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Waive the coach

Phil Rogers thinks the Cubs should put Zambrano on waivers.

Last year the Cubs gave up on Michael Wuertz and Rich Hill. This year it’s hair-pulling time over Zambrano and Marmol. Before they send another once-promising pitcher out the door, maybe they should consider showing the door to the one pitching coach any of these four pitchers has ever had in the majors.

I wrote recently that Rothschild’s fingerprints were on the changes in Rich Hill’s delivery that led to injury and wildness in 2008. I confess that I’m not sure about the fairness of that charge. Hill is a complicated problem, and a lefty, to boot. Maybe Rothschild didn’t break Hill, and nobody can fix him.

Wuertz and Zambrano and Marmol, on the other hand–and Ryan Dempster, for that matter–all have the same problem, and it is related to Rothschild’s strength as a pitching coach. Rothschild’s claim to fame is that he teaches righty pitchers to throw sliders. (I am not aware that he ever taught anyone a change-up.) He even taught Bob Howry a slider, and Howry was strictly a fastball pitcher when he came to the Cubs. The problem was, after Howry learned a pretty decent slider, he could never get his fastball up to 93-95 again, and he became ineffective.

Cub righties overwork the slider and lose command of the fastball. Lacking command, they lose confidence in the fastball and throw it less, and then the fastball is not so fast any more. The core issue is that Cub pitchers are taught to think of the fastball as a secondary pitch. Can anybody look at Marmol or Dempster or Wuertz (with the Cubs) and tell me that their offspeed pitches are in any sense secondary? What was the pitch that Dempster threw four of in a row to James Loney with the bases full in Game 1 last October?

When Wuertz was demoted last July, Rothschild said that the boy needed to go down to Iowa and work on his slider. That wasn’t at all what he needed to work on. I said at the time that Wuertz was so demoralized that his head couldn’t tell his arm to throw a fastball in the strike zone. Command is more than just control. It’s control with confidence. Rothschild’s push-botton diagnosis is always the same. Here he is talking about Marmol recently: “I think it’s more location with the breaking ball than it is anything else, being able to throw it for strikes as often as he has in the past.” Rothschild tries to keep it simple for his guys. Just throw the same offspeed pitch to the same spot.

I have quoted Koyie Hill before in this context. Hill spoke these words about Mitch Atkins, but they apply directly to Zambrano, Marmol and Dempster:

“Anybody who commands the strike zone can do well, and I think that’s what he does. I’m not saying he’ll go up there and be Cy Young. That part develops. The adjustment he made last year was command of the strike zone with his fastball, which to me is the most important thing in the world. I’d go out there with him any day. . . .”

“When he came to Iowa, he had some Double-A tendencies where you get to where you’re 2-1, and you throw, not a trick pitch, but pitch backwards to get back into the count. By the end of the season, he was dominating the strike zone and getting ahead, so he didn’t have to do all that. It made him predictable.

One thing I told him was, ‘When you climb the ladder up, which you will, that stuff fizzles out because those guys are onto it or they take it. Then you’re 3-1, and what are you going to throw? That fastball you can’t control?’”

Don’t be fooled, by the way, when sportswriters harp on Zambrano’s makeup and temperament. Different pitchers react differently to their own lack of command. Zambrano gets angry–but what he’s angry about is invariably a bout of wildness that has put him in a hole. Control your fastball, and there won’t be much anger to manage.

Losing Gerald Perry was easy, because they had Von Joshua waiting in the wings. Do the Cubs have a Joshua on the pitching side? Is it Mike Mason or Dennis Lewallyn? I really don’t know. Find out who taught Randy Wells how to pitch and consider him for the job. Meanwhile, put Koyie Hill to work as a minor-league pitching coach.

What’s Greg Maddux doing?

Rahm Emanuel said famously that a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. The Cubs’ current crisis has me awaiting eagerly a change that is overdue.

Posted 29 June 2009 † Phil § coaching ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , , , , ,

Four underrated prospects

If a prospect is someone who has a good chance of making the major-league team in the not-too-distant future, I like the chances of these four unheralded players.

