Before we kick into the team-by-team update, there are a few other things to mention. First, I’m pretty sure I read this week that Stetson Allie would begin his year with State College and not West Virginia, though I can’t find the link now. That might be an indication that he’s struggling a bit with his control in extended spring training, as State College is where lots of high school pitchers who the club wants to work on fastball command end up (of all the high school arms the club has drafted since 2008, I think only Quinton Miller and Jameson Taillon have skipped State College). That’s not a huge deal (and I’m definitely extrapolating on the reason for the move) as everyone knew command would be an issue for Allie. If the club wants him to work on that in a safer environment, that would seem to make sense to me.
Also, Charlie had Kyle Stark answer some questions about two of the guys I’m going to mention below (Kyle McPherson and Brooks Pounders), so make sure you check that post out.
Indianapolis Indians (full team stats)
Let’s start with the not-so-good news here: Rudy Owens has now gotten rocked in three straight starts and in his last two (which only encompass eight innings) he’s got a 2:2:2 K:BB:HR ratio. Obviously it’s way early to panic about a guy like Owens, but it’s true that he hasn’t really seen much adversity in his ascension through the Pirates’ system and I think it’ll be interesting to see how he handles this. Brad Lincoln finally put together a decent start (5 innings, 5 Ks, 1 BB, 6 hits, 2 runs, 0 homers) after a few good peripheral/ugly result outings. Obviously his great 24:3 K:BB number is encouraging, but since he was more or less throwing batting practice in Pittsburgh last year, I am a bit concerned by how hard he seems to be getting hit (namely the four homers in 26 1/3 innings) at times in Indy. I’d still rather see him in the rotation than Jeff Karstens.
On the offensive side, Alex Presley is still raking away with his .366/.416/.574 line with four homers (three since April 25th). And I know Xavier Paul is killing the ball in Pittsburgh, but I’d still rather see Presley with the Pirates at this point. No one else is currently doing much at the plate at Indy right now except Dusty Brown, who’s not a prospect. Josh Harrison’s still out with his pulled groin.
Altoona Curve (full team stats)
Jeff Locke has had a couple of rough starts in a row, though even in the start where he gave up six earned runs, he struck out ten in five innings. Bryan Morris has been put on the disabled list with an oblique strain, so he hasn’t started since my last update. Aaron Thompson has come back to earth some after his great start (11 runs, six strikeouts, and six walks over his last three starts/16 1/3 innings), though Aaron Pribanic continues to be a ground ball machine and reap good results from that approach.
Starling Marte has cooled off a bit after his hot start; he hasn’t had an extra base hit since a triple on April 25th and his season line is down to .306/.341/.418. His great start was good to see, but I’m very interested in how his on-base percentage holds up in these spans where he doesn’t hit for high average. He’s a pretty free swinger and if he can’t take some pitches, there’s a chance that pitchers will start to figure him out as he rises through the system. Tony Sanchez is off to a nice start in May after a solid but power-free April; his double on May 1st actually doubled his season extra base hit total. He’s still drawing a ton of walks, which is good to see, but it’d be great if his bat could heat up some in May. The same goes for Brock Holt, who’s 11 walks and .362 OBP is good to see, but who needs to rack up some more hits. Jeremy Farrell has stayed hot thus far, still hitting .365/.415/.548, though much of that line is batting average-driven.
Bradenton Marauders (full team stats)
Jarek Cunningham’s ridiculous power streak continues, as he’s already got a double, triple, and homer in the month of May. He’s slugging .707, which is fantastic for a 21-year old in the Florida State League, though like Marte he’s a very free swinger (20 strikeouts and just four walks in ~100 plate appearances). Like Neil Walker during the first week of the 2011 season, though, I hate to judge a guy for swinging big when he’s getting good results, so that’s more something to keep an eye on as the year progresses than a huge concern at the moment. Aaron Baker’s still swinging well, though he’s cooled off a bit lately, and Robbie Grossman’s impressively improved plate discipline is also lagging a bit (11 strikeouts and six walks in his last ten games).
Kyle McPherson continues to dominate on the mound at this level; he’s allowed a few more runs in his last two starts, but he still doesn’t seem to be getting hit all that hard and his peripherals are great. Brett Lorin is also still pitching well; in his last outing he worked out of the bullpen (and struck out five hitters in 2 2/3 innings. Jeffrey Inman (the 12th round pick in the 2009 draft who entered his junior year as a better prospect but fell after an injury-filled junior year) has also pitched well of late, though he’s not really racking up the strikeouts at this point.
West Virginia Power (full team stats)
Jameson Taillon was excellent in his second start for the Power, striking out six, walking none, and giving up just two hits in four shutout innings. Yes, I got a big, dumb smile on my face when I typed that. Zack Von Rosenberg is exhibiting what we can probably call a bit of a home run problem. In 19 2/3 innings he’s given up 26 hits and six of those have been homers. Obviously it’s early and his strikeout rate looks much better this year, but it’s worth noting. As for the rest of the log-jam of young arms with this club, Zac Fuesser still looks great, Colton Cain and Zack Dodson are still having solid outings, Trent Stevenson is starting to come around in terms of strikeouts, and Brooks Pounders is possibly the big surprise of the whole pitching staff with 18 Ks and just one walk in 12 innings, all in relief.
On the offensive side, Matt Curry is still destroying the ball and probably needs to move up a level ASAP, Gift Ngoepe has continued his surprisingly strong start to the season at the plate (he just had a 4-for-5 night with fifth double of the season last night). Last year’s third rounder, Mel Rojas Jr., is also starting to come around after a slow start. In his last ten games, he’s hit .343/.395/.400, though just two of his 12 hits in that span have gone for extra bases.
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