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.