MnSoxFan

Nice article on Arnie's good game Munoz flirts with no-hitter Wednesday, April 28, 2004 DAVID BRANDT For The Birmingham News JACKSON, Tenn. - Birmingham Barons left-hander Arnie Munoz took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx before catcher Geovany Soto snuck a single past third baseman Rob Sasser's glove to spoil a spot in the record books. As it was, the Barons (10-8) easily handed the Diamond Jaxx an 11-4 Southern League loss in the first game of a four-game series Tuesday night at Pringles Park. After Munoz's stellar outing, count Birmingham manager Razor Shines as one of the left-hander's fans. "Phenomenal," Shines said. "That's the best performance I've seen this year by anybody." After hitting a batter to start the eighth inning, Shines thought about taking Munoz out of the game. "He was getting tired. That's the latest he's ever been in a game," Shines said. "But I owed it to a kid like that who busts it for me every day. "Everybody dreams of being able to do something like that and he had a chance." Birmingham gave Munoz five runs to work with in the top of the first inning against the Diamond Jaxx. In only the fourth start of his career after nearly 200 relief appearances, Munoz looked sharp before tiring in the eighth inning. His velocity fell a bit in the eighth and he started missing the strike zone with regularity, and then Soto's single made sure history wasn't made. "It's hard to explain the feeling when you go out there with a no-hitter late," Munoz said. "I was trying to be a little too fine with my pitches. "I just left the ball over the plate a little bit and he (Soto) got it." After taking the early lead, the Barons kept pouring it on. Six Barons pounded out two hits, and the Birmingham offense finished with 14 hits. The Barons chased Jaxx starter Renyel Pinto (1-2) early with six earned runs in three innings. "You have to tip your hat to a performance like that," Jaxx manager Bobby Dickerson said. "He's one of the better pitchers in the league and he was locating his fastball well tonight." With the win, the Barons end a two-game losing skid, and second baseman Ruddy Yan extended his hitting streak to 12 games. The Barons send right-hander Tetsu Yofu to the hill to face West Tenn's Chadd Blasko in an 11:05 a.m. start time today.

I was not suggesting Bullard be the one sent down, Keller has not shown much and seems like there are another one or two, but Espinal is already 28 and seems to be dominating High A.

Anderson walked twice too, gotta like to see that.

Pacheco is starting to throw well too now it seems, glad to see that. Espinal is 28, he needs to be promoted to AA. Bullard really been struggling.

Here is todays Kanny box. Tisch did ok, nothing spectacular. Wasserman still throwing nicely. http://146.145.120.3/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=...px?GameID=12076

Hard to say Jim, but better than his others for sure. Need to see a box score Here is an article on yesterdays Barons game, some interesting tidbits. http://www.al.com/barons/birminghamnews/in...57468294812.xml

Heck yes, get out of bed at a decent time and keep up

Kanny loses 3-1, Tisch now 0-3. Only 7 hits for the Intimidators.

Disagree big time. Our hitting starts hurting the minute he goes on DL. More to it than anyone knows, 2000 was last year he was in 2-hole and lineup seemed to be more confident cause of it. Now this year, after we pulled him as SS and 2nd hitter in lineup for last 2 years, we start out with nice hitting and confidence and why?, he is back in that spot. Believe it or not. Plus we are better with Uribe as 2B and backup SS.

People overanalyzing, take a 'lude and relax. Sweeney etal are going to be fine. If anyone is up a level too high it is Anderson, since he needs to get his wrist healthy. I like pushing the kids, we need to.

Nicholson promoted from W-S to Charlotte.

Barons lose 3-2 tho only allowed 4 hits, had 2-1 lead and gave up 2 in bottom of 6th or 7th I think. No details known.

Not sure why everyone says Borchard has it all, he is not fast, he does not have a real good arm, both categories are ok. He just has a slow bat and nothing is going to cure that. He may be a decent OF in majors someday, but doubt he is ever a starter, he cannot hit RH. THe list goes on and on, we just had our dreams I guess. I was not enthused after seeing him last ST (in Tucson 2003).

