JPN366

Oh yeah, the recap from the Charlotte game says Bourgeois left the game with a leg injury. Awesome...

QUOTE (scenario @ May 11, 2008 -> 01:22 PM) So if he does well today, is that because you're wrong about him, or because he got lucky? (Just yankin' your chain... McCulloch hater.) Expect the worst, hope for the best. He pitched like a 1st rounder today. Keep in mind that this is the only organization in all of MLB that has a rookie put up big numbers, then sends him down to AAA the following year. I have a hard time having any faith in the 1st rounders that Kenny Williams picks.

McCulloch's gonna get lit up again. I say 4 runs in the first inning. I'll let you guys know if I see any improvement. West Tenn can hit, thankfully Clayton Richard settled down yesterday after a rough first inning and the offense picked him up.

When he hits homeruns, he hits them. I've never seen such majestic bombs in my life. Utter perfection. He hit one last week that I swear traveled 475 in the air, then landed in a parking lot and probably rolled another 100 feet. His homers are like laser blasts. Last night it must have been 450.

QUOTE (scenario @ May 8, 2008 -> 09:30 PM) Interesting... The Knights trade their SS for a 2B... When they have Getz at 2B now, and Richar is coming back. It will be interesting to see how the middle infield spots shake out in the next few weeks. Gookie Dawkins played 3rd base today, he can play SS and 2nd too. I wouldn't be surprised to see Getz playing SS a lot throughout the rest of the season.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ May 8, 2008 -> 11:50 AM) I was wrong. That was Gookie Dawkins. Charlotte signed him. I still don't know Mike Rouse's status...update...Mike Rouse has been released. Okay, correction...Rouse was traded for Dawkins straight up. Ray King was also signed and sent to Charlotte.

I was wrong. That was Gookie Dawkins. Charlotte signed him. I still don't know Mike Rouse's status...update...Mike Rouse has been released.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ May 7, 2008 -> 10:27 PM) Pretty sure Winkelsas is on the DL The Wink Man is with B'ham now...probably will be on the DL here too.

I think this is a more accurate roster for Charlotte. I have a subscription to MiLB.com TV and I've been watching as many Charlotte games as I can. This represents what I've seen, not what's official. I saw a guy who looked like Danny Richar coaching first base wearing number 4. Matt Anderson was wearing 4, but is now wearing 14, which was Mike Rouse's number. I don't know if he's still on the team or changed his number. If he plays tomorrow, I'll update the roster. He played last night and was wearing 14. With Fields on the DL, that opens a spot, possibly for Richar. I could yammer on and on, but we'll see... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Kni...#Current_roster

QUOTE (Palehosefan @ May 6, 2008 -> 12:07 PM) We should have a parade for that fact alone. No s**t! Try watching him in person for the past three years.

QUOTE (scenario @ May 4, 2008 -> 05:32 PM) Birmingham lost to Mobile 8-4. Omogrosso got beat up in 3 innings of 'work'. The only positive I saw was that Joe Persichina got two hits. He was promoted from Kanny to fill a short term spot due to injury, but he's done pretty well during his stay (hitting .353)... might be making it hard to send him back. Yeah, he'll get demoted whilst Valido continues to suck. Joe Persichina is everything you want in a ballplayer. I've watched him play five games and there is nothing I don't like about him.

Well, he did go to Stanford, so he has smarts. I'm sure he has a degree to fall back on, if baseball or coaching falls through. It would be a huge shame if his career is over though, he always brought his lunchpail to work with him.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 2, 2008 -> 11:13 AM) It would be nice if, as a shortstop, he at least either hit well or played good D. He's on his third trip to B-Ham and he's hitting .138, which is pretty pathetic, even for a short timeframe. His previous stints he hit .208 (06) and .177 (07). And if his once-vaunted defense is slipping, what value does he have? He still hasn't played a whole season in B'ham. He was demoted after a DL trip at midseason in 2006, and demoted at midseason last year. He either hits 1st or last in the order, mostly last. Like I said, he works counts well, just doesn't end up with a hit. Plus the official errors and all the mental mistakes in the field make it frustrating to watch him. Last night was especially ugly.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 2, 2008 -> 11:36 AM) I'll be keeping an eye on the Charlotte papers to see if they make some sort of announcement in the upcoming days. My guess would be Ryan Smith is activated from the DL and Lucy is placed on the DL.

Sounds like he will be out the rest of the season. He'll need to wear a brace on his knee the rest of his career. And, being a catcher, his rehab could take longer. Donny's a great guy and a hard worker. He always busted his butt when he was in B'ham. He's tough as hell. I saw him take a ball off the cup while catching. He stayed in the game, and played a day game the next day. He'll tough out any pain to play baseball. But, he'll need to miss and extended period of time. Probably need surgery.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 2, 2008 -> 07:55 AM) Valido is pretty bad. Lots of errors, and he's hitting .136. I think he may not be long for the organization. True, but he's only 22, so the organization may not give up on him yet. Although, he was available in the Rule 5 draft and nobody took him and the White Sox didn't protect him. The sad thing is that he does work counts very well.

