Bell was the Atlanta Braves’ 3rd round selection in the 1995 MLB Draft out of Central High School in Marlboro, New York, but his career did not get off to the type of start he would have liked. In 24 starts and 2 relief appearances between Rookie ball and Short Season-A in 1995 and 1996, Bell’s ERA was just 5.63.  But even as his ERA stayed exorbitantly high, his strikeout to walk ratio was a nice 107-43, inspiring hope that Bell would find a way to get on track. And the following season, Bell finally put it all together. Heading to full-season ball for the first time as a member of the Braves’ Low-A Macon affiliate in 1997, something clicked for Bell as he delivered a breakthrough season, going 14-7 with a 3.68 ERA and a 140-41 strikeout to walk ratio in 27 starts and 146.2 innings pitched. He proved it was no fluke the following year as he went just 7-9 at High-A Danvile but with a 3.28 ERA and a ridiculous 197-46 strikeout to walk ratio in 28 starts and 178.1 innings pitched, and suddenly evaluators were convinced he was an ace in the making. Bell had filled out his projectable 6’5″ frame, and in the process his fastball from the high-80′s to the 90-93 MPH range. Bell did an outstanding job throwing his fastball for strikes, and pairing it with his best pitch, a dynamic curveball, and a solid changeup made it look like the sky was the limit for Bell on the mound.

That offseason, the Braves coveted Cincinnati Reds second baseman Bret Boone and were going to do whatever it took to make a deal happen. They were willing to dangle starter Denny Neagle, who had gone 65-33 with a 3.35 ERA in the previous four years and just two seasons earlier had gone 20-5 with a 2.97 ERA. But that wasn’t enough to make a deal happen- the Reds wanted Rob Bell. After tons of deliberation, the Braves gritted their teeth and let Bell go, and the Reds were ecstatic to get him, with GM Jim Bowden calling him the key to the deal. The expectations would be high on the 22 year old Bell, but the Reds were confident that he would be able to come through.

Bell’s debut season in the Reds organization in 1999 did not go as planned as he missed more than half the year with an elbow injury that did not require surgery. But when he was on the mound, he pitched well, going just 3-6 but with a 3.12 ERA and a 68-17 strikeout to walk ratio in 12 starts and 72 innings pitched, and he was still on the fast-track to the major leagues. And after a huge spring training, Bell began the year as a member of the Reds’ rotation. His big league debut was about as good as he could have possibly hoped as he went 7 strong innings allowing just 1 earned run, striking out 9 while walking 2. He couldn’t come close to keeping up that level of performance, but on June 2nd, through 11 big league starts,  he was 4-3 with a 4.20 ERA and a 51-26 strikeout to walk ratio in 60 innings pitched. But then suddenly everything completely fell apart for Bell. In his next 4 starts, he allowed 16 runs in 15 innings, and that was enough for the Reds to send him back down to Triple-A with his ERA in the big leagues at 5.28. He returned to the majors on July 30th and pitched halfway-decently down the stretch, going 3-2 with a 4.68 ERA and a 53-31 strikeout to walk ratio in his final 11 starts. If you take out one disaster start, he actually managed a 4.08 ERA, and he had several extremely encouraging games including a complete game against the Cubs. On the year, his numbers were not so pretty, but he certainly could have done worse. He went 7-8 with a 5.00 ERA, but actually a 95 ERA+, only 5% below average, because he was pitching in a hitter’s ballpark in the height of the steroids era. His 112-73 strikeout to walk ratio in 140.1 innings pitched wasn’t good, but 6 of the walks were intentional and he was a rookie bound to improve. The scariest thing was that he allowed 32 home runs at a scary rate of 2.1 per 9 innings- Bell clearly had a ton of work to do. But he had survived his first major league season and the Reds hoped better things were ahead. Unfortunately, they were not.

