Prospects on the 40 Man Roster: Indians and Giants-Off the Radar
By clinthulsey
May 7, 2012; Minneapolis, MN, USA: Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Fabio Martinez (52) delivers a pitch in the eighth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. The Angels won 8-3. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-US PRESSWIRE
Rosters recently expanded to 40, as teams could bring up anyone on their 40 man roster without sending anyone down. Of course, no one in baseball brought up 15 players to actually have an active roster of 40 players. There are quite a few players on 40 man rosters around baseball that haven’t ever played in the Majors. The Indians and Giants each have two, so I watched them play and wrote a little about them here.
Indians
Danny Salazar is not a very big looking pitcher, and is especially skinny looking. He has some real fastball life but not a ton of control of it. After starting the game at just 89 MPH, he built up to 95 MPH and occasionally hit 96-97 MPH. It tended to drift high and stay straight at times. He was giving up a lot of fouls when I saw him, the hitters couldn’t square it up in AA, but he couldn’t put them away either. He showed a rare slider that there wasn’t much feel for. It has some nice drop but doesn’t have sharp break and in the strike zone looks like a pretty weak pitch. His changeup was really rare, but it was a nice pitch with splitter like drop. He threw too many fastballs, and has no real command of his off-speed stuff. It is a starter like repritoire, and he has good stuff, but he really has to develop his breaking pitches if he isn’t going to be moved to the bullpen.
Fabio Martinez is a reliever the Indians got from the Angels (he was used as a starter with the Angels) on a waiver claim. He missed almost all of 2011 with shoulder tendinitis. He is a big guy that comes somewhat over the top with his delivery. His fastball command is way off, but it looks like he has good stuff (94-96 MPH) and no idea where the ball is going. It also looks like he had a solid slider with late downward movement. It is a strikeout pitch if he can set it up with his fastball. Control is the thing that is holding Martinez back. I don’t see him returning to a starter role, but with some command adjustments, he could be in the big leagues soon. In the end, he has swing and miss stuff.
Giants:
Roger Kieschnick lost a good chunk of the year to injury, but tore the cover off the ball (144 wRC+) in 55 PCL games this season. Defensively, he looks like a good left fielder with an okay arm (probably below average). He is not very speedy (Speed Score insists he is above average and Baseball Cube has him at 66 speed) and he doesn’t have a corner outfielder’s body. He looks like he has some patience at the plate (an improved walk rate this year backs this up), but also possess quite a bit of swing and miss. Striking out has been a serious problem for Kieschnick in his career (never striking out less than 22.4% of the time at any stop in the minors). It isn’t the quickest swing and doesn’t look like a power swing (although he has shown some power in his minor league career). He seems to be wanting to go the other way or pull grounders.
Ehire Adrianza looked bad at the plate. The shortstops’ swing isn’t desirable and he was having some problems with fastballs (especially high ones). He looks athletic at shortstop and one can see him as a good defender. His introduction to AA was really rough, but somewhat BABIP related. He walked at an okay rate and didn’t strikeout too much. He didn’t hit for any power though, and at age 23, Adrianza’s best bet to stick is defensively and on the base paths. He is certainly not an elite baserunner, but is probably above average.