RIGHT FIELD FOG

I always like to keep an eye on players who come to the Cape after their freshman seasons. I do this because, in a league dominated by sophomores, any freshmen who earn invites are typically the cream of the crop. Invites go out before their freshmen seasons begin, so they’re given the nod based on reputation. Only those who are highly-touted get the call.

For the freshmen, themselves, a big summer on the Cape can mean big things. In a way, it sets them on a path. If they sustain their level of play, they’ll stay on that path and eventually hit paydirt.

So to keep an eye on these young stars, I’ve put together a leaderboard for the freshmen. First, the hitters.

PLAYER	COLLEGE	CAPE TEAM	AVG
Cole Figueroa	Florida	Harwich	.325
Sean Ochinko	LSU	Y-D	.321
Josh Phegley	Indiana	Wareham	.309
Addison Johnson	Clemson	Chatham	.299
Kyle Seager	North Carolina	Chatham	.289
Grant Green	USC	Y-D	.284
Robert Stock	USC	Cotuit	.279
Blake Dean	LSU	Wareham	.276

Figueroa is following up a great spring with an even better summer. The shortstop was named to Freshman All-America teams from several different publications after hitting .332 with 11 home runs. The 5-foot-10, 180-pounder only has one home run this summer, but his average and his .423 OBP are very impressive. Figueroa was a ninth-round pick out of high school, and is surely headed for the higher rounds in a few years.

Ochinko was a catcher and a first baseman for LSU, and he’s pulling the same duty for Y-D. He’s played 20 games at first and five behind the plate. His slugging percentage (.543) is among the best in the league.

Phegley has made a big splash, as well. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound catcher has split time behind the plate with Bryan Garrity, and he’s made the most of his time. In 22 games, he’s hitting .309 with five extra base-hits. For a catcher, that’s great, and for a freshman catcher, it’s even better.

The Cape League has been and probably always will be a pitchers’ league. The wooden bats make things signficantly tougher for the hitters and, in turn, significantly easier for the pitchers. That’s reflected pretty clearly in the numbers. Below are the leaders in ERA and the numbers they put up this spring.

PLAYER	CAPE TEAM	CAPE ERA	COLLEGE	COLLEGE ERA
Aaron Crow	Falmouth	.42	Missouri	3.59
T.J. Hose	Bourne	.42	East Carolina	3.97
Kyle Gibson	Falmouth	.96	Missouri	4.12
Kevin Couture	Chatham	1.25	USC	5.79
Josh Zeid	Harwich	1.53	Vanderbilt	18.69
Andy Oliver	Wareham	1.69	Missouri	5.52
Eddie Burns	Y-D	1.69	Missouri	3.58
Christian Friedrich	Falmouth	1.86	Missouri	2.09
D.J. Mitchell	Bourne	1.93	Clemson	3.27
Wade Miley	Wareham	2.01	Missouri	3.86

This isn’t a major revelation, of course. An ERA in the three’s is very good in the world of college baseball. On the Cape, sub-2.00 ERA’s are pretty common. But while it’s not earth-shattering to put these stats together, I think it’s worth looking at them. In the end, both numbers are probably skewed. The college ERA’s are inflated because of metal bats — pitchers won’t see those in the pros. But the Cape ERA’s are deceiving as well — Cape hitters, for the most part, haven’t fully adjusted to wood.

Ultimately, the numbers are all relative. Besides, the cream usually rises to the top, wherever the top may be.

*One other thing to note: several of these players are on pace to put up significantly fewer walks than they did in the spring. That’s probably less a sign of increased control across the board, and more a sign of a willingness to attack hitters.

Falmouth can pitch a little

As I was poring over stats to come up with those extra leaderboards, I realized something: Falmouth has some ridiculous starting pitching. The five starters at the moment are Aaron Crow (Missouri), Christian Friedrich (Eastern Kentucky), Kyle Gibson (Missouri), Shooter Hunt (Tulane) and Aaron Shafer (Wichita). Through Saturday, that quintet had started 20 of Falmouth’s 26 games. These are the numbers they’ve put up:

• 10-3 record
• 1.83 ERA
• 1.07 WHIP
• 138 strikeouts (10.51 K/9), 45 walks (3.07 K/BB)

That is one heck of a rotation, and it’s no wonder that Falmouth is on a hot streak. The Commodores have won five in a row, and not surprisingly, the five winning pitchers were the five starters.

