Hiển thị các bài đăng có nhãn Vito Fabrizio. Hiển thị tất cả bài đăng
Hiển thị các bài đăng có nhãn Vito Fabrizio. Hiển thị tất cả bài đăng

Thứ Sáu, 6 tháng 11, 2009

Base Hits: The Offseason Begins, Sarasota Hits a Snag and the Strange Case of Vito Fabrizio.

The Oriole designated a few players for assignment this week and three opted for free agency. Farewell to Guillermo Rodriguez and Jeff Fiorentino. Rodriguez will continue his journeyman career elsewhere. I think Fiorentino would make a nice 4th outfielder in the National League. I don't think he's any worse than a lot of bench players in that league.

Rich Hill seems to be open to returning to the Orioles and the Orioles seem to be willing to give him another shot. As long as that shot starts in Norfolk, I would be fine with that.

Unfortunately, Alfredo Simon accepted his assignment to Norfolk.

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A potential snag in Sarasota? Last week, I mentioned that citizens who live near Ed Smith Stadium were concerned about pollution at the site of the complex. There has been more light shed on that situation but there is a concern that those questions may delay funding for the stadium renovation and pollution clean up. Could this jeopardize Baltimore's move to Sarasota? Stay tuned...

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Way back in September, I highlighted some top performances by player in the low minors of the Oriole farm system. I wondered who on Earth Bluefield pitcher Vito Fabrizio was and where he came from. Recently, a commenter provided some information. Kepp in mind, it's from an anonymous commenter and I cannot verify this information but I wanted to share it anyway.

ok this is the story on frabizio... he did not graduate high school in 08 he was a high level prospect as both a short stop and an outfielder the orioles found his spot and that was on the mound ... he is a low 90s guy with a big league curve ball and a plus plus change up he throws 4 pitches for a strike .. he was not able to be drafted because of high school.. he got 8th round money as a free agent with no high school diploma witch is unheard of .. he is legit . he knows how to pitch and the boy can do it well .

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Roch Kubatko was venting over at School of Rock on MASN.com and said one thing that struck me as odd...

Case in point: The MLB.com story (not produced by beat writer Spencer Fordin) with the headline "O's hope to re-sign two free agents"

I've read it twice and can't find where the Orioles are expressing their desire to bring back reliever Danys Baez. For whatever reason, he's lumped in with Mark Hendrickson, perhaps causing the confusion. But all we have is Baez's agent stating that his client has "very much enjoyed his time with the organization and would certainly entertain the prospect of returning."

Roch is right, the headline is misleading. However, by pointing out that the article was not produced by regular beat writer Spencer Fordin, he implies that the writer of the article jumps to incorrect conclusions. But that's not how it works. MLB.com writers submit the stories but do not write the actual headlines. The story itself is consistent and factual but the headline is misleading..which is not the writer's fault.

It is my understanding that this is how most newspapers work too...given Roch Kubatko's history at The Baltimore Sun, you would think he might have known that.

Just seemed an odd thing to call someone out on.

Or maybe he was just venting too hard.

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So, I went to do some research on the Hawaiian Winter Baseball league but could find nothing. That's because there is not one!

I completely missed this but according to this article from Baseball Prospectus last winter, the league has folded.

I guess after the Hawaiians saw Matt Wieters last winter, that normal prospects would just not do.

Thứ Tư, 2 tháng 9, 2009

Baby Birds: The Notable Minor League Performances of 2009: Part 1

With the minor league season wrapping up this week, I wanted to shine a spotlight on some fine performances from players in the Oriole minor leagues. Not all of these guys are considered prospects but they all had good seasons in 2009. Part 1 will cover the lower leagues up to low A Delmarva and Part 2 will cover high-A Frederick through AAA Norfolk. I will not be talking about guys like Chris Tillman and Brian Matusz who made the jump to the majors...everyone knows about them already.


Bluefield Orioles - Short Season Rookie

RHP Vito Fabrizio



G IP ERA BB SO HR WHIP
Fabrizio 12 70.0 2.96 16 64 5 1.04



Hats off to you if you can find any background on this guy. (Feel free to leave it in the comments if you do.) Great name though.

He doesn't appear to have been drafted but the 20-year-old righthander tore up the Appalchian League and was the only Oriole named to the 2009 Appy League All-Star team. Batters hit just .223 against Fabrizio in '09. I expect he'll be with Delmarva next season.


SS Gary Helmick


G AVG OBP SLG BB SO 2B HR SB
Helmick 43 .282 .346 .479 15 22 10 4 5



Severn native Gary Helmick had a solid season with the glove and the bat for Bluefield. He's 21 and displayed a well-rounded game. Sadly, this was the best offense performance for any batter in Bluefield this year.


RHP Sam Taveras



G IP ERA BB SO HR WHIP
Taveras 19 23.0 2.74 7 19 0 1.23



Here's an interesting relief arm. 21-year-old Taveras saved 4 games for Bluefield, posted a nice strikout rate and is an extreme groundball pitcher who has only given up 1 homer in 75 professional innings. I'm curious to see if he can keep the ball in the park at the higher levels.


Aberdeen Ironbirds - Short Season Low A

3B/DH Levi Carolus




G AVG OBP SLG BB SO 2B HR SB
Carolus 44 .320 .346 .426 8 38 13 1 9



Another great name! 21-year-old Curacao native is a free swinger but hit .320 with some gap power and stole 9 bases while being caught only 3 times. He has continued the good work in Delmarva for the 9 games since his call up. Sadly, (again) he is the only bat of note at Aberdeen this year.


LHP Nick Haughian



G IP ERA BB SO HR WHIP
Haughian 13 74.2 2.05 20 54 2 1.08



22-year-old lefty who was drafted out of Washington in the 8th round of the 2008 draft. Not a ton of strikeouts but he got the job done ranking 4th in ERA among New York-Penn League starters.


RHP James Brandhorst



G IP ERA BB SO HR WHIP
Brandhorst 19 24.0 1.50 6 26 0 1.04



21-year-old righty drafted in the 20th round this year saved four games for the Ironbirds and struck out more than 10 per 9 IP in relief. Another guy to keep an eye on out of the Delmarva bullpen in 2010.


Delmarva Shorebirds - Low A

OF Ronnie Welty



G AVG OBP SLG BB SO 2B HR SB
Welty 114 .294 .373 .422 41 113 24 9 12



21-year-old outfielder showed a well-rounded game with very good onbase skills. Drafted in the 20th round in 2008, Welty has progressed well for a later round draft pick. He was the sole Shorebird to be named to the 2009 South Atlantic League All-Star Team.


LHP Cole McCurry



G IP ERA BB SO HR WHIP
McCurry 24 125.2 2.86 42 128 1 1.23



Another late round pick, (43rd round in 2008), McCurry's strikeout rates continue to grow. The Tennessee Wesleyan product struck out more than 1 per inning in 2009 and is still just 23. He ranks in the top five in ERA among SAL starters.


RHP Brandon Cooney


G IP ERA BB SO HR WHIP
Cooney 47 54.2 2.47 19 45 2 1.24



The stats above are his combined numbers between Delmarva and Frederick but he spent most of the season as a Shorebird. Cooney is enormous at 6'6" and 240 pounds and was drafted in the 30th round in 2007. His strikeout rate is decent but he was killing worms this season as he groundball to flyball ratio was more than 2 to 1.


Next time, Frederick, Bowie and Norfolk...