Prospect Profile: Kenny Maiques

I’m pretty high on Kenny Maiques.

Right-Handed Relief Prospect Battle Royale

I’ve developed something of an obsession with our relief prospects as of late. It’s to the point that I’m going to come out hard and fast against (virtually) any free agent relief signing in the next few seasons. There’s just too many good relievers at the upper levels of the system to continue dumping money on mediocre middle relief for the veteraness.

This isn’t a stats post and it’s meant to be more fun and help to draw comparisons and contrasts between the relievers. If someone wants to argue any of the rankings, there are several I could be persuaded on. The table that follows has 5 different ratings: Poor, Fair, Good, Very Good, Great. You could probably read those as fringe, marginal, average, above-average and plus if you wanted terms that sound more baseballee.

Who do you love?

BA recently ran down the list of “the prospects we just can’t help but to root for” for each major league team, and Kenny Maiques was their guy-

The Cardinals have always loved closers in the minor leagues, and Maiques might have as good an upside as any of them. A Tommy John survivor, Maiques is undersized, but can run his fastball into the mid 90s and uses a hard slider as an out pitch.

I’d have to say Maiques is my guy too. I agree that he may have just as much upside as Chris Perez after seeing him pitch several times and talking to him.

Just for fun, who is your guy? Who is the prospect who is sort of under the radar so to speak that you just can’t help but to root for?

Interview with Kenny Maiques

Thanks for your time today Kenny. First of all, congrats on setting the saves record for the Swing.

Thank you very much.

I see that you are from Whitter, CA. Were you a Dodger fan growing up?

Truthfully I don’t watch a whole lot of sports, but yeah I really was because my grandparents are true Dodger fans since they first came to California, my grandmother is Dodger blue all the way.

I noticed that you played a season at Long Beach State along side with Jered Weaver and Troy Tulowitzski. What’s it like seeing those guys in the bigs now?

It’s real nice seeing your fellow teammates making it to the big leagues. Both are real good quality players. I’m real inspired that guys my own age are up there, and I hope to get up there with them.

You were only there for a year, then opted to go to Rio Hondo CC. What made you decide to transfer?

A few things, me being wanting to get ready to play pro ball and me and the pitching coach (at LBSU) didn’t quite see eye to eye on a few things with mechanics. I saw that it really wasn’t going to work out there, so I just transfered to a juco. I actually was trying to transfer to another school but I was denied my release there so I had to transfer to a juco.

You really tore it up there, putting up some Nintendo like numbers. You were all set to go in the 2nd or 3rd round and then you ended up needing Tommy John surgery. I’m sure that had to be a big disappointment.

Yeah, it was a big blow after working so hard and having that kind of a season then end up tearing my ligament, so it definitely took the wind out of my sails. But I got the surgery, and I’m glad I’m back now.

The Cardinals ended up picking you in the 37th round. Do you feel the way they stuck with you that you feel a certain sense of duty to the organization?

The surgery went real well, Dr. Paletta did a good job. The trainers were there to help me the whole way the whole time. I really want to make it to the big league level with this club. That really, really would be nice.

Now, we fans hear about a guy needing Tommy John surgery, and basically we just think we’ll see them in a season or two. But from what I understand it’s a real difficult rehab. What’s it like trying to come back from that?

It was really, really tough being away from baseball for a whole year. It was a whole 6 or 7 months before I could even throw a ball. It’s really hard going from playing baseball every day to having to go through all that. It almost kills your drive for the game but at the same time you know you wanna get back there and show them that you are healthy. That’s what helps you is your desire to play the game. It was hard going through rehab. I finally felt like I got my full strength into about a full 2 years into it. It was a long process but I’m glad I stuck with it.

Now you’ve been working in relief this year. Do you like relieving better?

I like starting. I like going after a team for 5, 6 or 7 innings. But I also like being the guy coming in with the game on the line having the ball in my hand. I really like the closer role, it suites my mentality. I love being the guy who comes in there and has to get it done.

Tell me a little bit about your repertoire. What do you throw, and what do you feel is your best pitch?

I have a 4 seam fastball and a sinker. I work with that. Then I have my slider, which is definitely my out pitch. With 2 strikes, they are ready, either against lefties and righties. That’s really my bread and butter right there. A lot of guys may know it’s coming but it’s a really good, hard slider. Then I have a change up that I would use in a starting role or a long relief situation, but in the closing role I try and just come at them hard. While I would definitely say my slider is my best pitch, my fastball comes in at 93, 94 so it has a little bit of horsepower and it helps me out. It makes my slider what it is.

Yeah, I saw you in the MWL All-Star game and that slider is really a biter. It really reminded me of Jeremy Bonderman’s slider in the way that it moves more vertically then horizontally, and the way that it has that quick break right at the end.

That’s what I like about it. It’s more like a hard slurve, it’s definitely less across and more down.

Yeah. When I saw it I thought to myself that guy has a good shot at making the majors just with that pitch right there.

(Laughs) Well, thank you.

Is there a major league pitcher that you compare yourself to or would pattern yourself after?

