Beerleaguer for breakfast: Big night for top outfielders

A pair of celebrated minor league outfielders appear to be knocking at the door to the big leagues, while another is turning heads with an outstanding season with the stick.

Lehigh Valley outfielder Michael Taylor became the first IronPig to hit for the cycle in a five-hit night that included a game-tying ninth-inning homer, followed by Miguel Cairo’s game winner in a 10-9 win over Louisville. Taylor, 23, is hitting .286/.368/.490 with four homers in 110 plate appearances since his call-up to Allentown. Meanwhile in Trenton, Dominic Brown continued his Double-A assault, going 2-for-4 with an RBI double. Brown, 21, is lighting up a .342/.419/.684 line with three homers in his first 10 games with the R-Phils. In addition, recent call-up Steve Susdorf, 22, popped his first Double-A homer in the game. Susdorf, a left-handed hitter taken in 19th round of the 2008 draft after a standout career at Fresno State is hitting a combined .354/.412/.510 over three levels this season.

Beerleaguer: The Phils, a team that values high-ceiling athleticism in the high rounds, appear to have taken a page from “Moneyball” with this kid from Fresno State, a seasoned college hitter whose bat has made the jump to the professional ranks. The guy also sounds like a born leader and gamer if you read up on his time at Fresno, where he holds the all-time RBI record. I don’t know much about his glove, but I suspect it will limit him. Nevertheless, keep your eye on Susdorf as the Phils heir apparent to 10th man Greg Dobbs, and obviously the future is very bright for Taylor and Brown indeed.

Comments

[SmokyJoe]

One thing about Martinez's velocity last night:

I had mlb.com gameday open while I was watching the game on Comcast, that way I could chart the velocity (which gameday excels at) versus type of pitch (which gameday frequently gets wrong, especially on 2-seamers vs. 4-seamers vs cutters). In the first inning, Pedro threw 10 of his 18 pitches as fastballs, which he threw between 86 and 88 mph. It's why some posters last night claimed fraud about the 93 reported at LV. It was just Pedro being a savvy vet and not getting too hyped up like a rookie would, and skewed his average fastball velocity for the game (along with the mis-identified cutters as NEPP explained earlier). In the second and third innings, almost every single 4-seam fastball was thrown between 90 and 92 mph. And while he had a couple 88 & 89 in the 4th and 5th innings, 3 of his last 4 fastballs of the night (in pitches 89 through 99) hit 92. Those are the facts; make whatever conclusion you want from that.

[NEPP]

Susdorf could be the next Jason Michaels...

So is Mayberry still a better prospect than Michael Taylor?

[SmokyJoe]

Clout, do you round up and down in an arbitrary way that fits your argument? Interesting.

I thought 91.5 and 91.6 and 91.7 is 92, but apparently not to you.

[GKit]

Susdorf went to Fresno State where he played on a College WS Champion.

[Tony D]

Hey J-Dub, Susdorf went to Fresno State. Easy mistake... Fresno and Georgia are both Bulldogs.

[J. Weitzel]

Whoops. Wrong Bulldogs. 08 World Series pitted bulldogs vs. bulldogs. Thanks.

[Meyer]

Maybe looked liked the little brother standing next to Taylor.

[NEPP]

Martinez threw 41 FBs last night...22 were 90-92, 19 were 87-89. That's about right.

[NEPP]

Gameday's pitch/fx data has 6 pitches at 92 mph, not 2.

[Tony D]

Susdorf looks like Pedroia in that pic. Receding hair line and everything.

Taylor-Susdorf-Brown OF in 2012?

[loctastic]

So is it Domonic or Dominic? (Not busting chops, J, I'm genuinely confused)

Susdorf looks like a young Chevy Chase in that picture

[Tony D]

You guys are in love with radar guns.

[SmokyJoe]

Tony D, it's not love, but when a disengenuous poster makes a claim backed by misinformation, a proper repsonse is to negate the claim through actual facts.

[SmokyJoe]

locatastic, 2 "O"s, 1 "I"

[gm-carson]

It is Domonic. Phis organization spelled it "Dominic" until just recently when he decided to stir the waters and tell everyone they had it wrong all along.

Phils outfield currently has 3 all-stars and now with these 3 knocking on the door, there is definitely some depth. Not to mention, Ben Francisco seems to be a great 4th outfielder that would likely start on 1/2 of the MLB teams.

