by Mike Rogers 

I’m terrible with intro’s and don’t like to do them, so I’ll go with the quick-and-dirty method:

Who: Mike Rogers
What: Co-author/blogger/baseball nut
Where: Right here on Myron’s blog. And my own, occasionally.
When: When something link-worthy, discussion-worthy, or worthy of being analyzed happens with the Padres and/or baseball in general.
Why: This is the big’un. Myron and I have had some correspondence and he offered this opportunity to me out of the blue. A few moments of thinking and, well, why not? I like what Myron’s built here and like talking baseball (especially with numbers), so, here I am.

I haven’t come here to just introduce myself, I come bearing a couple of links…

First, Baseball Intellect has released the Padres top 15 prospects. The site is one of my favorites and, for me, a must read as I’m getting into looking at pitching and hitting mechanics (moreso, pitchers than hitters, though) and this site breaks it down nicely.  The top 5 can be found here, and 6-15 are right here.

The Baseball Intellect top 5 for the Padres, compared to the top 5 posted at Madfriars, shake up as such:

BI: Kellen Kulbacki, Mat Latos, Kyle Blanks,  Cedric Hunter, and Jaff Decker.

Madfriars: Kellen Kulbacki, Mat Latos, Kyle Blanks, Matt Antonelli, and Cedric Hunter.

The top 3 is identical, and 4 of the 5 appear on both lists, just in different order.  Madfriars also had Jaff Decker 6th, so the top 6 or so prospects seem to be pretty much the same. Baseball Intellect had Antonelli 8th in the system. As I become more well-versed in San Diego prospects, I’ll be more-apt to give an opinion on him, but I don’t feel comfortable doing that quite yet (it’ll be coming soon-enough).

The other link I wanted to give is from one of my favorite prospect websites, Project Prospect.  They’ve been unveiling the Top 5 “Risers” for each team recently and finished up the series with a look at the NL West. The Padres Top 5 Risers were:

Kulbacki
Hunter
Blanks
Chase Headley
Steve Garrison

The only comment of the five was on Kellen Kulbacki, where Brett Sullivan penned:

Kellen Kulbacki had a tail of two seasons in 2008. The 40th overall pick in 2007 followed his debut with a roller-coaster of a year in 2008. After injuries and the Midwest league swallowed him up to begin the season, Kulbacki finally got healthy and comfortable in the California league, where he was one of the league’s most productive hitters. In 2009 Kulbacki should be a fast riser, and has a shot of making his Major League debut in September.

Project Prospect evaluates prospects largely through a statistical lens with some emphasis being put on scouting reports and things of that ilk.

That’s all I’ve got for now, but I just wanted to get the obligatory “look at me!” post out of the way. I look forward to contributing more and want to thank Myron, again, for the opportunity.