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Plenty o' prospects in Durham Prospects and former prospects abounded last night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, NC ... Keith Reed, former number one pick by Baltimore in the 1999 draft started in right field for the Ottawa Lynx. Reed was one of Baltimore’s harvest of seven first rounders in the 1999 draft which so far has yielded only Brian Roberts for the big team. Reed was picked as a five tool player from Providence College. At the time, Orioles Scouting Director Tony Demacio felt Reed would develop and fill the Orioles right field need for years to come. Reed was a guy they felt could hit for power, average, steal bases, throw and play great defense. Several years ago, he injured his arm throwing while amazing his AA teammates with his ability to throw curveballs to the plate from centerfield during batting practice. After being exposed to the rest of baseball in the 2002 Rule V draft, Reed went unclaimed by the other major league teams and continues to toil for the organization which originally signed him. Ed Rogers was once described by Andy Etchebarren as “then next Alex Rodriguez.” Last night, he started at second base in a AAA game at age 28 after a whopping 14 major league at bats. During Rogers' rise in the minors, the Orioles found that he was really three years older than stated when he originally signed. Instead of having a 19 year old prospect who was handling AA ball, it turned out the Orioles had a 22 year old who had to repeat High A ball. Think of comparisons to Manny Alexander! The Lynx pitching staff featured another of the Orioles top picks from the ill fated 1999 draft, left handed reliever Scott Rice. Rice was the compensatory pick for Rafael Palmeiro when he left the Birds to return to Texas via the free agent route. In addition, the Lynx have former Oakland number one pick, left hander Eric Dubose, who is still hanging on after resurrecting his career following major surgery on his pitching shoulder and stints with Baltimore as a starter and long reliever. The Bulls countered with another of Baltimore’s ill-fated number one picks, Darnell McDonald. Pat Gillick talked McDonald out of pursuing a college football career in 1997 by giving him a nice pile of Peter Angelos' money to sign with the Birds. He gave the Orioles 32 major league at bats and a .158 batting average. He is currently on his third organization, and is batting lead off for the Bulls. Every fan entering the park receives a free program which features three of the most heralded prospects in all of baseball, Delmon Young (currently serving a 50 game suspension for throwing a bat at a umpire); Elijah Dukes, who missed last season's Arizona Fall League to take anger management classes (I guess they worked, last night he vehemently argued a call at first and knew when to stop, short of being tossed out); and B.J Upton, who is playing a stellar shortstop for the Bulls. Last night young Bossman Junior made a terrific running catch of an Andy Tracy foul ball to close out the third inning for the Bulls. He sprinted to the left field bleachers, fell over the tarp, and still managed to hold onto the ball for the putout. That one should make the highlights! In addition to Dukes and Upton, the Bulls were able to trot out right fielder Rocco Baldelli. Baldelli stormed through the minors four years ago, drawing comparisons to Joe DiMaggio. At the age of 22 he broke into the D’Rays lineup and looked like a lock to be there for years to come. Unfortunately, after the 2004 season, he injured his ACL while playing baseball with his younger brother. This caused him to miss the entire 2005 season. As if that wasn’t enough, while he was working on his return, he tore a ligament in his throwing arm and had to have Tommy John surgery. Last night, he went 2-4 with two wickedly stroked doubles. Finally, Sean Burroughs started at third for the Bulls. Burroughs was San Diego’s number one pick in the 1998 draft. Last night's pitching matchup featured two pitchers at opposite ends of the pitching spectrum. The Lynx started another former O’s prospect, John Stephens, who brought his 82 MPH fastball to bear against the Bulls' up and coming pitching prospect, Jamie Shields. Shields is a more traditional pitcher, featuring a fastball that tops out at 94 MPH. His fastball has improved as he has filled out. He used to top out in the upper 80s. His arsenal also includes a curveball he throws in the low 80s, a slider and change up. He was one of the top hurlers in last season's AFL. In contrast, Stephens’ curveball was hitting between 58 and 61 MPH most of the night. As the game progressed, he was able to take some off his fastball and spot it at 73 MPH. Stephens threw two curveballs last night. One breaking ball, described as a lollipop curve, breaks about a foot short of the plate and drove Brandon Marsters nuts trying to keep it in front of him. Another of his breaking pitches is a more traditional, sweeping curveball. Stephens is a veteran pitcher who knows when to walk a hitter to avoid giving up a big hit. After giving up a run in the first, he performed masterfully, retiring the last 10 hitters he faced. Shields, on the other hand, pounded the Lynx with his fastball. He went two innings last night, striking out four hitters. Shields would throw his fastball for strike one, then break off a curve that usually had Lynx batters swinging at air. The only hitter who had a decent at bat against Shields was former major leaguer Fernando Tatis, who took him to a 3-2 count before swinging and missing a curveball. Fortunately for the Ottawa hitters, Shields left after two innings and was relieved by lefty Mike Prochaska, who surrendered a fifth inning Masters grand slam which proved to be the difference in the 4-2 Ottawa win. Probably the only bona fide prospect the Lynx could muster last night was Val Majewski, who is just back from a strained oblique muscle. Majewski is another AFL veteran who played last season for the Peoria Javelinas while building reps following his lost 2005 season due to shoulder surgery. Majewski was involved in a memorable play at the plate last fall in when Justin Knoedler caught a throw and apparently blocked Majewski off the plate. I felt the umpire was out of position and missed the call. A review of Bill Mitchell's sequence of photos was inconclusive. The Lynx bench also featured a young pitcher on rehab from Baltimore, Daniel Cabrera. The Bulls play in one of the nicest ballparks in the minor leagues, Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Built in 1995, the Park is smack dab in the heart of downtown Durham and has sparked a bit of revitalization in the area. Across the street, old tobacco warehouses sport chic restaurants and offices. The ballpark itself was built in the retro mode and includes a hand-operated scoreboard on the Blue Monster in left. Perched atop the left field wall is a reconstruction of the sign made famous in the movie Bull Durham --- a bull that lights up when one of the Durham hitters strokes a home run. As in the movie, the bull offers a free steak to anyone who hits it. Below the bull is a note that if a batter hits the grass, they get a salad. Orioles farmhand Nolan Reimold is the only batter I can think of who might be able to hit that monster. The ballpark features a varied menu at its concession stands, ranging from traditional hot dogs and draft beer to sushi, Mexican food and North Carolina barbecue. There is plenty of parking nearby, both free and pay for parking, and a kids zone on the right field concourse featuring a rock climbing wall and slide. The stadium also has an organist, who sits to the right of third base. The between innings promotions feature one I have never seen before, a stroller race which includes a diaper change at the half way mark. This is truly one of the best sites in all of baseball watch a game. --- John
Kazlo |
