Posts belonging to Category Prospects/Rookies

–  Congrats to Tim Wakefield on his 200^th win.  Dude is 45 (2^nd oldest pitcher to ever record 200 wins btw) and throws a flippin’ knuckleball.  That tells you a lot about the guy.

–  Was J.P. Howell actually crying in the dugout after giving up that dinger to Matt Weiters?  I wonder what Jimmy Dugan would have said to him.

–  Does anybody else think that Charlie Furbush might have been a beaver trapper in some previous life?  And was Doug Fister a former Gonzo style actor?  Where does Seattle find these names?

–  I am not sure which one of these home runs got out of the yard faster, but I would have been getting out of the way of both Ryan Braun’s walk-off and Josh Hamilton’s laser. (Unless I had a glove of course…but I am no longer 7-years-old and when I go to games my hands hold beer.)

–  Speaking of homeruns, I am unsure of which homerun swing is more fun to watch…that of a fat kid named Prince, or the swing of a miniature named Dustin?  Either way, I love watching these two guys take hacks.

–  I loved watching Gerardo Parra drop trou (short for trousers you morons) and squeeze out a Clevland Steamer all over a Hong-Chih Kuo’s fastball after getting buzzed.  And I appreciated not only his massive pimping of that homerun, but that he looked at Kuo and grabbed his nuts after the up and in pitch…classic.

–  Troy Patton got the 1^st win of his big league career last night.  Congrats buddy.  I was fortunate enough to be teammates with Troy at the 2003 Tournament of Stars and watched him mow through hitters like a riding lawnmower.  Congrats Troy, it’s about time you got that W.

–  Does Rick Ankiel ever look back on his past and think, “Why did I ever waste time trying to pitch?”  Probably not, but I think that after watching him throw out yet another runner last night.

–  And to close out this edition of Changeups and Screwballs, the way he has done 600 times for the Yankees, is Mariano Rivera.  He’s closed out every last game with one team, and one pitch.  Congrats, Mariano.

Of all people, Juan Francisco clubbed one of 2011’s more impressive home runs in the second inning of Monday night’s game against the Cubs.  Francisco unloaded on a 1-0 “fastball” from Rodrigo Lopez, blasting it out out of Great American Ball Park to right field at an estimated 502-feet.  ESPN Home Run Tracker (formerly Hit Tracker Online) estimated it’s true distance at 482-feet, which is still pretty remarkable. The video also features Brandon Phillips’ upper-deck, tape-measure shot off Lopez, which traveled 422-feet.

Even though Matt Moore was in Baltimore for Monday night’s game, he did not make his Major League debut.  I thought that Rays’ skipper Joe Maddon might call upon Moore to close out the game in the ninth, but Joel Peralta received the nod instead and went on to collect his third save of the season.

Here is a collection of articles/links from around the web about Moore’s arrival:

Video: Matt Moore on getting to the majors [Marc Topkin/TampaBay.com]

Is Matt Moore the New David Price? [Rob Neyer/SB Nation]

Prospect of the Day: Matt Moore [John Sickels/Minor League Ball]

Moore to join hard-charging Rays [Daren Smith/MiLB.com]

Happy Matt Moore Day [Mike Rosenbaum/The Golden Sombrero]

Matt Moore: Tampa Bay’s Best Ever Pitching Prospect [Steve Slowinski/FanGraphs]

Rays Have a ‘Nice Problem’ with Matt Moore [Marc Hulet/FanGraphs]

Call Up of Rays Matt Moore Reminds of Missed Opportunities [Mike Newman/Scouting the Sally]

This year has been an amazing season for prospects.  Here at the Sombrero, we’ve celebrated the MLB debuts of many of baseball’s future stars:

• June 10: Mike Moustakas Day
• June 17: Dustin Ackley Day
• July 8: Mike Trout Day
• July 22: Jason Kipnis Day
• August 5: Brett Lawrie Day

Sunday brought the news that the Tampa Bay Rays, who are now just 3.5 games back in the Wild Card after a weekend sweep of the Red Sox, have finally called up their top prospect, LHP Matt Moore.  Not only is Moore the best pitching prospect in their loaded system, he’s the consensus (including all of us here at the Sombrero) top pitching prospect in baseball.  And with good reason.

The left-hander enjoyed a breakout season in 2010 for High-A Charlotte in the Florida State League.  There he posted a 6-11 record with a 3.36 ERA over 144 2/3 innings.  He allowed 109 hits and walked just 61 hitters while fanning 208, as he became the first pitcher since Francisco Liriano in 2005 to record a 200-strikeout season.

This season, the 22-year-old went 12-3 with a 1.92 ERA and 210 strikeouts across two levels.  Ranked as The Golden Sombrero’s No. 31 prospect headed into the season, Moore dominated for Double-A Montgomery, posting an 8-3 record with a 2.20 ERA and 131/28 K/BB ratio over 102 1/3 innings.  Shortly before he was promoted to Triple-A Durham, Moore fired a no-hitter with 11 strikeouts against Mobile on June 16.

After the promotion to Triple-A, Moore absolutely dominated, posting a 4-0 record, 1.37 ERA, 0.968 WHIP, and 79/18 K/BB over 52 2/3 innings.  He finished the regular season with a ridiculous 210/46 K/BB, as he became the first pitcher in nearly two decades to record back-to-back 200+-strikeout seasons in the Minors.

Moore’s insane talent will now be on full display for baseball fans as the southpaw will be called up before Monday’s game against Baltimore.  While he will likely work out of the Rays’ bullpen, especially with Kyle Farnsworth experiencing elbow discomfort, Moore should receive at least one start when the Rays play a double-dip against the Yankees on September 21.

It’s one thing to keep a player in the Minors if you’re out of the playoff race so that his arbitration clock doesn’t start too early.  But when every game matters and your harboring a pitcher with video-game stuff in Triple-A, all concerns are thrown out the window.  With the promotion, he instantly becomes the Ray’s third-best starter and their best reliever.

This September call-up carries extra significance for our staff, as Dee and Griff are both New Mexico HS alums like Moore and have been tracking his progress since he was drafted in 2007.  We are all pumped to watch him continue his ascent to greatness as begins what will surely be an outstanding MLB career.  Happy Matt Moore day, Sombrero Nation.

Bottom 1: Danny Espinosa struck out on a foul tip against Hiroki Kuroda

Bottom 4: struck out swinging against Kuroda

Bottom 6: struck out swinging against Kuroda

Bottom 8: struck out swinging against Ramon Troncoso

Final Line: 0-for-4, 4 K

Notes: Espinosa’s golden sombrero against the Dodgers on Monday was his second in the past week, as the rookie continues to fan at a worrisome rate.  On Tuesday, he struck out in three of his four at-bats, which means that Espinosa has now fanned in seven of his last eight at-bats.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 106