2011 Mahoning Valley Scrappers thread

by **A.Zajac** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 10:38 am

Some news and notes:

Talked with Bryson Myles last night and he said his hamstring is doing very well and he's returning August 1.

Travis Fryman was also on hand.

Tony Wolters continues to rake in the hits and he is one player that impressed me quite a bit. He shows very good plate discipline and makes pitchers work. He also is actually very quick on the bases.

The Scrappers bullpen is awful and that might be putting it lightly. Dischler, in particular, will not be in the organization very long. Cannot throw strikes and when he does, it's right down broadway and he gets crushed. I'm amazed why Wallace left him in as long as he did.

by **A.Zajac** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 11:04 am

Jordan Smith has been promoted to LC.

by **Tondo** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 1:00 pm

A.Zajac wrote:Jordan Smith has been promoted to LC.

Well deserved...very advanced bat for a 9th rounder

Wolters is having a very nice start to his career too...pretty strong numbers and ratios (great K:BB and LHP splits) for 18.5yo matching up against players 2-3 years older and very consistent too, his defense at SS is pretty much only minus so far, his bat couldn't have been expected to be much better...with graduation of our top 4, he's heading towards a Top3 org lock to start next year

With those 2 + Myles, Lowery, L.Rodriguez, Aguilar there're finally some much needed intriguing Top20 bats in this system...I like, solid early returns from this last draft :good:

by **A.Zajac** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 2:28 pm

Make that Casas called up to Kinston, not Smith called up to LC.

by **TonyIBI** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 4:17 pm

A.Zajac wrote:The Scrappers bullpen is awful and that might be putting it lightly. Dischler, in particular, will not be in the organization very long. Cannot throw strikes and when he does, it's right down broadway and he gets crushed. I'm amazed why Wallace left him in as long as he did.

Not a surprise as short season pens tend to be filled with so much clutter and org filler. Because Dischler can throw hard and they paid good coin for him, he will be given every chance to turn things around and thus stick around awhile longer than usual for a player performing like he has. Definitely a pen arm going forward, almost another version of Haley.

I agree on Wolters, man, what a very nice season for him. Getting lots of good reports on him.

by **A.Zajac** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 1:57 pm

Kind of funny looking through some old roster sheets today and players from opposing teams I've seen... Brett Gardner, Matt Joyce, Ben Zobrist, Hunter Pence...

by **Upper Box Woodchuck** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 10:18 pm

Is the game in a rain delay? The website says the game is in progress in the 8th, but the webcast link is just playing music.

by **artgold** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 12:18 am

Nice outing by Will Roberts, second good start in a row. Last two starts he has gone 11 innings, giving up only 4 hits and 1 walk, while striking out 9. Should be interesting to see how he does the next few times out there.

by **A.Zajac** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 12:09 pm

4 Scrappers named to the All-Star team: Jimenez, Wolters, Smith, Myles.

by **A.Zajac** » Tue Aug 16, 2011 7:33 pm

Mahoning Valley awarded the 2012 NYP All-Star game.

by **Rocky55** » Tue Aug 16, 2011 8:12 pm

A.Zajac wrote:Mahoning Valley awarded the 2012 NYP All-Star game.

I'd urge anyone in the area to try to attend this game. I went to the SAL All Star Game a couple of years ago & had a GREAT time. For all of us prospect/draft junkies there's nothing better. Minor League games are fun anyway but the All Star games are like Christmas in the ball park. Cheap beer too! :drinks:

by **A.Zajac** » Tue Aug 16, 2011 8:18 pm

Rocky55 wrote:
A.Zajac wrote:Mahoning Valley awarded the 2012 NYP All-Star game.

I'd urge anyone in the area to try to attend this game. I went to the SAL All Star Game a couple of years ago & had a GREAT time. For all of us prospect/draft junkies there's nothing better. Minor League games are fun anyway but the All Star games are like Christmas in the ball park. Cheap beer too!

You better believe I'll be going. Sounds like a great feature to have for the site next year!

by **TonyIBI** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 4:51 pm

Even better is with the new draft deadline, you are bound to have a TON of the top 2012 Draft prospects in attendance for the game.

by **GeronimoSon** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 8:33 am

It appears that Bryson Myles left the game Wednesday evening early (replaced by Anthony Siligia).. Did BM suffer an injury, that you (collectively) know of?

