Around the Bases - June 24, 2009

Matthes was the 2009 Division I Home Run champ

This isn’t so bad afterall…
Indians’ left-hander, David Huff, entered last night’s game with a 7.09 ERA, in his first 7 Big League starts, and in serious jeopardy of a return trip to the Minors. He then proceeded to shutout the Pirates for 8 innings while allowing 4 hits and 2 walks.

Speaking of turnarounds…
The Diamondbacks assignment of 18yo Supplemental 1st round pick, Matt Davidson, to the Northwest League (NWL) would be considered by many to be peculiarly aggressive. After starting the year 0 for 8 with 4 strikeouts, Davidson is now 4 for 7 in the last two games, including last night’s 2 for 2, with a walk and a homerun.

It ain’t pretty but…
22yo Braves’ right hander Tommy Hanson, will be a good one, but part of the problems with young Major League pitchers is their inconsistency. After last night’s 5 1/3 scoreless innings of 4 hit ball, Hanson now has a very respectable 3.13 ERA through 4 starts and has a string of 13 2/3 scoreless innings…Of course he has a 6:9 K:BB ratio during that stretch.

Speaking of ain’t pretty…
David Price tossed 4 1/3 innings yesterday, allowing 5 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks.

This, however, was breathtaking…
25yo Giants’ right-hander, Tim Lincecum, continued his dominance over Major League hitters with a complete game, 1 run, 7-hitter (striking out 12). Since May 21st, Lincecum has a 1.47 ERA and a 58:12 K:BB ratio and is, in this writer’s opinion, the best pitcher in the game today.

He's just warming up…
Orioles uber-rookie, Matt Wieters, went 2 for 4, with a homerun last night and is now .351/.385/.595 over his last 10 games.

Ugly line of the night…
Belongs to 19yo Rangers’ firstbasemen, Clark Murphy, who went 0 for 5, with 4 strikeouts. Murphy was overmatched in the SAL this year and so this line came against Everett in the NWL.

If only he were in a different system…
It’s tough being a Rockies pitching prospect, but we would be hearing a lot more about 23yo right-hander, Esmil Rogers, if he were with someone else. Yesterday’s 8 inning effort, where he allowed 1 run on 8 hits, while fanning 7; gives Rogers a 2.78 ERA on the season and also marks the 9th time in his last 10 starts where he has yielded 2 or fewer runs.

Minor League hitting performance of the day…
Goes to 25yo Rays’ firstbasemen, Rhyne Hughes, for his 3 for 6 2 homerun performance.

Because he illustrates the differences of what we do…
We will provide more coverage of the exploits of Rockies’ 4th rounder, Kent Matthes, who we rated as the 50th best player available in this year’s draft. Matthes went 2 for 3 with 2 doubles in last night’s game, and is off to a .412/.450/.580 start to his professional career.