let me chime in on this one........ I basically agree with you, but as Jason said, I don't think it is the Sox hyping their prospects as much as it is publications like BA. I spoke with a professional trainer not too long ago and he told me that it is common for players to see fairly large decreases in velocity after they start playing professionally, especially HS draftees. He said that those players are not used to the workload, both in the length of the season, but also often in higher pitch counts and in the conditioning programs. Most HS pitchers throw once a week. Colleges will sometimes push pitchers harder, especially when it comes to tournament time, but their workload is still nowhere near what it is in the professional ranks. He said that some players work harder than others. Many assume they will alsways be able to do what they have always done and rely on talent. Some go through the motions when throwing on the side between starts. Others use that time wisely. Some do their lifting and running with a purpose. Others give it a cursory effort because they are required to. Lastly, some of these guys just aren't that smart. All they know how to do is throw. When you start making mechanical changes to make them into a "pitcher", they never find a way to adapt. All of these factors can affect a pitcher's velocity. That said, I'll comment on the players you mentioned that I have seen.... I'll note that I have seen both scouts radar guns and stadium radar guns. When there are variances, I have adjusted to find a truer number. Garland - I don't recall him ever being touted as that hard of a thrower. If I recall correctly, he was a 91-92 guy who could get it up to 94 on occasion. Barcelo - threw 93-94 but could get it up to 96-97. He seemed to throw that hard effortlessly too. Injuries really cost him. Stumm - Injuries have also cost him. I have been told that he was easily mid-90's when he was healthy, but 92 or 93 was as high as I saw him get to last year, in the few appearances he made at Birmingham. Wright - Danny was legitimately in the mid-90's in Birmingham. I saw him get it up to 97-98 on occasion. I believe his big drop in velocity came when he abandoned a 4-seam fastball and adopted a 2-seamer to try to gain more movement and command. Ginter - He was never 93-95 in Birmingham. 91-92, topping at 93 perhaps. He was a heavy sinker, hard slider type pitcher. I was just never sold that Ginter had the competitiveness between the ears necessary to make it big. Valentine - Joe topped out at 96 and was consistently at 92-94. He also had a nasty slider to go with. Command was his problem. He got himself into too many jams (though he got out of most of them). I don't recall him being touted as throwing up to 99. Kane- Kyle finally started throwing well the last year he was in Birmingham, which happens to be his last healthy season. He was throwing 92-94. Again, multiple injuries don't help. Allen - I haven't seen him do much more than 91-92 so far, but I have only seen him pitch 2-3 times. I did see him hit 95-96 on the TV radar gun when pitching in the College WS. Diaz - "Baby Pedro" was a bit far-fetched. Diaz does have good stuff and if I recall correctly he was 91-93, hitting 94 here and there. I never felt the urge to call his stuff "electric". I think somehow the Pedro comparisons came about because of his size and him being from the Dominican. Kip Wells- Kip got it up to 94 or maybe 95, but was consistently in the 92-93 range. Scott Dunn - I only saw him a few times and I remember him bringing it pretty well, but I don't recall radar readings. I saw Prior once on Opening Day and he was 92-94. Juan Cruz was legit 93-97 and had the electric stuff. He just never could harness it. Zambrano was one of those heavy fastball guys. He dominated the Southern League and was there for only 9 starts. He was a starter and was dominating, so the Cubs promote him to AAA and make a reliever. I never could figure that out. He pitched a day game in Birmingham and no one hit the ball hard. He broke several bats and seemed to get a weak pop up or ground ball every at bat. In fact, that was his last game in AA. He walkeda few guys, and gave up a few hits, but no one stung the ball off of him. He was in the 93-94 range if I recall. I do know he wasn't burning up the gun with high 90's stuff. The hardest thrower I have seen was Brewers prospect Nick Neugebauer. He was hitting 99 on the stadium gun in Birmingham, which was typically 1-2 mph slower than the scouts guns. I never saw the scouts guns, but he hit it several times over a couple appearances. He is another guy that injuries have just killed.

