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Prospect Buzz: Montero, Goldschmidt, Hosmer, Wheeler, and Trout

Calendar November 17, 2011 | Posted by Mike Rosenbaum

 

As usual, the Flagrant Fan continues to churn out impressive work.  One of my daily must-read sites, the Fan also does a great job maintaining order as the President of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance’s General Chapter.  Yesterday he wrote about the Yankees’ catching situation and how Jesus Montero’s bat needs to be in the everyday lineup in 2012.  And you know what? I couldn’t agree with the Fan more.

Mike Newman of Scouting the Sally and FanGraphs explores Bill James’s 2012 projections for Paul Goldschmidt—a player Newman’s personally scouted—and more specifically, his .382 wOBA, which would place him in elite company.  Keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming Q&A with Mike, who has scouted many of baseball’s most exciting prospects in the Sally.

Also at FanGraphs, you can read a Q&A with Eric Hosmer in which he thoroughly discusses his swing and overall approach to hitting. (Sometimes I have to resist the urge to post links to every FanGraphs article; what an absolutely phenomenal site.

As we gradually unveil our Post-2011 Top 50 Prospects, I’d like to draw attention to Seedlings to Stars, who are also in the midst of their own prospect countdown.  However, their Top 100 is a bit more ambitious and really well done.  Just today we named Zack Wheeler as our No. 41 prospect, while at S2S, he was just ranked No. 51. I’m excited to see how our Top 50 rankings compare.

One of my colleagues and good buddies MJ Lloyd—a fellow staff writer at Tomahawk Take and a newly appointed staff writer at Halo Hangout—shares his thoughts on Mike Trout’s loss of rookie status for 2012.  As he contends, it really doesn’t matter. Trout will be an impact player whether he’s considered a rookie or not.

The Best Game 6 Offensive Performances of All-Time

Calendar October 27, 2011 | Posted by Mike Rosenbaum

Last Saturday night, Albert Pujols treated us to an unparalleled display of power.  His 5-for-6 performance, which included three home runs, six RBI, and 14 total bases, produced a RE24 of 5.808, the highest in World Series history.

To help pass the time until tonight’s game, I thought that it would be interesting to examine the best Game Six offensive performances in World Series history, as determined by their RE24 value* from that game.

The most legendary Game Six performance belongs to Reggie Jackson, whose three home run game during the 1977 World Series sits atop the list with an RE24 of 4.874.  Beyond that you will find a list of players that includes a slew of Hall of Famers, World Series legends, a player who probably got high before the game, and Danny Bautista.

Rk Player Date Tm Opp Rslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO HBP RE24
1 Reggie Jackson 1977-10-18 NYY LAD W 8-4 4 3 4 3 0 0 3 5 1 0 0 4.874
2 Hideki Matsui 2009-11-04 NYY PHI W 7-3 4 4 1 3 1 0 1 6 0 1 0 4.683
3 Al Kaline 1968-10-09 DET STL W 13-1 5 4 3 3 0 0 1 4 0 1 1 4.374
4 Pedro Guerrero 1981-10-28 LAD NYY W 9-2 5 5 1 3 0 1 1 5 0 0 0 4.228
5 Stan Hack 1945-10-08 CHC DET W 8-7 7 5 1 4 1 0 0 3 2 0 0 3.905
6 Danny Bautista 2001-11-03 ARI NYY W 15-2 4 4 0 3 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 3.893
7 Jack Barry 1911-10-26 PHA NYG W 13-2 4 2 2 1 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 3.336
8 Pee Wee Reese 1947-10-05 BRO NYY W 8-6 5 4 2 3 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 3.041
9 Jimmy Dykes 1930-10-08 PHA STL W 7-1 4 2 2 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 0 3.041
10 Yogi Berra 1960-10-12 NYY PIT W 12-0 5 4 3 3 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 2.997
11 Reggie Jackson 1973-10-20 OAK NYM W 3-1 4 4 1 3 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 2.886
12 Danny Murphy 1911-10-26 PHA NYG W 13-2 4 4 3 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2.847
13 Darrell Porter 1982-10-19 STL MIL W 13-1 4 4 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 2.789
14 Kirby Puckett 1991-10-26 MIN ATL W 4-3 5 4 2 3 0 1 1 3 0 1 0 2.756
15 Mel Ott 1936-10-06 NYG NYY L 5-13 5 4 1 2 1 0 1 3 1 0 0 2.741
16 Dib Williams 1931-10-09 PHA STL W 8-1 4 4 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2.700
17 Terry Pendleton 1991-10-26 ATL MIN L 3-4 5 5 1 4 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 2.685
18 Willie Horton 1968-10-09 DET STL W 13-1 5 3 2 2 1 0 0 2 1 0 1 2.672
19 Marty Barrett 1986-10-25 BOS NYM L 5-6 6 4 1 3 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 2.668
20 Jake Powell 1936-10-06 NYY NYG W 13-5 5 5 3 3 0 0 1 4 0 2 0 2.667
21 Keith Hernandez 1982-10-19 STL MIL W 13-1 5 5 2 2 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 2.658
22 George Davis 1906-10-14 CHW CHC W 8-3 5 5 2 2 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 2.637
23 Joe Pepitone 1964-10-14 NYY STL W 8-3 4 4 1 1 0 0 1 4 0 1 0 2.568
24 Bernie Carbo 1975-10-21 BOS CIN W 7-6 2 2 1 1 0 0 1 3 0 1 0 2.549
25 Yogi Berra 1957-10-09 NYY MLN W 3-2 4 4 1 3 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 2.547
Rk Player Date Tm Opp Rslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO HBP RE24
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/27/2011.

