Comments on: Across the Affiliates 07/25/08

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:28:42 +0000

What a wasted year for Detwiller. The decision to bring him up last year is looking worse by the day

Foxsports says the Dodgers were in on the Rauch negotiations but refused to give up Ivan De Jesus (http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=De%20Jesus%20%202B&pos=&sid=t564&t=p_pbp&pid=474443)

Im glad to see the organization was focusing on middle infield talent. De Jesus was also given the Dodgers "best strike zone discipline" by Baseball America

By: Jon

Jon — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:57:08 +0000

Detwiler is having a bad year however last night was far from his doing. The first run scored should have been unearned except the Potomac scorer always feels the need to credit a hit rather then an error. The 5,6, and 7 run were do to yet another Lawhorn error. While this has not been Detwiler’s year, he has progressed in his command, yet consistency is still a problem.

By: MiLBFan

MiLBFan — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:34:58 +0000

Jon, I totally agree. If a runner is running right by you while you are holding the ball, usually, you want to tag him out…. Box scores aside (this is a developmental league), Detwiler’s ability to adjust has significantly improved. As someone commented on another entry, all his pitches were around the strike zone. I am thrilled for Clint.

By: expo_ram

expo_ram — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:37:35 +0000

So bad day for pitchers (Detwiler, Carr, Estrada, Wagner, Zinicola, Arnold). Good day for hitters (Guerrero, Lowrence, Davis, Desmond, Daniel, Broadway, Rogelstad).

Interesting that Everts is only one year older than Detwiler - what to do with him?

And the DSL pitchers, I mean what is the deal - look at these numbers (W/L/ERA/IP/BB/SO/WHIP):
O. Rodriguez 10/0/1.11/56.2/19/84/0.97
Juan Martinez 7/0/1.13/56.0/13/59/0.91
Jose Santana 4/0/2.52/39.1/10/34/1.17
Wilson Eusebio 3/1/1.48/24.1/10/29/0.99
R. De La Rosa 2/0/1.17/15.1/5/27/0.98 (7sv)
Jonathan Molino 2/0/1.23/29.1/10/39/0.95

One or more of them can’t get a look at GCL? BTW Brian, the box said Guzman started for DSL1?

By: Brian Oliver

Brian Oliver — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:10:29 +0000

There could be some more movement on the horizon with the Olympics coming up. Matt Rogelstad will soon leave Harrisburg, Yurendell de Caster and Shairon Martis will leave Columbus.

After that, Columbus is down two spots; Harrisburg one; Potomac is stil down one; and now Hagerstown is down two. That leaves lots of opportunities to move guys.

By: Pilchard

Pilchard — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:45:07 +0000

I was thinking the same thing that Detwiler and Everts are only one year apart. Good to here that Detwiler pitched better than his stats. That said, he is miles away from being the dominant pitcher that he was projected to be. If we looked at all the pitchers in the system just at their performance with no knowledge of their production, Detwiller would be an after-thought. Any way you cut it; he has had a disappointing year.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:54:45 +0000

Agreed. And maybe it takes 2-3 seasons for Ross to get it right, and maybe we need to re-set our expectations for him. And maybe just sending him to Harrisburg “just ’cause” would be a good thing - see some different hitters and a new environment. He’s got the tools to be a great pitcher, maybe it’s just a head game with him.

By: AlexVA

AlexVA — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:55:56 +0000

If you look only at stats, I agree he does not stand out. Last night was my first look and I have to say I was disappointed. I can only recall a few swings and misses. But he still has a very live arm and no matter when he was selected, you don’t turn your back on those.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:08:31 +0000

It seems after every start someone comes on here and says he pitched better than the stats. That cant be the case everytime. Hes made 20 starts and his era in his last 10 is 2 full runs worse than his first 10. It is what it is at this point.

By: Ryan Zimmerman

Ryan Zimmerman — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:39:09 +0000

It was indeed a really bad day for pitchersAny chance Eury Perez plays for the gcl at the end of this season? He looks like an intriguing prospect, he turned 18 years old not so long ago. Burgess has also slowed down after showing lots of power early on.

By: Rocket Surgeon

Rocket Surgeon — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:14:49 +0000

The P-Nats announcer made a comment during last night’s game that stuck in my mind. He spoke to Ryan Zimmerman while he was rehabbing with the P-Nats. RZ said Detwiler has all the tools to be a good pitcher at the ML level. All he needed to do, according to RZ, was develop “a killer instinct”. Fine tuning someone’s mechanics is one thing, but a 1st round pitcher lacking the mental toughness to be dominant is another.

I think Detwiler has a $1 million arm but a 10 cent brain. When he gets in trouble, he’s not mentally tough enough to pitch his way out of it. That’s always been a problem with college draft choices from uncompetitive, low-RPI conferences. No competition, little pressure, no requirement to sometimes win “ugly”. Check out how his old teammate at MS, Brett Sinkbeil, is doing currently.

By: Rocket Surgeon

Rocket Surgeon — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:25:14 +0000

From BA ’s “Not Hot” segment of the weekly Prospect Hot Sheet:

Ross Detwiler, lhp, Nationals. Detwiler struck out nine in back-to-back starts for high Class A Potomac in late May, but since getting hit hard on May 30, he’s struggled mightily, with a 5.80 ERA in 45 innings over nine starts. There’s no one culprit—20 walks, five homers allowed, 55 hits allowed—it’s all been rough, and it’s not what the Nationals envisioned when they drafted the 22-year-old sixth overall in 2007.

By: EdDC

EdDC — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:55:34 +0000

Aaron Crow is a guy the pros and the fans can agree on--he won all kinds of awards and recognition, had a fabulous record, a lively fastball, played for a top conference, etc.

In contrast, Detwiler is a good case for "the pros vs. the fans." The pros see things that mere fans cannot see, all the mechanics, how he projects, the command, the variety of pitches, all the ingredients of a top pitcher.

The fans usually can't see all that--they only see a guy who did not knock the socks off batters in the Missouri Valley Conference while at Missouri State. In fact, many people did not know there was a Missouri State. So why reach up and grab Detwiler at in the upper part of round one, when there were guys with far better records, a better fastball, and who played in a top conference like the SEC or ACC.

So who knows? I'm still hopeful. I wondered about the pick, but am still thinking the pros, who get paid the big bucks to make these projections, know a lot more than many of us could. It is a bit peculiar, though.