A Couple Of Winter League Notes
December 11, 2012 at 9:20 am by Andrew Sisson under Atlanta Braves
Braves GM Frank Wren, manager Fredi Gonzalez, and other top assistants traveled down to the Dominican this weekend to get an in-person look at a handful of Braves players. The Braves currently have four players on the Tigres del Licey club: Julio Teheran, Randall Delgado, Juan Francisco and Christian Bethancourt.
The first three names will likely have an impact with the Braves in 2013. I was able to watch the Saturday (Delgado) and Sunday (Teheran) afternoon games via Internet stream. During these games, I recorded some innings and plate appearances and later went back to jot down some notes. I thought I’d pass along some of my observations.
I just want to reinforce that these are my observations of a handful of innings in the Dominican Winter League. The league itself is a mixed bag of solid prospects and legitimate MLB players, but also has its fair share of scrubs. Everything should be taken in with small sample size in mind. Personally, I wouldn’t put too much stock into many of these stats (some are still useful like K and BB rates).
Julio Teheran:
Teheran looked good. He finished the game with a line of 6IP, 1H, 0ER, 0BB (1 HBP), 8K on 73 pitches, continuing his dominance over the past three starts. So far, he has pitched a total of 30.2 innings, posting a 3.23 ERA with a 24/9 K/BB ratio.
His fastball sat between 94-95 and possessed great command for the first four-ish innings. He was constantly down in the zone and on the corners, once beautifully painting the corner at 95 for strike three. That command began to fade later in the game, as he started to leave his fastball up in the zone.
Teheran’s off-speed was also fairly impressive. His curveball was getting good downward movement and was able to induce a couple of swing and misses on balls low and in the dirt. His changeup was between 79-81 and featured good movement.
What was most impressive with Teheran was that he was able to punch out eight batters, while rarely going deep into the count. He breezed through the first five innings sitting at 59 pitches (15 balls, 44 strikes). As I previously mentioned, as he got deeper into the game, it looked as if he was either tired or just got a little out of control with his delivery. In the fifth, he was up 0-2 and proceeded to hit the batter up in the hands with a fastball. In the sixth, he was noticeably up in the zone, which forced him into multiple full count situations. Two of the outs wound up being on very hard hit balls. Leaving the ball up in the zone and trying to overthrow seems to be where he struggled in 2012.
Randall Delgado:
Delgado was not as impressive as Teheran, but still pitched well. He finished his outing with a line of 5IP, 4H, 2ER, 1BB, 6K. So far, he’s totaled 24.2 innings with a 5.11 ERA and a 25/9 K/BB ratio.
Delgado struggled with his fastball control for stretches. It sat in the low 90’s most of the game, but was on and off with it’s location. In the fourth, he walked former Brave Mauro Gomez on four straight pitches and then was tagged for a double by Indians catcher Carlos Santana. He seemed noticeably frustrated with the home plate umpires zone at times.
I was impressed with his off-speed stuff, especially his changeup, which hovered around 78-80. It was a solid velocity differential from his fastball and appeared to have great arm side movement. He was able to induce a lot weak contact (6 groundouts/2 flyouts) and even a couple of swing and misses.
Juan Francisco:
For starters, the Braves official twitter account posted a picture of Francisco over the weekend along side Gonzalez and Bethancourt. He looked visibly thinner in the picture, which goes along with the reports that he has been working with a personal trainer this winter to lose weight. You can be the judge here (left).
Francisco hit cleanup for the Licey team in both games. So far in 108 at-bats, he’s posted a .315/.375/.565 slash line, with 7 HR’s and a 11/31 BB/K ratio. He is currently leading the Dominican League with a .940 OPS. From what I saw, he looked similar to the Juan we saw in Atlanta this season. As you’d expect, he had a very hard, pull-heavy swing (he lost his bat into the stands once). Overall, he did make some solid contact that resulted in a couple hard hit balls.
Again, this is a very small sample so it’s tough to put much, if any, weight into this. The numbers do look good, but I would avoid getting too giddy and temper the expectations until we see him in the spring for a month. If anything, a slimmed down Francisco is the strongest take away. This would also undoubtedly improve his range at third, where he already possesses a very strong-arm.
It was cool to catch a couple of games that featured Braves players who should make important contributions during the 2013 season. As of now, Teheran and Delgado will be fighting for the fifth spot in the rotation until Brandon Beachy returns near the end of July. Personally, I prefer Teheran. I like his ability to have better feel for all three pitches along with his higher ceiling. I still see Francisco as a very good bench option for now and expect the Braves to find a left fielder which will move Martin Prado to third.
We’ll have to keep an ear out for what Wren and Co. took away from this weekend’s trip.
Update (12/12): Here is the AJC story from Carroll Rogers about the trip to the Dominican with quotes from Wren. Mark Bowman’s story on the trip can be found here.
Loading ...
Why I wasted my morning doing this instead of fake-working and Christmas shopping, I have no idea, but I went back and looked at the box scores for all of Mejia’s and Gattis’s homeruns to see the type of pitcher they were hit off of.
