Minor League Notes, September 24, 2011

by John Sickels on Sep 24, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

Random Thoughts on a Saturday Morning

**Poking around the end-of-season minor league results, I discovered that Florida Marlins prospect Christian Yelich stole 32 bases in 37 attempts for Low-A Greensboro in the Sally League. I knew he had a very good year with the bat, living up to expectations with a .312/.388/.484 line, but somehow I hadn't noticed that he had stolen so many bases. It will be interesting to see how much of that he maintains at higher levels. Although his first-round bat was strongly respected pre-season, he wasn't expected to be so useful on the bases.

**Given the horrific way his season began, it is easy to overlook the decent finish of Twins prospect Alex Wimmers, who threw seven shutout, hitless innings in his last start for High-A Fort Myers on September 3^rd. He finished the season with a 4.10 ERA and a 40/23 K/BB in 42 innings with 28 hits allowed. That's not what the Twins expected when they drafted him out of Ohio State, and the deterioration in his mechanics, confidence, and command this spring remains puzzling, but he is far from a lost cause.

**A pitcher to watch closely in 2012: Greg Billo of the Kansas City Royals. The 6-4, 220 pound right-hander posted a 1.93 ERA with a 119/25 K/BB in 135 innings for Low-A Kane County in the Midwest League, with 113 hits and a 1.32 GO/AO. A 28^th round pick in 2008 from high school in Illinois, he spent three seasons in rookie ball with mixed results, but made an easy transition to full-season ball this year and was outstanding. Scouts are more impressed with his curveball and changeup than they are with his fastball, but his control and feel for pitching are excellent.

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Comments

got a velocity on Billo?

i’ve heard and read all over the place on him. was told it went up this year but not to what extent.

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by doublestix on Sep 24, 2025 3:48 PM EDT reply actions

billo

What I have is 85-87 last year, anywhere from 87 to 92 this year. HOWEVER, I am not confident enough in my source on that to actually write it. Trying to get that confirmed.

by John Sickels on Sep 24, 2025 7:29 PM EDT up reply actions

From Greg Schaum's interview with Billo

3- I know you have seen a spike in your velocity this season can you tell us where you sat last season and where you are sitting now and what do you think is the reason for this spike?

Last season i think i sat anywhere from 87-88 touching the low 90′s. This season
i have been sitting 90-91 touching low to mid 90′s. The reason for the spike in my velocity is mostly from maturity in my opinion, but i also incorporated a lot of shoulder workouts in the off season which i think helped. As a suggestion by my pitching coach last year Jerry Nyman I have began to swim to condition my arm and for recovery purposes as well.

Link here.

Scouting the Royals
Royals Prospects

by 306008 on Sep 25, 2025 9:27 PM EDT up reply actions

i heard

86-89 occasionally touching 90 maybe topping at 91

When you get Jim Hoey, Brett Jacobsen, Kevin Mulvey, Deolis Guerra, Cole Nelson, Lester Oliveros, Matt Capps, Jason Pridie, Brendan Harris, and 20,000 dollars for a half dozen key intrical parts to you're organization eveybody hurts.
And you're fan base begins to revolt. Why does Bill Smith evaluate talent? He would be much better served as the teams ball boy.

by SteveHoffmanSlowey on Sep 25, 2025 4:44 AM EDT reply actions

Christian Yellich is the man top 20 bat overall?

top 30 bat for sure

by SteveHoffmanSlowey on Sep 25, 2025 4:45 AM EDT reply actions

not sure what you mean

Are you only talking about position players, or are you talking about overall rankings?

Personally, I don’t see Yelich as a top 20 overall prospect. I really like him though. He had a strong home/away split, but for some reason it seems like the production difference is due to a lapse in plate discipline, not the environment . . .not sure what to make of that. His handedness split is worth watching too, but given age and context, I’m not sweating that one too much.

I haven’t gotten far enough through my lists to determine where he ends up, but I’m really interested to see John’s opinion of him at this point. On community lists, I’m expecting to see Yelich come in between B and A-, a broad range. I think I’m probably going to end up splitting the difference.

by mrkupe on Sep 25, 2025 7:24 AM EDT up reply actions

Kupe was talking about just postional prospects, just bats yes

that would be too rich for me as well, I’m guessing he’d rank in the 50’s to late 70’s rankings in overall propects

by SteveHoffmanSlowey on Sep 26, 2025 3:19 AM EDT up reply actions

Crristian Yelish

his scouting report look very similar to Jeremy Hermida a few years ago.

by LCT on Sep 25, 2025 9:33 AM EDT reply actions

Very true

They are remarkably similar (& not just the raw #s) - good observation & their initial SAL campaigns were similar. Maybe Jeremy Hermida was considered to have a little more pure upside & almost certainly superior plate discipline, but Christian Yelich showed a bit more punch at the plate at this age which would be in his favor. Both were/are good baserunners & that shows in their SB #s at Low A.

by Matt0330 on Sep 26, 2025 11:05 AM EDT up reply actions