Charlotte wins 8-6, grand slam for Nelson, homers also for Burke and Valenzuela, 3 hits for Reed. Can we close the book on Borchard yet?? Diaz 5 innings 5 earned runs, 2 nice innings for Wylie, save for Santiago, looks like Majewski let his closer chances fly out the window. http://milb.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnfor...px?GAMEID=14809

I agree, Young learned last year to be more patient at the plate, when he figures it out he will arrive fast with the raw talent he has. Agree with OBP, that is what I look for almost more than anything, that and BB vs K ratio. Borchard has gotten worse each year, at first he was walking a decent amount, but he has regressed, thus my opinion of him has regressed. Speaking of BB/K ratio, last I checked Anderson was 12 Ks in 22 ABs, ouch!!! I know his wrist may still be bothering him, and he seemed to be ok in ST, but man, maybe he needs to change spots with Brice. Nanita is not hitting, but he is getting on base, he was 0-2 with 3 walks yesterday, I can live with that.

Kane is still in extended ST, yes, when we drafted him, he was supposed to have best raw stuff of Weaver, Biddle, Parque and the rest of that draft, he had been an infielder all through HS and in JC until he happened to pick up pitching his last year of JC I thought. Kind of like Ryan Wing.

Interesting that Keefner was one the touted in here, and he was released Chicago White Sox by Phil Rogers Green Outfield CHICAGO--It's not unusual for an organization to allow one or two prospects to skip a level. But the White Sox assembled a complete outfield at the high Class A level made up of 2003 draftees. Brian Anderson, last year's first rounder out of Arizona, will play center field at Winston-Salem. He'll be flanked by Ricardo Nanita, a 14th-round pick from Florida International, and 19-year-old Ryan Sweeney, a second-round pick out of high school in Iowa. All three are bypassing low Class A Kannapolis, where they were originally ticketed. All are considered top hitting prospects and looked the part in spring training, with Sweeney and Anderson responding well to a chance to face big league competition. Sweeney's sweet lefthanded stroke looked so good in camp that there was talk of assigning him to Double-A. He also played well in right field, showcasing a strong arm and solid instincts. There's little concern in the organization about whether he'll be able to handle the accelerated assignment. "There was some talk about Kannapolis, but you can't penalize a guy for being 19 years old," farm director David Wilder said. "This guy is special. He's going to Winston-Salem, and he might not be there too long. I've been in baseball a long time, and I've never seen a kid like this." Neither Anderson nor Sweeney was officially in major league spring training, but they managed to play 29 games in fill-in roles between the two of them. Anderson was as good as advertised and Sweeney opened eyes by hitting .367. "I'd just as soon see him come up against a righthanded pitcher as anybody we have," hitting coach Greg Walker said. "He's a physically talented guy, a mechanically sound guy and he has ice water in his veins." A two-way star in high school, Sweeney had been projected as a possible first-rounder but fell based on his showing at predraft showcases. He signed for $785,000 and posted .327-2-9 numbers in 101 at-bats between Rookie-level stops in Bristol and Great Falls. "I don't think I've surprised myself," Sweeney said. "I worked hard in the offseason. I wanted to come here ready." Mission accomplished. CHI-LITES • Jeremy Reed, a career .356 hitter, wasn't himself in big league camp. He hit .214 in 17 games before being assigned to Triple-A Charlotte, where he'll play alongside Joe Borchard, who begins his third season there. Borchard, a switch-hitting outfielder, showed improvement in camp but was limited by a strained calf. • Several prospects showed signs of recovery from various injuries this spring. First baseman Eric Keefner, who missed last season with a broken foot, had a nice spring, as did righthanders Mitch Wylie and Kyle Kane.

Pitching, pitching and more pitching. That will win you a division just about any year.

The one guy I hated to lose last year, here is what BA has about him, in a report on Rangers prospects. Ready For Takeoff: Under Fuson, who as vice-president of baseball operations oversees both the Rangers' scouting and minor league departments, the organization prizes pitchers with a feel for the strike zone and a knack for pitching. Josh Rupe, acquired from the White Sox in the Carl Everett trade last summer, shows both and has the stuff (including a good sinker and one of the organization's best sliders) to be a middle-of-the-rotation starter.

I would unload him if we could get anything worthwhile for his, yes.

Just getting worried??? He is toast, he will never be even an average big leaguer, swing is way too long and not quick either.

I know many of you like to rip on Jose, but he is back hitting in 2-hole where he was exceptional in 2000, and he is quietly having a nice hitting season so far. I can live with his Ks and I can live with his errors, since he makes so many plays that no other SS we have or had in a long time could make. He will settle down with the glove.

He has real good control, puts the ball where he wants. I want to say he throws max of 92-93, but he is a 6-7 dude, so he may add some speed as he fills out. Must have a nice breaking pitch or change to get so many Ks tho.

I am with Jas, I am real high on Young, still think he is the CF of future over the others.

I want to say I thought I heard some number like 40% of leadoff walks score, seems high, and I am not positive, just seems like I heard that.