Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Frey & Scherzer: From AZ Fall League to AZ Diamondbacks

The Phoenix Desert Dogs have won the Arizona Fall League Championship for the 5th straight year.

Two of their top contributors were former MU Tigers Max Scherzer and Evan Frey.

Frey's stats for the season: .288 (36-for-125), 21 R, 6 2B, 3 3B, 0 HR, 11 RBI, 48 TB, 12 BB, 22 SO, 7 SB, 4 CS, .350 OBP, .384 SLG, .734 OPS

Scherzer's stats: 1-0, 3.38 ERA, 4 G, 4 GS, 24.0 IP, 16 H, 10 R, 9 ER, 3 HR, 5 BB, 24 SO, 0.88 WHIP

Baseball America has a write-up of the championship game, in which Evan Frey figured prominently.

MLB.com had a feature on Frey taking advantage of his jump to the AFL:
It's an important test for the 22-year-old, who grew up in the St. Louis area. At the lower levels, a player who has speed can still put up pretty good numbers simply by beating out what otherwise would be a routine ground ball. As the competition gets tougher, a hitter must show an ability to handle that challenge and show he can actually hit and not just outrun the ball. The Minor Leagues are littered with speedsters who didn't have the baseball skills to succeed at the higher levels.

Mark Hulet, a blogger at Fangraphs, analyzes the strengths and weaknesses and prospective future of both Max and Evan, including the following excerpts:
The Graduate: Max Scherzer: He allowed 48 hits in 56 innings of work. Scherzer posted rates of 3.38 BB/9 and 10.61 K/9, along with a 3.33 FIP. One warning sign with his season, though, is a high line-drive rate at 28.1%. Scherzer certainly has the stuff to have a dominating career, with a fastball that averages 94.2 mph, as well as a slider and change-up.

The '09 Sleeper: Evan Frey: At High-A ball, Frey hit .297/.395/.402 with an ISO of .105. A left-handed batter, Frey understands the value of getting on base to utilize his speed. He posted rates of 13.9 BB% and 20.1 K%. At the very least, he should be a valuable fourth outfielder at the Major League level.
You can read more about the Arizona Fall League and Frey and Scherzer's selection for it in our previous post.

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