2008 Scouting Report

Fort Wayne Wizards

May Profile

Things haven't changed: The Wizards have a lot of potential, but they aren't living up to that promise. There is real talent in the pitching staff; the hitting's a bit mixed, but ought to be adequate. The Fort Wayne defense needs some work. Sometimes this stuff's a mystery.

This pitching staff isn't cleanly divided between starters and relievers; nearly everyone has started a few games, and every pitcher's thrown at least a few innings in relief. Allen Harrington's done best, so far (1-0 in three starts, and 3 saves in three relief appearances), and Jeremy Hefner's pitched quite well. Derek McDaid's been very effective in a few middle relief innings. The rest are letting too many runners on base, but most look like they're capable of pitching well against this league.

Second baseman Andrew Parrino can apparently do everything; he gets on base, has some power, and steals effectively. If he keeps this up, we're all going to notice him. OF Danny Payne's only played a few games, but has hit well. The rest of the lineup is good enough that they ought to be winning more often than they've managed.

This page will be revised in early June.

Unless otherwise indicated, all statistics are through April 30.

Season Summary

• First Half (through April 30): 11-15, .423 (fifth place, 4.5 behind)
• Pitching: 4.32, 11-15, 9 saves, 7 holds, no complete games, 195 strikeouts
• Hitting: .238, 118 runs, 18 HR, 34 steals (79% success)
• Defense: 37 errors (1.42 per game)
• April: 11-15 (.423)

• Position Players used: 15
• Pitchers used: 14
• Pitchers per game: 3.31

Leading Players

• Best Player on the Team: Pitcher Jeremy Hefner

• Best Starting Pitcher: Allen Harrington (2.88, 1-0, 28 strikeouts)
• Bullpen Stopper: no bullpen stopper
• Strikeout Pitchers: Allen Harrington, Jeremy Heffner, Wynn Pelzer, Jeremy McBryde
• Control Pitchers: Allen Harrington, Matt Teague, Jeremy Hefner, Geoff Vandel, Jeremy McBryde

• Best Hitter: Andrew Parrino (.328, 3 HR, 9 RBI; 16 runs scored)
• Home Run Leader: Felix Carrasco (4)
• High Batting Average: Danny Payne (.333), Andrew Parrino (.328)
• High On Base Percentage: Danny Payne (.484), Andrew Parrino (.466)
• High Slugging Percentage: Danny Payne (.500), Andrew Parrino (.534)
• Notable Baserunners: Andrew Parrino, Brad Chalk, Luis Durango, Lance Zawadzki
• Notable Batting Eye: Danny Payne, Brad Chalk

Pre-Season Profile

If only the Padres didn't move folks so much....

On paper, this looks like an interesting team; the pitching's certainly adequate, and the hitting is, well, promising. Last year they didn't deliver much, though. I really want to see if Doug Dascenzo can make something of this bag of talent.

Manager

Neither of Doug Dascenzo's teams has run much, so far. Otherwise, he's been fairly conventional.

First Round Draft Selections

• Drew Cumberland (2007 sandwich; 46th selection)

Team Age Information

• Average Team Age: 22.0
• Pitchers: 22.5
• Hitters: 21.5

• Oldest Player on the Team: Steve Delabar (7/17/1983)
• Youngest Player on the Team: Yefri Carvajal (1/22/1989)

The average player in the Midwest League this season is 21.9 years old. This information is based on opening day rosters as published on MILB.com and will not be updated.

Where they played last season

This summary is based on the team's opening day roster and will not be revised to reflect roster changes.

The 2008 Wizards have some resemblance to the 2007 Eugene Emeralds, though with all the player movement in this system it's unsafe to take this claim seriously. About half of the pitchers appeared in Wizards uniforms at some point last summer.

Team          League             W/L    Place    Hitters Pitchers
                                       (Teams)
Lake Elsinore California (A+)   74/65   4(10)       0       1
Fort Wayne    Midwest (A)       55/84  13(14)       2       6
Eugene        Northwest (A-)    34/42   6(8)       11       8
Padres        Arizona (R)       28/28   4(9)        8       2

Sixteen (!) of these players appeared at two levels last summer; fourteen are counted twice on this chart. Two of the new Wizards had brief appearances at the Triple-A level in 2007; another has never played professionally