I finished yesterday’s post
discussing Diamondbacks LHP prospect Tyler Skaggs. His counterpart on Monday
afternoon’s start was RHP
Bryan Evans.
Bryan Evans
This was the third time
that I have been able to see Evans pitch, as I had seen him pitch twice last
year (once against Tampa Bay Ray prospect Jesus Colome and once against Trevor
Bauer). Here is what I had to say about
Evans’ first start last season:
Colome's counterpart on Wednesday night was
Bryan Evans, a 14th round draft pick out of UC-Davis in 2008.
Evans, 24, has spent the better part of the past two years in Florida
State League and the Midwest League and is probably not projected to be a true
prospect. His minor-league K/IP
statistics are not all that impressive and his arsenal is not made up of
typical swing-and-miss type stuff.
However, I came away liking what I saw from Evans, even though there
have been thousands of pitchers with similar stuff that have never sniffed the
big leagues. Evans' delivery is a bit
complicated and it appears as if when he releases the ball he is throwing
across his body or is facing the hitter at an extreme angle. His arm angle is over-the-top and the best
comparison that I can give is kind of a hybrid mix between Josh Collmenter and
Jered Weaver. The scouts were clearly
there to see Colome (even though Evans was also just recently called up to AA),
as most put their radar guns down when Evans was on the mound. However, I was able to see from those that
did keep the guns out that Evans' fastball sat at 85-90 mph, his slider clocked
in around 81 mph, and his curve/slurve measured in at 74 mph. I did not get a good read on what the
velocity was on his changeup, but the pitch did feature some arm-side run
(although he did telegraph a few by slowing down his windup considerably). His fastball also featured some good arm-side
run and he was able to sneak some in on right handed hitters. Evans' pure stuff was nowhere near as dominant
as Colome's but his line was a bit better for the night as he went 6+ innings
(walked first two guys in 7th) for the win, giving up 6 hits, 1 ER, 2 BB, while
striking out 6. Evans' future is nowhere
near as bright as Colome's given his age and lack of velo, but his windup and
pitching mechanics were deceptive enough to hitters that he was able to strike
out 6 in 6 innings of work. Given that
this was only his 3rd appearance and 1st start in AA, it remains to be seen if
hitters will be able to adjust and exploit Evans' pedestrian stuff or if his
pitchability and deception will allow him to succeed and climb the ladder of
professional baseball.
He struggled in his second start
of 2011, against Trevor Bauer. Here is
what I wrote about that specific outing:
A player that I profiled previously, RHP Bryan
Evans started opposite Trevor Bauer but had a very poor evening, as he
struggled to find the strike zone (walked opposing SP Bauer twice) and his line
read 3.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 5 BB, 4 K. Evans’ was not very consistent with any of
his pitches, but especially his slider which seemed to be much more flat than
the previous outing that I was able to see (IMO his curveball still seems to be
the sharper breaking ball and a better option than the slider, even though he
throws it only around 74-75 mph). His FB velocity was still between
85-91 mph but again his command was sharp enough and he paid it, after being
pulled early.
Evans finished 2011 in AA Jacksonville after dominating
High-A (as a 24-year old) and posted solid numbers. However, his strikeout rate was not
impressive (only 27 in 37.1 IP or 6.5/9 IP).
After seeing him this past Monday, I am not convinced that
Evans can pitch in the big leagues. The first time I saw him, I noted that
Evans’ delivery was deceptive. However,
Evans’ pure stuff leaves much to be desired so his command and sequencing need
to be very sharp for him succeed as he climbs the ladder. Recently, his command has been very mediocre,
and he has actually walked more batters (24) than he has struck out (21) in
just 30.2 innings of work. Pitchers like
Evans cannot succeed consistently with spotty command. I had originally believed that Evans could
turn into a back of the rotation innings eater if everything broke right, but
after seeing him a few more times I think that if Evans is to ever make a MLB
roster it will be as a middle-reliever or swingman.