*RE24 is the difference in run expectancy (RE) between the start of the play and the end of the play.  That difference is then credited/debited to the batter and the pitcher.

BBA Stan Musial Award (American League MVP)

Calendar October 20, 2011 | Posted by Mike Rosenbaum

How we voted for American League MVP:

Me: 1) Ellsbury  2) Bautista  3) Verlander  4) Granderson  5) Cabrera

Griff: 1) Bautista  2) Ellsbury  3) Granderson  4) Pedroia  5) Zobrist

Dee: 1) Ellsbury  2) Bautista  3) Pedroia  4) Verlander  5) Kinsler

Jim: 1) Verlander  2) Ellsbury  3) Cabrera  4) Bautista  5) Granderson

Towel: 1) Bautista  2) Granderson  3) Verlander  4) Ellsbury  5) Cabrera

Final Vote:

1)    Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, Boston Red Sox

2)    Jose Bautista, OF, Toronto Blue Jays

3)    Justin Verlander, RHP, Detroit Tigers

4)    Curtis Granderson, OF, New York Yankees

5)    Miguel Cabrera, 1B, Detroit TIgers

Golden Sombrero: Jorge Posada

Calendar September 24, 2011 | Posted by Mike Rosenbaum

Bottom 2: Jorge Posada called out on strikes against Matt Moore

Bottom 4: struck out swinging against Moore

Bottom 6: singled to right against Dane De La Rosa

Bottom 7: struck out swinging against Alexander Torres

Bottom 8: struck out swinging against Jake McGee

Final Line: 1-for-5, 4 K

Notes: Posada collected his first golden sombrero of the year on Thursday night against the Rays.  It’s important to note that each of his strikeouts came against left-handers, as he was forced to hit from the right side – his single came against De La Rosa, a right-hander.  Appearing in only 110 games this season due to his deteriorated skillset behind the plate and the offseason acquisition of Russell Martin, Posada is currently sporting a career-low slash line of .238/.315/.398.  It’ll be interesting to see how much (or how little) playing time Posada receives this postseason.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 122

Golden Sombrero: Miguel Olivo (No. 3)

Calendar September 15, 2011 | Posted by Mike Rosenbaum

Bottom 2: Miguel Olivo struck out swinging against Ivan Nova

Bottom 4: struck out swinging against Nova

Bottom 7: struck out swinging against Jamey Wright

Bottom 9: flew out to center against Rafael Soriano

Bottom 11: struck out swinging against Corey Wade

Final Line: 0-for-5, 4 K

Notes: Olivo recorded his third golden sombrero of the season in Wednesday night’s extra-inning game against the Yankees.  In his first sombrero, Olivo accomplished the feat while hitting cleanup for the Mariners.  This time around, the aging backstop did it out of the six-hole.  His second sombrero also came against the Yankees in late July, and he’s now tied with Adam Dunn, Kelly Johnson, Jayson Werth and Grady Sizemore for the league lead. And I wouldn’t rule out it happening again this season considering that his strikeout rate sits at 28%, which is above his career strikeout rate of 26.4%, and he’s already made the most plate appearances of his career.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 115