Emptying My Notebook: Quotes of Note on Jake Odorizzi, Michael Choice and Tommy Joseph

By MiLB.com

• Royals assistant GM J.J. Piccolo said third-ranked prospect Jake Odorizzi proved he has all the necessary stuff in 2012: “He showed excellent command of his fastball, really started to be able to throw his breaking ball — he throws a curveball and a slider — early in the count and that made his fastball more effective; he struck out a lot of guys with his fastball. And his changeup continued to develop.” (For more on his repertoire, see Odorizzi’s Prospect Pitch.)
• A’s player development director Keith Lieppman is excited about the future of №1 prospect Michael Choice, who played just 91 games this season after fracturing his hand: “Choice is a big-time potential Major League player. He started to figure things out at [Double-A] Midland and was playing very good defense. Once he figures things out [offensively], his tools will take over. He is not far from the big leagues and [in addition to the power] can steal 15–20 bases once he gets there.”
• Phillies fourth-ranked prospect Tommy Joseph, who has played four Arizona Fall League games as of this writing, on his hitting philosophy, “I need to have a plan when I go up there to hit. I have to put myself in a position athletically and, whatever is happening at the time, hit to the situation: move the guy over, get the ball up the middle to get an RBI. I always like to know how hard the [pitcher] throws and what’s his out-pitch because obviously you’re going to see an out-pitch at a key point in the game. Those are really the two things that I want to know: if he comes at me with his fastball, with his breaking ball, if he likes to pitch backwards, little things without going in depth — keep it as simple as possible.”

Tommy Joseph, with Double-A Reading (Ralph Trout).