BA's Jim Callis weighs in on Heyward, Vizcaino and more

Once again, Callis' answers are in bold and the questions are in the regular font.

Phil (Dallas)
Who are your picks for rookie of the year in both leagues?
Jim Callis (2:39 PM)
Jason Heyward, Neftali Feliz.

Ryan (Arlington, VA)
How would you handle Jason Heyward this year?
Jim Callis (2:42 PM)
I'd give him Atlanta's right-field job and get out of the way.
(After reading this, I felt like clapping my hands and cheering. It also gave me inspiration for the new sig.)

Ryan (Arlington, VA)
Last week you said you liked the Phillies system over the Braves. Even after the Halladay trade?
Jim Callis (2:44 PM)
Good catch. Those were my rankings for the Handbook, which were finalized before the Hallday trade (and the Vazquez trade). I would take the Braves over the Phillies now.

Trader J (Indy)
Simon Castro or Arodys Vizcaino
Jim Callis (2:50 PM)
Vizcaino, but it's close.

Doug (NYC)
Having Montero as your cleanup hitter in that BA QandA, does that mean he has the best bat in the minors?
Jim Callis (2:58 PM)
I think Jason Heyward has the best bat but Montero has more power.

Chris (Toronto)
Better Career for corner OF Heyward or Snider?
Jim Callis (3:07 PM)
Heyward.

mvhsbball (Talking Chop)
Martin Prado or Kelly Johnson?
Jim Callis: MARTIN PRADO!!!
Ok, maybe not. :)

over 2 years ago Scott Coleman 4 comments 0 recs |

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Comments

Prospects Question

I’ll be honest in saying that I don’t read scouting reports and mainly go by hype and little blurbs that I get off of here and ESPN and such, so I really don’t know much about the prospects other than “this one is good and has a potential very high ceiling, this one sucks” etc.

So, my question: how does our current stock of low ball players match up with that of Neftali Feliz at the same stage of their career? Would you guys rate Viz, Teheran, and the good Delgado’s development pretty close or not even in the same ballpark so far? Are their ceilings as high as Feliz’s was/is? Who out of that group could be considered as good or better/worse?

I guess I’m just trying to get a gauge of just how good some of these players are when compared to some of the hype surrounding some of other players in different farm systems.

PS – it sucks hard to see a former Braves “throw in” considered up for ROY.

by Kelly's Big Johnson on Jan 6, 2010 6:58 PM EST reply actions

Hmmm

Well at this point Teheran is ahead of where Feliz was at the same age. Vizcaino is kinda in the same place. Im referring to level in the minors as in A ball, rookie ball etc.

Vizcaino is the one that looks more like Feliz. He has a high K ratio and similar BB/9 and H/9 numbers also throws that high heat fastball supposedly up to 98. Teheran doesnt have quite the high K ratio however he has almost a full point lower BB/9 ratio but his H/9 ratio is higher and thats mainly from his first season in 2008 when he was injured and him being promoted to Rome this year.

You could almost say Teheran is like Maddux kind of. Seems to pitch more to contact than the others. He also has some pretty good control and it should only get better his K/BB ratio is 3.82 throughout his minor league career however in Danville he had a whopping 5.57 K/BB ratio. Maddux’s career K/BB is 3.37 although he had one year (1997) where he had an 8.85 K/BB ratio.

All of them are pretty stingy with the HR’s which is good.

You can look up all their numbers where i got these at www.baseball-reference.com

by drumzalicious on Jan 6, 2010 7:47 PM EST up reply actions