Green Diamonds: Mike Kvasnicka, 3B, Lexington Legends (Class A, SAL, Houston Astros)

Kvasnicka swings away vs. Asheville Tourists, 8-23-2011;
Photo by Clinton Riddle

Michael Kvasnicka

Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 2", Weight: 200 lb.
Born: December 7, 1988 in Lakeville, Minnesota, US (Age 22)
Drafted by: Minnesota Twins in the 31st round of the 2007 MLB June Amateur Draft and the Houston Astros in the 1st round (33rd) of the 2010 MLB June Amateur Draft.

Overview: Originally played OF with occasional catching duties when signed out of University of Minnesota...Three-sport star (baseball, football and hockey) who competed in state championships in baseball and hockey...Minnesota State High School Player of the Year in 2007..While playing for Lakeville HS (Lakeville, MN), set all-time school records in HR, RBI and consecutive games played...Father Jay was drafted in the 8th round in 1988 by Minnesota Twins, reaching Class AAA...Mike batted .314, driving in 26 runs while playing for the Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers of the Northwoods League in 2009, gaining All-Star honors...Led Tri-City (Class A-, NY-Penn League) in RBI with 36 in 2010...Batted .260, led team with 59 RBI and 32 doubles at Lexington (Class A, SAL) in 2011.

K-Man in the field; Photo by Clinton Riddle

Strengths: Kvasnicka manages to square up and make solid contact reasonably well for someone who doesn't use his lower half in his swing. His bat speed and aggressive nature at the plate allows him to let the pitch get deeper in his zone before he swings. He has mainly gap-to-gap doubles power at this point, but he still has time to allow his power to develop. In the field, Kvasnicka handles the hot corner well for someone who is relatively new to the position. His range is slightly better to his glove side, and he makes the majority of routine plays (see below). His arm strength is solid, no doubt helped along by his catching experience, and projects to be at least ML average if not plus. He makes throws to first with confidence, and cannot be underestimated even when throwing from deep behind the bag. He seems to take real joy in what he does, and is often smiling and cutting up with his partner at short between innings.

Weaknesses: While he doesn't seem to be overmatched at third, he is still a work in progress at the position. His 31 errors will attest to that. He can sometimes be caught off-guard by harder ground balls, which is likely due (again) to his having to learn the position while on the job. At bat, he can be overpowered at times by even average fastballs and is often cuffed on pitches up and in. He can battle pitchers who throw a steady diet of breaking pitches, but those at-bats end in groundouts too often. Because he doesn't use his lower body to drive into the pitch he doesn't drive the ball as well as he could, and this also translates into pop-ups on high fastballs that he otherwise could either lay off or drive the other way. He seems to rely on his bat speed and instincts more than he ought to, and will have to learn to leverage himself better if his power potential is to develop. Even so, he is likely to be little more than average (or slightly below) in that department when/if he reaches the majors.

Outlook: Because Houston is in the position it is in (ahem), Kvasnicka may find himself bumped up with regularity. He could probably handle a promotion to AA next year, but would benefit from more time at Lexington before that happens. He strikes me as the type of player whose intangibles make him a positive clubhouse presence, and he did handle advancing to Class A well, while bettering all of his major offensive stats, in the process. Kvasnicka fit in very well with the Legends, and seemed to bond especially well with SS Ben Orloff, which was beneficial to them both as they learned each others' habits and tendencies in the field quickly. Overall, he may not ever be the type of slugging third sacker we've seen in recent times, but at the very least he should at least be a versatile bench player and part-time starter at the ML level (especially when you factor in his experience behind the dish), and the needs of the big club could have him finding out for himself sooner rather than later.

