Matthew Leach reports that Nick Webber and Mark Michael both will be moving to the bullpen this upcoming season. This isn’t a surprise for Webber, who had the lowest K/9 rate of any qualifying starting pitcher in the FSL (4.34). Last season for Palm Beach Webber struck out 65, walked 63 and allowed 63 runs in 134.2 innings. Those are pretty oogly numbers, but keep in mind Webber was put into the starter role as more of a try and see basis, he was a closer in college and was projected to be a reliever in the bigs. He’s still got a wicked sinker, as shown by his 55% ground ball rate and 267:88 grounder to fly ball ratio. Webber will turn 23 this season, and is likely ticketed for Springfield.
Michael is a former 4th rounder in the ‘03 draft who’s never been able to stay healthy. He’s missed time with rotator cuff (’04), shoulder tendinitis (’05), elbow nerve (’06), not to mention he missed almost all of ‘02 when he was a 20 year old in college. Still, he has the ability to hit 95 on occasion to go with a good change up. At 25 the clock is ticking, but as a reliever he could move quickly. He should also be in the Springfield bullpen to start the season. You know the saying, if you need a good reliever, look for a crappy starter.
At Beyond the Boxscore, JM Barten has a profile of Shane Robinson that’s worth a read. He points out his obvious limitations, but provided he can hit some doubles and take some walks, he could be a serviceable hitter. I’m sort of wondering if a move to the infield isn’t in order here, which really could make him Eckstein 2.0.
Just a few housekeeping notes, coming for the ‘07 season, at this point I’m planning on continuing on cranking out prospect profiles, as well as previewing the draft as it soon approaches this June. I plan on covering as much as the draft as it happens. I’m hoping to have a daily minors report on the top performers in the system, and I’ll be doing some interviews at Fanhome.com. Also, for the big club you’ve probably guessed Go Crazy Folks is dead, but after talking via email to David Appelman I may will be blogging the big boys at Fangraphs.com, which I’m extremely excited about. And I’ll still be writing at VEB on Sundays, hopefully I’m not biting off more then I can chew here. I’ll keep you posted on the new blog when I get more details.
Update, here’s the link to my new blog at Fangraphs.com, Gas House Graphs.
Filed under: Mark Michael, Nick Webber, Shane Robinson
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Just wanted to drop you a line and let you know I am thoroughly enjoying your site. Keep up the good work.
i have asked before why they don’t try sugar shane at 2nd base. to me he could be a dustin pedroia type player at that position and would have a much better shot at holding down a full time job. even if he can’t become an everyday player, adding 2nd would make him even more valuable as a utility guy a la ryan freel.