NL Callup Report , II

Jason Michael Barker

Sorry for the delay, folks. I ran into some more pressing responsibilities Monday night and was unable to pen the much-anticipated sequel to last week's NL Callup Report, but I'm here to set things right. Let me also add that it's a good thing "ER" airs Thursday night instead of Wednesday, or you might have been out of luck for yet another week. But I digress.

Milwaukee
You know it's pretty bad when the Devil Rays discard a player, but that's exactly what the Brewers have in OF Alex Sanchez -- Tampa Bay's sloppy seconds. Sanchez is coming off perhaps his best minor league season, in which he hit .313/.359/.394 at AAA Indianapolis. As you can tell by the spread between his average and OBP, he doesn't walk much. You might also guess that he's quite speedy, because that always seems to be the way with these high average, no walks and no power type of players. Sanchez stole 54 bases in 80 attempts last season, and nabbed 27 more in 35 attempts this year. So yeah, he can run a little, although his success rate leaves something to be desired.

I'm no fan of these Brian Hunter clones, at least not as long as they're in the starting line-up, but players like Sanchez -- who is also a good defender and can handle center -- have value in the pinch-runner, defensive sub, fifth outfielder sense of the word. The key is to never pay over minimum wage for these guys.

Montreal
Two years ago the Expos had three pretty good outfield prospects: Peter Bergeron, Milton Bradley and Brad Wilkerson. Bergeron was a huge disappointment last season, never living up to his billing as the next Brett Butler. Bradley battled the reputation he had of being a hot headed attitude problem, and was shipped off to Cleveland this July. That leaves Wilkerson, that rare Expos player who understands that taking four pitches out of the strikezone can get you to first. He's actually been up since mid-July, but the Expos didn't call up anyone worth writing about and I wanted to mention him.

Heading into this year he owned a .265/.394/.448 line in close to 900 minor league at-bats, and he hit a very solid .270/.423/.468 at AAA Ottawa in 2001 and drew an incredible 60 walks in 233 at-bats. He's never hit for much homer power, but his combination of doubles and walks could make him a productive corner outfielder. Look for him to start in left next year.

New York
When John Olerud left via free agency two winters ago and before the Mets signed Todd Zeile to play first, there was talk of handing the job to George Toca, who had hit for good power at AA that season. Instead Toca went to AAA and hit just .272/.302/.413 with only 17 walks, which might be decent numbers if he played shortstop. He returned to AAA in 2001 and was even worse -- .268/.314/.386. They tried him in the outfield, but he won't hit enough to play there, either. Sorry, Mets' fans, but Toca is more suspect than prospect.

The Mets also called up RHP Dicky Gonzalez, a soft-tossing control specialist who walked only 20 batters in 96 innings at AAA after a similar year at AA in 2000. His fastball only just touches 90 MPH, but that's only what he uses to set hitters up, not get them out. He's bit hit fairly hard in the bigs this year, but I have a theory that this kind of pitcher takes a while to adjust at each level.

Philadelphia
Doug Nickel is yet another minor league closer -- don't they always seem to get the September callups? -- but one with a decent shot, if his 1.68 ERA at AAA is any indication. He isn't overpowering and doesn't strike out a ton of guys, but he's consistently allowed less than one hit per inning with decent control in the minors.

The top hitting prospect in the system for a few years has been Eric Valent, who this season is finally getting his shot in the majors. After drawing 70 walks in 469 at-bats last year at AA, his walk rate dropped at AAA in 2001, but he still slugged 20 homers for the third straight year. The biggest problem facing the Phillies is that they have three outfielders who can hit -- Valent, Bobby Abreu and Pat Burrell -- but none of them can handle centerfield. Hmm.

Pittsburgh
He isn't much of a hitter, but Humberto Cota gets high marks for his defense behind the plate and his work with pitchers. That's not quite fair -- he did hit .297/.351/.477 at AAA this year, though it was his .274/.334/.427 career line. He still doesn't walk much, but if that improvement in his bat is for real he could help the Pirates forget about Jason Kendall quickly. As it is I think he'll hit around .250 with no walks but decent pop.

Ryan Vogelsong was the key to the trade that sent Jason Schmidt and John Vander Wal to the Giants, but he appeared in only two games for the Bucs before being lost for this season, and probably all of next season, to injury. The reconstructive elbow surgery was apparently a success, but these things take a long time to heal. Vogelsong is still a promising young starter if he can come back from surgery.

San Diego
The Padres called up a number of guys; here are two that caught my eye. Wascar Serrano has been up with the Padres earlier this year, and in fact was the losing pitcher in AJ Burnett's no-hitter back in May. He pitched well in the loss, but still split time between AAA and the majors this year. He didn't fare as well in the minors as he had in years past, but hey, the PCL is tough on pitchers. He's pitching out of the pen now and might remain there if his control doesn't improve.

Mike Colangelo, formerly of the Angels, has some on-base ability but was eventually given up on by Anaheim because: 1. They don't understand OBP, and 2. He's always getting injured. He isn't going to hit for power or steal bases, so you're pretty much looking at a fifth outfielder and occasional pinch hitter.

San Francisco
Some wanted Kurt Ainsworth in the starting rotation out of spring training after a solid AA campaign, but the Giants thought otherwise. He proceeded to be mediocre at AAA... or at least it looks that way on the surface. While his 5.07 ERA isn't pretty, he allowed 139 hits in 149 innings while walking 54 and striking out 157. Those are some nice ratios, particularly for the hitter-friendly PCL. If he's undervalued in your fantasy league, grab him.

Looking for Yorvit Torrealba on Baseball America's player finder, I only typed his last name thinking that would be enough. Much to my surprise, there were no fewer than three Torrealba's in the minors last season: Yorvit, Steve and Yoann. Anyway, our friend Yorvit played 114 games behind the plate at AAA, hitting .274/.313/.409 with marginal (OK, just plain poor) strikezone judgement. Really I just liked his name.

St. Louis
Luis Saturria has interesting mix of power and speed, but he was horrible at AAA this year after a solid AA campaign in 2000. His biggest problem, as I'm sure you've guessed, is a lack of plate discipline. He's a good defensive outfielder, so he might stick that way, but a .225/.286/.383 AAA line doesn't translate very well to the majors. In another organization he might have a shot, but he's probably a lost cause at this point.

about the author

Jason Michael Barker, who may be reached at jmb@strikethree.com, must... sleep... now... so try to keep it down, will ya?

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