Jon Bachanov struck out 9, walked 1 in 6 innings (May 15)

Myrtle-Beach @ Winston-Salem:

Winston-Salem Dash
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Jon Bachanov (W, 4-0)	6.0	2	0	0	1	9	0	3.24
Chris Bassitt	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.69

Groundouts-flyouts: Bachanov 6-2, Bassitt 1-1.
Batters faced: Bachanov 20, Bassitt 3.

I hadn’t notice but Jon Bachanov has a very nice 26 K / 8 BB ratio in 25.0 innings (10 games/2 starts).

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John Sickels’ Top 20 White Sox prospects for 2012

John Sickels:

1) Nestor Molina, RHP, Grade B+: Acquired from the Blue Jays for Sergio Santos, and immediately became Chicago’s first or second-best prospect. I think he can remain a starter. Molina was a big topic of discussion earlier this month.

2) Addison Reed, RHP, Grade B+: The best closer prospect in baseball thanks to superior command of 93-97 MPH fastball and devastating slider. You can make a case to rank him ahead of Molina, if you think Molina will be a reliever.

3) Tyler Saladino, SS, Grade C+: 2010 seventh round pick out of Oral Roberts developed from draft sleeper into solid prospect. Good power for a middle infielder, and has some idea about the strike zone, scouts like his work ethic. Main issue now is if he can stick at shortstop, and I think he has a decent chance to do so.

4) Trayce Thompson, OF, Grade C+: Highest-ceiling bat in system, tapping into his power now and making good progress on defense. Kills lefties but has serious contact problems against right-handed pitching. Struck out 172 times while repeating Low-A. Has the tools to be a star slugger but also carries a high risk of failure.

5) Hector Santiago, LHP, Grade C+: Came out of nowhere to reach the majors (briefly) in 2011 thanks to development of a new screwball to go with 90-95 MPH fastball. Third pitch still needs work and it is unclear if he starts or relieves in the long run, although recent rumors indicate the Sox will continue to start him. Projects as number three/four starter if third pitch develops, or a power relief arm.

“The best closer prospect in baseball” comment helps explain Sergio Santos’ trade.

Terry Doyle could be drafted in tomorrow’s Rule V draft

Mark Gonzales:

Several major league scouts believe that White Sox minor league pitcher Terry Doyle will be drafted in Thursday’s Rule 5 draft.

Those scouts said Doyle’s stock soared in the Arizona Fall League, where he was 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA and 22 strikeouts and only five walks in 27 1/3 innings for the Peoria Solar Sox. Doyle, 26, was a combined 8-10 with a 3.07 ERA with 122 strikeouts and only 33 walks in 173 innings at Class-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham. …

BucsDugout.com has a nice Rule 5 draft preview. There are reports on three Sox prospects that may be selected tomorrow; Jon Bachanov, Terry Doyle, and Andre Rienzo:

If you’re looking for a strong arm with a reasonably high ceiling and a bit of projection remaining, Rienzo might be the right choice for you. Signed out of Brazil in 2006, he’s more raw than his age would suggest, given that country’s still-emerging baseball infrastructure. Still, he’s got good arm strength, with a fastball that sits in the low 90s, and his lean build suggests additional physical projection. Rienzo also throws a sharp-breaking curveball and is working on a changeup, though the latter is more promising than useful at this point. Command and control are still a work in progress as well, as he walked 66 batters in 116 innings last year. He’s got some mechanical flaws, which contributed to the command issues, but they may be correctable with work and instruction as he’s regarded as a good athlete who just needs more experience. He was named to the Carolina League’s mid-season All-Star team last year, before missing about two weeks with elbow pain, but after some rest was able to return at full strength with no ill effects.

At this point, Rienzo is not ready to hold a significant role in the major leagues. At the same time, given his age and inexperience, he’s not going to be able to afford to spend an entire season nailed to a chair in a bullpen. He has a fairly high ceiling as a starting pitcher, but getting him enough work that he can stay sharp and improve his skills without letting MLB hitters tee off on him and crush his confidence is going to be a difficult balancing act for the player development staff of any team inclined to select him.

Rienzo was also among BaseballInstinct’s Carolina League Top MLB Pitching Prospects:

Andre Rienzo RHP CWS (23) – Signed as a free agent in 2006 out of Brazil, Rienzo has almost completed his second full season of baseball in the states. Before that, he spent more of his career in the DSL, where he’s been a strikeout machine. This season in Winston-Salem Dash, he scores a 3.27 ERA, allowing 105 hits, 41 earned runs, 114 strikeouts in 113 innings. The Thrill from Brazil (someone actually hung that on him) uses a overpowering mid- to late-90s fastball to maintain an exciting 22.9 strikeout rate. Then all the excitement dies down what you see that he walked 63 batters this year, posting an ugly 12.7 walk rate from last year’s more manageable 7.4 rate. There are some whispers about an elbow injury that may have affected those numbers, so there is hope. But with his secondary pitches just coming along, he currently has bullpen written all over him. It’s also encouraging that he has a FIP of 3.42, showing that his current ERA is real with that ugly walk rate and that cutting down those walks will do wonders. We’ll keep an eye on the development of the secondary pitches too.

Jon Bachanov

Remember Jon Bachanov, the reliever the Sox picked up after the Angels released him? Seems he’s doing all right:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2009	20	2 Teams	2 Lgs	Rk	LAA	4	0	1.000	3.09	18	0	3	0	0	0	32.0	31	11	11	0	5	0	52	1	1	2	135	1.125	8.7	0.0	1.4	14.6	10.40
2009	20	Orem	PION	Rk	LAA	0	0		2.70	2	0	0	0	0	0	3.1	5	1	1	0	1	0	5	0	0	0	17	1.800	13.5	0.0	2.7	13.5	5.00
2009	20	Angels	ARIZ	Rk	LAA	4	0	1.000	3.14	16	0	3	0	0	0	28.2	26	10	10	0	4	0	47	1	1	2	118	1.047	8.2	0.0	1.3	14.8	11.75
2010	21	Cedar Rapids	MIDW	A	LAA	2	0	1.000	5.47	18	0	7	0	0	2	26.1	31	17	16	1	14	0	23	3	0	7	121	1.709	10.6	0.3	4.8	7.9	1.64
2011	22	2 Teams	2 Lgs	A-Rk	CHW	3	4	.429	3.04	18	7	4	0	0	1	47.1	39	20	16	2	16	0	40	1	0	7	194	1.162	7.4	0.4	3.0	7.6	2.50
2011	22	Great Falls	PION	Rk	CHW	1	0	1.000	2.57	4	0	2	0	0	0	7.0	6	2	2	0	2	0	9	0	0	2	28	1.143	7.7	0.0	2.6	11.6	4.50
2011	22	Kannapolis	SALL	A	CHW	2	4	.333	3.12	14	7	2	0	0	1	40.1	33	18	14	2	14	0	31	1	0	5	166	1.165	7.4	0.4	3.1	6.9	2.21
3 Seasons						9	4	.692	3.66	54	7	14	0	0	3	105.2	101	48	43	3	35	0	115	5	1	16	450	1.287	8.6	0.3	3.0	9.8	3.29
Rk (2 seasons)				Rk		5	0	1.000	3.00	22	0	5	0	0	0	39.0	37	13	13	0	7	0	61	1	1	4	163	1.128	8.5	0.0	1.6	14.1	8.71
A (2 seasons)				A		4	4	.500	4.05	32	7	9	0	0	3	66.2	64	35	30	3	28	0	54	4	0	12	287	1.380	8.6	0.4	3.8	7.3	1.93

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/13/2011.

I love seeing 1.1 WHIP (Walks and Hits per IP) numbers. I’d also love to see a higher strikeout rate. Hopefully Jon and the coaches at Winston-Salem work on that next year.

White Sox sign RHP Joe Bachanov [UPDATE #2]

Recently released by the #Angels, the #WhiteSox have signed 2007 sup. 1st pick RHP Jon Bachanov.

— Kevin Goldstein (@Kevin_Goldstein) May 4, 2011

Bachanov will be assigned to Class-A Kannapolis.

Here are his stats from B-R:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2009	20	2 Teams	2 Lgs	Rk	LAA	4	0	1.000	3.09	18	0	3	0	0	0	32.0	31	11	11	0	5	0	52	1	1	2	135	1.125	8.7	0.0	1.4	14.6	10.40
2009	20	Orem	PION	Rk	LAA	0	0		2.70	2	0	0	0	0	0	3.1	5	1	1	0	1	0	5	0	0	0	17	1.800	13.5	0.0	2.7	13.5	5.00
2009	20	Angels	ARIZ	Rk	LAA	4	0	1.000	3.14	16	0	3	0	0	0	28.2	26	10	10	0	4	0	47	1	1	2	118	1.047	8.2	0.0	1.3	14.8	11.75
2010	21	Cedar Rapids	MIDW	A	LAA	2	0	1.000	5.47	18	0	7	0	0	2	26.1	31	17	16	1	14	0	23	3	0	7	121	1.709	10.6	0.3	4.8	7.9	1.64
2 Seasons						6	0	1.000	4.17	36	0	10	0	0	2	58.1	62	28	27	1	19	0	75	4	1	9	256	1.389	9.6	0.2	2.9	11.6	3.95
Rk (1 season)				Rk		4	0	1.000	3.09	18	0	3	0	0	0	32.0	31	11	11	0	5	0	52	1	1	2	135	1.125	8.7	0.0	1.4	14.6	10.40
A (1 season)				A		2	0	1.000	5.47	18	0	7	0	0	2	26.1	31	17	16	1	14	0	23	3	0	7	121	1.709	10.6	0.3	4.8	7.9	1.64

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/4/2011.

Seems he had elbow ligament surgery in 2008.

And here a couple mentions of Bachanov in prospect lists:

John Sickels’ ‘2010 Top 20 Los Angeles Angels Pre-Season Prospects in Review’:

9) Jon Bachanov, RHP, Grade B-:  5.47 ERA with 23/14 K/BB, 1.94 GO/AO in 26 innings for Cedar Rapids, 31 hits. On the DL since late May with a sore elbow, not a good sign for a Tommy John survivor.

Baseball-Intellect’s ‘Looking Back: Angels Top Prospects of 2010 Review’:

9. Jon Bachanov | RHP | Age – 21 | Grade – C+ Having a mediocre year before going down with an injury…red flags from last year included a small sample size of success and how hittable he was despite an excellent K:BB ratio

UPDATE: Some scouting reports:

2010 Halosheaven scouting report:

You’ll see Bachanov rank higher on other lists due to his spectacular return from Tommy John surgery. Unlike most guys breaking in a new elbow, Bachanov showed stunning control over two plus pitches, a low 90’s fastball that touched 96 at times, and a hard-breaking slider.  Over 32.2 rookie ball innings in Arizona and Utah, he walked just 5 batters and fanned 52, resulting in a 10.4 K/BB ratio. Beyond the gaudy ’09 numbers, however, remain questions about his long-term health, his role, and just how well his stuff will play against better competition. …

Angelswinblog 2010 scouting report:

Bachanov has a fastball that sits at 92-93 which he commands well, peaking at 96 mph. The slider is a plus offering that looks to be a true out-pitch. Bachanov also throws a solid changeup, though it’s a pitch seldom uses. …

Angelswin 2008 scouting report:

The Angels 1st selection in the 2007 amateur draft, Bachanov is a big, strong right-hander who could have a commanding presence on the mound. Jon has two average or above pitches right now, with a fastball that has the chance to be a plus pitch. When he’s balanced and in control, he’s dominant. Bachanov can throw his fastball anywhere from 89 mph up to 96 mph. He pitches consistently in the 91-92 mph range. With improved mechanics, it will become a plus pitch. He has a late tail and nice downward plane on his fastball. His curve is more like a slurve and it’s a plus pitch when it’s on. Bachanov has a changeup, but it’s behind the fastball and a breaking pitch at this point. He has a usable cutter. …

2007 Draft scouting report:

Fastball:	Bachanov can throw his fastball anywhere from 89 mph up to 96 mph. He pitches consistently in the 91-92 mph range. With improved mechanics, it will become a plus pitch.
FB Movement:	He has a late tail and nice downward plane on his fastball.
Curve:	It’s a curve/slider/slurve and it’s a plus pitch when it’s on.
Changeup:	He has a changeup, but it’s behind the fastball and breaking pitch at this point.
Cutter:	Bachanov has a usable cutter.

UPDATE #2: Eddy @ BA:

The Angels’ top pick in the ’07 draft, reliever Jon Bachanov follows the Bobby Jenks career path from Anaheim to Chicago. Though he hasn’t quite reached Jenks-ian proportions, Bachanov does stand in at 6-foot-4, 230 pounds and he does bring the heat.