I really wouldn’t know, but if there is one person I really tend to pay attention to because I’m the same build and have the same kind of stuff as his is (Roy) Oswalt. I really like watching him, and how he pitches his game. Closer wise, I really like watching (Billy) Wagner because he just goes right at guys.

Yeah, I like watching Oswalt too, just not against the Cardinals. Is there a certain goal that you have for yourself, a place that you would like to be by next season, or do you just take things as they come?

I really don’t know next year, they told me this year that coming up here that the closer role was really more just temporary. That next year in I’d be coming into spring training possibly as a starter. I’m shooting for for AA. A lot of guys here recently when straight to AA so I’m really hoping for that. But realistically I know I’m looking at Palm Beach so if that’s what happens that’s OK, just as long as I’m moving up. I don’t want to come back here, it’s not that I don’t like it, but I definitely wanna just keep on advancing.

Thanks again for your time Kenny, and I’m sure we see you soon. Good luck.

Thanks.

7/23/07 Daily Prospect Report

I’m sure most of you have heard the tragic news regarding ex-Cardinal Mike Coolbaugh by now. He was expecting a baby, his 3rd child. Very sad news indeed. John Sickels weighs in, and I agree with him, those guys should be probably wearing helmets. Coolbaugh bounced around several organizations, and in 2002 he hit 29 homers in 411 at bats for Memphis, earning him a call up. He played in 5 games for St. Louis. FR offers it’s condolences to his family, friends and the Tulsa Drillers. Kevin Goldstein has the info on a memorial benefit set up for the family. Springfield’s game against Arkansas was postponed due to the tragic events. Arkansas was the team playing the Drillers when the event happened.

Over at the team’s official site, Daniel Berk profiles Christopher Perez-

“It’s all about mental makeup,” Perez said. “It was probably good that happened to me so early. You have to have strong makeup to make it as a closer. If you blow one or give up some runs, you’d better come back the next day like you’re the man.”

Since that frustrating day in early April, Perez has converted on 25 straight save opportunities and has struck out 59 in just 37 1/3 innings over 35 appearances. Perez, out of the University of Miami, is 2-0 with a 2.58 ERA and has limited opponents to just a .133 average.

I probably like Perez more then my compadre AZ. No, I’m not completely crazy of the notion of drafting college closers and fast-tracking them to the bigs. For every Chad Cordero there’s a David Aardsma or Ryan Wagner. Curbing the walks and staying healthy are the obvious key to him unlocking his big league potential…or him ending up just being an Aardsma. But I love his upside.

Mike Schellinger was the co-named of the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week. In his past 5 outings, he struck out 19 in 12.2 innings with a 0.71 ERA.

Osvaldo Morales of the GCL Cardinals was mentioned in BA’s Hot Sheet this week:

Morales just turned 20 and is raking his way through the GCL. In 92 at-bats, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound right-handed hitter is batting .304/.402/.565 with six homers and 20 RBIs.

The Giants Tim Alderson was the first  first round draftee to sign above slot…and just barely. While no word on Kozma’s bonus yet, it was not believed to be above slot according to BA. Only five players in the whole draft have believed to be signed above slot, let’s hope it will soon be six. This is very odd how this is all playing out, but I’m still hopeful.

Getting to last night’s action. Adam Ottavino was dominating. Jarret Hoffpauir continues to rake. And the Swing played an ugly, never-ending marathon of doom which saw two position players pitch. Meanwhile, the GCL’s game was postponed along with Springfield, and the Muckdogs were off. Giddyup!

AZ was at the QC

(erik’s got the full report from yesterday.)

So, I don’t plan on making the 4-hour drive from my home in Southern Illinois to the Quad Cities very often, but I had a blast on Sunday as I watched the first game of the doubleheader. I had to leave after the 2nd inning of the 2nd game to be home at a reasonable hour — tragically I have work on Tuesday.

I did, however, get to go out on the field and spin around a bat and then try to run straight. The Swing do a lot of gimmicky promotion contests in between innings and such and they asked myself and a friend to do the “Dizzy Bat”. (You had to be 18+ to do the Dizzy Bat and as there weren’t a ton of 20-somethings sitting around watching the pitchers warm up before the game, I got roped into it.) My friend also got Daryl Jones and Jim Rapoport to autograph a foul ball she caught. All in all, a very exciting day. I’ve got some pictures as well; I’m a horrible photographer but I managed to get some decent photos.

It’s really an odd feeling trying to focus solely on how a player looks, swings or pitches rather than just what the score is and who is on 3rd. I tried to take some simple notes so I could remember what I saw. I came away impressed by a few players, specifically: Daryl Jones and Kenny Maiques. Let me try and be a little more orderly about this though:

Brad Furnish: Velocity – 74mph to 89mph; Secondary pitches – average curveball, average changeup

I didn’t see alot to get excited about here. He wasn’t throwing very hard with his fastball resting in the 84-86 mph range for the entire game. He dialed it up to 89 twice. His curveball was ok with flashes of being very good; it needs work to be consistent. He’s got a leg-kick in his windup and one thing that bothered me a lot is that I saw (what in my opinion) a stutter during the kick as he goes to begin his motion toward the plate. He kind of brings the knee up and then as you expect him to move it foward, his leg comes up a little again. I kept pointing it out to my friends (and they all were attempting to eat their nachos and enjoy the weather) and they promptly told me to stop being such a geek. Maybe it’s part of his routine, but it seemed to break the natural flow of his pitching motion from the windup.

