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Bristol article on Salvador Sanchez


Guest JimH

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Here's another good article on Derek Rodriguez (14th round, '05) from that same website:

Derek Rodriguez Article

Derek Rodriguez’s baseball future was at a crossroads during his junior year of high school in Las Vegas.

 

An admitted good-field, no-hit middle infielder, Rodriguez’s hopes for a career after high school were dimming daily until his coach had an idea.

 

"I had a decent arm and the coach wanted me on the mound," he said.

 

Turns out Rodriguez’s coach knew what he was doing.

 

Four years later, Rodriguez’s right arm is earning him money as a starting pitcher for the Bristol White Sox. Based on his first two professional outings, Rodriguez may have a promising future.

 

Throwing hard sinkers clocked up to 90-miles-per-hour and mixing in a sharp curve, Rodriguez has scattered nine hits and allowed only one earned run in his first nine pro innings.

 

In Thursday night’s 3-2, six-inning win over Burlington, Rodriguez became the first Bristol starter to pick up a win. He worked the first five innings, yielding five hits and no earned runs while striking out six.

 

Rodriguez fanned just two in his first outing on June 25 in Kingsport, where he didn’t have command of his curve. A tutorial with pitching coach Roberto Espinoza before his next start restored his strikeout pitch.

 

"I was pushing the ball instead of getting on top of it on a downward plane," Rodriguez said. "Once he mentioned that to me, I was able to get more snap on it.

 

"I was able to make it look more like a fastball and that’s where I got my strikeouts."

 

Espinoza was pleased with Rodriguez’s ability to make the lesson translate into results during game action.

 

"Instead of using his third pitch, he was using his breaking ball and that’s where he got his strikeouts," Espinoza said. "He was overconfident in his changeup the first time out.

 

"He learned from it and he saw the results he had (Thursday). We got everything on the same page and he was happy doing it. He’s going to be a good one."

 

Even though he got his share of strikeouts against Burlington, Rodriguez’s basic goal is to induce contact as quickly as possible with his sinker.

 

"I always go for the ground ball early (in the count) and the strikeout late," he said.

 

Rodriguez feels more comfortable pitching to contact in pro baseball. Not only is the defense behind him better, he’s no longer working against aluminum bats in light, desert air.

 

After serving as a closer for two years at Arizona, Rodriguez made a calculated gamble. He transferred from one of the nation’s elite programs back home to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

 

"I felt like I needed more innings," he said.

 

Mission accomplished on several counts. Although his overall stats, skewed by the conditions, were mediocre, Rodriguez led the Mountain West Conference with 108 1/3 innings, showing the durability scouts crave.

 

Picked on the Amateur Draft’s first day, Rodriguez quickly discovered the joys of pitching to wood.

 

"Breaking a bat’s fun, especially when it falls apart," he said, grinning wolfishly.

 

The margin for error has increased as well. In the first inning on Thursday night, Rodriguez left a couple of pitches over the middle and belt-high. The result: Well-struck, but ultimately routine flyouts.

 

"A couple of those balls," he said, "might have hit the wall or gotten out of here with an aluminum bat."

 

Like every player in the Appalachian League, Rodriguez is looking to play well and move up to the next level. But he also wants success for his 33 other teammates.

 

"My first overall goal is to win," he said. "You play to win. But even if I don’t pitch, I wish the best for everybody. I’m competing (to move up), but my overall goal is the team winning."

 

[email protected] | (276) 669-2181

 

Derek Rodriguez Bio

The Vitals: 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, 22 years old

The Hometown: Las Vegas, NV

Bats/Throws: Right/Right

How Acquired: Selected by Chicago White Sox, 14th round, 2005 Amateur Draft

Favorite Major Leaguer: Pedro Martinez

Favorite Bristol Restaurant: "I haven’t found one yet. I’ve been eating a lot at home and I don’t have a car."

2005 Stats: 5-5, 5.18 earned run average at University of Nevada-Las Vegas; 1-0, 1.00 ERA in two starts for BriSox

Did You Know?: Rodriguez notched a team-high seven saves in 2004 for Arizona, which advanced to the College World Series

Edited by dasox24
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I asked this b4 and I dont think it was answered but anyways how fast do you guys think this guy can advance through our system? If he keeps the way he is hitting up now is a promotion to Low A in his future this season or is he basicly going to stay in Bristol for remainder of season no matter what.

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Most likely he'll stay in Bristol. Maybe he'll head to Great Falls (though I don't know if there is much difference). He's not dominating where he has to be promoted. I think they're going to play him very similarly to Francisco Hernandez.

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  • 1 month later...
QUOTE(danman31 @ Jul 4, 2005 -> 06:47 PM)
Most likely he'll stay in Bristol. Maybe he'll head to Great Falls (though I don't know if there is much difference). He's not dominating where he has to be promoted. I think they're going to play him very similarly to Francisco Hernandez.

 

 

Hey I ve seen this kid play all his life.. (Hense the name.) he has surprised even those who expected him to be where he is now.. I ll make a prediction that by 2007 he will be taking a trip to Southside Chitown in september or so.

 

 

java script:emoticon(':gosox1:')

smilie

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QUOTE(uncle_sanchez @ Aug 22, 2005 -> 02:29 PM)
Hey I ve seen this kid play all his life.. (Hense the name.)  he has surprised even those who expected him to be where he is now.. I ll make a prediction that by 2007 he will be taking a trip to Southside Chitown in september or so.

java script:emoticon(':gosox1:')

smilie

Welcome aboard. Always great to have another family member. I know the Sox are pretty high on this kid, hopefully he'll be able to develop :)

 

Once again, welcome aboard :cheers

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QUOTE(uncle_sanchez @ Aug 22, 2005 -> 05:29 PM)
Hey I ve seen this kid play all his life.. (Hense the name.)  he has surprised even those who expected him to be where he is now.. I ll make a prediction that by 2007 he will be taking a trip to Southside Chitown in september or so.

java script:emoticon(':gosox1:')

smilie

 

Not saying he can't do it, but if he's even in AA by 2007 i'd call it good progress.

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QUOTE(uncle_sanchez @ Aug 22, 2005 -> 05:29 PM)
Hey I ve seen this kid play all his life.. (Hense the name.)  he has surprised even those who expected him to be where he is now.. I ll make a prediction that by 2007 he will be taking a trip to Southside Chitown in september or so.

java script:emoticon(':gosox1:')

smilie

 

Welcome to Soxtalk :cheers

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  • 1 month later...

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