1) Steve Clevenger. A converted shortstop, Clevenger is a good defensive catcher who throws out over thirty percent of runners attempting to steal. He swings a good lefty bat: his aggregate minor-league numbers are .309/.374/.405 (/.779). He’s not a power hitter (like I said, he’s a converted shortstop) but he always hits, seldom slumps. He did sag recently when he was promoted to Iowa, but he recovered fairly quickly. Clevenger, along with Samardzija, Matt Camp and player-coach Matt Matulia, is carrying the banner of the 2006 draft class at Iowa. Having Jake Fox, an emergency catcher, on the parent team means that the backup catcher is available to pinch hit, so the Cubs will be looking to upgrade at that position. Since Clevenger is a better hitter than Koyie Hill, there may be a little bit of an opening for him. It may happen next year coming out of spring training, or this September, or sooner.

2) Tony Campana. THE CUBS NEED PLAYERS WHO CAN RUN! Tony Thomas (Tennessee) was supposed to be a speed guy, but he’s 7 for 17 this year attempting to steal. James Adduci (Tennessee) is 17 for 20–not bad. Sam Fuld is 20 for 25 at Iowa. That’s excellent. Fuld is trying to chase down Fukudome, who is catchable, since Fuld can almost duplicate Fukudome in every area of his game, and can beat him on the bases. But the rabbit in the Cubs’ organization right now is Campana with 30 stolen bases in 37 attempts: 11 out of 13 at Peoria and 19 out of 24 for Daytona. Campana plays centerfield, where there is usually an opening on the Cubs. Drafted last June (2008), he is hitting .290 in high-A ball. I hope he keeps it up. We need players who can run!

3) Kyler Burke. Burke was drafted #35 overall by the Padres in the 2006 first-year-player draft. That’s the draft where Tyler Colvin was #14; but Burke was drafted out of high school and is much younger. He struggled early, and after his trade to the Cubs for Michael Barrett, he struggled with the Cubs, who sent him to Boise twice, in 2007 and 2008. He finally made it to Peoria late last season and struggled there. This year is different. His numbers are .291/.371/.483 (/.854). Athletic and strong-armed, he plays all three outfield positions. He has pop: half his hits (34 of 68) are for extra bases, including a remarkable 28 doubles. By comparison, his teammate Josh Vitters has 12 doubles, though Vitters has 13 homers to Burke’s 5. Burke was 21 in April, so he’s just a year and four months older than Vitters, who will be 20 in August. Burke is a genuine prospect.

4) David Macias. Macias is a versatile infielder/outfielder at Peoria who, in his first full pro season after being drafted last year (2008), has been called up to Iowa twice and has seen 68 plate appearances there. Never mind what his numbers were. They aren’t great at Peoria, either. I just think it’s interesting that when Iowa was bussing its middle infielders to Chicago and had to replenish its supply, they reached down to Peoria for Macias. It’s true that these were temporary assignments and it was closer to Peoria than to Knoxville or Daytona; but the Cubs must think a lot of Macias to throw him into games at that level, that soon. Since he’s very versatile on defense–a regular Mark DeRosa–I’m going to predict that he has a future with the Cubs.

Posted 26 June 2009 † Phil § Running § prospect ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , , , , ,

Toxic

An unwritten story about the Cubs is the effect of the performance of certain players on the dollar value of the team. That value is very much at issue since there are still two prospective buyers, and one of them, Thomas Ricketts, has reportedly been trying to lower his $900 million bid by $50 million.

If broadcast rights worth $50 million can be a sticking point, how is it other than relevant that during the protracted negotiations over the sale of the team, two sizable player contracts still worth over $130 million have taken on the appearance of toxic assets?

Next year begins a five-year stretch in which Alfonso Soriano will receive $18 million per year. Soriano is aging quickly. He missed most of August in 2007, his first year as a Cub, when he tore his right quad muscle running the bases, and stole one base the rest of the season. He stole 19 bases in 2008 and may reach the mid-teens this year. His days as a base stealer are effectively over. With only the power element remaining to his game, he is a poor man’s Adam Dunn, whom the Cubs could have signed for what the Nats are paying him, $8 million this year, $12 million next year and no commitment beyond that, when the Cubs will owe Soriano another $72 million for 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. The Cubs might possibly be able to eat two thirds of the $72 million and trade Soriano for prospects.

If I were a wealthy fan trying to buy the Cubs, I would count on having to write off the bulk of Soriano’s contract, and I would expect that write-off to be reflected in the purchase price.

