Fall Leagues Stats Update and More

Here is another update on how some of the Indians minor leaguers are doing in fall/winter leagues. Play in the Arizona Fall League (AFL) wraps up this week on November 15th, and play in the Hawaii Winter League (HWL) wraps up on November 18th. Both leagues have a short playoff, so play will extend a little after that for the teams that make the playoffs.

All stats through 11/12/2007

Arizona Fall League (AFL)

Michael Finocchi (RHP): 3-0, 0.00 ERA, 9 games, 10.1 IP, 7 H, 4 BB, 5 K, 1.06 WHIP
David Huff (LHP): 1-1, 7.07 ERA, 6 games, 14 IP, 15 H, 3 BB, 13 K, 1.29 WHIP
Adam Miller (RHP): 0-1, 7.11 ERA, 4 games, 12.2 IP, 15 H, 2 BB, 10 K, 1.34 WHIP
Randy Newsom (RHP): 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 5 games, 4.2 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 1.29 WHIP
Rich Rundles (LHP): 0-0, 1.17 ERA, 7 games, 7.2 IP, 1 H, 6 BB, 5 K, 0.91 WHIP
T.J. Burton (RHP): 0-1, 14.73 ERA, 4 games, 3.2 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 6 K, 3.00 WHIP
Jeff Stevens (RHP): 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 games, 3 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 0.67 WHIP
Chris Gimenez (C): .244 AVG (10-41), 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 5 BB, 10 K, .765 OPS
Michael Aubrey (1B): .275 AVG (22-80), 5 2B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 10 BB, 9 K, .850 OPS
Brad Snyder (OF): .263 AVG (5-19), 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K, .754 OPS
Trevor Crowe (OF): .289 AVG (11-38), 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 5 BB, 7 K, 3 SB, .864 OPS

Note: Burton, Stevens, and Crowe are no longer playing in the AFL.

Hawaii Winter League (HWL)

Todd Martin (1B/OF): .217 AVG (10-46), 3 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 4 BB, 8 K, .642 OPS
Reid Santos (LHP): 0-0, 2 saves, 3.32 ERA, 11 games, 19 IP, 13 H, 11 BB, 24 K, .194 BAA
Erik Stiller (RHP): 1-3, 5.46 ERA, 7 games, 28 IP, 34 H, 7 BB, 30 K, .306 BAA
Neil Wagner (RHP): 0-1, 8.40 ERA, 10 games, 15 IP, 22 H, 11 BB, 13 K, .328 BAA

I was able to get in touch with Erik Stiller yesterday, and while he had a very rough outing over the weekend, a lot of this is a learning experience for the players and they are in the AFL and HWL to work on specific things so some of the stats sometimes suffer. Farm Director Ross Atkins and Minor League Pitching Coordinator Dave Miller have told the players that they are not very concerned with the statistics, and instead are more interested in seeing how the players respond to the development goals they have set for the players.

Stiller was sent to Hawaii to work primarily on his changeup and also work on consistently driving his fastball down to the bottom of the zone. Since Stiller throws four pitches, but his changeup did not get a lot of work this past season in Kinston since he was coming out of the bullpen for most of the season. So, the focus in Hawaii is to throw the changeup a lot and see if he can get the feel of it back.

Wagner has also had a rough go of it so far in Hawaii, but he is another example of how stats do not tell the whole story. He was sent to Hawaii to primarily work on his two offspeed pitches, which he is throwing much more often in Hawaii than he would under normal circumstances during the regular season. Wagner features a mid to upper 90s fastball, but to make that pitch more effective it is imperative he develop a good secondary pitch.

Martin hurt his right wrist and had to go home a week or so back.

As for the HWL itself, all games are played on one field, so each day it hosts two games. Just about every player on all the teams live in downtown Waikiki and are bussed to the field (about 30 minutes away) each day. Since there are only four teams, the players get to know the other players from other teams well. The quality of play in the league has certainly improved since last year.

Thanks to Erik Stiller for the 411 on what is going on over in Hawaii.

Also, one more quick note:

Check out this story in Baseball America on Kyle Stark. New Pittsburgh General Manager Neil Huntington signed Stark away over the weekend as his new Director of Player Development. In Stark’s new role, he will oversee the Pirates farm system. Stark was with the Indians for nine years, and most recently gained a lot of experience in both scouting and player development the past four years with the Indians as an assistant farm director. He also helped oversee and coordinate the Indians’ scouting in the Pacific Rim, although it should be noted that Director of Scouting John Mirabelli was the driving force behind this operation.

Posted in: Erik Stiller,Neil Wagner,Todd Martin