{"id":14121,"date":"2011-05-21T10:20:30","date_gmt":"2011-05-21T17:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/?p=14121"},"modified":"2011-05-21T13:30:07","modified_gmt":"2011-05-21T20:30:07","slug":"whats-on-second","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2011\/05\/21\/whats-on-second\/","title":{"rendered":"“What’s on Second?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you missed it–and shame on you if you did–Jonathan Mayo, who covers the June first-year player draft and the minor leagues for MLB.com, joined us on the latest “What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on 2nd<\/sup>: the Seamheads.com Radio Hour,” that aired this past Monday, May 16.\u00c2\u00a0 If you are interested in the upcoming draft, Jonathan provided some great insights.<\/p>\n

Having worked for several short-season minor league clubs over the years, I always have enjoyed watching players who break into professional baseball after being taken in the June draft.\u00c2\u00a0 It doesn’t matter if they are first round picks or taken above the 20th<\/sup> round, they are all in the same boat in their first season of baseball.<\/p>\n

We also chatted with Ron Kaplan, who joined us after his scheduled game got washed out.\u00c2\u00a0 We talked about Ian O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Connor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book on Derek Jeter and Tom Verducci\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book with Joe Torre.<\/p>\n

I got on co-host Jess Coleman a bit for never having read\u00c2\u00a0The Natural<\/em>, but now he has a reading assignment for the summer.\u00c2\u00a0 What I really couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe was that Jess had never seen the movie with Robert Redford and then he tells us he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never heard of Redford.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll chalk it up to he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 17 and I am old!\u00c2\u00a0 I have a feeling he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see the movie before he reads the book.<\/p>\n

Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t forget the Seamheads.com National Podcasting Network continues to grow and the flagship show\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6”What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on 2nd<\/sup>” can be heard every Monday night at 9:00 p.m. EST.<\/p>\n

The Royals brought up another one of their top minor league talents this week with left-handed pitcher Danny Duffy making his major league debut against the Texas Rangers on May 18.\u00c2\u00a0 The California native went four innings and allowed two earned runs on four hits.\u00c2\u00a0 He walked six and struck out five.<\/p>\n

I wrote about Mike Montgomery, another Royals pitching prospect, in a recent entry for www.seamheads.com<\/a> and Duffy is in the same class as Montgomery according to some in the know.<\/p>\n

Mark Nasser, who is the Omaha Storm Chasers play-by-play man, shared his thoughts on Duffy and Montgomery and their performances this season with Omaha.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Montgomery and Duffy are very similar\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, said Nasser.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Both are young, lefthanded and have tremendous stuff.\u00c2\u00a0 However, both have struggled throwing their off speed stuff for strikes. Montgomery may have a bit of a higher ceiling because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a little taller and throws more downhill with less effort.\u00c2\u00a0 But honestly, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel like there is much separating the two at this point.\u00c2\u00a0With Chen and Davies hurt, KC felt that Duffy was the best pitcher at the time down here.\u00c2\u00a0 And judging strictly by the numbers, he definitely was.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Mark, who has seen every Royals prospect from Chad Durbin and Carlos Beltran to the most recent promising lot, also shared his thoughts on Mike Moustakas.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Moustakas got off to a slow start.\u00c2\u00a0 It seemed like he was pressing at the plate and chasing pitches out of the strike zone.\u00c2\u00a0 He struggled defensively with footwork and throws too.\u00c2\u00a0 But as the season progressed, especially since Hosmer got promoted, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s become more patient and hitting for more power.\u00c2\u00a0 Even though the average is down this year, compared to last, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still producing runs as he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hitting about .380 with runners in scoring position.\u00c2\u00a0 And defensively, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s smoothed out over the last couple of weeks.\u00c2\u00a0 He does a lot of daily work on this with Mike Jirschele, especially when the team is home.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s found a home\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Toronto slugger Jose Bautista can flat out hit and is fun to watch.\u00c2\u00a0 For those who don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know or don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t remember, Bautista was passed around a few times in 2004.\u00c2\u00a0 He was selected off waivers from Baltimore to Tampa Bay on June 3, 2004 and then purchased by Kansas City on June 28.<\/p>\n

A month later, he was traded twice on the same day.\u00c2\u00a0 The Royals moved him to the Mets for Justin Huber and then the Mets shipped him off to the Pirates, his original organization when his career got underway in 2000, in a deal that brought back Kris Benson, his wife Anna, all her baggage and Jeff Keppinger.<\/p>\n

Sugar\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Random Thoughts\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Sam Fuld may be my new favorite player to watch at the major league level.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too bad there is not a defensive skills contest during MLB\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s All-Star Game weekend.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d pay to see 30 minutes of Fuld chasing after balls from all three outfield positions.\u00c2\u00a0 He gets a 10 from me every time he leaves his feet.<\/p>\n

Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hoping the UConn Huskies baseball team makes it to Omaha for the College World Series.\u00c2\u00a0 The Huskies feature two potential first round picks in next month\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s draft in starting pitcher Mike Barnes and outfielder George Springer.<\/p>\n

In speaking to several scouts from National League clubs recently, the sentiments were similar in that both could go in the top 15.\u00c2\u00a0 Springer, according to one scout, is an advanced hitter with solid ability in the outfield.<\/p>\n

Here are the thoughts of a Big East coach from another program, who has seen both Barnes and Springer over the last few years.<\/p>\n

On Barnes\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Matt Barnes is a true power arm, able to consistently throw his fastball in the mid-90s.<\/p>\n

His arm strength alone securely puts him in the first round of this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s draft. In order for him to be successful as he moves up the professional ladder, his secondary stuff has to improve significantly, as he does not have a true out pitch beyond his fastball. Without quality secondary stuff, he projects as a short relief bullpen guy. With it, he can be a middle of the rotation starter.<\/p>\n

He is a completely different pitcher\/person from the stretch as compared to the windup. His stuff is notably not as dominant, and doesn’t keep his composure well when up against the ropes. He will assuredly be challenged by adversity throughout his professional career, and if he doesn’t mature, he could go down the road of first-round bust, as many before him have. If he does grow up, he will have a place in professional baseball for a very long time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

On Springer\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

“George Springer has been- without question- the most exciting and talented player in the Big East for the last three years. He has improved each year, and had developed offensively from a free-swinger hacker to a bonafide hitter with a plan, having bettered his strike-zone discipline and cut down on his strikeouts as compared to early in his career at UConn. He is a legitimate five tool player, with above average power and speed, and offers many different ways to help his team win every day.<\/p>\n

He has a max-effort swing that will wow you even if he swings thru a pitch, and has the unique ability to drive the ball out of the park to the opposite field. That swing- sometimes a bit long- leaves him to struggle to get to the quality fastball on the inside corner of the plate, so he will have to make some adjustments as he starts facing pitchers who have good command. His instincts on the bases are outstanding, and he is the type of guy you know is going to steal, and you pitch out, and he still beats the throw with ease.<\/p>\n

Defensively, he is a fun player to watch track balls down in the outfield, with his speed allowing him to cover a ton of ground. He is a freak athlete with great genes- both parents were high level athletes I believe- and his talent combined with his production over the past three years puts him in the top half of the first round, possible into the top ten overall picks.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you missed it–and shame on you if you did–Jonathan Mayo, who covers the June first-year player draft and the minor leagues for MLB.com, joined us on the latest “What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on 2nd: the Seamheads.com Radio Hour,” that aired this past Monday, May 16.\u00c2\u00a0 If you are interested in the upcoming draft, Jonathan provided some great […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":719,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/719"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14121\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}