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"You want to face (a guy like Wieters)," Bulls catcher/designated hitter John Jaso admitted before the game, "Especially as a pitcher or a catcher. They're spread out down here, but once you get to the major league level, you're facing guys like him every day and there's more than one on every team, so you welcome these challenges."
It's hard to imagine more perfect baseball prospects than this pair. Price is a 6-foot-7 lefty with a fastball that topped out at 95 mph on Saturday and a nasty slider that leaves hitters flailing. Wieters is a 6-foot-5 switch-hitting catcher who tore through both Single and Double-A in his first year of professional ball in 2007. Baseball Prospectus's Nate Silver recently said that the projection that his PECOTA system made for Wieters this year was unlike anything he'd ever seen in a rookie.
Both of them played well in their respective major league camps (Price with the Rays, Wieters with the Orioles), and yet they both found themselves in the minor leagues to begin 2009. The most commonly accepted explanation for this was that it was done to keep their service clocks from ticking, but neither of the uber-prospects impressed on Saturday.
Price cruised through his first inning, getting two ground-outs and freezing Wieters with an 0-2 fastball, but after that his first start of 2009 was inconsistent. He struck out four but was touched for two runs when Nolan Reimold crushed a two-run homer off of him in the second inning. In the end, he only lasted 3 2/3 innings because of his 75-pitch limit for the night and didn't factor in on the decision in the Bulls' 8-4 win.Wieters' night was worse. He went 0-for-4 but did manage to draw a walk off of Price after an extended at-bat that featured seven foul balls and 13 total pitches. He struck out twice, though, including a whiff with the bases loaded in the sixth inning and two outs, and dropped a throw from right fielder Lou Montanez that allowed Jaso to score, which turned out to be the winning run in the seventh inning. We're only two games into his Triple-A career, but he's still hit-less.
Of course, we're dealing with prospects here, and one bad night isn't going to ruin either one of these guys. Jaso, who caught Price when they were both with Double-A Montgomery last year, describes Price's stuff as "electrifying," and said, "He brings a lot of intensity to the game. I know that gets the defense behind him more into the game because he's up there on the mound throwing strikes and keeping everybody alive. It's always a fun game when he's on the mound."
Even if Price wasn't great tonight, it was still easy to watch him and see just what Jaso meant. He was at his best in his first-inning encounter with Wieters, where he set the best hitting prospect in baseball up with an 0-1 breaking pitch, then surprised him by coming back with an 0-2 fastball that left Wieters gaping. He seemed a little rattled after Reimold's home run, but he never really got into trouble after it.
Similarly, watching Wieters can make even the most casual viewer want to project like a scout. He cuts a massive figure out in the batters box. When you read about a 6-foot-5 catcher, you think to yourself, "Man, that sounds big." That doesn't compare to seeing him in person, dwarfing everything else around the plate. Kneeling, he seemed nearly as tall as tonight's home plate umpire was standing. This sounds like an exaggeration, but when you watch him swing you wonder how every ball he makes contact with doesn't fly out of the park. He just looks that powerful.Perhaps more than anything, this game served as a reminder that baseball will always be a team sport. Reimold, who's a good prospect in his own right, stole the spotlight for Norfolk with his long home run off of Price and three RBI. Justin Ruggiano and journeyman Ray Olmedo homered for Durham, while Jaso and Chris Nowak reached base four times for Durham and reliever Chad Orvella got the big strikeout of Wieters in the sixth.
In the end, though, tonight was still about Price and Wieters. Their first professional showdown may not have lived up to the hype, but with both ticketed for the American League East before the season ends, they'll certainly be seeing each other again.
