As the 2009 Minor League season comes to an end, Mr. Stockstill has graciously returned for a second-interview.
Baltimore Sports and Life: “In 2009, Wieters, Reimold, Bergesen, Hernandez, Berken, Matusz, and Tillman have each found their way to the bigs. As the Player Development Director for the Baltimore Orioles, how rewarding has this year been to you on a personal level?”
Mr. Dave Stockstill: “It is always rewarding to each of us in Player Development when someone reaches the Major League team. It is especially rewarding when the players do well and help the ball club win games. It is very rewarding when a player goes up and shows that he is prepared for his first trip to the Major League team. It shows how important our philosophy the last 5 years is of having players reach certain levels of the fundamentals in their game before rushing them up to the next level. It shows the value of players playing a full season at a level, especially if they are young. It shows the value of patience in not rushing them out of A ball, but making sure they have the fundamentals engrained before reaching the AA level, because once at the AA level, they could be in the Major Leagues the next day.”
Baltimore Sports and Life: “Brandon Snyder destroyed AA pitching to the tune of a 1.018 OPS in 201 at-bats. After a slow transition to AAA Norfolk, Snyder adjusted before again tailing-off. Having watched him produce in the HWL, Carolina, AFL, and Eastern Leagues, I am sure you are confident about him producing in AAA, and eventually the Majors. For the year, Snyder has a combined 47 extra-base hits in 420 at-bats. Do you see you continued gap-power as he advances? His strike-zone judgement was not as good in AAA, as it was in Bowie. Can that be attributed to pitchers with better off-speed offerings? What is the biggest adjustment Snyder will have to make as he ascends to the Majors? It has been announced that Snyder is heading back to the AFL. Is there any worry about Snyder facing fatigue going into 2010?”
Mr. Dave Stockstill: “Brandon has made outstanding progress in his learning, both offensively and defensively. He will need to continue to build on the progress in each of those areas. It is important to remember that Brandon still has a limited number of professional at bats. With that thought in mind, he needs to experience the ups and downs that hitters go through as opposing teams make adjustments to him. He needs to continue to learn how to make adjustments quicker to new ballparks, new settings, being tired, and a new level of competition. There isn't any one certain adjustment that is a quick fix to success in the Major Leagues for him. He needs to experience the difficulties and learn how to overcome them quickly with adjustments he makes.”
Baltimore Sports and Life: “Have you had any surprises, or initial impressions with the newly acquired Josh Bell? The 22 year-old switch-hitter had .883 OPS in 334 at-bats for Chattanooga. This included a 1.025 vs RHP, and an OPS of .566 vs LHP. His splits are extremely limited with Bowie (1.090 OPS vs RHP, .737 OPS vs LHP) Have there been any internal discussions about limiting Bell to a left-handed hitter only?”
Mr. Dave Stockstill: “We are learning more about Josh. He has shown outstanding power and the ball jumps off his bat. He has played well at 3rd and has battled well, consistently from both sides of the plate. He has hit some balls as far as any that you see hit during games. He has shown himself to be a very good teammate and works hard. We would not have discussions about taking away something from a player on such a short time with us. We are learning more about him, want him to continue to get more comfortable with us and continue to work and improve in the direction of being a very good Major League player with the Orioles.”
Baltimore Sports and Life: “Troy Patton missed all of 2008 with Labrum injury, and returned in 2009 to log 108 innings with Bowie, and Norfolk. I think the fact that he was able to have consistent success at Bowie, and have 20 combined starts, was one of the real positives of the year. My guess is that he tired-out as the year progressed, but after another off-season of rehab, should be ready to go to start 2010. How close do you think he is, to the player he was in 2007?”
Mr. Dave Stockstill: “I didn't see Troy in 2007, but we have very good reports on him. I don't believe it should be in our thought process as a development staff to try to compare him to 2007. I believe it is more important for us to take it one step at a time and get him to be as good as he can possibly be at the proper time in the future. He made great strides this season in getting in the innings and the starts and showing himself how well he could do with his command and how crisp his pitches could be. He has reached where we want him to be for the season in terms of game work. Now he is working to strengthen and begin the process of being ready to continue his progress next season.”
Baltimore Sports and Life: “Chorye Spoone has ended 2009 with 20 combined innings for the Gulf Coast League, Aberdeen, and Frederick. Is it too early to expect Spoone to report to a full-season team to start 2010?”
Mr. Dave Stockstill: “Chorye is now pitching in Frederick. It is a very good sign that he was able to get to the level to compete at Frederick in a limited pitch situation the last part of this season. He should be in a good position to continue his strengthening this winter and be ready for Spring Training in 2010.”
Baltimore Sports and Life: “Brandon Erbe turns 22 on Christmas Day, and my assumption is that he will likely head back to Bowie, after being out of action from April 29th through July 12th. Is that assumption correct? This has been somewhat of a break-through season for Erbe, as he pitched a total of 60 innings, allowing just 38 hits, with 33 walks, and 49 k's in 12 starts for Bowie.
Lefties are hitting .225 against him, and Righties have been held to a ridiculously low .133 batting average against. I see he is also heading to the Arizona Fall League this year. What specifically does the organization want him to work on? Is the organization considering converting him to a Closer, or do you believe his future remains as a Starter?”