Nice game by Alex Lavisky..

by **TonyIBI** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 12:00 pm

GeronimoSon wrote:It appears that Bryson Myles left the game Wednesday evening early (replaced by Anthony Siligia).. Did BM suffer an injury, that you (collectively) know of?

Nice game by Alex Lavisky..

I put an update in MH today....Myles was removed for precautionary reasons after he fouled a ball off his foot in the 1st inning. Not expected to be out long, it at all. I will actually be there tonight so will get more info then.

by **GeronimoSon** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 1:42 pm

TonyIPI wrote:
GeronimoSon wrote:It appears that Bryson Myles left the game Wednesday evening early (replaced by Anthony Siligia).. Did BM suffer an injury, that you (collectively) know of?

Nice game by Alex Lavisky..

I put an update in MH today....Myles was removed for precautionary reasons after he fouled a ball off his foot in the 1st inning. Not expected to be out long, it at all. I will actually be there tonight so will get more info then.

Ah.. thanks for the update..Yes..I hope he doesn't suffer any effects that will keep him from playing. He's one of the three "dynamic" draftees that raised my eyebrow upon their selection (Bryson Myles, Evan Frazar, and Cole Pitts)..

by **ClevBuck** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 4:36 pm

David Wallace has confirmed Alex Lavisky has not been sent to LC

by **A.Zajac** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 4:39 pm

ClevBuck wrote:David Wallace has confirmed Alex Lavisky has not been sent to LC

NYPL had the official transaction that he was... so not sure what's going on there.

by **indianinkslinger** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 6:13 pm

I notice that Lindor is in the game today and got a hit in his first AB. Wolters was not in the lineup at either MV or LC so I guess he is getting the day off. Nice to see Arajo get a promotion as well even though that makes our rookie team less likely to make the playoffs. Wonder if we will see Dillon in MV in the last week of the season?

by **homerawayfromhome** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 9:52 pm

Sounds like Lavisky was a paper move. I noticed that he was in the transactions and the box scores the same night. A bit odd.

Lindor hadn't played all summer. Part of his appearance in MV to get him acclimated there for next yr.

Howard probably won't toe the rubber in MV bc he had been pitching up to a few wks ago. Look for him in fall ball. Although he's likely to be physically in MV briefly.

by **ClevBuck** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 12:47 am

Not sure how lavisky was a "paper move" when he wasn't moved and started for MV tonight. Sounds like the NYPL website was just wrong in this one.

Lindor went 1-3 tonight with just a single, Wolters replaced him in the 7th. Elvis looked Ok after the 1st inning

by **Lloyd Christmas** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 1:19 am

Whyd they take Lindor out in the 7th?

by **A.Zajac** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 9:03 am

He was actually replaced in the 5th and he was only scheduled to play 5 innings.

by **entertheshoe** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 12:14 pm

Anyone have a report on Lindor's fielding in that first game? I saw that he was part of two turned double plays with no errors, not sure how many putouts though. So far so good? I'd love to know more details if anyone has any.

by **TonyIBI** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 2:21 pm

entertheshoe wrote:Anyone have a report on Lindor's fielding in that first game? I saw that he was part of two turned double plays with no errors, not sure how many putouts though. So far so good? I'd love to know more details if anyone has any.

No report from the game, but I saw him work extensively at shortstop and turning double plays when I was there on Thursday.....wow, he has some very quick hands and feet. A natural at shortstop. Extremely impressed with him in my first glimpse.

by **martyinnewyork** » Wed Aug 31, 2011 9:23 pm

A Hector Rondon sighting...

by **MadThinker88** » Wed Aug 31, 2011 11:22 pm

martyinnewyork wrote:A Hector Rondon sighting...

