October 29, 2009

Future Shock Blog

October 29

by Kevin Goldstein

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What am I supposed to write at this point?

Grant Desme, OF, Athletics (AFL: Phoenix)
Yesterday's stats: 3-for-4, 2 HR (10), 4 R, 4 RBI, BB, K

More fun with numbers. In 12 games, Desme is batting .469/.544/1.143. In the first three innings of games, he's 8-for-14 with four home runs. When playing left field, he's 8-for-13 with five home runs. He has no home runs when leading off an inning in 12 at-bats, so when not leading off an inning, he has 10 home runs in 37 at-bats. It's just ridiculous.

Arizona has been good to the Cubs system

Andrew Cashner, RHP, Cubs (AFL: Mesa)
Yesterday's stats: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K

Whatever order you want to put them, Cashner, along with infielders Josh Vitters and Starlin Castro, are the top three prospects in the Cubs system, and all of them are having outstanding seasons so far for Mesa. Four no-hit innings are even more impressive considering the offensive context of the league, and his stuff matched the stats, as he sat at 92-96 mph with his fastball, and his slider is a wipeout offering at times.

Not quite the hype of the Strasburg debut

Aaron Crow, RHP, Royals (AFL: Surprise)
Yesterday's stats: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K

After the botched 2008 negotiations with the Nationals, and after the extended talks with the Royals this year, Aaron Crow finally pitched as a professional. He sat at 92-94 mph with his fastball in the first inning, but then settled comfortably into more of a 90-92 range, showing off the outstanding slider that he had in college. It's just one game, but it was a good start.

Minor sleeper alert?

Danny Dorn, OF, Reds (VEN: Anzoategui)
Yesterday's stats: 3-for-4, 3 HR (4), 3 R, 6 RBI

Dorn was a star at Cal State Fullerton, but he was always seen as a pure college performer without much in the way of tools. The Rays took him in the 23^rd round of the 2005 draft, but he returned to school. The Reds took him in the 32^nd round the following year as organizational filler. Three full seasons later and he's still hitting; he has a career minor league line of .291/.375/.509, and while he's pegged as a bench outfielder by scouts, that's still a helluva find in the 32^nd round.

Others Of Note

• Ian Desmond, SS, Nationals (DOM), 2-for-4, HR (1), R, 3 RBI, K: His 2009 surge seemed to slow down with Licey until last night, as he was 3-for-18 going into Wednesday's game.
• Casey Kelly, SS/3B/RHP, Red Sox (AFL), 2-for-4, 2B, 3B, R, 4 RBI, BB, K: One has to wonder if Red Sox officials cringe every time he has a good game.
• Wilkin Ramirez, OF, Tigers (DOM), 2-for-2, HR (1), R, RBI, 2 BB: Ramirez is now 8-for-18 for the Tigres; I'm not sure what a year of Triple-A would do for him, yet I'm also not sure where he'd fit in with the big league club.
• Drew Storen, RHP, Nationals (AFL), 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K: We need to find a sports book in Vegas that will do prospect prop bets. First to D.C.: Storen or Strasburg-who you got?
• Josh Thole, C, Mets (VEN), 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, K: Thole is batting .385/.467/.500 in 15 games. He has no power and has thrown out just one of 15 opposing base stealers, but he sure knows how to get on base.
• Jemile Weeks, 2B, Athletics (AFL), 3-for-3, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI: Weeks is a truly special athlete; now he just needs to stay healthy.

Kevin Goldstein is an author of Baseball Prospectus. 
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