Will Venable - With Scott Hairston gone for the year, Will Venable has gotten the call for the Padres as, likely, their everyday CF. The Padres' minor league system is full of offense-suppressing parks, as you'd expect given their big league stadium, so Venable's .195 ISO in AAA this year at age 25 is slightly more impressive than you might think for the PCL. He isn't likely to be a star, but he probably has 15-20 homer power and enough speed to swipe more than 20 bases a year. I wouldn't mind having him for the stretch run if I needed some steals in the lineup, and it's distinctly possible that he could be an average CF offensively going forward. Venable did triple in his first big league AB yesterday.
Manny Ramirez - Manny is on a mission in LA, banging out another four hits last night to bring his line with the Dodgers to 400/487/670. He may be a space cadet much of the time, but the man can hit and it certainly seems to me like he's playing with a chip on his shoulder. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he were the most productive player in the game for the rest of this year.
Chris Volstad - Volstad has been substantially better than I expected so far, tossing his sixth quality start in nine tries last night as he held the Mets to one run in 6 1/3 innings. The 4.1 BB/9 against 5.8 K/9 mean more to me than the extremely high (53.5) GB% for predictive ability going forward, so I'd prefer to not get caught up with the hot start to his career. To me, he's a back-end starter at best unless there is a marked control improvement.
Pablo Sandoval - Pablo Sandoval definitely looks like one of those rarest of items: a Giants hitting prospect. Sandoval had another couple of hits yesterday, and even if Bengie Molina does return to the Giants next season, Sandoval appears poised to take over at either first or third. I wouldn't pay too much attention to his Cal League numbers when trying to figure out his power potential, but 6 homers in 117 AB's for Connecticut is pretty solid for a 22 year old catcher. I agree with David: Sandoval could be a top-tier catcher next year, and I think he's clearly worth having the rest of the way this year as well. He's playing every day and is probably eligible (or soon will be) at 3 positions.
Tom Gorzelanny - Gorzelanny did scuffle through the first few batters, throwing nine balls and one strike to the first two batters and allowing a three-run homer to the third. Just like that he settled down, throwing the next seven innings and allowing only two singles and a walk with four K's. You certainly can't proclaim his struggles to be over after seven solid innings against a good offense, but it's clearly a step in the right direction. He might be a good gamble for the stretch run, and certainly he's a good bet for a comeback season next year. I would keep a watchful eye on not just the walk totals during September, but also his velocity (down almost 3 mph the past two seasons).
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