My apologies
Sorry things have been so light around here. I had big plans and ambitions for this place at the start of the season, but obviously that hasn’t been the case.
Due to an unforeseen ongoing health issue with a member of my family, I haven’t been able to jump in as I had wished. As we attempt to deal with this issue, I will have to take a leave of absence from my duties here and at SeaWolves.com.
Hopefully the issue becomes resolved in short order and we can get back to work as soon as possible.
Thanks for your support.
Audy Ciriaco could be looking at DL stint
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The Erie SeaWolves are now in the thick of things, battling
for first place, but they may have to do so with out their third baseman, Audy
Ciriaco.
Ciriaco, who began the season on the disabled list, has been
battling through lingering pain and was shut down last week. A stint on the
disabled list could be forthcoming.
“He’s got a little tenderness in his wrist – the same thing
he had in the spring,” manager Phil Nevin said. “I’m waiting to hear what their
course of action is going to be.”
Ciriaco said that there wasn’t one event that led to him
re-injuring the wrist, it happened through normal wear and tear.
“I was good when I came here. Just swinging the bat, diving
on it – it got sore,” Ciriaco said.
Roster moves
Back later with thoughts and analysis.
to Toledo
Akron vs. Erie preview
Akron Aeros (12-18) at Erie SeaWolves (16-14)
Monday-Tuesday: 6:35 p.m., Wednesday 11:05 a.m.
Pitching match-ups:
Monday: Akron LHP Kelvin De La Cruz (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Erie LHP Jon Kibler (2-2, 3.41)
Tuesday: Akron LHP Scott Barnes (0-3, 7.62) vs. Erie RHP L.J. Gagnier (3-0, 2.83)
Wednesday: Akron RHP Paolo Espino (2-1, 4.06) vs. Erie LHP Duane Below (2-3, 3.91)
Scouting Akron: The Aero’s are perennially one of the better teams in the Eastern League, but this year they have been scuttling starting out. Most of their better prospects have yet to hit their stride in the first month of the season … Lonnie Chinsenhall, who is considered by many to be one of the top-15 to 20 prospects in all of baseball, has gotten off to an underwhleming start. After hitting .461 during the Eastern League playoffs to help Akron capture the title, he’s gotten off to a slower start than expected. Chisenhall has managed a decent enough average (.277), but the fact that he hasn’t hit a home run yet is somewhat troubling … One bight spot for the team has been Nick Weglarz. The Indians No. 6 prospect, Weglarz had a strong season with Akron but was sent back for a second campaign. He’s opened up the season hitting .296/.403/.531 with five homers and 23 RBIs … Beau Mills has also been very disapointing, and is currently hitting .221 … Akron has three pitchers ranking in Cleveland’s top-30 prospects in Scott Barnes (0-3, 7.62), Eric Berger (0-1, 12.54), and Bryan Price (0-2, 6.55), but each has fared poorly.
Wilkin Ramirez wins Eastern League Player of the Week award
Wilkin Ramirez was named the Eastern League Player of the Week for the week ending May 2.
“It feels good. You’re working hard to hopefully continue what you’re doing,” Ramirez said. “Everything that I’m doing right now is feeling good.”
Ramirez, a 6’2″, 190 lb. center fielder, hit .500 (11-for-22) with two doubles, three home runs, nine RBIs with a 1.000 slugging percentage. He also had five multi-hit games last week.
His signature game came last Saturday when he went 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs, five RBIs and four runs scored in a 10-4 win over the Trenton Thunder.
As good as he has been playing, Ramirez still feels that he has work to do to improve his status as a prospect. He stated that he is trying to improve on the base paths, where he has been caught stealing in five of six steal attempts, and cut down on his strike outs, where he has a 30:9 strikeout to walk ratio.
“It’s not not very good, I’ve been caught like eight times already,” Ramirez said. “I’ll get better, I will get better. It’s just been bad luck. A lot of people know me and get me sometimes.”
As the veteran member of this team and the only one with major league experience, Ramirez has embraced his role as being the team leader.
“It’s important to be a leader in anything you do,” Ramirez said. “It means a lot to me. I like that they look to me and see that I’m not lazy, I do my work and play hard.”
After spending time in Detroit and most of 2009 in Toledo, it was shocking for Ramirez to end up back in Double-A, but he has taken it all in stride.
“I just want to play baseball. I can’t do surgery, I’m not a lawyer, I just play baseball,” Ramirez said. “That’s how I support my family and put food on the table.”
Trenton vs Erie preview
Phil Nevin said that this team was better than it’s record after the first road trip of the season.
I guess he wasn’t lying.
The SeaWolves pulled off their sixth straight victory with a 4-3 victory Thurday to complete a sweep of Bowie and pull their overall record to 10-10.
Now they will try to carry that momentum over into the series against Trenton.
Trenton Thunder (9-11) at Erie SeaWolves (10-10)
Friday 6:35 p.m., Saturday-Sunday 1:05 p.m.
