Kitty Litter - The RGV Ocelots Blog

[Matt]

look for John Dickson to move into a super utility role, where he will rotate around the infield and still find his way into the starting lineup 5 or 6 times a week while giving the other infielders a regular rest.

Sounds like what Jose Rivera was doing before Ligonier played himself out of the line-up...

I have always employed the strategy to a certain degree with my infielders. In San Antonio I used Lowell Peterson like that, he was good enough to be everyday, but I moved him around to keep the rest of the guys fresh. Not sure if Dickson keeps the role long term or becomes the regular 3b in a year or two. When Yi makes it to RGV, he and Barron should be the double play combination. Scratching my head over the future at 3b.

[Borealis]

look for John Dickson to move into a super utility role, where he will rotate around the infield and still find his way into the starting lineup 5 or 6 times a week while giving the other infielders a regular rest.

Sounds like what Jose Rivera was doing before Ligonier played himself out of the line-up...

I have always employed the strategy to a certain degree with my infielders. In San Antonio I used Lowell Peterson like that, he was good enough to be everyday, but I moved him around to keep the rest of the guys fresh.

Aside from the fact that he is a great player, that was the exact reason Rivera garnered the huge contract from Aurora - his value around the diamond; highly proficient at every position, giving guys breaks, covering spots during injuries - you name it. We are so thrilled he's back!

[Matt]

That was part of the reason for the signing of Jones. He can play anywhere on the infield, as can Dickson. McDonald is sort of relegated to the right side with his below avg arm. And Barron needs to lock in on one position. I think against lefty pitchers we might have McDonald at first, Jones at 2b, Barron at SS and Dickson over at 3b as our best defensive lineup. Against right handers, that's probably where Dickson just rotates around the infield day to day, giving the other 3 guy a day or two off each week. I still see Dickson getting well over 400 plate appearances. The reason for Dickson getting the rotating role is that I can fit him in any of the spots in the batting order for the guy who is getting the day off without having to shift the entire lineup around. Jones is sort of limited to the 9 hole, I would have to do a lot of shifting around if he was the guy doing the utility role.

[Matt]

The Ocelots added yet another player to their plethora of inexpensive signings this off season, adding 27 yr old relief pitcher Lui-chun Zhang on a 1 yr 900k contract to add some depth to the bullpen. Zhang was non-tendered by New Jersey after two subpar seasons.

The Ocelots are presently shopping 3b Oliver Lucero, as he likely won't make the team out of spring training. In fact, the Ocelots are rumored to be considering bringing in yet another veteran infielder so that Barron can spend some time in CF as a rh complement to the left handed bat of CF Ray.

The Ocelots remain in the market for a backup catcher, which remains the one glaring hole yet to be filled on the 2022 roster.

[Matt]

The Ocelots continued shopping at the PEBA Goodwill store this week, signing 3 players at bargain basement prices. The most interesting of the three players is 3b Bobby Watson, signed to a 1 yr deal at 1.05 million. Watson is a guy who has never come close to fulfilling his potential, but he has been a reasonably decent player who has often just been a bit over priced. Such will not be the case this season, as the Ocelots signed him to a cheap deal when he could not land a job elsewhere.

What the Ocelots front office likes about Watson is his ability to put the ball in play. With a team focus on speed and putting runners in motion, Watson could be a perfect fit for the Ocelots offense. Watson's addition does give the Ocelots a crowded infield, but it increases the likelihood that Orlando Barron will see at bats in CF as part of a platoon with Ben Ray.

The Ocelots also signed 32 yr old journeyman catcher Jesse Porter to a minor league deal with a major league option for 650k. Porter has already been added to the 40 man roster, and is expected to share time at catcher with Curtis Ash. Porter, who has been in pro ball since 2009, has seen no game action since 2014. But the RGV brass was intrigued with his solid eye at the plate, his gap power, and his cheap price tag. While not the defensive wizard the Ocelots had been trying to find, he does offer at least some offensive upside potential at a really low cost.

