spring training breakout prospects

by rayver723 on Mar 12, 2008 1:24 PM EDT

so which prospects have you noticed during spring training??

so ths is a time you get to finally see certain top prospects play, but the nat'l media get a hold of them and find more about them. well i'll start it off. in the past week or so gammons/olney have reported on henry rodriguez. some mentioned he's been the best pitcher that the cactus league has seen in 2 seasons w/ a high 90's FB and devastating breaking pitch. Olney calls him the best prospect in the cactus league.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/sports/ci_8543671

Knoedler, a nonroster player who was catching Sunday when Rodriguez was clocked at 100 mph against Milwaukee, said Rodriguez also has shown good command of a slider and changeup.

But it's Rodriguez's fastball -- Knoedler likes to describe it as "easy cheese" -- that is generating the buzz.

"Give the guy a chance to get a few innings under his belt, and he can be special for a long, long time," Knoedler said. "There's nobody in this camp with an arm like his. He's got a lightning bolt in his arm."

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Chris Volstad

Volstad has been Volstud so far in his spring camp. His line so far...

10 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 K, 0.90 ERA

With the Marlins rotation as flex as it is, we could see him earlier than anyone expected.

by bucklin12 on Mar 12, 2008 3:10 PM EDT reply actions

Scratch that...

11 IP, 10 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 K, 0.83 ERA

by bucklin12 on Mar 12, 2008 3:27 PM EDT up reply actions

Ks

a bit....low.

by npurcell on Mar 12, 2008 8:48 PM EDT up reply actions

its spring training for a teenager

by nms on Mar 13, 2008 5:27 AM EDT up reply actions

He's A Sinkerballer?

I was under the impression he was primarily a sinker ball pitcher. After looking at some of his numbers, that seems to be the case. GO/AO of 2.50 in the minors in 2006 and 2.01 in 2007. His 2007 balls in play numbers show the same thing. So I don't think he's ever going to have a lot of strikeouts.

Same guy, new name.

by stillredsoxfan on Mar 13, 2008 11:59 AM EDT up reply actions

you are correct

he is a sinkerballer.

But the bigger point is its pretty pointless to really scour the k/bb of a 20 yo in spring training in ELEVEN innings.
The fact that he is pitching effectively is nice, but really trying to scour the perihperal stats of something like that is the height of folly

by nms on Mar 13, 2008 6:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Gerardo Parra

He was very impressive early - before spraining an ankle...

by Dfarth on Mar 12, 2008 4:20 PM EDT reply actions

I know some have said it here before...

But I feel like it's worth mentioning Liz as a potential breakout candidate given his work and reports about his control to this point.

I've been a fan since his first full season game, and the only thing that stands between him a stardom is control. He had flashes of good control last year in AA, games where he'd totally dominate, but it was inconsistent. Some days he'd dominate, some he wouldn't, but he supposedly worked over his mechanics during the off-season.

So far he's got one walk in 5 innings. And at the beginning of spring, they clearly said he was destined for AAA and now he's coming on strong as a contender for that #5 slot.

Anyway, if he can carry that kind of control over, and given his stuff, then sky's the limit.