Minor League Pitching -- through May 2004

Your basic who's hot, who's not list with April and May splits
listed on line 1 and 2 respectively.


Richmond 9-11
15-12

Player Age G IP H R ER BB K HR W-L-S ERA
Aguilar 24 4 19 30 14 10 5 18 0 1-1-0 4.74
5 23 29 22 19 12 13 4 1-3-0 7.43

Almanza 31 3 3 1 0 0 1 2 0 0-0-0 0.00
4 4 1 0 0 0 5 0 0-0-1 0.00

Colon 24 9 10 12 10 9 7 7 2 0-0-0 7.84
10 13 17 8 8 7 13 0 1-0-0 5.54

Cunnane [Atlanta]
30 5 5 8 7 7 3 4 1 0-1-0 12.60

Drew 25 6 10 11 3 3 2 6 0 1-1-1 2.61
6 34 38 16 11 11 14 1 1-3-0 2.91

Hernandez 25 7 10 6 3 3 6 7 1 1-1-0 2.61
9 14 13 8 7 3 14 2 1-1-0 4.50

Hodges 26 4 18 17 12 12 7 20 3 1-1-0 5.89
2 10 12 8 7 4 5 2 1-0-0 6.30

McConnell 28 4 21 18 10 8 6 14 2 1-2-0 3.43
5 30 32 12 11 5 23 3 2-1-0 3.30

Romano 32 10 13 15 7 6 7 17 1 1-3-0 4.15
12 15 18 9 9 7 11 3 2-0-0 5.40

T. Smith 31 4 23 18 4 4 4 18 1 1-0-0 1.59
5 28 29 10 10 9 26 1 3-1-0 3.21

Whiteside 36 9 11 10 4 4 2 6 3 2-0-5 3.38
11 15 15 6 6 2 15 2 0-1-9 3.60

Ho hum. Wake me when the old timers game starts. I wish
they would get rid of the old guys and make more room at this
level for some of the better players. The number of young
Braves pitchers who completely skip AAA is astounding.

Hodges is just coming off an injury, but I still am not
fond of the guy. His stuff is just too mediocre.

Aguilar has gotten off to another slow start, but is somewhat
unique so has to be watched for somewhere in the future. But
even LH knuckleballers still have to get people out eventually.

Colon was supposed to be the real prospect out of this crowd,
but still has struggled to do anything to make me look. Good
arm, but gives up too many walks and too many hard hit balls.

Tim Drew has been moved to starter and again is pitching decently
well though with his usual pedestrian peripherals. From Spring
Training, I still get the idea he could pitch somewhere in the majors
as a 5th guy or mid reliever. 92+mph fastball and decent breaking
stuff.

Buddy Hernandez seems to have finally adapted to Richmond and
decided to be a middle of the road middle of the game pitcher.

Travis Smith will get his few innings for the Braves and maybe
they can trade him for something useful before people remember
what he is. Like Cunnane from last year, sometimes past history
is useful long term even for those guys who follow the "Pitchers
Corollary to Voros' Law"




Greenville 5-17
14-15

Almanza 31 5 7 12 6 6 3 5 0 0-3-0 8.10
[AAA]

Barry 25 8 12 6 1 1 4 15 0 2-0-1 0.75
11 12 8 1 1 6 14 0 0-1-3 0.75

Capellan 23 [MB]
1 6 5 4 4 1 11 1 0-0-0 5.68

Coenen 24 8 16 22 12 12 11 12 1 0-1-0 6.75
5 8 13 7 6 4 5 1 0-0-0 6.75

Curtis 24 7 15 21 9 7 8 17 0 0-0-0 4.20
6 26 25 9 8 6 16 0 2-0-0 2.77

Evert 23 8 16 14 7 7 8 19 2 0-0-0 3.86
8 24 22 12 11 8 25 3 1-1-0 4.13

McBride 21 5 24 28 18 18 12 25 1 0-3-0 6.66
6 29 37 22 19 14 29 4 0-3-0 5.90

Merricks 21 1 5 6 5 5 1 9 2 0-1-0 9.00
5 17 20 16 7 10 18 2 1-2-0 3.71

Meyer 22 4 14 7 1 0 4 15 0 1-0-0 0.00
5 27 22 9 9 4 35 1 3-2-0 3.00

Miner 22 5 16 35 27 22 7 16 4 0-3-0 12.12
6 25 19 15 14 12 21 3 2-2-0 5.04

Moehler [rehab]
32 2 9 11 3 3 3 3 1 1-0-0 2.89

Roberts 24 8 14 17 7 7 5 12 1 0-1-0 4.50
[MB]

