While we here at Project Prospect have our fingers on the beat of all things Minor Leagues, it doesn't mean that we just forget about our boys once they graduate to actual major league rookies and beyond.
Listed below are the latest players who have exhausted their rookie eligibility during the 2007 Major League Baseball season thus far. We take a look at what they're doing now, what they've done in the minors in the past, and if they are cutting out their biggest question marks on their way to being successful big league ball players.
Walking down the isle and accepting their graduate certificates this week are the Kansas City Royals’ Billy Butler, the Minnesota Twins’ Matt Garza, the Detroit Tigers’ Andrew Miller, and the Atlanta Braves’ Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Billy Butler - Kansas City Royals - DH - Born 4/18/86 - Age 21
Billy Butler was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the first round (14th overall) of the 2004 Draft out of High School. Butler was born to destroy baseballs, and he has been doing so since he was drafted.
Scouts and fans alike had their eyelids torn open by Butler and his booming bat. But where would he play in the field? Butler was drafted as a third baseman but was pretty much a butcher at the hot corner so the Royals moved him to the outfield. Speed is not one of Butler's strengths and he's often spoke about as one of the slower players in professional baseball, so his defense will never be his strong point.
The Royals have begun building a solid nucleus of talent and Butler fits right in with the rest of them. There were rumors circulating earlier this month that the Royals were planning to again return Butler to Triple-A and that set him off. He drove in six runs the very next game and has stuck around in the big leagues since. The Royals would be smart to keep Butler up and just let him play. His advanced approach at the plate has led to a .311/.352/.473 line thus far and he keeps getting better and better.
Some prospect junkies have compared Butler to Albert Pujols. I wouldn't necessarily go that far with the comparisons, but when your award list includes the 2004 KC Minor League Player of the Year award, 2005 KC Minor League Player of the Year Award, California League All-Star Game MVP, California League Rookie of the Year, 2006 Futures Game MVP along with an all-star berth at every level, maybe they are not so stretched after all. One thing is for certain, Butler could be an all-star several times over his career as a DH.
Matt Garza - Minnesota Twins Pitcher - Born 11/26/1983 - Age 24
Matt Garza was drafted by the Minnesota Twins out of Fresno State University in the first round of the 2005 Draft (25th overall) and began his rapid ascension to the big leagues in the 2006 season.
The Twins started Garza off in sunny Fort Myers, Florida. Just a few miles from Mickey Mouse, Garza made Single-A hitters feel like Goofy. In eight starts covering 44 1/3 innings, Garza was 5-1 with a 1.42 ERA and a 53/11 K to BB ratio (4.82 K/BB).
The Twins thought that was enough of High-A for Mr. Garza, so they promoted him to Double-A and he dominated there as well. Get used to hearing that because it becomes a fairly recurring theme for 2006. In 10 starts at Double-A spanning 57 1/3 innings, Garza bullied around Double-A hitters to a 6-2 record and a sparkling 2.51 ERA, striking 68 hitters and walking only 14. The fact that Garza posted practically identical numbers in Double-A that he did in High-A was enough for the Twins to zoom him along to Triple-A, his third level on the 2006 ladder.
Triple-A proved to be no obstacle either, as he posted a 3-1 record with a 1.85 ERA and two complete games over five starts.
The major leagues provided the first speed bump for Garza, as he struggled with command and control, something we didn't see at all in the minor leagues. Garza has four above-average to plus big league pitches, including a punch-out slider he uses to rack up the strikeouts. Playing with the big boys in the Majors, Garza tossed an even 50.0 innings going 3-6 with a 5.76 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP.
All in all, 2006 was a huge success for Garza. He won USA Today's Minor League Player of the Year Award and 2007 looked promising, because surely the money-starved Twins would leave a rotation spot warm for him right? Well, it didn't exactly work out that way and despite having a 1.50 ERA this spring, the Twins felt he needed more time to mature in Triple-A.
Apparently, Garza felt otherwise and a public spat with Twins management ensued. Garza showed signs that he still had things to learn in Triple-A. In 92.0 innings, he went 4-6 with a 3.62 ERA and 95 strikeouts.
The Twins recalled Garza on June 28th and he has been impressive thus far – 1.37 ERA, 24 K, 10 BB, 1.22 WHIP in 26.1 IP. He is a special talent and word out of Minnesota is that the Twins will be leaving him in the rotation for the rest of the season, so expect to see some good things from him now and in the future.
