VISTA Before & After

VISTA - The Panther front office made a lot of moves this deadline. Here's a before/after review of some of the new talent acquired in Vista.




SP Michael Hoffmeyer
old team: LA Bruins


before: 10-9 4.22 era 145 K 69 BB .238 OAVG in 140 innings at AAA Las Vegas


after: 1-3 5.55 era 36 K 26 BB .220 OAVG in 35.2 innings.


Hoffmeyer has shown some flashes of good (7ks in 6 innings against Oklahoma on August 23rd) but still is having problems with control and has only allowed less then 4 walks in 2 out of his 7 Major League starts. If he can get his K/BB ratio a little more attractive he will be a solid Starter in the spacious BlackBerry partk.




MR Clayton Mobley
old: Baffin Island Beavers


before: 0-3 3.29 ERA 33K 16 BB .217 OAVG in 38.1 innings


after: 2-1 9.64 ERA 23K 16 BB .356 OAVG in 23.1 innings


Mobley has been getting beat up since coming to Vista, causing Panther fans to miss Julio Lopez even more. Most of the increase in ERs came on August 25th against Oklahoma where he gave up 6 runs while only managing to get one out.


UTIL Artie Kelley
Old team: LA Bruins


Before: (NY) 88 ABs .182/.215/.261 0 HR 9 RBI 4 BB 22 K
(LA) 99 ABs .222/.316/.273 0 HR 8 RBI 14 BB 23 K
After: 35 ABs .314/.368/.571 2 HR 10 RBI 3 BB 3K


Small sample size but Kelley has already surpassed his RBI total in both LA and NY in about a third of the at bats. Kelley has been used in all sorts of ways in Vista filling in for starters at 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Short, and Left.


2B Sebastien Medici
old teams: Pocatello Boccabellas


Before: (AAA spokane) 319 ABs .332/.407/.539 13 HR 53 RBI 40 BB 51 K 6 SB


After (ML) 149 ABs .275/.365/..376 2 HR 12 RBI 16 BB 13 K


Medici is a player the Vista organization had it's eye on for awhile. As soon as GM Jordan Calhoun learned he wasn't in Pocatello GM Alan Jengehino's future plans for the team he pulled the trigger on a move. He came over in a late July trade with division rival Pocatello to help fill the void eventually departing Butch Hogan. Medici sees most his time at 2nd base but has also played some 3rd, Short and all the outfield positions.


3B Vincente Salgado
Old Team: Hendersonville Hitmen


Before: (2012) 161 ABs .190/.217/.333 3 HR 17 RBI 15 BB 41 K


After: 111 ABs .225/.275/.523 7 HR 18 RBI 8 BB 27 K


Salgado was offered to Vista earlier in the season by Hendersonville but a deal took a few weeks to actually go through, something Calhoun will admit he regrets a lot. Vincente is a kid with a lot of power. He hit 38 Homeruns in AAA at just 21 years old and has already had 7 knocks as a panther in only 32 games. If Salgado can cut down on his strikeouts he could really blossom into a great 3rd baseman to replace the struggling Rich Campbell who was dealt to New Orleans at the deadline.

VISTA PR1: Prospects to Watch

At this years deadline, Vista fans saw the organization change completely. Fan favorites Julio Lopez, Warren Piniella, Butch Hogan, Rich Campbell, and Tony Warrilow all found new homes but that shouldn't keep Panther fans from being excited about baseball. We've got a new group of athletic studs in the outfield all 24/25 with a lot of upside as well as a crew of 18/19 year old pitchers who are shutting down Single-A ball down in Chula Vista. Check out this list of the top young talent the Vista Panthers Baseball Club has to offer.

Cesar Torres #23 Age: 24 Pos: CF
Cesar Torres came over in the Julio Lopez Deal with Baffin Island and figures to be the CF of the future for the Panthers. Torres coming in to play Center allows John Doby to move to left and make a very great defensive outfield to man the massive outfield at BlackBerry Field. He’s 24 years old, just 9 months younger than John Doby, which should allow the pair to develop nicely together. Torres is the 49th ranked prospect on the OSA list with a .258/.394/.406 slash line in 256 AAA Abs. He’s played 9 games in the bigs so far and has gotten off to a nice start with 10 hits in 36 PAs raking up 7 RBI and drawing 6 BBs.

