Less than 24 hours until opening day

 

Less than 24 hours away from opening day for the Cardinals.  Should be interesting to say the least.  It is good to see a reported nice guy like Rico Washington finally get his shot.

On the Dodger front, Ken Rosenthal is reporting that Blake Dewitt will be the starting third baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  But not so fast, Dodgers.com has this to say:

“Injuries to third basemen Nomar Garciaparra, Andy LaRoche and Tony Abreu have left the club uncomfortable with rookie Blake DeWitt the likely starter when the season opens on Monday against the Giants. In addition, Jeff Kent’s durability is questionable coming off a right hamstring injury.

Colletti said a trade in the next 24 hours was doubtful, but he wanted the wiggle room if one happened or if a third baseman good enough to start for the Dodgers was released. Philadelphia’s Wes Helms (owed $2.9 million) is the most likely candidate.

If neither happens by Monday, Colletti said the club would scout available players over the next two weeks while watching how the 22-year-old DeWitt fares against Major League pitching. DeWitt has never played higher than Double-A.

“[A trade] is still viable, but as usual, what they are asking us to give up is a little strong because of the predicament we’re in,” said Colletti, who only wants a stop-gap solution until Garciaparra or LaRoche return in a matter of weeks. “We’ll take time to see if the price comes down and see what those players look like in the next week to 10 days. Spring Training is tough to judge.” “

I guess we will see but I say the odds are now stacked in Blake’s favor.  If you haven’t seen it yet, get over to MLB.com archive to watch Dewitt hit a 2-run shot off of Jonathan Papelbon on Saturday night.  In front of 115,000 fans no less.

 Mizzou dropped its first series of the season to Texas Tech.  Aaron Crow was his usual dominating self.  Man it would be nice if by some act of God he dropped to the Cardinals at Number 13.  Yeah, it would take an act of God. 

We’re Number 2!

Mizzou is ranked at Number 2 by Baseball America after the Tigers impressive demolition of the Number 14 Baylor Bears. The Tigers picked up the sweep after two shutouts and then 10 running Baylor.  See the whole list here.  Baseball Prospectus ranked Mizzou number 3. 

 Blake Dewitt was awarded the Mulvey Award as the Top Rookie in the Dodgers camp.  One week before the Dodger’s season opener and Blake is still in camp.   This spring he is hitting .256/.370/.564 with 2 home runs.  The OBP stands out to me as he has been criticized for not drawing enough BBs. 

Check out the recent Cardinal news at the Birdhouse. 

More on Dewitt

More on Blake Dewitt from MLB.com.  It seems that Nomar will not be ready for Opening Day.  From MLB: 

DeWitt has the current buzz, and he started at third base on Thursday in the Dodgers’ first “home” game in Arizona against the White Sox at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

“Don’t jump to conclusions,” said Colletti. “He’s still in camp, has played a lot of innings and somebody we’re taking a look at, but it would be unfair to put too much stock in him being the Opening Day third baseman. He’s somebody we’re taking a look, a solid look.”

Adding DeWitt to the 40-man roster would get the clock started on his protection timetable sooner than necessary, but Colletti said he wasn’t worried about that.

Said Torre of the 22-year-old DeWitt: “I’m not saying he’s the option, but coming from the Minor League side, he finds himself playing every day, which is interesting. The youngster has caught people’s attention in camp. How long will this be for? We’ll have to wait until the beginning of next week to figure out how long we’ll be without Nomar.”

Coletti acting like adding Blake Dewitt to the 40-man roster is no big deal is hard to swallow.  It is always a big deal to add a guy to the 40-man and get that clock to ticking.  To me, Coletti being the GM is a strike against Blake.  It is the kind of guy who would prefer to bring in a veteran and block the young guy.  Nomar was brought in and blocked James Loney.  Nomar moved to third to block Andy LaRoche.  Luis Gonzalez and Juan Pierre blocking Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp. 

Remember, Chin-Lung Hu and Tony Abreu, Blake’s competition at this time, are already on the 40-man roster.  A clear advantage for those two.

Check out my bio on Kyle Lohse over at the Birdhouse. 

Starting for the L.A. Dodgers, 3B Blake Dewitt?

Seems Nomar is hurt again.  Things are really falling in to place for Blake Dewitt to get a shot at the Los Angeles Dodgers opening day lineup.

This is from ESPN.com: 

“Tony Abreu and Blake DeWitt are thought to be the leading candidates to start at third on Opening Day if Garciaparra is not ready, although the 22-year-old DeWitt has never played above Double-A.

“Blake DeWitt’s got a hell of an opportunity to hang out with the big boys,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said Wednesday.

Asked whether DeWitt is ready to play in the majors, Torre replied: “Some people are saying yes, some people are saying maybe. Nobody says for sure that he’s not ready.”

From MLB.com “General manager Ned Colletti said he would likely watch DeWitt play for a week before deciding if he needs to acquire an infielder from another organization.”

Here is what the LA Times had to say about DeWitt a couple a days ago. 

