All Things Valley League

ATM on Josh Papelbon

As I mentioned in my recent Quinn Stewart post, Jonathan Mayo and Lisa Winston have been covering "extra" players in each system.

In the Red Sox system, they decided to cover another former Valley Leaguer, Josh Papelbon (Loudoun 04).  This is what the amazing duo have to say about Pap:

"The younger brother (his twin is a reliever in the Cubs organization) of the Pap closing in the big leagues has also been a closer in his year-plus pro career. Maybe this will be a "favor" pick done good. Josh was selected with the 1,443rd overall pick in the 48th round of the 2006 draft. Since then, he closed out a game in Fenway Park in the first annual Futures at Fenway doubleheader when he was reliever for Lowell, made the South Atlantic League All-Star team in his first full season in 2007 and has saved a total of 31 games. He's a submariner who won't be a closer as he moves up, but the fact that he's likely preparing for a move to Class A Advanced Lancaster means he's already exceeded expectations in many ways."

So he exceeded expectations- good. Can he continue to climb the ladder to Boston? Stay tuned.

Garcia Shuts Down Duke

Miami's Enrique Garcia (WInchester 05-06), a senior, threw a fantastic game against Duke yesterday, as he finished 8 innings while allowing 3 hits, 2 walks, and 1 earned run, while striking out 5. He buzzed through his 8 innings in only 108 pitches as Miami won handily, 8-1.  Miami is showing that they are Omaha-bound, as they are now 21-2.

Garcia has been a bit inconsistent so far this year, but it looks like he's warming up at the right time. He's compiled these numbers: 1-0, 5.24, with a 1.52 WHIP, 4.4 BB/9, 8.9 K/9, and .277 opponent's batting average.  While his walk rate is a bit high, his strikeout rate is good enough to get noticed.

The boxscore for the game is here, while an article writeup is here.   

Guevara Decision Deferred

As I have previously covered, former Valley Leaguer Carlos Guevara (Covington 02) was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the Rule 5 draft back in December. The Marlins then traded Carlos to the San Diego Padres. The Padres now must decide if they keep Guevara on their 25-man roster for the year or offer him back to the Reds for half of the original price.

The one way teams work around this rule is by using the disabled list. If a Rule 5 draftee gets injured, the team can stash him on the DL for a while, deferring the decision.  Lo and behold, this very thing has happened to Carlos, as he has a groin injury.

Baseball America's Matt Eddy has posted an article on all the Rule 5 picks; here is what he wrote about Guevara:

Carlos Guevara, rhp, 26, Padres
Transactions: Selected by Reds in seventh round of 2003 draft; signed June 7, 2003.
The Goods: Plus-plus screwball; 85-88 mph fastball and fringe-average curveball.
Spring Stats: 4 SO, 5 BB, 0 HR, 5 H in 5.2 IP.
Status: A groin injury has bought time for the Padres to make a decision on Guevara. On the one hand, the Padres’ bullpen picture is crowded, but on the other, they’ve had success with cast-off relievers in the past, such as Cameron last year. Guevara has posted gaudy strikeout rates in Double-A with his screwball and would give the San Diego bullpen a unique look, one that NL batters don’t often see.

We'll see what happens when he's healthy!

Checking in With the Top 10 Hitters

I sometimes wonder if a good summer season will lead to a good spring season. I don't think there's any way to tell, with the difference in bats, schedules, coaches.... weather.... too many differences, I suppose. Still, I thought I'd take a quick look at my top 10 hitters from 2007 and how they're doing so far (stats are through March 26).

1. Jason Kipnis (Covington), Arizona State: 329/453/768 in 82 at-bats, with 6 doubles, 3 triples, 8 home runs, 32 RBIs, 24 runs, 7 stolen bases, and a 20/16 BB/K ratio.  ASU is 22-1.

2. Luke Greinke (Winchester), Auburn: 257/349/514 in 35 at-bats, with 3 doubles, 2 home runs, and 3 stolen bases. He's also started 6 games on the mound- he's 2-2, 3.90 in 30 innings.

3. Ryan Sontag (Winchester), Arizona State: 346/457/615 in only 26 at-bats.

4. Robert Taylor (Harrisonburg), Arkansas-Little Rock: 329/370/521 in 73 at-bats, with 8 doubles and 2 home runs.

5. Kurt Davidson (Waynesboro), Akron: 239/353/394 in 71 at-bats, with 5 doubles, 2 home runs, and a 12/10 BB/K ratio.

6. Jose Cueto (Winchester), Virginia Tech: 326/362/477 in 86 at-bats, with 5 doubles and 2 home runs.

7. Nick Stanley (New Market), North Carolina State: 264/322/358 in 53 at-bats with 3 doubles and a triple.

8. Tyler Kuhn (Luray), West Virginia: 374/425/670 in 91 at-bats, with 8 doubles, 2 triples, 5 home runs, 28 RBIs, 31 runs, and an 11/11 BB/K ratio.

9. Jeremy Cruz (Luray), Stetson: 440/514/813 in 91 at-bats, with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 8 home runs, 27 RBIs, and 26 runs.

