Knocking Down the Door (Pitchers) - MARCH 8, 2010

posted 3/08/10 10:06 AM PST
by Jason Martinez

Last week, I listed six position players in the first edition of the 'Knocking Down the Door' feature. These players are not currently projected to make an opening day roster but could force their way on with a strong spring training. Here is a list of pitchers who are in the same boat.

• Aroldis Chapman, LHP (CIN): The Reds have plenty of decent options for the #5 spot in the rotation (Justin Lehr, Mike Lincoln, Matt Maloney, Travis Wood) which should allow the 22 year-old Chapman to go under the radar this spring while he gets acclimated to being in the United States, right? Let's be realistic. The Cuban left-hander signed a six-year, $30.25M deal in January and has a reputation of being able to throw a 102 mph fastball. All eyes will be on Chapman this spring and he has been impressive so far. Reds fans are anticipating great things. In fact, a recent poll on cincinnati.com had 39% of readers choosing Chapman as the #5 starter over Lehr and Maloney, who both received 21% of the vote. Reds fans, are you sure you don't want your top pitching prospect to get his feet wet in the minors before he's facing big league hitters every five days? I don't think I'd have the patience either. Chapman will make his exhibition debut today. UPDATE 3:07 PM PST - Chapman threw two scoreless innings in relief (2 IP, 0 R, H, BB, 3 K) and was clocked at 100 mph by a few different scouts, Quote from Manager Dusty Baker via Reds beat reporter John Fay's twitter account, "I'll take 100 with command".
• Daniel Hudson, RHP (CHW): The White Sox starting rotation appears set with Mark Buehrle, Jake Peavy, Gavin Floyd, John Danks, and Freddy Garcia but there is no doubt that Hudson, who will turn 23 tomorrow, is on the team's radar. After winning 14 games and posting a 2.32 ERA in 26 minor league starts in '09 between four different levels (4 starts in LoA, 8 starts in HiA, 9 starts in AA, 5 starts in AAA), the right-hander is in camp battling Garcia for the final spot in the rotation and has also been mentioned as a possibility for the bullpen. However, pitching every few days as a reliever might not be the ideal situation for someone who has just five career starts in AAA so forget the bullpen for now and keep an eye on the battle for the final rotation spot. The 34 year-old Garcia appeared to reach the end of the line after he battled injuries and was ineffective over the past three seasons with the Phillies, Tigers, and Mets. But the White Sox gave him another shot at the end of last season and he pitched well in nine starts (3-4, 4.34 ERA). But if Garcia falters this spring, Hudson could break camp as the team's #5 starter.
• Jenrry Mejia, RHP (NYM): With projected setup man Kelvim Escobar sure to start the season on the DL with shoulder weakness and concerns surrounding the shoulder of newly-signed Kiko Calero, the Mets have to at least be considering top prospect Mejia, who has recently been compared to Mariano Rivera by former Met Darryl Strawberry and by one scout who say Mejia's cutter is the best he's seen since Rivera. It might be a bit premature to talk about a guy who didn't pitch that well in 10 AA starts in '09 (0-5, 4.47 ERA, 44.1 IP, 23 BB) but crazier things have happened. If Calero and Ryota Igarashi don't pitch well this spring, the Mets could have a major question mark in the 7th and 8th inning and Mejia might be the answer. UPDATE 3:07 PM PST - Mejia threw three scoreless innings of relief today (3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, K). Of his 33 pitches, 27 were strikes.
• Hisanori Takahashi, LHP (NYM): Thirty-four year olds usually don't make this list but Takahashi just arrived in the U.S after signing a minor league deal with the Mets in February. Success can be hard to predict for Japanese pitchers but if his exhibition debut was any indication, the left-hander is going to be pretty darn good. Takahashi, who spent 10 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan, pitched one-hit ball over three shutout innings with six strikeouts on Sunday against the Nationals. Jon Niese and Fernando Nieve are the leading candidates for the #5 spot in the rotation and the bullpen is crowded but he'll have a spot on the 25-man roster if he continues to pitch as he did in his debut.

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'The Spreadsheets at MLBDepthCharts.com' have arrived

last spreadsheet update - 3/09/10 11:04 AM PST
by Jason Martinez

To access a free updated copy of 'The Spreadsheets at MLBDepthCharts.com', please click here. You will go to a google docs page that says, 'No preview available'. At the top left, you can click on 'download' to open or save the file. If you cannot open the file because it is too big (it's about 1870K), just send me an email and I'll be happy to send you over two smaller files (split between AL and NL). UPDATE 2/21 - I have already added a few new features, made quite a few updates and projection changes, and have corrected a few minor errors so make sure to check back daily to upload the latest version. UPDATE 2/22 - For more info on salary column on the spreadsheet, click here.

Here is a quick overview of what we're talking about here:

• An excel spreadsheet with tabs for all 30 MLB teams
• The team pages on the spreadsheet will mirror the team pages on the website, just in a spreadsheet format
• Additional information included in the spreadsheet: player's age and DOB, how the player was acquired, tally of how many homegrown players are on the projected 25-man roster, 2010 salary for each player, estimated payroll for each team, players out of options, 2009 stats, MLB.com's Top 50 and Baseball America's Top 100 prospect rankings, and Baseball America's organizational ranking of best tools (hitter for average, power hitter, fastball, defensive infielder, etc).
• More information will be included in the spreadsheets in the near future. Stay tuned.

Please submit any questions, requests, feedback, or report any errors to mlbdepthcharts@gmail.com. Hope these are helpful for everyone!

