I swear I will make it to a game in which Devin Mesoraco plays. It may be when he’s in Cincinnati, but I will see him. For the fourth time this season, I went to a Louisville Bats game, and for the fourth time this season, I saw Corky Miller behind the plate for the Bats. Corky certainly has his charms, but what are the chances that I would miss the regular starting catcher all four times? Oh well, let’s get on to the night’s action.
Columbus Clippers
Joe Martinez started on the mound for the Clippers, and he did well with the exception of two innings. With a simple delivery, it’s not surprising that Martinez was around the plate all night, but his command wasn’t always sharp. His fastball stayed in the 88-91 range, and it had some sink to it. In addition to a fringe-average fastball, Martinez had a low-80s slider that generated plenty of swings and misses when he snapped it off. During the third and fourth inning, Martinez had issues doing just that, and he gave up four runs in those innings. Otherwise, he was excellent. He kept the ball down, around the plate, and off the Bats’ bats. But when he missed his spot, which he did a few times including a home run later to Jeremy Hermida, he was very hittable. I wonder if he throws a bit harder from the bullpen. If he does, he could be an above-average middle reliever, but if he doesn’t, he’s just bullpen fodder.
After all the call-ups, Cord Phelps is the best remaining prospect in Columbus. He only made one defensive play (a nice running catch on a flair to short right), so I didn’t get much from him there. Offensively, he tagged two balls, one to left and right, and he struck out twice. His swing is fine, but there’s a slight hitch when he starts where he moves his hands in toward his head before he moves them back out. It caused him to be late on a couple upper 80s fastballs from Matt Maloney, and I wonder what major-league fastballs would do to him. He could be a good second baseman for someone, but it won’t be with Cleveland. I wonder if Colorado tried to pry him away in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade.
Nick Hagadone was the biggest “name” prospect I saw, but he wasn’t terribly impressive. His fastball sat 94, but it was straight and induced several line drives. He added a slider in the low-80s, but it was flat. He also couldn’t command either pitch with a delivery that I’ll generously label stiff. Hagadone would also drop his back shoulder, and he couldn’t make it back around to get on top of the ball in order to throw the ball down. His pitches were up, and he was hit pretty hard despite not allowing any runs in his two innings.
Luis Valbuena also appeared in the game for Columbus. He played short, but from the three plays I saw him make, he doesn’t belong there. He had trouble making the throw from there, missing wide twice forcing Nick Johnson off first base. Offensively, he hit a home run, but a serious weight shift to his front foot would leave him devastated against off-speed stuff. Luckily for him, Maloney threw a fastball he could hit.
One guy to keep a small eye on was Jared Goedert. He hit several balls hard–a double to left and right-center and one up the middle–and he even hit some off-speed pitches. He’s 26, but he could potentially be a decent bench bat.Louisville Bats
Matt Maloney took the hill, and you can easily understand why he’s been in AAA for parts of the last four years with an occasionall call-up to the majors. Maloney throws two average to above-average off-speed pitches. His change-up sits 81-83 and has good fade, and his curveball sits 76-78 with good movement. But his weakness is his fastball, which comes in straight at 86-88. He seems to have added a cutter at 83-85, but it’s not enough to get batters off his fastball. He’s a good AAA pitcher and can spot start in the majors, but his fastball would kill him eventually.
Juan Francisco was the biggest “name” Reds prospect on the diamond, and you wouldn’t be surprised by what I saw. He didn’t have any action at third, but you can’t really see him being terribly great there with that body. At the plate, he’s excellent if you throw him a fastball, but his swing and approach on breaking pitches is downright comical. Apparently trying to stress this point to me, Martinez and Hagadone both threw fastballs he could hit because they didn’t have much else to go to, and you know what, he hit them hard. MLB pitchers won’t and haven’t given him that courtesy.
The Bats also ran out a few possible bullpen options. Carlos Fisher throws 95, but he has no idea where it’s going. Jeremy Horst is a lot like Maloney in that the fastball isn’t really there, but he could be a decent middle relief option with a couple decent secondary pitches. And Jordan Smith threw 92-93, but he didn’t really seem to have anything other than an 84 mph straight change-up to compliment it.
As for the rest, it was nice to see Jeremy Hermida again as always. He’s your traditional “looks good in a uniform player”. He hit some balls hard, including a home run, but they were on 90 mph fastballs at the belt. I’m not sure if he can hit better. Danny Dorn is another interesting name. If there’s a “this guy might, might be one of those late bloomers” players, he’s it. Looks good in a uniform. Has some raw power. Left-handed and can hit lefties a little, as evidenced by a nice at-bat and line drive off Hagadone. But you can also see why he hasn’t become anything yet–doesn’t recognize breaking balls early enough.
