Bill Mitchell's Minor League Ramblings

Minor League Ramblings For the week of :
May 3, 2004

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

Who's Hot and Who's Cold
May 3, 2004

HOT

Justin Morneau, 1B - Minnesota (Rochester, AAA International League) - Our first repeat from Week Two of the HOT - COLD Report just keeps on raking for the Twinkies' AAA affiliate. The left-handed hitting Morneau is now at .411/.455/.778 with eight HRs and 23 RBIs in 90 ABs. Minnesota will find a spot for him sooner or later, and he'll never see Rochester again.

Ubaldo Jimenez, SP – Colorado (Visalia, A California League) – Minor League Baseball's hottest hurler keeps mowing 'em down in the Cal League. After five starts, Jimenez is 4-0 with a 1.50 ERA and a fine 44/8 K/BB ratio in 30 IPs.

Jeff Mathis, C – Anaheim (Arkansas, AA Texas League) – Despite the demands of his position, the Angels' catcher of the future is putting up good offensive numbers at .333/.378/.493.

Jason Dubois, OF – Chicago Cubs (Iowa, AAA Pacific Coast League – Last year's Arizona Fall League MVP heated up big time to end the first month of his first AAA season. Dubois had two multi-homer games this week, included a game in which he hit three out of the park. He's now got eight long balls in 83 ABs to go with solid overall numbers (.277/.355/.614).

Brandon Phillips, 2B/SS – Cleveland (Buffalo, AAA International League) – Give Phillips a mulligan for his dreadful 2003 season. The effervescent infielder is moving back into top prospect territory with a great season thus far. Phillips is hitting .369/.455/.508 while splitting time at both middle infield positions. Even more impressive is the fact that he's drawn nine walks while striking out only three times.

Calvin Pickering, 1B – Kansas City (Omaha, AAA Pacific Coast League) – After not going deep for over a week, Pickering smacked a pair of homers to keep his slugging percentage close to 1.000. The left-handed hitter is now at .338/.477/.941 with 13 HRs in 68 ABs.

Brian Bruney, RP – Arizona (Tucson, AAA Pacific Coast League) – As Arizona's big league bullpen has blown lead after lead, Bruney is mowing them down on the farm. Can he be far from making the drive up Interstate 10 to Phoenix? He's fanned 19 hitters in 17.2 IPs and has a 1.02 ERA.

Tim Stauffer, SP – San Diego (Lake Elsinore, A California League) – The Pads 2003 number one draft pick (fourth overall) didn't sign in time to play last season, but he's not showing any signs of inexperience in his first taste of pro ball. After his first five starts, the right-handed pitcher has a 1.91 ERA and a promising 25/6 K/BB total.

Felix Diaz, SP – Chicago White Sox (Charlotte, AAA International League) – Not ranked as one of the White Sox top prospects, the right-hander acquired from San Francisco in the Kenny Lofton deal has been consistently strong in his second trip to AAA. The 4-0 record and 2.01 ERA are impressive enough, but Diaz has fanned 29 and yielded only three walks.

Ronald Bay, SP and Billy Petrick, SP - Chicago Cubs (Lansing, A Midwest League) - We featured two members of the Lansing Lugnut staff (Carlos Marmol and Sean Marshall) last week. Two more aces of that talented staff, Bay and Petrick, both sport ERAs below the 2.00 mark. In addition to a solid 1.61 ERA, Bay is showing the same command (24/5 K/BB) that made him one of the rookie level Arizona League's top pitchers last season in his pro debut. Third-year pro Petrick is at 1.50 after his first four starts.

COLD

Wilson Betemit, 3B – Atlanta (Richmond, AAA International League) - The switch-hitter's star is falling rapidly. In his third AAA season, Betemit is hitting .190/.262/.293. This is a man that needs a change of scenery because it just doesn't seem to be working out in Richmond.

Colt Griffin, SP – Kansas City (Wilmington, A Carolina League) - The small improvements that Griffin made last year with his command have slipped away. The hard throwing right-hander has walked 19 batters in 22.2 IPs and thrown eight wild pitches.

Jeremy Brown, C - Oakland (Omaha, AA Texas League) – We've grown weary of referring to Brown as the "Moneyball" poster child, so we'll instead just pass along the info that the right-handed hitting catcher is batting only .179/.281/.282 in his return to Midland. Brown's strikeouts are up this year (18 in 78 ABs).

Larry Broadway, 1B - Montreal (Harrisburg, AA Eastern League) - Broadway showed some promise in a late season promotion to AA last year, but it's not happening for him this season. The left-handed hitter is in a horrendous slump (.132/.241/.221).

Ryan Hannaman, SP - Baltimore (Frederick, A Carolina League) - The former Giant farmhand is really struggling in his first full season with the Orioles organization. The southpaw has walked 17 batters in 12.1 IPs and has an 8.03 ERA in five games.

John Van Benschoten, SP - Pittsburgh (Nashville, A Pacific Coast League) - Van Benschoten returns to the COLD list as he has yet to figure out how to retire AAA hitters. Opponents are batting .330 off him; the big right-hander is 0-4 with an 8.74 ERA.

--- Bill Mitchell