Knocking Down the Door (Position Players) - MARCH 4, 2010

posted 3/4/10 3:29 PM PST
by Jason Martinez

This is the first edition of the weekly 'Knocking Down the Door' feature for the 2010 season. Obviously, I can't base this on recent performance as I will do once we are further into spring training and during the regular season but I'll factor in potential, opportunity, and '09 performance. The list consists of young players who are currently not projected to make the opening day roster and not only knocking on the door to the big leagues, but 'Knocking Down the Door'. Position players are up first. The pitchers will be coming soon.

American League

• Chris Carter, 1B (OAK): The A's don't have much pop in the middle of the lineup. The 23 year-old Carter is one of the premier power hitters (28 HR, 43 2B, 115 RBI in 544 AB's between AA and AAA) in the minor leagues. Daric Barton, the projected starter at first base, has been a disappointment as a big leaguer but earned one more chance to be the A's first baseman after a strong finish to the '09 season (.820 OPS in 2nd half).
• Desmond Jennings, OF (TB): Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton are entrenched in LF and CF for 2010 while right field appears to be a platoon situation with Matt Joyce (.879 OPS in AAA vs RHP's) and Gabe Kapler (.931 OPS vs LHP). The Rays also have the option of playing 2B Ben Zobrist in the outfield if the Joyce-Kapler combo doesn't produce. So how does a potential five-tool star like Jennings knock down the door to the big leagues? A more likely scenario would be to use the Joyce-Kapler platoon at DH over Pat Burrell, who had his worst big league season in '09 (.672 OPS), and insert the 23 year-old rookie as the everyday right fielder. The Rays have one of the more talented lineups in the AL but aren't quite at the level of the Red Sox or Yankees. So it makes sense to look for a way to get Jennings, who hit .318 with 11 HR's and 52 SB's between AA and AAA in '09, into the starting lineup as soon as possible.
• Carlos Santana, C (CLE): It appears that Lou Marson, acquired from the Phillies in the Cliff Lee deal last season, will get the first crack at the starting catcher job. However, there is no question that he would just be keeping the position warm until top prospect Carlos Santana takes over. The 23 year-old switch-hitter, who has extraordinary strike-zone discipline (90 BB's, 83 K's in '09) and above-average defensive skills, posted a .943 OPS with Double-A Akron in '09. While the presence of Marson and veteran Mike Redmond will allow Santana to start the season in AAA, he could find himself in the middle of the Indians' youth movement rather early in the 2010 season.

National League

• Jason Castro, C (HOU): The 22 year-old catcher has just 1.5 years of minor league experience and only 239 AB's in AA but he has a legitimate shot to break camp as Houston's starting catcher. While it is more likely that J.R. Towles and Humberto Quintero will handle the catching duties to start the season, the Astros might have a quick hook with Towles, who has hit just .149 (29-for-194) in the big leagues the past two seasons. Towles better convince the club that he's a better hitter than that in spring training or there's a good chance that they insert Castro, who posted an .826 OPS last season between HiA and AA, into the starting lineup on opening day.
• Jason Heyward, OF (ATL): Last season, everyone was talking about baseball's top prospect Matt Wieters and when he would arrive in the big leagues. This season, all eyes are on the 20 year-old Heyward, baseball's newly-anointed 'top prospect in baseball' for 2010. Wieters made his major league debut with the non-contending Orioles in late May at age 22. Heyward won't turn 21 until August and will likely be joining a contending team in what could be a tight NL East race. Matt Diaz is currently penciled in as the team's starting right fielder and coming off of his third .300+ season in the last four years but it doesn't matter. Heyward is an immensely talented hitter that can add some pop to the middle of a lineup that is definitely lacking in the power department.
• Logan Morrison, 1B (FLA): While Morrison is overshadowed by top prospect Mike Stanton, who will inherit the title of top prospect in baseball once Heyward and Stephen Strasburg graduate to the big leagues, the 22 year-old is not that far behind. Despite having just 278 AB's at the Double-A level (.277 BA, 8 HR, 47 RBI, 63 BB), Morrison will be competing with right-handed hitting Gaby Sanchez (.849 OPS in 318 AB's for Triple-A New Orleans) for the starting first base job with the Marlins this spring. While the 26 year-old Sanchez is the favorite, the Marlins already have a lineup dominated by right-handed hitters (Hanley Ramirez, Jorge Cantu, Dan Uggla, Cody Ross, Cameron Maybin) and could benefit from having a left-handed power hitter like Morrison to balance the middle of the order.

Knocking Down the Door (Pitchers) - MARCH 8, 2010

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Update on 'The Spreadsheets at MLBDepthCharts.com'

posted 3/3/10 1:48 PM PST
by Jason Martinez

I have decided that 'The Spreadsheets at MLBDepthCharts.com' will continue to be offered for free throughout spring training on an up-to-the-minute basis. The date and time of the latest copy will be posted on the site and I'll continue to post the last 10 player or projection updates on the 'overview' page of the spreadsheet.

As always, I'll continue to make improvements and corrections so the latest copy is always going to be better than the last. Make sure to check back a few times each day for the latest update. I'll be paying close attention this spring and adjusting projections as often as necessary.

The newest feature on the spreadsheets is the listing of Baseball America's 'Best Tools' in the minors for each organization. For example, if a player was named as being the 'best hitter for average' in the organization, it will show up as BA-best hitter for average in the 2010 update section.

In addition, I have added 15-DAY DL (unofficial) and 60-DAY DL (official) sections just under the projected 25-man roster and also moved the 'OTHER ROSTER CANDIDATES' section right under that section. The Free Agent sections take less priority at this time of the season so they've been moved down. I am in the process of doing the same to the team pages on the website.

By continuing to offer this spreadsheet feature to readers, I believe I have added another valuable feature for readers as I continue to work on making MLBDepthCharts.com one of the best baseball resources on the web. Please feel free to email me your thoughts on how I can further improve the site.