|
|
2002 season October 13, 2002
While Week Two of the 2002 Arizona Fall League featured several slugfests and notable hitting performances, it was a handful of pitchers who made headlines with top-notch outings. Hot Hurlers: While the San Francisco Giants' top brass are undoubtedly pre-occupied with the parent team's playoff tussle with St. Louis, they've got to have at least one eye focused on Arizona as one of the organization's top pitching prospects has dominated the Arizona Fall league to date. Jerome Williams (Giants - P), named the league's Pitcher of the Week for his two fine performances in Week One, continued his success with a fine outing this week, matching rival Mike Bynum (Padres - P) with an identical line on Saturday night --- five innings, one hit, no runs, two walks and four strikeouts. Williams then came back to pitch an inning of relief on Sunday, picking up a save. The 20-year-old native of Hawaii has yet to give up a run in his 13 innings of work ... Mike Gonzalez (Pirates - P) is never ranked highly on prospect lists, but pitching in Arizona appears to be to his liking. The 24-year-old southpaw registered a pair of excellent two-inning stints this week, striking out five batters in each game, including four in a row Friday evening. The two-year AFL veteran was especially effective with a high fastball ... Bobby Jenks (Angels - P) is making great strides in proving that his sub-par 2002 performance, when he was demoted to Class A for "acts of immaturity," is behind him. The fireballing right-hander pitched eight scoreless innings in two starts this week. He was especially dominating against Phoenix this afternoon, as the Scottsdale Scorpion starter gave up only one hit in four innings, striking out seven. His fastball, clocked in the past in triple digits, was topping off in the mid-90s, so he is sacrificing some velocity for better command. Most impressive was the 80 MPH changeup that he used as a strikeout pitch ... Left-handers Mario Ramos (Rangers - P) and Brad Thomas (Twins - P), both had strong starts earlier in the week.
New this week: The Phoenix Desert Dogs received a boost this week with the arrival of three players who had completed the season with their respective major league teams. Brandon Phillips (Indians - 2B), Michael Restovich (Twins - OF) and J.J. Davis (Pirates - OF) all made their debuts on Tuesday. Phillips, a former shortstop, is playing second base in preparation for competing for the starting job next spring. He showed that he's already over the learning curve in transitioning to the new position, making a number of spectacular plays in his first few games ... Coming on the heels of a solid minor league season in AAA, Restovich was expected to add juice to the Phoenix lineup. Instead, the big right-handed hitter has struggled, with trouble making consistent contact ... Davis is a big, muscular kid (6-4, 250 pounds) with limited range in the outfield. But he showed off his powerful arm this afternoon, firing a line drive strike to nail runner Matt Kata (Diamondbacks - 2B) at third base.
Other Fielding Gems: THE catch of the week was made this afternoon by left fielder Kenny James (Angels - OF) on an opposite field shot off the bat of Justin Morneau (Twins - 1B). Going after a ball being carried by the wind, James did a couple of pirouettes, then leaped up to make a "snow cone" catch against the fence ... Gabe Gross (Blue Jays - OF) made a similar catch earlier in the week, crashing against the right field fence to grab a deep fly ball ... Spectacular fielding plays are common occurrences for the slick Gookie Dawkins (Reds - SS), and today's grab of a broken bat grounder with the infield drawn in was no exception. Not only did Dawkins get the out at first after recovering his balance, but he also kept the runner on third from advancing.
Goin' Deep: Reserve catcher Andy Dominique (Red Sox - C) entered Saturday's game in a tough position, already behind in the count at 0-2, when pinch hitting for the injured Ken Harvey. The stocky right-handed hitter took a couple of pitches, then launched a blast well over the left field fence ... Termel Sledge (Expos - OF) continues to surprise AFL observers with his power, as the left-handed hitter smacked his third homerun of the season Wednesday night, a shot into the trees beyond right field at Scottsdale ... Hee Seop Choi (Cubs - 1B) had a two-homerun game on Thursday afternoon, his second and third of the season, in a 13-7 slugfest between Mesa and Scottsdale ... Not only did Robby Hammock (Diamondbacks - C) hit a pair of dingers this week, but he also covered three positions --- catcher, third base and left field --- for the Scottsdale Scorpions ... It took Mark Teixeira (Rangers - 3B) until this afternoon to hit his only homerun of the week, giving him a league-leading five for the season. The switch-hitter drove in six runs in today's game and is now batting .417. His 14 RBIs on the season ties him with Ken Harvey (Royals - 1B) for the league lead.
On The DL: The exciting Wily Mo Pena (Reds - OF) suffered a ligament injury and will be out of action for the remainder of the season. He is also expected to miss the Dominican Winter League season, but should be ready to return in time for spring training (Editor's Note: An interview with Pena will be posted later this week) ... Bobby Crosby (A's - SS), off to a nice start for the Phoenix team, turned his ankle fielding a ground ball on Friday night, and suffered a sprained ankle ... Ken Harvey (Royals - 1B) had to leave Saturday's game with an undisclosed injury. Harvey's hot hitting continued into the second week of the season, as the big first baseman is batting .533 with two homeruns in 30 at bats. Bill's Whirlwind Baseball Tour: "99% of the American population would not comprehend why anyone in their right mind would put themselves through the hectic day that I undertook on Saturday. However, 99% of the readers of this column undoubtedly understand this obsession with minor league baseball. Here was my schedule for yesterday:
I was tempted to also work in the game in Peoria that evening, especially considering the scheduled pitching match-up between Jerome Williams and Mike Bynum. But Peoria is on the other side of the Valley from Tempe, I had interviews to transcribe, and a new computer to assemble. So good judgment finally won out over gut emotion." Week Three of the Arizona Fall League kicks off on Tuesday after a day off on Monday. --- Bill Mitchell All photos on the Arizona Fall League Report are credited to Bill Mitchell, unless noted otherwise, and are not to be used for any other purpose without express permission.
|