Bell was traded to the Texas Rangers in June of 2001 for spare outfielder Ruben Mateo and a Rookie ball third baseman named Edwin Encarnacion (now, of course, the slugger for the Blue Jays), and between 2001 and 2002 for the Reds and Rangers, Bell’s ERA was a scary 6.50 in 243.2 innings pitched as he continued to allow an insane amount of home runs, 1.8 per 9 innings. After the Rangers released him, the Devil Rays picked him up and things were not much better for him in 2003 as his ERA stayed exorbitantly high at 5.52 in 101 IP. But the following season, he finally found something and came up with his best year in the major leagues, going 8-8 with a 4.46 ERA (101 ERA+), a 57-41 strikeout to walk ratio, and a 1.2 HR/9 in 123 innings pitched. He ended the season on an especially high note, holding the Detroit Tigers to just an unearned run as he dominated them to the tune of a complete-game 4-hitter. But that would be the final great moment of his career. He was released by the Devil Rays as he managed just an 8.28 ERA in 8 appearances in 2005, and his major career finished with a 5.90 ERA in 30 relief appearances with the Orioles in 2007 before he retired in 2008.

Rob Bell had a ton of potential- but there were clear flaws that prevented him from even coming close to reaching his upside. He threw his fastball for a lot of strikes, but could not find a way to consistently keep in down, leading to a ton of home runs. He threw a good curveball, but injuries slowly sapped his feel for it, and even when it was on, he could’t use his fastball well enough to set it up. And his third pitch, his changeup, never really came around, making Bell a two-pitch pitcher with only one pitch he could really trust. Bell’s claim to fame now is that he was the centerpiece of a trade for a slugger of the past, Bret Boone, and a slugger of the present, Edwin Encarnacion, fitting given how many home runs he gave up. He did give up a lot of home runs, but he has also given a ton to his community working with organizations like Big Brothers & Big Sisters and Habitat for Humanity, and hopefully he’ll be able to continue to stay involved with charitable efforts as a part of the Renegades. Good luck to Bell continuing his baseball career in the Renegades’ front office and hopefully helping Hudson Valley follow up a championship season in 2012 with another big year.

Kris Carlson, who turned 23 at the end of October, was the Rays’ 35th round pick in 2012 and had an even season spent primarily with the Renegades, going 1-2 with a 3.74 ERA, a 6.2 K/9, a 5.0 BB/9, and a 0.4 HR/9 in 17 appearances and 21.2 IP with the Renegades and making an appearance each with the GCL Rays (where he was perfect) and the High-A Charlotte Stone Crabs (where he struggled mightily). His groundball rate, according to Minor League Central, was 42.5%, a few percentage points below the league average of 45.6%. Carlson, a 6’3″, 190 right-hander, has intriguing pure stuff but is severely limited by issues with control and command. Carlson throws a low-90 fastball with late sink to go along with a slider that flashes nice tilt. The problem is that he has a lot of trouble figuring out where his pitches are going, struggling with control and don’t even think about command. One good sign was that 9 of his 15 walks on the season came in only 3 games, but the fact that he had 3-walk total implosions in 19 total appearances is still extremely concerning. Kyle Farnsworth‘s control was terrible for the Rays this season and he had only one game with 3 or more walks. Carlson also got hit hard by lefties, allowing a .908 OPS compared to just .545 by righties, but his strikeout to walk ratio was basically the same, 8-8 compared to 8-7 by righties. Carlson has some potential, but he has to find some control and command before we can begin to think about him as any sort of prospect.

