Articles from March 2011

Last night on The Baseball Show, Clint from Diamond Hoggers and I took part in a long, two-part show. In the first half of the show, we welcomed David Franco from NextLevelBallplayer.com. David (who is Clint’s former teammate) has been writing about his experiences from Spring Training on Diamond Hoggers for the past week. You can follow him on Twitter here. He offers the perspective of a former Division I collegiate player who has had some great experiences.

The first half of the show was a lot of fun, and we talked about the following:

• The idea behind his site, Next Level Ballplayer.
• Why aren’t high school kids better prepared for the mental side of the game?
• David talks about his experiences playing with or against guys like John Ely, Joe Blanton, Dirk Hayhurst, Drew Stubbs, Rice University, University of Texas and many more guys who are now in the big leagues.
• A funny story about him spending 9 innings in the GM’s box with the GM of his favorite team, Ned Coletti
• A tale from Fall Baseball in college, involving fiery John Ely
• Talking Jim Tracy’s influence and management style when he took over in Colorado
• Thoughts on the Dodgers for 2011
• Tales from Spring Training

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#5 Domonic Brown – Philadelphia Phillies

OF

DOB: 9-3-87

ETA: 2011

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#6 Eric Hosmer – Kansas City Royals

1B

DOB: 10-24-89

ETA: 2012

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Mike Leake did his best to contribute in the Reds’ 15-2 loss to the Brewers on Monday afternoon, surrendering five runs on nine hits in his three innings of work.  After becoming the first player since Xavier Nady (2000) to bypass the minor leagues entirely, Leake began his career at the back of the Reds’ starting rotation.  His rookie campaign looked to be exceptionally promising when he won four of his first ten decisions over April and May, logging 66 innings in the process.

And then Leake got tired – really tired.  By June his effectiveness had waned considerably – evidenced by his 5.22 ERA and 1.77 WHIP – and he was in the midst of pitching himself out of the rotation.  The subsequent months resulted in more of the same as he posted a 4.56 ERA in July, and 8.83 ERA in August

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#7 Jesus Montero – New York Yankees

C

DOB: 11-28-89

ETA: 2011

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