Monday: Drabek displays mature approach in Hawaii

Baseball America’s scouting sources rated 2006 first rounder Kyle Drabek as the second best pitching prospect and fifth-best prospect overall in Hawaii Winter Baseball, which wrapped up play last week.

Drabek, who turns 21 in a week, made some mechanical adjustments in his delivery to good results, according to a report available to BA subscribers. The young son of ex-pro Doug Drabek made progress on his changeup, in addition to an already-excellent fastball and power curve. But his most impressive development may have been his maturity, which was one of the major issues coming out of high school. Managers and scouts told BA that he “comported himself as a professional in Hawaii,” although took a late-inning loss in the season’s final game very hard. In 20 2-3 innings, he fanned 19 while walking four to the tune of a 3.05 ERA. Drabek pitched in only 32 2-3 low-minor innings this season as he continued his recovery from Tommy John Surgery.

Not to be outdone, Honolulu Sharks teammate Dominic Brown led HWB in hitting (.389) and on-base percentage (.506). Scouts rated the 6-foot-5 outfielder as the fourth best prospect in the league, but are mixed on his power potential. Brown will likely begin the season in Class-A Clearwater.

Lefthanded horses eating innings in Mexico: A couple of 2008 IronPigs are chewing up innings in the Mexican League. Lefties Travis Blackley and Brian Mazone, who became minor league free agents after the season and are technically no longer Phillies, are among the league leaders in innings pitched. Blackley, the Australian Rule 5er the Phils auditioned during spring training, leads the league in strikeouts (49). Other Mexican league players who laced up their cleats at one time or another in the organization include Oscar Robles, Vic Darensbourg, Bobby Scales, Karim Garcia, Chris Roberson, Chris Woodward, Kevin Barker and Reggie Taylor.

Costanzo, Lahey available in Rule 5: Mike Costanzo, part of the package sent to Houston for Brad Lidge and Eric Bruntlett, is one of the players left unprotected and will be available via the Rule 5 draft. Costanzo was the Phils’ second-round pick in 2005 and struck out a career-high 159 times and homered just 11 times with Norfolk (Triple-A Baltimore) in 2008. Additionally, big righthander Tim Lahey, who the Phils protected on their 25-roster for a short time in ’08, was also left unprotected by Minnesota.

Comments

[J. Weitzel]

I'm expecting big things from Drabek.

[baxter]

Could we see Drabek in Reading by the end of the year?

[CJ]

Jason: Was it just a couple years ago that the Phils didn't seem to have a single promising pitching prospect outside of Cole Hamels?

Hamels is still young and then you have Carrasco, Happ, Drabek... and even Kendrick if he gets his head on straight and learns a changeup. Is it too much to suggest that if things break right, a rotation down the road could be Hamels, Drabek, Carrasco, Happ, Kendrick.

[NEPP]

Carrasco and Drabek seem like nice prospects to have in the minors...both have fairly high projections as starters.

From the last thread: http://mlbplayers.mlb.com/pa/pdf/cba_english.pdf

Here is the link for the current CBA...if anyone feels like figuring out exactly what it says on 10 & 5 players, feel free.

[J. Weitzel]

I think Double-A could be rushing it.

[CJ]

NEPP: Yeah... seems confusing. The ESPN explanation I found seemed to imply ML service time... which would suggest Burrell would not become a 10 and 5 player.

[Lake Fred]

There was a girl in my high school class named Drabek...big rack. That's all I remember.

[Bubba]

Lake Fred-

Better than AA ?

[GM-Carson]

Classy Lake Fred!

Glad to hear of Drabek's progression, as he's been a major disappoint until now in my opinion. He's young with plenty of upside though, so I haven't given up on him.

I foresee a lot of teams trying to plug holes this offseason via minor league signings (ex- Mike Koplove) and the Rule 5 draft. Teams are tired of paying aging veterans millions to do a job an up-and-comer could do for far less.

[Lake Fred]

D League!

[The Truth Injection]

I think it's really hard, and somewhat unfair, to call Drabek a disappointment just yet. He had very few starts before he got shut down with Tommy John surgery. This isn't like the NFL or NBA- the learning curve, and patience needs to be factored in with guys before any judgments get made.

[J. Weitzel]

Agreed. It's way, way early to know much of anything about Drabek at this point. He's seen very little action.

[Lake Fred]

I just read Conlin's piece about Burrell and McNabb. I'm not a big Conlin fan, but he wrote this gem that may get overlooked. He wrote:

"The dopes who do the draft-day picking are often the same dopes responsible for the lousy records that earned them such a high selection in the first place. It's often classic garbage in, garbage out."

Now, I can finally understand how the teams I root for that do bad, and get a high draft pick, usually waste it on a dud.

