Nobody in minor league baseball had a better on-base percentage in 2012 than Mike O’Neill. The 24-year-old St. Louis Cardinals outfield prospect had a .458 OBP in 520 plate appearances, which is notable for a pair of reasons: His name doesn’t appear on top-prospect lists and his eye-popping on-base numbers weren’t a fluke.

At the University of Southern California, O’Neill had a .407 OBP. In 2010, with short-season Batavia, the 31^st-round pick got on base at a .393 clip. Last year, playing at two levels, his OBP was .431. In three professional seasons, his slash line is .337/.443/.429 and he has more than twice as many walks [131] as strikeouts [62]. Equating him to Wade Boggs would be hyperbole, but his numbers aren’t dissimilar to what the hall-of-famer put up as an undervalued minor leaguer.

There are reasons for skepticism. The left-handed hitter stands 5-foot-9 and has just one home run in 211 games. Despite above-average speed, he isn’t an accomplished base-stealer. He also has been old for his level, as he spent most of this season with High-A Palm Beach before logging 13 games in Double-A Springfield.

Is O’Neill legit? Only time will tell, but until he stops getting on base at a Boggsian rate, he probably deserves the benefit of a doubt. Arizona Fall League pitchers aren’t among those questioning him. His OBP with the Surprise Saguaros currently stands at .446.

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David Laurila: Why are you a good hitter?

Mike O’Neill: I’d say it’s my demeanor and how I never want to give in. I just don’t want the pitcher to beat me. I’ll do anything under my power to not let that happen. It doesn’t matter what the count is, or what the situation is. I always feel that I have an opportunity to succeed. That mindset creates positive energy for me.

DL: You have a black belt in karate. Does that have an impact on your hitting skills? Read the rest of this entry »

Aaron Sanchez is the top pitching prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays system for a reason. That reason is power, as the 20-year-old right-hander features a mid-90s fastball and a sharp-breaking curveball. He also throws an improved changeup, which helped him dominate the Midwest League in his third professional season. The 2010 first-round-supplemental pick logged a 2.49 ERA while striking out 97, and allowing 64 hits, in 90 innings.

Sanchez discussed his game late in the 2012 season.

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Sanchez, on how he’d define his game: “I’d describe myself as a power pitcher. I have a pretty firm fastball with a lot of late life, [including] running-and-sinking action. I have a pretty power curveball, which is kind of a big strikeout pitch for me. When I get ahead, I tend to break that out and I get a lot of Ks with it. Based on those things, I think you’d call me a power pitcher.

“I’m not afraid of contact. I’m not afraid of early contact or one-pitch outs, because that’s key for guys on pitch counts. The quicker you get outs, the longer you get to stay in the game. But when I’m ahead in the count and have the opportunity to strike someone out, that’s my mindset.

“I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I’m pushing toward more contact. It’s more that I’m not afraid of it. Read the rest of this entry »

Dustin Pedroia is among the best defensive second baseman in the game. In 2011, he won his second Gold Glove and his first Fielding Bible Gold Glove. This year he narrowly missed capturing both honors again. The 29-year-old Red Sox stalwart led American League second basemen in fielding percentage and had 11 Defensive Runs Saved. Last year, he had 18.

Twice the National Defensive Player of the Year while playing shortstop at Arizona State, Pedroia switched positions in 2005 when he was in Double-A. With the exception of 74 games at his old position the following year, he hasn’t looked back. Nor has he booted many ground balls, as he has averaged fewer than six errors per season as a professional.

Pedroia talked about infield defense — including his move from shortstop to second base — in the final week of the regular season.

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David Laurila: What is the key to being a good defensive second baseman?

Dustin Pedroia: There are a lot of really good ones in the league, and everyone has their own way, but positioning is big. If you put yourself in a good spot…. It depends on who’s up and it depends on what our pitcher is throwing.

I actually put a lot of pressure on our pitchers making their pitch. If they call a fastball away to a left-handed hitter and, before the pitch comes, I take a half step to my right and he leaves it over the middle and the hitter pulls it… that’s just a risk that I take. But if he hits his spot and the hitter hits the ball up the middle, and I get there by that extra small step, that could be the difference between winning and losing the game.