If you look at Kosuke Fukudome’s 2009 “splits” page at Baseball Reference, his numbers for the last 365 days, June 25, 2008, through yesterday, are .233/.344/.355 (/.699) with 9 HRs, 47 RBI, 10 SBs, 5 CSs. Sam Fuld could do that–maybe with slightly fewer homers, slightly more SBs. Fuld can’t even make the majors. If Fuld was playing, he would pull down something close to the $400 K minimum. Fukudome is still owed about $6 million this year and $26.5 over the next two years. Maybe by winter 2010 the Cubs will be able to unload Fukudome while agreeing to pay only half of his remaining contract.

I don’t consider Milton Bradley’s contract a toxic asset–yet. He hasn’t shown much, but Bradley has some offensive versatility: he switch-hits, and he can drive the ball (unlike Fukudome) and can draw a walk (unlike Soriano).

Posted 25 June 2009 † Phil § Hendry § bradley § soriano ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , ,

Ushering Perry out and Joshua in

I’m probably the wrong person to give Gerald Perry his due. I was leery of a coach with a reputation for raising a team’s OBP, and I called for Perry’s dismissal last October after the offense went flat in the Dodger playoff series, even though a coach should not be blamed for his hitters’ performance in three games. I always wondered, though, what an OBP coach tells his hitters. Derrek Lee has developed a reluctant swing during Perry’s tenure. Maybe that’s a coincidence, maybe not. When you start your swing late, it’s no mystery when you don’t generate power. Fukudome seems to have a disinclination to swing that a hitting coach must address. Did Perry address Fukudome’s feeble hitting, or was he satisfied with an OBP well north of .350?

A hitting coach should not take too much pride in his pupil when he draws a walk. Bases on balls are not the purpose of working the count. When the count is 3-1, that is a hitter’s count. The hitter should not be thinking–as Fukudome obviously is thinking, and Bradley may sometimes be thinking: “three and one–that gives me two chances to get to ball four.”

Whatever the Cub hitters do now will be an improvement, so it’s just a bad situation for the coach who is vacating the position, and a great situation for his replacement, Von Joshua, who cannot possibly fail.

But apart from being lucky, Joshua is very good. A confirmed minor-league box-score watcher, I couldn’t help noticing the last few seasons that everyone on Iowa always hits. Soto, Fontenot, Kroeger, McGehee, Hoffpauir, Scales, Blanco, Fox, Snyder, Robinson–Nate Spears is the one (statistically insignificant) exception I can think of. Felix Pie could never hit a lick for Piniella and may just not be a very good hitter, but he hit for Joshua. Ronny Cedeno put up big numbers for Joshua.

Bolstering Ronny Cedeno may be easy compared to Joshua’s task at hand, fixing what is wrong with Fukudome, Soriano and Lee. I am highly cognizant, by the way, of how stalwart Lee has been lately. In fact, here is a remarkable streak: Lee has gotten a hit in the 8th inning or later of each of the last five games the Cubs have played. Three of those games were decided by one run and another ended two-zip. So Lee is not in the same broken-down condition as the other two. But I’d love to see Joshua help restore something to Lee’s game that has been missing for a while. Over the last two seasons, Lee has done well hitting the good pitches, the off-speed stuff on the outside corner, but less well with the careless fastball out over the plate or, especially, middle-in. Those are only “mistake” pitches if the batter deposits them where they belong, in the bleachers in left center, not the box seats behind the first-base dugout–if he manages to get his swing started at all.

Posted 15 June 2009 † Phil § coaching ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , , ,

Scrappy

Theriot, Fontenot and Miles are often described as scrappy. I think the word is overused and misused.

Scrappiness is an attribute possessed by some smallish players with limited skills; but being smallish and having limited skills does not make you scrappy.

A scrappy player is aggressive on the bases. He crowds the plate to maximize HBPs. He dives for balls and slides head-first into bases. He bunts for hits.

Does any of this remind you of Aaron Miles?

Fontenot is hardly scrappy at all, although he’s been doing a nice job diving for balls lately. But at third base you have to do that.

