Lansing Lugnuts: April Review

Thursday, May 12 2005 @ 11:05 AM EDT

Contributed by: Ryan01

"April review!" you wonder, "but Ryan, aren't we almost halfway through May already?" Well, yes. Yes we are. Any more questions?

The Lugnuts don't have many of the top prospects in the system, and their offense (or lack thereof) rivalled only the scuffling Fisher Cats. In fact, their only real advantage over the other affiliates, was in the numbers that count the most. That is, in the standings. That's right, it may be early but the Lugnuts were the only Blue Jays affiliate in first place in their division after April.

The Pitchers

Name	     W L  ERA  G GS CG SHO GF SV TBF   IP   H  R ER HR BB SO  AVG  BK WP HB
R Janssen    2 0 1.69  5  5  0	 0  0  0 113 32.0  18  7  6  0  3 29 .168   0  1  0
A Wideman    1 1 3.76  5  5  0   0  0  0 104 26.1  21 12 11  2  8 24 .226   0  0  1 
K Yates	     1 1 3.91  4  4  0   0  0  0  93 23.0  28 10 10  2  1 12 .282   0  0  2
C Cheng	     2 0 3.48  4  4  0   0  0  0  88 20.2  20  8  8  2  7 27 .247   0  2  0
J Perez	     1 2 6.48  5  3  0   0  1  0  72 16.2  22 14 12  3  4 15 .328   0  1  0
M Sopko	     0 0 3.95  7  0  0   0  2  0  60 13.2  15  7  6  1  4  9 .294   0  2  2
E Rico	     1 1 8.38  5  0  0   0  2  0  48  9.2  14  9  9  2  7  7 .285   0  1  0
J Templet    2 1 4.63  7  0  0   0  1  0  54 11.2  14  6  6  1  7 10 .304   0  1  0
D Harang     1 0 2.45  6  0  0   0  3  0  46 11.0   9  3  3  2  5 12 .225   0  0  0
D Hill       0 1 1.80 10  0  0   0  9  7  45 10.0  11  6  2  0	4  8 .282   0  1  0
P Keng	     1 1 3.86  3  0  0   0  0  0  32  7.0  10  6  3  2	0  6 .313   0  2  0
J McLaughlin 1 1 1.29  7  0  0   0  4  1  30  7.0   4  1  1  0  5  5 .160   0  1  0
A Martin     0 0 6.75  2  1  0   0  1  0  15  4.0   4  3  3  2  0  2 .286   0  0  0

The Prospects

Casey Janssen, 23, RHP
He's definitely more in the Josh Towers, Shaun Marcum mold than the Doc Halladay, Dustin McGowan one. High 80's stuff with outstanding command has baffled the Midwest League hitters to the point where the Jays front office took pity on them and promoted Janssen to Dunedin.

AJ Wideman, 19, LHP
In exchange for the rights to Ty Godwin, the Nationals sent over Aaron J. Wideman. We knew he didn't throw hard but the early reports have him topping out in the mid-80's. Keep in mind, he's lefthanded and only 19. Still, it would be nice to see him add a few clicks to his fastball as he matures because this Mississauga native knows how to pitch. Given his age, it's likely he'll last the whole season in Lansing.

Chi-Hung Cheng, 19, LHP
If there's any help coming out of the Blue Jays lower minors, it looks like it will be lefthanded pitching as both Dunedin and Lansing are packed with it. Despite being only 19, essentially skipping Auburn, and being exposed to an entirely different country and culture, Cheng is off to an excellent start. His outstanding curveball helped him earn 27 strikeouts in 20 innings, which is a very good sign. Even his walk, hit and homer rates were solid in the first month.

Po-Hsuan Keng, 20, RHP
The fact that both of the Blue Jays' Taiwanese pitchers are on the same team in no coincidence. Starting in Lansing is a big step for Keng but having his contryman Cheng, who's already been here for a year, on the same team has no doubt helped the transition to North America. Of course having his old teammate and classmate along, has likely also helped Cheng too as both pitchers have exceeded expectations thus far. Keng went on the DL on April 20th with some elbow tendonitis but has since returned and pitched well. Keng should stay in the relief role for the short-term but he may move into the rotation at some point this year.