I remember my first year, when [Curt] Schilling was pitching. Read the rest of this entry »

The moods in the respective clubhouses were predictably different after last night’s game. Here are what eight players — three San Francisco Giants and five Detroit Tigers — had to say about the 2012 World Series:

Prince Fielder: “It’s definitely unfortunate that we lost, but we did everything that we could. We played hard. You can’t try harder. We battled, it just didn’t work out. Good pitching does that at times. We had some good at bats, it’s just that they made good pitches when they had to.”

Jeremy Affeldt: “I think this has been as good as you can ask for. This is a situation for Bochy and for Rags, and Sabes as a GM, where they should be very happy with how the starters have thrown. This is what good starters do in the playoffs.

“You can build an offense all you want — you can put up guys who can score 10 runs — but if you give up 11, you lose. You’ve got to have good pitching to go to the World Series”

Read the rest of this entry »

As they had throughout the postseason, ushers handed out white rally towels to fans entering Comerica Park before tonight’s game. Walking through the concourse, I overheard a woman wryly ask her husband, “Are these crying towels?”

They proved to be prophetic words.

The better team — at least for four games in October — won the 2012 World Series. The San Francisco Giants were deserving. The Detroit Tigers were equal parts anemic and star-crossed.

A first-inning at bat epitomized the Tigers fortunes. On the ninth pitch he saw from Matt Cain, rookie outfielder Quintin Berry hit a line drive to right field that landed inches foul. Not to discredit the Giants, who clearly outplayed Jim Leyland‘s team, but the Tigers seemed unable to catch a break.

In the top of the second, the Tigers couldn’t catch drives off the bats of Hunter Pence [a double to left-center] and Brandon Belt [a run-scoring triple off right-field wall]. The back-to-back hits came after three of the first four Giants hitters went down on strikes. It was typical Max Scherzer, who had the highest K-rate [11.08] and second-highest BABiP [.333] among all qualifying pitchers [teammate Rick Porcello had the highest, at .344].

Conversely, Giants starter Matt Cain, at .259, had the 84th-highest [and fifth-lowest] BABiP. The numbers are indicative of the advantage San Francisco held on the defensive side of the ball. It showed throughout the four games.

In the third inning, with Austin Jackson on base, Miguel Cabrera hit a fly ball to right that looked relatively harmless off the bat. Buoyed by a gust of wind — the baseball gods giving the Tigers brief redemption — it ended up carrying into the seats. Detroit led for the first time in the Series, and for the first time in 57 innings the Giants trailed in a game.

Told about the streak [54 innings at the time] following Game 3, Giants reliever Javier Lopez was duly impressed.

“It’s pretty impressive to see that we’ve been able to do that,” said Lopez. “It speaks to the strength of our ball club, which has been the pitching. Those guys have been able to hold onto leads.”

The Tigers couldn’t hold their 2-1 lead. In the sixth inning, Buster Posey homered with Marco Scutaro to board to put the Giants back on top. In a Series that had lacked back-and-forth drama, the game was just starting to get interesting.

In the bottom of the inning, Delmon Young — who has more postseason home runs than any player in franchise history — made it 3-3 with an opposite-field blast. After Andy Dirks followed with a single, Jhonny Peralta hit a deep drive to left — into the same wind that helped Cabrera‘s ball — that didn’t quite have enough to get out.

The Giants stranded the go-ahead run on second in the seventh. Jeremy Affeldt struck out the side in the eighth. Phil Coke did the same in the top of the ninth. In the bottom half, Peralta hit another deep drive, this one run down by centerfielder Angel Pagan.

Then came the tenth and the return of the baseball gods to San Francisco‘s side — again, no disrespect to the team that swept the Series.

Ryan Theriot blooped a single. Brandon Crawford sacrificed. Scutaro blooped a single to drive in the deciding run. In a Series that featured numerous big-name players — mostly on the losing side — a trio of lesser-known players helped small-ball the Giants to a championship.

Sergio Romo closed out the game, with Cabrera going down on strikes to end it.

It wa perhaps fitting that Cabrera made the last out, as he and Pablo Sandoval exemplified the Series. Each hit third in his team’s lineup, making them only the second pair of third basemen to bat in that spot in the order in a World Series [George Brett and Mike Schmidt did so in 1980]. Cabrera finished 3-for-13 with a home run and three RBIs.Sandoval went 8-for-15, with three home runs and four RBIs, and was named the Series Most Valuable Player.

