|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Baltimore Orioles'
preseason minor league report
Posted: Fri March 31, 2000 at 3:17 p.m. EST JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (Ticker) -- SportsTicker's baseball staff has targeted three rookies that will, might and could make an impact for Baltimore at the major league level in 2000. YOU WILL DEFINITELY SEE: Matt Riley (LHP) Riley, one of the best young lefthanders in the game, was sent down by the Orioles in late March after being late three times, but he'll definitely be back starting for the Orioles some time this season. Riley continued to impress the organization as he quickly worked his way up the ladder in 1999. A member of HOWE SPORTSDATA's All-Prospect team and a post-season selection to the Double-A Eastern League's All-Star squad, Riley has dominated with a low to mid-90's fastball and a lethal curveball. While his three September starts in the majors showed that he still has some things to work on, the 20-year-old will be counted upon to solidify the Orioles' rotation in the near future. A long shot to make the club out of spring training, Riley showed some of his immaturity by being late to several practices in March. Riley ranked fifth in the minors with 189 strikeouts over two levels in 1999. He began in the advanced Class-A Carolina League and went 3-2, 2.61 ERA in eight starts, fanning 58 and yielding just 34 hits in 52 innings. He struck out 11, including six in a row, over five innings of one-hit, scoreless ball in his second start, and he achieved double-digit strikeouts twice more before getting the call to Double-A in May. Riley won six of his first seven decisions there, en route to posting a 10-6, 3.22 ERA. He pitched three complete games in a span of four starts in June and worked at least seven innings in nine of his first 11 starts with Bowie. The lefthander ranked second among Eastern League starters with 9.38 SO/9 IP and fourth in ERA. In addition to the fastball and curveball, Riley has an improving changeup to complete his arsenal. The fastball has good movement and the overhand curve, perhaps his best pitch, has very sharp break. Riley is a good athlete and, although he is a bit of a free spirit off the field, is always serious about pitching and improving his game. He typically gets ahead of hitters and has a SO/BB ratio of better than 3:1 in his two minor league seasons. He also showed improvement with holding runners on base. Drafted by the Orioles in the third round of the 1997 draft, Riley pitched for the U.S. National Junior Team and led Sacramento City JC to a championship before signing prior to the 1998 draft. The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder has struck out 325 batters and allowed just 189 hits in 260 minor league innings. He went 5-4 with an incredible 1.19 ERA in the Class-A South Atlantic League in 1998. A 50-50 SHOT: Calvin Pickering (1B) Pickering, the 1998 Eastern League MVP (.309, 31 HR, 114 RBI), is an outstanding hitter with good power from the left side. With Will Clark turning 36 and playing more than 125 games just twice in the last six years, Pickering could get the call should anything happen to the Baltimore first abseman. The 6-foot-5, 280-pound Pickering was bothered by shoulder problems for most of the first half of 1999 but recovered to post decent numbers (.285, 16 HR, 63 RBI) in his first crack at Triple-A. Pickering is not nearly as gifted defensively, however, which may keep him in the minors a little longer. The 23-year-old had just a .251 average with five home runs through the end of June, but things changed dramatically in July as he exploded for 10 homers and 27 RBI while batting .366. During the month, Pickering collected at least one RBI in 10 consecutive games, which was tied for the third-longest such streak in the minors last season. In that span alone, he went deep eight times and collected multiple hits in seven straight games. After his final home run in July, however, Pickering went 97 at-bats without going deep and only connected for nine extra-base hits in his final 125 at-bats. He then collected just five hits in 40 major league at-bats before heading to the Arizona Fall League, where he hit .322 with an on-base percentage of .450. The native of the Virgin Islands is a patient hitter who hits the ball where its pitched, which has been mostly away the last two seasons. He put the ball on the ground almost twice as often as he hit it in the air last season, resulting in lower power numbers than in the past. Pickering has been issued 22 intentional walks among his 158 free passes over that span. He struggled against fellow lefties last season, hitting just .187 in 75 at-bats, but half of his 14 hits against them went for extra bases (4 HR, 3 2B). He hit .257 with seven homers in 148 at-bats against lefthanded pitching in '98. Pickering's defense showed some improvement last season but his 13 errors in 97 games, second among International League first basemen, were still too high. His range is limited by his size, and he has had trouble with throws to second base throughout his career. The Orioles' 35th-round pick in the 1995 draft, Pickering has hit .313 in his five minor league seasons. In fact, last season marked his first as a professional in which he did not finish with an average above .300. He has also posted a career slugging percentage of .559 and an on-base percentage of .414. THE LONG SHOT Jayson Werth (C) The Orioles' first pick in the 1997 draft, Werth is a very athletic catcher with a 6-foot-6 frame and plenty of tools with which to work. The 20-year-old, a member of HOWE SPORTSDATA's All-Teen team in '98, has steadily progressed behind the plate and, once he fills out, is expected to be a potent offensive threat as well. He'll start the season at Double-A but if he begins to put all of his skills together, Werth could get a cup of coffee at the end of the season. Werth hit a combined .294, seventh among minor league catchers, over two levels in 1999. He began the season in the advanced Class-A Carolina League and performed well enough through 66 games to get promoted to Double-A. Werth hit .306 with 16 stolen bases, as many walks as strikeouts and a .403 on-base percentage. He batted over .300 for most of his stay in the Eastern League but a 7-for-43 finish to the season left his average there at .273. Werth stole another seven bases to lead all minor league catchers with 23 thefts on the season. He posted just a slugging percentage of .381 at the two levels and has not cracked .400 in that category in any of his three professional seasons. Though very young, Werth has an advanced understanding of the game. He handles the pitching staff well and has good discipline at the plate. While he is credited with having a strong throwing arm, Werth threw out just under 25 percent of attempting basestealers in '99, down from his .394 mark in '98. He also committed two more errors in 26 fewer games than in the previous season and needs to work harder on his overall game. Offensively, Werth has shown he can go the other way but needs to drive the ball more often as he has collected just 61 extra-base hits in 872 career at-bats. His good speed, which led to a stolen base success rate of 85 percent, was also evident in his 20 infield hits last season. It has been said that if things don't work out for Werth behind the plate that his legs could earn him a job in the outfield. Werth, whose mother was a world class sprinter and whose step father played for the Yankees, has hit .278 in his three professional seasons. In his first full season, 1998, he recorded career highs with eight home runs, 22 doubles and 54 RBI, mainly while playing in the Class-A South Atlantic League.© 1999 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
|
