[mlb.com]Climbing the ladder, Part II

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07/27/2004 3:00 PM ET Climbing the ladder, Part II Prospects who have jumped from High-A to Double-A By Jonathan Mayo / MLB.com When a prospect gets promoted to the big leagues, most fans take notice. Everyone knew when Zack Greinke, for example, made his highly anticipated jump -- a very successful one to boot -- to Kansas City. That kind of player movement, involving a highly touted prosect, may be relatively rare over the course of the season. But that doesn't mean things are all quiet on the personnel change front down on the farm. Countless minor leaguers have moved up (or down) levels within their respective organizations. While the impact of these leaps isn't felt at the big-league level, there is a certain level of achievement farm systems feel when prospects they've developed are deemed ready for a new challenge at a higher level. Sometimes, these future stars rise to the challenge and make it look easy. Sometimes, the jump doesn't agree with them and the advanced level appears to be too much too soon. Of course, there's the down side of all of this: Players who were placed at a certain level to start the year, but ended up with a demotion because they couldn't perform there. In Part I of this series looking at the top promotions -- and demotions -- in the minor leagues, prospects going from Double to Triple-A were the focus. Now, in Part II, lets examine those who have gone from High-A to Double-A, often seen as the toughest jump to make. (Has a meaningful promotion or demotion been overlooked? Email me with any additions and I'll print the best suggestions.) Brian Anderson, OF, White Sox Pre-promotion stats: .319 AVG/ .394 OBP/ .531 SLG Promotion date: July 1 Anderson was impressive this spring and hasn't stopped since in his first full season. Since getting bumped up to the Southern League, he's hit .316 with a nice .919 OPS in 21 games. Michael Aubrey, 1B, Indians Pre-promotion stats: .339 AVG/ .438 OBP/ .550 SLG Promotion date: June 21 One of the Kinston Trio (who gets this obscure reference?) featured here, the sweet-swinging Aubrey has found the Eastern League to be a little tougher, though he still has a respectable .357 OBP through 16 games despite his .259 average. He's walked more than he's struck out overall for the season. Jeff Baker, 3B, Rockies Pre-promotion stats: .330 AVG/.439 OBP/ .547 SLG Promotion date: July 15 Baker, a fourth-rounder out of Clemnson in 2002, is up to Double-A after finding himself in the Top 10 in four California League offensive categories. He homered in his Texas League debut and was hitting .306 through his first nine games. Chad Billingsley, RHP, Dodgers Pre-promotion stats: 7-4, 2.35 ERA, 92 IP, 68 H, 49 BB, 111 K Promotion date: July 23 The Dodgers sure aren't afraid to push their young pitching talent, especially when they were dominating like Billingsley was (he was leading the FSL in ERA and held hitters to a .208 average there). His first Double-A start didn't serve as much of an obstacle: six innings of shuitout ball with six strikeouts and no walks. Oh, and he won't turn 20 until July 29. Fausto Carmona, RHP, Indians Pre-promotion stats: 5-2, 2.83 ERA, 70 IP, 67 H, 20 BB, 57 K Promotion date: May 19 The first of the three from Kinston to move up a rung -- and the only pitcher -- the 20-year-old Carmona has found Double-A a little more challenging, with a 4.76 ERA over eight starts. Still, he's walked just 11 in 45.1 IP. Jamie D'Antona, 3B, Diamondbacks Pre-promotion stats: .315 AVG/ .353 OBP/ .531 SLG Promotion date: June 23 Another of a trio of promotions in one organization in this group, D'Antona moved up a rung along with Conor Jackson and Carlos Quentin on the same day. D'Antona hasn't had as much success as his amigos since the promotion, hitting .211 in his first 19 games with El Paso before hitting the DL. Zach Duke, RHP, Pirates Pre-promotion stats: 10-5, 1.39 ERA, 97 IP, 73 H, 20 BB, 106 K Promotion date: July 17 Duke left the Carolina League as the leader in wins, ERA and strikeouts. Moving up to the Eastern League hasn't slowed him down a bit. Duke has tossed 11 scoreless innings over two starts for Altoona, striking out 12 and walking just two. Richie Gardner, RHP, Reds Pre-promotion stats: 8-3, 2.50 ERA, 86.1 IP, 77 H, 13 BB, 80 K Promotion date: July 8 Now for the feel-good Reds pitching prospect story of the day. Gardner didn't even pitch last year, signing as a non-drafted free agent in late August out of Arizona. After placing third in the Carolina League in ERA in his debut season, he's performed well in Double-A as well, with a 2.79 ERA and three quality starts for Chattanooga. Ryan Garko, C/1B, Indians Pre-promotion stats: .328 AVG/ .425 OBP/ .609 SLG Promotion date: July 15 Garko was leading the Carolina League in batting average, OBP and SLG when he was bumped up to join Aubrey. He's fared a bit better than his fellow leaper in the early going with a .340 average and an OPS of .896 through his first 11 games. Felix Hernandez, RHP, Mariners Pre-promotion stats: 9-3, 2.74 ERA, 92 IP, 85 H, 26 BB, 114 K Promotion date: July 1 Don't let the 4.79 Double-A ERA confuse you. The 18-year-old has had just one awful outing since being pushed up to the Texas League. Take away a six-run, 2.2-IP start and he's got a 2.50 ERA over three starts. Overall, he still has 19 K's against nine walks in 20.2 IP. Conor Jackson, OF, Diamondbacks Pre-promotion stats: .345 AVG/ .438 OBP/ .562 SLG Promotion date: June 23 Jackson is still in the top five among California League leaders in average, on-base and slugging, even though he was promoted nearly a month ago. He hasn't minded the Texas League, either, with a .303 average and .386 OBP in his first 30 games. Scott Kazmir Pre-promotion stats: 1-2, 3.42 ERA, 50 IP, 49 H, 22 BB, 51 K Promotion date: July 10 It was always a question of when, not if, Kazmir would get the call to Binghamton and now that he's past an abdominal muscle injury, he's showing why he's so highly touted. Over 26 Double-A innings, he's held hitters to a .193 average, walking nine and striking out 29 to yield a 1.73 ERA. Carlos Quentin, OF, Diamondbacks Pre-promotion stats: .310 AVG/ .428 OBP/ .562 SLG Promotion date: June 23 Just like D'Antona and Jackson, Quentin dominated in the Cal League. He's continued to hit in Double-A as well, even better than Jackson with a .390/ .456/ .564 line over his first 31 games. Kyle Sleeth, RHP, Tigers Pre-promotion stats: 5-4, 3.31 ERA, 68 IP, 60 H, 18 BB, 65 K Promotion date: June 20 The No. 3 overall pick in the 2003 draft, Sleeth has struggled in Erie, though not as badly as his 8.79 ERA over five starts would indicate. Two of his last three starts were quality ones, though they sandwiched a 5.2 IP-11 earned run outing. Coming up in Part III: Prospects who have gone from Low-A to High-A, have doubl e-jumped or taken a step backward. Jonathan Mayo is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the appr oval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. -- If you're not have fun in baseball, you miss the point of everything -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 220.141.125.122