Toledo Mud Hens 7, Durham Bulls 5

Durham exploded for five runs in the top of the third innings, as Nevin Ashley homered to lead off the frame. After loading the bases with one out, Chris Gimenez hit a two run single, and Leslie Anderson and Cole Figueroa contributed RBI singles, putting the Bulls up 5-0. Toledo came back in the bottom of the inning, on Jerad Head‘s two out, two run home run. The Mud Hens scored twice more in the bottom of the fifth, as Don Kelly and John Lindsey each had two out RBI singles. The game became tied in the bottom of the seventh, when am error by Tim Beckham put Justin Henry on second. Henry would come around to score on Head’s RBI single. With two out and two on in the bottom of the eighth, Brad Davis doubled, plating two and giving the Mud Hens the eventual 7-5 victory. Ryan Reid picked up the loss, giving up 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits over three innings. Anderson, Feliciano, and Reid Brignac each had two hits in the loss.

Bowling Green Hot Rods 10, West Michigan Whitecaps 4

Scoreless into the top of the fifth, the floodgates opened in the top of the fifth. Back to back doubles by Jeff Malm and Cameron Seitzer put the Hot Rods on the board. After a walk, Kes Carter had an RBI single, driving in Seitzer. After an out, another walk loaded the bases. A wild pitch and a sacrifice fly led to two more runs, as Bowling Green pulled out to a 4-0 lead. West Michigan got a run back in the bottom of the frame, as the Whitecaps had runners on second and third with no outs. A groundout lead to a run, but Ryan Carpenter managed to escape further harm. Bowling Green scored twice more in the top of the sixth, when Joshua Sale had a two out, two run single. The Whitecaps scored twice more in the bottom of the seventh, cutting the lead to 6-3, however, the Hot Rods put the game out of reach in the top of the ninth. The Hot Rods scored four times on three consecutive RBI singles and a sacrifice fly, stretching out to a 10-3 lead. West Michigan got a run back in the bottom of the ninth, but it was not enough as the Hot Rods rolled to a 10-4 victory. Carpenter picked up the win, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits, striking out 2 in 6 innings of work. Four Rays had 2 hits each, with Malm and Seitzer each hitting 2 doubles.

GCL Rays 7, GCL Red Sox 3 (8 innings)

The Rays jumped out on the Red Sox early and often, cruising to a 7-3 victory. Yoel Araujo kicked off the scoring with a two run, two out double in the first inning, giving the Rays an early 2-0 lead. A Bralin Jackson two out triple plated another run in the top of the second. The Rays tacked on another run in the top of the fourth, and two more in the top of the fifth, jumping out to a 6-0 lead. The Red Sox clawed back, scoring single runs in the bottom of the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings to pull within three. The Rays put another run up in the top of the eighth, as Armando Araiza had an RBI double. The game was called with two out int he top of the eighth, giving the Rays a 7-3 win. Matthew Ramsey picked up the victory in relief, giving up 1 run on 2 hits and a walk over 1.1 innings, striking out 2 batters. Araiza, Jackson, and Benjamin Kline each had two hits in the victory.

Miranda was a member of the Cuban National Team in 2001, and played for Pinar Del Rio in the Cuban National Series from 2002 through 2004 as a first baseman and outfielder. Over his four year career in Cuba, he hit .301 with 57 home runs and 205 RBI. Miranda displayed a solid batting eye, drawing 197 walks while striking out 242 times. In early 2004, after several failed attempts, he defected to the Dominican Republic, becoming a resident in 2005. Miranda was granted citizenship in 2006.

On December 12, 2006, the New York Yankees signed Miranda to a 4 year, 2 million dollar contract, putting him on the 40 man roster. At the time of the signing, scouts projected Miranda as a .280 hitter with 20 to 25 home runs, with excellent plate awareness. He opened the 2007 season for the Tampa Yankees in the Florida State League, where he displayed flashes of potential. In 67 games, he posted a .264/.348/.464 line with 9 home runs and 50 RBI. Miranda also hit 17 doubles, hinting at the possibility of even more power.

His debut was good enough to have the Yankees promote him to the Trenton Thunder of the Eastern League halfway through the season. He continued to show potential, posting a nearly identical line of .265/.352/.480 over 55 games. He had a slight increase in his power, hitting 17 doubles and 7 home runs in 196 at bats, while driving in 46 runs. Overall for 2007, Miranda hit .265 with 16 home runs, 34 doubles and 96 RBI. He walked 52 times, but also struck out 106 times, which gave him a strikeout percentage of 23.8%.

