May 16th

[Jason]

Link

 

Durham at Rochester 2:35 PM

DUR: Archer (4-2, 3.97) ROC: Deduno (0-0, 0.87)

 

New Britain at Bowie 6:05 PM

NBR: May (2-1, 3.20)

Dunedin at Fort Myers 6;05 PM

FTM: Rogers, T (2-1, 2.05)

 

Burlington at Cedar Rapids 6:35 PM

CR: Melotakis (3-1, 3.10)

[Ncgo4]

Buxton has come back to the field. Probably no chance (not that there ever was) of a premature promotion. For May his BA is .271 v .392, strikeouts well ahead of walks and OBP down from .500 to .353.

 

Nothing unexpected here at all. He has already played almost as many games as he did all of last year (37 v 48) in colder/wetter conditions than he ever faced in Georgia, Florida or Tn. Batting .271 is not exactly a slump. Ask Hicks. This just brings him off the Superman pedestal (for a while?).

 

Will be very fun watching his reaction to a period of mere normalcy. I have no doubt that we'll see a bounce back. Only question is how high a bounce & how quickly?

[Ncgo4]

Sano, unlike Buxton has almost maintained his BA in May at .351. Bid change seems to be that he is being pitched around. His BB % has almost doubled, he's been hit twice and we know he was thrown at once in a well publicized incident.

 

We'll find out how he treats the new respect. Does he stay patient or does he get frustrated. This will go a long way to giving a clue as to his maturity. If he does it could be a big factor supporting an acceleration of his movement to Mpls.

[jokin]

Buxton has come back to the field. Probably no chance (not that there ever was) of a premature promotion. For May his BA is .271 v .392, strikeouts well ahead of walks and OBP down from .500 to .353.

 

Nothing unexpected here at all. He has already played almost as many games as he did all of last year (37 v 48) in colder/wetter conditions than he ever faced in Georgia, Florida or Tn. Batting .271 is not exactly a slump. Ask Hicks. This just brings him off the Superman pedestal (for a while?).

 

Will be very fun watching his reaction to a period of mere normalcy. I have no doubt that we'll see a bounce back. Only question is how high a bounce & how quickly?

 

I'm guessing he's only off the pedestal for a short while. The League has made adjustments, now it's his turn to make his own adjustments to their adjustments. Every report says that he's very mature beyond his years and totally focused on his long-term goals. People forget, his batting peers in the Midwest League top group are anywhere from 22-25 years of age, similar age for many of the top pitchers in the League.

 

On the matter of "premature promotions"....

 

Would you say that Manny Machado was moved too fast when he was promoted after just 38 games at Low A at the age of 19? He produced a decent, but hardly a stop-the-presses, blow-your-socks-off, batting slash there of .276/.376/.483/.756.

 

Or perhaps, he was prematurely promoted after finishing that same season in High A with a pretty pedestrian, if not downright awful, .245/.308/.384/.692?

 

They actually did promote Machado with those pretty ordinary numbers to AA last year, just before his 20th birthday. His results there? .266/.352/.438/.789 in 109 games. Anything in those numbers that screamed to skip AAA altogether, and put Machado in the Orioles starting lineup for 51 games smack in the middle of the Birds first pennant race in 20 years?

 

By all accounts, Buxton can play his premium position in CF as well as Machado can play 3B, or eventually, SS.

 

As for Sano, it appears the only thing holding him back from moving faster through the system is his defense.

[amjgt]

Sano with a couple HBP tonight.

 

WORK THAT OBP!

[Ncgo4]

Sano HBP twice tonight. This is becoming a concern. I've only seen him play in person once and do not recall if he really crowded the plate. Does anyone have a feel for this? Also, is there anything out there about the circumstance about what happened? I haven't found anything. Ths is the fourth HPB that I know of, plus the incident where they threw at his head.

[B Richard]

Sano HBP twice tonight. This is becoming a concern. I've only seen him play in person once and do not recall if he really crowded the plate. Does anyone have a feel for this? Also, is there anything out there about the circumstance about what happened? I haven't found anything. Ths is the fourth HPB that I know of, plus the incident where they threw at his head.

 

I saw that it was the same guy (Jesse Hernandez) who hit him both times. I didn't see the ABs, but it doesn't surprise me altogether. A lot of times pitchers try to keep great hitters off balance by throwing hard and inside early. Today Hernandez may have just missed a little too far inside. From his perspective, I'd rather keep Sano off balance and risk putting him on first than give up a long ball. It's surprising to be hit twice by the same guy, but for me it doesn't automatically trigger any suspicions. Just my two cents

[kab21]

May with a rough start again.

 

Tonkin back on track after a couple of rough outings at the beginning of the season. Last 10 gms, 10 IP, 11K, 4BB, 0.00ERA

 

Colabello with #11. Feel good story of the year.

[cmb0252]

Buxton game winning grand slam!

[jokin]

Buxton game winning grand slam!

 

Big-Time Buxton!

[jokin]

May with a rough start again.

 

Tonkin back on track after a couple of rough outings at the beginning of the season. Last 10 gms, 10 IP, 11K, 4BB, 0.00ERA

 

Colabello with #11. Feel good story of the year.

 

With nothing to lose, I have moved firmly over to the side of calling up Chris.

[jokin]

Sano with a couple HBP tonight.

 

WORK THAT OBP!

 

And a BB. Perfect night at the plate. Move him up.

[drjim]

With nothing to lose, I have moved firmly over to the side of calling up Chris.

 

Not sure there is really a place for him at the moment, but have to think he will be up if there is an injury or later in the year if they make a trade.

[drjim]

 

Video of the walk off slam by Buxton. Apparently it went 450 feet off a 98 mph pitch.

[jokin]

Not sure there is really a place for him at the moment, but have to think he will be up if there is an injury or later in the year if they make a trade.

 

I think it will be the trade, or trades, that eventually turns the roster over. Usual candidates, Doumit, Willingham, Morneau.

[drjim]

I think it will be the trade, or trades, that eventually turns the roster over. Usual candidates, Doumit, Willingham, Morneau.

 

I agree but not until July.