28 yr old left handed reliever Jerome Browning has also been signed, to a two year contract for 680k. Browning has been in pro ball since 2014, but has not thrown a single pitch in a game. The Ocelots brought in the stocky lefthander with the thought that maybe he can learn a third pitch down the road and eventually be a back end starting pitcher. Browning joins a large cast of left handed pitchers at AA Medicine Hat.

With the need for 3 spots on the 40 man roster, hard throwing pitcher Chad Miller, veteran infielder Trevor Veeneman, and young infielder Evan Burgess have all been waived and designated for assignment.

[Matt]

It appears to be a case of back to the drawing board for the Ocelots and their backup catcher situation. Jesse Porter, who was being auditioned for the job in spring training, suffered a hamstring injury and will be out 5 to 6 weeks, essentially killing his chances of making the team. The Ocelots needed a long look at him in spring training, and his chance now seems to have evaporated.

[Nigel]

look for John Dickson to move into a super utility role, where he will rotate around the infield and still find his way into the starting lineup 5 or 6 times a week while giving the other infielders a regular rest.

Sounds like what Jose Rivera was doing before Ligonier played himself out of the line-up...

It was the role that Bailey Rohr had for all of his London career . He never really hit the heights at the plate but could play All-Star defence all round the diamond, it probably kept him in London at least two to three years more than he really deserved

[Matt]

For the second week in a row, we lost a player to injury who was getting a chance to win a job after a long minor league career. This time Trevor Powell, who has shown great defense and great speed in his minor league career, was being given a chance to win a job in centerfield after being signed as a minor league free agent last week. Powell, who has shown the speed to steal 50+ bases and play excellent defense, fractured his ankle and will be out at least 4 months. The left handed hitting Powell was being penciled in as part of a platoon in Cf, possibly with another minor league free agent signing, Kevin Perez. The Ocelots CF situation now returns to a state of flux.

[Matt]

Opening week and the Ocelots go 4-2 on the week. This despite their best pitcher, Iwane Sato, mysteriously missing a start, and the teams best power hitter, Enrico Heredia, on the DL for the first two weeks of the season with a strained hamstring. But it's still just one week, and getting off to a fast start or slow start is way overblown. If this were August, it would hardly be noticed. We expect the success to be fairly short lived given the team's shortcomings.

Pitcher of the Week:

Ruben Hernandez, 7 innings, 3 hits, 1 Er, 1 BB, 5 k, an efficient 94 pitch outing culminating in a 9-2 victory over Kentucky.

Honorable mention: Justin Barton, 7 ip, 3 h, 1 er, 1 bb, 7k in a 8-3 win over London.


Hitter of the week:

Richie Norman, .529 avg, 1 2b, 2 HR, 5 rbi for the week.

Honorable mention: C Eisuke Koizumi, .333, 2hr, 4 rbi.


With Heredia out, Meade moved over to left field this past week, and will spend next week in left as well. Ben Ray and Chris Perez shared centerfield duties this past week. But Russell Wright was signed to a minor league contract this past week, and will join the active roster and play centerfield this week. Ray was designated for assignment. Defensive wizard Shane Reynolds was also signed this week to a minor league deal, and will join the roster for at least this week as the backup and defensive replacement for Wright. It's highly doubtful that this will end the revolving door in centerfield, as decisions will have to be made next week when Heredia returns from the DL.

[Matt]

Rough week for the Ocelots as the team goes 2-5 on the week, with three 1 run losses making for a tough go of it.

Hitter of the Week:
Richie Norman, .280, 3 HR, 6 RBI. Norman is now batting .381 with 5 HR and 11 Rbi on the season.

Honorable mention:
Juan Rosa, .412 with a HR and an rbi on the week. He is batting .481 with a HR and 4 rbi on the season.

Pitcher of the week:
Ruben Hernandez, whose second start of the season was a carbon copy of his first, 7 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 bb, 5 k's, 94 pitches in picking up his second win in a 4-1 victory over London.

Honorable mention:
Attilio Gaivo, making his first start of the season as the Ocelots attempted to stack lefty starters against the Maulers, went 7 innings, allowed 3 hits, 1 run, walked 4, struck out 7. He received no decision in the 2-1 Ocelots victory.