Miranda was promoted to the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees of the International League for the 2008 season. He improved on his 2007 campaign, hitting at a .287/.384/.449 rate. While his power numbers declined (22 doubles and only 12 home runs with 55 RBI), Miranda displayed a better eye at the plate, walking 55 times and only striking out 79 times in 356 at bats. On September 16th, he was brought up to the Yankees, where he had 4 hits, including 1 double, in 10 at bats.

2009 found Miranda back in the International League for the majority of the season. He again flashed his power potential, slugging 19 home runs and hitting 30 doubles while driving in 82 runs. His overall line improved, as Miranda hit .290/.369/.498, as he drew another 55 walks while striking out 101 times in 438 at bats. Miranda also had two brief call ups to the Yankees, resulting in 3 hits in 9 at bats, along with his first major league home run.

Miranda began 2010 in Scranton for the third consecutive year. He picked up where he left off in 2009, posting a line of .285/.371/.495, while hitting 15 home runs and 15 doubles in 295 at bats. Following an inevitable Nick Johnson injury, the Yankees recalled Miranda on July 16th, giving him an extended trial in the major leagues.

This chance did not end well. Miranda only hit .219/.296/.422, with 3 home runs and 2 doubles in 64 at bats. He did walk 7 times, but he appeared overmatched. His infield fly ball rate was an extremely high 31%, much higher than the major league average of 9.3%. Miranda also tried to hit fly balls, as evidenced by his ground ball to fly ball rate of 0.49. The major league average for 2010 was 1.18.

That offseason, the Yankees traded Miranda to the Arizona Diamondbacks for 19 year old pitching prospect Scott Allen. It was expected that Miranda would finally realize his potential in the major leagues, now that he was out of New York. The pressure on him would not be nearly what it was, and he would be able to relax and perform to expectations. This turned out not to be the case.

Miranda opened 2011 as the Diamondbacks everyday first baseman, and put up similarly putrid numbers. Through 65 games spanning 202 plate appearances, he hit at a .215/.315/.402 rate, with 7 home runs and 8 doubles while driving in 23 runners. Miranda displayed a decent batting eye, drawing 23 walks; however, that was about the only positive sign. His infield fly ball rate decreased to 18%, which was still far above the major league average of 10.6%. He kept trying to hit everything in the air, as evidenced by his ground ball to fly ball rate of 0.62.

On July 14th, the Juan Miranda experiment ended, as Miranda was sent down to the Reno Aces of the Pacific Coast League. His numbers continued to look awful, as he only had a .229 batting average. However, he drew 20 walks in 126 plate appearances, and hit 5 home runs while driving in 24. His line drive rate for Reno was 27.5%, much higher than the league average of 17.9%. His batting average on balls in play (.298, compared to a league average of .328) indicates that he ran into a stretch of bad luck in the PCL.

A free agent after the 2011 season, Miranda signed a minor league contract with the Rays on December 6th. Thus far through the 2012 season, he has struggled with the Durham Bulls, hitting at a .188/.288/.266 clip. Through 73 plate appearances, he has drawn 8 walks, but he has struck out 19 times. Miranda has yet to hit a home run, and has only 5 doubles. Perhaps the biggest sign of a problem is his line drive rate, which is only 13.3%. Meanwhile, he is hitting fly balls in 37.8% of his at bats.

It is still too early to call Miranda a AAAA player, but he needs a lot of work. Miranda appears to have become too conscious of trying to hit the ball into the air, much to his detriment. If the Rays can rebuild his swing, and his confidence, then they may have another piece that could help them down the line. Juan Miranda is a lottery ticket that the Rays may be able to get to pay off.

Cobb was originally drafted by the Rays in the 4th round of the 2006 MLB Amateur Draft out of Vero Beach High School. He made his debut later that year for the Princeton Devil Rays of the Appalachian League. In the 6 games he appeared in, encompassing 8.2 innings, he gave up 9 hits and 3 walks while striking out 8 batters. Of those 9 hits, 3 were home runs. However, he showed promise, especially with his 2.67 K/BB rate.

That brief showing in Princeton was sufficient for Cobb to be promoted to the Hudson Valley Renegades in the New York-Penn League. In his first full season in the minors, he ended up with a 5-6 record and a 3.54 ERA over 16 games, all starts. Cobb pitched 81.1 innings, giving up 78 hits and 31 walks while striking out 62 batters. While his strikeout rate declined, his WHiP had slight improvement, decreasing from 1.385 to 1.340. He had his greatest improvement in his home run rate, as he only permitted 4 home runs over the course of the year.

