Winter League pitching updates

[southsider2k5]

http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/1/4/26775...r-league-update

 

White Sox Winter Leagues update: Bullpen candidates

 

Deadhorse_tiny by larry on Jan 4, 2012 6:00 AM CST in White Sox Minors

 

Try the Veal. Sigh.

 

Of the 438.1 relief innings by White Sox pitchers in 2011, the pitchers throwing 212 of those innings will no longer be in the bullpen. The bulk of those innings were from Sergio Santos and Chris Sale, meaning the White Sox will need to replace a significant amount of high leverage innings.

 

Of the 2011 stalwarts, Jesse Crain, Matt Thornton and Will Ohman all appear to be returning. Addison Reed was considered a near sure bet to be in the 2012 opening day bullpen and Jason Frasor's departure only bolsters his chances. That leaves an open competition for as many as three spots (assuming a seven man bullpen).

 

And that competition has already begun. A number of the primary candidates, as well as the dark horses, have been pitching in various Winter Leagues. And while Spring Training performance will likely be the primary driver of roster decisions, past performance usually dictates the opportunities a player gets in Arizona. So how have the bullpen hopefuls done in their most recent past performances?

 

Star-divide

Hector Santiago is Exhibit A for how a successful offseason can alter a player's path. Last offseason, he added a screwball during his Puerto Rican Winter League (PWL) campaign and transformed from organizational afterthought to possible rotation material. This offseason, he didn't change the formula and returned to the island. He's had good success: 16 G, 19.1 IP, 15 H, 8 BB, 19 K. If the White Sox do intend him to be a starter long-term, continuing to build up his innings in Charlotte may be the best path for him. However, the lefty has the stuff to be an effective option for the bullpen in 2012.

 

Charles Leesman also pitched in the PWL, spending his November there. After a less than impressive return to Birmingham in 2011 as a starter, it may now be the time to shift him to the bullpen, where his long-term home will surely be. The lefty took advantage of his month: 10 G, 11.2 IP, 9 H, 4 BB, 13 K. Control has always been the issue for Leesman and continuing to limit the walks in Spring Training will be the key for him.

 

Deunte Heath got himself added to the 40 man roster this offseason. In his two seasons in the White Sox organization, the righty has produced some impressive strikeout rates and some unimpressive walk rates. He spent a month in the Venezuelan Winter League (VWL) where he worked as a starter: 7 GS, 35.1 IP, 15 BB, 34 K. He'll also need to throw strikes if he wants to have a chance.

 

After getting a September call-up in 2010, Gregory Infante hasn't done himself many favors by - you guessed it - not throwing strikes. More troubling, though, was that his strikeouts also disappeared in 2011. The righty didn't correct either of those issues in the VWL: 19 G, 15.2 IP, 16 H, 12 BB, 9 K. He appears to be trying to become a non-prospect.

 

Jhan Marinez also didn't do much of anything differently in the Dominican Winter League than he'd done during the regular season: 10 G, 8.1 IP, 5 H, 6 BB, 10 K. He's going to be a project for the White Sox.

 

Once upon a time, Brian Omogrosso was a member of the 40 man roster. Injury derailed him and he's never quite gotten back. Kenny Williams has talked about the righty as possible bullpen material for 2012 and his VWL stint won't hurt his dark horse candidacy: 6 G, 6.1 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 6 K.

 

Nathan Jones has always had great promise but has never put it together. No apparent progress in the PWL: 16 G, 14.2 IP, 13 BB, 16 K.

 

Dan Remenowsky hit the wall in AAA last season and he didn't right himself in the PWL: 11 G, 11.1 IP, 15 H, 8 BB, 8 K. [Edit: Four of the walks were apparently intentional walks. That is an inordinate amount for just 11.1 innings and certainly makes his line more palatable.]

 

All of these guys will be joined by a gaggle of others - Dylan Axelrod, Zach Stewart, Donnie Veal, Simon Castro, Brandon Kloess, Brian Bruney, Anthony Carter, Pedro Hernandez, Leyson Septimo, Eric Stults and surely some players to be named - in one of the openest bullpen competitions in recent memory.

[cabiness42]

Where have the standards for writing gone when people can use the word "openest"???

[Harry Chappas]

I liked Stults.

[Milkman delivers]

I liked Stults.

 

I liked stilts!

