Connecticut Tigers Season Preview

A couple of other Tigers minor league affiliates get started today, one of them being the Connecticut Tigers of the short-season New York-Penn League. I thought I would give our readers a heads up on who is playing and some interesting things to look for.

Pitching:

The C-Tigers aren’t loaded with a lot of high end arms. One that is missing at this point is the highly regarded Brenny Paulino. It seems that Pualino has undergone a cleanup procedure on his right shoulder, and may or may not be back pitching by the end of the season. From what I know, it doesn’t sound entirely serious, but we may or may not see him in 2012. On to the guys that the C-Tigers do have.

One interesting development is the Tigers have decided to try Montreal Robertson as a starter. Robertson has a big arm out of the bullpen, and could have been a quick mover in that capacity potentially. It should be interesting to see how he takes to starting games, especially considering he has an injury history.

Fifth round pick Joe Rogers will likely be closing out games, or at the very least working out of the back of the bullpen. Rogers, who typically sits in the low 90’s with his fastball, has been hitting 93 mph as of late pretty regularly, and has a curve that flashes as above average from time to time.

Edgar De La Rosa has a big frame, but has yet to get the velocity associated with that at this point, though he does show some ability to spin a breaker on occasion, and has a workable change. Endrys Briceno is much in the same boat, though he isn’t as sharp on the secondaries and throws a bit harder. He is real thin, so there is some projection there to look forward to.

Unfortunately, other than those guys, there isn’t a lot of pitching to get too excited about. Charles Gillies was just drafted and works high 80’s and low 90’s, so he could profile as a back of the rotation, long reliever type.

Position Players:

The catching position is going to be mainly held down by Bennet Pickar who was just drafted this year by the Tigers. Pickar isn’t much with the bat, however, he is an excellent defensive catcher and should help that pitching staff out tremendously.

The infield should be pretty fun to watch. Despite Juanar Aguasvivas’ quality numbers last season. He isn’t much of a prospect. He does have good power, but there is a lot of holes in the swing, and at 22 years old already, he isn’t considered a priority prospect. Two youngsters who just turned 20, Edgar Corcino and Brett Harrison, both play 3B, and both should see plenty of time on the field. Harrison was an over-slot signing in the last draft, and reportedly has been having a heck of an extended spring. 2012 draftee Jordan Dean, and Carlos De Los Santos aren’t overly gifted in the middle infield, but should do a quality job as solid athletes.

The outfield will be led by the Tigers best prospect on the team, Danry Vasquez. Vasquez, who started in West Michigan this year, still is a top 10 Tigers prospect despite having to go back to short-season ball. It will be interesting to see how he handles the move, and I kind of expect him to excel a little bit. He is joined by Edwin Gomez, who the Tigers have been waiting for to blossom at some point, and I would think it would have to be soon.