Arizona Fall League

[cmdterps44]

Alberto Gonzalez just keeps hitting. What a steal he was. He's got to make the team as a back-up SS.

Here are his numbers so far in the VWL: 10/29 (.345 BA/.412 OBP/.345 SLG), 3 RBIs, 9 Runs, 4 BBs, 1 K.


I think that trade has reinvigorated his career much like the Anderson Hernandez trade. 

Id say definitely. Playing in the minors knowing Jeter has your spot in the leagues is kinda a let down.

[sportsfan882]

Flores played Catcher again yesterday for the Magallanes and went 1/4 with a Double, Walk, and 2 Runs.

[blue911]

Flores played Catcher again yesterday for the Magallanes and went 1/4 with a Double, Walk, and 2 Runs.

I hope he doesn't play more than a game or two a week.

[sportsfan882]

VanAllen with another crap start. 3 IP 8 H 5 R 3 ER 0 BB 5 K.

Detwiler came in to pitch the 4th and did what he did all last season, got 2 outs and then gave up.

Here's the rundown of his 4th inning:
-Walk
-Pop Out (Out #1)
-Stolen Base
-Strike Out (Out #2)
-2-Run HR (2 Runs score)
-Single
-Stolen Base
-Single (1 Run scores)
-Single (1 Run scores)
-Detwiler removed from game: 0.2 IP 4 H 4 R 4 ER 1 BB 1 K.

For the love of god I cannot understand why he completely folds the tent after getting 2 outs like Tim Redding. This is bad, bad, bad. We need pitchers that complete innings and get 3 outs, not 2.

[sportsfan882]

damn, The Sags lose 16-15 to Scottsdale mainly because of Nats pitchers.

Carr took the loss after giving up 3 runs in the 8th inning. Nats pitchers combined to give up 12 runs in 4.2 innings.

The hitters meanwhile had a pretty good game.

Leonard Davis went 1/4 with a HR, RBI, 3 Runs and a Walk.

Bill Rhinehart who is just sizzling hot went 3/4 with a Triple, 2 Singles, 3 RBIs, 2 Runs, and a Walk. Bill's BA is up to .299.

[PANatsFan]

Licey wins 8-1 over the Estrellas.

EB played RF and went 3/4 with a Double and 2 Singles. EB has been playing CF/RF over the last several weeks for the Tigres with Erick Aybar playing SS and Anderson Hernandez playing 2B.

Hernandez went 0/4 with a Run scored.

Cool that Hernandez and EB are playing on the same team.

EB does NOT hit enough to play the outfield. He is making himself into Willie Harris.

[Skinz72]

With Rhinehart's performance, and the news that Broadway and Jimenez are both free agents, maybe its possible that he'll be able to work his way up the system sooner. I'm looking forward to in spring training to see how all of our prospects perform.

I thought the same thing.  However, two new notions have popped up... Dimitri Young ageeing to his AAA assignment and the possibility of aquiring a 1B free agent this offseason.  Regardless, I think there's no doubt that Rhinehart is the Nats #1 performing 1B prospect...Marrero's injury and performance has put any meteoric rise to the bigs on ice. 

That being said, I bet Rhinehart sits on his Harrisburg spot for now & Young will play at Syracuse along with a new AAA free agent pickup (along the lines of Jimenez & Broadway - i.e. journeyman) for split duty when Young gets injured/goes down.  Rhinehart has not demonstrated he should be promoted to AAA yet (he hit a cold streak), but he will be given heavy consideration during spring training for near future assignments.

[Nat of the Living Dead]

Not in the Arizona league, but thought some might like to hear this anyways:

rotoworld.com

Justin Maxwell homered twice and drove in five runs Friday in his Puerto Rican Winter League debut.
Maxwell hadn't played at all since going down at the end of May with a broken wrist. He likely would have logged some time in Washington's outfield had he remained healthy. However, the injury would seem to guarantee that he won't be in the Nationals' plans for the beginning of 2009.

[hammondsnats]

yeah i read that about j-max, but he's probably going on the PR winter DL in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

[sportsfan882]

Not in the Arizona league, but thought some might like to hear this anyways:

rotoworld.com

Nice. JMax is on the Criollos de Caguas team. They've only played 2 games and are 1-1 thus far.

Some familiar players on the same team as JMax: Pudge, Garrett Guzman, Alex Rios, Nelson Figueroa, Luis Matos, and Saul Rivera.

