Penn League Report

Interview with Red Sox Prospect Blake Swihart

The Red Sox selected Blake Swihart with the 26th overall pick in last season's First-Year Player Draft. He was named the #72 prospect in baseball by the folks at BaseballAmerica, and the #100 prospect by ESPN's Keith Law. Blake is playing this season at Low-A Greenville in the South Atlantic League and was kind enough to chat with me for a few minutes.

Hudson Belinsky: For people who have never heard about you, what kind of ballplayer are you and what's your game all about?

Blake Swihart: Well I go out every night and give 110 percent, as much as I can. I'm real coachable. I go out and play to win the game. Hopefully just be the best team player I can. 

HB: It's your first year in the minor leagues, your first full season. How does it feel? The transition from high school ball to the Sally League?

BS: You know, I'm loving it. Getting to wake up every morning getting to go play I get to live my dream. It's every little kids dream to play this and this is one of the my biggest dreams. I mean I'm loving it, it's the every day grind of baseball.

HB: Since you've become a pro you went through instructs, Spring Training, and now you're in the Sally League. Where do you think your game has seen the most improvement since reaching the pros?

BS: Probably over the offseason. I went in and put in a lot of work in the weight room and gained a lot of weight, got a lot more muscle mass put on. I gained a couple pounds of body fat too just 'cause I was really too skinny to really be a catcher at that point. I think in the offseason mainly catching a lot too has got me to improve my skills back there. 

HB: Growing up who was your favorite big leaguer? Is there any player you modeled your game after?

BS: I've always been a fan of Mark McGwire. I was always on the Cardinals and I always loved the Cardinals and he was my idol. 

HB: So growing up in New Mexico, not really a big prospect scene or anything like that. What was it like, being the best kid on the field [almost] all the time?

BS: That wasn't always the case. There's a lot of good players in New Mexico. A lot of hidden talent too so New Mexico is slowly getting on the map, but it was a lot of fun competing with those guys and the guys around me made me better. 

Hudson Belinsky can be followed on Twitter at @hudsonbelinsky.

Interview with Blue Jays Prospect Drew Hutchison

First and foremost, I'd like to apologize for the lack of posts over the past week or so. The previous week has been extremely busy for me, and likely my busiest week of the year. Anyway, I'm back and ready to get back to work, so here's an interview I did a few weeks ago with our good friend and New Hampshire Fisher Cats right-hander, Drew Hutchison.

Download Drew Hutchison Interview

Interview With Crosscutters Manager Mickey Morandini

Former Major Leaguer and current Williamsport Crosscutters manager Mickey Morandini and I sat down and discussed a number of topics. Those topics include the exciting players on his team, his goals as a manager and what he brings to the table as a manager as well.

Mickey Morandini Interview

 

Interview with Phillies Prospect Aaron Altherr

Lately, I've been trying to stock up on as many interviews as possible. This one thanks to Aaron Altherr is just one of what should be many more interviews to come. Enjoy.

Interview with Phillies Prospect Aaron Altherr

Interview with Nationals Prospect Matt Skole

Nationals 2011 draft pick and brother of former Rangers first rounder Jake Skole, Matt Skole, sat down with me to discuss a variety of topics. Those topics include his success in his first season of pro ball, potentially playing against or alongside his brother and his expectations for the remainder of the year.

Download Matt Skole Interview

Interview with Red Sox Prospect Garin Cecchini

Only a few weeks ago, the Auburn Doubledays and Lowell Spinners squared off in Lowell in a series that consisted of two of the better teams in the league. Since then, the Spinners have only one five games while continuing to lose their better players to injury. Why are they playing lousy baseball? Perhaps it's due to the loss of their best player and prospect, Garin Cecchini. Early in the aforementioned D'Days/Spinners affair, Garin was drilled on the left forearm with a fastball that seemingly ruined his season as well as the next eight weeks. Cecchini suffered a broken wrist.

Prior to the unfortunate plate appearance, Cecchini was arguably the hottest player in the league. And he didn't stop hitting at all. He's still one of the best prospects in the league, and certainly one of the system's top 10 but needs to stay healthy. Obviously, you can't prevent a hit-by-pitch or at least an injury as such but even in high school days Cecchini has dealt with the injury bug; he tore his ACL in his senior year of high school, which, in the eyes of money, was the only thing that kept him out of the 1st round.

Nevertheless, the third-baseman stopped by for a brief, yet informative interview with yours truly. Make sure you have a listen by clicking the link below.

 

Download Garin Cecchini Interview

 

Interview With Phillies Prospect Perci Garner

Phillies 2010 2nd rounder and current Williamsport Crosscutters relief pitcher (and starter, for that matter) Perci Garner joined me for a few minutes to discuss his mechanics, stuff as well as his expactions for the rest of the season. Have a listen.

Perci Garner Interview

 

Interview With Mets Pitcher Dillon Gee

On the day the Brooklyn Cyclones retired his number, Dillon Gee and I spoke about what that not only means to him, but to the Mets organization as well. In addition, Gee told me his thoughts on his performance this season among other things.

Dillon Gee Interview

 

Interview With Zach Stewart 7/27/11

Just hours before he was traded to the White Sox, Zach Stewart and I sat down and talked about what it was like the last time he was traded. In the summer of '09, the Reds swapped Zach Stewart with the Jays in exchange for a package centered around Scott Rolen. And today, ironically enough, he spoke with me about the transition of getting traded and the process of adjusting to a new organization. Here's the interview...

Download Zach Stewart

Interview With Deck McGuire -- His First Day in Double-A

Download Deck McGuire Interview

The day started when Deck McGuire woke up, quickly hopped on a plane to Hartford, CT, from Dunedin, FL, and took a $60 cab ride to New Britain Stadium. This wasn't in the interview, but Deck described the cab driver as only talking about GPS's, and he was "weird." Twas a long day, as you can imagine. Unfortuantely for Deck, he was in charge of charting pitches during his first day with the Fisher Cats, a game that lasted thirteen innings! In any case, enjoy the interview.