Archive for the 'Nick Barnese' Category

Jun 04

[HINDSIGHT IS WHAT IT IS] The 2007 Draft: A Look Back

Cody Cipriano, David Newmann, David Price, Dustin Biell, Emeel Salem, Greg Sexton, Matt Moore, Nick Barnese, Reid Fronk, Will Kline 3 Comments »

With the 2008 MLB draft tomorrow, the Tampa Bay Rays front office is busy preparing for their third rodeo. Now is a good time to take a look back and gauge the early returns from players selected in last year’s draft. We all know about David Price, but what about the rest of the picks.

While analyzing each pick we took a look at the next 10 players picked and how they are performing to see if there are any gems the Rays missed. Once you get past that mark, we start looking at players that many teams missed out on, not just the Rays. One of our biggest draft analysis pet-peeves it to give too much credit to teams that get a superstar in a later round. For example, the New England Patriots are always credited for drafting Tom Brady in the 6th round. That pick should not be used to show their drafting prowess. They got lucky. If they knew how good Brady would turn out to be, they would not have risked waiting until the 6th round to select him.

Without further ado, we present you the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 2007 top 10 draft picks recap…

  1. David Price, LHP: It took him almost a year to make his professional debut, but so far he is everything the Rays hoped for. In 3 starts he has yet to allow a run and has been touched for only 8 hits and 2 walks in 18 innings. He has struck out 19. Some are beginning to wonder if Price could make a late-season appearance for the Rays. This will only happen if the Rays are in the pennant race and one of Troy Percival, Al Reyes or Dan Wheeler is lost for the rest of the year and there is an obvious need for a 7th or 8th inning pitcher. With his late start to the season, there will still be plenty of bullets left in his arm and the Rays will not have to worry about over-extending him…Player missed: It is hard to argue with Price, but some suggested before the draft that the Rays should take catcher Matt Wieters (4 picks later). Early on, it looks like they would have been justified in that selection also. Weiters is with the O’s high-A affiliate and is hitting .324/.420/.566 with 12 home runs. Would Buster Posey even be on the radar this season if the Rays had selected Wieters?
  2. Will Kline, RHP: After making 9 starts in ’07 and going 0-4 with a 4.97 ERA, Kline was shutdown this spring and will miss the entire ’08 season due to an arm injury…Player missed: The Rays deserve a pass on this one as there doesn’t appear to be a single legit prospect in the next 10 players selected after Kline. The closest is Brian Rike (6 picks later), a lefty-swinging outfielder in the Rockies organization. In low-A Rike is hitting .274/.392/.487 with 11 home runs and 10 steals.
  3. Nick Barnese, RHP: Made 8 starts for Princeton last season going 2-2 with a 3.22 ERA and 37 Ks with only 4 walks in 36.1 innings. He has yet to make his debut in ’08. At 19, he will likely be on the opening day roster for Hudson Valley…Player missed: Jonathan Lucroy (6 picks later). We are glad that the Rays passed on Wieters, but Lucroy, another college catcher, might be a mistake. He dominated the rookie league in ’07 with a .342/.383/.487 line and he is off to a good start this season, hitting .318/.389/.518 in the SAL with above-average defensive skills.
  4. David Newmann, LHP: Newmann did make an appearance in ’07 and was shut down in the spring this year with an arm injury that will sideline him all season. Two of the top 4 picks shut down for an entire year already? That’s not good…Player missed: Eric Farris (6 picks later). Farris, a second baseman, had a strong rookie campaign, hitting .326/.369/.423 with 21 steals in 63 games, but he has struggled so far in his sophomore season, with a .198/.241/.259 line. Still, like catchers, the Rays have a dearth of second basemen in the system and this one could have been had in the 4th round. Instead the Rays got Bubkis.

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  5. Dustin Biell, OF: Hit .218/.279/.279 and 7 of 12 steals in 49 games for Princeton last year and will likely make his ’08 debut with Hudson Valley…Player missed: Jacob Arrieta (4 picks later). Arrieta is a college right-handed pitcher that is already in high-A in the O’s organization. This season he is 5-1 with a 2.45 ERA with 72 Ks in 69.2 innings.
  6. Emeel Salem, OF: Salem was leading all of professional baseball with 25 steals when he broke his elbow on a slide in May and will now be out for the rest of the season. He was hitting .301/.357/.366 and looks like a legit prospect…Player missed: None
  7. Reid Fronk, OF: Fronk had a solid debut in ’07 hitting .311/.396/.566 for Hudson Valley. He has struggled a bit early on this season for Columbus in the SAL, hitting .241/.333/.429. He does have 24 extra-base hits and 6 steals…Player missed: Bryan Augenstein (9 picks later). The big (6’5″, 225) right-hander out of the University of Florida is overpowering the Midwest League with a 3-1 record and a 2.09 ERA in 11 starts. He has 61 strikeouts and only 9 walks.
  8. Matt Moore, LHP: Moore, only 17 when he was drafted, made 8 appearances and 3 starts for Princeton, striking out 29 and walking 16 in 20.1 innings. He posted a 2.66 ERA. He is expected to pitch for Hudson Valley in ’08…Player missed: Adrian Alaniz (5 picks later). So far Moore looks legit and he is a lefty, so no fault with this pick but if we were to suggest another player it would be Alaniz. The right-handed college pitcher is already in high-A and pitching well with 49 strikeouts in 53 innings and a 2.72 ERA. He is 7-0 in 10 starts.
  9. Cody Cipriano, 2B: Cipriano is struggling in single-A Columbus hitting .194/.296/.361. He is 7-7 in steals and does have 13 walks, but strikes out too much with 26 in 29 games…Player missed: Aaron Brown (10 picks later). Brown is a tall (6’6″) righty college relief pitcher that is overpowering the Northwest League. In 37 innings this season he has a 1.95 ERA and 49 strikeouts and only 15 walks.
  10. Greg Sexton, 3B: Sexton is having a solid if unspectacular season for Columbus hitting .307/.348/.443. He has actually greatly improved his numbers over his pro debut last season in Hudson Valley which is a good sign of adjusting to the wood bats…Player missed: Joe Patterson (9 picks later). Patterson, a lefty relief pitcher, drafted out of college has already advanced to high-A in the Giants organization. He started the year in single-A and struck out 37 in 31.1 innings with a 2.30 ERA and only 13 walks.
Feb 02