The Takuro Nogushi experiment is over at least for the moment, as the 45 yr old has posted an 0-2 mark with a 11.02 ERA in 3 starts. Left hander Dave Parkinson is likely to get the call to replace Nogushi on the roster as well as the rotation.

C Eisuke Koizumi is making an argument for more playing time, as he has batted .275 with 3 HR and 9 rbi so far on the season. With fellow catcher Curtis Ash headed to the DL, Koizumi should pick up more of the workload. As of press time, the Ocelots had not yet made a roster move to replace Ash on the roster, though the natural fit might be recently signed minor league free agent Dave York.

LF Enrico Heredia returns from the DL this week, and Brandon Meade has been optioned to AAA Texarkana. Meade will be gaining some much needed experience in CF while at AAA, but should return to the big club before too long. For now, Russell Wright will handle the CF duties, possibly being spelled by Orlando Barron against left handed pitchers. 2b John Dickson will also rejoin the squad, with RP Kei Tenno going back to AAA. The Ocelots had carried 13 pitchers this past week, but will return to the normal 12 this week as the off day affords them that luxury.

AAA Texarkana has won 8 straight and are off to a 10-4 start. Texarkana boasts one of the most experienced pitching staffs in the minors, with quite an assortment of 4A type pitchers. The pitching staff is third in the league in ERA. The offense is being led by outfielder Ryosei Ikarishi, who is batting .320 with 5 HR and 9 RBI so far this season.

AA Medicine Hat is 7-7 on the season, with the team ranked in the top 3 in most hitting categories, but the pitching staff is struggling early on. RF Dean Walden is batting .453 with 3 HR and 12 RBI. Fellow outfielder Yodo Ishikawa is batting .280 with 6 HR and 11 RBI.

[Matt]

Another week, another rainout and doubleheader.

2-4 week for the Ocelots, despite outscoring the opposition 35-34 on the week. The wins were 7-0 and 16-6.

Pitcher of the Week:
Iwane Sato, 6 shutout innings in a 7-0 win over New Orleans for his first win of the season.

Honorable mention:
Dave Parkinson, 6 innings allowing just 1 run versus Manchester, but the bullpen gifted the game to Manchester in a 4-3 loss.

Pitching Goat of the Week:
Jon Miller, he contributed to two bullpen meltdowns in consecutive days, taking the loss in one of them.


Batter of the Week:
Leslie McDonald, moved to the leadoff spot with the departure of Barron, responds with .409, 3 doubles, 3 HR, and 8 rbi.

Honorable mention:
Richie Norman, who for the first time this season doesn't take the top honor. But another fine week, .333 with 3 Hr and 7 rbi. He is tied for the IL lead in HR with 8, and is batting .365 with 18 rbi on the season. Amazingly, he has not walked a single time yet this season.

2nd Honorable mention:
Esteban Miranda was just 4 for 23 for the week upon arriving from Yuma. But all 4 hits were HR, including a slam in his 2 HR game at Manchester, and he led the team with 11 rbi on the week.

Hitting Goat of the Week:
Eisuke Koisumi, 3 for 19 on the week, though he did chip in with a solo HR in the 16-6 win at Manchester.

RGV is 4th in the IL in runs scored with 97, leads PEBA in doubles with 44, and is 3rd in IL with 29 HR. An area of concern however is that RGV is second to last in walks so far on the season. Doubles was an area the team really struggled with last year, so more balls finding the gaps is certainly translating in to scoring a few more runs.

The pitching numbers are a bit hard to figure out. The Ocelots have allowed the 4th most runs in the IL, but have allowed the 5th fewest hits, 7th fewest HR, 9th in walks, are 5th best in strikeouts, tied for 7th in WHIP, have a league average babip of .287. But the staff is 13th in runs allowed? The other numbers would suggest that luck is not with the Ocelots staff at the moment. A 1-5 record in 1 run games might lend a little credence to that theory. Only Canton (1-7) and Yuma (3-7) are having a harder time in one run games so far in the season. Though it is worth noting that Florida is 6-8 in one run games, having played in the most tight contests by far in all of PEBA, with the next closest in number of 1 run affairs Marseille with 10 (4-6). Tempe actually has the most 1 run wins on the season (7-2).