The bullpen hasn’t been quite as strong. Five relievers have ERA’s over 4.00, but there have been enough bright spots to think Famouth’s pen will be fine. Erik Bird (Nebraska) has a 2.13 ERA in nine appearances with nine strikeouts and no walks, while Brent Graffy (Notre Dame) has a .77 ERA in 10 appearances.

In all, with starting pitching like they’re getting, it’s going to be tough to send the Commodores to a losing streak. And it’s more likely they’ll stay hot.

Tools

The five tools: ability to hit for average, ability to hit for power, speed and baserunning skills, throwing ability, fielding ability

One player with all those tools is a complete player. I haven’t seen enough of anybody (nor am I very good at scouting) to know if there are any of these five-tool guys on the Cape. But I know from what I’ve seen and what I’ve read that Falmouth’s Aja Barto (Tulane) has a lot of these tools. He’s 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds. He can play anywhere in the outfield. He can hit. He can run.

And though he isn’t up on the leaderboard in many categories, he’s showing off his tools in this his second summer on the Cape. As of Saturday, Barto — who’ll be a junior at Tulane — was hitting .273 with two home runs. Most impressively, he’s leading the league with 12 stolen bases, and his .375 on-base percentage isn’t too bad, either. For Tulane this spring, Barto only had seven steals and hit .269. Last summer on the Cape, he hit only .216 with four steals.

I’d say he’s having a good summer this time.

Quickly

According to Perfect Game Cross-Checker’s best Cape prospects from ’06 (which you can find here), the top player who’s back this summer is Cotuit shortstop Reese Havens (South Carolina). After hitting .266 last summer, he’s at .298 so far this year with seven extra base hits and a .352 on-base percentage . . . The second-best prospect who’s back is Y-D catcher Buster Posey (Florida St.). Interestingly, he played shortstop and pitched last year on the Cape before moving to catcher this spring for the Seminoles. In the process, I think he made himself quite a bit of money. Catchers who can hit are infinitely more valuable than shortstops, and if Posey can show enough defensively to stay at catcher, look out. Because he can hit. For FSU this spring, Posey hit .382 with a team-leading 65 RBI and a .973 OPS. So far for Y-D, Posey is hitting at a .265 clip. This article compares him to Josh Donaldson, who played on the Cape last year then was a compensation round pick in the ’07 draft . . . You have to feel bad for Wareham pitcher Wade Miley (SE Lousiana). With 40.1 innings pitched in six starts, he’s a workhorse, but he has little to show for the work, at least in the win column. He was 1-4 at week’s end despite a 2.01 ERA. But poor record or not, Miley is having a heck of a summer. He’s third in the league in strikeouts, and even if he doesn’t end up with a winning record, he’s still made quite an impression . . . Y-D has more home runs (25) than Hyannis, Harwich and Falmouth combined . . . Orleans shortstop Brandon Crawford (UCLA) is one of the most highly-touted prospects on the Cape this summer, a guy who’s trying to secure his draft status. So far, not so good. Crawford was hitting .169 heading into Sunday’s game, though he did have three home runs. The stats don’t always mean much to scouts, as far as the top prospects are concerned, but you can bet Crawford is hoping to break out . . . Bourne’s Kevin Hoef (Iowa) has been leading the league in average for awhile now, and he’s not cooling down. He went 2-for-3 Saturday to raise his average to .385. Hoef hasn’t shown much power at all, with no home runs, one double and one triple. But you can’t ignore all the hits . . . No official leaderboard here, but I’ve gone quickly through the stats and circled the guys who aren’t striking out much. Y-D’s Mike Tamsin (Northeastern) leads the way with three strikeouts in 54 at-bats (once every 18 at-bats). Also up high on the list are Harwich’s Cole Figueroa (Florida) with eight strikeouts in 79 at-bats (one per 9.88 AB), Chatham’s Addison Johnson (Clemson) with 12 in 98 at-bats (one per 8.16), and Blake Dean (LSU) with 10 strikeouts in 80 AB (one per 8). The guy with the most strikeouts is the aforementioned Aja Barto (Tulane), who has fanned 34 times in 88 at-bats (once per 2.6 at-bats).

