Warming up with the weather
Jeff Clement, C, Mariners (Triple-A Tacoma)
Sunday’s stats: 3-for-5, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI
Clement got off to a slow start after not making the big league club in spring training, beginning the year in a miserable 1-for-20 slump. The good news is that scouts said he has still hitting the ball hard and just in a run of bad luck. That luck has turned around, as Clement is 13-for-28 in his last six games with six doubles and two home runs – raising his season averages to a solid .269/.358/.521.
Big guy, big arm
Cody Scarpetta, RHP, Brewers (Low-A Wisconsin)
Sunday’s stats: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 K
An 11th-round pick in 2007, the Brewers signed Scarpetta knowing that he’d need surgery to repair a tendon in his pitching hand. Since getting healthy, the 20-year-old has showcased a 91-94 mph power sinker and plus hard curveball, and he’s overpowering Midwest League hitters, limiting them to a .194 batting average on the season while recording 38 strikeouts in 27.1 innings. At six-foot-three and 240 pounds, he’s built to last, and if he can harness his control a bit more, he could move way up the prospect charts.
Sleeper alert
Calvin Anderson, 1B, Pirates (Low-A West Virginia)
Sunday’s stats: 1-for-3, HR (7), R, 2 RBI
A 12th-round pick last June out of Southern University, Anderson was a big raw power hitter in high school who became even bigger in college. Now at six-foot-seven and roughly 250 pounds, Anderson has plenty of raw power to spare, and is batting an impressive .324/.382/.622 in 31 games this year. His approach, which has led to just seven walks and 32 strikeouts in 111 at-bats could also be described as raw, but it’s hard to walk away from guys with this kind of physicality.
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Calvin Anderson is a new name for me, so thanks once again for your daily updates. I know how much you like to follow these behemoth hitters. What's the best comp for Anderson from past jumbo-sized first baseman --- Kyle Blanks, Calvin Pickering, Walter Young, or ______ ?
That said, I disagree on Clement. I follow the M's reasonably closely and they haven't given any indication that they think Clement has improved enough defensively to be a starting major league catcher.