Hey Cheat, if you are listening, give us Charlotte's lineup tonight. I have a feeling it may look a little strange........

I did...... i went to see BJ Upton Monday night.....

Tennessee doesn't come to Birmingham until June 30, so if he is still there, I will try and catch him then. Like the Majors, the Southern League has an unbalanced schedule and June 30 - July 3 is the only time they come to town all year.

I was disappointed when I heard that yesterday... even made a post about it on another board.. I did see him Monday when I made a trip down to Montgomery. Unfortunately, he had a death in the family the one time Montgomery was in Birmingham and he missed the series. So one game is all I got.

Cheat you trying to work my kind of sarcasm? lol On a side note, I am not sure, but I think Munoz set a Southern League record for most consecutive wins by a pitcher with tonight's win. I take that back........ he tied the record with 12 straight wins.... Arnie Munoz Ties SL Record

Question for Mr. Bajenaru: Is it true that you pitched last season without using a breaking ball, trying to help your elbow recover? I don't recall seeing the slider you are throwing this year much if at all last year. Did you just throw fastball/changeup last year? What have you added this season? Best of luck on continuing a great season..... Rex, Birmingham, AL

I think you think too much....... lol Who cares what one guy on TV says in one comment? Don't take things so personally, man. Life is too short to be wound so tight.

Badge-in-air-oh or Badge-uh-nair-oh.......

More people than you have suggested it....... I was merely pointing out that there is nowhere to put him or he would already be there.

Ask anyone who plays or has played there........ The Hoover Met is NOT a hitter's park. The ball does not carry and it is 340 down the lines and 385 in the gaps. Hard hit balls die in the expanse of the OF there. The Barons team ERA is almost always a full run lower at home versus on the road.

PM me if you want help.... no need to do it on the forum.... I'll try to help if I can.....

so noted lol

In my mind, at this point, I see him as a setup guy. Developing into a closer is possible, but my guess is he could be a very good 7th or 8th inning guy.

Jim, sometimes I prefer a much more subtle form of sarcasm. The kind you have to figure out if I am serious or not. I think those that know me, knew something was up. Or at least they better have after this comment: Sooner or later hitters in the Southern League are going to expose him and jack that ERA up to at least 2.00, if not 2.50! I try and toss one comment in to make it obvious to those who know my style.

He did it last year too Brando..... Here are his numbers from last year minus one single outing where he got shelled.... ERA 2.15 IP 62.2 H 46 BB 24 K 60 Before everyone starts crowing about not being able to subtract a bad performance, you need to know the circumstances behind this one. He gave up 8 earned runs in one inning last year on July 19. Under normal circumstances, he would have been lifted long before 8 runs scored because he clearly didn't have it that night. But the bullpen had been worn down and overworked and because the game was out of hand, Baj was left out there to "take one for the team". It obviously was not his best night, but you have to take this into account if you want to assess the true value of his 2003 season. It was clearly even more dominant than his numbers indicate.

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He sucks....... he is getting by on pure luck. He has no clue how to pitch and his fastball is puss. It's all smoke and mirrors with Baj and no talent. Sooner or later hitters in the Southern League are going to expose him and jack that ERA up to at least 2.00, if not 2.50!

Who in AAA are you going to release or send down to AA? Not Majewski, not Darensbourg, not Santiago..... not Sanders..... Baj is fine in AA. He can go to the Show just as easily from AA as he can AAA. Sometimes that extra A is vastly overrated.

Adding Diaz and sending down Burke will take them back to carrying 12 pitchers. Not many teams carry 12 beyond April. I wouldn't be surprised to see Adkins sent down. Gotta figure it is Adkins or Burke.

man, aboz, where did that come from? Cottsy is doing just fine in his current role, so why do you have a problem with it? Wunsch blows..... AAA is where he belongs.

25 years on the job huh? Hell, I am going on 8 years and I am ready to get out!

Does this thread have to get revived ever good start MB has??? Enough already

Did you go on a bender and miss a night or something? ;-) Better get your cheat sheets straight...... lol