Archive for Tommy Hunter

Jim Johnson led all of baseball with 101 saves over the past two seasons. On September 27th, Dan Duquette told Roch Kubatko of MASN that, “Jim Johnson is one of our core players,” and it was the team’s intention to keep him despite the $10.8M projected salary for 2014. Fast forward to late last week when Buster Olney tweeted that the Orioles were willing to listen to offers on Johnson. After a flurry of rumors yesterday, Duquette decided to allocate his resources to balance the roster to make it more competitive.

Doing so creates a large hole in the back of the Orioles’ bullpen as Johnson also led all of baseball in games finished over the past two seasons. Johnson stepped in to fill the void left by Kevin Gregg’s ineffectiveness two seasons ago, and now someone else has the opportunity to do so. When Johnson did so, it was the easy choice as he had displayed the skills to do so while getting the ball to Gregg to attempt to save games. In looking at the current 40-man roster for Baltimore, there does not seem as clear a choice this time around.

Read the rest of this entry »

The 2007 amateur draft was an exciting time if you were a fan of the San Diego Padres, the San Francisco Giants, the Texas Rangers or the Toronto Blue Jays. Each organization had at least five picks before the second round, thanks to supplemental picks obtained for the losses of free agents the previous winter. It’s been five years since that draft, so it’s a good time to look back and see which team made out best with its additional selections.

1. San Francisco Giants: The organization found the best player out of the four clubs, a potential No. 2 starter and possibly landed a couple of future utility infielders. The club also flipped one of the prospects for a veteran infielder.

Madison Bumgarner, LHP, 10th overall: Drafted out of high school, the southpaw reached the majors in his third professional season — technically his second, since he didn’t pitch after signing in 2007. The 22-year-old has the ceiling of a No. 2 or a No. 3 starter at the big-league level and already has one 200-plus inning season under his belt.

Read the rest of this entry »

Since he’s become a regular starter, it’s tempting to look at Zack Greinke’s career and say that he’s been about the same pitcher with an outstanding peak in 2009. Other than that wonderful year, he’s managed an FIP in the mid-threes by striking batters out at a slightly-above-average rate for a starter and showing excellent control of his four-pitch mix. He’s no metronome – his ground ball to fly ball mix has oscillated – but he seems pretty stable.

But zoom in on just the last two years, and the change seems startling. He went from striking out 9.5 batters per nine to a mere 7.4. He added a run of FIP. His swinging strike percentage dove two percent (from above to below average). And his ground-ball rate changed, as is his wont (from dead-on average (40%) to above-average (46%)). His pitching mix changed fairly significantly, too, dropping almost four percent of his curves and five percent of his sliders, while almost doubling his changeup usage.

Read the rest of this entry »

Prospect ranking season is just around the corner. In anticipation of that, we present an intro series looking at some of the players who deserve mentioning but probably will not be appearing on their teams’ Top 10 lists. The popular series is back for the second year.

The Graduate: Tommy Hunter, RHP
Fellow rookie Derek Holland gets a lot of love, but Hunter has actually been more consistent (as “consistent” as rookie pitchers can be) this season. The right-hander has a nice walk rate at 2.67 BB/9 but a modest strikeout rate of just 5.10 K/9. Despite the fact he doesn’t miss a ton of bats, Hunter has allowed just 104 hits in 107.2 innings of work. He has, though, been touched up by the long-ball with 12 homers (1.00 HR/9). Hunter has also been aided by a low BABIP-allowed at .275. His homework for the 2009-10 off-season should be to improve his ground-ball rate (37.2%).

The Riser: Mitch Moreland, 1B
Moreland had a very nice year – especially for a player that really wasn’t on the prospect map prior to 2009. A two-way player at Mississippi State University, the big first baseman’s bat has really come on since he signed as a 17th round draft pick in 2007. He had a nice 2008 season but built on that while playing in high-A and double-A. Overall, Moreland posted a line of .331/.391/.527 with 38 doubles and 16 homers in 471 at-bats. Old for high-A ball, the now-24-year-old still hit well in double-A, although his walk rate dove by four percent and his ISO dropped almost .100, from .253 to .163. The left-handed hitter has fared well against southpaws in his career but his lack of usable in-game home run power could hurt him at the MLB level.

The Tumbler: Michael Main, RHP
Sometimes baseball players just have everything stacked against them. Main was highly-regarded as both a pitcher and a hitter when he was selected out of a Florida high school in the first round of the 2007draft. Injuries and illness have taken their toll on his career so far, though. After posting respectable numbers in 2007-08, Main’s stats took a tumble in ’09 due to his health woes. He allowed 72 hits in 58 innings of work, while posting a walk rate of 5.74 BB/9 and a strikeout rate of 7.60 K/9. He did get back on the mound at the very end of the year but the season was a write-off. At this point, Rangers fans should just hope that Main can be happy and healthy in 2010.

