Sonnanstine to be called up next week?
"According to the St. Petersburg Times, the Devil Rays may call up Andy Sonnanstine from Triple-A to start Tuesday against the Blue Jays.
He would replace either Jae Seo or Casey Fossum in the rotation, and the Devil Rays may also call up J.P. Howell to grab a starting spot. An extreme control pitcher with outstanding minor league numbers, Sonnanstine is like a slightly poorer man's Kevin Slowey and could good value in AL-only leagues eventually."
Source: St Petersburg Times
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19 comments
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I'd be shocked
by Tyler on
Jun 1, 2007 3:33 PM EDT
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UGH
by realityconquest on
Jun 1, 2007 4:32 PM EDT
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Niemann
by Tyler on
Jun 1, 2007 4:56 PM EDT
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:( oh cmon derek
by realityconquest on
Jun 1, 2007 7:15 PM EDT
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Knee man!
by Jim Wisinski on
Jun 2, 2007 12:31 AM EDT
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nice!
by limozeen on
Jun 1, 2007 4:32 PM EDT
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Sonnanstine and Slowey
by FI on
Jun 1, 2007 5:18 PM EDT
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meh
by limozeen on
Jun 1, 2007 8:58 PM EDT
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rationale
by FI on
Jun 2, 2007 9:01 AM EDT
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Slowey vs Sonnanstine
In terms of stuff, Sonnanstine's offspeed stuff is far better than Slowey's in my opinion.
I'm watching Slowey right now and I'm not impressed at all. Nothing he throws offspeed is throwing hitters off their game.
I think both will be effective MLB starters, but IMO Sonnanstine's ceiling is more of a #2 and Slowey's ceiling is more of a #3.
Sonnanstine has two pitches with great movement in his slider and changeup and if he ever gets the splitter back into his repertoire then he'll be a complete pitcher. He also gets more velocity separation than Slowey from what I've seen.
For this year, Sonnanstine has more professional innings and experience but I think they will end up with similar numbers. I expect Slowey to have the lower walk rate and Sonnanstine to have the higher strikeout rate.
Not a knock on Slowey, but I'm getting sick and tired of seeing Sonnanstine being described as a "poor man's Slowey" when Slowey has done nothing and has nothing that trumps Sonnanstine in any way, shape, or form.
If Slowey was a Rays pitching prospect and Sonnanstine was a pitching prospect in Minnesota, I have a feeling the consensus would be that Slowey was a poor man's Sonnanstine. How fickle.
by youALREADYknow on
Jun 1, 2007 11:13 PM EDT
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haha
by PooNani on
Jun 2, 2007 9:28 AM EDT
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context
by FI on
Jun 2, 2007 9:43 AM EDT
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HR/9
If you're not walking guys and you aren't extremely hittable, chances are that you're giving up a lot of solo home runs.
Jamie Shields gives up a ton of HR's too... I don't think the Rays are complaining about it right now.
Sonnanstine is pretty much a flyball guy who only gets in trouble when he gets into hitters counts and/or leaves fastballs up in the zone. He has rarely done either in AAA so far and I don't expect it to happen drastically more often in the majors.
Talking about Slowey, I can't wait to see how having 1 effective pitch translates to the majors after teams see him the first time. I don't think he'll have any problem the first few starts, but eventually guys will figure it out.
by youALREADYknow on
Jun 2, 2007 10:37 AM EDT
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you know
Just because you like one player more than another, you don't have to hate the other. You Rays dudes constantly do this (reference LONGORIA >>>> ALEX GORDON!!!). But of course, it's probably everyone else's fault, because you all have a huge persecution complex too.
by limozeen on
Jun 2, 2007 2:45 PM EDT
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Come on
For the record, I think Sonnanstine is going to be exactly the type of pitcher yAk predicts Slowey is going to be. A high 4 ERA guy that can eat innings. A very valuable player, but no where close to the player his minor league numbers suggest he should be.
by Tyler on
Jun 2, 2007 3:17 PM EDT
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similar prospect?
I ask because it seems that's what the majority of this site is.
WHEN (and only when) someone comes with an opinion after actually watching guys pitch, take it at face value.
I gain no pleasure by saying Sonnanstine is a different pitcher than Slowey. It's simply the truth. They have similarities, but the glaring difference to me AFTER WATCHING EACH GUY PITCH MULTIPLE TIMES is that Slowey doesn't have a truly effective offspeed pitch while Sonnanstine has TWO.
If you don't believe me, watch them for yourself and find out the same thing.
I also don't see anywhere that I predicted Slowey to "crash and burn". If predicting a mid-high 4 ERA in a rookie season is crashing and burning, then a lot of guys would love to crash and burn. Jamie Shields, for one, crashed and burned last year by that definition. I think he's alright with it now.
All I said was that Slowey is a one trick pony right now and it shouldn't take long for the league to figure it out. Once they figure it out, expect the HR's to begin and expect the hit rate to jump a bit. It doesn't mean he won't be effective, because he has a great fastball and guys who can locate the fastball wherever they want will always have success in baseball.
by youALREADYknow on
Jun 3, 2007 1:37 AM EDT
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No question
Sonnanstine's likely, IMO, to have some difficulty adjusting to the majors, because his fastball doesn't overpower anyone, and when his location is off (as it was Thursday night against Ottawa) he's going to give up lots of hits. Eventually, I think he'll be a good pitcher, but not a front-end-of-the-rotation guy. Hammel and Niemann have more upside.
I don't understand why Howell and not Hammel, frankly. Howell doesn't impress me at all.
by MikeE on
Jun 3, 2007 1:17 PM EDT
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hmm
They put up the same numbers and they put them up the same way, regardless of whether Sonnanstine's offspeed stuff rates out a 50 instead of a 40.
by limozeen on
Jun 3, 2007 5:01 PM EDT
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