Jamie Romak, Jim Negrych, Jason Delaney All Promoted

by Charlie on Jul 29, 2008 3:32 PM EDT

Finally, Jamie Romak has been promoted to Class AA Altoona. It only took 43 extra-base hits and a .911 OPS to do it. July has actually been his worst month so far, with a .240 average, a .789 OPS and 30 strikeouts in 100 at bats, so it seems unlikely that he really learned what the Pirates wanted him to learn in Lynchburg while he crushed Carolina League pitching. Instead, they waited for Jason Delaney to be promoted, even though Altoona's outfield isn't exactly packed with prospects and the Bucs could easily have opened a spot for Romak if they wanted. Weird.

Anyway, Delaney hit well in Altoona, but at 25, he probably isn't much of a prospect. He'll have to keep hitting at Indianapolis the rest of the year to really catch my attention.

Jim Negrych had a .448 OBP at Lynchburg, but he's playing third base now, and as a polished college hitter without much power, he may not have much headroom. Still, he's worth keeping an eye on in Altoona.

Thanks to Woobie.

0 recs | Comment 20 comments

Read Related

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Negrych (sorry for the repost--trying to get it where it belongs)

The comment in today’s P-G about the Pirates wanting Negrych to stay in Lynchburg in order to learn how to play defense and because a change of surroundings may dramatically effect him was one of the more ridiculous I have seen. I’m guessing that isn’t really what was said.

Negrych isn’t 20, he needs to move and move fast. It doesn’t matter if he can’t field at all, if he hits .372, just keep moving him along. There is room for the Jeff Kepplingers and the Steve Pearces of the world in MLB. They certainly aren’t going to impress anyone with the glove. Negrych may never hit for much power, but a .400 OBP will get you to the bigs and keep you there.

The trades and injuries have the positive effect of finding out if what is around at the lower levels has much potential. Silver linings…….

by dtoddwin on Jul 29, 2008 3:36 PM EDT 0 recs

And

P Matt Miller retired…so the fans don’t have to worry about him being called up for “veteran presence”.

by Thunder on Jul 29, 2008 3:49 PM EDT 0 recs

Too bad

Veteran or not, Miller could really pitch.

by Vlad on Jul 30, 2008 1:14 AM EDT up 0 recs

it's about time!

i’m glad someone mentioned Jeff Keppinger, because that is what the whole Negrych not being moved up was starting to remind me of

North Side Notch

by northsidenotch on Jul 29, 2008 4:19 PM EDT 0 recs

Romak must have done what they wanted him to

His walk and K rates are both down, so he’s being less selective. In his last 10 games he’s only walked once, and K’d 11 times, which is an improvement for him. But they don’t promote based on performance.

by azibuck on Jul 29, 2008 4:23 PM EDT 0 recs

If that’s improvement to them, then they’re not as smart at player development as I thought.

by Charlie on Jul 29, 2008 4:33 PM EDT up 0 recs

Romack bat control

From July 13 at http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08195/896809-63.stm:

In Romak’s case, Stark said, that means three things:
1. He needs not only to lay off bad pitches, as he already does, but also to “hit the pitches he should.” Which is to say Romak is being too selective, likely with a goal of swinging only at pitches he can annihilate. That is not a luxury one gets at higher levels.

2. He needs to adjust better to hitting in two-strike counts, as was evident again Friday when he fanned all four times up.

3. His defense needs to improve, and part of that is some recent work Romak has done at first base rather than his natural position, right field.

There’s at least a chance he’s made improvement or has shown the ability to improve in these areas without his stats actually improving.

by mattenat on Jul 29, 2008 4:41 PM EDT 0 recs

Keppinger

He’d be a pretty handy guy to have aroung about now. Certainly much more effective than Gomez or Rivas.

by thegunner on Jul 29, 2008 5:34 PM EDT 0 recs

Keppinger

has proven that he can play competent middle infield defense in the majors.

Negrych couldn`t even get it done at A ball.

If Negrych has any future as a bat off the bench somewhere-maybe more suitable for the AL someday-he`ll have to be a superb average hitter at every level, because the no defense/no power resume won`t cut it to play 1st/3rd at higher levels otherwise.

Let`s hope for success. We deserve a lucky break with a DL draftee.

by patthatt on Jul 29, 2008 9:58 PM EDT 0 recs

Keppinger couldn't get it done in A-ball either

And if he “has proven that he can play competent middle infield defense in the majors,” why has he played every position but C and CF in only 191 career games? Defense can improve regardless of level, but that still misses the point. Fine, his defense sucks and will never, ever get better. So the only thing to find out then is how far his bat can take him, and there’s no point in slow-tracking him.

And for what it’s worth, as 23yo A+ ballers, Negrych is hitting 45 points higher with more power and way better strike zone judgment.

by azibuck on Jul 29, 2008 10:15 PM EDT up 0 recs

azibuck

Let`s hope you are right about Jim Negrych and he really amounts to something.

by patthatt on Jul 29, 2008 11:05 PM EDT up 0 recs

Negrych =/= 2B

Keppinger was a decent fielder with limited range, kind of like Shelby Ford (with the glove only, of course).

Negrych is more of a Ty Wigginton, defensively. I don’t see any reason to doubt the team’s stated rationale with him. They wanted to give him one last shot as a 2B, and when they decided once and for all that it wasn’t going to happen, they bumped him over to a less demanding position and promoted him.

I wouldn’t necessarily write him off as far as power is concerned, since he’s still fairly young, but he could have value as a bench bat even if he never grows beyond the Bill Mueller offensive profile.

by Vlad on Jul 30, 2008 1:20 AM EDT up 0 recs

Wigginton

In all seriousness, Negrych makes Wiggy look like Brooks Robinson defensively. Or at least like David Wright, maybe. Negrych is really, really bad. Jack Cust bad.

Which isn’t to say I don’t think he should have been promoted.

by WTM on Jul 30, 2008 2:12 AM EDT up 0 recs

2B significantly more "demanding" than 3B?

Sure, you have to move both ways and turn a double play at second, but third basemen see a lot more balls (unsubstantiated, I am just guessing this is true) and play closer to the batter.

by DITO on Jul 30, 2008 5:00 PM EDT up 0 recs

and make a longer throw

by DITO on Jul 30, 2008 5:01 PM EDT up 0 recs

2B handle a lot more balls

Thanks to DP, steals, and forces at second.

In general, you can determine the difficulty of a position by the average level of offense at that position (since most teams are only willing to sacrifice so much defense for offense), and in the aggregate, 3B are better hitters than 2B.

by Vlad on Jul 30, 2008 5:08 PM EDT up 0 recs