UVA Baseball Alumni in the Pros: Update #4

The Wahoos in the Majors club received a new member recently, as SS Chris Taylor was called up by the Mariners. Also, Phil Gosselin has been back and forth between AAA and ML a few times over the past few weeks. Today, he's in the majors, so we're including him in this section.

Javier Lopez, LHP, San Francisco Giants - Javier continues to do what he does. He's sporting a 2.31 ERA over 23.1 innings. Lefties are batting just .211 against him, and righties aren't exactly crushing it either. He's 37, but LOOGYs tend to stick around a while, and Lopez is showing no signs of slowing down.

Ryan Zimmerman, 3B, Washington Nationals - News flash: Zimmerman is hurt again. Shocking, I know. Zimm hasn't played since the 22^nd, which is sad because he was starting to hit again. Going into that game, he was sporting a modest 8 game hitting streak (and had hit safely in 14 of 16). He spent almost 2 months on the DL earlier this year, then struggled upon his return. Then just as he gets hot again...he's hurt again. This is looking like another lost year for Zimm.

Mark Reynolds, 1B, Milwaukee Brewers - Reynolds has been a pretty solid right handed side of the 1B platoon for the first place Brewers. He is batting just .211, but he has clubbed 18 HRs in 294 ABs. He's still striking out more than 1/3 of the time, but that's his game.

Sean Doolittle, LHP, Oakland Athletics - Doolittle is the A's closer right now, and he's doing a fine job. He is 5/5 in save opportunities in July and is sporting a 2.59 ERA and 0.64 WHIP on the season. He has 69 Ks in just 48.2 innings. That WHIP is the lowest of anybody in the majors with more than 6 IP. The combination of WHIP and K-rate make Doc one of the most dominant pitchers in all of baseball.
Twitter: @whatwouldDOOdo

Brandon Guyer, OF, Tampa Bay Rays - I kept thinking that Guyer would get sent down to the minors at some point, and it kept not happening. Guyer hasn't hit much, although he's gotten better as the season has gone on. As of now, he's sporting a .272/.333/.361 triple slash with a HR and 3 steals. He's also a very good defensive OF. The Rays only have 4 OFs on their roster, so chances are Guyer isn't going anywhere.
Twitter: @BrandonGuyer

Kyle Crockett, LHP, Cleveland Indians - At this point, I would have to say that Crockett is in the majors to stay. He's been up for good since early June, and he's 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. He has 14 Ks in 18 IP. At this point, he hasn't been very effective against righties, but he's dominating lefties. At just 22 years old, it isn't surprising to see him struggle against righties. He'll get better with more experience. For now, he's a lefty specialist out of the pen, and he's succeeding in that role.
Twitter: @CrockPott3

Phil Gosselin, 2B, Atlanta Braves - Phil has absolutely raked at AAA, to the tune of a .344//.379/.487 triple slash. He has 5 HRs and 31 RBI to go along with 6 steals. You'd like to see his BB rate be a bit higher (just 19 walks in nearly 400 PAs), but he doesn't strike out all that much either. In the majors, though, Phil has just 2 singles in 10 ABs for a 286 OPS. Both hits came in his two starts, with all the rest of his appearances coming as a pinch hitter. During his call-up last year, he was 2-6 with a walk. That makes his career line .250/.294/.250. Not great, but it's only 17 PAs and that is not a representative sample. The Braves just traded for a 2B (Emilio Bonifacio), so my guess is Phil's days are numbered.

Chris Taylor, SS, Seattle Mariners - Taylor was one of the best players in the Pacific Coast League this year. He sits 2^nd in BA, 7^th in OBP and 19^th in SLG. And this is from a slick fielding shortstop. It came as no surprise, then, when Taylor was called up to the big leagues last week. In 5 games (4 starts), Taylor is sporting a .353/.389/.471 line over 17 ABs. It seems like he may be the Mariner's starting SS right now.

That major league list keeps getting longer and longer. All of the guys below would love to add yet another name to that list. Some of these guys have a legit chance, some are just hanging on. The 2014 draftees have also been added to this list.

David Adams, 2B, Baltimore Orioles - Adams spent a good chunk of last season in the majors, but this year he's been going backwards. After struggling in AAA to start the year, he's been back in AA for the past 3 months. He's hitting there, but not as much as you'd like. He's sporting a .270/.326/.394 line in AA, which is a far cry from the .306/.385/.450 line he put up last time he was in AA, in 2012. I'm beginning to wonder if there's some sort of injury that is causing his struggles, because 27 year olds aren't supposed to drop off like this.

Stephen Bruno, 2B, Chicago Cubs - Bruno seems to be a streaky player. He's been up and down a lot this season, although more down than up. He had a big May, and that is still boosting his overall numbers, which just keep dropping. On the year, he's at .280/.350/.410 and that isn't bad for a 2B. However, he was .346/.414/.641 in May and the rest of the time, he's been below that. We'll see how he does the rest of the season, and the Cubs will decide if he's earned a promotion to AAA.
Twitter: @UvaBruno11

Andrew Carraway, LHP, Seattle Mariners - Carraway isn't exactly seeing things go his way this year. He's currenttl 5-5 with a 5.73 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. Those numbers aren't much better than what he did last year. However, his BB rate has dropped by nearly half since last year, with a small drop in his K rate. He'll need to improve all around if he's ever going to reach ML. He's 27, so if it's going to happen, it had better be soon.

Jeremy Farrell, 3B, Chicago White Sox - Farrell has had a solid year in AA Birmingham, but not good enough for a 27 year old. He's at .265/.335/.367 and that isn't going to get it done. Farrell has just 8 games above AA in his 7 year career. He's just playing out the string.
Twitter: @Jeremy_Farrell

Derek Fisher, OF, Houston Astros - Fisher played one game in Rookie ball and then moved up to the SS New York-Penn League. In his one game of Rookie ball, he went 2/3 with a walk. In 24 games at the higher level, he's put up a .359/.449/.424 line. He hasn't homered, but he has 2 doubles and 2 triples and 12 RBI to go along with 13 stolen bases. Fisher looks great.

Reed Gragnani, 2B, Boston Red Sox - Playing for High-A Salem, Gragnani is batting .307/.413/.404. That OBP is very pleasing for a 2B. He doesn't have much pop, but he has more walks than Ks and that's what you want out of a leadoff hitter. If Gragnani can keep his plate discipline at higher levels of competition, he'll move up quickly.
Twitter: @ReedGrags

John Hicks, C, Seattle Mariners - After a slow start to the year, Hicks really picked it up in AA over May and June. He got promoted to AAA after the all-star break. His final AA line is .296/.362/.418, which is outstanding for a good defensive catcher. So far in 9 games at AAA, he's at .306/.324/.389 which is also solid. You'd like to see a bit more power, but Hicks hit 15 HRs in 2012 in High-A ball, so we known he's capable. He's just 24, which is young for a AAA catcher. He's on a good path.
Twitter: @JohnHicks08

Nick Howard, RHP, Cincinnati Reds - Howard  has pitched in 4 games of Low-A ball, and has given up 1 ER in 5.2 IP. He has a 1.59 ERA and he's 1-0. He's struck out 5 and hasn't walked a batter. Looks fantastic.

Danny Hultzen, LHP, Seattle Mariners - Nothing has changed with Hultzen, who is out for the season after having Tommy John surgery.

Nate Irving, C, Arizona Diamondbacks - Irving started in the short-season Northwest League, where he's played in just 4 games. He is 3/12 with a walk and a double. He has 1 RBI, 4 runs scored and 5 Ks. Not too bad a start.

Branden Kline, RHP, Baltimore Orioles - Kline's season continues to spiral downward. He start out pretty well, but his numbers have declined as the season goes on. In July, he has a 5.30 ERA in just 18 IP over 4 starts. On the year, he's 6-5 with a 4.01 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. His K-rate isn't bad (6.71) and his walk rate isn't bad (2.13), but he's just too hittable. Still, he's just 22, so he has time to work things out.  
Twitter: @BrandenKline16

Artie Lewicki, RHP, Detroit Tigers - Lewicki started  in Rookie ball and pitched twice there, striking out 4 of the 10 batters he faced and giving up just 2 hits and a walk. He moved up to Low-A ball, and he's been great there too. He has a 2.00 ERA in  9 IP over 4 games. He has struck out 9 and walked 4 and has a 1-1 record.

Jeff Lorick, LHP, Chicago Cubs - At 26 years old, Lorick is getting his first taste of AA. He's gotten better as the season has gone on. In June, he had a 2.92 ERA in 12.1 IP and in July he has a 1.54 ERA in 11.2 IP. He still walks too many guys (4.5 per 9 innings), and that's why he's a relief pitcher. His overall line is 2-2 with a 4.35 ERA and 1.41 WHIP. Those numbers aren't great, but again they are still high from his poor start to the season.