2012 Season-Should start the year with Lexington, with consideration for advancement around mid-season.


Clinton Riddle
The Grand Old Game

Green Diamonds: Hank Conger, C, Cedar Rapids (A, LAA)

Hyun Choi (Hank) Conger, C
DOB: Jan. 29, 1988
HT: 6' WT: 205
B:B T:R
Drafted: Huntington Beach, CA (HS), 2006, 1st Rd.
Signed By: Bobby DeJardin

HISTORY: Given name is Hyun; was nicknamed Hank by his grandfather, taken from Hank Aaron, having had difficulty pronouncing Hyun Choi...Signed for $1.35 mil...Rated as #1 prospect in Arizona League in 2006, debut season cut short to only 19 games after suffering hamate fracture in right hand...Hit .319/.382/.522 in 69 AB in '06, .290/.336/.472 with Cedar Rapids (A) in the Midwest League in '07...Also had 21 2B, 11 HR, 51 RBI, 9 SB in his Class A debut...Gatorade's 2006 California Player of the Year...Has also played 3B, 1B, SS and the OF as a prep player...Named by Baseball America as Best Power Hitter among HS players, 4th best position player in the 2006 Draft (20th overall)...2006 Louisville Slugger Pre-Season High School All-American first team, 2006 and 2005 Cal Hi Player of the Year, and 2005 AFLAC All-American first team.

STRENGTHS: Aggressive hitter, plus power to all fields from both sides of the plate and makes consistent contact...Impressive makeup, mature beyond his years...Arm grades well at C; Pop time of 1.85 sec (measured in 2004)...7.3 in the 60 (also in 2004)...Works very hard at honing his craft, from all accounts.

WEAKNESSES: Does not currently project well if he remains behind the plate; there is some question as to whether he will remain mobile enough to handle the position...Hands and catch-and-throw skills play well now, however...Swing is more a matter of trying to muscle the ball, and has not yet learned to let his leverage work for him...Somewhat pronounced uppercut will cost him Ks at the plate in the higher levels...9 steals was probably a stretch, as he is not a great runner.

OUTLOOK: His power is enough to take him to the Majors, but I doubt he'll be behind the plate when he gets there. If he can maintain some kind of mobility and improve his footwork, he could be a fine corner infielder. The arm strength is already there, and he has the makeup to adjust well to learning a new position. If I'm running the Angels, I'm getting him some work at third and first before he rises above High-A. His value would obviously be higher if he were able to remain behind the plate, but that's not likely to happen. As things stand, I'd like to see a bit more from him before I make a judgement on him, but I like the potential here. You should watch his progress; it may be interesting.

Clinton Riddle

Bonderman Shut Down For Regular Season

May Pitch Again in October, Too Soon To Tell

By

Clinton Riddle

SEPT 13, 2007-Why does it always happen to the young ones?

Jeremy Bonderman, one of the young guns in the Tigers' rotation, was shut down for the remainder of the season after an MRI showed inflammation of the lateral aspect (lateral collateral ligament, perhaps?) of his right elbow. This is a chronically recurring inflammation that Bonderman says he's been dealing with since 2005.

"I'm happy with the results", said Bonderman. "I'm just going to rest now. I've had this for three years. I had it in '05, and last year it came and went. This year, it kept lingering. For the rest of my career, I'm just going to have to focus on it. ... I've got to figure out how to have it not happen again."

There is, of course, much relief that there was no major injury reported, certainly nothing requiring surgery and perhaps costing Detroit the services of one of their dominant power pitchers for months.

"I didn't tell anybody how bad I was because l wanted to go out and pitch," he said. "Maybe some people don't think I did the smartest thing in the world, but the team gave me a contract and they need me to go out and pitch."

Leyland said, "We are trying to come up with a philosophy now in the organization that we want to know about the first minor little sign of anything (that is wrong with a player) so we can check it out. We can do research to make sure it doesn't turn into something else."

Something else, indeed. Fortunately for the Tigers, Bonderman decided to speak up. He would do well to look to his future, because he could have a very bright one.

