*LIVE* Jammers Series Report 6/26-6/28

[geemoney]

Hi there!

For the second year in a row, I'm fortunate to be the official scorer of the Batavia Muckdogs in the NYPL. That means I get to check out the Jammers, Florida's Short-Season A League affiliate. Here are the threads on the games I did last year:

http://soflamarlins.com/showthread.php?t=2798
http://soflamarlins.com/showthread.php?t=2672

Today, the Jammers took game one of the three-game series, 6-2. Dave Berg is back for his second year at the helm of Jamestown for 2011. There were scouts from the A's and the Cubs at this game, and others whom I couldn't identify.

LF Alfredo Lopez (20th Round Pick, 2010; spent 2010 with GCL Marlins, Jamestown and Jupiter): Lopez went 1-3 with a walk and a stolen base, his third of the year. Lopez is listed as an infielder on their roster, and has previously played 2B, SS, and 3B in the organization. He looks real short at-bat, and is listed as 5'10". He often swung at pitches early in the count while batting. The throw on the SB had him beat, but it was off line. In the 6th, he made a nice leaping catch in left. Lopez was replaced by Marquise Cooper in the 8th inning.

2B Pedro Mendoza (Signed as an undrafted free agent, 2008; spent 2010 with GCL Marlins and Jamestown; also played in Greensboro in 2011): Mendoza was 1-5 with a run scored and a strikeout. Mendoza went with the "no batting gloves" look at the dish, and because of the baggy jersey (top and bottom) he wore, it was tough to gauge his physique. No problems in the field with him.

1B Terrence Dayleg (22nd Round Pick, 2009; spent 2010 with Greensboro and Jupiter): The experienced Dayleg was 1-5 with a run, and is hitting .314 on the young season. The first ground-out in the first was with a runner on second, and he hit behind the runner to advance him to third. He had a good build, and hit .242 in 153 at-bats in Greensboro last season.

CF Rand Smith (20th Round Pick, 2009; spent 2010 with Greensboro): Smith was 0-2 with a strikeout, and left the game with two outs in the bottom of the fifth after making a full-extension diving grab in center. He appeared to injure his shoulder and was replaced by Brent Keys. That made up for him mis-reading a ball earlier in the game, which ended up going over his head for a double. On his strikeout, the offspeed pitches are what he had trouble with. Smith played a full year with Greensboro in 2010, hitting .223 in 117 games.

3B Ryan Goetz (26th Round Pick, 2011): Goetz was 1-4 with 2 RBIs and a strikeout. His K was looking in the 4th (both teams were give a wide strikezone by the home plate umpire). His RBIs were the game-tying and go-ahead runs. He had a deep fly-out in the 2nd, as the ball carried all afternoon.

DH Austin Barnes (9th Round Pick, 2011): Barnes, a catcher, was 0-4, reaching on an error, grounding out, lining out, and flying out. At least he made it interesting. He was someone else who did a lot of first-pitch swinging.

C Eddie Rodriguez (32nd Round Pick, 2010; spent 2010 with GCL Marlins and Jupiter): Rodriguez was 1-3 with a run scored and the only walk of the game for Jamestown. He has a good build at 6'1", 215 pounds. His base hit was a broken-bat flare in the 5th inning. Batavia stole one base, and that was more off the pitcher than Rodriguez. He was literally sitting down behind the plate a few times for some of the relievers (with one leg extended out), with his butt on the ground.

RF Nestor Castillo (Signed as an undrafted free agent, 2007; spent 2010 with GCL Marlins): Castillo, signed as a 17 year old in 2007, went 1-4 with a run and two strikeouts. Castillo is an all-or-nothing hitter who walked just three times in 142 plate appearances last season. He's a tall kid but it was evident that he doesn't have a good eye at the plate. He gunned down a runner trying to tag up and score on a fly out, throwing a nice one-hopper to the plate from medium range.

SS Yefri Perez (Signed as an undrafted free agent, 2008; spent 2010 with GCL Marlins): The speedy Perez was 1-4 with a run scored, a double, an RBI and a strikeout. He stole 21 bases in 2009 in the DSL. He bunted out in the 7th inning, going for a base hit, as the bunt was right back to the pitcher. He made his sixth error in the field on a bad throw to first.

