Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Looking at the Power

A few notes on the Hagerstown Suns series against the West Virginia Power from last week.
I saw two entire games and some of the third,so I have a pretty good idea of the scouting reports.
I did not see many of the relievers and none of the prospects such as Zack Von Rosenberg and I missed Colton Cain's start in game two of the doubleheader.
Game one just ran far too long and I had to get to work.

Honestly,the Power's position players left much to be desired and did not measure to the prospects from the 2010 squad.
I liked some of what I saw from shortstop Drew Maggi and outfielder Mel Rojas Jr,but neither shined to the point of being considered a sure thing.
Both look to have plus speed for their position and look like potential plus defenders to me,but both strike out a lot,which in this league always gives me reason for pause.
The only other position player worth mentioned was the Power's only SAL non-pitcher All-Star in outfielder Dan Grovatt.
The former Virginia Cavalier walks a lot,but lacks a real plus tool,which will hamper him as he moves up the ladder..

Zac Fuesser impressed in the first game of the series with six shutout innings of an eventual loss.
Fuesser didnt get much above 90 on the radar gun,he mixes his pitches well and kept the Suns off balance with his curve and change.
Fuesser has made three starts since being added to the rotation in place of Zack Von Rosenberg and allowed just two runs in seventeen innings.
Fuesser strikes me as a guy that might never be high on prospect lists,but slowly climbs the ladder on productivity,such as Rudy Owens has through the system...

2010 first rounder Jameson Taillon had his worst outing of the season against the Suns,but the numbers do not tell the entire truth.
Taillon's defense betrayed him in the third inning on two plays that should have been outs and became base hits.
Taillon's curve was unhittable by Hagerstown,but the Pirates organizational philosophy is to establish fastball command first and the breaking stuff second,so Taillon did not throw it nearly as much as he would have under different circumstances.
I was sitting right beside a radar gun and he was consistently in the 94-95 MPH range.
Jameson Taillon looks to me to be the real deal....

Tyler Waldron of Oregon State pitched the final game of the series and I watched a few innings before I went home.
Waldron allowed one run that I saw ,but seemed to struggle with anything other than a low-mid 90's fastball as far as control goes.
The fastball looked decent enough speed wise,but did not have a ton of movement.
Waldron looks to perhaps be better suited as a bullpen arm.

I may be back later with the inbox cleanup or that may be tomorrow's post.

No comments: