Angels Minor League Report: Sean Rodriguez catches fire

by rghan on May 17, 2009 2:03 PM PDT in Minor Leagues

AAA Salt Lake Bees, 23 wins to 13 losses

Meet our AAA murderers' row:

Sean Rodriguez. 2b, ss, cf, 3b - (this week) .565/.600/1.261 with 1 Dbl, 5 HRs, 13 RBIs, 1 SB

Matthew Brown. 3b, 1b, of - (this week) .400/.483/1.000 with 3 Dbls, 4 HRs, and 13 RBIs

Brandon Wood. ss, 3b - (this week) .400/.516/.960 with 2 Dbls, 4 HRs and 6 BBs

Freddy Sandoval. 3b, 2b, 1b - (this week) .355/.412/.710 with 4 Dbls, 2 Trpls, 1 HR, and 3 SBs

Chris Pettit. of - (this week) .333/.357/.519 with 2 Dbls, 1 HR, and 2 SBs

Terry Evans. of - (this week) .345/.424/.483 with 1 Dbl, 1 HR, and 2 SBs

The Bees averaged 9.4 runs a game in this week's romp through AAA pitching. S-Rod looks like our new D-Mac - he's on pace to hit 40+ HR's while striking out in nearly a third of his plate appearances. Wood, Sandoval and Pettit continue to do what they do, and it's nice to see Matt Brown and Terry Evans picking up steam.

AA Arkansas Travelers, 15 wins to 20 losses

Peter Bourjos. cf - (this week) .433/.469/.633 with 1 Dbl, 1 Trpl, 1 HR and 1 SB

Bourjos' great week at the plate raised his season average to .302. He also hit his first homerun of the season, which is important because his power potential is a big piece of his projected value. Let's hope Friday night's shot is the harbinger of more to come.

Mark Trumbo. 1b - (this week) .346/.370/.500 with 1 Dbl and 1 HR

Trumbo finally had some hits fall in. He's better at the plate than his April stats show, but if the patience doesn't catch up with his other skills, he's going face too many similar slumps in the future.

Hank Conger. c - (this week) .250/.379/.417 with 1 Dbl, 1 HR and erased 40% of would-be-basestealers

Conger caught a season high six games this week, getting the job done behind the plate while staying reasonably productive with the bat. Note the solid OBP.

Trevor Bell (his week) 13 IP, 4 ER, 12 hits, 14 K / 2 BB

Trevor Reckling - (this week) 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 7 hits, 3 K / 1 BB

Michael Anton - (this week) 6 IP, 1 ER, 7 hits, 6 K / 2 BB

Reckling, Bell and Anton all threw one-run games this week for the Travs. Bell added another quality start on Saturday, giving up 3 runs over 7 innings. When Jordan Walden gets back, these guys could be the best 1 through 4 in the circuit.

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, 14 wins to 22 losses

Matthew Sweeney. 3b - (this week) .273/.429/.682 with 3 Dbls, 2 HRs, 8 RBIs, and 6 BBs

Sweeney continues to show a lot of secondary skills. Context needs to be considered - if I were your average High A right-handed hurler, I'd try to pitch around him too, since the rest of the Quakes' lineup currently doesn't seem too scary. Still, his 15 BB to 18 K ratio for the year is outstanding, as are his 17 extra-base hits, even if only 5 left the yard.

Julio Perez. of - (this week) .400/.400/.640 with 3 Dbls , 1 HR and 8 RBIs

Perez has remained consistent through April and May in the cleanup spot for Quakes: he puts up decent average, hits for good power, and rarely walks. Batting behind Sweeney and Fuller provides lots of RBI opportunities.

Robert Fish - (this week) 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 hits, 4 K / 3 BB

Fish remains a bit of an enigma -he's a live-armed lefty with a great fastball whose performance doesn't match his generally decent peripheral stats. He posted an ugly 8.18 ERA through April, but began to right the ship over the past two weeks, tossing three consecutive quality starts. While none of those were especially dominating, he's certainly trending in the right direction.

Michael Kenney - (this week) 3.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 hits, 3 K

The Quakes were embroiled in slug-fests all week, resulting in a worked over bullpen. Kenney stood out, silencing the opposition over three and a third innings.

