7/2/10

Mark Cohoon, John Holdzkom, Bobby Keppel, Scott Kazmir... and Howie Rose

Mark Cohoon:



Cohoon pitched much better in his second AA outing last night… 5.0-IP, 1-ER, 4-K, 0-BB… it does take a little while for pitchers to adjust to a higher level. In the case of Mark, he jumped two, something you just don’t see very often in the Mets organization.


Cohoon was selected in the 12th round of the 2008 draft by the Mets.


From: http://www.coastalplain.com/ : - "Meanwhile, Cohoon a 6-2, 195-pound outfielder/pitcher hails from Mansfield, Texas, where he was an All-State pitcher as a senior. As a freshman at North Central Texas Cohoon batted .382 with 15 doubles and five triples. Cohoon also pitched 15 innings and had a 3.82 ERA. Through 39 games this season, Cohoon is batting .368 with 11 doubles and 19 RBIs. Cohoon fired a no-hitter earlier in the season while striking out 12 against Brookhaven Junior College. "We expect Mark to be another two way threat for us this summer," said Cole. "A true power pitcher from the left side, we expect Mark to give us quality innings either from the bullpen or in the rotation and also provide a solid left-handed bat in the lineup."


2008 was a fast track year for Mark. He started out with Kingsport (1-1, 5.89), splitting time as a reliever and a starter. He was sent up to Savannah, where he started seven games (2-2, 3.82).


For reasons never explained, the breaks were put on Cohoon in 2009 and he pitched the entire year for Brooklyn: 9-2, 2.15, 0.97, in 14 starts, 2-CG, 1-SH.


His combned two year professional stats are: 12-5, 3.05, 1.14.


John Holdzkom:


Holdzkom returned to action for Kingsport after over a year on the IR… stats: 0.1-IP, 3-WP, 2-H, 4-ER, 0-K, 3-BB, 108.00, 15.00.


Holdzkon played high school ball at Rancho Cucamonga, California. He was first drafted in 2005, in the 15th round, by the Seattle Mariners; however, he chose to pass and attend Salt Lake Community College. He was eligible to be a ‘draft and follow’, but Seattle passed, leaving the door open for the Mets. His brother, Lincoln, was a 7th round draft pick in 2001 by the Florida Marlins.


Holdzkom was picked in the 4th round by the Mets in the 2006 draft and was almost immediately assigned to the GCL Mets, where he pitched in 16 games (2 started), posting a 2-5 record, a 7.71 ERA and a 2.06 WHIP. His fastball is in the 93-94 range and tops off at 98.


In February 2007, Scout.com ranked Holdzkom as the 24th top Mets prospect. He pitched in 2007 for both the GCL Mets (0-1, 6.00, in 4 appearances) and Kingsport (1-0, 3.60 in 3 appearances).


Holdzkom’s 2008 year was best described as choppy. He pitched for Kingsport and Savannah, with combined stats of 5-4, 4.88, 100 Ks in 86.2 IP, but 57 BBs.



Bobby Keppel:


Bobby Keppel (RHP, Nippon Ham Fighters) — Keppel has had the most success of all the new import pitchers in Japan this year, posting a 10-1 record and a 2.72 ERA. This is for a team that hasn’t had much success in the win column — Keppel is credited with 10 of the team’s 36 wins. So are we looking at the next Colby Lewis? Probably not. Lewis’s command of the strike zone really set him apart in Japan. Keppel hasn’t been nearly as impressive, with a 48/28 K:BB ratio in 86 innings pitched. Keppel also padded his numbers a bit in interleague games, which are over for this year. - link


Scott Kazmir:


Pick a number, any number, and you’ll see some real horrorshow stuff. His ERA, FIP, xFIP, and tERA all come in above the 5.00 mark, the ERA the worst of them all at 5.67. His strikeouts are down, 6.11 per nine, while his walks, 4.56 per nine, are back up to 2005 levels. At least then he could strike out hitters and keep the ball in the park. This year Kazmir has done neither particularly well. He’s also pitching fewer innings than ever, just 5.4 per game. While he’s never lasted long into games — his highest IP/GS rate was 6.1 in 2007 — 5.4 is a new low. Yet he’s still tossing an average of 101 pitches per start, which goes to show just how inefficient he’s been. - link  



Howie Rose:


On Wednesday night I was driving back from Columbus to Indianapolis and tuned into the final innings of the Mets' one-run win over the Marlins. Howie was solid as an analyst questioning bullpen moves and even went into the Marlins' radio booth between innings to get an answer of why they thought Jorge Cantu did not pinch-hit late. How great is that? He simply got up, walked to the next booth and tried to find information for the Mets' fans. Mets fans and New York baseball fans are lucky to at least have one solid guy in the radio booth. Some of the best advice I ever received was from Howie’s partner, Wayne Hagin. Prior to my first year as announcer, I traveled to Tucson to watch the Arizona Diamondbacks in spring training and get to know their minor-league guys. One night, the D'backs were playing the Rockies and I was allowed into the Colorado booth. I stood by behind Wayne and Jeff Kingery, watching the way they handled a broadcast. We would talk in between innings and I asked the ultra in-depth question of what is the one bit of advice you can give me on being a broadcaster. Binoculars. What? Binoculars are the No. 1 thing you will need in a booth and he gives me a wink. The first thing I did when I got back to South Bend was drop $125 of the baseball team’s money on a serious pair of binoculars. You know what? Wayne was right. I still have the same pair and use them all the time. Every once in a while I’ll actually use them to see who is warming up in the bullpen. - link

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