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Some quick thoughts after watching the Carolina Mudcats tangle with the Tennessee Smokies this weekend….
Logan Parker, rounding third and heading for home
–It is evident immediately that there is a lot of talent on this Carolina team, even if they didn’t play particularly well this weekend.
–Most impressive hitter: Todd Frazier. Frazier will play in the big leagues at some point. He didn’t even hit the ball that well, but you can just tell that he is a player.
–Hardest hit ball of the weekend: Spotlight Player Logan Parker’s double on Sunday. It was crushed to the deepest part of the ballpark. Parker hit a couple of other balls hard that day, but couldn’t get them to fall.
–Most impressive fielder: Zach Cozart. Wow. He is better than Alex Gonzalez right now.
–Worst fielder: Juan Francisco. Good grief, he is brutal. We saw him get hurt on Friday night, pulling up lame with a bad hamstring as he ran home.
–Surprisingly, Jerry Gil actually looked pretty good on the mound on Friday night. He walked the first batter on four pitches, but then started cooking. He was throwing very hard, and I was impressed. Looks like he has the stuff, but is having a hard time harnessing it.
–Gil and Logan Ondrusek were the only good pitchers we saw (of course, Travis Wood and Zach Stewart both pitched the day before we arrived). Everyone else was just bad.
–Chris Heisey didn’t have a good weekend. He hit maybe one ball hard, though his bat speed looked fine, and he looked pretty bad defensively on Sunday. Heisey does have a good reputation with the glove, though; I hope we just caught him on a bad weekend.
–The Carolina Mudcats front office is very helpful. I didn’t get to do a couple of things I wanted (podcast-related, mostly), but it wasn’t the fault of the Mudcats, who were very cooperative. I especially want to thank Patrick Kinas, the Director of Broadcasting, who was extremely helpful. Patrick, we’ll be coming down to Raleigh later this summer to put together a couple of the things I had hoped to get done this weekend; I’ll be in touch.
–I have been to a lot of minor league baseball games, in a lot of different stadiums. The Tennessee Smokies do it right. Very well-run franchise (only the Dayton Dragons do it better, in my experience). Huge thank you to Rennie Leon, Tennessee’s Director of Marketing & Communications for hooking us up with media credentials.
Now, some pictures. Be sure to scroll to the bottom, because you must see the last picture.
Chris Heisey
Todd Frazier at bat
Zach Cozart at bat
Logan Parker
Chris Heisey
Zach Cozart
Sean Watson
Sean Henry
Alexander Smit
Smokies manager Ryne Sandberg
Logan Parker
Chris Heisey
Logan Parker doubles
Todd Frazier
Logan Parker
The Smokies are a Cubs affiliate. Yes, this Cubs fan has a Corey Patterson jersey.
It seems like the horrendous choices in jerseys follow you everywhere, Chad.
Great pictures! I definitely agree with you about the Dragons; those games are so much fun.
Great work, Chad….super pictures.
It is a three to four hour drive down to Zebulon from Williamsburg, VA but I am planning to go down to see the Mud Cats play this Saturday. Really looking forward to seeing Frazier play. I hope to see him at 3rd in particular for I think that could be his future in the bigs?
So, how far out is Frazier now that you have seen him in person? I’ve heard and read so much about him, will he ready to play by next year?
Oh Chad, I love it when you find the most miserable jersey’s…so much fun seeing stuff like that
I got the same vibe from Frazier last year. He just seems like a pro—that he does what he does regardless of the level. IMO, he’s the only guy in the organization who could make the jump from AA, but that would only happen if Gomes gets hurt.
Phillips is still the best SS in the organization. We have a ton of 2b prospects. It’s criminal not to try BP at SS. It’s not like you’re gonna ruin the guy if it doesn’t work out. At worst, you move him back and you’re in the same boat.
Great pictures!
I really think Cozart should be in AAA. They could do this even with Valaika, whom many don’t think will stick at SS long-term. They could do what the Indians did after sending Phillips back down. Peralta was with AAA at the time and the two split time at SS. When Phillips played SS, Peralta played 3B. When Peralta played SS, Phillips played 2B.
It gave them two options at SS and potential depth at other IF positions. They kept and promoted Peralta the following year. Phillips spent another full year at SS in AAA in 2005 before they gave up on him and sent him our way.
Thanks for the pics, Chad.
One of the knocks on Sean Watson (aside from his control) is that he’s never been one to stay in very good shape. Based on your pic, it looks like that battle is still going on.
Can’t wait to see Frazier in Cincy!
Great stuff, Chad.
Watson was a pretty high draft pick, as I recall. he needs to hit the treadmill (and the barbershop).
I talked with Rick Sweet, Bats manager, this past Friday. My oldest son participated in a Chevrolet Youth Sports sponsored baseball clinic with the Bats players on that day. Sweet is a super, super nice guy who just knows how to talk with people.
He told me he did not expect to see any Mudcat players any time soon since the Mudcats were in the split season playoff hunt. He did expect to see guys like Frazier and Heisey after that point. He also expected several Reds players to be sent down (this was before the weekend moves) and that he really needed a starting pitcher (Maloney was sent down). They’ve been converting Ben Jukich to reliever, and he had been roughed up in two previous outings as a starter while waiting for starting pitching help.
My son had a great time…practiced grounders with shortstop Luis Bolivar for about 15 minutes and did about eight other stations.
For those who wonder how much money these guys make….Sweet told us the players that volunteered get meal “tickets” to restaurants for helping out. It should be noted that no one on the 40 man roster worked with the kids…working with the kids were catcher Brian Peterson, infielder Luis Bolivar, Michael Griffin, Danny Dorn, and pitchers Jeff Kennard, Ben Jukich, Federica Baez, and Camilo Vazquez. Pitchers Vazquez worked with the outfielders, Kennard with the hitters, and Baez with the infielders.
AAA is loaded w/ guys who are there for no other reason than age—too old to be in the lower minors. The reverse of that logic, that a talented AA player must ‘mature’, is equally nonsensical.
I will add to the compliments on the pictures.
Greg’s suggestion for moving Frazier up makes a good deal of sense.
Has anyone seen Sutton play enough this year to get a sense of why they are not bringing him up? Can’t be a developmental issue at his age.
To address some of the comments above….
–I don’t think Frazier is ready now, but he very well could be ready next year. He played LF both of the games this weekend. I was hoping to see him at 3B after the Francisco injury, but no such luck.
I think you could bring him up now and he wouldn’t kill the Reds, but I don’t think he’s quite ready just yet. There’s just something about that guy. He’s just a pro, and does a lot of things well.
–I agree with the sentiment that Cozart should be at AAA. He’s another guy that impressed me. Nice arm; he gunned a guy down at the plate on Sunday from short/mid left field. Nice glove. Has a clue at the plate. It’s no wonder he’s one of the few guys that the Reds skipped a level.
–Sean Watson did not look good (and I’m not talking about his physical appearance). Alexander Smit looked dominant in the first inning on Sunday, then couldn’t get anyone out after that. Bizarre.
–That Corey Patterson jersey killed me.
We should probably create a page where people can submit those crazy uniforms that we see people wearing to games. We’ve seen a few lately.
I was at the Saturday game. It was pretty miserable. Some good hits, but couldn’t put any together. The worst part was that after the game they played that stupid Cubs song and I wanted to puke.
On a better note, I agree about Frazier being a pro soon. Hopefully not this year but maybe next.
There was a kid in front of me at the game Saturday wearing am AJ Hawk, Packers jersey. It was awful.