Andrew Miller - Detroit Tigers Pitcher - Born 5/21/1985 - Age 22
Andrew Miller was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the first round of the 2006 Draft after a standout career at the University of North Carolina. Considered by many to be the premiere talent of the 2006 Draft Class, Miller fell to 6th overall due to signing bonus demands prior to the draft. The Tigers were thrilled to have him and signed him in early-August – plenty of time for him to hit the minor league circuit and eventually join the Tigers bullpen.
Miller made his big league debut against the New York Yankees, tossing a scoreless inning in relief. Drafted as a starter, the Tigers just wanted Miller to get acclimated to the big league way of life and had him pitching out of the bullpen in mostly non-stress situations at first. Miller got knocked around a bit but with only 10.1 innings of game action to go on, it's not even fair to judge the stats.
The Tigers sent Miller back to High-A Lakeland to start his 2007 season, as they didn't want him pitching in a cold weather environment so early in the season. He went 1-4 with a 3.48 ERA in 41.1 innings pitched, striking out 28 and walking 15 while sprinkling in two complete games in 7 starts. Miller then moved on to Double-A where he fared much better, going 2-0 with a 0.59 ERA and a 24/5 K to BB ratio in 30.2 innings. In between High-A and Double-A, an injury to Nate Robertson got Miller called to the big club on May 18th where he made a sparkling spot start against the Cardinals, throwing 6 shutout innings and earning his first major league victory.
After being shuttled back to the minors for a few starts, Miller was again recalled on June 10th and won his start against the New York Mets, making him 2-0 in two tries. All-in-all Miller has pitched very well this season so far, sitting at 5-3 with a 3.76 ERA, 32 walks, and 47 strikeouts in 55.0 innings is nothing to be ashamed of. Still, the 6-foot-6 lefty flame-thrower has some parts of his game that he will need to improve in order to continue winning in the big leagues.
Miller's strikeout rates are very low for a player with his nasty fastball-slider combination. He's also walking too many hitters and in the big leagues. But to his credit, he's also allowing less than a hit per inning, which is tough to do as a young pitcher in the hitter haven that is the American League.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia - Atlanta Braves C/1B - Born 5/2/1985 - Age 22
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was drafted by the Atlanta Braves as a first round supplemental pick in the 2003 Draft (36th overall). After signing rather quickly, Saltalamacchia was assigned to Rookie League in 2003. At the ripe age of 18 he hit .239/.382/.396 with 2 HR 14 RBI and a 28/33 BB to K ratio in 134 at-bats.
The South Atlantic League was the next stop for Salty where he played in 91 games for the Rome Braves in 2004. In 323 at-bats, he hit .272/.348/.437 with 10 HR, 51 RBI, and a 34/83 BB to K ratio. The power seemed to be coming around with 19 doubles and the aforementioned ten homers, but Salty regressed a bit with the high strikeout rate. Still, there was enough here to like from a 19-year-old in his first full season of professional baseball.
The Braves moved Saltalamacchia up to Myrtle Beach for the 2005 season, and he must have liked the weather because this is where Salty began to force himself onto the prospect landscape. In 129 games spanning 459 at-bats, Saltalamacchia hit .314/.394/.519 with 19 HR, 81 RBI, and a 57/99 BB to K ratio. Salty even chipped in 35 two-baggers and his emerging power was getting baseball people excited about a switch hitting catcher's potential middle of the order bat in Atlanta.
Many people were expecting big things out of Salty for his impending season at Double-A Mississippi. But Saltalamacchia had an injury-plagued year (wrist) and hit just .230/.353/.380 with 9 HR 39 RBI and a 55/71 BB to K ratio.
Coming into his 2007 season at the age of 22, Saltalamacchia was somewhat of a forgotten man. Brian McCann had emerged as the Braves catcher of the present and future and Salty was being looked at as a potential first baseman or maybe even a trade chip. Back at Double-A, Saltalamacchia showed he was over his wrist injury and started mashing again. In 22 games he hit six homers and showed solid plate discipline, enough so that on May 2 – his birthday – he was called up to the big leagues.
Since being called up to
the show, Salty has played sparingly. Appearing in 47 games, he has hit
.284/.333/.411 and swatted out 4 HR and 12 RBI. Saltalamacchia played
both catcher and at first base for the Braves before being traded to
the Texas Rangers along with shortstop Elvis Andrus for Mark Teixeira
on July 30th.
<<< Click here for Chris' June 26-July 7 Graduation Report.
Chris Loupos can be reached at loopdog1@aol.com.