OUTLOOK: Bonderman is still relying too much on that hard slider of his. He had been working on a changeup that was coming along quite well, and my feeling is that he needs to get back to changing speeds and working his infield a bit more, let the guys behind him do their job, instead of trying to blow it by everyone. This is always hard for young power pitchers to do, but he's apparently having to learn the hard way. I guess if I threw 99 mph fastballs, I'd think the same way, but he should think long-term. When he starts mixing in more changeups, I think that inflammation will abate and he'll get past it. Also, I ALWAYS take team medical reports with a grain of salt; after all, 'major injury' is a relative term. What they're willing to say is 'major' is subject to debate.

Good luck, Jeremy. I'm looking forward to many years of dominant performances, so take care of yourself NOW.


Clinton Riddle

Quotes from [url=http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070911/SPORTS02/709110387/1050/SPORTS01]The Detroit Free Press[/url]

The Book On...Brandon Morrow, RHP, Seattle (AL)

Brandon Morrow, RHP
DOB: 7/26/1984, Santa Rosa, CA
HT: 6'3" WT: 190
B:R T:R
Debut: 4/3/2007 vs. OAK (AL)-1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 ER
Signed By: Stacey Pettis

HISTORY: 5th overall pick out of California in 2006 Amateur Draft...Insulin-Dependant diabetic, who wears an insulin pump when not on the mound and has to monitor his blood sugar during games...Highest draft pick in school history.

STRENGTHS: Power pitcher with mid-90's FB (touches 99)...Can maintain velocity deep into the late innings...Mid-80's slider, hard diving splitter...Seattle has plans to make him a starter, as he projects as an innings-eating workhorse.

WEAKNESSES: Needs to work on command a great deal, and his overall feel for pitching in order to become an effective starter...Doesn’t use his CU nearly enough; seemed to fall in love with his splitter, which may cause forearm troubles to recur (forearm soreness limited him to 16 IP in his pro debut).

OUTLOOK: Was effective as a reliever, and though he averaged a SO per inning, he also nearly averaged the same in walks (48 BB, 56 IP). Allowed only 3 HR this year, which is owed at least in part to his hard slider, but with his velocity he could do himself a big favor by working off that potentially dominant FB and using the slider and CU to produce easy groundball outs.

2008 Projection: 12-8, 4.35 ERA, 27 starts, 165 IP, 65 BB, 130 K shouldn’t be a stretch. He’ll probably have a lot of no-decisions to deal with, pitching well enough to win in most situations but will need better than average run support when he’s on the mound, at first. I like this kid; big time arm, big time endurance, just needs experience.

Clinton Riddle

Bruce Named BA Minor League POY

SEPT 9th 2007-Outfielder Jay Bruce, the first-round pick of the Reds in 2005, has been named the Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year.

The 20 year old Bruce, who hails from Beaumont, Texas, started 2007 in high Class A (FSL) and had little difficulty with the adjustment, hitting 11 HR, 27 2B and batting .325 in only 67 games. Class AA was no challenge, either, as Bruce hit .333 with 4 more homers. When promoted to Class AAA Louisville, a promotion originally intended to be temporary, the hits just kept on coming. Bruce hit 11 HR in 50 games with the Bats, finishing the year at .319/.375/.587, 46 2B, 26 HR, 89 RBI, tied for 10th in the minors in hits (166), ranked 2nd in extra-base hits (80) and TB (306), and all while making the amazing leap from Single A to the Majors.

"You just can't say enough good things about Jay Bruce," Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky said. "We're thrilled that Baseball America would honor him with such a prestigious award. It's an honor, not only for Jay, but for the entire Reds organization as we move forward."

OUTLOOK: This guy is for real, a big time talent who has nothing to prove. He could certainly benefit from a full season in AAA, and there is no real rush to bring him up for good. When he does make The Show to stay, however, he'll be a key component of the Reds in the decade to come. Along with Joey Votto at first, Jeff Keppinger at short, and Buck Coats and Norris Hopper in the OF, the Queen City has a lot to look forward to, and will need only to shore up their pitching to become a formidable opponent in the NL Central. I project him to be a 20-20 guy, hitting better than .300 and knocking in around 100 runs by 2009.


Clinton Riddle
The Grand Old Game