By Stefan Feuerherdt, Portland Grays
Recently, the head scout for the Grays attended a Pacific Coast League game between the Portland Beavers and the bizarrely-named Las Vegas 51’s (editorial note: I know the name is a reference to the “Area 51” of UFO-seekers fame, but the team name, “51’s,” just doesn’t look right on a scoreboard next to all the other run/hit/error numbers… but enough of that). Keeping a special eye out for BrassWorld prospects dotting the lineups of the AAA-level teams, here are some observations our scout made;
Koyie Hill (C, Taggart) had a solid game, going 2 for 3 with a walk, and looking solid behind the plate. The only opposing runner to attempt a steal was successful, but it looked more like the product of a slow delivery than a poor throw by Hill. Hill was fooled badly to strike out swinging in his first at-bat, but came back to show solid line-drive swings on his 2 singles. Doesn’t look like Hill has much power, based on his stats and on what he showed tonight.
Chin-Feng Chen (1B/OF, Toontown) will have a good line in the boxscore (2-for-5), but it didn’t look like a good game for him. He has a nice-looking swing, but neither of his hits tonight were sharply hit, and one of his singles was a “seeing-eye” grounder that just evaded the second baseman. If his fielding performance was indicative of his potential, he may have a tough time even playing 1B at higher levels. After an inning which saw two straight sacrifice attempts end with infield singles, Chen was moved to LF as part of a double-switch.
Mike Bynum (LHP, Aspen) had a very streaky game. He cruised through the first three innings, allowing only 1 baserunner. But in the 4th, the wheels came off, and, with one out, he put 3 consecutive people on base, with 2 walks and one HBP, and ended up allowing 4 runs in the inning. He ended up with 4 walks and 6 K’s in 5 innings of work.
Tagg Bozied (1B, Rivendell), newly arrived at AAA, didn’t look overmatched at all, finishing with 2 hits in 4 AB’s. Bozied’s best hit didn’t make the boxscore, though, as he launched a towering drive that curled foul well above and beyond the outfield wall. Bozied looked unremarkable (good or bad) at first base.
And finally, Joey Thurston (2B, Annandale) frankly didn’t do anything particularly poorly or well on this night. He went 1-4 with a K (looking), didn’t have a chance to show anything on the basepaths, and fielded 2 or 3 routine chances at 2B without any problems. Also, he seemed to be limping, or at least favoring one leg, and it didn’t seem to be the result of anything that happened in this game.