[NEPP]

****You guys are in love with radar guns.****

His velocity was a concern going into this game so its a issue. His movement/location weren't issues even when he was at 85 last year. That's why we've gone on and on about it.

As clout will surely agree, pitching is about location and movement, not velocity. Velocity helps but its not the end all be all of pitching (Just ask Kyle Farnsworth).

[J. Weitzel]

Reading Eagle is still going with Domonic. I'm used to rattling it off as Dominic. Probably should be Domonic.

[NEPP]

Considering injury concerns and Raul's age, Francisco could very well get 300 ABs next year.

[TNA]

Regardless of velocity (he was still hitting 93mph late in the game), the fastball wasn't as effective towards the end of the game because he wasn't locating it as well as he was earlier in the game and Cubs hitters were laying off the high heat and likely simply looking for dead-red due to the score of the game. And given the score of the game, Pedro probably wasn't going to risk establishing the inside part of the plate, so he was limited to the outer and lower parts of the strike zone. When he seemed to be throwing inside more frequently in the beginning innings, he was clearly more effective. Anyway, I think it was good happenstance to get him further stretched out with 99 pitches. Luckily he was able to record the win in the nick of time.

[SmokyJoe]

Velocity also speaks to overall arm health. I don't think anyone in their right mind questions Pedro's repertoire based on his history, just his health and ability to maintain it while keeping good mechanics and arm angles, especially given his age and health problems the past 2 years. That is why velocity matters more in his case than it does for someone like Antonio Bastardo.

[awh]

Re. Brown and Taylor:

I have not seen Brown play the field.

For those of you that have, is he fast/good enough in the OF to play CF?

Most of what I've read about Taylor, OTOH, seems to indicate he's a corner OF.

The reason I ask about Brown:

Vic (who I love, BTW) is making $3.4MM this season, and having a very good year.

Is the Phillies OF in 2011 Ibanez, Brown and Taylor?

[awh]

To expand on what I just posted, I don't think Werth (who I also love to watch - he stole home FCOL!) is here past 2010, when he'll make $7MM.

If the Phillies could replace Vic and Werth with Brown and Taylor, they could easily save $10MM/yr. This is the Phillies, after all, who despite the recent financial success, still know how to squeez a penny.

Just a thought.

[Bob]

OT, but from last thread.

One of the nicest baseball watching experiences I've ever had was seeing a game from the bleachers on the roof of one of the houses right across the street from LF at Wrigley.

A keg of ice cold beer, all you can eat grilled sausage and other hot sandwiches. 75 degrees with a gentle breeze on a spring night. And Sammy Sosa hit a home run. All priceless.

[The Truth Injection]

SmokyJoe is now stepping to the plate to challenge clout. Where will he fall in regards to others who have?

Me- who I think clout sort of likes now, or Mac Tonight who is ridiculous? That should be the real header this morning.

AWH: I think Brown projects as a corner outfielder too. I'd be hesitant to try and have him learn a new position although this would be a good time to do it. I'd be worried though it may affect his hitting development.

[SC]

So I guess the unstated question is, how do we work them into the big league mix? I'll set aside Susdorf for now since he's lower profile.

If Taylor can sustain production at AAA for the rest of the year - and hopefully play, and play well, in the Arizona Fall League, he'll be knocking on the door. Phils could start him in the minors to get him a bit more seasoning and keep his arb clock from starting. But it wouldn't be unreasonable to bring him up to the majors either as a starter or as a 4th outfielder. With three all stars, where would he fit? Ibanez has two more years remaining on his contract, Victorino has two more years of arb, and Werth has one year remaining. To me, Victorino's the most important member of our outfield due to his superlative defense. I'd be most curious to see what we could get in exchange for Werth this offseason. I think he'd be the third-best outfielder available, behind Matt Holliday and Jason Bay. He'd also be under contract for one year for cheap. It'd be interesting to see if we could find a long-term solution at 3B by dangling Werth.

Brown slots in nicely to take over for Ibanez in two years when Rauuuul's contract is up.

[The Doctor]

awh- I think the question is whether Ibanez will still be going strong by 2011. He may need to platoon with Taylor at that point. I'd have to say that Werth looks to be gone after 2010 to make room for either Taylor or Brown. If Brown can play center that would be a nice solution and that will probably determine what they do with Vic.

[NEPP]

Brown is a corner OF. He won't play CF in the majors.

His defense is still pretty raw even at the corner positions. Good speed but poor routes to balls.