Michael Hoffmeyer #40 Age: 24 Pos: SP
Michael Hoffmeyer was an integral piece in the deadline deal that sent Hogan, Warrilow and Piniella up the 405. Hoffmeyer was the #12 prospect according to the OSA last season. He then got called up and knocked around in 21 starts for El Paso, but some would argue he was brought up prematurely. The defense didn’t seem to help much that year either as he had a .367 BABIP. Hoffmeyer picked up his performance in AAA while playing for Las Vegas in the LA system striking out 145 in 140 1/3 innings while keeping hitters to a .238 batting average.

Reagan Wear #32 Age: 18 Pos: SP Reagan Wear was another important part of the deal with LA. He’s been impressive in A ball this year with a 2.65 ERA with 92 Ks and a .99 whip in 78 innings. Reagan is the #7 Pitching prospect according to the OSA and helped Vista hop Maui to the #2 on the Organizational Rankings. Reagan joins an already very impressive Chula Vista starting pitching staff.

Yasuyuki Ishii #22 Age: 19 Pos: SP
Yasuyuki Ishii came over to San Diego County with Cesar Torres as part of the Julio Lopez deal except he’s a little further down in Chula Vista. Ishii has been outstanding at the A level so far posting a 2.51 ERA with 94 Ks and .205 OAVG in 129 innings and joins Wear in adding on to the young Chula Vista group of starters.

Daniel Felix #21 Age: 18 Pos: SP
Daniel Felix has been in Chula Vista the entire season after being scouted in Mexico. Daniel has been solid all season long but really hit his stride this past month of July when he gave up only 3 earned runs in 28 2/3 IP, 28 Ks and 0 HRs.

Hiroshige Yamada #8 Age: 18 Pos: CL
Hiroshige Yamada has been in the Panthers system since the beginning of the season starting out starting in Chula Vista before making his way to Santa Monica as a Closer. Yamada is ranked #6 on the OSA prospect list, 1 slot ahead of new system-mate Reagan Wear. Yamada struck-ouut 106 batters and walked only 27 in 95 innings for Single-A Tacos. Yamada was downright NASTY between May 18th and June 7th, striking out 52 batters in 37.2 IP.

Edgardo Martinez #17 Age: 17 Pos: SP
Edgardo has been part of the Chula Vista staff the entire season putting up impressive numbers all year. He has a 2.52 FIP in 143.1 IP with 3 double-digit strikeout games so far. Notching up 10 in 8 2/3 on May 5th against the Salem Sledges Hammers and 14 in 8 against the Colorado Commanders on May 18th and again with 10 against the Commanders on the first day of June.

Robinson Gonzales #20 Age: 18 Pos: CL
Robinson Gonzales, like Yamada, is another former SP converted to Closer. Gonzales has been unhittable at the Single-A level keeping oppents to a .181 average in 55.2 IP. Gonzales hasn’t given up a HR the entire season and has been lights out on the road with a 0.69 ERA away from the border.

Kent Hall #24 Age: 25 Pos: RF
Kent Hall started the year of being ranked #53 on the OSA prospect list before becoming too old. (that’s why I’m guessing he’s not on there anymore at least). Hall came over from LA at the deadline and looks to join the 24-25 year old outfield crew of John Doby, Cesar Torres and Sancho Velez. Hall will provide much needed range for the expansive outfield at BlackBerry Field.

Vista Opening Day Line Ups

Vista travels to Denver for a 2 game series with the Dynasty, then return home for another 2 game series against the Reno Cards and then fly across country to Jersey for a weekend series.

Newcomer SP Robinson Rodriguez will get the start on opening day while overpaid Tim Welply will see the hill on day 2 to make way for Julio Lopez to take the mound for the home opener. Warren Piniella will have the 2nd game against the Cards and Cal Rhodes will start of the Jersey series.