Jake Smolinski
Last year I also got the chance to see Jake Smolinski (JAX) play
a handful of times and here is what I had to say about him:
Jake
Smolinski, a 22 year old OF for the Jacksonville Suns was drafted in the
2nd round out of high school by the Washington Nationals. He was traded
to the Florida Marlins organization with Emilio Bonifacio for Scott Olsen and
Josh Willingham. Smolinski is a converted 2B/3B that flashed some decent
athleticism in the games that I attended. He hit towards the bottom of
the order, which is surprising for such a high draft pick, but nonetheless he
put together quality ABs and was 2-3 off of Chris Archer. This is Smolinski's
first season in AA and he has played pretty well so far and has been able to
draw more walks, even though he only is hitting .259. Overall, Smolinski
looked like a pretty solid player and profiles as a 4th OF or maybe a
2nd-division starter type if he remains as a corner OF.
Smolinski finished 2011 in AA Jacksonville hitting. 245/.342/.364
with 26 2B and 7 HR. The first thing that I noticed this season was that
Smolinski appeared to have filled out a little bit more. The media guide listed him at 6’0, 205 and he
clearly looked the part, with an athletic frame. Now 23
years old, Smolinski is hitting .325/.440/.482 with 9 2B (and 0 HR) through 22
games with Jacksonville. Smolinski’s
value would be much greater if he could handle center field, but I clocked him
at a slightly-below average 4.4 and 4.5 to first base so he is going to be
limited to a corner spot. His lack of raw
power has to be slightly disconcerting, but he has a level-swing plane and has
proved that he has solid gap-to-gap power.
At this point, Smolinski appears to a traditional tweener—not enough
power to handle a corner and not athletic/fast enough to play in center
field. However, with his ability to get
on base and put the bat on the ball he may still end up as a 2nd-division
starter.
Kyle Jensen
Last season I also saw Kyle Jensen play a couple of games in
right field for the Jacksonville Suns.
Here is what I had to say about him:
The Suns’ RF Kyle Jensen was pretty impressive in both games that I saw
(again limited sample size) as he showed the ability to barrel balls the other
way (off Jarrod Parker) and flashed nice range in right field.
Jensen,
a left-handed hitter clocked a 4.8 to 1st base and looked
below-average out in right field on Sunday night. Suffice it to say, I was a bit off base in my
observations last season. As a 23-year
old Jensen crushed Hi-A pitching in Jupiter and his numbers fell off a bit when
promoted to Jacksonville towards the end on 2011. Thus far he is struggling a bit at the
plate. I did not get to see Jensen play
on Monday, but he (like many other Suns hitters) was overmatched by Trevor
Bauer. He has some power in the bat, but
he is limited defensively and turns 24 on May 20th so he does not profile as a
true prospect. He may have some value as
a bat-only 4th OF/1B/DH type.
Sutil and Gilbert
A couple of Mobile Bay Bears caught my eye initially, but I
quickly found out that they were journeymen chasing the dream. SS
Wladimir Sutil made a solid play to his left and flashed a strong arm, but
the Venezuelan is 27 years old and is playing in AA for a fifth consecutive season. CF
Archie Gilbert was picked off by Jose Alvarez in Sunday night’s game, which
led me to believe that Gilbert was a young player learning the nuances of
professional baseball. However, Gilbert is
actually a soon to be 29-year old, so even though he showed a short, compact
swing and hit 12 HRs last year in the Eastern League, he is not a true prospect
either.
Matt Davidson
Finally, Mobile
3B Matt Davidson caught my eye as well. I did not do any research going into the
series so I had not heard of Davidson before Sunday, but his solid numbers and role
as cleanup hitter piqued my interest. He
has a “bad” body with some baby fat and looked like he might have to move to 1st
base in the future if he did not get into better shape. Regardless, I liked his approach at the
plate, and statistics show that he has been able to work more walks. Furthermore,
Baseball Prospectus’ Jason Parks recently wrote
about Davidson and noted that his footwork (defensively) and offensive
approach have improved since his inaugural season. Davidson was a supplemental first-round pick
in 2009 and a .310/.433/.534 slash line as a 21 year old in AA shows that
Davidson can hit. I hope to see Davidson
play again this season for a further and more complete evaluation.
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