Rock Cats Prospect Update

As the Rock Cats roll into town, let's do an update on the progress of the top prospects on their roster (as always, per John Sickels).

Glenn Perkins (#5, LHP, B+ rating) has made 7 starts for New Britain. In 38.2 IP has a 3.96 ERA and fairly shabby 1.60 WHIP, 31 K’s vs. 23 walks. Perkins fared much better in Fort Myers: 2.13 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 66/13 K/BB in 55 innings pitched.

Alex Romero (#9, OF, B rating) is hitting 302/352/474-12-62 in 105 games for the Rock Cats. I don’t remember thinking that his stats were that great earlier in the season, so he seems to be acclimating to AA very well.

Matt Moses (#12, 3B, B- rating) was promoted to New Britain in mid-July after hitting 306/376/453-7-42 in 74 games at Ft. Myers. Has started very slowly for the Rock Cats: 206/296/317-1-9 in 72 games but, at 20 years old, is very young for the league.

In addition to Romero, the Rock Cats have three other solid bats that have been in the lineup all year: Doug Deeds (298/374/479-13-62) leads the team in OBP, while Daniel Matienzo (283/340/504-19-75) leads in the power categories. 1B Luis Jiminez (261/351/468-14-47) provides another power bat.

With Francisco Liriano having been promoted to AAA, there are no big arms on the pitching staff, with the possible exception of Perkins. Levale Speingner (16 GS, 100 IP, 3.95 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 67/23 K/BB) has shown good control and has been effective keeping runners off base. Colby Miller (12 GS, 70 IP, 3.60 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 41/19 K/BB) is similar – not overpowering, but he has been effective. Nick Blackburn has a 2.78 ERA in three starts since arriving from A ball. Patrick Neshek (41 G, 61.1 IP, 2.35 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 71/19 K/BB, 16 saves) has been quite effective as the closer.

Perkins, Blackburn and Speigner are scheduled to start the first three games of the four-game series for the Rock Cats.