Shay Crawford, a lefty who will turn 25 years of age in December, was the Rays’ 41st round pick in 2011 and had a solid season as a situational lefty between 14 games with the Renegades and 7 with the Low-A Bowling Green Hot Rods, going 1-0 with a 3.42 ERA (2.76 in Hudson Valley), a 7.5 K/9, a 3.1 BB/9, and a 0.3 HR/9 in 26.1 innings. Crawford was drafted extremely low and was a couple years too old even at Low-A, but his stuff and left-handedness gives him a chance. Crawford, 6’2″, 190, throws a fastball around 90 MPH with some light bite and also a slider, his only pitch that really flashes plus, and a changeup. Crawford’s groundball rate was only 41.8%, but he was able to throw a lot of strikes and force weak contact, although too much on the air. Crawford was very death on lefties, holding them to a .152/.282/.152 line with 15 strikeouts versus just 2 walks, while righties had their way with him, slamming him for a .822 OPS, as his changeup isn’t nearly as good as his slider and he could not miss any bats. Crawford has a chance to move up up the minor league ranks as a situational lefty type and although he’s too old to be a prospect, so many lefty specialists don’t debut in the big leagues until their late 20′s anyway.

Rob Finneran, who turned 23 in September, was the Rays’ 37th round pick in 2012 after a career as the best pitcher in the history of Bentley University, and had his moments in his pro season, going 0-0 with a 3.70 ERA, a 7.8 K/9, a 5.2 BB/9, and a 0.9 HR/9 in 19 relief appearances and 24.1 IP. That does not sound very good at all, but his groundball rate was 48.1% and he actually had a 1.25 ERA in his last 16 appearances. Finneran, who has a nice pitcher’s frame at 6’3″, 215 is a little interesting. He throws a fastball in the 90-91 MPH range that features nice late sink when Finneran is able to get on top of it, which he struggled to do at the beginning of the season (including when I saw him in July), but he was able to do that more often as the season progressed. His two secondary pitches, a slider, and a changeup, showed transient flashes of being swing-and-miss pitches but being extremely inconsistent. (When I saw Finneran, he flashed a nice changeup in terms of both arm action and movement- it featured nice sink- but his arm slot was different between his changeup and fastball and hitters may have picked up on that as the season progressed.) Both secondary offerings did force a decent amount of weak contact, but Finneran was very dependent on his fastball all season. Finneran does throw out of a deceptive arm slot. Finneran has some upside as a middle reliever and shows flashes of effectiveness but needs significant improvement to all three of his pitches to make that possible moving forward.

Can’t say these first three pitchers are the best prospects you have ever read about. The second half of this article gets more interesting.

Dylan Floro, who turns 22 in December, was drafted by the Rays for the second time in 2012, in the 13th round to be exact, and had a very positive pro debut for the Renegades, going 4-1 with a 2.40 ERA, a 6.3 K/9, a 1.2 BB/9, and a 0.0 HR/9 in 18 relief appearances and 30 IP. He didn’t miss many bats, but his groundball rate was an outstanding 64.1% and he kept hitters off-balance just about all the time. Floro, who is 6’2″, 175, is an interesting story. When the Rays selected him for the first time back in 2009 as a high schooler, Floro was a well-regarded prospect with a fastball in the low-90′s and a sharp slider that flashed plus, falling so far in the draft only because of a strong commitment to Cal State Fullerton. But after arriving on campus, Floro’s stuff began to fade. His fastball was just in the 88-91 MPH range while his slider lost its bite. But that forced him to perfect his control and command and develop a deceptive delivery in order to continue to succeed at Cal State Fullerton, and Floro put all those adjustments he made on display with the Renegades as hitters could not square up anything against him in 2012. That alone gives Floro a chance to be a middle reliever who can get out of jams with double plays. But then there’s always the chance that Floro’s previous stuff comes back to go with his newfound command, and if that falls into place, the Rays will have a possible mid-rotation starter on their hands.  Floro is not the same pitcher he used to be, but he still has the ability to make an impact in the big leagues as what he is now and if his previous stuff comes back he will be an even more intriguing prospect.

