Comments on: First Pitch: The FanGraphs Reports, and Luis Urena as a Sleeper http://www.piratesprospects.com/2013/01/first-pitch-the-fangraphs-reports-and-luis-urena-as-a-sleeper.html Wed, 22 May 2013 11:14:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: John Dreker http://www.piratesprospects.com/2013/01/first-pitch-the-fangraphs-reports-and-luis-urena-as-a-sleeper.html#comment-24182 John Dreker Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:37:01 +0000 http://www.piratesprospects.com/?p=46275#comment-24182 Actually all ten are still around. Sanchez pitched well as a teenager in the GCL this year, not so good in a brief trial with State College.
Miguel de Aza is Adrian. Showed some improvement in the DSL this year but not much.
Herrand still throws hard, he was just very erratic this season in the GCL. He has a great arm, just hasn’t put it together.
Castro pitched for WV this year and looked good at times.
Maximo Rivera tore up the DSL this year, hitting .367 with 34 stolen bases. His scouting report was way off though. He is not a power hitting shortstop like they hoped for. He has been moved around a ton in the field and has only shown power for a short time during the second half of the 2011 season

]]> By: Lee Young http://www.piratesprospects.com/2013/01/first-pitch-the-fangraphs-reports-and-luis-urena-as-a-sleeper.html#comment-24173 Lee Young Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:12:15 +0000 http://www.piratesprospects.com/?p=46275#comment-24173 Carvajal is not gone, of course, but a utility guy in “A” ball might as well be.

And I forgot Ozuna at # 4.

]]> By: Lee Young http://www.piratesprospects.com/2013/01/first-pitch-the-fangraphs-reports-and-luis-urena-as-a-sleeper.html#comment-24172 Lee Young Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:08:59 +0000 http://www.piratesprospects.com/?p=46275#comment-24172 I always print these out and save them to see what happens, esp since these guys are so far away.

You hit on a few, that’s for sure (Willy Garcia # 1, Hanson # 3). Some of them are gone:
# 2 – Carvajal
# 5 – Isaac Sanchez
# 6 – Miguel De Aza (unless he is now Adrian?)
# 7 – Yhonatan Herrand
# 8 – Orlando Castro

The last 2 were Maximo (gosh I hope he makes it with that name) Rivera and Urena.

Pretty good overall!

]]> By: John Dreker http://www.piratesprospects.com/2013/01/first-pitch-the-fangraphs-reports-and-luis-urena-as-a-sleeper.html#comment-24164 John Dreker Mon, 28 Jan 2013 05:52:53 +0000 http://www.piratesprospects.com/?p=46275#comment-24164 There definitely is a huge difference between those two players. Gamache could eventually grind his way to a bench spot in the majors with some improvements, but at worst he is a solid AAA-type player that could hang around the minors for awhile. On the other hand, Urena still may have the ceiling of a star, but also may not get past low-A ball. I’d stick with the huge payoff player every time if I had to choose, so I think it was a wise choice.

]]> By: John Dreker http://www.piratesprospects.com/2013/01/first-pitch-the-fangraphs-reports-and-luis-urena-as-a-sleeper.html#comment-24163 John Dreker Mon, 28 Jan 2013 05:47:40 +0000 http://www.piratesprospects.com/?p=46275#comment-24163 If it wasn’t for that BB/K ratio actually getting worse his second time around in the GCL, I would’ve ranked him higher based on what I’ve heard.
Another thing that would’ve helped him, is a late-season promotion to State College for the last week. That seems to be a good sign of what the team thinks. With both Tyler Gaffney and Barrett Barnes injured, there was room for him there but the call never came, so that weighed in my decision.

]]> By: Tim Williams http://www.piratesprospects.com/2013/01/first-pitch-the-fangraphs-reports-and-luis-urena-as-a-sleeper.html#comment-24162 Tim Williams Mon, 28 Jan 2013 05:47:15 +0000 http://www.piratesprospects.com/?p=46275#comment-24162 Ironically, your argument talked Dan Gamache off the list, which led to Luis Urena going on the list.

]]> By: Tim Williams http://www.piratesprospects.com/2013/01/first-pitch-the-fangraphs-reports-and-luis-urena-as-a-sleeper.html#comment-24161 Tim Williams Mon, 28 Jan 2013 05:41:23 +0000 http://www.piratesprospects.com/?p=46275#comment-24161 I forgot you had him there originally. Just remembered that when I added him (after Robinson was in the system, so after your rankings change) I was the only one who had him in the top 50.

]]> By: John Dreker http://www.piratesprospects.com/2013/01/first-pitch-the-fangraphs-reports-and-luis-urena-as-a-sleeper.html#comment-24160 John Dreker Mon, 28 Jan 2013 05:40:12 +0000 http://www.piratesprospects.com/?p=46275#comment-24160 I mentioned Urena as having huge potential in the first article I wrote for the site, 2 1/2 years ago and two years before he showed any signs of life in the boxscores http://www.piratesprospects.com/2010/07/ten-international-players-to-watch.html

]]> By: John Dreker http://www.piratesprospects.com/2013/01/first-pitch-the-fangraphs-reports-and-luis-urena-as-a-sleeper.html#comment-24159 John Dreker Mon, 28 Jan 2013 05:34:00 +0000 http://www.piratesprospects.com/?p=46275#comment-24159 I actually had Urena #50 on my first list submitted for the book, then moved him down one spot to add Clint Robinson. Even after all the off-season moves, he remains at 51.
The reason he is there isn’t stats obviously, I’ve heard good things about him from numerous people. It is just his consistency that is lacking and may never come around. The strikeout totals are scary.
His initial scouting report from months before he ever even played a DSL game, had a higher ceiling for him than any other position player I’ve seen since, so I’ve always followed him with interest.

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