Pitcher Joe Cruz may not miss the rest of the season after all. Cruz, who left the Biscuits in early June and said he was headed for season-ending surgery, was able to avoid the knife and is close to returning.
Brian Woodson spoke with Princeton LHP Matt Spann:
“We were in Burlington (recently) when I got the news that I had been moved to the starting rotation,” said Spann, whose promotion meant a demotion for a teammate. “It was just the lack of performance of some people, but he is getting a little better.
“Hopefully I can keep my spot and he can get back up in the starting rotation some how. We are all friends here, we are all close together.”
Spann has been able to benefit from the tutelage of Princeton pitching coach Marty DeMerritt — nicknamed Dog — who spent several seasons in the big leagues in the same role with the Giants and Cubs.
...
“If I do pretty bad he will go out there and yell at me and cuss me out, but that is what I need sometimes to get me focused back on and get back on track.”
Bob Sutton with more on the return of Durham RHRP Joe Bateman:
During the offseason, he took an offer from the Oakland Athletics and was subsequently assigned to their farm system. Bateman said he chose the Athletics organization because of a deal that offered him $4,000 more than he could make elsewhere. On a minor league salary, that was a significant amount, he said.
He pitched in 30 games in the Oakland system for Class AAA Sacramento in the Pacific Coast League and Class AA Midland in the Texas League. Bateman, 31, had permission to seek opportunities with other teams if he dropped below the Class AAA level.
...
“That’s what I wanted, getting back to Triple-A,” he said. “It seems like a world apart when you’ve been to Triple-A.”
Robert Emrich on the improved approach of Princeton OF Drew Vettleson:
"I've been really trying to relax every time I go into the box," Vettleson said. "Early on in the season, I was trying to get up for each pitch and just told myself to relax and go straight to the ball and don't put anything extra on the ball. Just going down on the ball from my hands instead of going up with your body."
...
"I really like to credit our hitting coach, Wuarnner Rincones," said Vettleson, who's sixth in the league with 45 hits. "He's been really helping me a lot and getting me to relax at the plate. He could tell that I was trying to go for the home runs early on and he put it in my mind to use my hands and that my bat speed would help take care of the rest."
...
"One thing that our manager, Mike Johns, really stresses upon is getting that fastball," Vettleson said. "When you really take it into focus and say, 'I'm going to hit it,' it makes it easier to let the off-speed pitches go. There's a lot of guys who throw off-speed early, but there's going to be one pitch you can hit, and if you can square it up nothing else matters."
While Benjamin Hill was visiting Durham last week he took a lot of pictures of the area and the ballpark. Make sure to check them out.
Stacy Long also updated Montgomery OF Emeel Salem's progress:
Salem said he and doctors still aren't sure what specifically is wrong with the knee, but it has kept him at Tampa Bay's rehab camp since spring training.
Moves: RHRP Juan Cruz assigned to Charlotte on a rehab assignment from the Rays.
Oscar Watch: Hernandez finally reached 20 homers with a solo shot on Saturday. He was 1 for 2 with two walks. The RBI gives him 60 on the season. No game on Sunday as they head into the final week of VSL regular-season games.
Malm Watch: 1 for 3 (single) with a walk and a run scored on Saturday. On Sunday went 0 for 4.
Hot: Craige Lyerly, Hudson Valley Renegades. 13 for 32 (.406) with three homers and six steals in his last nine games.
Not: Kevin Kiermaier, Bowling Green Hot Rods. 5 for last 35 (.143) with one extra-base hit. For the month of July he hit .154/.233/.205 in 78 at-bats with only three extra-base hits and was 2 for 6 in stolen bases.
Stat 'O The Day: The GCL Rays are batting .200 as a team on the season. Here they are individually, including injury rehabers and promoted players:
Batter AB H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS Ian Tomkins 6 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 Brandon Choate 26 7 3 0 0 2 0 0 6 8 .269 .441 .385 .826 Jonathan Quinonez 84 24 1 1 1 13 7 1 10 17 .286 .371 .357 .728 Brandon Martin 36 9 1 0 1 3 2 1 4 9 .250 .357 .361 .718 Ariel Soriano 100 21 7 0 3 15 4 4 11 13 .210 .298 .370 .668 Ismel Antunez* 62 15 6 0 0 6 4 5 5 20 .242 .304 .339 .643 Matthew Johnson 104 23 1 0 2 10 13 1 17 23 .221 .331 .288 .619 Darryl George 68 16 2 0 0 7 3 1 9 8 .235 .354 .265 .618 Julian Morillo# 80 16 4 1 0 9 2 3 12 14 .200 .309 .275 .584 Omar Narvaez# 69 14 3 0 0 6 1 0 12 10 .203 .321 .246 .567 Isaias Velasquez 9 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 .222 .222 .333 .556 Todd Glaesmann 22 4 0 0 0 0 5 1 3 7 .182 .333 .182 .515 Hector Rodriguez 88 16 3 0 1 10 1 1 8 20 .182 .253 .250 .503 Edward Dorville# 66 9 1 1 2 5 8 2 6 29 .136 .219 .273 .492 James Harris 81 15 3 0 0 3 5 3 6 23 .185 .258 .222 .481 Granden Goetzman 71 12 3 0 0 8 6 1 8 15 .169 .263 .211 .474 Michael Bourdon 31 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 13 .129 .182 .129 .311 Cesar Perez 101 12 0 0 0 8 1 0 6 27 .119 .168 .119 .287 Alejandro Segovia 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000
Hint #1: Hat is correct.
Hint #2: Righty.
Hint #3: Born in Connecticut.
Hint #4: Middle name is Beaupre.
"He's been really helping me a lot and getting me to relax at the plate. He could tell that I was trying to go for the home runs early on and he put it in my mind to use my hands and that my bat speed would help take care of the rest."
ReplyDeleteHoly crap if thats true, we need this guy at the major league club. I see Upton,Longoria,Shoppach, and Joyce always swinging for the HR.I bet if at least Evan,Upton, and Joyce actaully took up the approach vettleson talks about here,there hitting would get better overall.The HRs will come if you have the bat speed.
Name that Minor Leaguer and the answer his Brooks Belter
ReplyDeleteI'm actually a little surprised Bateman didn't get a call during our revolving door of relievers in the bigs. He seems to me like a guy who could have success against righties at any level.
ReplyDelete