Week 16 Little Hero of the Week

Welcome back to AAA 1B Anthony Rizzo, in his first 4 games back in AAA he got 9 hits including 3 HR's to go along with 4R and 12 RBI's.

Good to see him swing good again after a rough 1st stint in the majors.

New Hitting Records

Last week the Heroes broke 3 team records for a single week.

This are single week htting records for the Kelly's Heroes

Hits: (101) 15th week of 2011 vs Rolling Goats

Runs: (50) 15th week of 2011 vs Rolling Goats

HR: (18) 21st week of 2007 vs Clarkson

RBI: (50) 20th week of 2007 vs Motley Shue

Walks: (43) 3rd week of 2007 vs Motley Shue

SB: (19) 15th week of 2011 vs Rolling Goats

Avg. (.380) 16th week of 2008 vs Booze Hounds

OPS (1.138) 16th week of 2008 vs Booze Hounds

Week 15 Hero of the Week

Brett Gardner was named Hero of the week, he helped the Hero's take their 4th week in row. He broke a team record with 8 SB in one week. His total line went 16H, 8R, 2RBI, 5BB, .421avg and .988OPS.

1st waiver Trade

SP/RP Stenton Allie was dealt away via waiver trade for a 3rd rd pick

Run down on Allie before the season started:

Here were all his preson ranks you can go on to Milb to get his season stats.

Team ranks
BA #3
Sickel #2 (B)
Prospectus #2 (5 stars)
Law #4

Top 100 list
Baseball America #79
Baseball Prospectus #39
Bullpen Banter #58

Sickels comments on some Heroe's

If you were doing a mid-season grade... where would David Perez fit in the Rangers system? "The Rangers system just happens to be stupid with depth." - Jason Parks, 7/14/11
-Perez I’d probably give him a B- right now. I don’t know where that would rank him, I’d have to look at the rest of the system in detail.
by John Sickels on Jul 16, 2011 3:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Colby Rasmus More of a player development question: how big of a problem is the seemingly ongoing interference by Rasmus’ dad in his hitting development?
by 4dizzle on Jul 16, 2011 12:12 PM EDT reply actions.
-Colby i have not followed the situation closely enough to comment on this. I knew it was considered an issue earlier in his career, but I haven’t payed attention to this since he reached the majors.

I will say this. Parental interference, especially for guys coming out of high school, is something that I think is pretty common, but we usually don’t hear about until the problem gets VERY out of control.
Josh Sale I realize he has little pro stats to go by but what are your thoughts on his potential ceiling and chance he hits it?
-Sale Well so far his batting average has been pretty crappy in the Appy League, but 21 games isn’t enough to get all panicked about a .187 average. He’s drawing walks and showing good isolated power,which fits the pre-season scouting reports about his skills just fine. …power and patience, he’s showing that. He’s the equivalent of a college freshman, keep in mind. Ceiling is the same as it was before, a guy who can mash 30 homers and draw a bunch of walks, but beyond that we just need more data.

3b Short and medium terms: Gyorko, Cuthbert, Salcedo, Flores
Long Term: Cuthbert, Salcedo, Gyorko, Flores

Edward Salcedo Edward Salcedo is finally starting to hit like the scouts said he would. How has his performance this year affected your opinion of him; what do you predict for him in the future?
-salcedo Well, it has improved my opinion, LOL.
I think I would go with a strong Grade B depending on what the exact end-of-season scouting reports indicate. B+ not impossible. I had him a B- pre-season.

Oscar Hernandez Give me something.
-I would say this: VSL and DSL statistics have not proven to me that they are especially predictive. That said, he IS tearing the place up, but unfortunately I don’t have anything on him that isn’t public knowledge

Derek Norris Still the Nationals’ catcher of the future?
by ArbeeEye on Jul 16, 2011 1:07 PM EDT reply actions
-norris Well….I still think Norris could become Mickey Tettleton (look him up if you don’t remember him) but his defense has regressed some and he may be TOO patient at the plate. Might need a switch of organizations evnetually.

Anthony Ranaudo Do his struggles this year in High A change your projection of him at all? I have heard ace to #3 starter before the struggles, I am wondering the High A struggles have changed any of that. Thanks
-ranaudo He’s been erratic but I don’t think “struggle” is quite the right word. I wouldnt’ change my opinion yet, not based on eight starts.

Week 15 Little Hero of the Week

Why He's Here: 1-0, 1.80, 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 HR, 11 SO, 1 BB
The Scoop: Armed with mid-90s heat, Paxton had little difficulty missing bats in the low Class A Midwest League, where he ran up 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings—though he also walked 30 in 56 innings. Those trends, strikeouts and walks, continued after a two-level jump (over high Class A High Desert's launching pad) to Double-A. Paxton's contrasting strikeout rates in his two Southern League starts tell us a lot about the quality of competition faced. In a July 3 start versus Chattanooga (a .522 club), he fanned only one of the 23 batters he faced. Against Carolina (.367, second-worst in the minors) yesterday, he struck out 11 of 19 Mudcats batters.

Trade Deadline Trades for the Heroe's

1.
Hero's Gets
OF Colby Rasmus

Ball Busters Gets
2B Jason Kipnis
OF Jason Bay
RP Brandon League







2.
Hero's Gets
1st rd pick (shues)

Gi Zoes Gets
2nd rd pick (Heroes)
SS Adieny Hechevarria

3.
Hero's Gets
3B Edison Rincon

Motley Shue Gets
OF Jake Skole

Week 14 Hero of the Week

2B Dustin Pedrioa was named Hero of the week for week 14. The week saw several hot batd help the Hero's win there 3rd week in a row.