A final pitching category to look at: strikeouts per nine innings. This will be similar to the strikeout leaderboard, but with innings pitched factored in, it’s a little different. I think K/9 is a more telling stat. This group is starting pitchers only.

PLAYER	TEAM	K/9
Shooter Hunt	Falmouth	13.95
Christian Friedrich	Falmouth	13.03
Dan Hudson	Harwich	11.85
Danny Farquhar	Harwich	11.35
Andy Oliver	Wareham	10.97
Bryce Stowell	Hyannis	10.50
Clayton Shunick	Orleans	10.00
Kyle Gibson	Falmouth	9.64
Ryan Hinson	Chatham	9.00
Craig Bennigson	Orleans	8.93
T.J. Hose	Bourne	8.91
Mike Colla	Brewster	8.68
D.J. Mitchell	Bourne	8.68
Dallas Keuchel	Wareham	8.66
Ryan Cook	Brewster	8.65
Aaron Crow	Falmouth	8.53
Wade Miley	Wareham	8.53
Michael Schwimer	Orleans	8.48
Matt Wickswat	Y-D	8.44
J.B. Shuck	Cotuit	7.97

Here’s a look at the leaders in strikeouts per walk. Anything above 2.5 is solid and anything over 3.00 is very good.

PLAYER	TEAM	K/BB
Aaron Crow	Falmouth	5.00
Kyle Gibson	Falmouth	5.00
Shooter Hunt	Falmouth	4.43
Michael Cisco	Cotuit	4.33
Eric Surkamp	Orleans	4.33
Tom Milone	Chatham	4.00
Clayton Shunick	Orleans	4.00
Corey Young	Harwich	3.80
Bryce Stowell	Hyannis	3.50
Dallas Keuchel	Wareham	3.50
Eddie Burns	Y-D	3.50
Scott Green	Y-D	3.40
Mitch Harris	Bourne	3.20
Dan Hudson	Harwich	3.08
Rick Zagone	Bourne	3.00
Austin Hudson	Hyannis	2.88
Andrew Doyle	Hyannis	2.83
Mike Colla	Brewster	2.80
Ryan Hinson	Chatham	2.80
Danny Farquhar	Harwich	2.80

And some of the top relievers, with IP in parentheses:

PLAYER	TEAM	K/BB
Chris Hicks (11.2)	Wareham	12.00
Nick Cassavechia (17.2)	Y-D	10.00
Erik Bird (12.2)	Falmouth	9.00
D.J. Mauldin (11.0)	Y-D	9.00
Josh Zeid (29.1)	Harwich	6.50
Keith Shinaberry (8.0)	Brewster	6.00
Bryan Shaw (11.0)	Chatham	6.00

I did OPS for the batters, so I’ll do whip (walks + hits per inning pitched) for the pitchers. This is only starting pitchers. For a reference point, anything under 1.00 is very good. It means not a lot of guys are getting on base.

PLAYER	TEAM	WHIP
Aaron Crow	Falmouth	.81
Corey Young	Harwich	.82
Kyle Gibson	Falmouth	.93
Mitch Harris	Bourne	.95
Andy Oliver	Wareham	.97
Eric Surkamp	Orleans	.99
T.J. Hose	Bourne	1.00
Brad Boxberger	Orleans	1.00
Shooter Hunt	Falmouth	1.05
Bryce Stowell	Hyannis	1.06
Eddie Burns	Y-D	1.06
Charles Brewer	Chatham	1.09

One interesting note: Oliver (Oklahoma St.) would be running away with this category if not for 17 walks. He’s actually allowed only 14 hits in 32 innings, making him one of the more unhittable starters in the league.

OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) is a stat all the cool people like. So of course I like it. And they don’t have it on the Cape League web site. So here are the OPS leaders, as far as I can tell.

