Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Mizzou Baseball in the Majors & Minors: Tiger Blood





♦ Who Is Nick Tepesch? A Scouting Report (Lone Star Ball)
Tepesch has a four pitch mix of fastball, cutter, curveball and changeup, and while he's not an overpowering pitcher, he's got a shot at having a solid major league career because he can throw his pitches for strikes and battle hitters even when he's not got his best stuff. He's not the type of high ceiling guy who gets prospectphiles' pulses racing, but he's a solid under-the-radar prospect who is likely going to get five or six starts at the major league level to show that he belongs...
♦ Daily Notes: Including Mostly Useful Nick Tepesch Coverage (FanGraphs)

Texas right-hander Nick Tepesch, 24, makes his major-league debut. For those curious about this sort of thing, here’s where Tepesch ranked on Marc Hulet’s preseason top-15 prospect list for the Rangers. And where he ranked among John Sickels’ top-20 prospect list for the Rangers. And among Baseball America’s top-10 list for the Rangers. Notably, Tepesch is recognized by Baseball America as having both the best control and slider in the Texas system — video of the latter of which can be found below...
♦ Royals score three runs in eighth for 3-1 victory over Twins (Kansas City Star)
Aaron Crow drew the ninth inning because the Royals used both Kelvin Herrera and Greg Holland in those two games against the Phillies. Crow worked around a one-out walk in closing out Santana’s victory.

“It was awesome,” Crow said, “and especially since it was opening day. I grew up watching the Royals, and I always dreamed of being out there on that mound. I was fortunate enough to go out and get the job done today.”...
♦ Garcia's Grand Slam And Gosselin's Double Lead Their Teams To Victory In Monday's Atlanta Braves Minor League Action (Talking Chop)
The big blast in this game was Eric Garcia's 7th inning grand slam, and the second baseman has gone 3-6 with a walk in the last 2 games...
♦ Ian Kinsler's start is encouraging (ESPN)
Well, he's off to a good start this season. Kinsler says Magadan, in his first season with the Rangers, deserves much of the credit. Ron Washington says Kinsler deserves it.

That's because Kinsler arrived in spring training ready to embrace change. In Arizona, he worked hard on flattening his swing so he could stay on top of the ball instead of popping the ball up.

Kinsler's swing has a natural uppercut to it, so he must work harder than most to flatten it out. But he has used Magadan's suggestions and merged them with his own to make changes.
"Magadan's been really patient with me," Kinsler said. "He does a good job of explaining things I should do, but he also does a good job of listening to me. That's how it should be. It's an exchange of ideas."

So far, so good...
♦ From Our Backyard To The Big Leagues (Inside Columbia) features interviews with several MLB players with mid-Missouri connections, including Kinsler, Crow and Scherzer, plus Phil Bradley, David Freese, Tome Henke and more
April 1 marks Opening Day 2013 for Major League Baseball, and Columbia is ready to greet the boys of summer. Meet 16 past and present MLB players (and one notable broadcaster) with CoMo connections.
...
You’ve [Ian Kinsler] been described as fearless. Is that a trait you’ve developed, or is it written into your DNA?

I’m pretty sure it’s in my DNA. Something I’ve always liked to do in the games is take that extra base or do something someone else wouldn’t necessarily do. I’m not the fastest guy, but I believe my instincts are really good, and I trust my instincts, and I try to take advantage of as many things as I can...
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