QUOTE (scenario @ May 1, 2008 -> 03:10 PM) Explain more JPN! You've seen him... what is his pitch repertoire? Are you only seeing one or two pitches thrown consistently? Most every pitch is between 85 to 89 mph. Every once in a while, there is a pitch around 75. I'm seeing a lot of fastballs, with a split or sinker thrown in that isn't very affective. He wasn't helped tonight by Valido's cringe worthy throwing arm. The box score says 2 errors, but there were a few more that were called hits or fielder's choices. McCulloch isn't fooling many batters. I can't comment on location because I sit on the first base side, only high and low. A lot right down the pipe though.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 1, 2008 -> 11:31 AM) Charlotte @ Buffalo, 6:05pm CDT, Ohka (0-4, 4.60) tries for his first win for the Knights Mobile @ Birmingham, 7:05pm CDT, McCulloch (1-3, 5.19) tries to live up to his potential for the Barons Wilmington @ Winston-Salem, 6:00pm CDT, Ace Poreda (0-2, 2.95) is hoping for some damn run support and his first victory of the season for W-S Kanny @ Lakewood, 5:35pm CDT, Rice (0-2, 3.86) makes a trio of Sox minor leaguers going for their first wins Not bloody likely for McCulloch. One can't throw the same pitch over and over and expect to get guys out, he isn't Brandon Webb.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 30, 2008 -> 06:35 PM) Mobile beating B-Ham 2-0 in the 2nd. Gartrell with an error (already has 4 in LF in 3 weeks of play) resulting in an unearned run. Potomac beating W-S 1-0 through 6, Ely doing well, but no offense for the Hogs Lakewood beating Kanny 5-0 in the 5th, Jones lasted less than 3 innings. In Gartrell's defense, the error tonight was very subjective. He was trying to throw a runner out at home, the ball went over the catcher's head. The runner scored and the hitter advanced to second. Yes, it was an error, but not a bad mistake. He's got a cannon for an arm.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Apr 29, 2008 -> 06:00 PM) I saw Nanita when he played Rookie ball at Great Falls, MT. I was impressed with his handling of the bat. He went the other way when needed and didn't try and cream everything. I didn't think he was that bad with the glove either, but I think it's hard to judge fielding considering the shape some of these minor league parks are in. Regions Park is in pristine shape all year long. It also hosts the SEC tournament in May.

QUOTE (forrestg @ Apr 29, 2008 -> 03:29 AM) Ricardo Nanita of birmingham BArons has some impressie numbers against left handers.. We have dye and Swisher in the outfield that can hit lefties but this Nanita has some terrific numbers so far against southpaws.. How good is he.. Can he field? Would those numbers translate to triple A or the majors. We still don't have a good left hand hitting team.. Fields "07 numbers were good against lefties.. Owens is also good against soutpaws. Splits: (Current team only) Barons Entire Season AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS OBP SLG OPS vs Left .435 23 8 10 3 0 2 7 2 3 2 1 .462 .826 1.288 vs Right .271 59 3 16 2 0 0 6 2 7 2 2 .290 .305 .595 How close is he? If he can be platooned against lefties that would be great . That would fulfill a need............ W e are horrible against lefties.. Any thoughts? Nanita is a solid hitter. He makes a lot of contact. Every at bat he fouls off 4-5 pitches. His nickname is "Mr. Souvenir." The Southern League is a tough league, so his numbers could be just as good at AAA or in the majors. I think he was hindered last year by Richie Hebner being his batting coach. His philosophy made the Barons the worst hitting team in 2007. Wes Clements is the new hitting coach, and although the averages aren't great, the Barons are hitting smarter and competing. Regions Park is the hardest place in the minors to hit for power. 340 down the lines and 405 to center, and no wind blowing out ever, just swirling. He's also a decent outfielder, can play all three spots and apparently 1st base in a pinch. He does have a very strange batting stance though. He holds his bat over his head and doesn't stand very still.

QUOTE (scenario @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 08:51 PM) Birmingham won 4-0. The pitching was good obviously, particularly Brian Omogrosso who threw 6 innings of shutout ball to lower his ERA to 1.59 Persichina is the ballz! 6 AB's, 2 hits, 1 double, 2 games played, 1 RBI. The double was a thing of beauty. They were playing him to pull and he smoked it down the 3rd base line deep into the left field corner. Plus a great over the shoulder diving catch at third on Saturday. They already have one of his broken bats in the gift shop. I shall buy on Wednesday! I call dibs Jason!

QUOTE (scenario @ Apr 27, 2008 -> 11:25 AM) Good info. Thanks. I wish there was better communication through the Sox organization about the status/health of minor league players. Sometimes finding out what's going on with guys is pretty difficult. Ed Collari is always very helpful, and I can get the info on the Birmingham players.

...has a pulled hamstring according to Ed Collari, the media relations guy/announcer for the Warthogs. That's why he hasn't played since the 16th.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 25, 2008 -> 08:27 PM) What's gotten into Wes Whisler? Dude is 4-0 with a 0.83 ERA so far in Charlotte. Before the season, I was thinking it was time to put him back in the outfield. Seems he may have turned a corner. And yeah, Wassermann has been stellar down there. 8 appearances, no runs, no hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts. McCulloch sucks. 5 earned runs tonight and a ton of hits. Whisler is pitching great. He's doing better in AAA than he did in AA. Just goes to show you how tough the Southern League is.