 

[Steve9347]

lol

 

stilts

[southsider2k5]

Not pitching, but De Aza's winter...

 

http://www.csnchicago.com/blog/whitesox-ta...rce=twitterfeed

 

De Aza wraps up Dominican Winter League season

January 6, 2012, 1:34 pm

 

Alejandro De Aza struggled in the Dominican Winter League this offseason. (US Presswire)

 

JJ STANKEVITZ

csnchicago.png

 

Alejandro De Aza's stint in the Dominican Winter League didn't go to well, as the likely starting left fielder for the White Sox hit just .198 with a .313 on-base percentage and .306 slugging percentage in 128 plate appearances.

 

He walked 17 times (13 percent) while striking out in 28 of his trips to the plate (22 percent) -- rates that are up, but within about three percent, from his 154 plate appearances with the White Sox last season.

 

De Aza probably saw a pretty normal regression in the DWL -- the good news is that his plate discipline numbers weren't totally out of whack from his time with the Sox in 2011. Maybe the even better news is that he got this initial regression out of the way while not playing for the White Sox.

 

His low slugging percentage is a little concerning, but just as we shouldn't take De Aza's great 154 plate appearances last season as the gospel, we shouldn't with 128 plate appearances in the DWL.

[caulfield12]

http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/1/4/26775...r-league-update

 

 

He's drawing conclusions on Infante and Jhan Martinez based on about 10 IP of winter ball.

 

Give me a break! Ridiculous.

 

This is why people who comment on baseball in internet forums/boards/websites but have never watched any of the players mentioned perform should be forced to write a disclaimer at the bottom of their articles.

 

Maybe one of the pitchers was working on adding another pitch (like Santiago) or focusing on specific areas of his repertoire. Of course, in most winter leagues, if you don't perform, you quickly find yourself off the team, as they take the competition very seriously down there and have no tolerance for non-performance or "development" innings.

 

It's the equivalent of saying Santiago's a lock for the bullpen based on an outing or two against the weakest Twins' line-ups of the season last year.

 

 

 

Edited January 7, 2012 by caulfield12

[DirtySox]

He's drawing conclusions on Infante and Jhan Martinez based on about 10 IP of winter ball.

 

Give me a break! Ridiculous.

 

This is why people who comment on baseball in internet forums/boards/websites but have never watched any of the players mentioned perform should be forced to write a disclaimer at the bottom of their articles.

 

Maybe one of the pitchers was working on adding another pitch (like Santiago) or focusing on specific areas of his repertoire. Of course, in most winter leagues, if you don't perform, you quickly find yourself off the team, as they take the competition very seriously down there and have no tolerance for non-performance or "development" innings.

 

It's the equivalent of saying Santiago's a lock for the bullpen based on an outing or two against the weakest Twins' line-ups of the season last year.

 

You aren't too familiar with larry are you? One of the most well informed people regarding White Sox prospects that I know. He has his sources and connections and is not even close to some random blogger. He knows his stuff. You might disagree with his assessments and that's fine, but I would stop there.

Edited January 7, 2012 by DirtySox

[caulfield12]

You aren't too familiar with larry are you? One of the most well informed people regarding White Sox prospects that I know. He has his sources and connections and is not even close to some random blogger. He knows his stuff.

 

 

Okay, fair enough.

 

Just some of those comments sounded a bit "flip" when you're making pronouncements based on such limited winter league ball action.

 

It's really the same thing with ST, too.

 

Wilson Betemit would have been the AL MVP the other year when he destroyed ST pitching, but he barely made it through 1/5th of the season in reality.

 

I trust the posters who actually live in the South/Southeast and who've seen most of our prospects play in person, and even gotten to know some of them very well.

Edited January 7, 2012 by caulfield12

[DirtySox]

Okay, fair enough.

 

Just some of those comments sounded a bit "flip" when you're making pronouncements based on such limited winter league ball action.

 

It's really the same thing with ST, too.

 

Wilson Betemit would have been the AL MVP the other year when he destroyed ST pitching, but he barely made it through 1/5th of the season in reality.

 

He isn't basing things off just 10 IP though. Jhan Marinez was awful with his walks last year. 6.5 BB/9 is pretty bad. Infante wasn't great either (4.32 FIP). I wouldn't write off either of them, but let's not pretend these are can't miss guys.