Bill Mitchell's Minor League Ramblings

Minor League Ramblings For the week of :
March 4, 2002

Minor League Ramblings is produced by Bill Mitchell for Minor League Watch.

General Observations from
Spring Training
March 8, 2002

Mark Prior on the mound

The Chicago Cubs' 2001 top draft choice Mark Prior, one of the more heralded pitchers to come along in many years, pitched two innings last week in an intrasquad game. That appearance was enough to tell that the big right-hander is going to be something special. While he didn't yet have the command for which he was noted at the University of Southern California, Prior showed that he is fearless on the mound. He buzzed several teammates under the chin with his fastball. Just think, if he's not afraid to brush back batters in an intrasquad game, think how he'll handle himself in a real game.

The best fan reaction received by any player this spring was the one received by Arizona reliever Byung-Hyun Kim in the Diamondback's first game in the Phoenix area since the 2001 World Series. Showing that they have forgiven him for yielding several untimely homeruns in games four and five at Yankee Stadium, the fans gave Kim a louder round of applause than both Randy Johnson or Todd Stottlemyre in this week's game against the Milwaukee Brewers. Kim then received a standing ovation after completing his first inning of work. Of course, the response from the crowd might have been different had the D-backs not come back to win game seven last November, but that's now irrelevant.

Our Minor League Ramblings friend, Jason Grabowski of the Oakland A's, got his first start of the spring training season this week. The versatile left-handed hitter, taken by the A's from the Seattle organization in the Rule 5 draft, started in left field against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday. Grabowski raised his stock with two hits, including an impressive opposite field homerun off Arizona starter Rick Helling. He also made a beautiful throw right into the catcher's mitt to nearly nail a runner trying to score from third on a fly ball. In addition to his time in the outfield, Grabowski has seen action at third base in spring games and, as reported previously, is working out behind the plate in practices. The 25-year-old Connecticut native caught the eye of A's hitting coach Thad Bosley, who has been impressed with Grabowski's bat speed and power.

The "not so speedy" Miguel Olivo, often considered to be the Chicago White Sox catcher of the future, hit an unlikely inside the park homerun yesterday against the Anaheim Angels. The ball rolled to the left centerfield fence in cavernous Tempe Diablo Stadium. When the Angels' infielders had trouble handling the relays, Olivo turned third and successfully slid around catcher Bengie Molina's tag.

White Sox pitching prospect Corwin Malone

Olivo's teammate, Jeff Liefer, hit one of the more impressive homeruns of the season earlier in the same game, as his fifth inning blast off Angels' pitcher Elvin Nina easily cleared a 25-foot barrier at the 420-foot mark in straightaway center.

The remainder of each team's minor league players reported for drills this week, with daily games to begin late next week. Now the fun of tracking prospects really begins!

--- Bill Mitchell