Ask Baseball America By James Bailey
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July 5, 2000I hope everyone enjoyed a safe and entertaining Independence Day yesterday. There was plenty of baseball on TV, and I caught some of that, but my baseball highlight was a trip to my summertime haunt over in Burlington. Saw some first-round picks, some fireworks, some rain. What more could you ask for? Rocco Baldelli, the Devil Rays' first-round pick, looked good, showing off a strong arm and running the bases well. The first thing that strikes you when you see him is how thin he is, his legs especially. Corey Smith, on the other hand, is pretty well built. The Indians' first-rounder has shown flashes of great athleticism, but for now his range at third base is not too impressive. With his natural ability, though, I'm sure that will improve over time. We had a nice conversation with a parent of one of the other Indians players during the last few innings of the game. Tim Finnerty, the father of Burlington third baseman Francis Finnerty, had driven up from Florida just to watch last night's game. He was planning to get back on the interstate after spending a little bit of time visiting with his son after the game. That's a lot of car time for one ballgame. And the bummer is if he had gotten there a night earlier he'd have seen his son go 4-for-4 with a couple of home runs. I guess that's one of the things I like the best about the lower levels of the minor leagues. It's still a big family thing for a lot of the players. The parents come out as frequently as they can to see their boys in action and you know for most of those kids it probably means a lot, too. No young man out on his own for the first time really wants to admit it too much, but it's nice to have your folks around occasionally to cheer you on. And in most cases the parents are great people to talk with. We get the opportunity to meet a lot of interesting people at games: scouts, players, reporters, etc., but in many cases the parents are the most fun to talk to. Most of them love to talk about their son for some reason, too. Anyway, that's how I spent my Fourth of July. I hope Tim made it back to Florida safely and I'm sure I'll see him again in Burlington before the season's over. Now, here's today's column that would have run yesterday if it hadn't been a national holiday. I'm a big White Sox fan and recently they demoted Kip Wells after he struggled in his first full major league season. What usually happens when guys with talent like that aren't successful in their first major league season and what do you think will happen with Kip? Thanks, Andrew
Greg Maddux went 2-4 with a 5.52 ERA for the Cubs in a late-season callup in 1986. The following season he was 6-14 with a 5.61 ERA and earned not one, but two return tickets to Triple-A Iowa that August. He's rebounded nicely. After going 3-0, 2.42 in a four-start trial at the end of the 1988 season, Randy Johnson began 1989 in the Expos rotation. After an 0-4, 6.67 start he was sent to Triple-A Indianapolis. Less than a month later he went to the Mariners in what was then known as the Mark Langston trade. Yankees relief ace Mariano Rivera was sent back to Triple-A Columbus after a 1-2, 10.20 showing in a one-month trial in New York in 1995. He returned later in the season and posted a 5-3, 5.51 record overall in 19 appearances for the Yankees. Astros righthander Shane Reynolds was brutalized in eight major league appearances in 1992, going 1-3 with a 7.11 ERA. He looked so bad the Astros let him spend nearly the entire 1993 season in the minors, as he made just five big league appearances that year. In 1994 he was back in Houston for good. Jose Lima, who lest we forget was good only last year, had a difficult time breaking into the big leagues. He made 15 starts with the Tigers in 1995, going 3-9 with a 6.11 ERA. He started the following season at Triple-A Toledo, then bombed in another big league trial early in the season, going 0-4, 8.02 in five games. He came back to the major leagues in July and pitched in the bullpen for the rest of the season, finishing with a 5-6, 5.70 record. So don't worry too much about Wells. He seems like he's got good enough makeup to handle the temporary disappointment of getting shipped out once or twice. And he's got the ability to put things together for the White Sox before too much longer. But they're just not in a position to be too patient with a struggling pitcher right now, because they're concentrating on winning their division. Greg Wooten of New Haven has been unbelievable this year, with six walks in 103 innings, to go along with a 10-2 record, 2.61 ERA, and three shutouts. Has his control always been that good? Given that he's in his mid-20s, does he figure into the Mariners' long-term plans? Any word on when he'll get promoted to Tacoma? It seems like he has nothing more to prove at Double-A ball, and I'd love to see a guy who can throw strikes that well trotting out of the M's bullpen some day soon. Thanks, Lior