The Ocelots will go back to a 12 man pitching staff this week, with Xiao-Peng Li being waived and designated for assignment. The carousel in centerfield continues, as the team was highly dissatisfied with Russell Wright's -1.6 ZR over 12 games. Recently signed minor league free agent Tomas Gonzales will come up to play centerfield. Gonzales is a defensive specialist at this point in his career, though he has a decent eye at the plate and still has terrific speed. Morihiro Kato will also be called up to be the right handed side of a platoon in CF. Kato is also a defensive specialist.

Another minor league signee this week, 3b Josh Shaffer, will come up to the big club and take over at 3b for the defensively inadequate Bobby Watson. Watson will shift over to DH, replacing Akiro Goto, who was waived and designated for assignment after a disappointing start. Trevor Veeneman comes off the DL at AAA, and will come up to play shortstop. He will platoon with Jones, whose .091 avg will start only against left handed pitchers. 2b John Dickson was sent to AAA to make room for Veeneman.

Pat Lilly was signed to a minor league deal and will likely once again be groomed as a September callup.

[Matt]

A frustrating 3-3 week for the Ocelots, with all three losses by exactly one run, and all three by exactly the same score, 3-2. That drops the Ocelots to 2-8 on the season in one run games, and despite outscoring the opposition by 15 runs on the season, the Ocelots remain 3 games under .500 at 11-14.

Hitter of the Week:
Esteban Miranda, .421, 4 doubles, a triple, 2 home runs, and 4 rbi. In 11 games since coming over from Yuma in the Barron deal, Miranda has batted .324 with 6 hr and 15 rbi, making a great first impression on his new teammates.

Honorable mention:
Bobby Watson, whose shift to DH and also to the #2 spot in the order seem to be to his liking. Watson batted .360 with 3 hr and 6 rbi this past week.

Pitcher of the Week:
Dennis Ready, who pitched once in relief and once as a starter, allowing just 2 runs on 4 hits over his 7 innings of work. Ready is 1-1 3.96 on the season.

Honorable mention:
Marcos Gonzalez, 2 outings, 2 saves. He is 1-2, with 3 saves, and a 1.80 ERA on the season.

We finished our season series with Manchester, having used a strategy of throwing all left handed starters at them. We end up going 3-6 against the Maulers, but that doesn't tell the whole story. We outscored the Maulers by 2 runs in the 9 games. 5 of the 6 losses to the Maulers were by 1 run.

Roster shuffling - with the bullpen gassed and no off days in sight, 3 fresh arms are being brought in this week, with Tenno, Gaivo, and Parkinson going to AAA for the time being. Lefty Takuro Nogushi, who cleared waivers, will be added back to the roster and will work in middle relief this week. Lefties Gaivo and Parkinson return to AAA as we try to manage their arbitration clocks. Both were being employed as part of our strategy of throwing all lefties at the Maulers. Justin Barton will return to RGV and rejoin the rotation. Also coming up to join the rotation is Nobuhito Karube, who was pitching so well at AAA that the team felt obliged to give him a shot at joining the RGV rotation. In 4 starts at AAA, the 32 yr old Karube was 3-0 2.49, pitching 21.2 innings, walking just 2 while striking out 26.

C Curtis Ash returns from his stint on the DL and will resume his share of the catching duties, with Dave York being waived and designated for assignment.

The Lawrence Jones experiment ends as well, with his .119 avg being sent to the waiver wire, with John Dickson being called up to replace him on the roster. Dickson will play shortstop against lefty pitchers, and spell McDonald at 2b twice a week.

[Matt]

Ocelots Minor League Report

The top three teams in the minor league system all enter the second month of the season with winning records, which may be the first time that has ever happened for an organization under GM Higgins.