I don’t even think Theriot is particularly scrappy, especially lately since he started swinging harder. He almost never bunts for a hit. (The only time I’ve seen him lay down a bunt this year was right after Zambrano did it.) Theriot used to be aggressive on the bases but he’s toned it down. When he does try to steal second, he does that little pop-up slide that gets him called out on close plays–but at least his shirt stays clean.

Theriot said recently, “No one wants to lead the league in singles.” Unscrappier words were never spoken.

Scrappy players don’t necessarily help you score more runs, but they help you score runs in more innings. This has been a problem for the Cubs, who in just the last five games have had scoreless-inning streaks of 15, 9 and 11.

The scrappiest Cub? A player who only gets about thirty starts a year, Zambrano. Get him in the lineup every day and he’ll shake things up, make things happen.

Posted 15 June 2009 † Phil § Running § lineup ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , ,

Mister Left Field

Soriano is hitting .174 in June, after hitting .217 in May. April, when the Cubs were winning, was a long time ago.

I don’t think your leadoff hitter can go into a six-week swoon without killing the offense.

Soriano is untradeable, and what’s worse, he’s unbenchable. You can’t bench a guy with 5-1/2 years remaining on a $130-plus million contract. You can’t bat him 7th or 8th, because that’s not what you’re paying for. The GM would look like a fool.

There’s a further problem with Soriano, and maybe it’s the real problem. He was given a rich eight-year contract, and he’s a one-way player. Left field is baseball’s default position for players who can’t catch. It’s Carlos Lee’s position, and Adam Dunn’s, and Ryan Braun’s. It’s the easiest position on the team to fill, since all you have to do is hit the ball. So Soriano is keeping Hoffpauir on the bench and Jake Fox in the minors–and will continue to keep promising young hitters out of the lineup for several years before the curse, I mean contract, expires.

Posted 14 June 2009 † Phil § Hendry § soriano ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , ,

Beat the Cubs? Easy as 1-2-3

Most days, the Cubs 1-2-3 hitters are Soriano, Theriot and Fukudome. In June, these players are hitting a combined .200/.306/.333. They have five RBI among them in June. Fukudome has two doubles and no home runs in June, and has hit one home run since April. (This from a #3 hitter.) All three players had torrid Aprils, so-so Mays and dismal Junes (so far).

The 1-2-3 Astro hitters initiated all four scoring innings on Wednesday and Thursday, with Hunter Pence, the Astro’s #3, drawing three walks and stealing a base in those key innings.

Soriano is streaky and will get hot soon, and all will be forgiven, at least temporarily. The question remains whether it is wise to bat a hot-and-cold hitter at or near the top of the order, where he seems to be able to cast a slump over everybody else. Leadoff-type hitters are supposed to be resistant to slumps, since they know how (and are willing) to bunt for a hit when necessary, or beat out a well placed grounder to deep short.

Theriot has always been resilient, and his numbers in May were not bad. I wonder, though, if he isn’t in the process of reinventing himself as a hitter with pop, and whether that process might fail. He was quoted recently saying, “No one wants to lead the league in singles.” That’s an odd thing to say. A top-of-the-order guy should be happy to lead the league in singles. This month, Theriot is hitting .237, with no doubles and one home run. How many singles and doubles, I wonder, would he be willing to trade for that one home run?

I guess he envies his old LSU buddy, Fontenot, his power numbers.

We have seen Fukudome swoon before. Let’s hope he can pull out of this one. But it’s always hard to find a batting-order slot for him, since he doesn’t drive the ball and doesn’t steal bases. He does draw walks.

player/month ab h 1b 2b 3b hr bb rbi ba obp slg
Soriano may 111 24 14 5 0 5 6 11 .216 .261 .396
Soriano june 38 7 2 3 0 2 6 2 .184 .295 .421
Soriano may-june 149 31 16 8 0 7 12 13 .208 .270 .403
Theriot may 99 27 13 8 1 5 8 15 .273 .339 .525
Theriot june 38 9 8 0 0 1 2 1 .237 .310 .316
Theriot may-june 137 36 21 8 1 6 10 16 .263 .331 .467
Fukudome may 65 18 12 4 1 1 15 5 .277 .415 .415
Fukudome june 29 5 3 2 0 0 6 2 .172 .314 .241
Fukudome may-june 94 23 15 6 1 1 21 7 .245 .385 .362
S-T-F may 275 69 39 17 2 11 29 31 .251 .329 .447
S-T-F june 105 21 13 5 0 3 14 5 .200 .306 .333
S-T-F may-june 380 90 52 22 2 14 43 36 .237 .323 .416
Posted 12 June 2009 † Phil § lineup § soriano ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , ,

Teflon Larry

I’m surprised how willing some people are to let the Cubs off the hook on the question of, who lost Rich Hill?

