On The Farm: 5/14/09

Woah.  I went and looked at my daily prospect report, and there were some really incredible performances.  Chris Waters continued to shine in Norfolk, and Matt Wieters is just on fire!

Top Hitting Performances:

Matt Wieters, C, Norfolk: 2-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI. WIETERS WATCH!!!!  The greatest man on Earth hit two home runs last night, and added 4 RBIs. He’s been heating up, now with 16 RBIs, a .270 average and a .368 OBP.  For those who enjoy more advanced stats, his strikeout rate has dropped from 25% in April, which is extremely high, to a very respectable 8% for a catcher during May. Another interesting thing about his stats so far is that he’s hitting .313 at home, but only .250 on the road.  If he gets these numbers up, expect him to be on the club soon.  But, Gregg Zaun has been great lately.

Justin Turner, 2B-SS, Norfolk: 3-4, 2B. There was a post about Turner here during spring training, and he is one of the most majors-ready infielders in the system.  If he doesn’t get to the show sooner, he should be up in September.

Pedro Florimon, SS, Frederick: 2-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI. Florimon’s value is mostly for fielding, but he’s shown a much more promising bat this season than he has ever before.  Last night’s big fly was his third of the year, which is the most he’s ever hit in a season, other than 4 in 2007.  His strikeout rate is finally below 20%, but still very high.  He has also added 9 steals so far in the season.  To see a more detailed look at how good his year has been, check out this link.

Joseph Nowicki, OF, Bowie: 2-4, HR, 3 RBI.  Last night Nowicki hit his first home run of the season.  Hitting in the eighth spot last night, the Baysox got much more production than they expected from him.

Scott Moore, 3B, Norfolk: 2-4, HR, 3 RBI. The same 3-stat line as Nowicki, Moore hit the other home run, with Wieters’ two and helped lead the Tides to their 12-1 victory last night.

Pitchers

Chris Waters, LH SP, Norfolk: 7 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 Ks.  Waters continues to impress for Norfolk in his last few starts after a terrible start to his season.  Right now, I’d speculate that he is the guy behind Rich Hill that is most likely to be called up if depth is needed.

Brian Matusz, LH SP, Frederick: 5.2 IP, 4 H, ER, 4 BB, 6 Ks. More walks than usual for Matusz, but his one run came on a home run.  He continues to be dominant for the Keys, and has a season 2.95 ERA.  Right now, it seems like his main issue is throwing too many pitches.  He will probably get the Wieters treatment, and go to Bowie in June or July, maybe at the all-star break.

Sean Gleason, RH SP, Bowie: 5 IP, 6 H, ER, 3 BB, 2 Ks. Gleason has been as soft as I can put it, shaky in 3 starts in Bowie. He also did not do very well in 2 starts in Frederick, with a 6.35 ERA, going with the 7.20 ERA he’s holding with the Baysox. His solid outing probably gave him more confidence and was encouraging for the organization, because he was incredibly effective in 2007 and 2008.