10. Corey O'Neill (Haymarket), Le Moyne: 325/396/550 in 80 at-bats, with 6 doubles, 4 home runs, and 21 RBIs.

Alonso Draft Report

Minorleaguebaseball.com has added several new writeups on draft eligible players lately, and one of them is former Luray Wrangler Yonder Alonso (06). After a bit of a slow start, Yonder is back to crushing the ball for the Miami Hurricanes, hitting 397/543/721 in 68 at-bats. He has 7 doubles, 5 home runs, and 24 RBIs.

His writeup and video says that Yonder has a good chance to be a excellent run producer in the major leagues: as a summary, the site says "Alonso is a hitter, period, with a great approach and power, especially the other way right now. Defensively, he's no great shakes, but it's that bat that teams will dream about putting in the middle of their lineup to produce plenty of runs in the future."

Sounds like a top ten draft pick to me!

Hokies Outlast Dukes

Yesterday afternoon, I braved the wind and headed out to JMU to watch the Dukes take on Virginia Tech. Tech has a whopping 11 players on the roster who have either played in the Valley or who are scheduled to. JMU has at least 6 of their own.

The Hokies outlasted the Dukes, 18-11, in a 3+ hour game (I couldn't stay the whole game, due to a prior commitment.  I was cold enough, though, that I probably would have left early without a reason.  Seems I'm turning more and more into my father the older I get...). 

Anyway, here is what the former and future VBLers did:

Jose Cueto (Winchester 05, 07) went 2-6, with a run (one of his hits was a sweet bunt down the third base line)

Matt Hacker (Staunton 06) went 3-6, with 2 runs, 3 RBIs, and a double.

Jake Peeling (Fauquier 08??) started for the Hokies, but had a hard time finding the plate. He lasted 1 1/3 innings, giving up 2 hits, 5 walks, 0 strikeouts, and 3 runs (2 earned).

Brett Sellers (Front Royal 07) continued his hot hitting, going 4-6, with 2 runs, 3 RBIs, and 2 home runs.

Steven Caseres (Staunton 07) went 1-3, with 2 runs, 3 walks, and a double

Matt Browning (Staunton 08??) went 1-5, with 2 runs and an RBI

David Herbek (Haymarket 08??) came in as a defensive replacement for Joe Lake, and went 1-3 with a run

Justin Wood (Harrisonburg 06, 08??) threw 2 1/3 innings, giving up 3 hits, 2 walks, 4 earned runs, and striking out 2.

To see the boxscore, click here.

Some pictures:

                 Jose Cueto batting

     Matt Hacker returning to the dugout

       Jake Peeling warming up

             David Herbek batting

Quinn Stewart

Jonathan Mayo and Lisa Winston run a blog called ATM: He Said, She Said.  (ATM stands for "Around the Minors.") 

They have been running a segment called "One More Thing," in which they pick sleepers from each system. (The perfect thing for the Valley League!)

In the Tampa Bay Rays feature, they cover Quinn Stewart (Staunton 04), who had himself quite a year last summer for Columbus in the South Atlantic League. Quinn hit 254/334/466 in 386 at-bats, with 18 doubles, 21 home runs, and 21 stolen bases. he struck out a few too many times, with 122, but Mayo and Winston are intrigued with his upside.

Central Florida Featured in BA

Baseball America posts Aaron Fitt's "Weekend Preview" each Thursday. This week, Fitt covered the excellent start of the Central Florida Knights: they are 19-1 (on Thursday, that is).

Four former Valley Leaguers are playing crucial roles for the Knights:

Tyson Auer (Luray 05-06): Hitting 310/444/493 in 71 at-bats, with 10 stolen bases

Eric Kallstrom (New Market 07): Hitting 306/348/468 in 62 at-bats

Josh Siebenaler (Covington 07): Hitting 295/348/372 in 78 at-bats, also with 10 stolen bases

Matt Goodyear (Staunton 07): 1-0, 1.29 in 7 innings (1 start)

This weekend, the Knights are playing a three-game series against Southern Miss.

Here they are, in order: Auer, Kallstrom, Siebenaler, and Goodyear:

Oklahoma City, Dennis Hammer Northwestern Oklahoma State

Thursday afternoon, the Oklahoma City Stars put a whupping on Northwestern Oklahoma State, scoring 10 runs in the first and never looking back, winning 33-10.  The Stars set an NAIA record with 81 total bases, and tied the record for most home runs in one game, with 14.  Fourteen!

David Moose Dennis (Harrisonburg 06-07) did his part in the onslaught, going 4-4, with 3 runs, 2 RBI, a double, and one of those 14 home runs.

The Stars ran their record to 31-3, while Northwestern Oklahoma fell to 3-21.

To see the boxscore, click here.

One Last Post on Cueto's Catch

As reader BWH has pointed out, YES has two clips from the New York Yankees vs. Virginia Tech game at this link. Click on March 18th "Cueto's Catch."

As a bonus, the other clip from the game features former New Market Rebel Brett Gardner (03-04) slapping a double into the right-center field gap.

Check it out!