Ryan Garton, who will turn 23 in December, was the Rays’ 34th round pick in 2012 and had an outstanding pro debut with the Renegades, going 4-0 with a 2.00 ERA, a 10.3 K/9, a 2.7 BB/9, and a 0.0 HR/9 in 21 relief appearances and 27 innings pitched. His groundball rate was a nice 55.1%. The nice groundball rate was no fluke as Garton controls his fastball very well, but he throws it in just the high-80′s, topping out at 90 MPH. But it also serves another purpose: to set up his outstanding changeup. Garton also throws a curveball. Hearing about Garton’s arsenal, I immediately thought to compare him to Jeremy Hellickson. It seems that Garton won’t be a starting pitcher in pro ball like I thought back then, but Garton has a lot in common with Hellickson as a shorter pitcher at 5’11″, 170 with a fastball-changeup-curveball arsenal headlined by the changeup. Another more intricate similarity is that Garton’s changeup was considerably more effective against right-handed batters than lefties in 2012, as has been the case for Hellickson. Per Brooks Baseball, verus righties Hellickson’s changeup has been a strike 67.8% of the time during his time in the big leagues, generated a 23.5% whiff rate, and had a 1.33 groundball to flyball ratio compared to being a strike 66.6% of the time, generating a 14.7% whiff rate, and forcing a 1.41 groundball to flyball ratio to lefty batters. That difference has made Hellickson’s fastball a crucial pitch for him against lefties and the question is whether Garton could do the same with a worst fastball. Garton allowed just a .475 OPS to lefties compared to .449 to righties, but his strikeout to walk ratio was just 9-5 compared to a ridiculous 22-3. But this is less of an issue because Garton won’t be starting and he likely doesn’t have the fastball to be a late-inning reliever. But between his fastball, changeup, and developing curveball, Garton has the ability to be a middle reliever who can enter games and rack up strikeouts and force a lot of weak contact against right-handed batters. Garton fits a very similar physical profile to David Robertson, both being 5’11″ and although Robertson weighs 25 pounds more, Garton may continue to fill out (which would also presumably help his fastball velocity). Garton’s money pitch is a changeup as opposed to the slider for Robertson, and it’s doubtful that he’s going to gain velocity the way Robertson has in the big leagues (his fastball was 91.55 MPH when he debuted in the big leagues in 2008 but average 92.79 MPH in 2012 according to Brooks Baseball), he has a chance to be the type of reliever that Robertson was in 2009 and 2010 when he racked up the strikeouts although he walked too many batters and was enigmatic at times. The Rays were able to get an interesting sleeper way down in the 34th round in Garton, and he has the ability to start moving quickly through the minor leagues and be an impact middle reliever in the big leagues before long.

Marcus Jensen, who turned 21 in August, was the Rays’ 30th round pick in 2009 and had a good season in Hudson Valley, going 6-1 with a 3.58 ERA, an 8.8 K/9, a 3.3 BB/9, and a 0.8 HR/9 in 22 relief appearances and 32.2 IP. Jensen’s groundball rate was a sub-par 37.5%. Jensen, 6’3″, 170 and the son of the ex-big league catch with the same name, features a nice fastball in the low-90′s with late life up to go along with a solid changeup and a breaking ball that has never made much progress. He forces a lot of weak contact, although most of it in the air, something that he needs to rectify moving forward. Bizarrely, Jensen had a reverse platoon split, allowing just .522 OPS to lefties compared to .721 to righties with an 8-2 strikeout to walk ratio compared to 19-10. His lack of a usable breaking ball is the biggest reason for that. Jensen is still young and the Rays hope he can continue to develop his arsenal to give him a chance for a middle relief role in the major leagues.

Jose Molina, not to be confused with the Rays’ primary catcher in 2012, was signed by the Rays out of the Dominican Republic back in 2007 and had the lowest ERA in the Renegades bullpen, going 3-1 with a 1.41 ERA, a 7.3 K/9, a 3.4 BB/9, and a 0.4 HR/9 in 22 relief appearances and 32 innings pitched. His groundball rate was a nice 54.1%. Molina, 5’11″ and 160 pounds, throws a high-80′s sinker that he commands pretty well down in the zone and also throws a slider and a changeup. The changeup looked much better than the breaking ball as Molina was the lefty version of Jensen although to a lesser extent, allowing a .589 OPS and a 9-5 strikeout to walk ratio to lefties compared to a .539 OPS and an 18-7 strikeout to walk ratio. The Rays hope Molina can fill out a little more and add some velocity while polishing his secondary pitches. They hope he can be another major league middle relief candidate at some point.