Cedar Rapids Kernels, 16 wins to 19 losses

Alexi Amarista. 2b - .647/.714/.824 with 1 Dbl, 1 Trpl, and 3 SB's

Wow. Just, wow. How long will Amarista stay in Cedar Rapids, given these numbers? The only knock on the guy is his lack of homerun pop - will that undermine his value at higher levels? With the gap power he's showing now at age 20, I tend to think not, but it is a valid concern.

Roberto Lopez. 1b, of, c - caught 2 of 5 base stealers

His bat fell off this week, but he had other things on his mind: he caught his first full game out of extended spring training, and the opposing team challenged him. Lopez held his own though, cutting down a respectable 40%.

Manuel Flores - (his week) 7 IP, 1 ER, 10 hits, 2 K / 0 BB

Will Smith - (this week) 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 hits, 7 K / 1 BB

Ryan Chaffee - (this week) 6 IP, 2 ER, 2 hits, 7 K / 4 BB

Flores, Smith and Chaffee all tossed quality starts this week, with everyone going at least six innings and giving up no more than 2 earned runs. Like the AA squad, they're gelling into one of the better rotations in their league.

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Comments

S-Rod

might do better in the majors this year. Before 2007, I never regarded him as a major prospect. But his stats in SLC differ from that. I wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes a starter in the majors. But, of course, I may be wrong. Heck, I thought Naps would turn out to be an average hitter, but now, he has had all-star caiber HITTING numbers.

RIP Nick Adenhart 4/9/09

by vlad IS my man on May 17, 2009 2:22 PM PDT reply actions

rghan, just a suggestion...

Would you please include the player’s position behind their names so the reader does not have to keep switching between the player page links and your story? Not everybody is as familiar with the positions these players play as the seasoned fan is, and I think it would help paint a picture of how these players may fit in to the Angels major league team in the future. I have learned tons from your reports so far this year and look forward to reading every one of them. Thanks!

I am The Iron Man.

by 44FAN on May 17, 2009 2:32 PM PDT reply actions

Thanks for all the stats

I keep hoping SRod turns into the next Ryne Sandberg.

Angel Pitching (Adenhart), Angel Defense - get past that.

by vladtheimpaler on May 17, 2009 2:58 PM PDT reply actions

S-Rod will save us

it has been foretold in the Book of McCaskill

This bullpen collapses faster than the Austro-Hungarian Empire

by HaloDutch on May 17, 2009 3:12 PM PDT reply actions

At the travelerocity website

the proprietor has posted photos and scouting reports for Trevor Bell and Trevor Reckling . . .

http://travelerocity.blogs.com/travelerocity/2009/05/a-tale-of-two-pitching-trevors.html

by G Abbes on May 17, 2009 3:33 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

Good stuff

I hadn’t seen a good report on Bell’s secondary stuff yet. Thanks for the link.

by rghan on May 17, 2009 4:01 PM PDT up reply actions

Great to Know, but the Truth Is

None of our producing AAA’ers are going to get a chance to prove themselves in the bigs unless a starting player at their position is traded or goes down for the rest of the season.

When I'm not at the stadium, I'd rather be watching my Halos back in Costa Rica!

by Dono Romantico on May 17, 2009 5:31 PM PDT reply actions

Glad to see our AAA team hits HR's

glad to see our major league club hits ~~HR’s~~ singles.

"If I was still pitching, I would stick one right in his ear..." Goose Gossage

by angelskid2210 on May 17, 2009 9:37 PM PDT reply actions

SO Many Trade Possibilities!!

I usually don’t support making a trade just to make a trade and think that in the past, Stoneman generally did a real good job of holding onto key prospects and making small, subtle moves that turned into positives.

But honestly, if this team doesn’t make a big trade this year…well then they are really just wasting players. Figgins (and Aybar for some reason) is still considered an asset by other teams and there are so many teams that would crave some of our prospects, especially Wood and Rodriguez if we have decided we aren’t going to use them.

I personally would be in favor of trying to trade Aybar and/or Figgins, which would save us money, allow us to bring up ready prospects, and be helpful to the club on the field. But if they decide they want to keep those guys, we could get a a superstar in return for just a couple of our AAA hitters.

by Spird on May 18, 2009 1:28 PM PDT reply actions

Power

I was just noting that Brandon Wood and Sean Rodriguez have combined for 23 HR at SLC this year, and Wood spent two weeks on the bench in LA of A. Meanwhile, the big club has hit a combined 27 HR. As a team. All season.

by jjackflash on May 18, 2009 1:37 PM PDT reply actions