The Giants pitching staff could just as easily have garnered the award, as could Bruce Bochy or Brian Sabean. What matters is that Tigers fans were left crying in their towels and the Giants are bringing a trophy back to San Francisco.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland expressed it best.

“I tip my hat,” said Leyland. “They’re World Series champions and they deserve to be World Series champions.”

Prior to tonight‘s game, Octavio Dotel stated the obvious. Asked about his team trailing the World Series two-games-to-none, the Tigers reliever said, “We need to win tonight.”

They didn’t win, and that puts them on the brink. With a 2-0 victory behind the pitching of Ryan Vogelsong, Tim Lincecum and Sergio Romo, the Giants are now one game away from the franchise’s seventh title. It would be the seventh time the Tigers have advanced to the World Series and fallen short.

Vogelsong’s performance wasn’t artistic, but it was historic. In 1937, the Yankees captured the first three games of the World Series with their starting pitchers earning wins while allowing one run or less. The Giants became the second team to turn the trick, with Barry Zito, Madison Bumgarner and Vogelsong doing the honors.

It isn’t like the Tigers didn’t have their chances. They threatened in the first inning, but Prince Fielder grounded into an inning-ending double play with two runners on. It has been a frustrating postseason for the well-compensated slugger. He has one hit in 10 World Series at bats after going just 4-for-17 in the ALCS and 4-for-21 in the ALDS.

In the third inning, rookie Quintin Berry grounded into a two-on, inning-ending double play. In the fifth inning, the Tigers loaded the bases only to have Berry strike out and Miguel Cabrera pop to shortstop. Cabrera has reached base in all 23 games he has played in a Detroit uniform, but in one of the key at bats of the Series he was bested by a pitcher who didn‘t have his best stuff The Giants right-hander allowed nine base runners in five-and-two-third innings. None scored.

“We had him on the ropes a few times,” said Tigers manager Jim Leyland after the game. “We just couldn’t get the killer blow.”

The Giants offense did just enough. In the second inning, Gregor Blanco tripled in a run and proceeded to score on a bloop single by Brandon Crawford. Blanco is now 5-for-8 lifetime against Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez, including a pair of three-baggers.

“He just threw me a pitch to hit and I was able to do some damage with it,” said Blanco. “But to tell you the truth, this was just one game. Tomorrow, after 27 outs, if we win, then we’ll celebrate. Until that happens, we have to maintain our focus.”

Sanchez, who fanned eight over seven strong innings, showed plenty of focus in becoming just the third Venezuelan-born pitcher to start a World Series game [Freddy Garcia and Les Straker are the others]. He deserved a better fate, but his teammates have suddenly become as offensively-anemic as the Yankees were in the ALCS. The Tigers have now gone 18 innings without scoring and have crossed the plate in just two of the last 27.

The Giants, meanwhile, are on a roll. Bruce Bochy’s team has not only pitched shutouts in three of the last four games, they haven’t trailed in 54 innings. Barring a reversal of fortune, they’re poised to close out the Series. If the Tiger are to prevent that from happening, they have one choice.

“The key for us is to win tomorrow,” said Fielder. “And then the next day and the next day and the next day. We can’t lose.”

Casey Janssen doesn’t have a problem with the save rule, nor does he have much trouble earning saves. The Toronto Blue Jays right-hander racked up 22 of them after being the handed the closer’s role in May. The 31-year-old former set-up man appeared in 62 games overall, logging a 2.54 ERA and 0.864 WHIP while walking just 1.6 batters per nine innings. He talked about his successful transition, including reliever usage and the myth of closer mentality, during a mid-summer visit to Fenway Park.

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David Laurila: You were recently charged with an earned run that wouldn’t have scored had the runner not taken an extra base on defensive indifference. Is that fair?

Casey Janssen: I don’t know if there is anything productive I could say about that other than it stinks and it’s part of the game. It’s been a rule for so long that I don’t see them changing it anytime soon. It’s not an error, so I have to imagine it has to be an earned run. As a pitcher, you just accept it.