That’s it for our analysis of the 2012 Hudson Valley Renegades. They were the champions this season and moving froward they have considerable potential. We saw top prospects like Taylor Guerrieri and Richie Shaffer, still impressive prospects a step below like Jeff Ames and Jesse Hahn, sleepers that the Rays hope can reach their potential like Justin O’Conner and Matthew Spann, and plenty of players coming out of college with the chance to contribute in the big leagues someday, with a few of them, like Tommy Coyle and Dylan Floro in this installment, having the chance to be even more. Hope you enjoyed this analysis of the Renegades, and we’ll continue with the Low-A Bowling Green Hot Rods as we continue break down the entire Rays minor league system.

For our analysis on the Renegades along with the GCL Rays and Princeton Rays (so far), please check our Minor League Affiliates Analysis page here at RCG.

Reinaldo Lopez, 21, has a great Rays name and was signed by the Rays out of Venezuela back in 2007. Lopez had a good season between starting and relieving in 2012, going 3-2 with a 3.49 ERA, a 5.1 K/9, a 2.8 BB/9, and a 0.6 HR/9 in 6 starts, 9 relief appearances, and 49 IP, with 13 of his appearances coming with the Renegades with the other two at Low-A Bowling Green. Lopez, a filled-out 6’2″, 221 right-hander, features a low-90′s fastball with late life that he controls well to go along with a halfway-decent curveball. He throws a lot of strikes and is able to force a good amount of weak contact, but he gets away with a few too many pitches up in the zone and doesn’t force nearly as many groundballs as he should, managing just 40.7% mark compared to the 45.6% NYPL average according to Minor League Central. Lopez needs continued work on his fastball command and his breaking ball, and the Rays will likely teach him a changeup to complete his arsenal. He did do a much better job against righties than lefties in 2012, posting a a 17-4 strikeout to walk ratio to righties versus just 11-11 to lefties, with the lack of a changeup contributing to that. Lopez has a some potential as a middle reliever who can keep hitters off-balance, throw strikes, and force groundballs.

Eduar Quinonez, who turned 23 in August, is another Venezuelan signee who worked in a swingman role with the Renegades this season and also had a solid season, going 7-3 with a 4.04 ERA, a 7.5 K/9, a 3.0 BB/9, and a 0.9 HR/9 in 5 starts, 10 relief appearances, and 62.1 IP. His 7 wins led the team. His groundball rate was a solid 43.8%. Quinonez, a 6’3″, 185 right-hander, throws a fastball in just the high-80′s, touching 90 MPH, but his money-making pitch is an 11-to-5 curveball that shows flashes of tight brake. Lefties did have their way with Quinonez this season, tagging him for a .866 OPS compared to .563 by righties, but encouragingly his strikeout to walk ratio was a decent 20-11 versus lefties, not so far from his 32-11 ratio against righties. Quinonez is on the older side for a prospect who hasn’t yet pitched in full-season ball, but he has a chance to ride his curveball to a big league bullpen role.

Lopez and Quinonez don’t exactly exhilarate you with their middle reliever potential. But we’ll finish with a pair of pitchers that the Rays are much more excited about and that have a real chance of appearing among the Rays’ top prospects in coming seasons.

