Comments on: 5/29/07 Daily Prospect Report

By: azruavatar

azruavatar — Thu, 31 May 2007 13:35:25 +0000

Brock — The only reason that comes to me, and erik may have a different take on this, is projectability. Ott has more of the frame (6′5″ 215lbs.) that scouts like to see compared to Garcia (6′1″ 200lbs). Garcia is a year younger, a level higher, strikes out almost a batter an inning and induces more groundballs than Ott. Jamie has (reportedly) picked up a couple mph since the Cardinals drafted him. Ottavino may have a slightly higher ceiling than Garcia but the difference is minimal in my mind.

Keep an eye on strikeouts for Ottavino, that’s his game. He throws the 4-seam fastball a la Anthony Reyes to strikeout batters. Garcia, I watch for groundballs. He’s going to strike guys out but I think he’s going to wind up with less K ability than Ott.

By: brock20

brock20 — Thu, 31 May 2007 12:17:02 +0000

Hey Guys:

I was reading Sickels’ updated Top 100 at Rotowire and Jamie Garcia and Ottavino both cracked the top 100. This in addition to John Jay making the Top 50 hitter list that he sent to readers earlier this month. That would make four Cardinals in the top 100, at least on his list.
My question is this. It seems that Ottavino actually jumped Garcia on the latest list. Garcia made the just missed it cut last year, but both got the same grade in this year’s book. Any thoughts on a rationale for this leap frog? Also, what component skill or stat should we be watching for both guys?

By: erik

erik — Wed, 30 May 2007 22:36:54 +0000

sleepyca..not sure it matters. maybe he was trying to take a pitch and it was a borderline call. i don’t think it really matters.

fgc, thanks for the good news. i’ll be looking forward to checking the boxscores and reading az’s daily report late tonight.

By: fewgoodcards

fewgoodcards — Wed, 30 May 2007 22:32:20 +0000

not to worry erik, pham and alvarado are in the lineup tonight. pham is in centerfield and batting 2nd while alvarado is at 3rd and hitting 6th.

By: SleepyCA

SleepyCA — Wed, 30 May 2007 22:07:59 +0000

Just noticed that both of rasmus k’s in this game were “caught looking” variety. Is that better or worse for a prospect?

By: fewgoodcards

fewgoodcards — Wed, 30 May 2007 19:27:33 +0000

according to ben chiswick, the swing radio announcer, pham and alvarado weren’t in town yet. they were expected to get there this morning, and i would guess they will play tonight.

By: Erik

Erik — Wed, 30 May 2007 17:20:36 +0000

shhh..I did post my concerns along those lines long ago, but what i’ve read from scouts rasmus is more then adequate in CF. plus, he has time to improve…

ask for his K’s, as long as he keeps hitting doubles and HR’s and drawing walks i’m not too worried about it. he’s not striking out at an ungodly rate or anything

By: Shhhh

Shhhh — Wed, 30 May 2007 15:38:28 +0000

So Erik you must think Colby is a terrible/awful CF because minorleaguesplits has him at -34/150.

Also, nothing too big but Rasmus has struck out 7 times in his last 5 games. He got off to the year very impressive not striking out, but that may have just been a mirage, but I hope not.

By: erik

erik — Wed, 30 May 2007 14:05:25 +0000

Mike J…Well, I haven’t read any reports on Mather’s glove defensively. If you trust defensive metrics (and I do for the most part) Mather was -26 plays per 150 games in left, and -20 per 150 in right (according to minor league splits.com) That’s obviously pretty bad. Mather’s has been compared to Chris Duncan, and we know Chris ain’t the most graceful in the outfield but he’s much improved. in other words, the cited adjustments you’ve mentioned he’s made will find him a spot. As long as he works hard at his glove, he could still hit his way to the bigs.

By: MikeJ

MikeJ — Wed, 30 May 2007 13:55:36 +0000

Joe Mather continues to intrigue me, he’s putting up a line of .295/.364/.584 despite having a BABIP of only .275. His K rate this year has dropped to 11.1%, where his previous minor league low is 17.5%. His BB rate has also risen from 5.3 and 7.3% the last 2 seasons in Palm Beach to 9.6%, probably because pitchers are now respecting his power. Please tell me this guy can handle RF in the bigs so that I might actually see him a Cardinal uniform some day.