Bill Mitchell's Minor League Ramblings

Minor League Ramblings For the week of :
August 23 2004

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

Who's Hot and Who's Cold
August 28, 2004

Continuing our feature on the biggest surprises of the 2004 season, this week we showcase 10 pitchers who turned more than a few heads with their performances.

Jeff Francis, P - Colorado – The Canadian southpaw was arguably the top pitcher in minor league ball this year, finishing at 13-1, 1.98 in AA and 3-2, 3.07 in AAA. Francis' combined K/BB rate was 196/29. He made his big league debut last week.

Yusmeiro Petit, P - New York Mets - Petit dominated at both A levels, earning an invitation to the Futures Game and a recent promotion to AA. After going 9-2, 2.39 in Low A, he recorded a dandy 1.22 ERA in nine games in High A. The right-hander from Venezuela has struck out 184 batters in 127.1 IPs.

Matt Cain, P - San Francisco - The hard throwing right-hander wasn't expected in AA for at least another year, but made it to that level (as well as a Futures Game appearance) before his 20th birthday. After posting a 7-1, 1.86 total for High A San Jose, Cain made the jump to AA where he is 6-3, 2.56.

Bobby Livingston, P - Seattle - Left-hander Livingston has been at High A all season, where he's 11-5, 3.49. He was the starting pitcher for the California League in the annual Class A all-star game in San Bernardino.

Steve Bondurant, P - Oakland - Few could have projected the type of season the Oakland southpaw had in Low A, as he went 14-5, 2.08, 132/27. He jumped a level to AA, where he's struggled in the hitter friendly Texas League in his first five starts.

Renyel Pinto, P - Chicago Cubs - The Venezuelan southpaw was far down the prolific list of Cubs pitching prospects, but Pinto has pitched as well as anyone else in the organization, going 11-8, 2.92, 179 Ks in 141.2 IPs.

Zach Duke, P - Pittsburgh - This lefty hasn't gotten the press that other Pittsburgh pitching prospects have received because he wasn't a first-round choice, but no one's pitched better than Duke this year. He began the season in High A, posting totals of 10-5, 1.39, 106/20 before moving up to AA. The more advanced hitters in the Eastern League haven't figured him out either, as Duke is 4-1, 1.55, 33/9 with Altoona.

Wil Ledezma, P - Detroit - Still another southpaw who surprised fans this year, the native of Venezuela went 10-3, 2.42, 98/24 in AA before getting the call to Detroit. He also made an appearance for the World Team in the Futures Game.

Felix Diaz, P - Chicago White Sox - The former Giants farmhand hasn't fared as well in his starts with the big club, but he's been dominating at AAA Charlotte. In 17 starts, Diaz has gone 10-2, 2.97, 96/24.

Brad Thompson, P - St. Louis - Right-hander Thompson put together one of the more impressive achievements in many years by stringing together 57.2 scoreless innings, contributing to his AA record of 7-1, 1.76, 50/11.

--- Bill Mitchell