Greg Miclat, SS, St. Louis Cardinals - Miclat returned from an injury and was sent back to High A ball. Last year, he reached as high as AAA and wasn't too bad there. So this is a step in the wrong direction. In AA ball, he was batting just .174 and had just 2 doubles and 476 OPS. That is terrible. In High-A so far,  he's at .276/.323/.379 over 8 games. Hopefully the struggles were due to the injury and now that he's healthy, he could get called back up to AA.

Robert Morey, LHP, Marlins - Morey missed nearly two months with an injury, but I'm wondering if he's hurt again. He came back and pitched well in Rookie ball for a couple of starts. He then had a couple of good starts in AA. However, his last 3 starts have seen him give up 15 ER in just 15.1 IP. His season ERA is now over 5 and his WHIP is 1.85. Injury is the only explanation I can come up with.
Twitter: @theRMorey

Matt Packer, LHP, Cleveland Indians - Packer has still only had 2 starts this year. And he was pretty bad in both. I have to assume there's an injury he's dealing with that has caused him to miss most of the season, but I can't find any information about it.

Mike Papi, OF, Cleveland Indians - Papi got his start in short-season ball for 2 games, and was 2/9 with 3 RBI. He moved up to Low-A ball after those 2 games, and in 11 games, he's struggled. His line is .079/.239/.158, which means he's not hitting much but at least he's drawing walks. He's struck out 8 times in 38 ABs, but he's also walked 8 times. He also has a HR. It's such a small sample size, that there's no reason to worry.

Jarrett Parker, OF, San Francisco Giants - Parker is repeating AA ball, so you'd hope he was improving on last year's performance. You'd be right. He's batting .273/.366/.460, which is outstanding for a good fielding OF. He also has 11 SB. His strikeouts are too high (103 Ks in 363 ABs), but he walks a lot also, so it's ok. He has 12 HRs and 58 RBI plus 11 steals. I wouldn't be surprised if he got a shot in AAA this year.

Steven Proscia, 3B, Los Angeles Dodgers - After a big June, Proscia was decent in July. His season line is still not great (.249/.309/.422). But he's been better over the past two months. He's raked at this level before, so his struggles are surprising. Finishing off strong would get him back on track for a promotion next year.
Twitter: @Prosh19

Will Roberts, RHP, Cleveland Indians - Roberts had a poor month, with 3 bad starts (including 1 disaster start). On the season, he's 10-10 with a 4.11 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. His K-rate is very low, but his BB-rate is also low, which helps even that out. I wonder if Roberts doesn't have a better future as a reliever.
Twitter: @WRoberts25

Scott Silverstein, LHP, Toronto Blue Jays - Silverstein has settled in a bit after a poor start to the season. He's at 10-4 on the season with a 4.28 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. His K-rate is outstanding, and he's a ground ball machine. He walks far too many guys, and that'll have to change before he can move up.
Twitter: @silvertweet29

Tyler Wilson, RHP, Baltimore Orioles - Wilson got promoted to AAA at the end of June, and he's been wonderful there. In 6 starts, he's 2-0 with a 3.25 ERA and 1.33 WHIP. He has 32 Ks in 36 IP. He also has 13 walks, which is too many, but he's given up just 35 hits. As long as the Orioles remain in the playoff picture, he'll stay in the minors, but if they fall off, he could get a shot in September.

Cody Winiarski, RHP, Chicago White Sox - Winiarski's numbers are going in the wrong direction, and quickly. I'm left to wonder if he's dealing with an injury. He seems to be struggling to get anybody out. He's sitting at 1-4 with a 8.34 ERA and 1.81 WHIP. However, he's striking out over 10 batters per 9 innings. He also walks nearly 4 per 9.
Twitter: @cody_winiarski

Austin Young, RHP, Anaheim Angels - Another of the 2014 draftees, Young is in a Rookie league and so far has pitched 6 times for 12.1 IP and has given up just a single ER. He's struck out 9 and walked 0 and has a 0.41 WHIP and a 0.73 ERA. He's 22, which is quite old for the league, so he should be dominating. He may get bumped up to A ball before too long.

There are a number of UVA guys player in collegiate summer leagues. We're going to take a look at them next week in a separate piece.