Kyle Mura: Velocity – 72mph to 88mph

I don’t have any notes on what the pitch Mura was using to compliment his fastball. I do remember thinking how consistent of a velocity split he was getting though. Furnish was ranging throughout the 70s and 80s but Mura threw his fastball from 86-88 and his other pitch (I want to say it was a changeup, but I honestly can’t remember) was 72-75mph. There was almost nothing in the middle and I had a hard time figuring out what it was going to be leaving his hand (meaning he maintained his arm speed well for the offspeed pitch). Still, I think he’s succeeding on control and lacks the stuff to make it to the bigs.

Kenny Maiques: Velocity – 89mph to 91mph

Maiques didn’t flash any secondary stuff when he was pitching and frankly he didn’t need to. His fastball looked goooooood. Nice movement, missing bats, good control. He didn’t take long closing out the 7th. Of the three pitchers I saw, Maiques looked like he could make the majors. He came in throwing 91 and stayed right around their the whole time. I was very impressed.

Catcher Christian Reyes:

Reyes had a nice controlled throw to second and what appeared to be a good arm behind the plate. He didn’t hit worth a lick though.

1B Brandon Buckman:

Readers of FR know that I really like Buckman from his stats. In person, I was underwhelmed by his at bats. First off, he’s a good head taller than anyone else on the field. He looks like a man among boys. He had a large (not fat) frame and looks like he still has a little room for projection as he could add some muscle. His at bats were forgettable and he didn’t really drive the pitches as much I was hoping. Added to the fact that he still isn’t walking at all, and I think that he may have a hard time sustaining his AVG in the upper minors.

LF Daryl Jones:

Wow, where to start. His AB in the third went like this:

1st pitch – high and away – ball

2nd pitch – low and away – Jones chases it and tips it for a foul ball

3rd pitch – waist high – tipped for a foul ball

4th pitch – low and in – ball

5th pitch – low – Jones grounds out to the 2B

I was kind of disappointed by that sequence as the ball he hit wasn’t really close to being a strike but he chased it. In the 5th inning, Jones got HBP and went to first. The opposing pitcher threw over to first 4 times and had a pitchout before throwing an actual pitch to the batter. Jones was getting a decent lead but almost got picked off by the 3rd throw over. Jones then proceeded to steal 2nd base when Beloit’s catcher made a terrible throw to second. It would have been a close play (I think he’d have been out) and Jones had a little hesitation when trying to get a jump that was largely part of the continual throw overs. Defensively, the 3rd inning saw Jones track down a double hit into the LF corner; he one hopped the throw to second with an incredibly accurate long throw. The kid’s got an arm. In the 6th inning, Jones made a stunning catch to rob Daniel Valencia of a HR. It was a long fly ball that Jones backed up to the wall on, jumped and snagged from a good foot over the wall. Truly a spectacular defensive play.

Maiques for an interesting sleeper

Another possible sleeper for the ’07 season is RHP Kenny Maiques. In ’04, Maiques made 12 appearances out of the Long Beach Dirtbag bullpen as a freshman, which was led by an all star pitching staff of Jered Weaver, Jason Vargas and Cesar Ramos. Following the regular season, he had a successful Alaska Summer League where he flashed a 95 mph fastball and had plans for returning to Long Beach for his sophomore year. Instead he opted to enroll at Rio Hondo Junior College at the last minute, and ended up being the most dominant JUCO pitcher of the year. He threw 2 perfect 7 inning games, fanning 17 hitters in the first perfect o, and 14 the next. Both games were within a 3 week span. During that season he also had a streak of 49 scoreless innings. He led all California Juco pitchers with a 0.66 ERA, striking out 133 in 82 innings. (15/9IP).

With that amazing performance, Maiques would’ve been considered a 3rd round talent but he snapped a ligament in his elbow just before the draft and had to own up to scouts that he needed surgery. Maiques had to think his career was over, but the Cardinals picked him in the 37th round and he underwent Tommy John. Maiques has only pitched 4 innings professionally just this past June for the Spikes and was shut down due to a stiff elbow.

Maiques is still a possible 2nd day draft steal, previously throwing a 91-94 mph fastball and a sharp breaking slider that is said to be a dominant offering. Scouts considered him undersized in ’05 at 5’11”, 175 lbs but now his MiLB page lists him at 6’1″, 185 at 21. The fact that the Cardinals picked Maiques, covered his surgery and have stuck with him to this point shows their faith in the right hander’s potential. If he’s healthy, look for him to make the Swing team as a reliever, and he could find a spot in the rotation a la Trey Hearne if pitches well.