I saw the Salt Lake Bees play three games against Oklahoma last weekend. Here are my impressions.
Scouting Report: Salt Lake Bees (Triple-A Los Angeles Angels)
Brad Coon, CF
Hitting .269/.362/.344 with 19 steals, 55 walks, 66 strikeouts in 398 at-bats. Lefty hitter with good speed, went 0-for-11 with a walk in the games I saw, making contact decently but not having the hits fall. Very fast and looks like a strong defensive outfielder, but lacks power with the bat. At age 26 he's probably not going to develop the necessary pop, but should hang around Triple-A and the fringes of the majors for a long time.
Dan Denham, RHP
5.10 ERA with 53/58 K/BB in 118 innings, 140 hits. Threw four innings on the 14th, walking four, allowing six hits and four runs. Fastball was 87-89 MPH. Mixed in an okay slider and a slower curve, but his location was poor and in general he was having a rough time of it. I didn't see anything on the field to make me think that his statistics aren't a fair representation of his ability.
Terry Evans, RF
Hitting .289/.338/.526, 25 homers, 26 steals in 30 attempts, 35 walks, 128 strikeouts in 477 at-bats. Went 4-for-13 with a double and three strikeouts. Looks like a very good athlete with lots of raw power and above average speed, but his held back by bad plate discipline. He will nail a fastball, but is very vulnerable to sliders away. At age 27 he is at his peak now. If you gave him 500 major league at-bats, he'd have a hard time hitting .240 and his OPB would be poor, but he could hit 15 homers and steal 20 bases.
Brad Knox, RHP
5.35 ERA with a 57/44 K/BB in 133 innings, 159 hits. Pitched five innings, allowed six hits, four runs, three walks, with five strikeouts on the 15th. His stuff was similar to Denham: 87-89 MPH fastball, but I thought his breaking stuff was more consistent. Like Denham he is a very marginal guy who needs good defensive support and a strong measure of luck to succeed.
Robert Mosebach, RHP
2.84 ERA with 22/13 K/BB in 32 innings, 29 hits for Salt Lake. Pitched a strong relief inning on the 15th, then got beat up on the 16th due to a control failure. Uses a low 90s fastball with a decent slider, keeps the ball low in the zone and gets ground balls. I could see him as an effective middle reliever if his command sharpens up a bit more.
Chris Petit, LF
Hitting .324/.385/.484, 25 walks, 48 strikeouts in 306 at-bats, along with 16 steals in 18 attempts. He had a good series, hitting a home run on the 16th and generally impressing me with his speed and athleticism, which was better than I expected based on public scouting reports. Also looks like a sharp defensive outfielder with a decent arm and good range. At the plate, he worked the count well in this series and didn't appear overmatched even against the tougher Oklahoma pitchers. I don't know if he'll have enough power to start, but he should be a good fourth outfielder at least.
Francisco Rodriguez, RHP
3.26 ERA with 48/36 K/BB in 66 innings, 54 hits. Two scoreless innings with four strikeouts on the 15th. Fastball 90-92 MPH, also threw a good slider. His command was fine in the game I saw him pitch, though his overall numbers imply occasional command problems. He has enough to be useful in the bullpen if the control is there. Isn't that the case with a lot of these Double-A and Triple-A guys? They have the arm strength but not always the command.
Rafael Rodriguez, RHP
1.80 ERA with 19/7 K/BB in 30 inning, 25 hits. Gave up three hits in 1.1 innings of work on the 16th, which must have been one of his worst games of the season. There was nothing wrong with his stuff: 92-95 MPH with sinking action, and a slider with a big break to it. But he kept getting behind in the count, would groove a pitch, then get hit. The arm strength for success is clearly here, and as stated this was one of his worst games all year.
Sean Rodriguez, 2B
Hitting .288/.387/.600, 44 walks, 109 strikeouts in 330 at-bats. Played just one game, went 0-for-1 with two walks. Didn't get a read on his swing at all but he was very patient. I've seen Rodriguez a lot over the last few years. Sometimes he looks great, sometimes he looks terrible. He's still just 24 and has unusual pop in his bat for a middle infielder, but he seems to change his approach a lot.
Brad Salmon, RHP
5.44 ERA with 67/47 K/BB in 84 innings, 96 hits. Pretty ugly numbers with an unimpressive track record, but he looked pretty solid in this game on the 16th, allowing just one run in six innings, fanning five. Fastball 90-93 MPH, good slider, mixed in a curve and changeup. Command was erratic with four walks, but they didn't get a lot of good wood on him until the last inning when he got tired in the heat and started to leave his pitches up in the strike zone.
Freddy Sandoval, 3B
Hitting .309/.373/.500 with 12 steals in 13 attempts, 21 walks, 31 strikeouts in 204 at-bats. Just came off the disabled list when I saw him, went 3-for-9 with a double and home run in the three contests. He always plays well when I see him, showing average tools but a polished approach, flashes of power and speed. Scouts don't seem to like him much. He's 27 now, but I think he could end up being a useful bench player for someone who appreciates his skills.
Bobby Wilson, C
Hitting .266/.310/.398, went 0-for-9 in the three games I saw. I didn't see any reason to think he's better than his numbers. He looks solid behind the plate, strong arm with a quick release, good mobility. Offensively I thought his swing was slow. He won't hit enough to be a regular but his defense could give him a tenure as a reserve.
Brandon Wood, SS
Hitting .296/.356/.562, 20 homers, 32 walks, 74 strikeouts in 345 at-bats. Went 2-for-9 with three walks and five strikeouts in the three games I saw. He was making a very clear and deliberate attempt to work the count and be more patient, though the results were mixed. On defense, he showed off a strong arm and enough range to play shortstop I thought. I don't think Wood has much left to learn in Triple-A. Someone needs to give him 500 major league at-bats, just let him play and make the adjustments he needs to make.
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