Talking Aceves

I checked in with the Trenton Thunder front office this morning, and they did not know of a possible promotion to Triple-A for Alfredo Aceves, a move that had apparently been reported earlier today by one of the New York papers.

If anything does happen today, I’ll be sure to post it here.

The consensus on Aceves’ performance yesterday was that it was pretty average.  One scout described him as nothing more than a junkballer, while another told me his ceiling was as a #5 MLB starter at best who would only see MLB time due to injuries.

That particular scout did not feel as though Aceves stuff would translate well to the bullpen, either.

I spoke to Thunder catcher P.J. Pilittere about Aceves before yesterday’s start, and here’s what he told me about Aceves:

“He’s a guy that’s going to have no patterns when he pitches.  He’s got four pitches that he commands real well, and he can throw them at any time in the count.  That’s a definite talent to have.  He kind of makes my job a little easier because he’s got a really good gameplan, and he really knows himself well.  He does a good job on his own of trying to set up hitters, so it’s different and kind of refreshing, almost, to work with someone like that who’s thinking about the game along the same lines I am.”

“He’s got a really good cutter.  What makes it so successful, is it’s not a lot different in speed off of his fastball.  It’s pretty similar in miles per hour to his four-seam fastball.  His cutter’s a good pitch, and when you have command of a pitch like that and you can throw it when you’re behind in the count, it can really bail you out of some stuff.  Him being able to throw it on both sides of the plate is a definite plus for him.”

Mike Ashmore, mashmore98 AT gmail.com