Prospect Report:
Both Ways

David Cameron

This week, the Prospect Report returns to focusing on what's happening in minor-league baseball. Thank you for the positive response on my previous walk rate columns. I'm in the process of completing a study on the correlation of minor-league and major-league strikeout rates for pitchers, which I hope you will find as interesting as I have. Until then, however, let's get back to what's actually happening on the field.

This week the Prospect Ten is getting quite a shakeup with both Hank Blalock and Wilson Betemit going down with injuries. Blalock's bone chips are not supposed to be a new injury, so he shouldn't miss a large amount of time, and Betemit's trip to the DL couldn't come at a better time, since the injury bug is about the only thing he's making contact with at the moment.

With those two departing from active status, your new number one prospect in the land is Joe Borchard. I got a chance to see Borchard in person Tuesday night as Charlotte took on the Ottawa Lynx. The Lynx are, quite possibly, the least interesting minor-league team in baseball this year, so I was glad to see the White Sox allowed Joe Crede and Borchard to stay in Charlotte and make this game watchable.

Borchard is a physical specimen, to be certain. He doesn't look like a center fielder, which has prompted some talk that he's better suited to right field, but with Magglio Ordonez entrenched on the south side of Chicago, the White Sox are giving Borchard every chance to stick in center. I think he could handle the position, as long as he doesn't get a whole lot bigger. He gets a solid first step and tracks the ball well. He doesn't have typical center field range, but he's adequate, and his bat will more than make up for the extra fly balls he allows to drop.

Offensively, he's a presence. He's got tremendous strength and can really turn on a fastball. He had the longest out of the night, driving a fastball about 370 feet to right-center field. He laid off most breaking balls, so we'll see how he adjusts to major-league curveballs from the likes of Barry Zito when he's behind in the count. The raw tools are there for him to be a tremendous offensive force, however, and the White Sox really should have him in their line-up if they're serious about making the playoffs this year.

Interestingly enough, Borchard was upstaged by one of the more impressive solo accomplishments I've seen at a game in my lifetime. Brooks Kieschnick, recently signed as a minor-league free agent, began the night as the designated hitter. He launched a three-run homer in the first inning and followed it up with a two-run blast in the third. Kieshnick was once a promising Cubs outfield prospect, but his inability to hit a breaking ball has made him a classic 4A hitter.

However, the White Sox signed him not with the intention of having him gain at-bats in AAA, but to begin the slow process of converting Kieschnick and his 94 MPH fastball to the pitching mound. He'd thrown just 3-2/3 IP this season prior to last night and is still learning how to pitch. However, after starting pitcher Mike Porzio got hammered early and Tom Jacquez failed to provide much relief, the Knights turned to Kieschnick and asked him to get them a couple of innings.

You'd have never known the right-hander on the mound was the same kid as the left-hander who was launching home runs just innings earlier. Kieschnick's not a refined pitcher, by any means, but he's got major-league heat with movement and including Tuesday's game, he's already struck out eight AAA hitters in his first 5-2/3 innings of exposure on the mound.

If Kieschnick continues to develop as a pitcher, he could be one of the most valuable 25th men on any bench in baseball, being able to provide mop-up relief work or a left-handed bat. The idea of converting position players to the mound has really caught on in the past several years, and many teams have reaped the rewards. It'll be interesting to see if Kieschnick can become the prototype for the two-way player who is actually counted on to both hit and pitch for his major-league team.

Some injury notes from around the minors:

Kenny Baugh finally had shoulder surgery and will officially miss the rest of the season. Baugh hadn't pitched in a game since being shut down with "soreness" last fall. This is a rather predictable outcome for a pitcher whose workload in college resembled Randy Johnson's.

Ryan Christianson will miss four to six weeks after suffering a fracture in his foot rounding first base. With Christianson not hitting much this year, it's quite possible he simply forgot how to round first base.

Josh Phelps' sore shoulder, which contributed to his throwing out just 11 percent of all would-be base stealers this season, has caused him to miss the past three games for Syracuse. Phelps' defensive problems have also caused a shift to first base which is quite likely permanent. Last summer, I wrote an article detailing the depth of the three solid Blue Jays catching prospects. A year later, none of the three are still behind the plate, and the guy I didn't mention -- Kevin Cash -- is the Blue Jays' catcher of the future.

about the author

David Cameron spent the first five seasons of his career as a photocopy clerk, proving that eventually at least one of them can be converted to a writer. Kinkos employees may ask for pointers at dac@strikethree.com.