LF Marquise Cooper (3rd Round Pick, 2009; spent 2010 with GCL Marlins and Jupiter): Cooper came in as a defensive replacement in the 8th inning, and struck out swinging in his only at-bat.

CF Brent Keys (17th Round Pick, 2009; spent 2010 with Jamestown; also played in Greensboro in 2011): Keys substituted for the injured Smith in the 5th. He went 1-2 with a run, a double, and an RBI. He too bunted out when going for a base hit in the 8th.

SP Matthew Neil (29th Round Pick, 2011): Neil went three innings, gave up three hits, two runs (none earned), walked none and struck out three. He has a very easy throwing motion, especially on follow-through. He came from a high three-quarters delivery, but looks awkward when pitching from the stretch. That's where he got in trouble, when pitching from the stretch.

RP Chris Squires (37th Round Pick, 2010; spent 2010 with Jupiter, Jamestown, and GCL Marlins; also played in Greensboro and Jupiter in 2011): Squires is an interesting guy. He tossed three innings and got the win, giving up two hits and striking out two. He's a max-effort guy who threw from the stretch. He comes set after bringing his hands, in his glove, over his head and back down. He got a K with a change-up and throws a change, fastball and slider. He also showed a few different arm angles and hops around on the mound after throwing the pitch and readying defensively.

RP Blake Brewer (11th Round Pick, 2008; spent 2010 with GCL Marlins): Brewer got the hold and went one inning, walking one and striking out one. He's a side-armer and bends forward at the waist when setting up to pitch. He's a hard thrower, and wild.

RP Kenneth Toves (21st Round Pick, 2010; spent 2010 with Jamestown; also played in Jupiter in 2011): Toves also picked up a hold, his third already, and struck out one. He hides the ball well when in his motion.

RP Alfredo Buret (Signed as an undrafted free agent, 2006; spent 2010 with GCL Marlins; also played in Greensboro and Jupiter in 2011): Buret spent the first four years in the organization all in the DSL. He tossed one inning, striking out one for the Jammers, to close out the game. He reaches way back with his arm when pitching and looks a lot like Pedro Martinez when going through his motion.

[Ramp]

good shit

needs more Josh Hodges though

[geemoney]

needs more Josh Hodges though

Good news- he's scheduled to start tonight.

[geemoney]

Will you be updating this game by game?

Yup, for the final two games of this series. I'll start a new thread for the next time they're in town.

[geemoney]

Tonight in Batavia, the Jammers had just one hit through five innings, but came back to tie the game at three in the 8th. However, their bullpen let them down in the 9th, as the Muckdogs put together an infield single, a walk, a bunt single and another walk to win the game without the Jammers recording an out. Rubber game is tomorrow, but the weather doesn't look good.

A little nugget I forgot to mention yesterday for Alfredo Lopez: In his second pro season (and 95 total plate appearances), he does not have an extra base hit.

CF Brent Keys: Keys was 2-4 with a double and an RBI. He also grounded out twice. Keys stands close to the plate when batting, and hits left-handed. He hit a nice line-drive single off a left-hander in the 6th inning.

2B Pedro Mendoza: 0-4 with an RBI was Mendoza's line, as a ground-out led to a run in the 8th. He didn't show a lot of speed getting down the line on a high hopper in the 4th, and that surprised me.

3B Ryan Goetz: Goetzy was 0-3 with a walk and a strikeout. He bats left, and he struck out on an off-speed pitch from a lefty in the 7th. He grounded out twice. Defensively, he made a nice catch at the side fence on a pop-out in the 7th, reaching over the fence to make the grab.

DH Terrence Dayleg: Dayleg was 1-4 at the dish, which included an infield single in the 2nd inning (on a breaking ball). Dayleg popped out twice and grounded out once. I liked his approach at the plate, as he has a good eye, and while many of his teammates swung at the first pitch or didn't work the count, he did the opposite.

1B Jobduan Morales (9th Round Pick, 2009; spent 2010 with GCL Marlins; also played in Greensboro in 2011): Pronounced "Job-do-on," Morales was 0-4 with a K (looking). Morales is listed as a catcher on the Jammers' roster, but performed admirably a first. He made a nice scoop in the first inning to double-up a Muckdog at first base.

C Austin Barnes: Barnes was 1-2 with a run scored, a double, and two walks. His one out was a GIDP in the 2nd inning. His double was hard-hit over the CF's head in the 9th. Behind the plate, he has a quick release, though two players stole bases off of him. One was definitely the pitcher's fault, the other could've been a combination of both.