Smyth 26 5 20 21 16 10 15 15 0 1-1-0 4.58
2 2 4 4 4 4 0 2 0-0-0 18.00

Sturkie 25 [trade for Branyan from AA Akron]
2 3 1 0 0 0 3 0 0-0-0 0.00

Zumwalt 23 8 12 8 4 2 4 10 0 0-2-0 1.54
10 22 17 11 8 9 19 1 1-1-0 3.27

Smyth has been released already (Juan Cruz trade). Merricks
is back in MB along with Roberts.

Zumwalt has been pitching multiple innings per game lately and
still seems to be on the good side of the learning curve. His
control is still spotty and he occasionally seems to pitch himself
into and out of trouble, but his stuff is steadily improving.

Barry isn't getting younger, but he has been consistently excellent
most of the last 2 seasons. He may well be in the pen at some point
in time somewhere next year.

Miner has 'improved' I guess to be somewhat nice and he's actually
had a couple very good games mixed with some bombs. Million dollar
bonus players get lots of chances.

McBride has come to a complete halt for some reason and after
losing several games early in which he pitched decently, he
has just gotten bombed lately and even shifted to the bullpen
to try to get something fixed. I'm not sure if his mechanics
are just REALLY messed up, but this pattern is extemely suggestive
that he's hurting.

Luckily Meyer has been lights out and likely is now easily the
#1 LHP prospect in the organization. I think he's had one bad
game this season and he throws quality strikes. He's an old
22yo (DOB July 3), but with pitchers I think less of that issue
than I do for hitters. He seems to have good mechanics and no
obvious history of arm injuries so here comes the next big thing.
If Ramirez is really hurting and/or Travis Smith's frog is really
not a prince, then he may be the next in line this season and
likely will be the highest candidate for the rookie pitcher next
year.

Capellan has arrived in Greenville for his first start and had
11 k's in 6 innings, but was a bit unlucky giving up 4 runs. Check
his MB May numbers for an astounding set of games. He could be
a starter or he could well end up in the bullpen this season if
the Braves see the need. He has never pitched more than 60 innings
in any pro season, so I'm waiting until August to see more. He's a full
2 years out from TJ surgery now, so arm strength shouldn't be an issue.
His mechanics looked pretty solid in spring, but his history is as
wandering control within the strike zone, but occasional triple
digit fastballs and increasingly nasty breaking pitches with a
developing change could make an exciting guy to watch on our side
for a change.





MB 12-9
19-9
Basner 22 6 13 17 5 5 2 18 1 0-0-1 3.46
9 17 15 3 3 4 16 1 1-0-3 1.59

Boyer 22 4 21 16 8 5 5 18 0 1-2-0 2.11
6 36 31 10 10 11 14 2 4-0-0 2.50

Capellan 23 3 13 14 8 8 5 19 0 1-1-0 5.40
5 33 13 3 2 6 43 0 4-0-0 0.55

Davies 20 4 19 8 6 5 9 23 0 3-1-0 2.37
6 33 34 15 14 12 33 2 2-1-0 3.82

Lerew 21 4 20 17 7 6 3 19 0 1-1-0 2.70
6 35 29 11 10 11 35 1 4-1-0 2.57

McClendon 26 5 8 7 3 2 3 1 0 1-1-0 2.16
6 11 10 5 5 4 8 2 1-0-0 4.09

Merricks 21 3 15 11 5 4 6 14 0 0-0-0 2.40
[GVL]