PLAYER	TEAM	OPS
Yonder Alonso	Brewster	1.051
Conor Gilaspie	Falmouth	1.029
Gordon Beckham	Y-D	1.006
Ryne White	Cotuit	.960
Sean Ochinko	Y-D	.959
Dennis Raben	Orleans	.948
Shane Peterson	Hyannis	.941
Kevin Hoef	Bourne	.924
Matt Hague	Falmouth	.896
Caleb Joseph	Cotuit/Falmouth	.876
Cole Figueroa	Harwich	.872
Jermaine Curtis	Chatham	.864
Blake Dean	Wareham	.863
Brian Pruitt	Bourne	.850
Collin Cowgill	Y-D	.841
Dan Brewer	Hyannis	.828
T.J. Wise	Harwich	.815
Tony Delmonico	Cotuit	.807
James Darnell	Hyannis	.807
Ryan Babineau	Brewster	.804

I’ve often wondered just how much a Cape League season — good or bad — means to an individual player. That’s my big question. I’m going to take a few different approaches in examining this topic. First, a look at the Cape League players picked in the first round and the compensation round of the draft last month — and what they did when they were on the Cape.

FIRST ROUND

HITTERS

PLAYER	CAPE TEAM	PICKED	AVG	H	HR	RBI	OBP
Matt Wieters – C	Orleans	5	.307	39	8	21	.417
Matt LaPorta – OF	Brewster	7	.250	27	6	19	.394
Beau Mills – 1B	Bourne ’05	13	.225	20	4	16	.314

PITCHERS

PLAYER	CAPE TEAM	PICKED	W-L	ERA	K	BB	WHIP
Daniel Moskos (L)	Cotuit ’05	4	3-4	3.82	31	15	1.36
Ross Detwiler (L)*	Falmouth	6	1-0	1.74	14	3	.89
James Simmons (R)	Cotuit	26	4-2	1.18	44	5	.73
Andrew Brackman (R)*	Orleans	30	1-0	1.06	11	9	.94

* – saw limited action, for whatever reason.

Sort of a mixed-bag here, with some great numbers, some middle-of-the-road numbers and some limited duty. Wieters’ summer was the classic case of an already-big prospect confirming his status with a good all-around year. He was named the league’s best pro prospect. Of note for him are the eight home runs and the OBP that’s more than 100 points higher than his batting average.

LaPorta played two seasons on the Cape — first in ’04 and again in ’06 — and he always flashed the power, even if the average wasn’t there. Interestingly, his best year was ’05 when he led the nation in home runs at Florida then had a big summer for Team USA. But when he got picked in the 14th round in ’06, he decided to head to the Cape and then back to Florida for his senior year. It must have been the right choice.

Mills didn’t do big things in ’05 but I’m guessing he showed the tools that made scouts take notice. They remembered him, even as he couldn’t make the grades at Frenso State and ended up at Lewis & Clark.

As for the pitchers, Moskos, Detwiler and Brackman showed enough on the Cape to solidify their spots. The most interesting case, though, is Simmons. He’s not a flamethrower, and he’s right-handed, which isn’t the best combination for scouts. But he dominated the Cape League to the tune of a 1.18 ERA and 44 strikeouts against just five walks, showing more polish than any pitcher in the league. When you do that against the nation’s best hitters, scouts can’t ignore it. I think this is a good example of a kid using the Cape League to prove once and for all that he can do it, even if he doesn’t do it in a typical manner.

COMPENSATION ROUND

HITTERS

PLAYER	CAPE TEAM	PICK	AVG	H	HR	RBI	OBP
Todd Frazier – SS	Chatham ’05	34	.270	40	5	27	.343
Julio Borbon – OF	Cotuit ’05	35	.205	18	0	4	.307
Kellen Kulbacki – OF	Cotuit	40	.240	36	7	18	.314
Sean Doolittle – 1B*	Harwich	41	.278	5	0	0	.278
Jackson Williams – C	Hyannis	43	.245	25	0	9	.301
Josh Donaldson – C	Harwich	48	.302	45	4	21	.382
Matt Mangini – 3B	Hyannis	52	.310	48	2	16	.370
Mitch Canham – C	Falmouth	57	.300	33	4	16	.388
Corey Brown – OF	Chatham	59	.192	25	2	16	.305
Edward Easley – C*	Chatham	61	.269	14	1	4	.333
Danny Payne – OF*	Wareham ’05	64	.226	7	0	2	.368

* – saw limited action, for whatever reason.

PITCHERS

PLAYER	CAPE TEAM	PICKED	W-L	ERA	K	BB	WHIP
Brett Cecil (L)	Orleans	38	1-0	2.17	40	9	.93
Eddie Kunz (R)	Falmouth	42	0-0	1.71	22	11	1.19
Cory Luebke (L)	Falmouth	63	3-2	2.84	32	14	1.13

The conclusion from these picks is that catchers who can hit are hot commodities. Williams, Donaldson, Canham and Easley all put up good numbers at the plate, and scouts took notice.