Gattis so far has hit 13 home runs (according to most recent box score from yesterday even though showing 14 in stats). The highest level of the pitchers were 7 AAA, 3 Rookie (2 advanced), 1 former MLBer (Carlos Zambrano), and one current MLBer (Jhoulys Chacin). The average age of the pitchers was about 28. So he more or less hit them off of older players trudging away between AA and AAA (one guy hasn’t even pitched in minors since 2010), a few young guys (20-22) in low minors, and one person on a 40-man roster (Chacin).
Mejia so far has hit 14 home runs. The highest level of the pitchers were 9 AAA, 1 AA, and 3 former MLBers (Gustavo Chacin, Ken Ray, and Carlos Zambrano). (One of the AAA pitchers did pitch .2 innings in the majors last year to be fair, Tyson Brummett).The average age was again about 28. So basically, same group as Gattis.
As for defense, I thought it interesting that Gattis primarily DHed for the first 24 games, played LF for 13 of the next 20 games (DNP once, DH others), disappeared for 6 games other than one PH (injured?), and then went back to DH for the most recent 6 games. Even when playing LF, he was very frequently replaced (about half of his LF starts) toward the end of the game with a defensive replacement. Even though listed as a catcher in the league roster, he has played no position other than LF, and apparently not well.
Mejia played 1B almost every game so far (56 games).
A final note, I love these guys for going back to back in the first inning off of Carlos Zambrano on Nov. 13. They can now do no wrong whether they pan out or not.
I haven’t seen Gattis play at Mississippi but remember him throwing out 2 batters in his first 2 weeks at left field. This was before his injury. From what I hear he is a hard worker and is still learning to play the outfield. I am disapointed he is not getting more time either at catcher or in the outfield. As for Mejia, seems his only way up is through a trade as Freeman is younger than him.
Does Morales have any experience in left-field? Switch hitting power bat. And is available for “an innings-eater.”
Would be a nice pickup, but not sure of the fit.
Yes Morales has played in a handful of games in the OF over his pro career. About 15 games at the MLB level and the same at MiLB level. It’s not an ideal spot for him, but his bat is intriguing.
This is where I start getting mad that Freddie can’t play any position other than 1B. If Freeman could play 3B, or more realistically, LF, Prado could play the leftover position and Morales at 1B. That lineup is dream worthy.
Here is the scouting report on Freeman from the minors, giving me at least a glimmer of hope that he may be able to move…
Though Freeman’s plus-plus arm isn’t fully utilized at first base, he’s a plus defender, showing good footwork around the bag. He’s surprisingly coordinated for such a lanky, young player, and shows solid body control both in the field and in his slides (on the basepaths). He has the range to win a Gold Glove and with his strong arm, he could be the NL’s best first baseman at turning the double play. His foot-speed is only slightly below average, and his baserunning instincts should make him more well-rounded player than most corner infielders. Freeman’s defensive polish and immense bat have warranted the opportunity to open his 2011 season as the Braves’ starting first baseman.
Morales would be like playing Cecil Fielder in left field.
Does anyone know if Bourn was given the qualifying offer to trigger draft-pick compensation? And at what point do we try to nab him on a high priced one-year deal that Boras goes for if he’s not getting the multiyear deal he’s looking for?
Yes he was offered the money (12.5 million i think) and declined it (obviously).
I don’t think we can really afford Bourn at this point even on a one year deal. I think we have about 10 mil left under the mattress.
Have to somewhat agree with Viva on this one. The only way we get Bourn is if all the big markets fall out of play and they (Boras and Bourn) are resigned to a 1-yr deal to try and maximize free agency next year.
Even then, that contract would like take practically everything we have left if not more than what we’ve got.
Might as well put Mejia in left instead of trading for Morales and playing him in left. I think the only potential trade targets I like remaining would be Flower or Upton as long as the costs are reasonable. Right now the DBacks and Rockies have high costs to get them. I would like getting Parra from AZ as well.
However, if we do nothing I am fine with giving some of our current crop playing time the first half of the season. If they don’t pan out we can look at a midseason trade. The versatility of Prado would allow us several possibilities to try.
Start with Francisco at third. If he continues to struggle with lefties platoon him with Johnson. If that does not work out or if we want a leadoff hitter in LF, Todd Cunningham is ready for a chance in LF. If Gattis gets work in AAA LF maybe he gets a shot if the others fail. We have internal option who deserve a shot and before we spend money we dont need to, we should try it.
It seems the Braves always leave one question mark going into the season. Last year it was SS, Pastornicky started and failed but Simmons showed up. The year before it was CF answered by a needed trade for Bourn and also at 1B giving Freeman a shot that has worked out. The Braves try a wait and see approach at 1 position going into the year every year and this year it is the 3B/LF issue. Don’t be surprised if Wren does nothing more before the season except a possible LH bench bat if he plans to let Francisco start.
This is the way its going to work going forward. Expect 1-2 holes every off season due to players leaving in trades, free agency, or non tenders, and the Braves using freed up cash for one free agent (if that) to fill 1 hole, and then looking internally or for cost effective measures to fill the other. This year it happens to be at one of two premium positions in LF and 3B, where luckily we have a fantastic option that can fill either one in Prado.
Seems Gattis has changed the urgency to get a third-base/leftfielder in the last week. While still important, being cost-effective has a higher priority. Keeping pace and out hitting Geraldo Parras, and Mejia, as they bat 3, 4, and 5 for Zulia, Gattis has done everything but prove he can hit big league pitching. Hopefully, ST will determine that.