[GM-Carson]

He's a disappoint so far in my eyes because he's been injured. I know he really hasn't had much of a chance to flaunt his stuff because of the injury, but that's still disappointing in my opinion.

[Lake Fred]

I agree with Carson, Drabek's been disappointing. As a fan of the WFC Phillies, I hope he has continued success in recovering from his surgery and is able to contribute to the big club in the not to distant future.

[GM-Carson]

From MLBTR-
According to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, at least four teams are interested in free agent infielder Mark Loretta. Among them: the Phillies, Pirates, Diamondbacks, and Dodgers.

Crasnick figures the Astros won't offer Loretta arbitration this time around; he accepted last year. He lost his case but still earned $2.75MM. The 37 year-old hit .280/.350/.383 in 297 plate appearances while playing a below-average second base and an above-average third base.

[Rusty E]

Fun Useless Triva.

The Phillies had Tim Lahey on the active roster for the opening series.
Who replaced him on the active roster?

[kdon]

Surprised to hear about Costanzo - I remember him having a tough start, but I guess a .728 OPS just isn't going to cut it from a 24 yo at AAA. Especially considering he was moved to 1B after making a ton of errors at 3B.

I was slightly concerned about giving him up in the Lidge deal, mostly because of the impressive power numbers from a position where the team had no depth, but this might be another case of Reading inflating offensive numbers.

Too bad, but maybe the Phils bring the Springfield kid back.

And did the Phils announce their 40-man protected roster? I imagine Jason would have covered it, but I haven't seen anything.

[kdon]

Seanez.

[baxter]

Drabek didn't really get injured; the Phillies figured he'd eventually need a Tommy John surgery and wanted to get it over with ASAP.

[denny b.]

Good to hear about Drabek and Bastardo.

And, Dom Brown putting up good numbers is nice to see, as well.

As for where Drabek starts next year, I would guess he will start in A ball, and if he has 7-8 solid outings down there, will quickly be promoted to Reading. Reading, is probably where he would have gotten to, at this age, if he would have stayed healthy, anyway.

Just hope he can put 1 healthy season together, and build up some arm strength and confidence. Lots of folks seem to like his "ceiling".

Also, will be interesting what, if anything, the Phils can get out of Zagurski and Mathieson, as they come back from serious injuries. I'd guess, if healthy, they both start in LV next year, in the pen.

Although he was wild and probably not ready for prime time when called up, I liked some of what I saw from Zagurski. Had good stuff, for a bullpen lefty and was a character. Hope he makes it back one day.

[Jack]

Rusty- Lidge?

[Sam]

I find it hard to call Drabek a disappointment...with prospects, I have very low expectations until they produce. The sheer number of prospects, regardless of where they get selected and who they are that fail to pan out into even utility players is tremendous.

The fact that he seems to have recovered from surgery and has retained and even improved is a great sign.

[thephaithful]

Agreed - hard to label a 21yr old that was drafted in the first round a disappointment already, especially since he hasn't really done anything wrong, just took take care of arm problems.

If he doesnt make a positive impact to the big league club by the end of the 2001 season, then yeah I'll be disappointed to.

[CJ]

Jerry Crasnick suggests the Phils are among the teams interested in Mark Loretta.

Loretta played 46 games at 2nd base and 17 games at third base last season. He can play all four infield positions but his strongest defensive position is apparently third.

He was an all-star starter at 2nd base in 2006 for the Red Sox. In 2007, he got 460 ABs playing at all four infield positions.

He's a career .297 hitter, although he's hit between .280 and .287 his last four years. His career OPS+ is 99.

If the Phils are at all concerned about Utley's and Feliz's health, Loretta would seem to make a lot of sense as a stopgap.

[GM-Carson]

Damn, ease down people. I didn't say Drabek was a flop, just said he's disappointed me thus far because of his lack of progression. He was a 1st round pick, and high hopes are abound when labeled such...just the way it is. I also said I'm far from giving up on him...

[CJ]

GM-Carson: I guess people think it's a little harsh to jump on a guy after just 17 minor league starts.

[GM-Carson]

Tell me how I'm jumped on him. This is typical BeerLeaguer over analyzing people's comments and making something out of nothing.

[GM-Carson]

You know what, whatever. From my standpoint a guy is a disappoint because he only has made 17 starts. I viewed Cole as a semi-disappoint early in his minor league career too because he couldn't seem to stay healthy, but he turned out just fine and hopefully Drabek will too. I didn't say Drabek was a lost cause and should be cast aside like Golson...cut me some slack.

[Lefty]

Beerleaguers breath a deep sigh of relief.... Kevin Mench signs on to play in Japan!

[CJ]

GM-Carson: I understand what you're saying... but I don't think Kyle Drabek has had a history of health problems. He had one health problem... which was resolved with Tommy John surgery.