After all, it was Larry Rothschild who taught Hill the slide-step. This was before Hill had any back issues or elbow issues or control issues–except controlling baserunners.

As a general matter, do you think it’s a good idea to teach a 27-year-old lefthander–someone who is rather stiff and mechanical in his movements–a new delivery?

I remember Bobby Cox saying that they had trouble picking up the ball when Hill was pitching because his leg and right elbow were in the way.

So you tamper with his motion . . .

A lefty can integrate his kick into a pickoff motion, which seems to be what Hill is doing now. After he pitches, I always look at stolen bases, and there were none in the Seattle game, in spite of five baserunners including Ichiro.

The Orioles treated Hill’s problems from the very beginning as injury-related, and just assumed that he would regain his control when he was healthy. They said from the beginning that there was a spot in the rotation waiting for him. It’s nice to have a plan, and stick to it, and watch it succeed.

Whatever one thinks about Rothschild, he has two new blemishes on his record–Wuertz and Hill–that will receive attention when the Cubs are looking at ways to improve in the offseason.

* Note: I’ve been doing weekly updates of a pitching-stats table that I first used in a post entitled Marmols in the Making. See under Pitching Prospects at the top right of the home page.

Posted 02 June 2009 † Phil § coaching ‡ Comments (0) °

Working the count

One of my favorite all-time Cubs was a self-made hitter–not a natural hitter–who knew that working the count meant understanding two things: pitchers and umpires. Milton Bradley may understand a pitcher’s tendencies and tactics, but he doesn’t understand what a home-plate umpire’s job is. That, more than paranoia or a short fuse, is his problem.

I’ll call the former Cub “X,” since this is a piece about Bradley, not a stroll down Memory Lane. Working the count means basically going from 1 and 2, a pitcher’s count, to 3 and 2, a hitter’s count. You get there in two steps. The first step is fairly easy: a right-hander, pitching to a righty power hitter, will usually throw a breaking ball outside on 1 and 2.

The next step is harder, since on 2 and 2 the pitcher will aim a little closer to the plate and may catch the corner. “X” knew that if the pitch was the slightest bit outside, he would get the call. If the pitch was right on the corner, he might still get the call. Either way, you take that pitch, because if you can get to 3-2, the frustrated pitcher will throw the next pitch over the plate, and it will probably be a fastball after a couple of breaking balls. Three and two is especially a hitter’s count when the pitcher has gone from way ahead of the hitter to behind, and now is afraid of losing him.

The key to X’s approach was that 2 and 2 was the last pitch in the sequence where the ump would take the side of the hitter. On 3 and 2, the pendulum would swing back and the ump would return to his natural orientation, favoring the pitcher.

If you don’t believe that umps have an orientation toward pitchers, consider this. Most people would say that umps call balls and strikes. Actually, they call strikes. They ignore balls. An ump crouches or bends over the catcher, and if the ball is a strike, he gestures with his right arm and bellows loudly. If it’s not a strike, he merely relaxes and straightens up. The job of the home plate ump is literally to give the pitcher credit for well-aimed balls. He does not give the hitter credit for a well taken pitch; or if he does, it’s pretty subtle, since he does it without gesture or sound. A fair-minded person in the position of home-plate ump would gravitate toward the side of the player on the mound, the one who is doing the heavy lifting, versus the man holding the bat on his shoulder.

The vast majority of hitters have always known that umps are on the pitcher’s “team,” which is why there is a rule that you protect the plate on two strikes; that is, you don’t put yourself at the mercy of the umpire. Protecting the plate means that you widen your strike zone and swing at pitches that you might otherwise take. Many hitters develop a specialized foul-ball swing that they use to “waste” such a pitch and bid the pitcher to try again.