For the spring, Blake is hitting .257/.366/.571 with 2 HRS.  Most impressive is his 6 to 3 walk to strikeout ratio.

Jacob Priday hit another HR on Tuesday.  From the Mizzou website:  Priday’s home run in the third put him into sole possession of fifth place on Missouri’s all-time home runs list with 36. His three RBI in the contest bumped him up to 191 for his career, moving him up to second place on the school’s all-time RBI list.

JR Bizzell is hitting .322/.378/.422 at Rhodes College. 

Thoughts on Kyle Lohse

There is a really nice piece on MLB.com on Blake Dewitt.  Check it out here. 

So it seems the Cardinals have realized they need some more pitching, finally looking at Kyle Lohse.  Bernie has a good column over at Stltoday on the subject.  My thoughts are that yeah, he is not going to win you a division title.  But sign him, he’ll keep you in games and allow you to rest your bullpen and then trade him for a prospect or two at the trade deadline.  Keep stocking the system.

Hall of Famer Lou Brock will be in Poplar Bluff for the BA sports extravaganza on April 4 and 5.  Do me a favor and click here to vote on the volleyball starters.  Vote for Laura Watson if you would.  She is the niece of a buddy of mine and the whole metropolitian area of Holcomb would be thankful.  

Blake Dewitt makes his debut

Blake Dewitt got the start in the big league game on Saturday against the Cardinals.  He went 1-3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.  In the field he made a fantastic play on a ball to his left off the bat of Ryan Ludwick.  On Sunday he was a defenisve replacement in the ninth and made another spectacular play.  Get over to MLB.com and check out the archived games.

 Mizzou swept Indiana State this weekend.  The Tigers move up to number 4 in Baseball America’s Top 25. 

 Southeast lost its weekend series due to the weather. 

 As for the Cardinals, please sign Jeff Weaver and Kyle Lohse!!

First Weekend of March

Mizzou had a good weekend, winning 3 of 4 at the San Diego tournament.  In Sunday’s action, Jacob Priday moved in the fifth place on the Missouri All-Time home run leaderboard. Before the end of the season, he will be number 1.  It was a good weekend that should help prepare the Tigers for regional action at the end of the year.

I was able to watch some of both the UCLA and USC games on ESPN on Saturday.  Why can’t ESPN show more college baseball instead of poker?   Brandon Crawford, who should be around when the Cards pick 13, really impressed me.  He shows above average range, a plus arm, and good speed on the bases.  He gets pull happy at times, but has good power for a middle infielder.  And, unlike many college shortstops, he should be able to stay at the position.

 For USC, I was hoping to get a look at shortstop Grant Green.  Unfortunately, he is out with an injury.  DH/C/P Robert Stock shows tremendous bat speed.  Another player that caught my eye was Trojan CF Nick Buss.  He has a long, lean projectable body with good speed and range in CF. 

 J.R. Bizzell is hitting .340/.377/.380 for Rhodes College. 

SEMO won a shootout on Sunday afternoon to keep from getting swept.  The Indians, I mean Redhawks, topped Northern Colorado 14-13.  The Redhawks are now 3-4.

Opening Weekend

Baseball America’s new Top 25 is out.  Mizzou moved up to the number 5 spot after its’ three victories over the weekend.  In his chat today, Aaron Fitt believes the Tigers have the best pitching staff in the country. 

 Mizzou won three games over the weekend in impressive fashion.  Sunday, Kyle Gibson struck out 10 in six innings.  In Sunday’s game, Jacob Priday hit his first HR of the year, he is now just 11 from the top spot on the Missouri All-Time HR mark.

In Saturday’s game, Priday drove in three and scored three runs. 

 Southeast won its series against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 2 games to 1. 

Feb 20

Check out my review of Rent One Ballpark in Marion, Ill.   

I finished my Minor League pitching staff projections over at the Birdhouse.  Check out Palm Beach and the Quad Cities.

Baseball America rated Mizzou’s Jacob Priday as the 21st best senior in college baseball.  It also rated the Tiger’s Aaron Crow as the 3rd best junior, Kyle Gibson as the top sophmore and freshman Nick Tepesch was ranked number seven.  Eastern Kentucky’s Christian Friederich, who plays at SEMO on May 1o, was rated as the sixth best junior.

Checking In

I hope everyone read my interview with John Stuper.  He is a really nice guy and I wish him and his team the very best. 

 Also, I am doing a series in which I am trying to predict where guys are going to land during the upcoming minor league season.  Check out Memphis and Springfield. 

Derrick Goold has really good coverage of the early days of spring training over at Bird Land. 

 The college baseball season starts next week.  I am looking forward to see how Mizzou comes out and responds to such high expectations.  Also, those in Southeast Missouri, circle the date May 10 on your calendar.  That is when Eastern Kentucky will pay a visit to Southeast.  EK’s Friday night starter, Christian Friedrich, could be a Top 10 pick in the MLB draft in June.

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