[Skinz72]

What level of pitching does one see at the PRWL?  A? AA? AAA?

[sportsfan882]

EB and AH just keep hitting for the Licey Tigres. 

Bonifacio: 27/78 (.346 AVG/.469 OBP/.474 SLG), 4 Doubles, 3 Triples, 0 HR, 6 RBIs, 17 BBs, 11 Ks, 4 SBs, 1 CS.

Hernandez: 36/89 (.404 AVG/.432 OBP/.629 SLG), 9 Doubles, 4 Triples, 1 HR, 15 RBIs, 5 BBs, 11 Ks, 4 SBs, 2 CS.

[PatsNats28]

What level of pitching does one see at the PRWL?  A? AA? AAA?

It ranges, there are a lot of different players, even MLB players.

[sportsfan882]

Sags win 13-11 over Phoenix. Zinicola picked up the win as he pitched a scoreless 8th inning while recording 1 strikeout.

Ian Desmond went 1/5 with a HR and 3 RBIs.
Licey lost 5-4 to Escogido.

Anderson Hernandez went 2/5 with 2 singles. Batting Average: .404.

[tomterp]

Anderson Hernandez went 2/5 with 2 singles. Batting Average: .404.

If he keeps up those 2/5 days, he's going to drag down his average.

[tomterp]

Comment from Joe Sheehan, BP, from his observations in Arizona:

... Ross Detwiler just doesn't have enough stuff to be a mid-rotation starter; he's fringy at best. ...

[houston-nat]

If he keeps up those 2/5 days, he's going to drag down his average.

[sportsfan882]

Comment from Joe Sheehan, BP, from his observations in Arizona:

He must have saw the outing where Ross gave up like 4 runs in one inning. Other than that he has done a fine job this Fall.

I think that's a wrong observation anyways. I don't doubt Ross's stuff but I do doubt his command and his inability to get 3 outs.

[Nat of the Living Dead]

Lots of double digit scores. Are we sure these guys aren't playing football or basketball?

[tomterp]

He must have saw the outing where Ross gave up like 4 runs in one inning. Other than that he has done a fine job this Fall.

Exporam is reporting on the MLB board that Detwiler got lit up again.   


However, he also said that Justin Maxwell (remember him?) made his debut and had 2 HR, 5 RBI.   

[JMUalumni]

He must have saw the outing where Ross gave up like 4 runs in one inning. Other than that he has done a fine job this Fall.

I think that's a wrong observation anyways. I don't doubt Ross's stuff but I do doubt his command and his inability to get 3 outs.

I could see where the concern with Detwiler's stuff comes from.  He has his fastball which is his crutch and goto pitch.  The fastball is very nice with some sink on it, but it is his secondary pitches that have held him back.  He needs to be able to control his curve and breaker to be considered a legitimate starting pitcher prospect in the MLB, otherwise he may eventually become a bullpen guy.  Changing his mechanics certainly would not have sped up the process of learning/perfecting pitches, but he did show some promise towards the end of the season with his curve.

Detwiler may get rocked for the rest of the minor league season, as he has only been pitching one or two innings in the AFL.  During the minor league season, he had problems with batters in their second and third at-bats; essentially this is the same thing that is happening in the AFL:  he is facing batters for the second or third time in the AFL.  Detwiler has certainly progressed some, but he has a long way to go.

[Eddie the Expos fan]

Justin Maxwell LF Washington Nationals in 2009!

[sportsfan882]

The First place Saguaros lose to Phoenix 6-5.

Leonard Davis went 0/3 with a Walk and Run.

Ian Desmond went 1/4 with a Single, RBI, and Walk.

Bill Rhinehart went 0/4 with 2 Ks.

The Bravos de Margarita won 9-8 over Lara.

Alberto Gonzalez went 3/5 with 3 Singles, RBI, and 2 Runs. AlGo is batting .341 (15/44) thus far in the VWL.

Las Caguas won 9-7 over Mayaguez in the Puerto Rican Winter League.

Justin Maxwell hit in the DH Spot and went 1/1 with a Single, 3 Walks, and 3 Runs.

[hammondsnats]

Flores went 2-for-3 with a homer yesterday and has a hit in every single game thus far (i believe 6 games).  JESUS!!!

[hammondsnats]

Justin Maxwell LF Washington Nationals in 2009!

No way.  As the biggest Terps fan in the world and a J-Max fan, we can't continue to rely on the likes of him, NJ, etc.