DL: Is it fair to have a reliever come in, blow a multi-run lead, and ultimately get credited with the win? Should the official scorer have the discretion to give it to someone else?

CJ: I don’t like that idea. I’m kind of a traditionalist, I guess. Unfortunately — or fortunately — if you do have that happen to you, you’re the pitcher of record. It’s your win, just as much as if you throw one pitch and get hit with the loss.

DL: What do you think of the save rule as currently structured?

CJ: I’ve got no problem with it. I think it’s pretty fair and makes the most sense. I’m fine with most rules, but if there was one I’d like to see changed, it would be the wild-pitch third strike. Read the rest of this entry »

Ernesto Frieri was a bright spot for a Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim team that fell short of expectations. The 27-year-old right-hander stepped into the closer role after being acquired in a May 3 trade with San Diego Padres. In 56 games, he had 23 saves, a 2.32 ERA and a 13.3 K/9. He also didn’t allow a hit in his first 13 innings in an Angels uniform.

Frieri talked about his journey from South America to big-league stardom during a late-summer visit to Fenway Park.

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Frieri: “I come from Colombia and the number one sport there is soccer. We don’t play baseball in all of the country. We only play it in four or five main cities, on the coast of Colombia. I’m from Cartagena, the same city as Orlando Cabrera. Cartagena is a bigger city for baseball. The best baseball players come from there. Edgar Renteria is from Barranquilla, which is two hours from Cartagena.

“Why I got in love with baseball is because my family are baseball fans. It was also hard for me to get any opportunity in soccer, because everybody played soccer and if you are going to play you have to be really good. That’s why I stopped practicing soccer.

“I got in love with baseball when I was 12 years old. I was watching the 1997 World Series — the Marlins against the Indians — and Edgar Renteria was playing for the Marlins. It was Game 7, the bases were loaded with two out, and Edgar Renteria was at bat. He got the base hit to win the World Series. I see my family jumping around and the everybody was talking about it. Edgar Renteria was all the news. Everybody was excited and happy about what he did, and I was like, ‘Wow! I like baseball now. I want to practice baseball and be like Edgar Renteria. I want to make it to the big leagues and make my family feel proud of me.’ Now, here I am, playing the best baseball in the world.

“At that time, my grandma made tamales. This is going to sound like crazy, but my grandma was making tamales and she made it with corn. Read the rest of this entry »

The Toronto Blue Jays got a good defensive shortstop when they acquired Mike Aviles from the Red Sox as compensation for John Farrell. The 31-year-old came into the 2012 season with a utility-man reputation, having played nearly as many games at second base and more than a handful at the hot corner. Thanks to regular playing time at his best position, that has changed. To the surprise of many, hr was one of the best defensive shortstops in the American League this season.

Aviles talked about his defensive game in the final week of the Red Sox season.

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Aviles on playing shortstop: “Starting from high school on, I’ve played short. It’s been a position that’s come rather naturally for me, compared to the other positions I’ve played.

“Everybody has their own opinions, but I feel that I’m a pretty solid shortstop. I may not win any Gold Gloves, and you may not hear about me on ESPN, or see me do all kinds of crazy plays, but I can do the job. My main focus is to just get the out. I want to make the plays and have the respect of my teammates and coaches. That’s all I’m really concerned about. I don’t need a lot of attention.”

On metrics showing that he‘s a good defensive shortstops: “I do like hearing that. It makes me feel proud of all the work I’ve done, because I know I’ve had a rep of not being the best defensively. Read the rest of this entry »

When I walked into the Comerica Park press box this morning, the first person I encountered was longtime Detroit Free Press baseball scribe John Lowe. I asked him who the series MVP has been thus far. His response was, “How about Phil Coke?”

Lowe went on to note that Delmon Young had driven in the go-ahead run in all three contests [which he proceeded to do again in Game 4], but his initial suggestion is in accord with my opinion. The Detroit bullpen has been in disarray, and Coke stepped up to save the day. Following a Game 1 hold that preceded Jose Valverde’s implosion, he shut the door in the next two and was on the mound for the final six outs of Game 4. The slider he threw to Raul Ibanez on Tuesday night may be the most important pitch of the Tigers season.

Read the rest of this entry »