Pedroia line went .345 4HR 11runs 6RBI 10 hits and 3BB

The Heroe's Trading Block

Major League players that are good
C AJ Peirzynski
OF Bobby Abrue
RP Brandon League
SP Aaron Harang

Major Leauge PLayers that are cheap
1B Daric Barton
2B/OF Ryan Rayburn
OF Endy Chavez
RP Brant Balfour
RP Brian Fuentes
3B/2B Chone Figgins
SS/2B Orlando Cabera
SS/2B/3B Juan Uribe

Minor leaugers
OF Marc Krauss
SS Adieny Hechevarria
C Dereck Norris
SP Stetson Allie
OF Jake Skole
OF AJ Pollock
SP Carlos Perez

I'm looking for 1B witha pulse, SP, Closers, and up grading any of my 1st 8 picks I have in rounds 1 nd 2 (what i mean is I would give up say project pick 12 and Hechevarria for propject pick 8)

Week 14 Little Hero of the Week

C Oscar Hernandez was named little hero of the week for week 14. Oscar has had a great year and any week could have been named little hero of the week. Last week though Oscar did something that no other player in VSL history has every done... hit more then 15 HR in a season, Oscar did it only in a stunning 45 games.

His line reads like a video game one the year .412avg 17HR 47RBI 24/27 BB/K rate .517OBP and a 1.311OPS

Jason Kipnis from Minor league Ball

Prospect of the Day: Jason Kipnis, 2B, Cleveland Indians

Cleveland prospect Jason Kipnis has been selected for the 2011 MLB All-Star Futures Game. Does he have what it takes to make Major League All-Star teams someday?

Jason Kipnis was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the second round in 2009, out of Arizona State. He'd hit .371/.485/.667 in '08 and .384/.500/.709 with 16 homers, 27 steals, and 51 walks in '09. He performed well in the New York-Penn League after signing, hitting .306/.388/.459, then put up similar numbers in '10, .300/.387/.478 in 54 games for High-A Kinston, then .311/.385/.502 in 79 games for Double-A Akron. His performance has shown no deterioration in Triple-A this year, at .301/.384/.517 in 81 games for Columbus, with a 40/61 BB/K and 11 steals in 11 attempts.

In 243 minor league games, Kipnis is a .305/.386/.496 hitter with 110 walks and 186 strikeouts in 1075 plate appearances.




Kipnis is a left-handed hitter, born April 3rd, 1987. He's not a big guy at 5-10 ,180, but he's quite strong and has plenty of bat speed. His feel for the strike zone is impressive, and he has no problem generating power. He seems to handle both fastballs and breaking stuff well, makes adjustments, and can handle left-handed pitching just fine. His running speed is average but he is an aggressive and effective baserunner.

Kipnis was an outfielder in college but has adapted well to second base in pro ball. He won't win Gold Gloves, but his athleticism helps his range and he's gradually reducing his error rate while improving his ability to turn double plays. He can be at least average there.

Kipnis doesn't have much left to prove in Triple-A and is clearly the long-term solution at second base. We could see him in the majors later this year, and certainly in 2012. He should provide a solid combination of batting average, OBP, power, and reasonable defense.

Signs of Life

The Heroe's are on a roll, after defeating Pro Bowlers 10-5 on Sunday the Heroe's have gone 31-13 over the past 3 weeks. And over the last 11 weeks the Heroe's are 1 game above .500. Still under .500 on the year by 22 games with 7 weeks to go.

Mike Trout called up!

As you are probably aware by now, Los Angeles Angels prospect Mike Trout was promoted to the majors this morning and should be in the starting lineup tonight. Alas, this was too late for him to be named Prospect of the Day, but I'll write him up on Monday. I think they might be rushing him a bit, but he's met or exceeded all expectations so far, so I can understand the temptation to do this.

All Time Kelly Hero Hitting Records

This are single week htting records for the Kelly's Heroes

Hits: (81) 15th week of 2010 vs Pro Bowlers

Runs: (46) 21st week of 2007 vs Clarkson

HR: (18) 21st week of 2007 vs Clarkson

RBI: (50) 20th week of 2007 vs Motley Shue

Walks: (43) 3rd week of 2007 vs Motley Shue

SB: (14) 5th week of 2008 vs Mauling Tiger

Avg. (.380) 16th week of 2008 vs Booze Hounds

OPS (1.138) 16th week of 2008 vs Booze Hounds

Week 13 Hero of the Week

There may not be a hotter player then OF Nick Markakis. We went 14/27 posting a .529 avg also chipping 1HR, 3RBI, 3Runs, and 1SB.

Week 13 Little Hero of the Week

Carlos Martinez was named Hero od the week.

Team: High Class A Palm Beach (Florida State)
Age: 19
Why He's Here: 1-0, 2.25, 2 GS, 12 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 R, 6 BB, 14 Ks.
The Scoop: Martinez hadn't thrown an official pitch in the U.S. until he made his first start with low Class A Quad Cities this year, so his promotion to high Class A Palm Beach qualifies as a meteoric ascent. The Cardinals had little choice because Martinez was encountering little resistance in the Midwest League. In his first Florida State League start against Bradenton, Martinez went six innings, surrendering two earned runs and striking out seven. He's racking up the strikeouts (57) with an overpowering, mid- to high-90s fastball that some scouts rate as an 80 on the 20-80 scale. His secondary stuff isn't bad either. In fact, the total package compares favorably with just about anyone in the minors.

Trade to bring a Long Term 3B

The long term answer has been found for 3B when the Hero's sent Clay Bucholz to the ball busters for Pablo Sandoval.