MikeE

First post. I'm a Baseball Think Factory writer who holds a partial season ticket plan for the Mudcats. (ncmarlin, drop me a note; maybe we can get together for a game or three at the new park in G'boro). I posted some comments on Sickels' thread on the prospects I saw at Carolina last year. Frankly, none of them were particularly impressive to me. Willingham isn't a catcher; his footwork isn't very good, he has trouble with low pitches, and he doesn't frame pitches very well either. His bat probably isn't strong enough to hold down a full-time corner job, and I honestly think he's too patient at the plate; he lets an awful lot of strikes go by. Stokes reminds me way too much of Dave Kingman. He swings at too many bad pitches. When he gets a hold of one he can hit it a long way, but he's just got too many holes in his swing. Messenger probably has the best chance to contribute in the majors, if he gets his head screwed on straight. Hutchinson was hurt last year, but wasn't particularly consistent even when he was healthy. Reed also missed most of the season, and while he does remind me a lot of Juan Pierre, he swings and misses more often than Pierre ever did. Looking forward to see Hermida and some of the pitchers this year.