So I made it to the Quad Cities/Cedar Rapids game after all. I figured the weather would only allow one day of play, so I had to jump at my chance. They are coming back in June, I would think it would be warm by then, but I’m not sure with this Never Ending Winter of the Apocalypse. It’s like I’m living in Alaska this year, in my 5 years here I’ve never seen anything like this. Anyway, I was sitting front row, right behind the screen near the visitors’ dugout, so I had a great view. Wow, it was butt cold! I forgot my camera, but did snap some pics of Kozma taking practice swings on my phone.
Pete Kozma looked pretty good to me. He had wiry, strong looking frame; sturdy lower half. It was the 2nd game of a doubleheader so the QC manager was DH’ing him, which sort of hacked me off but whatever. I really wanted to see him in the field; I guess I’ll have to wait ‘til next time. His swing wasn’t as bad looking as in his draft report video, at least in my view. More of an inside/out swing. He had the quickest bat on the team. Because of that bat speed, I think he could develop some moderate power as he fills out. You heard me right. Patient approach, he laid off some close pitches, including a called strike three in his last at bat. He slashed a line drive to the opposite field, and he showed some plus speed. I wasn’t counting one Mississippi’s, nor did I have a stopwatch but I’d say he has good speed.
Here’s my little attempt at scouting the Koz, FWIW
Present/Future
Power 30/40
Hitting 55/60
Speed 60/60
I think he could hit .300 one day, but will I see him more of a .280 hitter with a solid walk rate. With the aforementioned bat speed, I think he could hit 10-14 homers a year. With his speed, he could steal 15-20 bases. And if he’s as good of a fielder as some say, he’ll be a valuable piece. I’ve seen Jose Martinez and I’ve seen Tyler Greene. Koz impressed me a lot more.
As for others, it was a pretty uninteresting lot. De La Cruz was sitting; David Carpenter was in his place. He threw out a basestealer and would’ve had another if Folli caught the ball. Good, accurate arm, fast pop.
Domnit Bolivar looks pretty decent at short. He’s a pretty strong looking guy who could hit some homers, but sweet fancy Moses his was swing long.
Beau Riportella has a short, compact swing. Looked pretty level and if he ever hit a homerun in his life I’d be surprised. He can however run like the wind, as advertised. His plate discipline seemed to fall short from the 3 at bats I saw him, swinging at a pitch outside and up for strike three on one occasion. He’s yet to get a hit.
What else…Charlie Pelt dropped a flyball on the infield, which allowed a run. He was of course laughed to scorn by the small, sparse crowd of 600. Shaun Garceau was muttering curse words heading into the dugout, partly because he was extremely hittable in the first, and I’m sure partly because of Pelt. Matt Arburr is a big, big man. Andrew Brown looks like he has no business at 3B and made a bad throw to first. The team had a whopping two hits, all against a soft tossing lefty named Robert Fish. He made them look pretty bad, fanning 8.
Shaun Garceau pitched; I’ll have an amateur scouting report on him later. The other pitchers were Matt Spade and Wayne Daman. Spade was sitting at 85 MPH, Daman at 86-87. Myeh. It could be a long 1st half for the Banditos de Rijo.
Filed under: Pete Kozma | Tagged: Beau Riportella, Charlie Pelt, David Carpenter, Domnit Bolivar, Matt Arburr, Shaun Garceau
erik
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Nice report Erik. I had similar thoughts in the 2nd game. You missed De La Cruz. - he caught in the first game and looked good. You also missed Kozma in the field in the first game. Also looked good.
I’m not sure how accurate that radar gun was in CR. In the first game, they had CR’s Tobin at 94 in the first inning, then had him sitting around 87-88 the rest of the game. BA’s handbook has him at 89-92. He was throwing hard last night. BA’s report on Fish has him throwing 88-93. His curveball looked good last night. Did you notice the funky head jerk during his delivery?
I bring up the radar readings because I’ve heard that Daman throws fairly hard. I only saw him pitch to 1 batter because I left after Kozma’s last at-bat.
sounds like encouraging reports on kozma. i tried to defend him on here last summer, and it sounds like he could be a pretty good player.
Wow…from the Klaw chat.
Jason (Rockaway, NJ): Is Colby Rasmus equivalent to Grady Sizemore?
SportsNation Keith Law: (1:59 PM ET ) There are some similarities. I think Rasmus will hit a little more than Sizemore.
I believe it would be “Banditos del Rio”, not Rijo.
Not to be a Spanish Grammar Fascist.
Would that make me the Franco of grammar?
No hablo espanol.
I think. . .
I moved back to STL from Iowa in 2006. I was there from 2003 to 2006. The first winter I was there it did not break the freezing mark for the entire month of January and it snowed heavily during my finals in May. I am so glad to be a few hundred miles to the south.
Anyway, thanks erik for braving the weather. It is encouraging to continue hearing good things about Kozma. I would like to see him end the year with a cup of coffee at AA.
Banditos del Rio? That actually sounds kinda cool. I’d buy a jersey that said Banditos del Rio.
I tried.
I thought Kozma played pretty smooth at short in the game I saw. His swing wasn’t that bad either, we got a picture of it if anyone wants to see let me know and once I get it uploaded to my computer I’ll do what I can to share the image.
Also Andrew Brown looked like we had no business at first either, he was awful in the game I saw. And I’m becoming a big fan of Nick Additon and Brian Broderick and can’t wait to see what they do this season
dustin, i would love to see that picture.
I was wondering if anyone had a scouting report on Ryan Perry from university of arizona. From what i’ve seen and heard, he as 2 plus pitches and his breaking ball has a chance of being one…seems like a legit college righty the cards might could get in the early rounds.
Nick,
I doubt Kozma makes it up to AA this year. Hell, Colby only made it up to A+ his first full season. I’d be happy if Kozma does the same, but as long as he doesn’t embarass himself at A- this year I’ll be content if he’s at Quad Cities all year.
Being in Iowa like some of the other guys here, it’ll let me actually see Kozma up close and personal as well.
vols, perry has a great arm, but he has had little success. he can sit 94-96 with his heater when he starts and 96-98 when he comes out of the pen. he also has a dynamite slider when he can locate it, and his slider is also a plus pitch at times. it is a very intriguing package, but will he ever harness his stuff? his mechanics are smooth, but he is inconsistent with that as well.
here is a video (check out the wild thing glasses)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01bmp2B8vKs
he does look pretty smooth…on milb.com’s draft reports it says he has a plus change as well…it also mentioned the lack of success…just seems to that with 2 and a half plus pitches, he could be a valuable commodity to draft and follow…thanks for the info fgc, especially the video link
Drafting Ryan Perry might send me over the top…you would need to me in a room without any sharp objects or rope.
Sick of the I can throw it thru a wall..when I can find it…type of 21/22 yr old college RHP.
If you want a raw power arm…you take him as an 18 yr old and you start molding him.
Ryan Perry makes McCormick look like Maddux with his command.
Nice piece in Booher’s blog about the S-Cards new reliever. Here’s hoping he gets his career back on track.
the thing about ryan perry that you guys may not know is that he didn’t pitch in high school and didn’t start pitching until college and therefore has a lot of learning and growing to do but seems to be doing a pretty good job of doing so. he’s had 2 bad outtings early this year but has calmed down and now has gone like 25 innings giving up 1 unearned run. i think he’ll be a good pick for anyone seems he’s learning a lot to me