Farm previews: Winston-Salem and Kannapolis

Continuing the minor-league system previews from yesterday…
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WINSTON-SALEM DASH

  • Joe McEwing, manager
  • Mackey Sasser, hitting coach
  • Bobby Thigpen, pitching coach

No changes here. The biggest one is the opening of BB&T Park, giving this staff a permanent home for the first time.  Last year, they played at Wake Forest.
STARTING PITCHING
The rotation at Winston-Salem is the strongest of the entire farm system, top to bottom.  It features two guys beginning their first (hopefully) full season after Tommy John Surgery, Justin Edwards and Nevin Griffith (I saw Griffith pitch last year at Kanny; here’s the video).
Behind the Recovery Kids are front office favorite Charles Leesman, impeccable control pitcher Stephen Sauer, and Nathan Jones.  The last name is interesting because he was considered a promising fastball-slider reliever, and also because Gregory Infante (a Buddy Bell favorite) is also on the Dash, and they’re looking at him as a reliever.  We’ll see how long this lasts, especially because Jones was OK at Winston-Salem, and Birmingham’s bullpen is in pretty bad shape.
RELIEF PITCHING
Power lefty Santos Rodriguez is on the fast-track.  He pitched only four innings in Kannapolis, but they were scoreless, and he struck out eight batters to one walk.  He and Dan Remenowsky will be the late-inning guys, and their styles couldn’t differ more.  Remenowsky struck out 109 batters over 63 innings (with only 16 walks!) with a fastball that doesn’t touch 90.
Winston-Salem’s second lefty-righty combo ain’t bad either, with sinkerballer Tyson Corley attempting his first full season at High-A after posting a 67 percent groundball rate between there and Low-A.   Hector Santiago struck out 66 batters over 58 innings with the Dash last year.
Charlis Burdie, Dylan Axelrod and Leroy Hunt round out the bullpen.
CATCHERS
Supplemental pick Josh Phegley will try to become the next John Orton disciple to turn into a decent defensive catcher.  He also needs to work on his offense, which lagged to the tune of .224/.277/.408 while making the transition from aluminum to wood bats. He did hit nine homers over 196 at-bats last year, which isn’t bad considering the rest of his struggles.
Converted infielder Luis Sierra and veteran Logan Johnson will back him up.

Eduardo Escobar
INFIELD
Eduardo Escobar and Jon Gilmore will need to get their OPSes out of the .600s if they’re to reclaim their prospect starts, but at least Escobar can pick it at short.  Drew Garcia and some combination of Kyle Shelton and Seth Loman will handle the right side of the infield, but none of these players command attention.
OUTFIELD
The Dash are carrying just four outfielders, and when Justin Greene is the most exciting of the lot, it’s not encouraging.  He hit a wall with the Dash last year, htiting .240/.332/.309 there after posting a .303/.394/.444 line at Kanny.
Kenny Williams Jr., Brandon Short and Ozzie Lewis fill out the roster.
Who’s moving up?
The lack of quality pitching in Birmingham means that any of the top pitchers — Leesman and Jones are leading choices, with Rodriguez and Remenowsky trailing — could make a midseason jump.  Otherwise, it’s pretty slim pickings.

KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORS

  • Ernie Young, manager
  • Greg Briley, hitting coach
  • Larry Owens, pitching coach

Yes, all four minor-league affiliates returned last year’s coaching staffs.
STARTING PITCHING
Joe Serafin, an undersized lefty from Vermont, had a great A-ball debut last year, going 3-1 with a 2.98 ERA and 38 strikeouts to nine walks over 52 1/3 innings.   2009 draft picks Justin Collop (sixth round) and Jimmy Ballinger (11th) figure into the starting plans, but there will probably be some flux behind him.  Matt Wickswat will probably fill out the starting five, although tall drink of water Garrett Johnson has experience starting.
RELIEF PITCHING
The back end of the Kanny bullpen should dominate.  Funky-throwing Kyle Bellamy struck out 30 batters over 19 innings with the Intimidators last year, only walking two.  He then made the most of his Arizona Fall League stint, allowing a run over 5 2/3 innings, striking out seven.

Drew O'Neil
Sidewinder Drew O’Neil has been a disappointment so far after being drafted out of Penn State in the fourth round of the 2008 draft.  Eighth-round pick Ryan Buch, who has a big fastball, will be on his tail.  Matthew Hopps, Cameron Bayne and Brandon Kloess will try to distinguish themselves.
CATCHERS
Miguel Gonzalez (.311/.385/503 as a 19-year-old in Bristol) is everybody’s sleeper, which means he ain’t much of one.  It’s his time to shine, meaning that Downers Grove’s Kevin Dubler takes a backseat.
INFIELD
The 30something Juan Silverio is the only infielder worth watching on even a monthly basis.
OUTFIELDERS
In order of potential, Nick Ciolli, Kyle Colligan and Brady Shoemaker, all 2009 draft picks out of college, all had great rookie-ball debuts.  All of them could very well flop or thrive, so it should be fascinating to see how this shakes out.  Shoemaker didn’t even attempt a steal last year, so he’s under the most pressure to hit.
Jordan Cheatham is a decent fourth outfield option, and given the quality of the infield, I’m guessing we’ll see a rotation through the DH spot for all four of them.
Who’s moving up?
Bellamy seems like a natural candidate to make a quick jump to Double-A, considering the way he succeeded in the AFL.  O’Neil is pitching in Kanny for the third time, so if he starts the season well, he could be pushed. I wouldn’t be surprised to see one of the college outfielders get a month or two in Winston-Salem after the draft picks are allocated to the Kanny roster, though hell if I know which one.

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striker

Do you think Gonzalez’s capabilities make Flowers expendable, with Pierzynski as a bandaid solution until Gonzalez comes up? Or do you think it’s too soon to call?

vanillablue

I was excited about Leesman as a prospect until I remembered that in Sox terminology, “front office favorite” means “will be traded within the next year”.

vanillablue

Ugh. I guess if I had to choose a fate for Leesman, better that he be traded than wind up with Marquez’s “career”.