The line-up will look a little bit like this:

2B Butch Hogan
1B Rich Campbell
RF Tony Warrilow
CF Tomas Hernandez
DH Roberto Bojorquez
SS Rodger Anderson
3B Ivan Rosales
C Leopold Wilmetz
LF Wilson Ortiz

The Panthers moved around the infield prior to the start of this season with hopes of improving their defense to the next level. Rich Campbell will move from 3rd to 1st, Butch Hogan from 1st to 2nd and Ivan Rosales. The offense will be without the solid veteran Wilbert Perkins and upcoming rookie John Doby for the first few weeks of the season. The Panthers are looking to Hendersonville waiver-claim Tomas Hernandez to step up in their absence after a solid spring training performance from the 28-year old.

Baseball is back in Vista!

Emilo Morin hits the 60-day DL, Former 2nd Overall Pick gets the call up

EL PASO, TEXAS -- The Panthers lost their 8th game out of their last 10 today to the 12-19 Diablos, but still won the series after two straight sweeps to Fullerton and Jersey Shore. 

Already down about the losing streak, fans were dealt another blow when news surfaced that CF Emilo Morin will be out for 3 months after tearing his meniscus in a game against Jersey Shore. Fans are extremely disappointed. This will be the second straight season with Morin out for a huge chunk of it. Last year Morin played in only 92 games but still managed to hit 22 HR and knock in 73 RBI, showing hints of his former self when he hit 40 HR and batted .333 for the Phoenix Sun-devils before the VBL draft that sent him to Vista. Panther fans were anticipating this to be a comeback year for the slugger but instead have been disappointed once again by his injury. GM Jordan Calhoun was asked if he's worried about Morin's injury problems and if he regrets signing him to a 3-year $37.5 million contract and he said "to completely honest, yes, Emilio has become a good friend of mine. I just went to his nieces Quinceañera. He came to Vegas with us for my birthday during spring training. But I thought his injury days were over. I knew it was somewhat of a risk, so, luckily $6 million of his contract was a bonus for plate appearances, and he wont reach that being out this long. I hate to say that I regret extending the contract of such a close friend, but this is a business." When asked if these statements will effect the friendship, Morin responded over a phone interview from his home in Encinitas -- "In day-to-day life, Jordan and I are friends. In baseball, he's my boss. He put a lot of faith in me to work on my strength and conditioning and I let him down. I can be upset about his comments."

Who will be called up to fill the void?

The answer is former 2nd overall pick John Doby. When announced at last nights post game press conference this decision stirred up a lot of questions. Many expected Wilson Ortiz to get the call up with his .354 AVG and 7 HR in 130 ABs to Doby's .275 and 3 in 120. Manager Pedro Alvarado praised Ortiz but also may have offended him by saying that Ortiz has already reached his ceiling, and lacks the athletic profile that fits in with Vista's style of play. He acknowledged that Doby is still a little more raw than Ortiz but also said that Doby is a far superior athlete who possesses the tools to be a star player one day. "If John can find his way on base as the big league level then he'll stay, otherwise we'll let him see some action for a few weeks. With Morin out, this gives us the flexibility to do this. Morin was a huge contributor but we have 3 other Outfielders performing at a high level in Perkins, Wilson and Warrilow all hitting at or above a .292/.417/.448 slash line. Butch Hogan, Rich Campbell and Ivan Rosales are all swinging the bat well too from the infield, so we didn't feel the pressure to bring in another bat. We wanted an athlete, and we wanted to give such a highly touted young guy the chance to make the show. He works hard, he deserves it. 

When asked about the call-up Doby had this to say "I'm speechless. This is what you work for. This is what you dream about since little league. I'm glad this organization drafted me and has believed in me. I hope I can prove to the fans that I can one day be everything they're expecting from me. Jordan has stressed to me that there is no pressure and that he wont be disappointed if i'm not ready. That really changes my approach. I've got a lot of good guys to look up to who were in my position a few years ago. I'm 23. Butch, Sam Phil, Tony, are all 26. Roger is 25. Everyone on this roster started young. Vista is a young team. That's why I was so happy to be drafted here. Our team is more than just a ball club, we're all good friends  too. When I was down in San Diego, Sam (Treadway) and I would meet up a lot to hang out while he was in Santa Monica. We are both from New York. I played against him a few tmes back in high school. He was a senior when I was a freshman so he was much better than me back then, but now I think I may be able to out hit him."

