7-27 from: - http://www.minorleagueball.com/ - Another reader asks me about New York Mets outfield prospect Sean Ratliff, currently hitting .340/.372/.614 in 37 games for Double-A Binghamton. He'd hit .275/.331/.432 in 57 games for Class A St. Lucie before his promotion in June, and the reader wonders if his superior performance at Binghamton is a breakout. Ratliff was a fourth round pick in 2008 out of Stanford. The book on him in college and the low minors: excellent power potential from the left side, but hyper-aggressive at the plate and unable to handle good breaking stuff. He fanned 141 times in 496 at-bats last year in A-ball, with just 31 walks, stats which fit the scouting report perfectly. Despite the .340 mark in Double-A this year, his BB/K remains unimpressive at 7/33 at Binghamton, 24/99 overall on the season in 375 at-bats. On paper at least, it looks to me like he's getting lucky right now with the BABIP. That said, Ratliff has solid tools, including a plus throwing arm and decent running speed. He doesn't have to become a walk machine, but even a marginal improvement in his pitch selection could go a long way towards making him successful.
7-27 from: - link - Rodriguez is a good closer having a good season, but right from the outset it’s clear that he isn‘t quite himself. His first two pitches are low, and the next, a called strike, is up in the zone and center cut. He makes a quality pitch to even the count at 2-2, but Sandoval runs the count full before fouling off a very hittable fastball. Needing simply to put the ball in the strike zone with his 3-2 pitch, K-Rod misses badly, up and away. In baseball circles, a righty missing up and to the right with the fastball can be a telltale indication of fatigue, because the pitcher has failed to close his body off to home plate and has released the ball too early, without “finishing” his motion. Whether you interpret it that way or not, Rodriguez has failed in his one overriding objective: not walking the leadoff hitter—and we can reasonably infer that’s what he’s thinking, because of his eight consecutive fastballs to Sandoval.
7-26 from: - link : - Dodgers veteran Prentice Redman, a 30-year-old outfielder currently with Triple-A Albuquerque, was suspended for an additional 100 games following his second positive test for a banned substance. The former 10th-round pick is already currently serving his initial 50-game suspension for his first violation, and after testing positive for an amphetamine, will serve his 100-game ban following the completion of his June 25 positive test. Redman, drafted by the Mets in 1999, is in his 12th season in the Minors. He broke into the Majors briefly in 2003 with New York, but has bounced around Triple-A and Double-A since with Nationals, Cardinals, Mariners and Dodgers. He hit .297 with 21 homers and 66 RBIs in '09 with Triple-A Tacoma (Seattle) and was batting .332 with 10 home runs and 41 RBIs in 61 games for the Isotopes through June 23 before his first suspension.
7-26 from: - link - owed $24/2: Arguably the worst pitcher in baseball, Perez has Steve Blass Disease, minus the connotation of once having good control. Perez allows more homeruns and walks at a per-nine-inning pace than Cliff Lee will allow in the next 5 years.
7-13 from: - link - I'm of two minds about Nieuwenhuis. On one hand, you have to love the power he's shown during his minor league career and the athleticism he brings to the table every day. On the other hand, there are a couple numbers in his line this year that scream out. One, his walk rate is way down. While it's true it's been higher throughout his career, there's always some degree of attrition as the player advances, and sometimes a particular skill just hits a wall, and it's possible that Nieuwenhuis's patience has hit that wall in Double-A. And there's Captain Kirk's strikeout rate, which have been problematic since he was drafted back in 2008. But there's still a ton to like here. He's hitting for average, and he's a doubles machine. And doubles can always turn into homers. He's fast enough to be able to handle center field, a huge plus. And a very important piece of the puzzle: he hasn't struggled at all against lefties. His platoon splits are just about average, indicating that perhaps lefties' breaking balls aren't confounding him any more than righties'.
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