[Klaus]

awh: you would think that one of Taylor or Brown is being kept in reserve for Ibanez--the outfield's biggest question mark. Unless the FO thinks Vic's wheels will fall off post age 30, it's probably him that will get extended.

[SmokyJoe]

Truth, not trying to challenge, just defending myself. Clout likes to make hyperbolic general claims and maintain standards on other posters which he does not apply to himself. His main approach is to avoid any kind of real critical thinking and ask rhetorical questions ro put other posters on the defnesive, while showing an amazing ability to copy and paste stuff he looks up online. Like I said in the last thread, it's why he would make an excellent secretary, but a very poor analyst.

[Unikruk]

It's reasonable to assume Raul will have a stint or two on the DL in his deal's final year, or at least need more spelling than he does this year. Might be seeing those tight ends sooner than we thought.

[The Truth Injection]

SnokyJoe: You haven't been here long enough then. I may not always agree with the way he presents his arguments but clout is generally one of the better psoters on here and has a level of understanding on baseball that goes beyond just cutting and pasting things.

SC: I haven't read much of late on either Taylor or Brown but I think Brown's arm is better than Taylor's which would mean you would prefer him in right to Taylor. They could slide Taylor over to left when Brown comes up though/

[SmokyJoe]

I know we still have a month left, but where does everyone think Taylor, Brown, and Drabek will rank in the scouting lists (BA, BP, Sickels, etc.) in the off-season? I wouldn't be surprised if some, if not all, crack the top 10 in varying lists. Although somewhere in the teens or early twenties may be most appropriate considering the young talent in the minors overall right now.

[NEPP]

All 3 will be in the Top 25 most likely. Brown and Taylor will be ahead of Drabek I think.

[SmokyJoe]

Truth, never said he did it because of ignorance. He obviously has some props, but he refuses to take any critical stance on his own as a calculated approach to not ever having a wrong opinion. What kind of analytic thinking skills, or risk for that matter, does it take to make a judgment after all shadow of a doubt has been removed? What really makes it despicable is his peripheral approach of forcing others to take a risky stance on an issue before there is 100% certainty, thereby setting standards for others that he is unwilling to apply to himself.

[Klaus]

"it's probably him that will get extended."

ugh. Let me rephrase, I think they'll try to resign Vic.

"Brown's arm is better than Taylor's which would mean you would prefer him in right to Taylor."

I don't have a basis for comparison, but I did see Brown rocket a throw from fairly deep right to third base that sailed over both the third baseman and the back-up (Pedro Martinez, who fell down on the play). Not a good throw, but, at the same time, a hell of a throw.

[SmokyJoe]

Yea, NEPP, they already were in the mid-season top 25 for BA. I'm assuming, if they (Taylor & Brown especially) continue to perform as expected, that their second half performances after promotions will only increase their rankings.

[timr]

Vic seems to have become the heart and soul of this team. I think they need him in center for years to come.

[Willard Preacher]

The Taylor blog is actually fascinating. Assuming he is really the one writing it, he is well-spoken and seems to have a good head on his shoulders (shouldn't be surprising with a Stanford affiliation, though). I'm hopeful that his head will allow him to handle all of the accolades with the right frame of mind.

Not saying that it's the root cause, but I'd argue that some of Pat the Bat's struggles were due to the hype perpetuating a mindset that he doesn't have to work quite as hard....

[SmokyJoe]

Also, the one major knock I've heard on Taylor is that his swing plane is too flat and his power potential is limited. I have a feeling that that opinion is being eroded over time as well.

[joe l]

Vic is a high motor, short guy. What happens after a few more years of that kinda play?

[skeeter]

Ryan Freel just got cut. Can we sign him to replace the Gnome?

[awh]

Klaus, this is not directed at you personally, as you are not the only offender.

As BL's self-appointed defender of the English language(except for a few typos), and while I have tried in this instance to lead by example, there is a practice that has gone on here that has pushed me over the edge.

Many posters use the term "resign" incorrectly when discussing a player's contract situation.

The correct spelling and term is "re-sign".

For your education:

re-sign

1. to sign again.
2. to renew or extend a contract.

resign

–verb (used without object)
1. to give up an office or position, often formally (often fol. by from): to resign from the presidency.
2. to submit; yield: to resign before the inevitable.

–verb (used with object)
3. to give up (an office, position, etc.), often formally.
4. to relinquish (a right, claim, agreement, etc.).
5. to give or sign over, as to the control or care of another: She resigned her child to an adoption agency.
6. to submit (oneself, one's mind, etc.) without resistance.

