Choosing to avoid the standard traffic jams at the Bay Bridge on a holiday weekend, I decided instead to drive to Frederick both Sunday and Monday to scout the Keys as they hosted the Potomac Nationals. Labor Day weekend marks the end of the minor league regular season, so neither a near monsoon Sunday night nor scorching hot temperatures Monday afternoon could keep me away from Harry Grove stadium.
Even though the players could see the end of the season in their grasps like a secretary counting the minutes until 5pm, I was impressed by the effort level and hustle shown by both teams and the number of talented pitchers from each organization. Because of the number of prospects on both teams, I have divided my notes from this series into two parts – Here is Part 1.
Nationals prospect Paul Demny
Paul Demny RHP Potomac Nationals
A thickly built Texan who looks bigger than his listed 6-2 200lbs. size, Demny was the Nationals 6th round pick in the 2008 MLB draft, and has a four-pitch arsenal consisting of a two-seam and four-seam fastball, a slider, and a changeup. Demny throws a relatively straight but powerful 91-96mph four-seam fastball, along with an 86-90mph two-seam fastball with armside movement and some subtle sink. For off-speed offerings Demny throws an uneven but promising 80-82mph slider with some tilt that he can locate for strikes, and an 83-85mph changeup which has splitter-type movement.
Demny has a slow, deliberate windup, and has a lot more activity during his delivery than is typically ideal, and could help explain his 51 walks in 120.1 innings pitched this season. Recently 24-years-old, Demny has a major league quality arm, but if he does not cut down on the walks and improve his fastball location, he will struggle to rise through the farm system. Perhaps a shift to the bullpen could hide some of his control issues and he can carve out a role as a major league reliever.
Brett Mooneyham LHP Potomac Nationals
LHP Brett Mooneyham
A very large left-handed pitcher with room to add weight, Mooneyham was the Nationals 3rd round pick in 2012 from Stanford University. Mooneyham came out this year and pitched well at Low-A Hagerstown, posting a 1.94 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 93 innings before forcing a promotion to High-A Potomac a few weeks ago.
On Monday Mooneyham showcased his three pitch arsenal including an 89-92mph fastball which has some cutting action, an 81-83mph slider, and an 82-84mph changeup that fades away from right-handed batters. Mooneyham has a unique pitching motion with extreme movement, almost turning his back to the batter during his delivery. His motion does provide some deception to the batter (and me behind the plate), but the amount of moving parts causes his mechanics to misalign fairly quickly: this likely explains his 54 walks in 104.1 innings this season.
There is a lot to like about Mooneyham, as his fastball has natural movement and he can throw it more than 90mph, but he looks raw on the mound for a 23-year-old and his delivery will make it difficult to ever pitch at a consistent level. Mooneyham will be a name I remember for 2014, because if he can make some subtle tweaks to his motion this offseason, his #4 starter potential could quickly emerge.
Baltimore Orioles Infielder Ryan Flaherty
Orioles’ infielder Ryan Flaherty was on a rehabilitation assignment in Frederick this weekend in an effort to get some at-bats before returning to Baltimore. In his first two at-bats Sunday evening, Flaherty seemed to be consciously working the count to see some pitches, eventually struggling to catch up with velocity and swinging behind a 95mph and 96mph fastball from Demny for strikeouts.
In his final at-bat of the evening, Flaherty ripped a single to left-center field on a 93mph fastball and resembled a major leaguer hitting off an overmatched High-A pitcher. Maybe that at-bat was what Orioles officials wanted to see, as he was recalled to the majors early Monday morning.
The Orioles 7th round pick in the 2011 draft, left-handed pitcher Trent Howard served as the Frederick Keys starter on Sunday and showed a three-pitch mix including an 85-88mph (topping out at 90mph) fastball with some sinking action, an inconsistent 76-78mph slider, and a good 76-80mph changeup with fading armside action. Howard always pitches from the stretch, and has a relatively simple, straightforward delivery though there is some effort involved in his motion. Howard seemed to tire quickly during his outing, as his velocity decreased and the hitters started hitting him more squarely in the 3rd inning, leading me to believe his career is as a reliever.
Although the Orioles are currently using him in the rotation, the numbers say Howard should be a reliever as well, as he has a 0.62 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 29 innings as a reliever verses a 4.88 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 59 innings pitched as a starter this season. For development purposes, it certainly makes sense to give him additional experience as a starter, but expect the Orioles to promote Howard to Double-A Bowie in 2014 and permanently shift him to the bullpen.
Long-time personal favorite of mine Potomac outfielder Brandon Miller showed his skills over the course of this series, hitting a towering home run to left field Sunday night into a breeze and flashing his quick bat on a double to right field Monday afternoon.
In addition he impressed me with his above-average speed and defensive range in making an excellent running catch in the right field corner on Monday and showed off his monster arm throwing out a runner at second base from the warning track on the fly.Miller still whiffs far too often, accounting for four strikeouts in two games, but if he can improve these contact issues, he has a chance to reach the major leagues in a few years.
Tomorrow I will return with Part 2, in which I will discuss Nationals outfielder Michael Taylor and Orioles pitcher Tim Berry amongst other prospects.