Pitching match-ups:
Friday: Trenton RHP Ryan Pope (0-2, 4.87 ERA) vs Erie LHP Jon Kibler (2-2, 2.55)
Saturday: Trenton LHP Jeremy Bleich (1-1, 2.38) vs Erie RHP L.J. Gagnier (2-0, 1.54)
Sunday: Trenton RHP David Phelps (2-0, 1.08) vs Erie LHP Duane Below (1-3, 6.39)
Scouting Trenton: The Thunder took four straight against Erie to start the 2010 season by a combined score of 16-3 … C Austin Romine may be one of the best prospects in the Eastern League this year. Romine, the 2009 MVP of the Florida State League and No. 2 prospect in the Yankees’ organization, leads the Thunder with a .333 batting average and ranks second with an .878 OPS. He leads the Eastern League with eight doubles. Unfortunately, Romine will have a tough road to the big leagues as he is blocked by Jesus Montero, who is considered by many to be one of the top three prospects in Minor League Baseball … Erie draws tough assignments this weekend against Bleich and Phelps, the ninth and 25th rated prospects in the Yankees organization … Bleich has posted stellar figures in ERA (2.38) and WHIP (1.19), but has struggled with his command this season. He has allowed only 14 hits, but has walked 13 batters in 22 2/3 innings of work. The lefty is entering just his second season in professional baseball, making it to Trenton last year as a rookie … Phelps has been extremely effective thus far, holding hitters to a .203 BAA while striking out 18 and walking three in 16 2/3 innings.
Scouting Erie: Everything is starting to heat up for Erie. Duane Below will get a chance to prove that his five inning, 10 strike out performance against Bowie in which he allowed no earned runs wasn’t a fluke on Sunday. In his previous three outings Below allowed nine runs in 7 2/3 innings … 1B Michael Bertram has begun to hit. After being marred in an early season slump, he broke out on the road going 6-for-20, including his first double and home run of the season … Andy Dirks leads the team with seven multi-hit games … Cesar Nicolas is on a five-game hitting streak … Erie has won 10 of its last 12 games to improve to .500 for the first time this season …
Jacob Turner placed on disabled list
According to MLive.com, Jacob Turner has been placed on the disabled list with a forearm injury.
The move is retroactive to April 22, which means the 18-year-old Turner,
who was the parent club Detroit Tigers’ No. 1 draft pick in 2009 and is
rated as the No. 1 prospect in the organization by Baseball America,
will be eligible to come off the DL on Thursday.
The right-hander
has missed his past two scheduled starts because of the arm stiffness.
The
fact the Tigers replaced Turner on the roster with right-hander Cory
Hamilton, the Tigers’ 23rd pick in last year’s draft from the University
of California-Irvine, might indicate they will rest Turner more than a
few more days.
Not a good sign for the No. 1 prospect in the Tigers organization. Though this is probably a case of the club being overly cautious with a young and valuable arm.
SeaWolves at Bowie preview
If it feels like Deja-Vu, it should. The joys of the Eastern League schedule bring the SeaWolves and Bowie together for their second series in as many weeks after Erie finished playing Altoona for the second time. The good news is that Erie took two-of-three from Bowie last week at Jerry Uht.
I won’t complain. It makes my job easier.
Erie SeaWolves (7-10) at Bowie Baysox (12-6)
Tuesday-Wednesday: 7:05 p.m.; Thursday: 11:05 a.m.
Pitching
matchups:
Tuesday: Erie LH Duane Below (0-3, 10.57
ERA) vs. Bowie RH Ryohei Tanaka (2-0, 2.08)
Wednesday: Erie RH Thad Weber (0-2,
2.12) vs. Bowie RH Tim Bascom (2-0, 1.00)
Thursday: Erie LH Andy Oliver
(1-1, 6.14) vs. Bowie LH Zach Britton (1-1, 5.03)
Scouting the Baysox: Erie got lucky drawing Bowie twice so early in the season. This isn’t the same team it is going to be when they have all of their players healthy. Currently nine of Baseball America’s top-30 prospects for the Orioles are assigned to Bowie, but with RHP Luis LeBron and OF Matt Angle on the disabled list, only seven are active … The SeaWolves draw the number three prospect in the organization, Zach Britton, on Thursday. Erie dodged him the first time around. As is the case with many players this early in the season, Britton has yet to pitch up to his potential. In back-to-back outings against Akron, he gave up eight runs over 9.1 innings. In 2009 Britton went 9-6 with a 2.70 ERA, 131 strikeouts and 55 walks over 140 IP with Hi-A Frederick in the Carolina League … C Caleb Joseph has also been struggling. The No. 10 prospect in the organization is currently hitting .220/.292/.293 with just three extra base hits. A recent 5-for-36 skid hasn’t helped his cause … No. 12 Pedro Florimon has been equally unimpressive, hitting .182/.224/.200 with just one double. He does appear to be coming on after a 6-for-16 series against Akron, but he failed to drive in a single run in that series … No. 18 Brandon Waring appears to be the lone Bowie prospect that has lived up to the preseason hype. The first baseman is currently hitting .261 with 11 RBIs. He went 6-for-15 with two homers and five RBIs in a four game set against Akron …
Scouting the SeaWolves: It will be interesting to see how the SeaWolves carry on without Deik Scram in the outfield, who was called up to Toledo over the weekend. Chris White moved up from Lakeland to take his place. White went hitless in his first at-bat with Erie … UTIL Shawn Roof is making a strong case for his bat to play. The scrappy utility man is making the most of his opportunities, hitting .308. Unfortunately, he has yet to record a walk or an extra-base hit in 26 at-bats … 3B Audy Ciriaco has been a gift to the SeaWolves in the early going. Since joining the SeaWolves on April 20, Ciriaco has hit .304/.360/.522 with a homer, two doubles, three stolen bases and 3 RBIs. He’s struck out once in 23 at-bats. That bodes well for a player who was knocked for his pitch selection and plate discipline in the past … After a rocky start to the season, Zach Simons is starting to heat up as well. The RH pitcher has allowed one run in his last three innings while striking out four and walking one. He has issed four walks against 10 strikeouts in 8.2 IP this season. His early struggles likely an aberration, he should figure to be one of the more reliable arms in Erie’s bullpen …
Expect growing pains with Oliver, Kibler’s early success, and other notes
I don’t get to travel with the club, so on these road trips I’m forced to sit at home and muse about the club from a distance. Here are some of my ramblings. Enjoy.