Doby will come off the bench in pinch hit situations, but will also get the opportunity to start too. "He's already been bugging me about starting the entire Jackonsville series so his buddies from (the University of) Tennesse can drive down and see him play and make a road trip out of it. Doby was one of those frat guys or something. Sig something I don't know."

Doby is already really popular with Vista fans and has been since he was selected 2nd overall in 2010's draft out of Tennessee. Doby was named the 14th top prospect for 2011. 

Panthers Win 5 Straight!

Current Record: 14-5 Power Ranking:#1 AVG: .300 ERA 3.85

VISTA,CA -- The Panthers bats are still rolling as the team rides a 5 game win streak into this weekends series finale against Kansas City. It's still early, but so far this years edition of the Vista Panthers is winning in very different ways than last year -- they are finally playing offense. Time will tell if this is just an early season hot streak or proof of improvement but the Panthers find themselves leading the Trillian League in On-Base Percentage (.380), Slugging (.483), On-Base + Slugging (.862), Runs Scored (117), Hits (199), Extra-Base Hits (71) and Stolen Bases (30). The squad is also 3rd in home runs (22) and 2nd in walks (80) and batting average (.300). The pitching isn't too far off either. Lead by a strong bullpen performance (2.43 ERA, 3rd in TL), the staff is ranked 4th overall in the Trillian League.

--Veteran CF Wilbert Perkins continues to impress Panther fans with his standout play. In 49 at-bats he's ended up on-base almost half the time (.492 OBP).

--Last year's team MVP, 2B Ivan Rosales, is continuing last years stellar play with a slash line of .381/.423/.698. Rosales is 2nd on the team in RBI (13), and has only struck out twice in 63 ABs.

-- Phil Ingilby and Butch Hogan both have 11 SBs so far, putting them both on pace to swipe 94 by the end of the year. Phil hasn't been caught stealing at all this year while Butch has only been caught twice.

--Set-up man Joe Cameron and Closer Miguel Flores have been a solid force closing out games with a 0.93 ERA in 19.2 IP

--Through 4 starts, SP Julio Lopez has a 16/1 K/BB

Upcoming games:

4/21 vs. Kansas City - Carlos Castillo (2-1, 6.10)
4/23 @ Pittsburgh - Julio Lopez (2-1, 4.38)
4/24 @ Pittsburgh - Warren Piniella (3-0, 4.25)
4/25 @ Pittsburgh - Tim Welply (1-2, 3.86)

Panthers 1st Sim Write-Up

Current Record: 4-1 Power Ranking: #3 AVG: .314 ERA: 2.80

• The Panthers were two runs away from an opening home series sweep of division rival Pocatello. Vista doubled (22) the amount runs of the Boccabellas scored (11). The best game of the series for the Panthers was on Tuesday when Tim Welply went 9 strong inning giving up only 2 hits with only 101 pitches. Rich Anderson and Sam Treadway both hit 2-run homers with Treadway also hitting a 2-run scoring double to round out the Panthers scoring in front of an almost sold out crowd of 39,825 at Blackberry Field in Vista. 

• In addition to Welply's standout performance, three other starters held their own. Julio Lopez went 6 innings in the opener, giving up 1 earned with 4 strikeouts sot help lead the Panthers to an Opening Day victory. Sophomore Star Warren Piniella followed with an 8 inning performance giving up 3 earning a win and new veteran arrival Carlos Castillo did the same at Haddonfield to hand the Hackers their first loss of the season. Donald Brewer, brought over from Sunnyvale in free agency received the only loss of the first 5 games, by giving up 5 runs in 7 innings, all of them coming in the 6th and 7th. 
• Butch Hogan got a quick start to the season collecting 10 hits in 22 ABs with 4 SB's only 2 K's and 1 HR. Sam Treadway made a quick statement for more playing time with 6 RBI and 2HR in only 7 ABs. Veteran addition Wilbert Perkins had a strong start with 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3R and 3BB in only 3 games of action and last year's team MVP Ivan Rosales turned in a solid performance from his new spot in the lineup, with 5 hits, 4 RBI and no strikeouts in 12 ABs enjoying time away from the leadoff role.
• The Panthers fans were more excited this year than ever before for this team as Fan Interest rating have reached 100 for the first time since Vista's start in the VBL. Time will tell if this team will live up to the hype but it definitely doesn't hurt to have a 3-1 early series lead over the one division rival everyone has pegged to win the Beeblebrox Division this year. 

