For
the week of :
March 24, 2003
Minor League Ramblings is produced by Bill Mitchell for Minor League Watch.
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Big league pitchers get
extra work in minor league games;
Major league teams, looking to get extra innings for their pitchers or a lower profile way to work someone back from an injury, often have their big league hurlers throw a few innings in minor league games. We witnessed Giants' closer Robb Nen pitching the first inning last Saturday in the AAA game against the Cubs. The fireballing right-hander, who is recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, was hitting the mid-90s and looked ready to head back to the major league camp. Kansas City southpaw starter Darrell May threw the first couple of innings on Sunday in a AAA game against the Mariners, while the Angels chose to use second-year starter John Lackey in a AAA game on Saturday. While Nen was on the hill in the AAA game, big left-hander Erick Threets pitched a couple innings of relief in the AA game on the adjacent field at the Giants' training facility in Scottsdale. Threets, who saw limited duty for high Class A San Jose last season, is well-known among minor league followers for his triple digit velocity. Threets did not disappoint, as the radar guns clocked his fastball as high as 101 MPH. One Giants' teammate, noticing the extra radar guns popping up during Threets' stint on the mound, commented about the "JUGS monkeys" on site. There is no experience quite like standing right behind the backstop when a pitcher is throwing over 100 miles per hour.
Among the Seattle Mariner players that stood out in weekend games were AA catcher Ryan Christianson, who slugged an opposite field double off the right field fence, highly touted infield prospect Jose Lopez, playing a smooth second base instead of his usual shortstop position, and pitcher Jeff Heaverlo, back from missing an entire season to injury. Cubs' outfielder Jason DuBois is back with his original organization, and playing with the AA West Tennessee team for the rest of the spring training season. DuBois was taken by Toronto in last year's Rule 5 draft, but was recently returned by the Blue Jay organization rather than being retained on the major league roster for the year. The right-handed hitter has a strong powerful stroke and good bat speed. Another Cub outfielder, 18-year-old Felix Pie, made his major league spring training debut in a game against the Brewers a few days ago. Pie singled in his only plate appearance.
New Brewer farmhand Chris Morris, who stole 209 bases in 2 1/2 years with the Cardinals' organization, showed his blinding speed in a different split squad game against the Cubs. The diminutive outfielder (5'8", 180 pounds) stole 111 bases for Peoria of the Midwest League in 2001. In closing, we heard some good news about one of our favorites from the 2002 Arizona Fall League season. Utility player Jermaine Clark has apparently made the opening day roster for his new organization, the Texas Rangers. Best of luck, Jermaine! The final weekend of minor league spring training is coming up, with beautiful weather in the forecast for the Phoenix area. --- Bill Mitchell |
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