As for some of the others, Frazier’s .270 average looks better when you consider he was coming off his freshman season. That’s a very good number for a freshman. The big summer in ’05 helped him get an invite to Team USA in ’06, which in turn, helped him move into the top of the draft. Borbon didn’t do great things in ’05, but he did for Tennessee in ’06 and for Team USA.

Kulbacki is a guy who led the nation in home runs at James Madison and overcame a slow start to finish with seven on the Cape. The fact that he could do that against tougher competition than he faced at JMU probably helped his status.

Mangini probably helped himself the most of any player on the Cape last year. He led the league in hitting and rocketed up the list of top prospects for the draft. His Oklahoma State teammate Brown didn’t help himself much, hitting just .192 for Chatham. But as is often the case, scouts can overlook the stats when they see the tools. In Brown’s case, he may have gone higher in the draft with a big summer, but he still showed the scouts what they wanted to see.

As for the pitchers, both Cecil and Kunz worked exclusively out of the bullpen, giving them the opportunity to show off their arms. Scouts liked what they saw from both. Luebke wasn’t rated all that high coming out of the summer after posting a 2.84 ERA, but he followed it with a huge season for Ohio State. The lefthander had a 2.07 ERA and 98 strikeouts in 117 innings.

So. I have no conclusions yet. I will hopefully do more of these, and I’ll continue to look at the question: What does a Cape League season mean to a player?

With an eye on guaging just how much talent is on any given Cape League team, I’ll be picking a team from recent years and looking at where some of its players have ended up. First up: the ’05 Chatham A’s.

The Chatham A’s of 2005 were one of the best teams in recent memory to not win a championship, falling short to Orleans several times in the season, and again in the Eastern Division finals. It was clear then, though, and it’s more clear now that the A’s had some serious talent. Of the 26 players who saw time in an A’s uniform in 2005, 21 are currently playing professional baseball in major-league farm systems. All but one of the players in the typical everyday lineup for the ’05 A’s is on that list. Every starting pitcher, and Chatham’s top three relievers are also on the list. Six players from the team were first-round picks, including Evan Longoria and Andrew Miller, the third and sixth players taken in the ’06 draft.

HITTERS

Evan Longoria
Infield
Long Beach St.
First Round – 3rd overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: Double-A Montgomery (Tampa Bay)

Longoria was the MVP of the Cape League in ’05, leading the league in HR, RBI and slugging percentage. He also hit .299 while shuffling between second base, shortstop and third base. That summer helped establish him as one of the top infielders in the country, and he then put together a big junior year at Long Beach, hitting .353 with 11 home runs. Tampa Bay selected him with the third pick in the ’06 draft, and he hasn’t disappointed. He tore through two levels before a quick promotion to Double A, where he finished last season. He’s there again this year and is hitting .304 with 18 home runs and 61 RBI. Baseball American rated Longoria as the seventh-best prospect in all of baseball in its annual top 100. At 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, he’s considered the Ray’s third baseman of the future.

Chris Coghlan
Infield
Ole Miss
First Round – 36th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: High class-A Jupiter (Florida)

Coghlan arrived late to Chatham for the summer of ’05 after Ole Miss’ run to the super regionals, but he quickly made his presence felt, starting hot and staying hot. He finished as the league’s batting champ with a .346 average. After finishing his junior year at Ole Miss with a .35o batting average and a .437 OBP, Coghlan was selected in the first round of the draft. He has since moved to second base and is having a breakthrough campaign this season. He’s just been called up to Jupiter after hitting .325 with 10 home runs for Greensboro. Baseball America has Coghlan as Florida’s ninth-best prospect.

Alex Presley
Outfield
Ole Miss
8th round – 230th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: Low class-A Hickory (Pittsburgh)

Presley joined his college teammate Coghlan on the Cape and also had a lot of success, finishing with a .341 average, just below Coghlan’s league-leading clip. He hit .336 in his junior season at Ole Miss and was drafted by the Pirates. He hit .260 in short season class-A last year and is now hitting .305 for Hickory in the South Atlantic League.