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- How do you explain Andy Oliver going from throwing a six
inning gem against Altoona on April 18 in which he allowed only four base runners to reach, to struggling through five innings while allowing eight base
runners and four runs against Altoona in his next outing? Easy. He’s
22-years-old and is in his first professional season. There will be growing pains. But it’s important to note that Oliver is already showing
tremendous growth and can only continue to improve under the Tigers’ coaching
staff. His pitch selection already shows that he’s open to suggestion, which is a positive sign for such a highly touted prospect. Last year at Oklahoma State he threw his fastball 95 percent of the
time, this year he is only using it 54.2 percent of the time. He is walking
4.80 batters per nine innings, though, which is something that he will have to improve on moving
forward. - Why has Jon Kibler been so effective in the early going? No one can hit him. Opposing batters are making contact, but those balls
just aren’t getting into play. Kibler
has limited hitters to a .267 batting average on balls in play, with
47 percent of the balls hit against him going for grounders. - I wouldn’t make much of Wilkin Ramirez’s early struggles at
the plate. The former Detroit Tiger is hitting just .203/.254/.373 right now,
but it’s far too early to make any judgments. Not to pick on
Max St. Pierre, but it’s very unlikely he’ll lead the team in batting and home
runs for very long. Ramirez will hit. Michael Bertram is also definitely better than his .068 batting average suggests. He hit
.285/.335/.504 with eight homers in 33 games with Erie down the stretch last
season and almost lifted them into the playoffs. He’ll come around as well. - The Whitecaps’ Jacob Turner still hasn’t thrown since being
scratched from his last start last week with forearm pain. - One of the more intriguing Detroit farmhands, SS Gustavo
Nunez, is starting to heat up for Lakeland. The 22-year-old is now hitting .342
over his last nine games after starting the season 2-for-33. He’s not going to
hit for much power, but he collects hits and gets on base, and has a plus-glove
in the field. “Mark this name down: Gustavo Nunez,” General Manager Dave Dombrowski said at TigerFest in January. “He has a chance to be a special player. He’s a switch hitter who can run and made some outstanding defensive plays.” - Also, keep an eye on Brayan Villarreal. He’s been putting up
insane numbers for Lakeland in the early going. In three starts, he’s 2-1 with
a 2.35 ERA. He’s also struck out an astounding 26 batters in 15 1/3 innings
with two walks. That’s 15.3 K/9. It’s no fluke either; last year with West
Michigan he averaged 10.3 K/9. The scouting report on the Venezuelan native
states that he throws 93-94 mph and can touch 97 at times. Baseball America
stated that he has the best slider in the system. The initial plan was to keep him in Lakeland all season, but it’s going to be hard to keep him down if he continues to throw as well as he has.
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More roster moves: Ketchner to Toledo, Garcia to Erie
The fallout from the rash of injuries in the Tigers organization continues.
On Sunday the organization announced that LHP Ryan Ketchner will move up from Erie to Toledo to take the place of RHP Ruddy Lugo, who was placed on the disabled list after taking a line drive off his head Friday.
LHP Ramon Garcia will join Erie from Lakeland to fill the void created by Ketchner’s departure.
Ketchner was 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA, 6 SO and 2 BB for Erie.
His 2010 numbers are marred by one poor outing against Altoona on April 17 where he allowed four earned runs over three innings. In four other outings he allowed just two runs over 11 innings.
Garcia has been highly effective with Lakeland this season, where he was 1-0 with a 0.73 ERA. However, he struggled through most of the 2009 season with Erie, going 4-4 with a 6.14 ERA.
Ketchner will join Toledo Wednesday.
Update: Tigs Town reports that Michael Morrison moves up from EST to Lakeland.
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