Mueller 23 5 8 6 6 5 4 6 1 0-1-0 5.40
5 10 10 9 9 5 8 2 0-1-0 8.10

Peralta 22 6 19 7 2 2 6 20 0 1-0-1 0.96
8 13 17 11 8 3 10 1 0-1-2 5.54

Roberts 24 [GVL]
8 10 11 8 7 6 10 1 0-3-2 6.10

Tucker 23 9 11 11 2 2 4 11 0 1-0-3 1.59
8 10 13 5 5 5 7 2 0-1-2 4.50

Waters 23 [rehab]
2 2 7 5 5 1 1 0 0-1-0 22.50

Wright 22 5 21 12 5 4 9 23 0 1-2-0 1.71
4 24 17 7 5 8 22 0 1-0-0 1.88

McClendon has been released though his numbers don't look
that bad, his arm strength and fastball have just not made
much progress this season.

Larew, Wright, and Davies have been excellent. Davies had
2 bad games that account for almost all of his runs allowed
this season.

Boyer was the talk of spring other than Capellan, but he has
an surprisingly low K rate given his stuff which is a bit
bothersome, but the results otherwise are quite good. The
K/BB isn't pretty, but he's still only walking 3 per 9ip which
is quite acceptable.

As always, beware the curse of Coastal Federal Field in evaluating
pitching.



Rome 12-9
16-11

Ascanio 19 3 5 2 1 1 0 5 0 1-0-0 1.80
8 13 8 8 5 4 14 1 0-0-2 3.46

Bakker 22 5 9 6 1 1 4 8 0 2-0-0 0.96
7 9 8 2 2 12 4 0 1-0-0 2.00

Blakeney 23 5 10 8 3 1 1 8 1 0-0-2 0.90
9 10 8 5 5 3 9 0 0-2-2 4.50

Digby 22 5 25 32 16 15 11 18 1 1-1-0 5.40
5 31 45 20 18 11 22 3 2-2-0 5.23

C James 22 4 19 7 2 2 6 21 1 3-0-0 0.93
6 36 24 9 7 9 35 2 3-0-0 1.75

Lopez 20 5 17 21 13 10 4 23 2 1-2-0 5.40
5 29 24 10 9 5 25 2 2-0-0 2.79

Morton 20 4 15 17 6 4 5 13 1 1-0-1 2.45
5 18 19 11 8 12 11 1 1-2-1 4.00

Reyes 19 4 19 20 12 11 8 12 1 1-1-1 5.21
5 25 27 9 8 4 21 3 0-1-0 2.88

Rodriguez 23 3 5 3 2 2 4 5 0 1-1-1 3.86
[dnp]

Russell 20 4 18 17 12 9 8 13 1 0-3-0 4.50
5 22 18 13 10 11 23 1 2-0-0 4.09

Stevens 19 4 19 13 5 5 4 22 1 1-0-0 2.41
5 22 21 7 6 6 16 2 2-1-1 2.45

S White 23 5 19 20 10 10 3 9 1 2-0-1 4.66
6 14 18 19 15 8 9 3 1-2-0 9.64

James and Lopez seem to be separating from the rest. Lopez
was a fast rising 18yo BA Top 10 Prospect a couple seasons
ago, but got himself into a lot of trouble with the management
last season and was basically sent home to grow up and decide
if he was seriously interested in playing baseball for a living.

Reyes has settled down and is pitching 5 inning games though like
Lopez, he has been prone to give up a few more HR's than you'd
like to see.

Stevens has been a pleasant surprise all spring both with his
improved stuff and apparently his baseball sense for a young
guy.

"JPM III" <jpmccord.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> Travis Smith has impressed me in Atlanta so far, given that he's actually
> pitched reasonably well for his first two major league starts and taken a
> couple of tough losses. (Well, last night's game was a tough loss until
> Gryboski came in.)

Travis Smith has had ten major league starts with St. Louis in 2002 where he
posted a 7.17 ERA in 54 IP.
--
JD

"He takes pitching to not only the next level, but to where few people have
ever gone before. I don't think its fair to compare Greg Maddux to Christy
Matthewson, but in this era, Greg Maddux is the best that's played the
game." -- Randy Johnson on Greg Maddux