Mizzou Baseball in the Minors UPDATE

CLASS AAA

■ Brock Bond (06-07): Fresno Grizzlies (Pacific Coast League) San Francisco Giants organization

• joe t: Can we form a Brock Bond fan club? (McCoveyChronicles)

The guy gets on base a lot and works a ton of walks, and you would imagine that he has some speed. Granted, his power numbers are poor and he is more Duane Kiper than Dwight Evans (you see what I did there? Both names start with "D") but I have to believe there is some value in a guy that can get on base, work some walks, and in general be a pain for opposing teams to pitch to. As a leadoff hitter, you would imagine that he will be able to take enough pitches in the first ab so that the 2 and 3 hitters can see every pitch the opposing pitcher has. What sort of OBP does a guy like Bond have to post in MLB to be worth keeping in the lineup, given the lack of power? Will big league pitchers knock the bat out of his hands?

owlcroft: I doubt that his low PF is owing to an actual lack of muscularity. When a man has a PF that low, it is a virtually certain mark of a specific hitting style, what we might call the Duane Kuiper (or Joe Strain, or Billy North) style. The man doesn’t get XBH because he is not trying for them; he is slapping the ball after Wee Willie Keeler’s famous advice.

Two questions thus arise: one, how much would his hitting, or his walks, decline—if at all—did he try for more line drives? And two, if he simply stays with this style, how well can he bring it to the majors? I know what MLEs are, and in general I trust them, but I wonder sometimes if some approaches are less well translated than others, and this is one.

In any event, I’d say he deserves a real look of some sort, meaning a reasonable period of steady play. How he gets that, I am less sure.

■ Andrew Johnston (05): Colorado Springs SkySox (Pacific Coast League) Colorado Rockies organization

■ Doug Mathis (05): Oklahoma City RedHawks (Pacific Coast League) Texas Rangers organization.

Mathis was assigned down to Triple-A Oklahoma in mid-May after compiling a 7.36 ERA in 9 appearances with the Rangers

CLASS AA

■ Aaron Crow (06-08): Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Texas League) Kansas City Royals organization

• Fast track to Majors hits bump (TigerExtra.com)

After pitching 52/3 scoreless innings with six strikeouts against major league hitters for the Royals in spring training, Crow started the season with the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals in the Texas League.

The Wakarusa, Kan., native was at his best April 29, when he allowed two runs on six hits with six strikeouts in eight innings. But just more than a month later, the right-hander was tagged for five runs on five hits and two walks and didn’t get out of the first inning. Crow hasn’t pitched past the sixth inning in five starts since May 20. He gave up five earned runs on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in four innings in a loss Wednesday

■ Nathan Culp (04-06): San Antonio Missions (Texas League) San Diego Padres organization

Culp was promoted to Triple-A Portland on May 31st to pitch a single game for the pitching-starved Beavers, only to be sent back to Double-A San Antonio on June 4th.

■ Evan Frey (05-07): Mobile BayBears (Southern League) Arizona Diamondbacks organization

After slumping to a .218 BA in May, Frey has come back strong, hitting .333 in June, continuing to show he is still the bulldog, blue-collar type player he has always been.

■ Kyle Gibson (07-09): New Britain Rock Cats (Eastern League) Minnesota Twins organization

• Fast track to Majors hits bump (TigerExtra.com)

“It seemed like every time I threw a strike, they hit it,” said Gibson, whose ERA jumped from 0.84 after three Double-A games to 4.83 after seven. “Every time I threw a ball, they took it.”

CLASS A ADVANCED

■ Trevor Coleman (07-09): High Desert Mavericks (High-A California League) Seattle Mariners organization

■ Rick Zagone (06-08): Frederick Keys (High-A Carolina League) Baltimore Orioles organization

Zagone helped the Keys win a a first-half championship in their league

CLASS A

■ Tyler Clark (08-10): Connecticut Tigers (New York-Penn League) Detroit Tigers organization

■ Greg Folgia (07-09): Lake County Captains (Midwest League) Cleveland Indians organization

Folgia has hit two bases-loaded triples this season

■ Mike Liberto (09-10): AZL Royals (Arizona Rookie League) Kansas City Royals organization

■ Ryan Lollis (06-09): Augusta GreenJackets (South Atlantic League) San Francisco Giants organization

Augusta is apparently not a great hitter's ballpark, but Lollis has managed a good on-base percentage of .350 (bleacherreport.com)

■ Kyle Mach (06-09): Augusta GreenJackets (South Atlantic League) San Francisco Giants organization

Mach is getting a little more playing time than last year, but not much, which is reflected in his just-above-the-Mendoza-line batting average

■ Hunter Mense (04-06): Jupiter Hammerheads (Florida State League) Florida Marlins organization

Hunter is racking up the frequent flyer miles in 2010. Take a look at his record of games played - and teams played for - in 2010:

• April 8-21: Jupiter Hammerheads (Single-A)
• April 22-May 15: New Orleans Zephyrs (AAA)
• May 16-26: Jacksonville Suns (AA)
• May 27-31: New Orleans Zephyrs (AAA)
• June 1-4: Jacksonville Suns (AA)
• June 5-7: New Orleans Zephyrs (AAA)
• June 8: Jacksonville Suns (AA)
• June 9-24: Jupiter Hammerheads (A)

It looks, though, like he was the designated roster place-keeper during some of those stints, since he accumulated a total of 15 plate appearances with Jacksonville and 28 PA with New Orleans, over a combined total of 49 days on the rosters of those teams.

In his own words: I've been everywhere, man (The Life and Time of Aitch)

So that's what my first half has been filled with...traveling, late night phone calls, and packing and unpacking. I'm back in Jupiter now, and it looks as if I might be here for awhile, but when you are living the life of a non prospect in the minor leagues you learn to never assume anything!

■ Brett Nicholas (10): AZL Mariners (Arizona Rookie League); reportedly soon to be with the Spokane Indians (Northwest League) Seattle Mariners organization

■ Aaron Senne (07-10): Jamestown Jammers (New York-Penn League) Florida Marlins organization

INDEPENDENT LEAGUES

■ Andrew Shipman (03), Gary Southshore Railcats (Northern League)

■ Erik Dessau (04-05), Calgary Vipers (Golden League)


If you have further information about any of these players, or corrections to my info, please e-mail me at simmonsfield@hotmail.com