Category: Rookie Watch

The Philadelphia Phillies knew they had a pitcher when they drafted Cole Hamels in the first round of the 2002 draft out of Rancho Bernardo High School in Poway, CA. A few injuries have hampered his progress. He missed most of 2004 with an elbow injury. In 2005 he broke his hand in a bar fight before the season began, then hurt his back, and was shut down for the rest of the season. Now that this 22 year old lefty appears to be healthy he is a mainstay in the Phillies rotation. In his most recent start last night versus the first place NY Mets & Pedro Martinez, Cole & Philadelphia came out on top 13-0. Hamels allowed no runs, no walks, and only four hits over eight innings of work, while striking out nine. He was very impressive, throwing 86 of 113 pitches for strikes, in this snappy two hour thirty five minute drubbing. Cole has won three of his last four starts (only let up one run in six innings vs ATL in the game he lost), five runs in 28 1/3 innings of work. Hamels Minor League stats are impressive 14-4 record, 273 strikeouts, 35 starts. Look for this lefty to be the new Lefty in Philly.

Word has come down that Luke Hochevar has signed a contract with the Royals. Hochevar, a pitcher from the University of Tennesee, was the first pick in this year’s rookie draft.

No official word but it is believed that Hochevar will earn $5.2 million with incentives up to $7 million.

He is expected to join the Royals’ 40-man roster on Saturday.

One of the best minor league players involved in a trade this week is Joel Guzman who was dealt by the Dodgers to Tampa Bay in exchange for Julio Lugo.

With the departure of Izturis to the Cubs, the Dodgers needed to fill the hole at short. Lugo, who hitting .308 with decent speed and pop, capably does that. But in return they gave up Joel Guzman.

Guzman is a shortstop-turned-OF/3B.

Much has been made of the Dodgers’ list of rookies this year. Players like Russ Martin, Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp have made a splash in the lineup. Joel Guzman with just 19 at-bats hasn’t had much of a chance to show his stuff.

And from what I’ve been hearing, he could be better than all of ’em. In April, Baseball America rated him as the third best prospect and Best Power Hitter.

I know many Rays fans weren’t too thrilled about giving up Lugo but considering what they were getting back, they weren’t feeling too bad.

By the way, here is a full list of trades made within the last week.

Followup: The Professor at the Rays Index opines on the Lugo/Guzman deal. He seems pretty satisfied with the deal.

While granted Jon Lester wasn’t facing the 1927 New York Yankees in his latest performance (one-hitting the Kansas City Royals over eight innings, 1-0 Win), it’s hard to ignore what he’s done in the bigs thus far. Lester was a 2nd round draft choice in 2002, drafted out of Bellarmine Preparatory School in Tacoma, Washington, he had a scholarship to ASU, but gave that up for a million dollar signing bonus with the Red Sox. Jon doesn’t throw hard and isn’t overpowering, but that doesn’t mean he can’t dominate the game. He threw six strong innings against the White Sox at the Cell on July 7th enabling the Red Sox to win 7-2. In eight starts Lester has a 5-0 mark with a nifty 2.38 ERA, he’s a big reason Boston is in 1st place in the AL East. Besides beating the White Sox & the Royals Jon has wins over the Braves, the Nationals, and the Mets (three NL teams). Wisdom says it’s tough to be a successful lefty in Boston with the Green Monster looming just over the shortstop’s shoulder at Fenway, but what does wisdom know anyway? Jon Lester’s fastball reaches the low 90s, he also features a cutter, a change, & a curve. Reminds me of the Spaceman, Bill Lee.

Ok, let’s get this out of the way re the Diamondback shortstop. Yes, he’s J.D. Drew’s brother. Hopefully, a full season will be in his repertoire.

I’m watching the Dodger-Dbacks game tonight. In the 4th inning, Drew got his first career hit, a single. In addition, he stole third base.

Probably more importantly, he’s already made two incredible plays in the field.

Quick Facts about Stephen Drew:

Age: 23

Currently signed to a 5 year contract with the Dbacks.

Obviously, it’s hard to evaluate someone like Drew based on two games in the MLB. A gander at his combined 2005 minor league stats look very promising. He can certainly hit for average with some homerun pop.

But the big question is his fielding. There are mixed reviews out there but for the most part he seems solid. He definitely looked good tonight.

He has had surgery on his left foot as a freshman in college. I honestly don’t know if that is the kind of thing that can come back to haunt a player or not. Maybe someone else can chime in on that.

Chicago Sun-Times article. He will replace White Sox starter Jose Contreras who twisted his ankle in Sunday’s 19 inning marathon affair.