At least part of the credit for the success can be attributed to what GM Higgins recently referred to as an "evolving philosophy" in regards to the minor leagues. When pressed for details, the Ocelots GM pointed out that the organization places an emphasis on having quality experienced players at the AAA level. This hasn't always been his philosophy, as he once felt that having a bunch of older players in the minors was merely crowding out younger players who needed to be given a chance, regardless of results. This approach gives the team depth it can turn to help out at the PEBA level when needed. With this approach at AAA, there is less need to rush other players through the system, and the result there is that the lower levels are seeing more success.

AAA Texarkana is presently 17-9, and leads the Far East division of the AML by 5 games. After getting off to a 2-4 start, the Bandits went on a 9 game winning streak to help them vault to the top of the standings. The Bandits are third in the AML in runs scored, despite being 16th in HR. On the pitching side, they are 4th in the AML in runs allowed.

The pitching staff is a very veteran group. The staff consists of several pitchers who are being shuttled between PEBA and AAA this season, such as Atilio Gaivo, Dave Parkinson, and Justin Barton. The majority of the staff, however, is older veteran pitchers just hoping for a chance to make it back to the major leagues. 3 of the pitchers presently on the roster are 38 or 39 years old, with 6 other pitchers between the ages of 28 and 32.

Player Profile - MAKOTO SHIMIZU - 23 - RH
Outside of the pitchers being shuttled to RGV on a regular basis, the only true prospect on the staff is 23 year old Makoto Shimizu. The 2nd round pick in 2020 has quickly risen to the top of the Ocelots minor league system, and he continues to impress the team with his performance. In 5 starts this season, Shimizu is 4-0 with a 3.00 ERA. This after going 6-1 3.59 in 12 starts at Texarkana to finish last season. Despite being a hard thrower, Shimizu is not a big strikeout pitcher, but he is excellent at keeping the ball in the yard by inducing ground balls and letting his defense work behind him. While Shimizu has been impressive in his minor league career, the Ocelots still view him as a potential swingman. During a recent conversation with one Ocelots scout, he told me the organization see's Shimizu eventually having a role similar to what Xavier Gomes had for so many years with the Calzones. "We don't want to pile 200 innings a season on him, we don't think he has the endurance to handle it. We see him in the bullpen, that guy we can turn to who have give us 2 or 3 innings at a time and keep us in the game." For now, Shimizu is expected to work the entire season at AAA, with a possible debut in RGV next season.

The Texarkana offense is also a variety of veteran type players, though they do skew slightly younger in age. Brandon Meade is presently with the team, working on learning centerfield, but he should be back with RGV in a month or two, if not sooner. A career .302 hitter whose 162 game avg at the PEBA level produces a 4.0 WAR, he is presently squeezed out at the corner outfield spots and the Ocelots desperately need him to play at least a mediocre CF before re-inserting him into the lineup.

Player Profile - TAKUHIRO FUJIHARA - LF - R - 24


The 24 year old Fujihara has mastered AAA and really has nothing left to prove there, but is presently blocked at the PEBA level. A speedster with good on base skills, Fujihara has batter .311/.385 in 140 games at AAA over parts of the last 4 seasons, and stolen 42 bases. He was a semi-regular at the PEBA level during the latter half of the disastrous final season in the LRS. The team see's Fujihara as a potential future leadoff man, but the issue at the moment is finding him a position. He doesn't have the skills to play centerfield on a regular basis, and the corner outfield spots are presently occupied by the power bats of Heredia and Miranda. Fujihara can't even break through as a reserve because Juan Rosa has been so effective off the bench for the Ocelots. Complicating matters further is that Ocelots are very high on 3 outfielders at AA, Walden, Matsunaga, and Kawaguchi. Fujihara does have some experience at 1b as well as the outfield, and could give the team some flexibility. A most likely scenario for Fujihara is that he becomes a 4th outfielder in RGV next season, also picking up some at bats at 1b and DH on occasion.


AA and A reports to follow.

[Matt]

AA Medicine Hat

15-11
First Place in the Asian Division, 2 games up on Ranma.

The Drillers opened the season 7-2 before losing 7 of their next 8 games, then righting the ship and finishing the month on a 7-2 run.