The ’10 Sleeper: Wilmer Font, RHP
When you think of young pitchers and the Rangers, Neftali Feliz‘ name pops up first. When you ask for the next electric arm in the system, people will mention Martin Perez. Mr. Font, though, should also be in the mix. The right-hander is just 19 but he can already touch the upper 90s with the heater and he also utilizes a changeup and a curveball. He is currently a one-pitch pitcher with his secondary stuff needing a lot of work. Despite that, he was able to dominate low-A ball hitters on occasion. Font allowed 93 hits in 108.1 innings of work and posted a strikeout rate of 8.72 K/9. He struggled with his control and posted a walk rate of 4.90 BB/9.

Bonus: Taylor Teagarden, C
Current back-up catcher Teagarden was listed as the sleeper in the 2008 series. Despite spending the year in the Majors, his 2009 season has not exactly gone as hoped with him barely seeing playing time in the first half of the year. Only an injury to Jarrod Saltalamacchia allowed Teagarden to get into the lineup (briefly) on a regular basis. The acquisition of veteran Pudge Rodriguez quickly put an end to the regular playing time, even though Teagarden’s bat was showing some life when he was able to play more than once a week.

The Graduate: Chris Davis | Born: March 1986 | 1B/3B

Chris Davis‘ big 2007 certainly wasn’t a fluke. He thrived in 2008 at every level he visited and made his MLB debut at the age of 22. Between Double-A and Triple-A, Davis hit .333/.386/.643 with 23 homers and 73 RBI in just 77 games. In the Majors, the slugger hit .285/.331/.549 with 17 homers (with a .265 ISO) in 295 at-bats. The downside to Davis’ game (aside from his defence at third base), and the reason why he won’t keep hitting above .270 constantly, is his poor strikeout and walk rates. Davis walked just 6.5 percent of the time, with a strikeout rate just below 30 percent.

The Riser: Tommy Hunter | Born: July 1986 | Right-Handed Pitcher

Who had the better breakout season, Tommy Hunter or Derek Holland? You could make a compelling case for either pitcher but Hunter had success at a higher level than Holland, so he gets the nod here. Hunter was a 2007 supplemental first round pick out of college and is seen by many as a future closer for a number of reasons, including his mound demeanor. Regardless, he spent 2008 pitching in the starting rotation and played at four levels – including a three-game stop in the Majors where he was roughed up. Hunter has a four-pitch mix, although he relied mainly on his fastball and curveball. During his minor league stint in 2008, Hunter struggled to strike out batters in Double-A and Triple-A after posting a rate of 7.71 in nine A-ball starts. His rate at Double-A was just 4.82 and it was 4.75 at Triple-A.

The Tumbler: Eric Hurley | Born: September 1985 | Right-Handed Pitcher

Eric Hurley was rated by Baseball America as the third-best prospect in the Rangers system coming into 2008, but he struggled. His struggles can be partially blamed on the shoulder inflammation that sidelined him in mid-season. In 13 Triple-A starts, the right-hander allowed 86 hits in 74.2 innings and posted rates of 3.50 BB/9, 8.68 K/9 and 1.81 HR/9. In five MLB starts, Hurley allowed 26 hits in 24.2 innings, with rates of 3.28 BB/9, 4.74 K/9 and 1.82 HR/9. He has struggled at Triple-A for two straight seasons and gives up far too many home runs. For a pitcher who averages out at 90 mph with his fastball, he’s going to have to work down in the zone more effectively.

The ’08 Draft Pick: Joe Wieland | Born: January 1990 | Right-Handed Pitcher

Despite having one of the best minor league systems entering into the 2008 season, the Rangers organization increased its embarrassment of riches with a group of 2008 prospects that had very impressive debuts. Joe Wieland, at the age of 18, posted a 1.44 ERA in Rookie Ball, while allowing 32 hits in 43.1 innings. He posted rates of 1.65 BB/9 and 8.45 K/9. Wieland also allowed just two home runs. He has a three-pitch mix with solid command and has the potential to add velocity to his fastball, which currently tops out between 91-92 mph.

The ’09 Sleeper: Taylor Teagarden | Born: December 1983 | Catcher

I have to admit that I am a Taylor Teagarden junkie. I thought he was the best college catcher in the 2005 draft – and that was before I realized he could hit a little bit too. Teagarden was an excellent defensive catcher in college – and still is, although injuries have taken a little bit of shine off those abilities. He suffered through more injuries in 2008 and struggled to hit for average in Triple-A, but thrived upon his promotion to the Majors. In 47 at-bats, Teagarden hit .319/.396/.809 with six home runs. The catcher has always struck out a ton, so his batting average is going to suffer at the Major League level but he should be able to constantly hit in the .240-.260 range with a bunch of homers and above-average defence.

Up Next: The Atlanta Braves