Norwich Navigators
Josh Burnett
we were able to go to a Norwich Navigators game, against the Phillies'
AA affiliate. It was only my second minor league game - the first was
a St. Petersburg Cardinals game several years back.
The Navigators won, and although I've never heard of any of the
players who were in the game on any of the Giants' prospects list,
there were a couple who seemed impressive. The starting pitcher was
Greg Bruso, apparently just called up from San Jose, He wasn't
overwhelming - the radar gun had him topping out around 88, but I
don't know how accurate it was, and I don't think it had a single
pitch all night at above 88. But anyway, he did pitch well,
particularly considering it was his AA debut, and his San jose numbers
look pretty impressive. The other player who stood out was named
Alejandro Friere - the first baseman, I believe. All he did tonight
was hit a single, but he has 14 home runs and around 45 RBIs on the
year, and he's leading the Eastern League in slugging percentage.
So I'm wondering - can anyone fill me in on these guys? Are they
considered prospects? The only guy on the Norwich roster I've really
heard of is Boof Bonser. Oh, and Erik Threets, but I believe he was
demoted a while back, right?
Anyway, we'll probably go to another game or two, so maybe I'll get a
chance to see Bonser next time...
Michael Bakunin
> considered prospects?
Bruso made himself a fringe prospect with his great season in high A.
he's 23, drafted last year out of Davis. his control seems to be amazing,
given his infinitesimal walk rate this year. there's a nice little
interview with him on milb.com.. http://www.milb.com/qacorner/?id=1094
"I'm a control pitcher. I don't throw too hard.. I have a slider, but
it's not where I'd like it to be.."
Freire is not a prospect -- he's 29 and still in AA -- but he's pounding
the ball as well as anyone in his league this year.
Josh Burnett
> Bruso made himself a fringe prospect with his great season in high A.
> he's 23, drafted last year out of Davis. his control seems to be amazing,
> given his infinitesimal walk rate this year. there's a nice little
> interview with him on milb.com.. http://www.milb.com/qacorner/?id=1094
>
> "I'm a control pitcher. I don't throw too hard.. I have a slider, but
> it's not where I'd like it to be.."
Sounds about right - I haven't seen a box score, but I don't recall
him walking anyone. Given his lack of velocity, he'll probably never
be a great pitcher, but hey, maybe he'll turn into a right handed Kirk
Rueter someday.
> Freire is not a prospect -- he's 29 and still in AA -- but he's pounding
> the ball as well as anyone in his league this year.
Oy, yeah, that is pretty damned old for AA. Suddenly, I understand why
I've never heard of him. Still, he has one of the best names I've seen
in baseball since F.P. Santangelo.
The pitcher for the Redding - I think his name was Seong Lee - is
apparently something of a prospect in the Phillies' organization, and
I can see why - he had a no-hitter going for, if I recall, the first 3
2/3, and looked quite good early on. He completely fell to pieces
after that, though, and gave four runs before getting the third out in
the fourth.
Anyway, it's neat to think that some of the players we saw in Norwich
could be in the big leagues a few years down the line, even if there
weren't any real blue chip prospects playing...
Michael Bakunin
> hey, maybe he'll turn into a right handed Kirk Rueter someday.
Rueter had made AAA by age 22, with a madcap 9:1 K/BB rate at that level,
albeit in under 50 IP. Bruso's 23 and just made AA, so he's fringe yet.
> The pitcher for the Redding - I think his name was Seong Lee - is
> apparently something of a prospect in the Phillies' organization
yep. he's been a little old for each level, but he's got good stuff by
reputation and by your report, both. 2d-tier prospect, but respectable.
> Anyway, it's neat to think that some of the players we saw in Norwich
> could be in the big leagues a few years down the line, even if there
> weren't any real blue chip prospects playing...
might be. with Giants affiliates you should almost always pick your games
to see a given starter; the interesting ones in Norwich besides Bruso are
Bonser, Lowry and Correia right now, maybe Clark when he gets healthy.
Steve S
start for San Jose. His fastball was consistently 88-89 mph and his
changeup about 10 mph slower. He threw very few sliders, and even
those just the 3rd time through the order.
One thing I will add in defense of Bruso given his age is that Bruso
was not considered much of a prospect while a junior in college, but
then he had a great senior year. Also, Bruso is almost exactly the
same age as Jeff Clark (one day apart).
I was happy to see that Bruso kept the K/IP around 1.0 for his first
AA start. I hope he can keep that up.
Now that Valderrama has been promoted to AAA Fresno and now the
Giants, I think that Michael and I agree that the only position
prospect worth watching is SS Jamie Athas. He has a good OBP but a
poor SLG. He's a bit old for the level, and he is the second youngest
position player on the roster.
If you go to a Norwich game, you now get to see a prospect like
Bonser, Lowry, Correia or Bruso. If not one of them, you get to see
Mitch Walk, which can be entertaining since he is basically Kirk
Rueter, except much slower. When I saw Walk in late May, I don't
think he ever topped 80 mph. If you see Bonser, I would like to know
how much movement his fastball has, and how well he is able to throw
his off-speed stuff for strikes. If you see Correia, I would be
interested to know what he throws other than his fastball. Lowry is a
decently polished 3-pitch pitcher, if he can just stay healthy and put
it all together.
Josh Burnett
pitching. I would've liked to see another pitcher this time, but the
only games we were going to be able to catch were tonight and
tomorrow, and it's supposed to rain tomorrow.
Anyway, I was again impressed with Bruso. He pitched 6 1/3, giving up
only 5 hits (including one or two that, while not errors, probably
*should* have been caught, and one bloop hit that fell just beyond the
center fielder's reach) and, I believe, no walks. Hell, I only
remember him going to a 3 ball count 2 or 3 times, which is a nice
change from a lot of Giants' pitchers. On the down side, his velocity
was again considerably less than overwhelming, and he's definitely not
a ground ball pitcher - almost all of the outs he got seemed to be fly
balls and line drives - which could mean he'll give up a lot of home
runs once he reaches the majors. He didn't get the win, but he
deserved it - he left with a one-run lead, but the bullpen gave up
four runs in one inning. Oif.
Anyway, I know AA is a long way from the majors, but I do think Bruso
could be a valuable pitcher for the Giants in a couple years - maybe a
middle reliever or a 4th or 5th starter. He's certainly pitched very
well at both A and AA this year.
Michael Bakunin
level to have a chance of advancing; I'm happy to see him coming through
in AA so far. he sure does throw strikes, huh?
thanks for the note.
Steve S
A few comments stood out to me.
1) You said his velocity was underwhelming. I think that has been the
report on him. I still can't get over the fact, though, that his
fastball was nearly as good as Ryan Hannaman when I saw them in
mid-June. That said, I think Hannaman may have had something wrong
with him that night since he has not pitched since.
2) You mentioned that he had a lot of fly ball outs and very few
ground ball outs. That is the exact opposite of what I saw in
Stockton. I wonder if this is coincidence, or a matter of him facing
better hitters.
3) You mentioned very few 3-ball counts. That is consistent with what
I saw in Stockton. It is good to see that he is not nibbling too
much, even when he is still just a two-pitch pitcher.
Michael Bakunin
> ground ball outs. That is the exact opposite of what I saw in
> Stockton. I wonder if this is coincidence, or a matter of him facing
> better hitters.
by the numbers, he had a platoon split in his GB numbers with San Jose;
slight groundball tendency to lefties, slight flyball to righties. at AA,
he's been a slight flyball pitcher to both sides. if the effect persists,
it may have reflected more of a tendency by the younger lefties to try to
pull everything thrown by a righty. pullhappy hitters ground out more.