The AA Drillers is where the majority of the organizations best prospects reside at the moment. The pitching staff is lead by 3 of the top 40 pitching prospects in PEBA, according to BNN, those being Dan Field, Naoki Hayashi, and Otis Pearson. In addition to those three, the team has confidence that guys like Luis Reyes, Ryobe Kobayshi, and Carlos Rodriguez could all be future contributors.

Things look just as bright on the offensive side, with prospects like infielder Min-u Yi, 3b Bob Vollmer, 1b Shigenobu Kawakami, outfielders Dean Walden, Shigenobu Matsunaga, and Matabei Kawaguchi all projected to make it to the big club within two years.

The Drillers offense leads the league in runs scored and ranks 1st or 2nd in most offensive categories, with notable exceptions being walks and strikeouts where the team is middle of the pack. The pitching staff has had a little rougher go of it early in the season, 13th in runs allowed, though the bullpen ERA is second in the league and the staff has allowed the fewest walks and 4th fewest HR. Improvement from this group should be expected as the season wears on.

Player Profile - CARLOS RODRIGUEZ - 24- LHP
The hard throwing lefty has posted 6 saves and a 2.11 ERA in 11 appearances. He has struck out 25 batters in 12.2 innings pitched. But he has also walked 8, and that's the rub. While he has the ability to strike out a lot of batters, his control leaves a lot to be desired. He is in his last option year, and the Ocelots organization is hoping to see some improvement in the control over the course of the season. The Ocelots are still hoping Rodriguez can grow into the lefty specialist role previously held by Bergeron at RGV, but he will have to show a little more control.

Player Profile - DEAN WALDEN- 21 - RF - left
Walden was acquired in the trade that sent David Uribes to Duluth over the winter. He has started this season at AA, and is batting .414 with 5 HR and 21 RBI in 25 games played. Quite simply, Walden is a hitting machine, posting a career .347 avg over the last 6+ seasons dating back to high school. He doesn't like to waste time at the plate drawing walks, he likes to take his hacks, but the Ocelots are fine with that if he continues to show he can put up the numbers. A natural centerfielder, Walden is working in right field this season, as the Ocelots see that as his future position when he makes it to PEBA. At present, Walden is scheduled to spend the 2022 season at AA, 2023 at AAA, and make his debut with RGV in 2024.

[Matt]

A Nogales Coyotes

8-6
2nd place, 2 GB in the Mexican division.

The Coyotes lost 4 of their first 5 games to start the season, but have won 7 of their last 9 to climb above .500 heading into May. The offense is 5th in the league in runs scored, while 7th in the league in runs allowed.

Unlike the higher levels of the system, Nogales lacks a real identity as of yet. AAA Texarkana is a veteran team, while AA Medicine Hat is sporting the organizations best prospects. The team is a mix of young players who don't identify as real prospects yet, as well as some players who are on the verge of flaming out after not making the grade at higher levels or who can't just quite push to the next level. Among the failing prospects are CF Shimizu, who greatly frustrates the organization with his lack of progress, and 3b Sugiyama, who seems to be steadily regressing.

Player Profile - TOMOTSU TANIGUCHI - 23 - RHP
Taniguchi has failed in two tries at AA, but admittedly he was rushed to those levels by an organization that was weak on talent at the time. Sent back to A ball this year, Taniguchi is doing well in the closer role, posting 3 saves and a 1.80 ERA in 5 appearances. Taniguchi has three pitches and the stamina to start, but he has a lot of work to do on the control. With the organization somewhat thin in the pitching department, Taniguchi may hold on to his roster a bit longer, but he will have to show some progress before he gets another shot at making the jump to AA. A darkhorse, at best, to ever pitch in PEBA.

Player Profile - JULIO MONTOYA- 24 - 1b - Switch
Montoya is not so much a failed prospect as he is a 'tweener'. He has a bat that would look fairly decent at shortstop, but looks below average at 1b. He is batting .333 with 3 HR and 8 rbi on the season, but it seems unlikely he will make the strides necessary to push past any of the other 1b/DH types on the roster at the higher levels, and he could soon be in danger of being passed by players coming along at SSA. He'll hang around for now at A ball and provide some offense, but highly unlikely he ever plays at the PEBA level.