Notes from the minors

by Stacey on Jul 9, 2009 10:58 AM EDT in Minor Leagues Comment 22 comments

Happy off day, everyone!

Last night Chris Tillman made his 16th start of the year for the Norfolk Tides and earned his 7th win. Tillman's line: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 0 BB, 6 K. He did it all on 94 pitches (61 strikes). One of the few criticisms of Tillman when discussing if he's ready to pitch in the majors has been his inability to pitch late in games, but in his past six starts he's averaging about 6.1 innings/game. Through his 16 starts Tillman has the following stats: 7.2 H/9, 0.4 HR/9, 2.3 BB/9, and 9.2 K/9. With the exception of the strikeouts, those stats are all better this year than they were last year at AA. Tillman has been selected to pitch in the Futures Game this Sunday and hopefully after the All-Star Break we'll get a chance to see him in action in Baltimore.
In other pitching news, Brandon Erbe is finally heading back to Bowie after an extended stay on the DL and four rehab starts in Aberdeen. Before going on the DL Erbe was pitching very well for the Baysox. In 20 innings he had K'd 19 and allowed just 2 ER. Erbe will start for Bowie either Saturday or Sunday.
Brian Matusz was named Minor League Pitcher of the Month for June by the Orioles. That doesn't even count his 8 inning, 11 K, 1 hit gem on Tuesday. Brian's line since joining the Bowie Baysox: 4 GS, 26.1 IP, 11 H, 1 ER, 6 BB, 32 K.
Brandon Snyder got called up to AAA on June 18th and hasn't been able to produce the way he did for Bowie. In the 19 games since his call up he has yet to hit a home run and has only taken 3 walks. His OBP is an .266 and his SLG is just .324. Not great news for the only hitting prospect in the upper levels of the minors. Hopefully he'll straighten himself out. It has only been 19 games, after all.

Tonight's Minor League Pitching:

Troy Patton goes for the Tides and tries to re-create the success he had at Bowie. In four starts since being called up to AAA he's had two bad starts and two good starts and hasn't been nearly as dominating as we saw in AA.
Ryohei Tanaka makes his second start for Bowie after beginning his AA career in the bullpen. In 9 appearances on the year Tanaka has yet to allow a run. He's walked 3 and struck out 13 in 17 IP.
Sean Gleason makes the start for Frederick, Chris Salberg goes for the Shorebirds, and Kenny Moreland will pitch for Aberdeen.

If you want to hear some baseball on the O's off day, MiLB.com has free audio feeds for almost every game.

All stats and news taken from MiLB.com, MASNSports.com, OriolesHangout.com, and Baseball-Reference.com

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Reasons why I want Tillman to stay in AAA until next year

1) Service time-pretty self explanatory, patience this year means one extra year on the back end when we competitive (in theory)
2) No risk of over-working. If he stays in AAA there will be no pressure to finish games and risk his long-term health. After all he is only 21.

I think that out-weighs any benefits from bringing him up this year for any length of time longer than a spot-start.

"I have seen the future and his name is Matt Wieters." Keith Law

by Reddrummer9187 on Jul 9, 2009 11:48 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

hill sucks

but we arent going to make the playoffs anyways. you might as well hang on to these guys for now and keep the future for, well, the future

by twistedlogic on Jul 9, 2009 11:50 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

+1

by fishoutawata on Jul 9, 2009 6:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

BA Posted their midseason top 25 today…

Players in the majors (Wieters, Price, etc) are not eligible, and they didn’t rank 2009 draftees either.

Tillman and Matusz placed #8/9 on the list, and they are the second and third highest ranked pitchers.

by dkdc on Jul 9, 2009 11:49 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

what pitcher was higher?

"I have seen the future and his name is Matt Wieters." Keith Law

by Reddrummer9187 on Jul 9, 2009 11:50 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Madison Bumgarner

by dkdc on Jul 9, 2009 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It is hard to disagree with that

The dude is dominating AA at age 19

"I have seen the future and his name is Matt Wieters." Keith Law

by Reddrummer9187 on Jul 9, 2009 11:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

for some reason

everytime i see his name I think of that movie “rookie of the the year” that was roewengartner or something tho.

Matt Wieters can get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop in under one lick.

by daveh873 on Jul 9, 2009 5:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Brandon Snyder

I thought he got promoted to AAA a little bit too soon. Even though it seems like hes been in the organization forever, hes only had like three seasons worth of ABs. I think a full season at AA would have been the better thing to do. The slow and steady Nolan Reimold approach I guess you could say. But with the hole at 1B next year, I guess I can see why they kinda accelerated his time table.

