(briefly: Title changed, woohoo!)
Last sim started off promising, as the Crawdads took the last game of their series with
Atlantic City. Surprisingly enough, that was followed up with a THREE GAME SWEEP of the
Calgary Marauders :happydancesmilie. Up next was a 3 game set with
Austin, in a fevered battle for last place in the Frick League Midwest. We took the first game 4-2, but then were
smacked around 9-0 in the middle game of the set. However, we would bounce back and take the series with a
15-5 throttling of Austin in the rubber match. Yay us! After a much needed day off, we would split the first 2 games of a series with
Montreal. In all, 7-3 for the sim, which I'm not sure but I think is our best sim of the season. Either way, at 8-2 over our last 10 we are currently the hottest team in the MBBA not named
Valencia. Nice. Sadly, after all that we're still in last place, which brings me to the point of this news feature: Our top prospects.
Since the big league squad isn't really doing that well, I planned on focusing on the minors, specifically our
Baseball America Top Prospects
1. Rogelio Morales, 1B
Morales is going to be an absolute monster. I've never seen a player with a talent set like his before. He's got a higher ceiling, theoretically, than
the best hitter in MBBA history. Really, the only question is whether or not Morales develops into the player that he's capable of. If he does, there's really no limit to what he can do in his career.
2. Rolland Plemons, C/1B
Plemons is a rare talent, though not quite as high a ceiling as Morales, he's more developed at this point. While slow as molasses, Plemons has a fantastic eye at the plate (more walks than strikeouts in AAA this season) and could one day have the capability of hitting .320 with 30+ doubles and home runs.
3. Tipper Kengos, OF
Kengos is a famous name in the MBBA, and especially in New Orleans. Tipper is the son of
Booker Kengos, and the nephew of
Kipper Kengos. Both won the LMS with New Orleans way back in 1974. Tipper's twin brother
Bopper is in the Madison Wolves organization, another monster of a middle infield prospect. Tipper is a spectacular defensive outfielder with the capability of hitting well over .300 with a ton of doubles and stealing a lot of bags. He's a perfect candidate to be a leadoff hitter, and he also walks more than he strikes out. We're very high on him.
4. Kosuke Fukudome, 2B
Hey, we've seen this guy before! He filled in admirably when
Vic Wood was injured this year. Fukudome is a very good infielder, and has the talents to be an above average hitter. Currently he's a perfect utility infielder, can hit a little bit, and could be a candidate for a starting job in the next few years if free agency takes anybody away from the team.
5. Tyler Hansen, SP
Hansen was picked in the MBBA's first and only supplemental draft just last month. He's got mid 90s stuff, great control and movement, and a devestating circle-change as his out pitch. Hansen's ceiling is a staff-ace sort of arm, as he's got the endurance to go well over the 200IP mark and the control to get deep into games without having a high pitch count. In a system that's got a huge need for pitching, we're hoping upon hope that Hansen develops quickly and is ready for the big show very soon.
6. Jason "Ogre" Stucky, RF
Wow. It's amazing to see this guy still on our Top Prospects list, as we had written him off for dead along with fantastically stalled and underdeveloped
Theo Reckley, Jr. Unlike Reckley, the conversion to 2006 was very nice to Stucky, and jumpstarted his development. He's at the point now where he could probably be a platoon player against lefties in the bigs right now, which is very exciting for the team. Rumors have it that the team is actively trying to move veteran
Chris Crawford in order to clear a spot on the active roster for Stucky.
7. Willie Williams, 1B
The bumps that turned Williams into a superstar (mostly the 9 in contact to go with the rest of his talents) have completely made me happy with trading away
Donnie Rotten last season. Yes, we gave up one of the best players in the MBBA, but Rotten is very streaky and Williams has turned into the complete package as a player. He's currently hitting .300, his OBP is over .400, and he's got some power to boot. His 23.1 VORP is just slightly off the FL leaderboard. We're happy.
8. Adam Aarpen, OF
Aarpen is a very good defensive outfielder who will hit a lot of singles and doubles, but hardly anything he hits will end up in the bleachers. He's a very good bunter and if he manages to get he plate discpline developed could project to be a pretty good #2 hitter in a lineup in a few years. Along with Tipper Kengos and Jason Stucky, he could help to form what could be a very good outfield in the coming years for New Orleans.
9. Connor Keely, C
Keely was a 4th round selection by the Crawdads, and we were elated that he fell that far down to us. Quite possibly the best defensive catcher in the entire organization, Keely also has a decent bat. He's currently hitting .300 with an OBP nearing .400 in AAA Baton Rouge, but he's had fairly limited time due to Rolland Plemons getting the majority of starts. The team is planning on moving him to AA Shreveport just to get him more playing time, but barring anything strange happening, his career in New Orleans will liekly be as a backup.
10. Enrique Deprisco, SP
The second pitcher on the top 10 list, Deprisco is a light throwing control artist. The 21 year old is currently dominating AAA to the tune of 6-1 with a 2.13 ERA in 14 starts. Over 103 innings, he has allowed only 89 hits and 18 walks while striking out 70, good for a 1.04 WHIP. Realistically, he's probably a bump to stuff away from starting in the big leagues, but guys with high control ratings always seem to do better than their ratings say they should do. He's got an outside shot at a September callup, and will probably fight for a rotation spot next season.