Gorick

An article on Chris Young: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5302 Future Shock Feature: Chris Young by Kevin Goldstein Printer- friendly Contact Author If Diamondbacks center field prospect Chris Young has a problem with anything, it bad timing. The Next Mike Cameron? As an African-American centerfielder in the White Sox system with speed, power and a tendency to strike out, comparisons to former all-star and two-time Gold Glove winner Mike Cameron became almost unavoidable. But are they accurate? A Pacific Coast League scout: "He's good defensively, but not as good as Cameron--not many are. Still, I can understand where the comparisons come from as they're very similar physically and very similar at the plate in that they both have long swings but make up for it with plus batspeed. The thing about Cameron is that, for whatever reason, once he reached a certain level, he never got better, when it seems like he should have. Maybe Young will exceed that." Young, on the comparison: "I don't scout myself. If you guys want to compare me to any big leaguer, that's fine with me." Exhibit One: June of 2001. Young was a star at national powerhouse Bellaire High School near Houston. A rail-thin outfielder who was expected to be drafted somewhere in the sixth-to-tenth round, Young broke his arm in a collision just three days before the June selections began. "I thought the White Sox were going to take me," recalled Young. "But after I broke my arm, I didn't even know if I'd get taken at all." The White Sox did eventually select Young, but not until the 16th round. Young took it in stride, without putting a chip on his shoulder. "That little signing bonus doesn't make a different in the long run when you're talking about playing in the big leagues," said Young. Or did it? "At the same time, I wanted to prove to everybody that I should have gone higher," he added. Fast forward nearly five years to the spring of 2006, and Young has done just that. In short order, Young established himself as one of the premier power/speed combinations in the minor leagues, coming off a .277/.377/.545 campaign at Double-A Birmingham that included 26 home runs and 32 stolen bases. The top prospect in the White Sox system, he was the key to an offseason deal that sent starter Javier Vasquez to Chicago, and this spring was preparing to impress a new organization when bad timing struck again. "I was working out, getting ready for spring training and one of the drills involves doing box jumps where you start in a standing position and jump on top of a box," recalled the 22-year-old outfielder. "I guess I was standing too close to the box, and when I flung my arms forward, they hit the box--and that's hard wood--I knew it was bad." X-rays revealed a broken bone in the top of his hand, and the necessary recovery time would keep Young out of spring training. "It was frustrating--you want to make a good impression with the new team and then you can't even play." Young wouldn't join the team at Triple-A Tucson until late April, and he struggled initially, batting .244 with one home run in his first 18 games. A different kind of timing was to blame this time. "The hand wasn't one hundred percent normal, but I don't think it affected my game," said Young. "It was all timing--I hadn't seen live pitching for a long time, and those first few weeks were like my spring training." Young has recovered to hit 13 home runs in 47 games since, and was batting .271/.359/.508 overall as the season moved into the second half. He ended the first half in style, smacking a game winning grand slam in the Sidewinders' final game before the all-star break. While his averages at the break are similar to last season's numbers, Young has made significant progress in addressing the one concern about his offensive game: too many strikeouts. While he cut his strikeout total from 145 in 2004 to 129 last year, this year the progress has been more dramatic, as Young has struck out 48 times in 262 at-bats. Young credits the change in part to this year's spring training, and while that might sound strange considering the fact that he didn't play, Young insists that his time in big league camp was an eye-opener. "I would just hang out in the locker room and listen to everyone. It was equal ground in there whether you're a veteran or a rookie--just very welcoming," Young said, while also crediting what he learned by studying spring training games from the bench. "You watch big league hitters and they're not afraid to take strikes because it might not be the pitch that they're looking for," Young added. "It's all about staying calm and staying confident and I've tried to bring that confidence to my game this year." Calm and confident is the same way Young describes his team--one of the more prospect-filled ones in Triple-A that includes shortstop Stephen Drew, outfielder Carlos Quentin and righthander Dustin Nippert. With a record of 57-33, Tucson has the second best record in the Pacific Coast League and leads their division by 13 games, but Young insists that ability is just one part of winning. "Our success goes a lot further than natural talent," surmised Young. "There's an attitude here where nobody gives up--there's always a lot of confidence in the dugout about this team winning and also a lot of drive and motivation here--they're always working with coaches or watching video to work on problems--you can see why they're good when you see how hard they work." When Young's teammate Drew was selected to the Futures Game this year--leaving Young at home after playing in the all-star prospect exhibition last year--Young nonetheless enjoyed the game like a true teammate. "I still watched it for sure. Drew was there, [White Sox third baseman and former Birmingham teammate Josh] Fields was there--Josh tore it up and we talked right after the game," recalled Young. "It's all good--I got my chance to play in it last year, and this year I had friends there," said Young. Besides, Young has a much bigger goal in his mind now, and while he does use his fair share of clich?s, he knows that the biggest one for minor league players is one that nobody believes. "I could give you the clich? about getting to the majors and how I don't think about it and how I don't control it, but I'd be lying if I said that and you know it," said Young. "We're at Triple-A here--we all have it in the back of our mind. I'm very excited about that day." Assuming another case of bad timing doesn't strike, that day will come sooner rather than later.