RF Ryan McIntyre (12th Round Pick, 2011): Mac went 1-4 with a run scored, a double, and a strikeout (swinging). He also flied out and grounded out. A lefty, he has an open stance at the plate, with his left elbow high in the air. His double was a blooper down the left field line.

LF Marquise Cooper: Nestor Castillo was listed in the lineup we got in the press box batting 8th and playing left field, but cooper came up in the third to bat for the first time. Since I didn't see manager Dave Berg meet with the ump and the ump didn't signal a change to the press box, we surmised that Cooper was a late switch in the lineup. He was 0-4 with two fly outs (both to left field) and two ground-outs. Cooper showed off a good arm in left. He's one guy I was most looking forward to seeing here.

SS Yefri Perez: Yefri was 1-3 with a run, an RBI and a K (swinging). He's hitting just .115 on the young season. Perez committed the lone Jammer error on a hard hopper. His single was of the infield variety, to third base.

SP Josh Hodges (7th Round Pick, 2009; spent 2010 with Jamestown): Hodges' line: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 HRA. I'm sure Ramp can tell you more about him than I can. He got off to a rocky start by walking the first batter of the game on five pitches. I did see his fastball clocked at 91 mph at one point. He showed a good, quick move to first base. Hodges worked the outside corner a lot, and the Muckdogs hit a lot of balls hard off of him. He shows a good, easy motion on the mound. All three runs allowed came in the third, and pitching coach Blake McGinley (who pitched for the Marlins in AAA in 2007) made a long mound visit in that frame. Hodges' breaking ball didn't do much and he did have a line drive go off of his foot, but he managed to chase it down and make the play at first. He finished the game with a 7:3 FB/GB ratio.

RP Greg Nappo (18th Round Pick, 2011): Nappo tossed one scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one. He's a rotund lefty who keeps his hands still below the waist during his wind-up. He got two ground-outs in the sixth in addition to his strikeout (swinging).

RP Stephen Richards (8th Round Pick, 2009; Did Not Pitch in 2010): Richards, who I remember playing with Jamestown in '09, went two innings, walked one (and hit a batter) and struck out two. He showed a nice breaking ball and threw a lot of them; way more than any fastball. The lefty comes to the plate with a 3/4 delivery and worked away to just about every batter.

RP Albaro Estevez (Signed as an undrafted free agent, 2006; spent 2010 with Jamestown and GCL Marlins): Estevez shouldered the loss, and he earned it: he failed to record an out in the 9th, giving up two hits and walking two, including walking in the game-winning run. To his credit, neither hit left the infield. He's another young signee (he signed at 16), having started his career with the organization in the DSL. He throws hard, but too often didn't know where it was going.

[Ramp]

disappointing outing by Hodges

[geemoney]

Jamestown won the final game, and the three-game series, in Batavia today, 5-1. The Jammers struck for four runs in the second, aided by two wild pitches and two passed balls in that frame. The starter for Batavia didn't show much control, but he also only went two innings. On the other side, Jamestown got some nice pitching to go with the Muckdog errors.

Minor League Pitching Coordinator Wayne Rosenthal was in attendance. He chatted with a left-hander whose entire left arm was iced (kept in place by ace bandages) in the bullpen during warm-ups. He also watched starting pitcher Jose Urena's pre-game bullpen session with pitching coach Blake McGinley. Scouts were in attendance from the Cubs (he was there all series) and Twins. Also, as an aside, Rand Smith, who exited game one of the series with an injury, caught for the pitcher between innings, so it appears his injury is not serious.

LF Brent Keys: Keys was 3-5 with a run scored and hit the ball well all series. He also stole a base - the throw beat him, but it hopped to the base, so Keys made it in. He did a nice job working the count in the first AB of the game from 1-2 to 3-2, then blooped a single to right-center. He also contributed a beautiful bunt single in the 2nd that traveled right on the grass inside and up the third base line.

2B Alfredo Lopez: Lopez is still looking for his first extra base hit in his pro career (now spanning 100 plate appearances). He went 0-4 with a run, a walk, and three strikeouts (two swinging, one looking). He made a fine defensive play in the 7th, nailing the speedy Mike O'Neill at first on a slow hopper to second.