After reading tony earlier, I didn't think this would be happening. Welcome back Hector. :clapping:

by **A.Zajac** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 3:02 pm

I'm on a bit of a hiatus due to some family issues, so my apologies for no updates/posts. Hopefully things will be squared a way soon.

by **dazindiansfanuk** » Sun Sep 04, 2011 2:07 pm

Really encouraging outing for Rondon today: -

3IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 3K

I assume he's done for the day after 3.

by **dazindiansfanuk** » Sun Sep 04, 2011 2:24 pm

I assumed wrong, Rondon allowed 4 unearned runs in the 4th on 4 hits after a Lindor error. Followed that up with a perfect 5th inning.

by **dazindiansfanuk** » Sun Sep 04, 2011 3:39 pm

Looks like the MILB.com box score had a few gremlins today.

After the game finished the box score changed.... Rondon pitched two innings before being replaced by Dischler.

by **OhioBaseball** » Sun Sep 04, 2011 7:43 pm

I've always liked Rondon. He's very underrated by the majority of Indians fans. Between Gomez, Rondon and McAllister, hopefully the Indians can get a good 4th starter type out of one of those guys next year. Rondon is behind those two, but it is within reason.

On the other side, Tony Wolters has finished the season quite poorly. His batting average has held up well, but he's not hitting for a lick of power and his strike outs are surprisingly high. I hope his upside is better than Jamey Carroll but that's what he looks like. People may need to recalibrate their expectations on this guy.

by **mwash1983** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:50 am

On Wolters, he's been injured for the past 3 weeks that's why his numbers have slid. He got hit in the foot by a pitch and has had a severe bone bruise since. Me and a friend talked to him after a game in early August and he said he thought his foot may have been broken. He could have been put on the DL, but he didn't want to miss anytime because they were in contention and wanted to finish the season. I see better things out of Wolters next year in terms of pop and he does have some. He was hitting for pop before the injury.

by **indianinkslinger** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 1:28 pm

mwash1983 wrote:On Wolters, he's been injured for the past 3 weeks that's why his numbers have slid. He got hit in the foot by a pitch and has had a severe bone bruise since. Me and a friend talked to him after a game in early August and he said he thought his foot may have been broken. He could have been put on the DL, but he didn't want to miss anytime because they were in contention and wanted to finish the season. I see better things out of Wolters next year in terms of pop and he does have some. He was hitting for pop before the injury.

Welcome to the site. Thanks for the update on Wolters. OB is a great poster but in this case, I would not agree with him even without your post. But I was able to watch Wolters throughout his HS career and I think the pop will be there. One of the most instinctive players at the HS level that I have seen and mostly due to work ethic from what i observed. :pleasantry:

by **A.Zajac** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 2:18 pm

The one thing when I talked with others about Wolters that came up the most was his incredible work ethic.

by **OhioBaseball** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 3:27 pm

I knew my modest criticism of Wolters wouldn't be popular b/c people like him. The first month of the season he was indeed getting base hits but they've not been there since. I hope it's an injury.

I'm reminded of Jeremy Sowers. I ate all of the Jeremy Sowers talk up. I saw him at Vandy and on the Cape after hearing all of the praise as a HS'er. "He's one of the smartest pitchers out there", "He's always one step ahead of hitters". I was always on board with Sowers. If you saw him pitch, he'd be 87-91 and he had an average slider. His velocities weren't impressive, but people would tell you, "He's got 93, 94 in his back pocket if he wants it." Physically, he looked much more like an accountant than a pro athlete, but I overlooked it. Sowers was good in the minors (stats probably indicated he was very lucky in AAA in 2006 though). When it came down to it, all these intangibles about how smart of a pitcher he was didn't mean enough in the majors b/c he didn't have the physical tools to hack it with the big boys. His low 3/4 slot, flat 87-91 mph fastball got crushed no matter what his score on the ACT was. I'm kind of reminded of this with Wolters -- people give him a lot of praise (Team One loved Sowers, Perfect Game loved Wolters). A lot of it is b/c of intangibles.

Now, it's not at all fair to Wolters to bring up Sowers b/c they are different players and they play entirely different positions. However, I've been burned making excuses for guys that don't have the physical tools before and I'm not ready to take the leap of faith on Wolters. I saw Dustin Pedroia in college in person a few times. I had my questions about his peculiar swing and his size and I would not have taken him where he went in the draft so I would have missed on an AL MVP, but he was also dominating college baseball and summer leagues so comparing Wolters to Pedroia is a big stretch b/c we have not seen Wolters dominate anything. Wolters was paid like a first rounder (1.35 million) and he got the 28th highest signing bonus in the 2010 draft. So, I'm holding him to a high standard and am less inclined to make excuses for him.