There, there...I feel better.

Hopefully you ladies and gentlemen will oblige me and get me back off the ledge!

[SmokyJoe]

awh...english major undegrad and lawyer, I'd presume?

[B.Gizzle]

Freel will be hurt by the end of the day...Humpty Dumpty has nothing on this guy.

Can Bill Hall backup SS and 2B? If so, get him in here and let the Brewers pay all that crazy money while we pay the minimum. He is hands down a right handed IF backup who can actually hit a homerun once in awhile. C'mon Rube, get him on the plane to Atlanta already!

[SmokyJoe]

Also, awh, the it's-its and they're-there-their and your-you're and to-too thing drives me crazy, but I think I mess one of those up on almost every post from just typing too fast and not editing.

[SC]

Truth - I also don't know enough about the relative defensive strengths of Taylor and Brown to decide who should go in RF and who should go in LF. According to baseball cube, Taylor had 18 assists last year, so I'm guessing he'll be just fine to play RF for a year or two.

[Willard Preacher]

"Freel will be hurt by the end of the day...Humpty Dumpty has nothing on this guy"

So, he'd fit right in after the Pedro signing. Hell, lets grab Moises Alou, too, and see who gets hurt first in a game of pepper (if they even make it past tying their cleats).

[curt]

"As BL's self-appointed defender of the English language(except for a few typos), and while I have tried in this instance to lead by example, there is a practice that has gone on here that has pushed me over the edge."

That's a ghastly sentence, in English or any other language...

[dlhunter]

there is no reason not to sign ryan freel in the gnome's place!

make it so, rube.

[awh]

Smoky - not an English major, but was raised by two of them.

I agree with the it's-its, etc.

Honestly, though, I make a mistake now and then.

I think we all become victims of typing too fast.

[B.Gizzle]

"So, he'd fit right in after the Pedro signing. Hell, lets grab Moises Alou, too, and see who gets hurt first in a game of pepper (if they even make it past tying their cleats)."

Are you the real Willard Preacher or just paying homage? We are....

[Horace]

Taylor named best hitting prospect and most exciting player in eastern league by league managers per Baseball America, 8-13.

[awh]

curt, I'm glad you caught it.

I was wondering if anyone would.

[NEPP]

****Taylor named best hitting prospect and most exciting player in eastern league by league managers per Baseball America, 8-13.****

They are aware that he no longer plays in the Eastern League, aren't they?

[awh]

curt, here's the correct version:

As BL's self-appointed defender of the English language (except for a few typos), I have tried to lead by example, however, there is a practice that has gone on here that has pushed me over the edge.

[Willard Preacher]

B. Gizzle - just paying homage. Class of '00, and certainly no preacher!

For the Glory!

[awh]

Horace.......link?

[Rex]

you're not THE Willard preacher are you?

[Reverend]

Adam Eaton called up to the Rockies. Why couldn't they have done this while we were playing them?

[Rex]

haha never mind question answered.

[NEPP]

Adam Eaton + Coors Field = Fun!

[Tray]

"As BL's self-appointed defender of the English language (except for a few typos), I have tried to lead by example, however, there is a practice that has gone on here that has pushed me over the edge."

Still not correct. To just be grammatically correct, you need a semi-colon after 'example.' Even then, you'd need to do something about "defender of the English language (except for a few typos)." Think about it; "I am Beerleaguer's defender of the English language, except for a few typos" isn't grammatically right. "A few typos" isn't an exception to being BL's defender of the English language. "A few typos" is an exception to "I never make a grammatical mistake"; that is, for "a few typos" by itself to be an exception to something in the main clause, it would really have to be an object of a verb in the main clause, and 'am' as in "am Beerleaguer's defender," doesn't take an object. You could technically fix the sentence and keep the main clause as is by changing "few typos" to "occasions when I make a few typos"; to wit, "I am Beerleaguer's defender of the English language, except on occasions when I make a few typos." That's poorly put, and may not make sense (does making typos really cut against defending the English language?) but is technically correct.

[awh]

Tray, actually, you don't, unless of course you'd like to argue with my copy of Warriner's English Grammar and Composition.

[That Dude]

"Considering injury concerns and Raul's age, Francisco could very well get 300 ABs next year."

If there is 300 ab's to go around next year I will guarandamntee you they will be going to MIchael "y2K Winfield" Taylor.

[Horace]

Video is now up at ironpigsbaseball.com which shows each of Taylor's hits.

Click on ironpigstv