John Klima | July 31, 2009
(Lake Elsinore Storm)
Wynn Pelzer, RHP
Bats: R, Throws: R
6-1, 205
2009 Opening Day age: 23 (B: 6/23/86)
Drafted: Padres 9th round (2007, University of South Carolina)
2009 club at time of report: Lake Elsinore (High A)
Games seen: 1, Innings: 1 (2009 California-Carolina League All-Star Game).
John Klima | July 30, 2009
(Potomac Nationals)
Michael Burgess
Bats: Left, Throws: Left
6-0, 195
2009 Opening Day age: 20 (B: 10/20/88)
Drafted: Nationals #3, 2007 (49th overall)
2009 club at time of report: Potomac
Games Seen: 1, innings: 4 (Cal-Carolina League All-Star Game)
John Klima | July 29, 2009
(Potomac Nationals)
At the ripe old age of 20, Michael Burgess is already a third-year pro closing in 1,000 career at-bats. Selected with Washington’s third pick in the 2007 draft, 49th overall, Burgess clearly has the Tampa baseball blood lines.
His bat speed is a blur, but what he does with it as pitchers adjust to staying away from him will dictate his success. His batting average was only .240 entering July 2009, but he had raised that from around .220. He hit 23 home runs as a teenager between Hagerstown and Potomoc in 2008 and started the 2009 season with 13 home runs in his first 72 games in 2009.
Among the young players at the California-Carolina League All-Star game, Burgess was among the youngest ones. He has 47 home runs as a pro after signing out of high school. He fell in and out of his swing when I watched him take BP, a pattern that carried over into the game. When he did find himself and stayed on the ball, he drove a double off the wall in right field.
The bat is what will get Burgess to the big leagues. He’s a better athlete than his stocky body indicates and he’ll have to hit for enough power to hold down right field, where he can take advantage of his other tool, his arm.
Burgess has a Kirby Puckett body. He has the physical skill to speed up his bat when he wants to. How far Burgess comes with the other aspects of the game will likely dictate his future. Baseball Beginnings caught up with Burgess at the California-Carolina League All-Star game at Lake Elsinore.
John Klima | July 28, 2009
Cody Johnson
Bats: L, Throws: R
6-4, 195
2009 Opening Day age: 20 (B: 8/18/88)
Drafted: Braves #1 (24th overall), 2006 (A.Crawford Mosley HS, Fl.)
2009 club time of report: Myrtle Beach
Games 1, Innings: 5 (California-Carolina League All-Star game)
John Klima | July 27, 2009
(Myrtle Beach Pelicans)
The ball sounds like a gun shot coming off Cody Johnson’s bat. His power is as close to 80-raw as you’ll find in a young player, and he’s left-handed to boot. He’ll turn 21 in August and by the time he does, he will already have had more than 1,000 professional at-bats and more than 60 home runs. Welcome to player development done right.
Johnson was a first round pick of the Atlanta Braves in 2006, the 24th overall pick in the draft. He has hit for power at every step along the way of the lower tiers of the Braves minor league system, hitting 17 home runs in Danville in 2007 and 26 in Rome in 2008. He got pull happy in 2008 and saw his strikeout numbers sky rocket, but he’s brought them back to earth at Myrtle Beach in 2009, while keeping his share of balls in orbit.
Listed at 6-4, 195, Johnson has the brooding physique of a middle-of-the-order menace. He generates his power from his bat speed and strong hands. He has a little hitch in his hands that is part of his trigger. It’s something he probably won’t completely eliminate but will need to smooth out just enough to continue developing. He won’t make anyone forget Chipper Jones as a contact hitter, but this C.J. has a chance to stay in Atlanta’s lineup for years to come if he can continue to level out his strikeouts and maintain a steady approach. His power plays. He reached July 2009 with a .274 average and 20 home runs in 71 games.
Just a few hours before Johnson put on a BP for the ages at Lake Elsinore during the California-Carolina League All-Star game, Baseball Beginnings caught up with him.
John Klima | July 26, 2009
Braves power-hitting OF Cody Johnson leads off Baseball Beginnings this week. He’ll be followed by Washington Nationals prospect Michael Burgess, also a former first round pick. After that, we’ll begin our Cape Cod League coverage and prepare for a busy August, which includes the Area Code and Aflac games.
John Klima | July 24, 2009
(Lake Elsinore Storm)
Jeremy McBryde, RHP
Bats: R, Throws: R
6-2, 230
2009 Opening Day age: 23 (B: 6/23/86)
Signed as Non-Drafted Free Agent, 5/30/2007, Rose State JC (Oklahoma)
2009 club at time of report: Lake Elsinore (High A)
Games seen: 1, Innings: 1 (Cal-Carolina League All-Star game)
John Klima | July 23, 2009
Lonnie Chisenhall
Bats: L; Throws: R
6-2, 190
2009 Opening Day age: 20 (B:10/4/88)
Drafted: Indians #1 (29th overall) 2008 draft
2009 club at time of report: Kinston (High A)
Games seen: 1, Innings: 5 (Cal-Carolina League All-Star game)
John Klima | July 22, 2009
(Kinston Indians)
Drafted by the Cleveland Indians with the club’s No. 1 pick (29th overall) in the 2008 draft, Lonnie Chisenhall is following up his solid pro debut in the short-A New York Penn League with another solid season at high-A Kinston.
The jump from short-A to high-A sometimes kills young players, but Chisenhall has showed that he’s on track to hit double-A in 2010, a pretty nice pace for a former junior college player. He entered July 2009 hitting .283 with 13 home runs and 19 doubles in 71 games, with an .864 OPS in a pitcher’s league.
The left-handed hitting Chisenhall moved over from shortstop to third base and put the onus on himself to hit for power. He’s done that through three months in 2009 and earned a trip to the California-Carolina League All-Star game, though he was somewhat alarmed at the rise in strikeouts.
Born and raised in baseball rich North Carolina, Chisenhall has a loose and whippy body that should allow for more power as he progresses. Baseball Beginnings caught up with him in Lake Elsinore. (more…)
John Klima | July 21, 2009
Mike Moustakas
Bats: L, Throws: R
6-1, 200
2009 Opening Day age: 20 (B: 9/11/88)
Drafted: Royals # 1 (#2 overall) 2007 draft
2009 club at time of report: Wilmington
Games Seen: 1, Innings: 4 (Also saw BP and numerous times in HS)
