Notes from the Akron/Erie game - 6/2

[ACrank]

1) Kouz definately needs to be in Buffalo or getting time at either 1b/lf - he has a good arm and yeah the kid can hit - sweet swing...

2) two things impressed me about Laffey

a) he did get in trouble a lot but was able to work his way out of it
b) his stuff was Sean Smith like - not a big fastball - hitting 88 - but the second time thru the lineup he seemed to change his pitching attack on the Seawolf players - mixing in offspeed pitches

3) Van Every made an awesome catch in Center

4) it could be that he was facing one of the top pitchers n the EL (Humberto Sanchez) but Snyder just continues to look lost at the plate - he is not the same player i saw with Akron last year

5) Goleski looks raw, but boy he has the talent - has he been playing RF in the lower minors? the Uht left field is a short porch and i dont know if he knew how to play it - almost thru a couple of runners out at the plate and i think he would have gotten at least one of them if he had taken just a bit off of the ball - and the HR he hit was a nice shot - probably a double in any other EL park, but still a decent hit

6) Ochoa and Torres both look like they could develop into #2 hitters - Ochoa can handle short defensively - and you can tell Torres isn't taking steroids anymore....

7) Seeing Warren and Buchazero coming out back to back was unique - Warren with his 6-7 frame hitting 90 with his fastball and throwing sidearm has to look scarry - esepcially to a righty batter - Buchazero is 8 inches smaller and only ten pounds lighter (according to the program) - Mutt & Jeff? Buchazero should have been able to close the game last night - the two runs that won it were given up with two outs.

Durham on the other hand surprised me - i guess i was expecting more speed (think he was 85-87), but it did look like he was able to throw a variety of pitches for a strike

9) whatever happened to Brad Komminsk?

[swerb]

Thanks for the update.

Im very excited to get my first chance to see Kouzamanoff, Snyder, and Goleski play. Have yet to see any of them live.

Our bank has a branch in Bellevue, where Snyder is from. Our branch manager over there is good friends with Brad & his family. So I'm always getting Snyder updates from him.

[consigliere]

I think Garko could be on the block. With Broussard and Perez under control for 2007, the team may look to use Garko in a deal. And, in turn, I think you may see a position switch for Kouzmanoff to 1B. I think he still provides great depth if Marte busts.....but the Indians are going to need more versatility for him. Kouz needs to be up in Buffalo yesterday (does Kouz become great trade bait?).

Goleski has primarily played RF in the minors. Dude has a rifle for an arm. With his power bat and power arm, he's a Jay Buhner clone if you ask me.

Going into this season, Snyder was my favorite prospect. He is definitely struggling. With Crowe's play, and the way he plays, I am quickly becoming a BIG TIME Trevor Crowe fan. If the position switch goes well next year and he performs in a likely split between Akron and Buffalo, he could open the 2008 season as our starting 2B.

This month I am hitting up a bunch of Captains games....they suck, but nothing beats free tickets and loge seats.

[ACrank]

1) I guess seeing the Tigers arms the last couple of years especially has prejudiced me in favor of fastballs. Seeing Bear Bay hitting 87-88 just doesn't mean as much anymore. On the other hand Adam Miller . Bay first: he just seemed similar to Sean Smith and Aaron Laffey - good pitchers but if their stuff is off even slightly they are going to get hit. From what i saw tho its going to take a lot of their stuff to get off - Bay esepcially seems to have a god sense of how to pitch.

On the other hand Miller has come the closest to Justin Verlander as someone who can hit high speeds with relative ease. He was hitting 94-95 in the first inning and before he ran out of gas in the 6th could still hit 91-93 when needed. I wonder what he thinks about his secondary pitches - it was almost like he had to be remembered to use his curve ball. I can see him replacing Carmona as the long guy in the pen next year - i think he could be a once thru the batting order guy right now if the Indians needed him to be.

2) I wonder if Felix Fermin had a chat or two with Brad Snyder - after a pop up to open the game Saturday (where you could hear Snyder's expletive thruout the whole park) Snyder seemed to relax, work the count, and become productive with the bat - even a few "productive outs" along the way. (And a nice bit of work today when the first pitch he faced in the 9th was outside - he acted like it hit him and even tho the homeplate umpire said no eventually the 3rd base umpire overrulled and Snyder was awarded the base.)

3) Only arms in the pen that really stood out where Tom Foley and Juan Lara forming a nice one two punch and both with 90+ heat. Jim Ed Warren came on Saturday night to close out the 11 inning win and almost proceeded to walk it away for Akron (& when its 1130 at night - you've been at the park for 5 hours - its raining - and you have to walk 5 blocks to get where you parked, not sure if it was legal parking or not, you want the opposing pitcher to throw strikes)

4) Not only did Ivan Ochoa (who was wearing the #1 instead of his #13 - instead of looking like Omar he looked like the batboy) and Eider Torres (who DH's saturday) show some nice bat work - sacrifices, at least attempts at hit and runs, etc, but Goleski actually dropped a sacrifice down on Saturday.

5) Players like Pat Osborn and Jon Van Every must be frustrating at some point - they have the ability but you have to wonder if AA is as far as they will go. Van Every was heads up enough on Sunday to take advantage of a fielding blunder by the Wolves, and does play a decent enough CF. Osborn was playing third on Sunday and showed why he should only be playing first - but boy he can swing nice.

6) Kouz didn't play today, but had another nice game Saturday. I'm not expecting him to be in Akron much longer - you've got to feel the Indians farm department is at least trying to figure out how to get him to Buffalo.

7) the Aeros OFs all basically look alike - and they all look like they would be able to play any OF spot - except for Goleski - he looks like a RF - the type of guy you can see hitting 3rd or 4rth.