Mr. Dave Stockstill: “Brandon has made great progress. He started out the season pitching extremely well, missed some time and now is back pitching very well. I think it is far too early to pencil him in at any certain level for 2010. He will go to the Arizona Fall League and continue his work and we will make more of a judgement on where he is at in his pitching progress later this winter. We believe in Brandon as a starter and will continue to work with him in that role.”
Baltimore Sports and Life: “In his 2nd year at Frederick, Rowell's OPS, and Batting average both regressed. Additionally, his strike-zone judgement did not improve. That said, I think it is important to remember that Rowell ends 2009 with 760+ career at-bats at the High A level before turning 21 in September. I compare that to Snyder who at age 20, was still in Delmarva. Snyder appeared to take off as a prospect, when he participated in the Hawaiian Winter League after that age 20 season. Was their any consideration of sending Rowell to the Arizona Fall League?”
Mr. Dave Stockstill: “Billy is going through a learning process for a young man. He is still young and sometimes people expect things really quickly. Billy has made a lot of progress since he was signed. Coming out of high school with high expectations also carries the burdens of those expectations and I think it is important that we don't get in too big of a hurry with him. He will be finishing the season with Frederick and then going to the Instructional League in Florida to continue to work on all phases of his game. We feel this is the best for his development and Billy is looking forward to going and working hard to improve and be ready for next spring training.”
Baltimore Sports and Life: “Arrieta had a period of inconsistency in the 2nd-half for Norfolk, but has just pitched his 4th straight strong start to end the year. His combined stats between Bowie, and Norfolk are pretty strong. (11-9, 3.37 era, 141.2 innings, 129 hits, 12 homers, 49 walks, 144 k's). In February, we talked about the need for Arrieta to show improved fast-ball command. How has he progressed with this? You spoke about Arrieta being very aggressive, with a lot of confidence. How excited were you to see Arrieta respond to his first-bout of adversity as a professional, by making adjustments and finishing on a positive note?”
Mr. Dave Stockstill: “Jake Arrieta has had an outstanding season. He is a young man who only had 1/2 season of pro baseball before this season due to the Olympics last year. He made very good progress in the things with his delivery that we asked him to work on in Bowie and has continued to make progress in Norfolk. Sometimes, while you are working on changes, no matter how slight they are, you do not have immediate, positive results. Jake has gone through some of this in Norfolk and has handled it very well and his last few games he has really been outstanding.”
Baltimore Sports and Life: Who are a couple of players that do not receive a lot publicity that you are excited about?
Mr. Dave Stockstill: “Some of the players who do not get that much publicity but are very exciting are:
Pedro Florimon, seems to have turned a corner and gotten himself on track to be able to play shortstop and swing the bat with some authority. He runs well, has a strong arm, and very good hands. He is a switch hitter, who is making progress with plate discipline and more consistent contact.
Garabez Rosa. a shorstop with good hands, good range, and a very good arm. He is working to recognize pitches better and as he does this, he will begin to show good power in games. He is capable of power to all fields and has the size to hit the ball with authority.
Caleb Joseph, has made outstanding progress as a catcher. He has been the everyday catcher at Frederick and has learned to call a game and learned to prepare himself daily to help the pitchers in only his first season as a full time catcher. He has really been remarkable in his play.
Ronnie Welty, has had a very good year in Delmarva. He has played well in right field and has swung the bat consistently all year.
Paco and Danny Figueroa have overcome injuries to have very good years in Bowie. They have both swung the bat very well, they play hard every pitch and both are very good baserunners.
Jon Tucker is a very valuable player at Bowie, he can play 6 positions and is a very good situational hitter and can steal bases.
Brandon Waring has had an outstanding year. He has learned to play first base, also played well at 3rd, developed a shorter, more compact swing with very good power and made progress in judging pitches.
After being moved to the outfield, Tyler Henson has shown new life with a very good second half offensively and has played very well in left field.
Luis Bernardo has played very well defensively as a catcher at Delmarva, virtually shutting down the opposing teams running game.
Dashenko Ricardo has also done the same with Bluefield with his strong arm and leadership style behind the plate.
Robbie Widlansky has worked very hard in adjusting his swing and it has paid off very well as he has had an outstanding season with the bat at Frederick while also learning to play 1st base.
Xavier Avery, LJ Hoes, Kyle Hudson, Levi Carolus, and Mike Flacco also deserve praise for how well they have done this season.
Luis Lebron has come along very well since missing most of last season. He throws mid 90's with a very good slider and change.
Ryan Oullette has made very good progress with a heavy sinker that buries hitters.
Ryohei Tanaka has done a very good job with his command, sinker, slider, and change. He has pitched to contact very well and followed the Orioles philosophy of pitching to contact and getting more outs with fewer pitches.
Zach Britton has had an excellent season. He has added velocity, has a sharp slider, an improving change and has added stamina. He has come a very long ways from the youngster he was a couple of years ago.
Eddie Gamboa has pitched incredibly well and has pitched at 3 levels. He is a competitor and goes right after hitters.
Josh Perrault has made great progress as with his 90-92 mph sinker, slider and very good command. He has been a key team pitcher the entire season.
Brandon Cooney has stayed healthy and has made good progress in developing his mid 90's fastball with a lot of life. His slider is improving and he has done a very good job.
Others who deserve mentioning are TR Keating, Jesse Beal, Jake Smith, Angel Cespedees, Zach Petersime, and Samuel Taveras.
There are many more that I haven't mentioned and I hate to not mention them all, but these are a very solid group who represents the hard work and dedication of the players and staff."
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