Henderson had a huge season for the Renegades and has the ability to continue to improve. (Credit: Bluefield Daily Telegraph)

Brandon Henderson, 20, was the Rays’ 15th round pick in 2010 and was the Renegades’ lefty relief ace in 2012, going 5-2 with a 2.06 ERA, a 7.7 K/9, a 1.3 BB/9, and a 0.6 HR/9 in 1 start, 17 relief appearances, and 48 innings pitched. His groundball rate was 43.0%. Henderson, a 6’3″, 175 lefty, fell so far back in 2010 because his fastball velocity was non-existent as he threw in just the mid-80′s. Henderson hasn’t filled out yet, but his fastball velocity has gotten to manageable levels as he throws in the 90-91 MPH range, topping out at 93 MPH. Henderson controls his fastball extremely well with good late life and is able to both throw it consistently for strikes and force weak contact on it, a relatively rare combination for a Short Season-A pitcher, although his fastball command does still need work. But the polish on the fastball is just the start with Henderson. Because he never had the great fastball velocity in high school, Henderson was forced to begin developing a battery of secondary pitches: a slider, a curveball, and a changeup. The slider was the pitch that looked the best when I saw him, coming out of the same arm slot as his fastball sharp late break, but Henderson got into trouble when his slider and his slower curveball blended together to form a mostly ineffective slurve, although Henderson was able to force a lot of groundballs with it. The Rays will have to consider having Henderson dropping his curveball entirely from his repertoire as they try to turn the slider into a consistent dynamic pitch. Henderson’s changeup is a solid pitch against right-handed pitchers, although it was too often more of a straight change with solid arm action but unimpressive movement. Henderson rode primarily his fastball and slider to own left-handed batters, allowing just a .417 OPS with a 9-1 strikeout to walk ratio, and he was great against righties as well, allowing a .626 OPS and a 32-6 strikeout to walk ratio. Henderson’s fastball really shined in 2012 and his secondary pitches are still developing but show promise. The Rays will have to consider making Henderson a starter next season after watching him pitch effectively against hitters from both sides of the plate. The Rays hope Henderson will continue to add velocity on his fastball and improve his secondary pitches, and he has a chance to be a number three-type starter or a dependable late inning reliever if everything goes well.

Ian Kendall, who will turn 21 next week, was drafted 10 rounds ahead of Henderson in the 5th round of the 2010 MLB Draft and features even better upside- but was on the exact opposite of Henderson on the performance spectrum for the Renegades in 2012. Kendall went 1-0 with just a 6.21 ERA for Hudson Valley, posting an 8.8 K/9, a 5.8 BB/9, and a 0.6 HR/9 in 1 start, 16 relief appearances, and 42 IP. His groundball rate was a bit below average at 41.9%. Let’s stop the comparison with Henderson here- other than the difference between their performance in 2012, Kendall is a right-handed pitcher, features no projection at 6’0″, 205, and stands out most for his raw velocity on his fastball. Kendall consistently hits the mid-90′s on his fastball with late downward bite but fails to control his fastball with any consistency. He has another enigmatic pitch in his sharp 11-to-5 curveball that is downright nasty at its best and did generate plenty of swings-and-misses in 2012, but it hangs up in the zone too often, leading to hard contact. And then there’s his changeup, which Kendall throws with nice sink and decent arm action but no control at all. Kendall’s inability to throw his fastball for a strike often enough to sell his secondary pitches certainly didn’t help him at all. Kendall was hit hard by hitters from both sides, allowing a .796 OPS to right-handed batters and a .765 OPS to lefties, but the difference in strikeout to walk ratio was staggering as Kendall was at 28-11 versus righties compared to 13-16 against lefties. Kendall’s ceiling might be right there with Taylor Guerrieri and Jesse Hahn for highest on the team, but the chances that he’ll get there aren’t looking good right now. Kendall has a ton of work to do on all three of his pitches and the Rays are hoping that something can click for Kendall as he has number two starter upside in the dream scenario, but it seems more likely that Kendall ends up as a fireballing reliever and even a closer if he finds any control.

Don’t underestimate these Renegades relievers, with Henderson possibly jumping onto the prospect radar as soon as next season and Kendall being as big of a wild card as there is in the Rays system. We’ll finish off our analysis of the 2012 Renegades over the next few days as we continue talking about their relievers.

For the earlier installments of our breakdown of the Renegades and the Rays’ other minor league affiliates, please check out the Minor League Affiliates Analysis page.