Ten Observations: Carlos Jimenez Continues To Work His Way Back

In this weeks 10 observations, we take a look Carlos Jimenez continuing his rehab, among other things going on around the Pirates system

Photo Credit: WTM

• WTM: Carlos Jimenez made his second rehab start for the FCL Pirates on Tuesday. His first one wasn’t so good, as a lot of pitches were getting away from him and sailing high. After one strikeout, he walked three straight and left. This one was better, if not great. He gave up a run in the first on a walk and two singles, then walked one in the second. He got a bunch of groundballs, in fact every hitter he faced except for the two walks hit the ball on the ground. The two hits were both grounders that got through and Jimenez got two GIDPs. When he was missing it wasn’t, well, way wild like the other outing. So it’s probably a good step forward.

• Murphy: One thing that still amazes me with Thomas Harrington is how he kind of completely kicked in a completely different direction once he got to Greensboro. He was very much looking like someone who was more pitch to contact while with the Marauders, not getting much swing and miss with the fastball.

  He certainly didn’t look like a guy that was capable of striking out 11 batters like he did on Tuesday. He commands the fastball very well in the strike zone, and can even elevate it to get some whiffs. I’m still having some issues zeroing in on his upside, mainly because of consistency.

• Murphy: Garret Forrester made his professional debut on Tuesday, and the more I read on him, the more intrigued I got. His first at-bat he ripped a single up the middle that went triple digits off the bat. The rest of the night he looked a little conservative as far as when/if he should swing. He walked a few times, but also seemed like there was some opportunities to swing the bat, especially in the at-bat where he ended up striking out.

• Nola: Is it time we start talking about Jase Bowen? As of writing this, he leads the SAL in HR’s (19) and RBI (71). He's top 5-10 in most other categories, and did I mention with one more HR and 2 SB’s he'll have a 20/20 season. He spent the beginning of his career more as a swiss army knife playing everywhere but shortstop, pitcher, and catcher. This season he's settling in more as a regular outfielder. Hudson Head is on the 60-Day IL, and Sammy Siani is still developing. Tres Gonzalez performing well also hasn't stopped Bowen from receiving regular time in CF still. Jase is looking like he could be the one out of the prep trio to finally move along the development ladder.

• Murphy: It was the curveball that originally caught my attention with Owen Kellington, but it’s really the change-up that is consistently getting outs as of late. He picked up five whiffs on nine whiffs in his start on Thursday, for a 56% mark. Control has still been an issue for him, and I’m not sure how far he makes it with his velocity barely averaging 90 mph, but it looks like the rest of the arsenal is starting to expand even more.

• Murphy: I’ll eventually get into a full breakdown on what I feel is going right with Bubba Chandler, but in the mean time, really felt his slider was working really good for him in his last start. At times it feels like the pitch is a distant third when it comes to his offerings, and needed a lot more development. Not only was he getting chases, but also was throwing the pitch for strikes as well. If there is a player that would be a huge win for the Pirates if it clicks, it’s Chandler, and while the sample size overall is small - things are certainly looking up for him.

• Murphy: Thinking maybe the reliever route may be the best path for someone like Wilber Dotel? The movement isn’t great on the fastball (13.5 IVB), but he’s shown some ability to throw it for strikes on the corner and has gotten all the way up to 99 mph. Maybe everything, especially the strike outs, play better in the bullpen? It would seem early to pull a 20-year-old in his first full season of minor league ball out of the rotation but I see plenty of flashes, it’s just finding the best use of his arm.

• Murphy: Saturday was the second time I saw Drake Fellows pitch, and it was a noticeable jump in how sharp he was on the mound. The fastball still wasn’t overpowering, it averaged around 91 mph, but he placed it a lot better and it led to three whiffs on eight swings (combining the fastball and sinker). The slider was as tight as you would hope but he did spot it well, so it wasn’t a surprise to see he had a 60 CSW% with it on the night.

• Murphy: This one might be a more analytically driven observation, but you can see some of it playing out on the field. Brandon Bidois has some of the best stuff - looking from a pitch metric view point - on the Bradenton pitching staff. We don’t have set readings on for Altoona or Greensboro, but of the two we do (Indianapolis is the other), you could make a case he has one of the best fastballs I’ve gotten a reading on. If you are a spin rate, or buy hard into fastball shape, Bidois is a guy to watch. He struggled to start the season, but is really pitching well out the bullpen as of late.

• Nola: I was recently listening to a podcast from Keith Law, that fellow prospect loving friend PNC Yark shared on Twitter. In it, they were talking about Brewers’ outfielder Sal Frelick and mentioned in comparison the brothers Michael and Sammy Siani. The discussion was how Frelick was operating as an “old school” table-setter, rather than trying to be more than a ten homerun guy. Which got me thinking this past week that, “You know, Sammy hasn’t hit a homer in a while”. In just the last week, Siani went 7-for-15 with three doubles, four RBI, and six strikeouts to four walks. The strikeouts this past week still aren’t ideal, but I wanted to take it a little further back as well. If you start at July 14th, after sitting five consecutive days and not including this Sunday as Fangraphs isn’t updated yet, he is slashing .313/.413/.438 good for .851 OPS. Along with 11.8% BB% and 22.4% K% which is a huge step in the right direction for him. So, I ask once again and maybe a final time, is he finally turning a corner?