Next Sim: 2 Games @ Haddonfield Hackers, 2 Games vs Madison Bombers

• Rotation: @ Haddonfield - 1st game Julio Lopez (1-0, 1.50) 2nd Game - Warren Piniella (1-0, 3.38) ; vs Bombers - 1st game Tim Welply (1-0, 0.00) , 2nd game Donald Brewer (0-1, 6.43)

OPENING DAY!

Vista Opening Day Roster

Vista opens this season with a 4 game homestead against division rival Pocatello

The Panthers GM, Jordan Calhoun has said they will go with the following line-up on opening day (w/2011 stats):

1B Butch Hogan (AAA Santa Monica/Vista - 15 HR 78 RBI 31 SB .268/.332/.413)

2B Ivan Rosales (Vista - 17 HR 96 RBI 13 SB .300/.390/.466)

DH Tony Warrilow(AAA Santa Monica/Vista 7 HR 47 RBI .314/.421/.443)

RF Wilbert Perkins ( Somerton - 25 HR 80 RBI .271/.371/.485)

CF Emilio Morin (Vista - 22 HR 73 RBI .314/.386/.562)

SS Roger Anderson (Vista - 15 HR 58 RBI 32 SB .245/.335/.400)

LF Oliver O'conner (Jersey Shore - 13 HR 57 RBI .289/.385/.449)

3B Phil Ingilby (AAA Santa Monica/ Vista - 11 HR 58 RBI 51 SB .256/.324/.489)

C Rafael Herrera (New Westminster - 12 HR 31 RBI .281/.359/.459)

SP Julio Lopez (Vista - 10-9 3.34 ERA, 138K)

the 26 year olds Warren Piniella (19-7 3.15), Tim Welply  (10-9 4.45) and Donald Brewer (9-9 4.18) will close out the opening series.

Spring Training Update 1

VISTA SPRING TRAINING UPDATE #1

After 19 games in the spring the 2011 Panthers find themselves with a 9-10 record. Standouts include:

Infielders Butch Hogan (.353 AVG, .404 OBP 10 SB) and  Sam Treadway (.357/.378/.643 2 HR, 8 RBI) 

Reliever Martin White (21.2 IP, 1.25 ERA, .171 BAA) 

Starters Julio Lopez (16 IP, 1.69ERA, 1.00 WHIP 5K/BB), Warren Piniella (16.0 IP, 2.25 ERA) and Tim Welpy (16 IP, 2.81 ERA, .185 BAA). 

So far the Panthers have made 9 cuts to their 40-man roster, sending pitchers Israel Aguilar, Gabriel Morales, Curt Olson, Larry Hamilton and hitters Roberto Bojoruez, Wilson Ortiz, Xun Shuai, Carlos Rios and Thomas Johnston to their respective minor league camps.

Spring Training Standout: 

The Panthers aren't worried about the 9-10 record as spring training is used for evaluating players and getting some of the rust off before the season. The Panthers organization is happy with the performance of First Baseman Butch Hogan. Butch struggled his rookie year, striking out 129 times but was good on the basepaths with 43 steals and hit 9 HRs in 159 Games. His sophomore year didn't go so well, hitting a weak .230/.285/.364 line in 81 games. He was then sent down to AAA Santa Monica so he could work on a new swing with hitting coach Norberto Hernandez and Manager Armando Figueroa who has a history of working well with young players.  Butch turned it around at the AAA level hitting a line of 302/.383/.458) with 9 HRs in 288 ABs. Butch came into spring training more in shape than last season, "I felt a little off last season. I was mad at myself every day and just letting each game get down on me. I feel like I let the team down. You're supposed to get better after your rookie year, not worse so I wanted to work hard this offseason to avoid letting down my teammates" the young First Baseman said in an interview after a 16-7 victory over the Jersey Shore D-Bags, a game in which he went 1 for 2 with 1 run, 1 walk, 1 strikeout and two stolen bases.