Baron Frost
Outfield
USC
50th round – 1488th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: Low class-A Auburn (Toronto)

Frost played on the Cape after his junior year and was right there with Coghlan and Presley in the race for the batting title. He finished with a .343 average, and like Presley and Coghlan, earned all-league honors. He wasn’t a high draft pick but he did well in Rooke League ball last season, hitting .320. He’s hitting .254 this year.

Garrett Bussiere
Catcher
California
26th round – 796th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: Rookie League Johnson City (St. Louis)

Bussiere split time with Nick Derba behind the plate for the A’s and hit .221. He struggled with the bat in his junior year at Cal, but still opted to leave after getting drafted. He hit .156 last year for Johnson City. It appears he’s on the disabled list now.

Nick Derba
Catcher
Manhattan
30th round – 922nd overall pick in ’07 draft
Now: Low class-A Batavia (St. Louis)

Derba hit .211 for the 2005 A’s then returned last summer and hit .119. Still, he was drafted by St. Louis and is playing in the New York Penn League. Through 19 games, he’s hitting .267.

Todd Frazier
Infield
Rutgers
First Round – 34th overall pick in ’07 draft
Now: Rookie League Billings (Cincinnati)

Frazier followed in the footsteps of his brother Jeff, who went to Rutgers and played for Chatham. Todd was one of only two freshmen on the ’05 team, but he made his presence felt, hitting .270 with five home runs. He returned to Chatham for a brief stint last summer before heading off to Team USA, where he solidifed his status as a major prospect. The Reds tabbed him as a first-round pick and sent him to the Pioneer League, where he just played his first game yesterday. He went 2-for4.

Adrian Ortiz
Outfield
Pepperdine
5th round – 156th overall pick in ’07 draft
Now: Rookie League Idaho Falls (Kansas City)

The other freshman on the ’05 team, Ortiz joined Frazier as a high draft pick this June. Ortiz hit .271 for Chatham in ’05 and flashed the best pure speed in the league. He returned to Chatham last year and hit .224. His speed has always been his greatest asset and it was enough for the Royals to use an early-round pick on him. In 15 games so far with Idaho Falls in the Pioneer League, he’s hitting .338 with three steals. Interestingly, Ortiz was drafted out of Puerto Rico in 2004, and unless it’s a mis-print on thebaseballcube.com, he was taken with the 156th pick, the same pick that he was selected at this year.

Aaron Reza
Infield
Oklahoma
21st round – 654th overall pick in ’07 draft
Now: Low class-A Greenville Drive (Boston)

Reza hit .260 for Chatham in ’05 and .358 in a short stint last summer. He has played only 10 games so far in the minors between the New York Penn League and the South Atlantic League.

Josh Morris
Infield/Outfield
Georgia
12th round – 370th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: Rookie League Danville (Atlanta)

Morris was the everyday first baseman for the A’s in ’05 and though he hit .220, he flashed big power and his size (6-5, 230) made him a decent prospect. After getting drafted by his hometown Braves, he hit .250 in the low-class A South Atlantic League last year. He struggled there at the start of this year and has sinced dropped down to the rookie level, where he’s hitting .333.

Anthony Smith
Outfield
St. John’s
21st round – 643rd overall pick in ’07 draft
Now: Rookie League Missoula (Arizona)

Smith had to find playing time in a crowded outfield and hit only .149. But he followed that summer with two strong seasons at St. John’s and got picked in June after his senior season. He is tearing up the Pioneer League so far, hitting .419 in 12 games.

PITCHERS

Andrew Miller
North Carolina
First round – 6th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: MLB Detroit Tigers

Miller was highly thought of when he made his first appearance on the Cape in 2004 and didn’t disappoint. A third-round pick out of high school, the 6-foot-6 lefty struck out 48 and had a 2.03 ERA. Back with Chatham in 2005, Miller went 6-0 with a 1.65 ERA. He struck out 66 in 49 innings and was named the league’s top pro prospect. After a strong junior year, Miller was drafted with the sixth pick (he might have been the No. 1 overall pick if a team with a bigger budget than the Royals had been in that spot.) Miller has already made his major league debut in this his first full professional season. In seven starts with the Tigers, Miller is 4-3 with a 3.35 ERA.

