Posted January 13, 200718 yr Of course it's the Mexican Winter League and it's not the majors but I happened upon something that caught my eye and thought I'd pass it along. As we all know Amezaga's achille's heel last season was hitting lefties, batting .091. Personally, since he hit almost .300 against righties I always thought he should abandon switch-hitting and face all pitchers from the left side, but I digress. I happen to come across his splits in Mexico and guess what, he's hitting .303 against lefties vs. .296 against righties this winter. I wonder what he's doing different? If anyone fluent in spanish wants to check through the team's website I'd be interested to know if he continues to switch hit or anything that might indicate why he's showing so much improvement (besides the league not being = to MLB). BTW, for anyone out there fearful I'm suggesting Amezaga start in CF in 2007, he hasn't played so much as an inning there as far as I can see, playing exclusively at shortstop (which kinda makes you wonder about you know who *wink wink*). I'm just curious why the big turnaround in his LHP stat. link to his team's website - www.ligadelpacifico.com.mx oh, and BTW here's his stats - http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/mil...&pid=407792
January 13, 200718 yr BTW, for anyone out there fearful I'm suggesting Amezaga start in CF in 2007, he hasn't played so much as an inning there as far as I can see, playing exclusively at shortstop (which kinda makes you wonder about you know who *wink wink*). I'm just curious why the big turnaround in his LHP stat. I'm guessing it's a combination of he is just a better hitter vs LHP then he displayed and the competition in winter ball of not having Billy Wagners and Cole Hamels sawing off his bat. I'll be stunned if they move Hanley to CF as well, which I'm sure the wink wink means. That's the kind of thing that might not be a bad idea, I wouldn't be opposed to it, but you'd imagine even rumors about it surfacing over the course of an off season if a rather major move like that were to happen. An Amezaga/Andino starting platoon at SS (Andino .274 vs LHP, .248 vs RHP last year, similar OPS though) could be pretty interesting versus an Amezaga/Ross/ClusterF combo in CF. The defense up the middle would be vastly improved everywhere, so much so that I feel the need to bold and italicize that word, but we'd lose some offense (slugging) in the process. Considering middle infield and CF are the places defense make the largest impact, I think I'd take the D versus whatever sort of slugging were to come out of Cody in CF. See 03, I care about defense. It would be a fun experiment in spring training at least. I really doubt it would happen, but given the lack of obtaining a real CF... why not. Sox were going to move Hanley there, maybe targeting a better young SS then Andino (remember, he still is 22/23 years old and not worthless despite the fact everyone on the board has soured on him) versus a young CF to take over now is a better/easier route to go trade wise as well.
January 16, 200718 yr The secret to his success might be as simple as lesser competition in conjunction with an added level of comfort as well as home cooked meals. El Animal de Obregon is playing in his home town and loving it. I've always felt that what he lacks in size he makes up for in effort. I'm sure he's trying to improve every day. BTW - they are listing him as a switch hitter and I can't find anything to make me think otherwise.
January 16, 200718 yr How many ABs has he had against lefties? He might have only faced a lefty a few times. I couldnt find how many ABs he has had against lefty pitching in that web site.
January 16, 200718 yr Amezaga demonstrating why he is a good utility player, just get him the hell out of CF
January 16, 200718 yr Author All the boxscores are on the league website and I followedthem almost everyday. My sense is he didn't miss more than a couple of games, playing everyday at shortstop and hitting better against lefties than righties. He was definitely not held out because of LHP.
January 16, 200718 yr Amezaga demonstrating why he is a good utility player, just get him the hell out of CF In the Winter League, he's played most of his games at SS (32), but also played at third (11) and second (5).
January 16, 200718 yr Author Amezaga demonstrating why he is a good utility player, just get him the hell out of CF In the Winter League, he's played most of his games at SS (32), but also played at third (11) and second (5). You might be right. In fact you no doubt are right. I didn't start going through the boxscores until I found the website which was a month into the season, and to be honest, the only thing I could read (not being bi-lingual) was the boxscores...lol...oh why didn't I listen to my spanish teacher growing up in New England.
January 19, 200718 yr Matias Carrillo was the Mexican triple crown winner... so who cares what his numbers are in Mexico?
January 19, 200718 yr Author If y'all go to flamarlins.com there's another update the winter leagues, and our Alfredo is hot as a pistol. Hey AA, save some of that for spring training, please :thumbup http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/...sp&c_id=fla A couple of tidbits: Jose Campusano remains one of the hottest hitters in the Dominican Winter League playoffs for the Gigantes del Cibao. The 23-year-old infielder is 5-for-11 with two runs scored and one stolen base in his last five games. Overall, he is batting .529 (9-for-17) with five runs scored, one RBI and three stolen bases in eight postseason games. Campusano, who was signed as a non-drafted free agent in April 2003, hit .294 with 11 runs scored, two RBIs and seven stolen bases in 23 regular-season contests. ------------- INF Alfredo Amezaga -- Amezaga continues his torrid playoff hitting for the Yaquis de Obregon. He is batting .362 (17-for-47) with one homer, eight RBIs and eight runs scored in 11 games. The 28-year-old utilityman hit .297 with three homers, 24 runs scored, 15 RBIs and 14 steals in 39 games for the Marlins.
January 20, 200718 yr Call me crazy but I'm hoping Campusano wins the job out of spring training. you're crazy and honestly delusional.
January 20, 200718 yr Author Alfredo is going to surprise a few people this year To the best of my knowledge he has not played a single game in the winter leagues in the outfield. I have to assume the FO has different plans for him, super utility infielder. Frankly, and I know I'm in the minority on this, I wouldn't have minded if AA went to winter ball and played the outfield exclusively in hopes of becoming our everyday CFer. Sixty-seventy more games to learn the position and I think he could of been decent player there. He has the instincts, the speed and guts. But obviously that isn't what Beinfest and company have in mind so what I'm left with is the belief they have something else planned.
January 22, 200718 yr Amezaga is such a nice player to have. Word. He is a Miguelito rejuvinator too.
January 22, 200718 yr Hey i liked Matias Carrillo! As a person? Did he buy you a beer once? I am sure he is a charming rascal with a wonderful singing voice. Oh yeah, and puppies, he probably likes puppies. But as a major league baseball player, he wasn't good.
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