Hypothetically, lets say you're a scout for the Kansas City Royals and the Indians are inquiring about Billy Butler. You, the scout, want Tony Wolters as a prospect in the trade and try to convince the GM about him. The GM pulls out his scouting reports on Wolters; he'll read undersized middle infielder, average arm, slightly above average speed, only little projection to his body. The GM then looks at the stats on him in NYPL, which are pretty average. All you really have to argue with back as a scout is that "He's a true baseball rat" and "he plays the game so hard". As a GM, I can't make that deal b/c all we've got to go on are intangibles. Intangibles count for something and I'm sure Wolters is an awesome guy that you'd love to play baseball with, but it's too early to call this guy a top prospect b/c we haven't seen anything yet. Again, I'm an Indians fan and I want Wolters to be the MVP of the AL when the Indians win the World Series in 2017, but I just don't see it yet.

Sorry. I don't want to make a big thing of it. I'm just some guy that makes a living doing something unrelated to baseball, so if Wolters or some coach reads this they shouldn't care what I've got to say. We all, including myself, are rooting for the guy. All I'm saying is I'd have him lower on my top prospect list than most of you.

by **daingean** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 5:45 pm

OhioBaseball wrote:I knew my modest criticism of Wolters wouldn't be popular b/c people like him. The first month of the season he was indeed getting base hits but they've not been there since. I hope it's an injury.

...

Sorry. I don't want to make a big thing of it. I'm just some guy that makes a living doing something unrelated to baseball, so if Wolters or some coach reads this they shouldn't care what I've got to say. We all, including myself, are rooting for the guy. All I'm saying is I'd have him lower on my top prospect list than most of you.

OB, your not out of bounds with your questions. I just remember how young this kid really is. He did have an injury early in the season (actually in ST) or else he probably would have been at Lake County to open the season. Some guys his age just haven't stopped growing so you can hope for that. Also a few years with professional guidance in the weight room could add some extra base pop to his game. Plus, another year with experience with wood bats should also improve his game. Now most HS age players play on tournament teams during the summer (there are some tournaments which are a grind and play every day but most are weekend or 4 day weekend events) and they just don't play everyday like they do in the minors. This makes the minors a grind and many 1st year players (Wolters signed so late last year that this was his first real year in pro baseball) wear down with that grind.

Also for the others who have criticized OB here, we can all be optimistic on every young minor leaguer but truth be told more will fail to reach the majors and live up to our optimism. Some guys just have the talent oozing out of them and almost nothing short of injury or poor work ethic can derail their progress. We really have none of those guys but we have many of the guys that have the talent to succeed. Our guys just need to have the focus, breaks, opportunity and the good fortune to make it there. Pedroia is a perfect example of what I'm talking about but so is Tomlin and Santana and Kipnis and Chiz and well I can go on and on.

by **BrianM** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 9:28 pm

OhioBaseball wrote:I've always liked Rondon. He's very underrated by the majority of Indians fans. Between Gomez, Rondon and McAllister, hopefully the Indians can get a good 4th starter type out of one of those guys next year. Rondon is behind those two, but it is within reason.

On the other side, Tony Wolters has finished the season quite poorly. His batting average has held up well, but he's not hitting for a lick of power and his strike outs are surprisingly high. I hope his upside is better than Jamey Carroll but that's what he looks like. People may need to recalibrate their expectations on this guy.

Im one of those people who have been underrating Rondon, but not consciously...we have just had so many pitchers prove their potential in the last 2 years that its easy to forget that Rondon was our best pitching prospect before his injury. I hope he can come back healthy, and if he does, I absolutely agree that it is within reason to believe he is still capable of being a number 4 starter.

Also..."Physically, he looked much more like an accountant than a pro athlete."

HAHAHAHA agreed

by **TonyIBI** » Tue Sep 06, 2011 4:52 pm

Wolters had a very good first full season. Combination of injuries and just hitting "that wall" and tiring out affected his performance the last few weeks. Kid is just 18 years old and had a good first season playing against mostly former college players.

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