Daily Archives: January 26, 2007

Mailbag, January 26th

Mailbag

Something new we’ll try. It may stick, it may not, depending on how active YOU, the readers are. I’ve gotten a few questions in the last few days on my questions/topics page located at the top, and in the last few weeks, I’ve also gotten some emails with questions, so I thought this might be an interesting way to share the info for everyone to read instead of just replying to one person. This will be a fairly informal thing, not a ton of work involved, and I will only do it as I get in questions to actually answer. First round

Rob asks

Are Brad Baisley and Juan Richardson, two former Phillies prospects, still in baseball?

Ahh, Brad Baisley. Baisley, our 2nd round pick in 1998, was a tall (6’9) and lanky RHP the Phillies fell in love with, and well, he never really panned out. He pitched ok until he got past Clearwater, and could never get anything done at the higher levels. After spending 7 seasons in the organization, he was let go after the 2003 season and signed with the Yankees. After a short 13 inning stint he was released, and then picked up by the Dodgers to finish out the 2004 season. His 4.79 ERA in 35 innings to finish 2004 is the last Baisley has pitched in pro ball, that I know of. Juan Richardson, signed as an undrafted FA out of the Dominican Republic in 1998, was released after posting a .725 OPS at Reading in 2005. He signed with St Louis and spent 2006 in the AA Texas League, where he posted a surprising .882 OPS in 444 AB, playing 3B and 1B. I don’t know if the Cardinals plan to sign him to another minor league deal, but they just might. His 2006 looks nice, but he was a 25 year old playing in AA, so you have to take it with a grain of salt. He never really put it together for the Phillies, always hitting for some power but never getting on base to be considered more than a fringe prospect.

The Red Tornado asks

What about a piece on newly acquired 30 year old prospect Greg Jacobs? Could he be the next Coste or just another career minor leaguer? His offensive numbers seem impressive, but he’s old.

The Greg Jacobs mega-signing happened before I got started, and I never got around to writing anything up on him. Jacobs was drafted way back in 1998 by the then Anaheim Angels as a pitcher out of Cal State Fullerton. He put up decent but not great numbers in rookie ball and low A, but hit the wall in 2000 at high A, and got his brains beat in at high A and AA in 2001. He was released after 2001 and played 2002 in the Western League, where he raked to the tune of a 1.088 OPS in 326 AB, but did so at the age of 25. In 2003, he was back in the bigs, this time in the Seattle organization. He put up a 1.009 OPS at high A (age 26), but stumbled to a .740 OPS in the hitter friendly Texas League (AA) upon promotion. 2004 was a big year for him, as he put up an .873 OPS at AA and an even better .911 OPS at AAA, this coming in his age 27 season. His 2005 didn’t go quite as well, as he slumped to a .611 OPS at AAA and again ended up in the Northern League, where he promptly put up a .986 OPS in 256 AB. In 2006, he remained in the Northern League, putting up a 1.015 OPS in 333 AB, his age 29 season. But here’s the problem…..I have no clue what the Northern League is like. For comparison’s sake, Chris Coste put up OPS numbers of .831, .851, .875 and .923 in the Northern League in his four seasons, but they came at ages 23-26. Jacobs has a very impressive minor league line, but he’s never gotten the chance. He’s always been a DH/OF, so he lacks the versatility of Coste. Honestly, I don’t think he’s got much of a chance to make the team, even if he hits .450 in the spring. Maybe the team bought his contract as a favor to Coste, who knows.

There ya have it.

Player Profile: Brett Harker

Other Stuff

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Harker was a guy that just missed my “Arms to Watch in 2007” piece, so I felt he was due a proper writeup here. The Phillies selected RHP Brett Harker in the 5th round of the 2005 draft out of the College of Charleston, in a draft that is quickly turning into a pitching coup of sorts, with the likes of Matt Maloney, Mike Zagurski, Patrick Overholt, Josh Outman, Matt Olson, Darren Byrd, and Justin Blaine also being selected in the first 20 rounds. Harker stands 6’3, 185 lbs according to his bio, and signed as a junior with 1 year of eligibility remaining. Harker appeared in 17 games as a freshman, starting 13 of them, but was used exclusively as a reliever his sophomore and junior seasons. After a rough sophomore year, he seemed to make all the right adjustments, posting a 2.47 ERA in 51 innings with 15 saves and 60 strikeouts, against only 10 walks.

Harker was assigned to Batavia after signing, and the Phillies, like they choose to do with many college arms, erred on the side of caution, using Harker as a starter and only pitching him 9 times, 7 of them being starts, and limiting him to just 37 innings. He struggled, posting a 5.06 ERA, allowing 38 hits and 12 walks against only 5 strikeouts. With a fresh arm, he was sent to Lakewood to start 2006, and it was a completely different kid on the mound. In his age 22 season, Harker pitched extremely well at Lakewood, throwing up a 2.92 ERA in 64.2 IP (46 games), allowing 53 hits and 12 walks while striking out 55. In addition, he had a solid 1.46 GB:FB ratio, and was lights out against LH batters, holding them to a .148 BA and a .435 OPS overall. He struggled a bit against RH batters, allowing a .283 BA and .778 OPS. This may be an aberration, or it may be a potential issue, we should know more after his second full season.

Unlike many relievers, Harker is known more for his breaking ball than an overpowering fastball. His fastball is probably a tick above average with low 90’s velocity, but his curveball is a true hammer, with sharp downward break and good velocity. It’s been described as having “curveball break with slider velocity” by Brett himself, and is his true out pitch. His success against LH batters (it should be noted, he had a .201 BABIP against LHB, which is abnormally low) might indicate the presence of an above average changeup as well, but he’s going to need to develop something to work against RH batters, maybe along the likes of a cut fastball, a splitter, or some sort of sinking fastball. When he gets ahead, he can bury the curve/slider on hitters and record the strikeouts, but he has to improve his consistency against RH batters going forward to be any kind of high leverage reliever.

Harker’s poor 2005 was probably just a tired arm and adjusting to an old role starting games. In 2006, he was used as the closer in Lakewood, and could assume the same role in Clearwater, depending on the positioning of guys like Pat Overholt in the system. While you have to consider the small sample size, Harker experienced varying results depending on the inning he was pitching. He had an OPS allowed of .882 in 18 innings of 8th inning pitching, but only a .595 OPS allowed in 23.1 IP in the 9th inning of games. You see lots of closers at the big league level struggle in non-save situations or when they come in to pitch in the 8th inning, perhaps Harker already has taken to that “showdown” mentality of pitching in the 9th inning to save/finish games. His K/9 rate also rises as the game goes on, from 6.75/9 in the 7th, to 7.50/9 in the 8th to 7.71/9 in the 9th inning. Again, probably just anecdotal stats from one season in Low A, but fun to ponder no less.

While he doesn’t appear to have the power stuff of a guy like Pat Overholt, he does appear to have the ability to close out games, and should remain in that role as he climbs the organizational ladder. It’s pretty tough to predict guys will become a closer at the big league level, but he at least looks like a potential 7th/8th inning guy down the road, and those commodities are very desirable. He’ll be one to watch in 2007, and if he continues his improvement he showed from ’05 to ’06, he could start creeping up the top 15 or so prospects lists.