Injury Overview
The Devil Rays shut down their two marquee names this week as rosters continue to shrink.
Jeff Niemann – The 2004 No. 4 overall pick had a very bizarre AFL. He got two short starts and pitched well—two runs allowed in 6.2 innings—but he last pitched on October 16. Apparently, he had a death in the family and then picked up a shoulder strain some time over the last month that will require rest. What’s strange is that every two days for two weeks conflicting information came out as to when Niemann would start and then offering an excuse as to why he didn’t. Anyway, he’s officially withdrawn now.
Elijah Dukes – A balky knee ended things early for Dukes, which we’re guessing is an unpleasant surprise for Tampa given that Dukes already missed the last month and half of the minor league season with his disciplinary suspension. The first base experiment will have to wait, although Dukes may go to the Dominican Winter league if health allows. His brief time in the AFL yielded a 1.050 OPS (.425/.625) and eight RBI in his eight games played—he finished with 10 strikeouts against six walks in 32 at-bats.
Monday
The two top Houston arms continued their streak of opposite performances this fall.
Matt Albers – Albers has been the good son in the AFL. And while he labored through two innings of work, he left allowing only an unearned run on two hits and a walk, striking out one. His outing featured a 28:15 strike-to-ball ratio, as he lowered his ERA to 2.40.
Troy Patton – Patton has been the bad son. He continued his uneven performance this fall. Coming on in relief of Albers, the lefthander pitched with command—18:9 ratio and two strikeouts—but did allow an earned run in his 1.2 innings of work. That keeps his ERA at a 5.14 clip.
Wednesday
Tigers
pitching looked good, the Giants’ relief maestro continued a remarkable
run, and the Braves’ bullpen future looks better than he did last month.
Jordan Tata – The Tigers traded a lot of young pitching this week but held onto Tata, who threw five shutout innings on a 45:32 ratio, allowing just four hits. He struck out two and lowered his ERA to 2.37.
Billy Sadler – Sadler pitched 1.2 innings and gave up a lone hit. His AFL line now stands at 11 shutout innings, 16 strikeouts, three walks, and just three hits.
Joey Devine – The Braves’ top relief prospect got off to an awful start but after taking a few weeks off has been much better. He pitched a shutout inning and more importantly had a second straight outing without a walk—he had five in his first four innings of work.
Thursday
A couple of top names had control problems, including Philadelphia’s left-handed ace.
Gio Gonzalez – Unlike last week when he survived unscathed without tremendous command, Gonzalez struggled in his four innings. He allowed two runs on three hits, three walks, and a mediocre 35:29 ratio. Gonzalez’ talent was still on display, however, via his six strikeouts.
Jonathan Meloan – The Dodgers' young fireballer allowed his second run of the fall in his two thirds of an inning. Meloan didn’t have great command, throwing just 11 of his 20 pitches for strikes.
Friday
Minnesota had reason to smile as the man they’re conditioning to eat up innings in the major leagues was his usual dependable self.
Kevin Slowey –Slowey continues to make the Twins proud via his consistency. He pitched another three innings and alowed just a single run. The control specialist struck out three with no walks. Slowey has now had eight appearances and has not allowed more than one earned run in any of them. His ERA is a sparkling 2.37 and he has a 12:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 19 innings of work.
Saturday
In contrast to the machine that is Kevin Slowey, Albers got pulled early after exhibiting very poor control to start the game.
Matt Albers –
Albers posted his first ugly line of the fall, allowing three runs on
two hits and three walks. His ratio a poor 18:17, Albers didn’t return
to the mound after for the second inning—clearly something didn’t feel
right.
Prospect Watch: Hitting
Ryan Braun – Something happened to one of the league’s most feared hitters this week. After posting a 1.176 OPS — including a crazy .734 slugging percentage — entering Monday’s game, Braun looked completely out of place, striking out seven times in his three games and going 2-for-13.
Chip Cannon – We initially passed over Toronto’s nondescript first base prospect but we should probably mention a guy who will remember Arizona so fondly. The soon to be 25-year-old struggled to a .810 OPS in the Eastern league in 2006 but did swat 27 home runs. Another strong week in the Arizona sands now has Cannon challenging Brandon Wood’s AFL record of 14 home runs.
The aptly named Cannon has now hit 11 long balls in 26 games and a remarkable 1.234 OPS (.479/.755). He has just four doubles and 30 strikeouts but when he connects it changes zip codes.
Trevor Crowe – Crowe continued to be a prototypical leadoff man, walking four times and slapping five hits this week, four of them singles. His on-base-percentage now stands at .443 while he’s slugging at a .417 clip.
Eric Duncan – Each week we keep thinking Duncan’s OPS can’t drop any lower—and each week we are corrected in our thinking. Another poor stretch (including a three-strikeout game) for the 21-year-old Yankee prospect lowered his OPS to .660 (.304/.356).
Brett Gardner – The Yankee centerfielder has had a very interesting time at the plate. He has just 26 hits in 103 at-bats — four doubles, two triples, and a home run — for a pedestrian .252 batting average. He’s walked a remarkable 27 times in his 26 games, however, far and away an AFL high and leading to a .414 OBP.
Joe Koshansky – The minor league home run machine — 31 home this year in Double-A Tulsa — Koshansky had been frigid up until this week. But seven RBI in two midweek games made him a much happier man and brought his slugging percentage up to .412.
Kevin Kouzmanoff – Big news for Kouzmanoff this week as the Padres traded the very valuable Josh Barfield for him and pitching prospect Andrew Brown — San Diego really coveted his .380 mashing performance in the minors this year. The 25-year-old will be staying in the AFL and will not shift teams but did not play at all this week — probably to keep him healthy for a trade.
In limited playing time so far — 47 plate
appearances — he’s posted a 1.172 OPS including six doubles and two
home runs. He will presumably play more third base now that San Diego
has him.
Fernando Martinez – Scouts have said the newly turned 18-year-old has looked impressive in the AFL. Bundle of energy though he may be, Martinez looks less attractive on paper. He’s now committed three errors in the outfield and at the plate he’s been limited to a 22-for-87 showing with a 5:17 walk ratio. His OPS stands at .685.
Nolan Reimold – The Oriole outfielder had another difficult week. He continues to show good plate discipline with a 15:16 ratio but two poor weeks have dropped his OPS from 1.005 to .817. His OBP is still a solid .415 but his lack of power has dropped his slugging to .402.
Troy Tulowitzki –
One of the most highly regarded position prospects in the AFL this
season, the shortstop has complained of a fatigue which his stats
reflect. Tulowitzki battled again as his fall OPS dropped to .754
(.363/.391). He missed a few games at the end of the week to attend a
wedding.
Neil Walker – Another poor week for the Pirates’ catching future who continues to look overmatched in the AFL. He now has just 16 hits in 61 at-bats with 12 strikeouts, but his OPS did rise a few points this week up to .609 (.281/.328).
Nick Christie can be reached at nickchristie@gmail.com.