Brooks Brown
Georgia
First round – 34th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: Double A Mobile (Arizona)

Brown was a somewhat anonymous member of the bullpen for the A’s, but only because he wasn’t the closer. His numbers were ridiculous — a 1.01 ERA with 32 strikeouts and just three walks in 20 appearances. Scouts certainly took notice, and Brown was a first-round pick in ’06. Playing for High-A Visalia for the first half of this season, Brown went 6-3 with a 2.81 ERA in 14 starts (yes, he’s a starter now). In three starts since moving up to Double-A, Brown is 1-0 with a 1.72 ERA.

Chris Cody
Manhattan
8th round – 232nd overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: High-class A Brevard County (Milwaukee)

With a 303 record and a 4.08 ERA, Cody was the least successful of Chatham’s five starters in ’05. That doesn’t mean much now. The lefthander dominated in the low-class A Midwest League, posting a 1.77 ERA with 92 strikeouts and only 15 walks in 14 starts. He averaged better than a strikeout per inning, and was an all-star. He moved up to the high-A Florida State League before getting traded July 1 from the Tigers’ organization to Milwaukee as part of a deal for reliever Jose Capellan. Cody has stayed in the Florida State League, moving from Lakeland to Brevard County, where he’s 1-1 in two starts.

David Huff
UC-Irvine
First round – 39th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: High-class A Kinston (Cleveland)

Huff wasn’t the most physically-imposing pitcher on the A’s staff but his numbers spoke for themselves. In 2005 — his second summer on the Cape — the lefthander had a 1.46 ERA with 49 strikeouts and only four walks. That season propelled him into top-prospect status. A guy who had been drafted twice before — once in the 31st round and then in the 19th — Huff moved way up draft boards in ’06 and got picked in the first round by the Indians. So far this season, he has a 2.72 ERA in 11 starts, with 46 strikeouts and 15 walks in 59 innings.

Jared Hughes
Long Beach State
4th round – 110th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: Low-class A Hickory (Pittsburgh)

Hughes joined Miller atop Chatham’s rotation and was just as intimidating a presence. At 6-foot-7, the righthander put up great numbers to go with his projectible frame. He finished the summer with a 7-0 record, a 1.62 ERA and 54 strikeouts against 11 walks in 50 innings. Hughes is in the South Atlantic League now and is 7-6 in 17 starts this season with a 4.04 ERA.

Brandon Hynick
Birmingham Southern
8th round – 228th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: High-class A Modesto (Colorado)

Hynick’s numbers weren’t great in ’05 but he was still a fairly high pick in the ’06 draft and he’s put up great numbers as a pro. With a 2.39 ERA and 70 strikeouts against eight walks, Hynick was named the Pioneer League’s pitcher of the year last season. So far this year in High-A, Hynick 10-2 with a 2.48 ERA and 87 strikeouts against 18 walks.

Derrik Lutz
George Washington
19th round – 564th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: High-class A Sarasota (Cincinnati)

Lutz was the lights-out closer for the A’s in ’05, and he was amazingly dominant. In 19 appearances, he didn’t allow a single run. He struck out 39 in 25 innings and only walked three. The big summer didn’t help his draft status much, so after getting picked by the Reds in ’06, he returned to Chatham in an effort to gain some bargaining power. It worked, as he allowe a run in seven appearances before signing with the Reds. In 34 appearances as a reliever this season, he has a 3.46 ERA with 32 strikeouts.

Steve Richard
Maine/Clemson
8th round – 231st overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: Low-class A Winsconsin (Seattle)

Richard was coming off his sophomore season at Maine when he came to Chatham and put up good numbers, finishing ’05 with a 2.54 ERA in eight starts. He transferred to powerhouse Clemson for his junior year and then was an eighth round pick of the Mariners. He has a 4.14 ERA this season.

Robert Woodard
North Carolina
20th round – 627th overall pick in ’07 draft
Now: Short-season Eugene (San Diego)

Few players in the nation have seen as much time on the Cape as Woodard, who played in Chatham after his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons. He had solid numbers every year, and in ’05, he had a 2.53 ERA and flashed great control (4 walks in 46 innings). Woodard never climbed into hot-prospect status but he put together quite a career at UNC and ended up pitching in two College World Series. With his four-year college career now over, Woodard is just getting his feet wet in pro ball. In four games for Eugene, has struck out eight, walked one and hasn’t allowed an earned run.