A third-round pick out of Portland State in 1995, Wooten underwent Tommy John surgery in 1998 and returned to action less than a year later. He's 26 now, and plenty ready for a jump to Tacoma. The problem is, the Rainiers already have more solid starters than they can fit in their rotation. Right now they are starting Ryan Anderson, Joel Pineiro, Kevin Hodges, Pat Ahearne and Ryan Franklin. Tom Davey has made 10 starts there as well, though he's now in the bullpen. Freddy Garcia is there on a rehab assignment, but is scheduled to start for Seattle on Friday. But his promotion likely means Robert Ramsay goes back to Tacoma. He could start or relieve. So there's not really room for Wooten right now, and he's likely to stay at New Haven until that changes. Someone else sent in a question asking whether I thought the Mariners would try to deal someone like Pineiro, since they had too much pitching. I certainly don't think they would go out of their way to eliminate whatever pitching backlog they may have on the horizon, because you can never have too much pitching (ask the Indians or Yankees right now). But they might be willing to part with an arm at the end of the month if they feel like they need to do so to improve the major league team for the stretch drive. What do you think of Charleston first baseman Josh Pressley? I was pretty impressed looking at his numbers there; good average, almost a 1-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, only three homers but a huge number of doubles (which presumably will turn into homers as he matures). It's his second year there but he's just 20, so that doesn't seem like a big deal, although maybe it is. As I recall he was considered a first- or second-round talent when he was drafted but fell because of a college commitment. Anyway, is he a prospect? Alan St. Pete Pressley is having an impressive year at Charleston, batting .312 with 31 doubles, three homers and 40 RBIs in 298 at-bats. Throw in 31 walks and 34 strikeouts and you have a kid who is driving the ball on a regular basis while showing some knowledge of the strike zone. Yeah, he's a prospect. Pressley hit .243 with 22 doubles and nine homers at Charleston last year. Though he's repeating the league, he's still only 20, so that's not old for the competition he's facing by any means. Coming out of Fort Lauderdale's Westminster Academy in 1998, Pressley was considered an early-round talent, but his commitment to Florida frightened some teams a little. The Devil Rays, however, didn't have a first-, second- or third-round pick because of free agent signings. So when Pressley was still on the board in the fourth round, they grabbed him, figuring he was the closest they could come to getting their own first-rounder. They were willing to take the gamble on his signability and less than a month later he signed for $750,000 and made his pro debut in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League. I've heard about the Diamondbacks Jerry Gil but I haven't seen him on any roster yet. I know he is very young and was the eleventh ranked prospect on the Diamondbacks but what is his potential and who would you most compare him to in the majors? Jon Mendez Secaucus, NJ Gil is playing at Rookie-level Missoula, where he is hitting .174 with seven RBIs and 10 errors through 13 games. Gil, who signed for $767,500 last November, has drawn comparisons to the best shortstops in baseball, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. I haven't seen him play and I'm not sure I'd stick a tag like that on a 17-year-old kid anyway, so I don't have a comparison of my own for you. The Diamondbacks think he will become quite a player, with a strong arm, good power and some speed. They had originally talked about starting him at Class A South Bend to open the season, but apparently thought better of it. It's probably just as well that he begins his career at Missoula. Directory: mlb mlb -> By Ken Gurnick mlb -> Los angeles dodgers clips mlb -> 2010 – What’s the name of the umpire whose errant call cost the Tigers’ Armando Galarraga a perfect game in 2010? (Jim Joyce) gabp mlb -> Wednesday, September 23, 2015 headlines: Verrett stumbles in the fifth as Mets lose to Braves 6-2 mlb -> All-Star History In what city was the first All-Game played? (Chicago, 1933) Baseball & Pop Culture mlb -> Los angeles dodgers clips mlb -> Los angeles dodgers clips mlb -> Los angeles dodgers clips mlb -> The Impact of Television Revenue on Major League Baseball mlb -> Los angeles dodgers clips Download 1 Mb. Share with your friends:
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