If most hitters swing at anything close on two strikes, it follows–to my mind at least–that someone in the minority like Bradley who looks at such pitches and watches them as they travel over (or just outside the boundaries of) the plate and follows them deep into the catcher’s glove–”That was a well taken pitch, ump, don’t you agree?”–is going to be seen as provocative. You are basically challenging the ump’s metier, his livelihood, his ability to give the pitcher credit for well aimed balls. On any borderline pitch, the ump is liable to hesitate for a split second and then to start to get angry at the batter who is standing there looking at him full in the face. “You do your job–protecting the plate–and I’ll do mine. Strike three!”

Bradley is highly intelligent but too literal-minded. Few people understand, yet most follow, the unwritten rules that govern baseball and much else. Bradley doesn’t follow what he doesn’t understand. Maybe baseball would be better if home-plate umps were not adjuncts to the defensive team, but were finely calibrated machines judging balls and strikes. Maybe it would be worse. But it is what it is, at least today.

I consider Bradley a (highly remunerated) victim of the OBP era in baseball, an era that finally elevated walks to the status of hits, a status that they never enjoyed before. Bradley says, “I demand that base on balls. I earned it!” Player X worked the count in order to get a fastball he could drive, not to get a free pass to first so he could pad his OBP.

(Note: player X’s real name was Hickman.)

Posted 16 May 2009 † Phil § Uncategorized ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Marmols in the making?

Lou said recently he was not averse to “bringing up some young kids with good arms and seeing what they can do.”

If Lou wants to make the rounds of the Cubs’ farm teams and bring back quality arms, he should send a bus. It’s early, but right now the Cubs appear to have a slew of young pitchers with dominating stuff.

The Cubs are looking for someone who can do what Marmol used to: put out 7th-inning fires. Marmol’s numbers last year were 11.75 K’s per 9 innings (3rd behind Lidge and Fuentes for NL pitchers with more than 60 innings), an 0.93 WHIP (2nd behind Cory Wade) and 2.78 K’s per BB (36th). The WHIP is misleading, since his BB numbers are relatively high. Where Marmol is really stingy is giving up hits. His 4.1 hits per nine innings led the league. (So did his batting-average-against number, which is closely tied to hits/9.) If you’re looking for another Marmol, find the guy with the highest K/9 and the lowest H/9.

Here is a list of current Cub pitching prospects with 7 or more K’s per 9 innings, ranked according to K/9.

name team draft round/trade innings hits walks strikeouts k/bb h/9 k/9 whip k/9 - h/9
John Gaub Tennessee DeRosa 9.2 6 4 17 4.25 5.87 16.63 1.09 10.76
Ryan Buchter Peoria Matt Avery 13.1 7 8 19 2.38 4.81 13.05 1.15 8.24
Blake Parker Tenn-Iowa 2006 16th 14.1 11 8 20 2.50 7.02 12.77 1.35 5.74
Greg Reinhard Iowa Ryu 22.1 15 6 29 4.83 6.11 11.81 0.95 5.70
Chris Huseby Peoria 2006 11th 12 11 2 15 7.50 8.25 11.25 1.08 3.00
Kevin Hart Iowa Bynum 14.2 20 6 17 2.83 12.68 10.77 1.83 -1.90
Chris Archer Peoria DeRosa 23 10 15 26 1.73 3.91 10.17 1.09 6.26
Marcos Mateo Daytona Coats 9 4 4 10 2.50 4.00 10.00 0.89 6.00
Chris Carpenter Peoria 2008 3rd 30.1 16 16 33 2.06 4.78 9.87 1.06 5.08
Steven Vento Daytona 2007 23rd 14 17 7 15 2.14 10.93 9.64 1.71 -1.29
Al Albuquerque Daytona 2003 nfa 16 12 5 17 3.40 6.75 9.56 1.06 2.81
Jose Ascanio Iowa Ohman 26.2 18 7 26 3.71 6.18 8.93 0.95 2.75
Brian Schlitter Tennessee Eyre 12.1 10 4 12 3.00 7.44 8.93 1.16 1.49
Henry Williamson Daytona Pie 18.2 22 10 18 1.80 10.88 8.90 1.76 -1.98
Jay Jackson Tennessee 2008 9th 27.1 29 11 26 2.36 9.63 8.63 1.48 -1.00
Jeremy Papelbon Tennessee 2006 19th 21 31 7 20 2.86 13.29 8.57 1.81 -4.71
Jeff Beliveau Peoria 2008 18th 16 18 11 15 1.36 10.13 8.44 1.81 -1.69
Josh Whitlock Peoria 2008 26th 16 19 1 15 15.00 10.69 8.44 1.25 -2.25
Vince Perkins Tenn-Iowa free agent 16.1 9 9 15 1.67 5.03 8.39 1.12 3.35
Mitch Atkins Iowa 2004 7th 40 42 13 37 2.85 9.45 8.33 1.38 -1.13
Rafael Dolis Daytona nondrafted fa 25.2 14 16 23 1.44 5.00 8.21 1.19 3.21
Jake Muyco Daytona 2005 8th 19.1 21 8 17 2.13 9.90 8.01 1.52 -1.88
Jeff Stevens Iowa DeRosa 15.2 6 9 13 1.44 3.55 7.70 0.99 4.14
Kevin Kreier Peoria 2006 20th 15.2 15 3 13 4.33 8.88 7.70 1.18 -1.18
Dan McDaniel Daytona 2008 14th 26.2 14 10 22 2.20 4.81 7.56 0.92 2.75
Erik Hamren Peoria 2008 37th 12 8 6 10 1.67 6.00 7.50 1.17 1.50
David Cales Daytona-Tenn 2008 24th 14.3 9 4 11 2.75 5.66 6.92 0.91 1.26