Josh Santerre
Manhattan
Free Agent Contract
Now: Rookie Arizona League Royals (Kansas City)

Santerre put up a 1.56 ERA as a reliever for the A’s. After finishing a four-career at Manhattan this spring, Santerre signed a free agent deal with the Royals. In three games in the Arizona League, he has a 4.15 ERA.

Winners
Y-D, Falmouth, Harwich

Losers
Chatham, Bourne, Wareham

Scores
Y-D 4, Chatham 1
Falmouth 4, Bourne 3
Harwich 1, Wareham 0
Cotuit at Brewster, PPD
Orleans at Hyannis, PPD

Y-D 4, Chatham 1
Y-D to 14-4-1, Chatham to 9-8-2
WP: Eddie Burns LP: Cliff Springston

• Y-D got a run in the second, a run in the third and two insurance tallies in the eighth
  
• Eddie Burns (Georgia Tech) went seven innings and allowed a run on eight hits while striking out five
• Nick Cassavechia (Vanderbilt) struck out four in a two-inning save, his fifth
• Aaron Luna (Rice) hit his first home run of the summer in his fourth game
• Jermaine Curtis (UCLA), Kevin McAvoy (Maine), Allan Dykstra (Wake Forest) and Kyle Seager (UNC) had two hits each for Chatham
  

Of note, team-style: By all accounts, Y-D is a very talented team. But the Sox have something else going for them. They find ways to win like an undermanned team might do. On this night, Y-D scored three of their four runs without an RBI. One run scored on a caught stealing, another on a throwing error, and a third on a wild pitch.

Of note, player-style: At 6-foot-8, Burns is an imposing presence on the mound and he’s translating that into success. Burns was a redshirt sophomore at Georgia Tech this spring, meaning he was eligible for the draft. The Atlanta Braves took him in the 16th round (499 overall). Whether Burns returns to Tech or signs, he’s got a big summer to build on. In four starts so far, he’s 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA in 26.1 innings. He has struck out 17 and walked five.

Falmouth 4, Bourne 3
Falmouth to 8-11, Bourne to 11-6-2
WP: Kyle Gibson LP: Steven Hensley

• Falmouth opened up a 2-2 game with two runs in the sixth
  
• Kyle Gibson (Missouri) earned his first victory; he’d had nothing but no-decisions before this despite a 1.29 ERA
• Falmouth’s Conor Gillaspie (Wichita) went 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and two runs
• Brian Pruitt (Stetson) had two hits and two RBI for Bourne
• Bourne has dropped two straight, but still sits in first
  

Of note, team-style: Falmouth’s team ERA is 4.17, but the Commodores still boast three of the top starters in the league. Aaron Crow (Missouri) has a .59 ERA, Kyle Gibson (Missouri) has a 1.29 ERA and Christian Friedrich (Eastern Kentucky) has a 1.62 ERA.

Of note, player-style: Gibson was a 36th round pick out of high school but worked mostly out of the bullpen in his freshman year at Missouri. He has turned in some great performances as a starter on the Cape. His 26 strikeouts rank him fourth in the league, and he’s only allowed three earned runs in 21 innings.

Harwich 1, Wareham 0
Harwich to 6-13, Wareham to 5-14
WP: Corey Young LP: Wade Miley

• Harwich scored a run in the top of the first on an RBI double by Steve Strausbaugh (Western Carolina) and made the narrow cushion stand up
• Corey Young (Seton Hall) worked 7.2 scoreless innings and Evan Crawford (Auburn) finished off the shutout
• Wareham’s Wade Miley (SE Louisiana) allowed just two hits in eight innings but took the loss
  

Of note, team-style: Harwich has won two straight to get back within striking distance in the East. They sit seven points behind fourth-place Brewster, but only eight points back of Orleans and Chatham, who are tied for second.

Of note, player-style: Young has pitched well in three starts, posting a 1.71 ERA with 13 strikeouts and just four walks. The freshman lefty from St

STANDINGS
East
Y-D……………14-4-1
Chatham…….9-8-2
Orleans……….10-8
Brewster……9-8-1
Harwich…….6-13

West
Bourne……..11-6-2
Cotuit……….9-7-2
Hyannis……7-9-2
Falmouth….8-11
Wareham….5-14