In 2008, Cobb took the next step up the ladder, as he was assigned to the Columbus Catfish of the Southern League. The results were mixed, as Cobb showed significant improvement in some areas, while he regressed in others. He posted a 9-7 record with a 3.29 ERA over his 139.2 innings pitched. Cobb only permitted 113 hits and 35 walks, dropping his WHiP and BB/9 to 1.06 and 2.3 respectively. However, he regressed significantly with his home run rate. Cobb gave up 16 home runs, giving him a rate of approximately 1 per 9 innings. He also hit 16 batters, and only struck out 97, to post the lowest K/9 rate (6.3) of his career.

Cobb displayed enough of an improvement to move up to the next level, as he was promoted to the Charlotte Stone Crabs of the Florida State League for the 2009 season. There, Cobb began to display the form that has made him into a legitimate prospect. He went 8-5 with a 3.03 ERA in 124.2 innings. He gave up 116 hits, and displayed a greater ability to keep the ball in the park, giving up only 6 home runs. His control improved, as he walked only 31 hitters while recording 107 strikeouts. Cobb’s K/BB rate improved dramatically, from 2.77 to 3.45. The improvement in control also manifested itself in the number of hit batsmen, as Cobb only hit 9 batters over the season.

For the 2010 season, Cobb was promoted to the Montgomery Biscuits of the Southern League, marking the fourth consecutive year that he moved up exactly one level. Cobb continued to excel, posting a 7-5 record with a 2.71 ERA in 119.2 innings. He gave up 120 hits, marking the first time since his debut in 2006 that he gave up over a hit per inning, and walked 35 batters. However, his strikeout rate increased, as he struck out 128 batters, marking the first time he had struck out more than one batter per inning. His K/BB rate improved to 3.66, as he displayed the ability to get the big strikeout when it was needed to end a threat. Despite a bump up in his BB/9 (2.2 in 2009 to 2.6 in 2010), there were further signs that Cobb had improved his control, as he hit only 4 batters all year.

Cobb advanced to the Durham Bulls of the International League to open the 2011 season, and continued to display improvement. In 13 starts, he went 5-1 with a 1.87 ERA. As impressive as those numbers are, they do not tell the full story. He only gave up 61 hits and 16 walks over 67.1 innings, giving him a career best 2.1 walks per 9 innings. Cobb struck out 70 batters, which gave him a career best K/BB rate of 4.38. He also got the opposition to hit ground balls on 56.1% of their at bats, a significantly better rate than the International League average of 41.5%.

Finally, the Rays called him up on May 1st. He made his major league debut that same day, pitching 4.1 innings against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He gave up 4 hits and 4 walks, leading to 4 earned runs while striking out 3 batters. He was sent back to Durham after that game, but was later recalled on May 31st. Overall, he pitched in 9 games at the major league level, finishing with a 3-2 record and a 3.42 ERA. He gave up 49 hits and 21 walks, while striking out 37 batters. His strikeout rate was not nearly as impressive as it was in the minors, as he only struck out 6.3 batters per 9innings; however, he continued his ground ball tendencies. For every fly ball he gave up, he induced 1.17  groundballs, significantly better than the major league average of 0.82. Cobb was also able to induce the double play on 21% of all opportunities, again a much better rate than the major league average of 10%.

2012 finds Cobb back at Durham to start the year. He was briefly recalled on April 15, but was sent down the following day. So far for Durham, Cobb has a 0-2 record with a 4.09 ERA. However, these statistics are skewed by a horrendous start on April 24th, where he gave up 6 earned runs on 8 hits and 4 walks in just 4 innings pitched. Given his track record, and the issues the Rays have had in the back of their bullpen thus far this season, it would not be a surprise if Cobb was to be called up again later on this year.

What type of pitcher can Alex Cobb become at the major league level? Cobb throws a fastball that is consistently in the mid to lower 90′s, a decent curveball, and a solid change. He is also very adept at changing the velocity on his pitches without changing his arm speed, routinely having a 10 to 15 MPH difference between the fastball and the curve. Cobb can lose his control occasionally with the fastball, but that should be refined as he gets older. While his strikeout rates in the minor leagues were solid, Cobb appears to be a similar pitcher to current Ray Jeremy Hellickson. He appears as though he could become a solid middle of the rotation starter, with the upside of a second starter.