Here is the same list, this time ranked by fewest hits per nine innings.

name team round drafted/who traded for innings hits walks strikeouts k/bb h/9 k/9 whip k/9 - h/9
Jeff Stevens Iowa DeRosa 15.2 6 9 13 1.44 3.55 7.70 0.99 4.14
Chris Archer Peoria DeRosa 23 10 15 26 1.73 3.91 10.17 1.09 6.26
Marcos Mateo Daytona Coats 9 4 4 10 2.50 4.00 10.00 0.89 6.00
Chris Carpenter Peoria 2008 3rd 30.1 16 16 33 2.06 4.78 9.87 1.06 5.08
Ryan Buchter Peoria Matt Avery 13.1 7 8 19 2.38 4.81 13.05 1.15 8.24
Dan McDaniel Daytona 2008 14th 26.2 14 10 22 2.20 4.81 7.56 0.92 2.75
Rafael Dolis Daytona nondrafted fa 25.2 14 16 23 1.44 5.00 8.21 1.19 3.21
Vince Perkins Tenn-Iowa free agent 16.1 9 9 15 1.67 5.03 8.39 1.12 3.35
David Cales Daytona-Tenn 2008 24th 14.3 9 4 11 2.75 5.66 6.92 0.91 1.26
John Gaub Tennessee DeRosa 9.2 6 4 17 4.25 5.87 16.63 1.09 10.76
Erik Hamren Peoria 2008 37th 12 8 6 10 1.67 6.00 7.50 1.17 1.50
Greg Reinhard Iowa Ryu 22.1 15 6 29 4.83 6.11 11.81 0.95 5.70
Jose Ascanio Iowa Ohman 26.2 18 7 26 3.71 6.18 8.93 0.95 2.75
Al Albuquerque Daytona 2003 nfa 16 12 5 17 3.40 6.75 9.56 1.06 2.81
Blake Parker Tenn-Iowa 2006 16th 14.1 11 8 20 2.50 7.02 12.77 1.35 5.74
Brian Schlitter Tennessee Eyre 12.1 10 4 12 3.00 7.44 8.93 1.16 1.49
Chris Huseby Peoria 2006 11th 12 11 2 15 7.50 8.25 11.25 1.08 3.00
Kevin Kreier Peoria 2006 20th 15.2 15 3 13 4.33 8.88 7.70 1.18 -1.18
Mitch Atkins Iowa 2004 7th 40 42 13 37 2.85 9.45 8.33 1.38 -1.13
Jay Jackson Tennessee 2008 9th 27.1 29 11 26 2.36 9.63 8.63 1.48 -1.00
Jake Muyco Daytona 2005 8th 19.1 21 8 17 2.13 9.90 8.01 1.52 -1.88
Jeff Beliveau Peoria 2008 18th 16 18 11 15 1.36 10.13 8.44 1.81 -1.69
Josh Whitlock Peoria 2008 26th 16 19 1 15 15.00 10.69 8.44 1.25 -2.25
Henry Williamson Daytona Pie 18.2 22 10 18 1.80 10.88 8.90 1.76 -1.98
Steven Vento Daytona 2007 23rd 14 17 7 15 2.14 10.93 9.64 1.71 -1.29
Kevin Hart Iowa Bynum 14.2 20 6 17 2.83 12.68 10.77 1.83 -1.90
Jeremy Papelbon Tennessee 2006 19th 21 31 7 20 2.86 13.29 8.57 1.81 -4.71