But as you said, its only been 19 games, and not every one can pull a Matt Wieters type of transition. Kinda distressed though.

by UMterp08 on Jul 9, 2009 11:50 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Wieters

His OPS in AA was 1.085 and .891 in AAA because of his slow start. He may need a full year in AAA next year as well.

"I have seen the future and his name is Matt Wieters." Keith Law

by Reddrummer9187 on Jul 9, 2009 11:53 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Don't forget Ronnie Welty of Delmarva

He was chosen as player of the month down at Delmarva.

Disturbingly, L.J. Hoes was placed on the temporary inactive list. No idea what that’s about.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/minors/blog/2009/07/todays_game_recaps_july_8.html

"We're not the other teams' farm system." - Andy MacPhail

by duck on Jul 9, 2009 12:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I wish...

I was dedicated enough to keep up with all the goings on in the minors.

I do very much appreciate the quick write-ups on the ‘going-ons’ though. Thanks Stacey and all those who subsequently contributed!

by Johnny_S on Jul 9, 2009 12:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think

Snyder will eventually iron out his kinks in AAA. Let him finish the year there with no more pressure of advancement expectations in ’09. He still has nearly half of a season to right the ship…or sink.

Good to hear that Brandon Erbe is back with the Baysox. He went down at just the wrong time for his career timetable…it was looking like he could have seen AAA this year if he didn’t get hurt.

I am really on the fence about bringing Tillman up this year. His age and lack of superior third pitch make me worry.

That reminds me, has anyone else noticed that many of our young arms are “developing” their third and fourth pitches at the higher levels of the organization? Why are these pitches (normally the change up) not being solidified at the lower levels? Matusz, Arrieta, Tillman, Hernandez…all only have 2 dominant pitches, in most cases a fast ball and curve ball.

by sickuvitall on Jul 9, 2009 1:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Matusz

I could be wrong, but I remember hearing that he has 4 effective pitches and he uses all of them. With his change-up being very good for his age.

"I have seen the future and his name is Matt Wieters." Keith Law

by Reddrummer9187 on Jul 9, 2009 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I read that too.

Also sometimes a third of fourth pitch takes years to develop, but if guys are dominating leagues with two pitches they aren’t going to hold them back and keep them in a non-challenging league just to develop other pitches.

by O'sFan21 on Jul 9, 2009 3:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Point taken

in regards to advancing someone if they are not being challenged. It just seemed odd that so many of our youngsters have yet to come up with a decent third pitch by AAA.

I am not sure what the fourth pitch is that Matusz has, unless you are designating the 4-seam and 2-seam fastballs as two distinct pitches. His change-up has certainly come along this year, but I don’t know if it is where the pitch needs to be on a consistency level.

by sickuvitall on Jul 9, 2009 4:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

fastball, curve, change, slider

The fastball is just average stuff-wise, but he has fantastic command over it. The curve and changeup are both effective strikeout pitches. The slider is basically a show-me change of pace pitch.

by dkdc on Jul 9, 2009 4:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Troy Patton's line

4.0 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 3 HR

I will lead these Peoples to the promised land, also known as "Slightly Ahead of the Blue Jays." ~WietersRunDry

by Stacey on Jul 10, 2009 7:53 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

ouch

thats not gonna get it done

by twistedlogic on Jul 10, 2009 8:19 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for the minor league update

I find it facinating to watch our farm teams. In the sense that the Oriole way is to grow the arms and purchase the bats our system will become essential to success down the road.

So get out and enjoy some minor league baseball and see our future stars close up. You can get a autograph or shake the had of a future Oriole and possibly future HOFer.

"Losing teams find ways to beat themselves" Jim Palmer

by Baysox39 on Jul 10, 2009 9:11 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Day after wisdom teeth

And I am thinking of going to the ballpark.

I have three days off work, might as well use them for something productive/

The stock market will never recover, our armies will never again be #1, and our children will drink filthy water for the rest of their lives - HST

by the fix is in on Jul 10, 2009 9:30 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Rob Widlanski??????

I read the Orioles minor league game results and keep seeing this name. The guy is flat tearing it up. Seems he can flat out hit. I believe he is around .400 for the season in Frederick. Where did this guy come from? Was he a draft choice? Does he have a position (seems to move around some). Is he a prospect? Or just a roster filler? I note that he was born in 1985, so he isn’t a freshfaced kid.

by fuddnelson on Jul 16, 2009 9:07 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs