Prospect notes

Rangers · Post by **Rangers** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:35 pm

(for reference)

Rangers · Post by **Rangers** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 4:39 am

Michael Pineda article:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/ ... arm18.html

Rangers · Post by **Rangers** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 2:01 pm

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/artic ... cleid=8048:

Goldstein on some Tigers pitchers

Rangers · Post by **Rangers** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 3:21 am

Vince Mazzaro is getting a lot of buzz for his stuff this spring, as summarized by an Oakland official:

Mazzaro can aggressively push his [sinking fastball] up to 96 mph. He was Texas League pitcher of the year and has already worked on a better soft game, with an excellent slider and curve, and he has developed a changeup this spring.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=g ... &type=lgns

Giants · Post by **Giants** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 3:35 am

I'd be pretty stoked if he actually hit 96.

Rangers · Post by **Rangers** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 3:49 am

Athletics wrote:I'd be pretty stoked if he actually hit 96.

I've heard that from several different sources already this spring. Even BA said in his profile that he touched 95 last year. The gun by me had him at 93 most of the time, hitting 95 a couple of times when he was in Frisco last summer. He was 85-90% sinkers that night.

I'm a little less sold on the progress they're saying he's made with his changeup. It wasn't much of a factor last year, and considering that he has been working on one for a few years now, it seems a little questionable that he'd have a big breakthrough just in spring training. He did change his grip, so maybe he's just taken to that better than the old one.

Rangers · Post by **Rangers** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 9:20 pm

Michael Pineda

I keep telling people he's a prospect and get dead air. There are a lot of good indicators for this guy.

Pineda was last seen toying with Midwest League batters in 2008, ranking second in both ERA (1.95) and opponent average (.216). He has picked up this season right where he left off. The 6-foot-5, 180-pound Dominican ranks among the Cal League leaders in innings (18 1/3) as well as strikeouts (18), all while walking just four batters.

"He's a pitching machine–he just throws strikes," Navarro said. "He's a big, tall horse. He challenges you. Last year he was more 90-91 (mph), but so far this year he's gotten up to 93. Like my other pitchers, he's just gaining maturity. They're all getting stronger and competing a lot better at this level."

Navarro notes that Pineda's slider looks more like a cut fastball because of its short break. But occasionally he'll break off a true 77-78 mph breaker. But for now, the young righthander is focusing more on spotting his 86-91 mph cutter for strikes on the outer half of the plate against righthanded batters, aiming it middle-out, and then coming back inside with his two-seamer–which is a strength of Pineda's.

"In his first start (April 9), he hit three guys," Navarro said. "He told me, 'I was only trying to throw my sinker inside.' I told him, 'Then keep pitching inside. The hitter is going to stand there and take it, and I want you to throw the ball under their elbows. If you hit him, there's nothing you can do. Go get the next hitter. Play the game hard.' You've got to keep throwing inside to keep them off balance. And his ball runs so much, from the middle of the plate to the right corner, that he's probably going to keep hitting guys."

Rangers · Post by **Rangers** » Wed May 13, 2009 2:26 am

Interesting game from Santiago Casilla and Vince Mazzaro tonight in the PCL:

Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Casilla 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Mazzaro 8.0 1 0 0 0 5 0 3.41

Fourth inning error and a seventh inning double were the only baserunners. Mazzaro's GO:AO ratio is now at 2.68.

Rangers · Post by **Rangers** » Sun May 31, 2009 4:12 am

Not sure if I agree, but I thought this was an interesting comment from BA's hot sheet chat (obviously moreso because Mazzaro is on my roster and tempered by the fact that it came from Ben Badler):

john (boston): michael bowden or vin mazzaro?

Ben Badler: Mazzaro

Rangers · Post by **Rangers** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 2:21 am

Keith Law likes Hector Gomez:

Modesto shortstop Hector Gomez homered twice, and both were rockets. Gomez missed all of 2008 with a pair of injuries, including Tommy John surgery, but his arm has clearly recovered and is at least a 60 at short. He has great bat speed, accelerating his wrists late and swinging hard every time; he's on his front foot early but keeps some of his weight back, and then swings with everything he's got. He's a plus runner and got down the line in four seconds flat on a bunt for a hit, but in his last at-bat showed little regard for whether or not each pitch was near the strike zone. He's an exciting talent and has the tools to be an impact player in the majors; he belongs in the Futures Game this year on the World Team.

Rangers · Post by **Rangers** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 9:56 pm

Nice AAA debut for 21 year old hard throwing righty Hector Rondon: 6 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 8 K. Combined with his AA numbers that makes him 78 IP, 60 H, 18 BB, 81 K, 3 HR, .213 Opp BA for the year. My guess is Ben Badler still thinks he blows.