GM Goal: 2006: Get Top Prospect 2007: Get Top Young Players To Fill The Holes 2008: Get Veteran And Buy A World Series Team what the hell are you talking about you dont buy a world series...you win them :shifty ... tell that to the mets

Roger Clemens is one of the best in the game, an all time great. But we have beat him before. Dont let Roger's greatness fool you, his success against the Fish overall is pretty mixed. Just because this is a brand new team doesnt mean that stigma cant carry over. Clemens has been excellent against the Marlins in his career, posting a 5-0 record with a 2.72 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 46 1/3 innings. :plain

:lol :lol :notworthy

27: The girl who replies to the question "What do you want for Christmas?" with "If you loved me, you'd know what I want!" gets an Xbox. End of story. :lol :notworthy

:lol :lol , the first video is so funny with all the random elements thrown into it.. i didnt like the second one as much but it was okay.. i probably also liked the first videos actual song better, that might have influenced my decision

:lol :lol :lol , so many of these are gold :notworthy

I saw the clip on sunsports but it went by too fast, did they actually hit each other or what?

Hit that - Offspring Shake - Pitbull Why Cant I - Liz Phair Spare me the Details - Offspring Genius in France - Weird Al Love me do - Beatles Run it - Chris Brown When im gone - Eminem Ms new booty - Bubba Sparxxx Summer - Sum 41

I am not a vegetarian because I love animals. I am a vegetarian because I hate plants. so awesome :notworthy

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Best music ever in a video game. I second that motion. I still remember the little songs you could play on the ocarina, and hum them occasionally. :mischief

:lol

Because apparently there isnt enough room on the rotation. I can't believe they are going to send this kid back :plain I picked him up in fantasy baseball and hes been doing great for me. So much for that :banghead

bigchim: Mr. Willis, I am a sophomore pitcher who wants to pitch in the Majors someday. What advice can you give me about increasing velocity and just becoming a great pitcher? Willis: Keep working hard, and believe in yourself -- anything's possible. pwned. :lol

I'm gonna say 2009, maybe a september callup in 2008. I could be wrong but I would say 2 - 2 1/2 years of minor league baseball is about right. Possibly less because of the aforementioned college experience, but I will still stick with that

He is gone! I asked three questions and none made it grrrrrr same here, i asked about playing under girardi and some other stuff i forgot

They've been putting through some dumb questions :plain

:lol :lol

nice URL typed in there :plain

Three Blondes And Easter Three blondes died in a car crash trying to jump the Grand Canyon and are at the pearly gates of heaven. St Peter tells them that they can enter the gates only if they can answer one simple religious question. The question posed by St. Peter is "What is Easter"? The first blonde replies, "Oh, that's easy! It's the holiday in November when everyone gets together, eats turkey and are thankful..." "Wrong!, you are not welcome here, I'm afraid. You must go to the other place!" replies St. Peter. He turns to the second blond, and asks her the same question: "What is Easter?" The second blonde replies, "Easter is the holiday in December when we put up a nice tree, exchange presents, and celebrate the birth of Jesus." St Peter looks at the second blonde, bangs his head on the on the pearly gates in disgust and tells her she's wrong and will have to join her friend in the other place. She is not welcome in Heaven. He then peers over his glasses at the third blonde and asks, "Do YOU know what Easter is"? The third blonde smiles confidently and looks St Peter in the eyes, "I know what Easter is." "Oh?" says St Peter, incredulously. "Easter is the Christian holiday that coincides with the Jewish celebration of Passover. Jesus and his disciples were eating at the last supper and Jesus was later deceived and turned over to the Romans by one of his disciples. The Romans took him to be crucified and he was stabbed in the side, made to wear a crown of thorns, and was hung on a cross with nails through his hands and feet. He was buried in a nearby cave which was sealed off by a large boulder." St Peter smiled broadly with delight. The third blonde continued... "Every year the boulder is moved aside so that Jesus can come out and, if he sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter."

Ah, I missed this game and therefore Tankersley's debut (i think), how did he look out there? Obviously he pitched a scoreless inning, but did he have really good stuff, etc?

Yeah, he's proving me wrong too. I was ready to write him off because of his other major league appearances, but apparently he learned something in the minors. Its a good thing, we desperately needed a reliable bullpen arm (and yeah, at this point im ready to call him reliable until he proves otherwise)

I could actually see him being a fairly solid major leaguer in a few years, but yeah, right now he is still pretty raw. Right now hes the type of player that will just surprise you every now and then, in my opinion. He is going to be 26 in a month. He doesn't have "a few years" So he shapes up or ships out by the end of the year, huh? hes 26, but hes still a rookie. if he isnt any better by next year, fine, but i think he is on the way to becoming a fringe starter or a good bench bat.

Dont bait that rabid Abercrombie fan.. I could actually see him being a fairly solid major leaguer in a few years, but yeah, right now he is still pretty raw. Right now hes the type of player that will just surprise you every now and then, in my opinion. I hope he suprises us and goes on a steak. :lol (not laughing at the fact that you made a typo, but the steak thing just seems amusing)

Phil Hughes is the second best pitching prospect in baseball. what about billingsley, lester, zumaya, bailey, etc?