3B Ryan Goetz: 0-3 with two walks was Goetz's line. He was robbed of a single in the 5th on a nice play by the third basemen, who fully extended to nab a line drive. He looked silly on an offspeed pitch in the 9th inning, and ended up weakly grounding out to the pitcher. There was a wild pitch during his at-bat in the 2nd, then on ball four, a passed ball. A lefty, four of his five ABs did come against left-handed hurlers.

1B Terrence Dayleg: Dayleg went 1-3. He was hit by a pitch in the first (it just caught his jersey), and also flied out and grounded out. He just continues to hit, and there were no problems defensively.

C Jobduan Morales: The third different catcher in the three-game series for Jamestown, Morales was 0-3 with a run and a walk. The switch-hitter grounded out three times and at least spread the ball around, spraying it to third, short, and the pitcher. He was charged with a throwing error late in the game when he bounced a throw to second on a SB attempt and the runner advanced to third.

DH Austin Barnes: 1-4 with a run and a strikeout, it's evident the Jammers/Marlins want to see Barnes in the lineup, as he DH'd twice this series. He reached on an error in the second and his strikeout was swinging in the third. He also reached on an error in the 8th inning. He's only 5'9", but he looks like a scrapper.

RF Ryan McIntyre: Little Mac was 1-3 with an RBI, his fourth on the year. He knocked in a run in the 8th with a sac fly, and his single was a blooper into right field in the 2nd. On the bases, he was double off second base on a Marquise Cooper line out in the same inning. A lefty, his left foot was on the inside chalk of the batter's box when hitting, so he sets up close to the plate.

SS Pedro Mendoza: Mendoza went 1-4 with a run and an RBI. He grounded out three times, including into a double play in the 6th.

CF Marquise Cooper: Cooper went 0-4 with two strikeouts. He had a game to forget, as he struggled with the sun in center, getting a few bad jumps that didn't really cost him. He had some words for the umpire when he struck out looking in the 7th- his other K was swinging. He lined into a DP and grounded out as well.

SP Jose Urena (Signed as an undrafted free agent, 2008; spent 2010 with DSL Marlins): Urena urned the victory in this game, improving to 1-1. He went five innings, giving up two hits, two walks and striking out two. He's just 19 years old and has good height (6'3") and a slender build. Urena has a slight pause in his wind-up when he steps back, then extends the arm all the way back when beginning his pitch. When he missed, he missed upstairs it seemed. Urena didn't serve up many hard-hit balls and didn't throw a lot of breaking balls, but did get one strikeout with one in the 4th. I saw 92 mph on his fastball one time I caught the gun. He struggled in the 5th, giving up a double and a walk, but got out of it by getting the leadoff hitter to pop out.

RP Charles Wier (21st Round Pick, 2011): Wier gave up two singles in the 6th, and also registered a swinging strikeout (on a 3-2 pitch in the dirt with two runners on). He holds the mitt high when set for the wind-up, and utilizes a bit of a slide-step in the stretch. He was between 86-90 on the gun from what I saw. The third out of the inning was a hard-hit ball, but right at Cooper in center.

RP Curtis Petersen (4th Round Pick, 2008; spent 2010 in Greensboro): Petersen is back down in Jamestown after pitching about a full season with the Grasshoppers last year, throwing 98.1 innings, but walking 65 and striking out just 53. Ugly. He started and pitched out of the bullpen in 2010. Petersen threw two frames for the Jammers, giving up two hits, a walk and a strikeout (swinging). He goes from the wind-up on the far right side of the rubber. He got behind early in counts and the SS Mendoza chatted with him during an AB in the 7th.

RP Blake Brewer: Brewer, the only reliever to pitch multiple games this series, pitched the 9th inning. He tossed one inning, gave up a walk and an unearned run. He hit the first batter he faced on the second pitch, then got the next batter to strike out swinging. Brewer has a thin frame and an unorthodox delivery, coming set almost at the knees because he's bent over so far. Last year in the GCL, he walked 16 in 5.1 innings and for his career, he has 65 walks in 50.1 innings...but also 67 K's.

The Jammers are next in Batavia on July 21st and 22nd. They improved to 8-4 with tonight's win.

[Bobbob1313]

Thanks for the updates. Good stuff, keep it up.

[geemoney]

Here's a story from the Miami Herald on Urena:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/1...-scouting.html