Here finally is a list that is ordered according to K/9 minus H/9. By combining the two numbers, I tried to identify the pitcher who was most like Marmol!

name team round drafted/who traded for innings hits walks strikeouts k/bb h/9 k/9 whip k/9 - h/9
John Gaub Tennessee DeRosa 9.2 6 4 17 4.25 5.87 16.63 1.09 10.76
Ryan Buchter Peoria Matt Avery 13.1 7 8 19 2.38 4.81 13.05 1.15 8.24
Chris Archer Peoria DeRosa 23 10 15 26 1.73 3.91 10.17 1.09 6.26
Marcos Mateo Daytona Coats 9 4 4 10 2.50 4.00 10.00 0.89 6.00
Blake Parker Tenn-Iowa 2006 16th 14.1 11 8 20 2.50 7.02 12.77 1.35 5.74
Greg Reinhard Iowa Ryu 22.1 15 6 29 4.83 6.11 11.81 0.95 5.70
Chris Carpenter Peoria 2008 3rd 30.1 16 16 33 2.06 4.78 9.87 1.06 5.08
Jeff Stevens Iowa DeRosa 15.2 6 9 13 1.44 3.55 7.70 0.99 4.14
Vince Perkins Tenn-Iowa free agent 16.1 9 9 15 1.67 5.03 8.39 1.12 3.35
Rafael Dolis Daytona nondrafted fa 25.2 14 16 23 1.44 5.00 8.21 1.19 3.21
Chris Huseby Peoria 2006 11th 12 11 2 15 7.50 8.25 11.25 1.08 3.00
Al Albuquerque Daytona 2003 nfa 16 12 5 17 3.40 6.75 9.56 1.06 2.81
Dan McDaniel Daytona 2008 14th 26.2 14 10 22 2.20 4.81 7.56 0.92 2.75
Jose Ascanio Iowa Ohman 26.2 18 7 26 3.71 6.18 8.93 0.95 2.75
Erik Hamren Peoria 2008 37th 12 8 6 10 1.67 6.00 7.50 1.17 1.50
Brian Schlitter Tennessee Eyre 12.1 10 4 12 3.00 7.44 8.93 1.16 1.49
David Cales Daytona-Tenn 2008 24th 14.3 9 4 11 2.75 5.66 6.92 0.91 1.26
Jay Jackson Tennessee 2008 9th 27.1 29 11 26 2.36 9.63 8.63 1.48 -1.00
Mitch Atkins Iowa 2004 7th 40 42 13 37 2.85 9.45 8.33 1.38 -1.13
Kevin Kreier Peoria 2006 20th 15.2 15 3 13 4.33 8.88 7.70 1.18 -1.18
Steven Vento Daytona 2007 23rd 14 17 7 15 2.14 10.93 9.64 1.71 -1.29
Jeff Beliveau Peoria 2008 18th 16 18 11 15 1.36 10.13 8.44 1.81 -1.69
Jake Muyco Daytona 2005 8th 19.1 21 8 17 2.13 9.90 8.01 1.52 -1.88
Kevin Hart Iowa Bynum 14.2 20 6 17 2.83 12.68 10.77 1.83 -1.90
Henry Williamson Daytona Pie 18.2 22 10 18 1.80 10.88 8.90 1.76 -1.98
Josh Whitlock Peoria 2008 26th 16 19 1 15 15.00 10.69 8.44 1.25 -2.25
Jeremy Papelbon Tennessee 2006 19th 21 31 7 20 2.86 13.29 8.57 1.81 -4.71

Interesting, DeRosa-wise, that Gaub and Archer are in the top three, and Stevens is eighth.

Posted 13 May 2009 † Phil § prospect ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,