Prospect Report:
Ready, Willing and A-Ball

David Cameron

Over the weekend, I put down my abacus and protractor long enough to get out and watch a couple of minor-league games. There's nothing like watching a baseball game in Hickory or Greensboro to make you not worry whether Major League Baseball is going on strike. That collection of players can do whatever they want, but baseball sure isn't going on strike anytime soon.

My first trek was east to Greensboro, home of the Bats, South Atlantic League affiliate of the New York Yankees. The Bats have a few interesting batsmen (forgive the pun) in catcher Dioner Navarro, shortstop Bronson Sardinha, and second baseman Robinson Cano. With Demlarva (Orioles affiliate) in town, I knew I'd get to see a few interesting hitters on the other side as well.

To my dismay, however, Greensboro gave both Navarro and Sardinha the evening off, so I don't have much to share about those two, other than that they stayed dryer than the rest of us. That left Cano as the only real intriguing player in the lineup for the Bats. He spent the night at shortstop in Sardinha's absence and showed why he's played second base most of the year.

Defensively, his arm isn't real good for a shortstop but it's okay for second base. He's not very fundamentally sound, which isn't that unusual for a kid just 19 years of age. His footwork is bad, which doesn't allow him to get a very good jump on the ball, and his range is below average. The general consensus from the scouts was that he profiles as a left fielder, though I'd like to see him play second before I give up on him as an infielder.

Offensively, it's easy to see why Cano has put up some impressive power numbers. He's got a quick swing that really drives fastballs well. He can catch up with pitches inside due to his quick wrists. He extends well and can hit the ball hard the opposite way. That is, if he gets a fastball.

He really doesn't know what to do with a breaking ball at this point in his career. His swing is long and opens him up for curveballs down and in. He doesn't keep his weight back long enough and was only able to foul off most off-speed pitches away. This was obviously the notebook on him coming into the game, as he saw a steady diet of curveballs all night long. He went 1-4 and only put one ball in play with any authority.

He has speed but doesn't use it all the time and he looked to be on cruise control for most of the game. Overall, he's a very raw package who could develop with good instruction. He reminds me a bit of Alfonso Soriano at the plate, though he's not as big. If he doesn't get better at recognizing and handling the breaking ball, he might not ever get out of AA. If he can overcome that weakness and improve his footwork, he has some solid potential as an offensive middle infielder.

Greensboro's starter that night was Bobby Wood, a righthander who was a 21st round pick by the Yankees in 2001. His numbers were rather pedestrian entering the game and he's 22, so I wasn't expecting much from him. He ended up stealing the show, however. He's not a real big kid, probably 6'2" (not the 6'4" he's listed at) and 200 pounds. Wood didn't pitch like other kids in A-ball though.

He started the game working in the low 80s with his fastball and mixing in a slow 75 MPH curveball with pretty good movement. He struggled with his command in the first inning, but turned it on in the second. He started locating his pitches better, mixing in a nasty 79 MPH slider and upping his velocity on the fastball to between 88-90. This is when he became downright dominant. He struck out at least one batter in each inning, mostly with the big 12-6 curveball that he can throw for strikes.

He wasn't overpowering on the gun, only hitting 91 a few times and never going higher. His two breaking pitches were excellent, though, and his control was superb. He finished the night after seven innings, giving up just four hits and walking none, and striking out 11 without allowing a run. He was in control from the second inning on and the Delmarva hitters never even poised a threat.

Wood won't get much notice with his fastball, but he's one to keep an eye on. The Yankees would do well to test him against Florida State League hitters for the rest of this year and push him to AA next year. He won't be a frontline starter, but with his command of two good pitches and a decent fastball, he could help a team as a fourth starter.

Saturday night was the opposite experience, for the most part. I made the trip west to Hickory with the intention of watching Chris Young pitch. The Pirates drafted the 6'10" Young out of Princeton and gave him a $1.65 million signing bonus with the idea that he can develop into a frontline starter. His numbers were quite good for Hickory, so I was excited to see if the big guy had added velocity like Pittsburgh was expecting.

He hasn't. His first pitch of the night was a 90 MPH fastball. The next 17 pitches were also fastballs between 88-91 and got him through the first inning without too many problems. He threw nothing but fastballs the second inning as well. He didn't show any semblance of a breaking ball throughout the game, which was quite surprising considering how well he's been doing. I asked Hickory's regular catcher, Ryan Doumit, who was sitting directly in front of me, about Young's lack of a breaking ball. Apparently, Young's been getting by with spotting his fastball up in the zone against hitters who can't get around on it.

That won't work against hitters in AA, much less the majors. Without more velocity, movement, or a really good breaking ball, Young's going to get hit, and thats pretty much what happened against a bad Kannapolis team. Young left after throwing 90 pitches through 4 innings and giving up 10 hits. He walked 2 and struck out 4. I walked away thoroughly unimpressed. He's 23, so he doesn't have the luxury of spending too many years in the minors, and he's nowhere close to helping Pittsburgh right now.

Speaking of Doumit, he was sitting directly in front of me because he broke two fingers on his left hand and is done for the season. He had the surgery in Pittsburgh on Monday and gets a couple weeks off back home in Washington before reporting back to Hickory. He should be back in playing condition in time for the Fall Instructional League and will begin his 2002 season in Lynchburg.

about the author

David Cameron has had little success in his attempts to coax minor-leaguers into drug tests. Explain that it's unlikely Jolt Cola will ever be a banned substance anyway at dac@strikethree.com.