Is Josh Whitesell our future 1B?

[wilkerson_rulz-06]

Forget about Larry Broadway and his difficulty to hit above the Mendoza Line in Columbus, what about Harrisburg star Josh Whitesell?

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Josh%20Whitesell&pos=&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=444882

[KingJ]

I doubt it. That average is way too low for AA and he's already 25. If we move Kory Casto to 1B in AAA, we might be able to salvage his prospect status.

[wilkerson_rulz-06]

I doubt it. That average is way too low for AA and he's already 25. If we move Kory Casto to 1B in AAA, we might be able to salvage his prospect status.

That's too bad, I have heard good things about him, and wasn't he in Single-A last year?

IMHO, they should've dealt Belliard AND Young for a nice slew of decent prospects and made Casto the 2B and had Nick Johnson at 1B, that would've worked.

[dmbfan]

Having lived in the Harrisburg area for several years and being able to see the Senators play on a regular basis, here are my thoughts about Whitesell. He is a better prospect than Broadway for the simple fact that Broadway has been injury prone and very inconsistent offensively and defensively. Whitesell is more steady with the glove, but struggles with being patient with the bat. His current 279 average reflects impatience at the plate more than anything. However, when he connects with a pitch, it is always hit hard. He would be a solid everyday first baseman in the bigs, if he can work out his hitting situation.

[KingJ]

That's too bad, I have heard good things about him, and wasn't he in Single-A last year?

IMHO, they should've dealt Belliard AND Young for a nice slew of decent prospects and made Casto the 2B and had Nick Johnson at 1B, that would've worked.

First base isn't a hard position to fill. Finding a Daryle Ward/Dmitri Young offensive 1B and pairing him with a defensive replacement like Robert Fick is quality production at low prices and players like Ward/Young and Fick can be found all over the place.

[DCPSR]

Our 11 th rounder in this years draft, Bill Rhinehart is putting up solid numbers hitting .297 with 3 HRs and 37 RBIs at Vermont. Whitesell hit number 20 last night.

[strike3]

That's too bad, I have heard good things about him, and wasn't he in Single-A last year?

IMHO, they should've dealt Belliard AND Young for a nice slew of decent prospects and made Casto the 2B and had Nick Johnson at 1B, that would've worked.

I'm very happy they kept Belliard and Young. You can't coach chemistry and these two guys are very popular in the clubhouse and they're producing on the field.

Nick may never come back and even if he does he'll get hurt taking a shower and wind up back on the DL in a couple of weeks. If memory serves he's either began or ended every season on the DL since 2003.

[TheKingofKings]

It all depends if Whitesell can produce while playing for Columbus.

Even if he bats .250, but hits 30-35 HR (like Rick Ankiel/Mike Hessman) at that level, he would be a shoe-in if Nicky is dealt and Young is in LF.

He might even turn into, let's hope, a kind of late-blooming/hard hitting 1B.

[TheKingofKings]

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/transactions/index.jsp

Whitesell was claimed off waivers by the Arizona Diamondbacks today.

[Peorgie T]

Win some, lose some. Broadway has to step up this year, or he'll be cut loose; he'll be a minor league FA next year. I seem to remember that the organization was trying to convert Marerro from OF to 1B, but I'm not sure if that worked out.

[wilkerson_rulz-06]

This sucks, Whitesell progressed VERY nicely last season. :sigh: