AFL Update: October 25, 2011
This has not been a good fall for Pat Lehman. The 25-year-old was charged with his third loss and first blown save in an 8-4 loss by the Scottsdale Scorpions.
Lehman was greeted with a single and an RBI double in the sixth before he got his first out, a grounder to short. A stolen base and another singled plated the second run of the inning and turned the Scorpions’ 3-2 lead into a 4-3 deficit. Lehman finished with two runs allowed on three hits with no walks and no strikeouts.
Sammy Solis put in his longest outing this October with five innings pitched. He walked just one while giving up two runs on four hits, throwing 44 of his 63 pitches for strikes — an encouraging sign after a 37-for-67 outing last Tuesday.
Derek Norris continues to swing a hot bat, doubling and homering while drawing a walk. He also drove in a run via a sacrifice fly. His 2-for-2 afternoon moves his batting average to .333 for the fall, his three times on base has lifted his OBP to .429, and the six total bases moves his slugging percentage to .576.
Finally, Zach Walters was the designated hitter but went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
What is considered the biggest take away from the AFL? Is it a better judgement tool to asses where they are skill wise (i.e. see how high level prospects play against other high level prospects), or is it considered a better development tool for the players?
I think it’s also used to…
… to assess draft picks that were late deadline signs
… to monitor progress of players that suffered minor injuries
… to assess Rule-5 eligibles that the team is on the fence
… fulfill contractual obligations
Now that last one may seem cynical, but hear me out. I’ve seen, for example, Brian Ward of the Orioles and you cannot convince me that he’d be going to the AFL if he weren’t a catcher.
I think for nearly all pre- and post-season camps, the biggest benefit/takeaway is extra time to spend with the coaches.
With the existing franchise connections between MLB teams & the AFL squads, I’ve sometimes wondered if there was some kind of ‘wish list’ floated to each participant. ex. at the end of the MLB season, Scottsdale might have requested a CA, an OF & 3 pitchers from WSH; an IF, an OF & 3 pitchers from PHI, etc. to fill their base roster needs.
Just for the record, this years’ Scottsdale squad has the following player distribution…
Pitchers (20)
BOS (4), LAA (4), PHI (4), SF (4), WSH (4).
CA (3)
BOS, LAA, WSH (1 each).
IF (8)
BOS (2), LAA (1), PHI (2), SF (2), WSH (1).
OF (6)
BOS (2), LAA (1), PHI (1), SF (1), WSH (1).
Walters appears to be coming back down to earth. Nice to see Norris swinging a hot bat and not just watching the pitches go by.
It seems to me that it’s especially difficult to read much into pitchers’ performances from our vantage points. Who knows whether they’re working on specific pitches, what their velocity is like, and with everyone on innings counts, there aren’t large enough sample sizes for anyone.
That said, Lehman seems to be getting hit around a bit hard for someone who may have designs beyond Harrisburg.