Ask Baseball America By James Bailey
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May 23, 2000I received an interesting e-mail from someone following up on last Thursday's question/comment on Bobby Darula. It came from Chris Peckham, a former teammate of Darula's at Eckerd (Fla.) College. Here's what he had to say: I am an avid reader of Baseball America and a former minor league player myself. I spent two years playing short-season A ball with the Anaheim Angels. I (for lack of a better word) choked and quickly found myself out of baseball. Enough about me, this e-mail concerns the complete ineptitude on the part of the Milwaukee Brewers in their handling of Bobby Darula. Bobby is a terrific ballplayer who possesses every baseball skill it takes to make it to the major leagues. I know you will quickly bring to my attention his lack of power and I will not disagree with you, but I would certainly say that given Bobby's incredible natural strength (his father was a former natural bodybuilder) the potential for an increase in power is definitely there. What separates Bobby from everyone else though, is his work ethic. He spends countless hours in the batting cages, working on his fundamentals, and he puts in some serious time in the weight room to maintain his already chiseled physique. He has yet to hit under .300 in any season in professional ball. It's rather disheartening to see the Brewers burying a great player like Darula who, without a doubt, should be at Double-A right now. They seem content on not moving a great player who could help their organization simply because of the "retirement" issue of 1998. Bobby is a lefthanded-hitting catcher by trade, who has well-above average speed and above average foot-work and arm strength. His character is impeccable. You never hear Bobby Darula's name in the same sentence as anything negative. Yet, the Brewers will not reward his hard work, talent, and willingness to play at an inferior level of baseball in relation to his skills. Just look at his OPS. His walk/strikeout ratio is phenomenal and has been every year in pro ball. He has a clear understanding of the strike zone and has instincts as a hitter that are unteachable to most young players. I know all of this first hand because I had the pleasure of playing with Bobby for three years at Eckerd College in Florida. He still holds the record for the highest batting average for a single-season with .447. That's pretty good considering some of the alumni that have passed through the doors of Eckerd College which was a national powerhouse in the 70s and 80s. Unfortunately, politics are not isolated to corporations in the work force, as it is glaringly obvious that the great game of baseball will not be spared of such an ugly, age-old practice such as that. Chris Peckham I have to agree with Chris that I'd like to see Darula get a shot at a higher level. Through yesterday's games he was hitting .419 with 29 RBIs for Beloit. It's hard to believe they don't have an opening at high Class A Mudville or even Double-A Huntsville for him. Speaking of Beloit, another reader had a question about Snappers catcher Lance Burkhart. Can you give me some info on catcher Lance Burkhart? He was sent to the Brewers organization by the Expos. He is putting up some really good numbers this season in Beloit. But why is he only playing A-ball, when last season he was sent up to Triple-A Ottawa? Who did the Brewers send to the Expos to complete the trade and why was he traded with the skills he is showing this season? Understand he has a brother that plays first base for Triple-A Pawtucket? Chad Jupiter, Florida Burkhart, like Darula, is 25 years old and is posting some pretty impressive numbers at Beloit. He's batting .301 with nine homers and leads the Midwest League with 43 RBIs. He homered twice and drove in five runs in a loss to Burlington Monday night. He is, in fact, the younger brother of Morgan Burkhart, who currently plays for Pawtucket. Unlike Darula, Burkhart has never really produced before. He entered this season with a .207 average and six home runs in three pro seasons (382 at-bats). He did get a taste of Triple-A last year, appearing in two games for Ottawa, but that hardly established him as a Triple-A player. He was only just temporarily filling in. Other than those two games he's seen all his action at Class A or lower. Still, considering his age, if the Brewers like his upside at all, he should probably be challenged with a move to Mudville at midseason. Burkhart came to the Brewers from the Expos in a deal for a player to be named in February. I haven't seen any report on who the Expos received, so I don't believe the trade has been completed yet. On the subject of Brewers trades involving players to be named, we still don't know who the two players left in the Fernando Vina deal are. It seems like we get a question a week on that subject, though we covered that on March 10. The answer will come next month. What do you think of Neil Frendling of the Devil Rays in Charleston? He seems to be one of their better pitchers in the lower minors and nobody has heard of him. Mike Flynn Frendling is one of those guys who just quietly keeps on putting up good numbers. He signed last May as a draft-and-follow after being picked by the Devil Rays in the 16th round of the 1998 draft. He went 5-2 with a 2.94 ERA at two stops last season and is now 2-1 with a 3.61 ERA after eight starts at Charleston. He has 54 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings and has walked just 15 hitters. More impressively, he's taken no-hitters into the eighth inning in two of his last three starts. This question led to an idea for a new feature on Baseball America Online. You may have seen the Frendling story that we ran last week. We'll be doing something similar to "introduce" an emerging minor leaguer each week for the rest of the season. Frankly, we need the introduction ourselves a lot of the time. When you figure there are more than 6,000 players in Organized Baseball, it's truly impossible to know the story behind them all, or even a fraction of them. So when someone suddenly, or even not-so-suddenly, begins to emerge as a prospect in Class A, we've got to learn about them just like you do. Ben Broussard's on the Chattanooga Lookout DL for a month. What happened to the big guy? I called the team and they are keeping mum, which I find odd. Thanks, Brad
I have been watching the progress this year of the Braves first-round draft pick in 1994, Jacob Shumate. According to his numbers this year, it really seems as though he is having a breakout year. Right now he is 1-1 with a 3.24 ERA and is among the Southern League leaders with 10 saves. Can you comment on Shumate and where he fits in to the Braves' plans? Thanks, Hank
Now 13-to-16 isn't exactly a Maddux-like walk-to-strikeout ratio, but if he continues at this pace for the rest of the year, Shumate will walk fewer batters than he strikes out for the first time as a pro. Since he was drafted in '94, he has walked more hitters than he's struck out in every season except for 1996, when he pitched just three innings and walked two and struck out two. Where does he fit in the Braves' plans? I'd guess right now they have him chalked up in the pleasant surprise category. Meaning, if he makes it to Atlanta they'll look at his arrival as a pleasant surprise. That's better than where he was about a year ago (snowball's chance in hell category). Obviously, the Braves and Shumate have to be encouraged with his progress, but he's got to prove he can keep getting Southern League hitters out before anyone can think about National League hitters. Can you tell me if Jeff Nettles, a third baseman for the Greensboro Bats, is any relation to former Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles? Thanks, Mike G.
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