I'm not sure he'd necessarily be further along now than he is without the surgery. Perhaps he'd have a year of Single A under his belt... but it's probably a good thing that the Phils got that out of the way early.

[f4f]

from GM-C "I didn't say Drabek was a flop, just said he's disappointed me thus far because of his lack of progression."

lack of progression? he's been injured since almost day one and is now rounding back into shape after major surgery (and still only 20!) if you had said "i'm disappointed a high round pick needed tommy john right off the bat", then that would be valid. but lack of progression? does not compute.

[mikes77phillies]

Guess at trivia question: I think Lidge replaced lahey on the 25 man roster.

[Spitz]

Is Kris Benson in any way still affiliated with the Phillies?

[clout]

Spitz: No. Are you sorry?

[Spitz]

Clout: not at all. I was just curious because I saw that Mike Hampton signed with the Astros. Seems very similar to our Benson reclamation project last year.

[CJ]

The Yanks have declined to offer arbitration to Bobby Abreu.

Cue clout in 3... 2... 1...

[Wayne]

Benson was released.

[CJ]

Spitz: I suppose they're similar... although Hampton was able to show off that he was "healthy" in the last year of his Braves contract (after missing all of 2006 and 2007... as well as most of 2008). Benson was a free agent trying to come back from injury. That made it much harder for Benson to break in at the major league level.

[clout]

CJ: Posters seem to be confused about my views on Abreu. Even though I've stated them many times, I'll repeat them again:

I had no problem with trading Abreu. The problem I had was in trading one of the best hitters in baseball FOR ABSOLUTELY FREAKING NOTHING but a stinking pile of human garbage.

I had a real big problem with that and with the idiots on this board who said it was a good move because the money saved would be used to sign better players (i.e. Adam Eaton).

That is quite different from wanting the guy back, which I don't.

[CJ]

clout: Come on, man... you know I'm just kidding, right?

[clout]

CJ: Of course, but I don't want anyone to think I'm advocating that the Phils sign Abreu.

[CJ]

clout: Understood.

I suppose someone could argue that Abreu has a higher career OPS+ than Burrell (133 to 119), but Abreu has had a lower OPS+ than his career number the last four years while Burrell has had a higher OPS+ than his career number the last four years.

Burrell is also 2 1/2 years younger.

[Lake Fred]

clout, I'll try to explain it for the newbies. (One of our commentors uses "equals" signs a lot. I'll try to imitate the logic.)

To cut through the crap, basically we traded Abreu foe Eaton Crap. The WFC Phillies FO felt that Abreu = Eaton Crap. Using mathematical substitutions. Abreu = Eaton Crap = Nuthin'

We got nuthin' for Abreu.

[diggitydave]

Wow a mention of Vic Darensbourg in the header for today's post. I feel a little cheated that, as of yet, there is no appearance of Andy, who I gathered to be Vic's biggest fan in the world.

Also I know there are some mixed reviews from many of the posters here regarding Drabek and his progression as of yet. I have to say, however, that it's great to hear about his maturity as a ballplayer.

I think everyone here can agree that a pitcher's makeup (more so than a position player) is virtually imperative to his success in making the big leagues, and eventually, succeeding in the majors. We've seen all too many pitchers with great promise to come up through the Phillies system, only to never realize their potential because of a flaw in attitude or makeup. Gavin Floyd (among other reasons) comes to mind. I'm sure there are other good examples.

If nothing else, this shows promise that a pitcher with a great pedigree is maturing and coming along well as a ballplayer, which is about all you can ask for in a 21-year old kid.

[Dull]

Hard to believe the growing depth of Phils pitching right now. Last year I actually watched Rosario and Darensbourg pitch in relief of Kyle Kendrick for spots on the the 25 man roster at Disney World.

[philsphan]

Vic Darensbourg!

[freesamuel]

did i just hear correctly that the Phils declined to offer arbitration to Moyer and Burrell (and thereby guarantee those sweet, succulent compensatory draft picks)?

is this the ghost of Ed Wade? are the Phils just going to wait another 25 years for another parade?

[Rusty E]

Lidge is correct. He returned from the DL and Lahey was placed on waivers and ended up returning to the Twins.

Lahey never pitched in a game but was on the active roster for three games. I wonder if he gets a ring?

[Johnny Bravo]

Anyone that's familiar with Minor League Baseball and Harbor Park in Norfolk know that Costanzo's numbers are not as bad as they seem. The wind blows in from rightfield off the Harbor all season which holds up deep-flys....The team leader in HR in Norfolk only hit 13. I personally witnessed about 5 balls that Costanzo hit off the top of the fence 410ft in centerfield, that were either caught or were only a double.