Danny Hill, 23, RHP
Hill was primarily a starter in college but with his size and having only two strong pitches, he screamed relief prospect to many Bauxites on draft day. After a few injury concerns last season, that's exactly the role he's filling with the Lugnuts. He had one rough outing early in the season but has been next to untouchable ever since.

Juan Perez, 23, RHP
After a strong season last year at Auburn, Perez has dissappointed early in his first look at full season ball. He would have had to impress and move quickly to get a shot at being protected on the 40 man roster this fall but so far it doesn't look like the rule 5 draft will be an issue for Perez.

The Hitters

Name            G AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB IBB HBP SO SH SF SB CS  AVG  OBP  SLG E
J Armstrong    13 35 12 13  3  0  0   7 16  5   0   1  6  0  0  0  0 .371 .463 .457 2
J Peralta      18 54  7	17  1  0  0  10	18  5	0   1  9  1  0  2  0 .315 .383 .333 0
J Wolfe	       14 41  7 12  2  0  2   5 20  3   0   0 10  0  0  0  0 .293 .341 .488 0
C Thigpen      21 78 10	20  4  0  1   8 27 11   0   0 13  0  0	3  0 .256 .348 .346 2
D Corrente	7 24  3  5  0  0  0   2  5  3	0   0  9  0  0	0  0 .208 .296 .208 0
E Nielsen      22 74 13	18  7  0  3   6	34  9   1   0 15  0  0  0  3 .243 .325 .459 0
C Snavely      20 66 10	15  3  0  1   5	21 12	0   0 12  1  0	0  1 .227 .346 .318 1
R Klosterman   20 63 10	14  3  1  3  15	28 15	1   2 16  0  0  4  2 .222 .388 .444 4
R Cannon       19 67  9	14  1  1  5  15	32  7   0   1 20  0  0  0  0 .209 .293 .478 1
D Hicks	       12 39  5  8  1  0  2   2 15  1	0   0  4  0  0	0  0 .205 .225 .385 0
L Hetherington 12 29  5	 6  2  0  0   2	 8  8	0   4  8  0  0  1  0 .207 .439 .276 0
Y Rodriguez    19 72  4	12  3  0  0   3	15  6	0   0 18  1  2	0  1 .167 .225 .208 2
P Patton       18 68  3	11  2  0  2   8	19  2	1   1 20  0  0	0  0 .162 .197 .279 3

The Prospects

Curtis Thigpen, 22, C
No draft pick was second-guessed around here more then this second rounder on draft day with names like Kurt Suzuki, Dustin Pedroia, and Mike Ferris still on the board. But his bat and surprising skills behind the plate at Auburn silenced the critics last year. This spring has not been as kind to Thigpen but in comparison with the rest of the team, his stats aren't all that bad. Hopefully we can write off this slow start as a byproduct of the cold spring weather in Michigan.

Yuber Rodriguez, 20, OF
Über-toolsy Yuber had a rough month to say the least. However, it is his first shot at full-season ball and it's probably the first time he's even seen the weather as cold as what we would consider to be a mild spring day. He has plenty of time to work things out and hopefully that's all he needs at this point.

Chip Cannon, 23, 1B
Cannon has shown plenty of pop in his bat by leading the team in long balls. Though, it wouldn't hurt to see this Citadel grad display a little more discipline, at the plate that is.

Cory Patton, 22, OF
The General didn't play for Auburn last year after finishing the college season with a foot injury. As advertised, Patton has flashed some big time power but like everyone else has had trouble doing much else at the plate. Once again, hopefully his bat will warm up with the weather.

Ryan Klosterman, 22, SS
The shortstop hasn't had many singles fall in, resulting in his low .222 average. On the other hand, he still boasts a .832 OPS, which is the highest among the regular starters. His numbers should only rise from here on out and he could be the first position player to get the call up to Dunedin.

Next month we should have a little better data set to look at and we'll examine some other prospects like Kyle Yates, Eric Nielsen, Christian Snavely and Joey Wolfe. Until then, what are your thoughts on the 2005 Lugnuts?

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