[THE SATURDAY MORNING REVOLUTION] In A Revolution, One Triumphs Or One Dies

Akinori Iwamura, Brian Anderson, Dioner Navarro, Johan Santana, John Flaherty, Josh Paul, Mike DiFelice, Nick Barnese, Will Kline 7 Comments »

Tampa Bay Devil Dogs (12 days until pitchers and catchers report)

Please allow myself to introduce…myself. The name is DEVIL RAY GUEVARA. You can call me DRG for short. I will be manning the ship on most weekends from now on and if I behave myself, the Prof says I might be able to post during the week every now and then. So I guess I will be seeing you on the weekends.

I have been involved with RI behind the scenes for a while now. I like to think of myself as the Prof’s consigliare. The problem is, The Prof has all these rules that I am supposed to follow. The first post of the day must include a “webtopia”, minimize the vulgarity, player names in bold type, don’t pick apart every single post written by Marc Topkin and try not to include pictures of Joe Maddon in a thong. Blah, Blah, Blah. Horseshit. I am so sick of Maddon and his Pollyanna-speak, that the next time he praises a relief pitcher after he blows a 4-run lead in the 7th inning, that picture of him in a thong is going up.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • The Devil Dogs continue their quest to bring back every mediocre catcher in the franchise history. The latest to sign is Josh Paul whom the Rays inked to a minor league deal. Paul played 35 games for the Rays in 2007 posting an OPS+ of 29. Wait…*speaking to copy editor*…29? Is that correct? Isn’t 100 an average OPS+? I did not even know it was possible to have an OPS+ that low…Paul joins Mike DiFelice in the battle for the back up catchers position. No word yet on how negotiations are proceeding with John Flaherty…Is it just me, or is anybody else worried about what happens if Dioner Navarro is injured or slumps like he did in the first half of 2007? [TBO.com]
  • The Rays also continued their fascination with pitchers that have not pitched since Tommy John surgery by signing left handed pitcher Brian Anderson. Anderson has not pitched since 2005. A starting pitcher most of his career, Anderson is expected to compete for a spot in the Rays bullpen. As scary as it sounds, if Anderson still has a left arm, he may have the best chance right now of being the Rays left-handed specialist out of the ‘pen. [TampaBay.com]
  • Kevin Gengler rolls on with his profiles of the Rays top prospects. He is up to #16 Nick Barnese and #15 Will Kline. [DRays Bay]
  • One believes that Akinori Iwamura is the key to the Rays 2008 infield. [365 Days of Dough, Rays and Me]
  • The Mets and Johan Santana finally reached an agreement on a contract extension and our own Cork Gaines appears to have been the first to report it on the internet. [MLB Trade Rumors]
Jun 21

Down On The Farm: Wade Davis Strong In AA Debut

Chris Andujar, Dustin Biell, Nick Barnese, Tyree Hayes, Wade Davis No Comments »

Scranton 7, Durham 4. After two straight strong outings by Jae Kuk Ryu, he was knocked around in his latest outing. Ryu was pulled after allowing the first two batters of the 5th inning to reach base. He is on a strict 75-pitch limit as he is converted back to being a starting pitcher. Both of those runners would come around to score and making 4 runs total charged to Ryu. He struck out 5 and walked 2. Seth McClung did not allow a hit or walk in his one inning of work, but never comfortable without runners on base, he did hit a batter…Ben Zobrist was 1-3 with his 5th home run. He is hitting .234. Justin Ruggiano was 0-2 with a walk and a sac fly. Wes Bankston was 0-2 with a sac fly. He is hitting .247 on the year. Joel Guzman was 0-4 after homering in two straight games. He is also hitting .247.

Montgomery 4, Mobile 3. Wade Davis made his AA debut last night. In 6.1 innings he struck out 9 and did not walk a batter. He gave up 2 runs (1 earned) on 7 hits. Davis gave up one run in the first on a single following a passed ball. He would only allow three base runners in the next five innings. In the 7th, he gave up a lead off triple and was pulled after retiring the next batter on a ground ball. He left the game with Montgomery leading 3-1. Nick DeBarr would strike out the first batter he faced, but then surrendered a 2-run home run. Patrick Breen won the game in the bottom of the 9th with a bases loaded sac fly. Reid Brignac was 2-4 with 2 RBI. Evan Longoria was 1-4 and is hitting .289.

Hudson Valley 8, Aberdeen 3.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • Wade Davis’ fastball was still in the mid-90s in the 7th inning and topped out at 97 during a 4th inning strikeout.
  • The Princeton Devil Rays begin their season tonight. The D-Rays roster will include this year’s third-round pick Nick Barnese, a high school pitcher and outfielder Dustin Biell, the Rays fifth-round selection. In addition, the roster will feature the sons of two former major leaguers. Pitcher Tyree Hayes is the son of Charlie Hayes and Chris Andujar is the son of Juaquin Andujar.
  • On his way out the door Wade Davis picked up his third pitcher-of-the-week award from the FSL.
  • BJ Upton will likely begin a rehab assignment next week when Vero Beach visits Tampa.
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