It’s been a long time since I’ve chimed in with a Thought Notebook, so I figured this would be something to tide you over the weekend. If you haven’t followed along in the past, this is where I like to air out some thoughts that have accumulated in my head and ones I haven’t been able to publicly address.
Let’s get it crackin’.
MSU sophomore Mike Kickham
• Mike Kickham is going to be a rich dude very soon: Sure, we first reported that ESPN.com’s Keith Law had Missouri State lefthanded pitcher Mike Kickham in his initial top 100. Well, in his second edition, Law has moved Kickham up four spots to No. 68.
The brute strength of Kickham’s 14-strikeout game from Friday’s loss to MVC-leading Illinois State, must be as intoxicating to scouts as is his continuing story arc. The Glendale graduate is second in the Missouri Valley Conference in strikeouts with 82, made even more impressive that they have come in just 76 innings. From a pure muscle-flexing standpoint, 23 of the strikeouts have come looking. Ranked No. 37, Indiana State’s Mike Petricka — another LHP — has 87 Ks in 81 2/3 innings.
It’s been a long time since a SGF native pitcher has had this type of an impact on the MLB draft. As we documented a few weeks ago, there have been plenty of MSU pitcher’s drafted high in the draft, but few that are from within the city limits.
Those who followed the Kickhams in high school probably are scratching their heads, seeing as how in high school Mike was a good, but not great pitcher. Still, why can’t be Kickham be a star? He has the build (6-foot-4, 210 pounds), the improved stuff (low-90s fastball, slider and changeup) and the appetite for learning, according to MSU pitching coach Paul Evans.
“He wants to get better. He doesn’t just want to hear the good stuff, he wants to know what he can improve on,” Evans said. “You can’t say that about everybody.”
The MLB draft begins Tuesday, June 8 with the first round and the supplemental first round, which make up the first 50 picks. Rounds 2-30 are June 9 and rounds 31-50 are June 10. In case you were wondering, Detroit has the No. 68 pick.
Also, when I was speaking to Baseball America’s Jim Callis last week about early draft scouting, he mentioned Mike Kickham’s brother Dan, as a potential Top 10-round pick. The two are identical twins, although Dan is righthanded. The two played at Crowder College in Neosho last season, but Mike made the jump to MSU this season, while Dan stayed behind.
It’s not a lock that Dan Kickham will sign if drafted in the top 10 rounds, and in that case, he will attend MSU next season. He had 12 saves this season for Crowder, which tied as the third-best total for NJCAA schools and set a new school record. He struck out 37 batters in 32 innings, walking only 15.
Stay tuned.
• Springfield Public Schools makes a sports statement with budget recommendations: On Monday night, the SPS board was presented with two proposed operating budgets. Of course, the source of the concern emerged from the potential loss of personnel — including teachers — as perceived revenue was to remain flat in the near future, causing a potential $5.1 million needing to be cut from the budget.
But it was something that wasn’t included that caught my attention. If you examine the budget recommendation .pdf from The Bottom Line, a wonderful online resource set up by SPS, you’ll notice that SPS athletics made a magician-like escape from the budget machetes. Sure, the three critical budget needs that were put forward by SPS Athletic Director Mark Fisher aren’t going to come to fruition — cost-of-business budget increases, football field maintenance and JFK Stadum turf replacement — but there weren’t any deeper cuts that will affect the athletics infrastructure.
Travel will decrease, but district-wide it will only be be lessened by $245,000, and it might not affect sports at all. Coaching stipends won’t be raised, but they won’t be lowered and the number of assistant coaches won’t be slashed. Programs weren’t killed. Sports will live on as we currently know them.
And, for a district that has taken its fair share of criticism for older facilities, a lack of overall football success and lower coaching stipends than some of the neighboring school districts, those in charge of the budget took a stand for athletics, no matter how unintentional it was. As it’s been joked about within unemployment circles, having a job is the new raise. In budgeting, not getting cut is the new budget increase.
“(Fisher’s) been doing more with less,” said Steve Chodes, chief financial officer for the 24,000-student district. “Because we are all aware of that, that’s a reason we stayed away from athletics. Not one person stood up and indicated that we need to make a stand for athletics, though. It’s a matter of looking at all of our expenditures and identifying where the cuts would be most acceptable.”
Fisher hasn’t been handed a budget for the 2010-11 school year, so he wasn’t able to answer specific budget questions. Still, he said there might be slight cuts, coming from a flat budget number and increase in prices, but was relieved there appeared to be no major reductions.
With no raises in the sports budget, it makes the role of the sports booster club even more significant. Many booster clubs already help defray the costs of new uniforms and equipment that the school budgets don’t allow. If school revenues continue to stay low, booster clubs could become big business — at least for big schools.
Especially if there need to be more cuts next year. But for now, Springfield Public Sports survived.
• Why Colby Rasmus shouldn’t be hitting leadoff for the St. Louis Cardinals: Let’s just say that I’m a huge Colby Rasmus believer and I feel that the 23-year-old center fielder is destined for a good Major League career. I swell with some weird sense of pride since he played here in SGF for an entire season. And with that said, there is no way he should be leading off.
I don’t want to go into some deep statistical analysis, but there needs to be some of numbers in here (it’s baseball, right?). It’s possible that Tony LaRussa was slipped Rasmus’ 17-game stretch as a leadoff hitter for the Springfield Cardinals in 2007:
.394 batting average (21-for-71) with 9 HRs, 13 RBIs, 1.336 OPS, 5 doubles and a triple
Effective enough? It reads like a hot streak from Rickey Henderson or Tim Raines. Currently, Rasmus is batting .280 with a .402 on-base percentage, six home runs and 15 RBIs. But, he has only driven in one run in his last nine games. Against right handers, he’s batting .309 with a .441 OBP, but against lefthanders, he’s batting .158 (3-for-19) with a .200 OBP.
That’s why I’ve always said he’s a natural fit for the No. 2 spot, he gets on base and can provide a jolt of energy atop the lineup — but not all the way up. Still, all of this fuss about leadoff hitters is because of the struggles for the current leadoff guy, Skip Schumaker. The converted outfielder is batting .219 with a .296 on-base percentage. While he’s hit safely in 10 of his last 12 games, his batting average has remained steady, ranging from .212 to .219. Through 109 at-bats against right handers, he’s batting only .193.
Is Schumaker performing well enough to remain in the leadoff spot? Not in a vacuum, but his Batting Average on Balls in Play (BABIP) is just .238, well below his career average of .326. What does that mean? With a line drive rate of nearly 30 percent, Schumaker is simply an unlucky hitter right now, smacking it right at defenders. Once those numbers even out, he should return to his form of the past two seasons.
And I guess, there lies the question: Will Schumaker be able to duplicate his past two seasons’ performances?
I say, yes. In my opinion, LaRussa is panicking by moving Schumaker to No. 7 and, equally as dangerously, moving Rasmus to No. 1. If you are truly concerned about getting Schumaker on track and afraid he’s chasing balls out of the strike zone, is batting him No. 7 — in front of the pitcher in TLR’s Crazy 8 lineup — the best thing? That’s like telling Delonte West it’s OK to stop taking his meds and then go watch Desperado. Are pitchers going to come after Schumaker with the pitcher on deck? I doubt it.
I just don’t want the following to happen:
- Waste Schumaker’s eventual hot streak in the No. 7 spot
- Watch Rasmus’ home runs turn into solo shots (because we know Brendan Ryan isn’t getting on base)
And, while I’m at it, this is how I would align the St. Louis Cardinals lineup (BA/OBP/SLG)
- 2B Skip Schumaker (.219/.296/.273)
- CF Colby Rasmus (.280/.402/.550)
- 1B Albert Pujols (.316/.413/.564)
- LF Matt Holliday (.310/.365/.476)
- RF Ryan Ludwick (.286/.367/.459)
- 3B David Freese (.310/.388/.460)
- C Yadier Molina (.288/.365/.396)
- SS Brendan Ryan (.173/.264/.235)
- Pitcher’s spot
Emptying the clip: I’m keeping my fingers crossed that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade end up on the same NBA team. …How hilarious is it that MLB is OK with Mark McGwire’s recalibration to the public, but the state’s legislators have officially taken McGwire’s name off of that stretch of I-44? I could care less about the issue, but my question is this: Who has a lower standard of ethics, Bud Selig or the Missouri Senate and House of Representative? … The Royals made the right decision in firing Trey Hillman. I’m going to maintain that the indecision to bat David DeJesus in the No. 2 spot was the final straw. It was one of the most inexplicable baseball moves since Grady Little left Pedro Martinez in the 2003 American League Championship Series too long. … I’m hearing that Rogersville 3B Seth Conner will be the highest drafted local high school baseball player. … I’m looking forward to Drew Brees‘ visit to SGF on Tuesday for the Boys and Girls Club Steak and Steak dinner. I love that event.
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