Billy Rowell is stirring...

[Arthur_Bryant]

3-for-5 today (Sunday 29th) with a HR.

[DrungoHazewood]

I don't really have any hope left for Rowell. He has no position defensively and he would have to be extraordinary offensively to get excited over. All he's done up to this point, as far as I'm concerned, is earn a promotion to Bowie next year. His overall numbers are still not impressive. Just decent.

As a bad corner player or a DH his minimum acceptable offensive performance in the majors is a .800-.850 OPS. He's nowhere near that in his third try at the Carolina League.

He simply has to show astonishing growth to get back on any kind of track to the majors, even as a bit player.

[Flosman]

I think the chances that rowell ever makes it are not good. He is beyond bad in the field. He has not hit since his second season well at all. But something I do wonder about him, is what went so wrong. He was not a bust right out of the gate. His first two seasons were actually pretty good. Really better than just about anyone we have drafted in a long time. My question is what happened from there. I understand that his Ks were a red flag but during his first two seasons he showed he actually could hit a little.

Frobby when Rowell was drafted one of the BA guys did say Rowell was the type that would likely be either a hall of famer or a total bust.

[MurphDogg]

As a bad corner player or a DH his minimum acceptable offensive performance in the majors is a .800-.850 OPS. He's nowhere near that in his third try at the Carolina League.

He simply has to show astonishing growth to get back on any kind of track to the majors, even as a bit player.

It would take a huge year at AA next year to get excited about Rowell again. Something near .290/.380/530 with a k/bb rate of no worse than 2:1 and some hope of playing respectable defense somewhere. It is hard to say that any prospect is old at 22 (which he won't be for another two weeks), but Rowell seems to be that guy.

[Mackus]

If Rowell develops the 30+ HR power everyone expects him to, and gets his OPS above .800, I suspect the K's will quickly become a secondary issue.

Strikeouts don't matter at the major league level. A guy who strikes out a ton is completely acceptable as long as his numbers overall are still acceptable.

In the minors a high strikeout total, especially coupled with low walk numbers, is a major red flag. Guys with really high K totals in the minors tend to see those rates increase further once they reach the majors and also don't hit nearly as well on the balls they do put in play once they get up here.

[DrungoHazewood]

I think the chances that rowell ever makes it are not good. He is beyond bad in the field. He has not hit since his second season well at all. But something I do wonder about him, is what went so wrong. He was not a bust right out of the gate. His first two seasons were actually pretty good. Really better than just about anyone we have drafted in a long time. My question is what happened from there. I understand that his Ks were a red flag but during his first two seasons he showed he actually could hit a little.

Frobby when Rowell was drafted one of the BA guys did say Rowell was the type that would likely be either a hall of famer or a total bust.

I'm guessing here, but I'd imagine Rowell just didn't mature/age/grow the way they'd hoped. When I was 17 I weighed 120, but by the time I was 20 I'd hit 150. A lot can change in your late teens, and it's not always good from an athletic standpoint.

When you draft a 17-year-old you think you're getting a guy who's got a ton of growth and someone who's dominating against older competition, so you expect it all to work out great. But you might just have someone who's a good player in that 17-year-old body but when he starts to fill out it's all downhill.

[DrungoHazewood]

Strikeouts don't matter at the major league level. A guy who strikes out a ton is completely acceptable as long as his numbers overall are still acceptable.

In the minors a high strikeout total, especially coupled with low walk numbers, is a major red flag. Guys with really high K totals in the minors tend to see those rates increase further once they reach the majors and also don't hit nearly as well on the balls they do put in play once they get up here.

With Rowell it's not just a red flag, it has to be a giant red bullfighting cape. Not only does he have the awful K and BB numbers, but his ISO is just so-so. If you have a raw, athletic guy who just crushes pitches when he hits them, you can kind of wishcast him eventually finding some moderate level of plate discipline. Kind of like Adam Jones. But Rowell seems to be this awkward guy who can't tell a ball from a strike and doesn't hit stuff that hard when he manages to make contact.

Look, it happens. He's our Freddy Adu.

[Frobby]

Another good game for Rowell tonight, 3 for 4 with a double. Now hitting .279/.353/.416.

[mikezpen]

I'd like them to send him to Az.

[Crazysilver03]

I'd like them to send him to Az.

Well, he isn't going, unless as an injury replacement.

I wouldn't use a roster spot on him until he could reproduce decent results next year at Bowie.

[Frobby]

Final line: .275/.348/.408, 11 HR, 61 RBI. If he had done that in 2008, I would have been pretty excited. As it is, Rowell finally did enough where he ought to start next year in Bowie.