Minor Musings for 5-4-09

May 4, 2009 BY Alex Eisenberg 3 Comments

Every now and then, I want to give readers a few of my thoughts on the various goings-on in minor league baseball. This will be called “Minor Musings”. Here are four for you:

A guy to put on Helium Watch: D.J. Mitchell, a pitching prospect in the New York Yankees organization.

Mitchell was a 10th round pick in the 2008 draft…I have yet to see him pitch as there is zero footage of him out there, which is why I declined to rank him as part of my Yankees top prospect list, but from a numbers standpoint, he offers a lot to like thus far. He’s posted a ridiculous 34:4 K:BB ratio, which is good for a K% of 29.3 and a BB% of 3.4. Not only that, his GB% is 60. In addition, his stuff grades out well with a low 90′s sinker and a developing curveball and change-up. Very intriguing prospect to say the least.

I took some flak rating Desmond Jennings the second best Rays prospect after he missed most of the 2008 season with various injuries, but the transition to Double-A has been seamless. He hasn’t been walking at his normal rate, and he’s hitting for better power than expected and he’s making a lot of hard contact. He’ll eventually come back to earth, but he’s establishing himself as one of the best prospects in the game.

There is a trend developing with Brewers farmhand Caleb Gindl…

2007 – 207 ABs, .439 BABIP
2008 – 508 ABs, .407 BABIP
2009 – 78 ABs, .464 BABIP

Yeah, he still strikes out too much and yeah, he’s still a tweener with a bat more suitable for center field, but with a body better suited to a corner spot. But Gindl makes hard contact and definitely shows an ability to rake. If he continues to rake, and drops the K-rate a little, he should become a useful player at the big league level.

Lastly, I noticed the Cleveland Indians promoted Luis Valbuena to the big league club along with Matt LaPorta on May 2nd. Keep an eye on the 23 y/o second baseman. He’s always possessed good OBP skills and solid contact ability, but he’s been incorporating some power in his game the last couple years. He’s potentially an above average second baseman in this league.

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Topics about Baseball | Minor Musings for 5/4/09 said:

[...] Alex Eisenberg added an interesting post on Minor Musings for 5/4/09Here’s a small excerptEvery now and then, I want to give readers a few of my thoughts on the various goings-on in minor league baseball. This will be called Minor Musings. Here are four for you… [...]

# 4 May 2009 at 6:16 AM

battlekow said:

Gindl also seems to be a very good defender, which, combined with his excellent throwing arm, should help him stick in a corner, though he actually played a bit of center last year.

# 6 May 2009 at 6:23 PM

Alex Eisenberg (author) said:

Good stuff, battlekow…I know you’re well versed on the Brewers system…I’m not sure if you’ve seen him play, but the numbers from minor league splits definitely back up your claim. They also indicated — though in a small sample — that he was an average level center fielder, so maybe he’ll be able to play it down the line, which would certainly increase his value.

I also found a major reason for his BABIP rates…he rarely pops out. The only player that I remember who had a similar IFFB% was Brandon Snyder (5%), and he’s another guy with very high BABIP rates. It doesn’t hurt that both players possess good line drive percentages as well. We’ll see if it translates.

# 8 May 2009 at 1:36 AM