By James Bailey
At the rate we’re going, all of the game’s premier prospects will be in the big leagues before long. A week after Matt Wieters and David Price got the call, elite talents Tommy Hanson, Andrew McCutchen, and Gordon Beckham were all summoned to make their major league debuts. McCutchen made a splash in his first game, but the debut of the week belongs to Oakland’s Vin Mazzaro, who threw 6.1 shutout innings to get his first win out of the way.
One factor in Atlanta’s decision to release 305-game winner Tom Glavine was they felt young Tommy Hanson was ready to step in and be more effective than the future Hall-of-Famer would be at this stage in his career. Hanson, the top prospect in the Braves system, made 11 starts at Triple-A Gwinnett County, going 3-3 with a 1.49 ERA. The 6-foot-6 righthander struck out 90 in 66.1 innings while allowing just 40 hits and 17 walks. Hanson, 22, absolutely dominated the Arizona Fall League last year, going 5-0 with a 0.63 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 29 innings. He will make his big league debut Sunday afternoon against the Brewers.
When the Pirates traded Nate McLouth to Atlanta this week they opened a spot in center field for Andrew McCutchen, the club’s first-round pick in 2005. Pittsburgh has been patient with McCutchen, keeping him in Triple-A for 201 games before summoning him to the bigs. They did, however, skip him over high Class A Lynchburg in his ascent, which is why he’s got that much experience in the high minors despite being only 22. He’s a tremendous athlete who the Pirates originally expected to hit for more power, but he’s developed into more of an on-base threat with gap power. At Indianapolis this year he drew 17 walks and struck out 24 times in 201 at-bats. McCutchen went 2-for-4 and scored three runs in his debut on Thursday. In three games he’s hitting .231 with three RBIs.
While the McLouth deal allowed McCutchen to move up, the center fielder on his new team moved down. Jordan Schafer, who homered in his first big league at-bat on Opening Day, was dropped to Gwinnett County after struggling for most of the season’s first two months. Schafer hit .204 with two homers and eight RBIs in 167 at-bats for Atlanta, but both home runs came in the first three games of the season. After starting the season 9-for-26 (.346) he hit .177 over his next 141 at-bats to earn the ticket to Triple-A. Schafer has started hot for the G-Braves, hitting .308 with a homer and scoring five runs in three games. Perhaps he’s more comfortable back in the leadoff spot.
It was only last week that we highlighted Gordon Beckham’s move from Double-A Birmingham to Triple-A Charlotte. He didn’t even have time to unpack in the Queen City. The Sox called him up on Thursday after he hit .483 with six doubles in 29 at-bats. He debuted with an 0-for-3 showing against the A’s. On Friday he made three outs on just three pitches. Saturday he sat. He’ll be in the lineup more often than not, with most of his time coming at third base, though he should play some at second and short as well.
With rookies Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill and Josh Outman already in place, the A’s added another youngster to the rotation this week, bringing righthander Vin Mazzaro up to face Chicago on Tuesday. All he did was shut the Sox out for 6.1 innings on three hits to pick up the win. Mazzaro, a third-round pick out of Rutherford (N.J.) High in 2005, went 12-3 with a 1.90 ERA in 22 starts in the Texas League last year. He struggled after a promotion to Sacramento to end the year, but got his revenge on the Pacific Coast League this year, going 2-2, 2.38 in 10 games and holding the league to a .205 average. He makes his second start for Oakland today against the Orioles.
Brett Myers’ hip injury created an opening in the Phillies rotation for lefthander Antonio Bastardo, who has had nothing but success in his climb through the organization. The 23-year-old Dominican opened the year at Double-A Reading, going 2-2 with a 1.82 ERA in nine games. He allowed just 21 hits and seven walks in 34.2 innings and struck out 39, earning a promotion to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. In two International League starts he allowed three runs in 13 innings and struck out 12. Bastardo made his debut Tuesday against the Padres, allowing one run on four hits in six innings. He struck out five and walked one as he picked up his first big league win. He’ll face the Dodgers Sunday night as the Phillies try to salvage the last game in the three-game set.
The first time Edinson Volquez hit the DL the Reds tried former top prospect Homer Bailey to fill his rotation spot. This time they gave Matt Maloney a call. The 25-year-old lefthander had been great at Triple-A Louisville, going 4-3 with a 2.00 ERA in 10 starts. In his final minor league game he tossed a complete-game, three-hit shutout against first-place Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, walking none and striking out 10. In 67.1 innings for Louisville, Maloney struck out 58 and walked just nine. He wasn’t phased in his Reds debut on Saturday, allowing two runs in six innings against the Cubs. For good measure he rapped an infield single in his first big league at-bat. Cincinnati won in extra innings, though Maloney didn’t factor in the decision.
If you blinked, you missed Jess Todd’s stint with the Cardinals. The organization’s minor league pitcher of the year last year as a starter, Todd moved into a relief role this spring. He notched 11 saves and a 2.96 ERA in 20 games for Triple-A Memphis and when St. Louis needed an extra arm in the bullpen, they gave the 23-year-old righthander a call. He threw 45 pitches Friday against the Rockies, allowing two runs in 1.2 innings, then was promptly returned to Memphis. The Cardinals insist that was the plan all along. Their current need is a long reliever, and they brought Blake Hawksworth up to replace Todd, who profiles more as a late-inning man.
A pair of highly regarded prospects moved from A-ball to Double-A this week. Yonder Alonso, the Reds’ first-round pick last year, is now at Carolina in the Southern League after hitting .302 with seven homers and 37 RBIs for Sarasota. Alonso is batting .250 with three doubles and three RBIs in 24 at-bats for the Mudcats. Kyle Drabek, selected by the Phillies in the first round of the 2006 draft, also graduated from the Florida State League. He’s now pitching for Reading in the Eastern League. The 21-year-old righthander tossed seven shutout innings in his Double-A debut Wednesday. He went 4-1 with a 2.48 ERA in 10 games for Clearwater, striking out 74 in 61.2 innings.
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Under similar circumstances, I can only hope the Red Sox brain trust comes to the same conclusion as that of the Braves: that they’re better served adding Clay Buchholz to the rotation vs. a 42-year-old coming off shoulder surgery. Seems unlikely, I know, but the Sox are going to have no one else to blame but the front office if they come up a couple a couple games short of the playoffs. Rome (the rrotation) is burning, and Theo continues to fiddle.
Agreed. Buchholz is 4-0 with a 1.74 ERA in 10 starts at Pawtucket. The IL is hitting .159 against him (35 H in 62 IP). He’s got nearly a 5-1 strikeout to walk ratio (57/12). If he’s not ready now, he’ll never be ready. Poor kid deserves a callup.
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